Welcome to our website.
We began our journey with this website and our family name with the intention of traveling around the United States in an RV. Then of course, as life happens, we experienced a change in plans. So, rather than tracking our epic journey across the country, we are going to talk about our family and how we are going to get to our goal of an RV! This might not be as interesting, but I hope it is!
So far, in a very quick summary of what we have done and where we have come from, I figure we can start there.
In March of 2020, we purchased a small Class B RV; we named her Gert! She was great and helped us get the most out of camping while I was very pregnant! Due to the lack of movement and COVID, I gained a lot more than I anticipated so sleeping on the ground was not in the cards for me. We went on some pretty amazing adventures and explored Iowa and Minnesota at length. When winter came in 2020, around October, we put her into a winter storage. We said our goodbye’s took pictures, and drove away.
In March of 2021, we took her out of storage and realized that our 17 year old RV needed a lot of work done to it and was giving us hints that she was about to need even more work. So, we decided as a family to sell her and focus on getting our finances in order. We said our forever goodbye and once again drove away.
In May 2021 we began our search for a Class A RV. We fell in love with the idea of selling everything and moving into an RV full-time. We created a plan for travel, looked at options for campsites and did research on all the adult stuff that Full-time RVing requires (insurance, jobs, reservation timelines, and safety) and we realized we had a lot of work to do.
Around July of 2021, we were ready to purchase so we contacted a lender…..many actually and were given some pretty negative news on our plans. We were told that due to an RV being a luxury item, getting a loan was going to be more difficult than we anticipated. We were given a list of things to do (pay off credit card debt, save up a down payment, and refocus our ideas on what we wanted) and we did that with the greatest of diligence.
In October 2021 we were ready to go! We had everything on the list crossed off and our downsizing was going great. We were excited and told people of our plans finally. Then, we applied for the loan….wah wah….we were denied. We were told that because we have not had a loan that was even close to what we were asking (we do not own a house) that we could not get a loan for what we wanted and that we would have to drastically change and give up a lot of what we wanted.
After looking at RV’s in the price range that was given to us and seeing what we would have to give up (space, storage, comfort) we decided that we were not going to do it. All plans came to a stop; a big stop. We had a family meeting and came to the conclusion that we were not going to be able to get an RV that we wanted until we bought a house so, NEW PLAN! We are going to buy a house and then get an RV. So, what to do with the website we purchased and all the social media sites we set up…well, we are going to keep them and do a small shift in content.
We are still going to get an RV, it is just going to take some different type of effort. We are still going to travel, it is just not going to be 12 months out of the year. We are still downsizing, just not as much. We are still saving, just for something different.
So, here we are. That is the plan and that is what we have come to. Hopefully you find our updates and our content enjoyable all the same and perhaps you have ideas on how to help us progress. We will continue to share our journey, it is just starting from a different place.
This is our Real Time plan for the Real Time Family and we welcome you on this journey with us!
Ivy