We are not plumbers, electricians, car mechanics, mobile mechanics…there is so much to learn just for daily operation (think Robin William’s RV movie) much less how things work for maintenance and repairs. It’s sooo intimidating. We are constantly learning and figuring things out, trying to fix things that we can and crossing our fingers that nothing major goes wrong requiring shop work because RVs are sitting in shops for 6+ months waiting for repairs, with the popularity of RV-ing during covid no one can keep up. This is a major adjustment from our usual mode of vacationing: pack a bag, give it to airport attendant, play on phone and watch movies until flight takes me where I want to be, open hotel door. Done.

Just getting the RV was an uncomfortable amount of decisions! Motor home or trailer? (We chose motor home since our purpose is truly this one epic roadtrip). Class A or class C? (we chose class C for the smaller more manageable size. Even I was comfortable driving it!) Gas or Diesel? Slideouts or no slideouts? Extra long so we get bunk beds or do the kids share a bed for the summer? (that was a big one and yet to be determined if we made the right choice).

The ONLY thing we’re comfortable with is knowing that our greatest adventures have started when we left our comfort zone behind. Mat’s NOLS trip and my Outward Bound trip, moving across the world for study abroad not knowing anyone, venturing to remote parts of Africa with our kids…

This seems like a great place to note that while every word I write is drenched in privilege we wake up everyday very grateful for each opportunity. While everything about “RV-ing” has been intimidating and anxiety inducing at times, at the end of the day we love our problems. This emotional rollercoaster and budget busting vacation is just that, vacation. (You’re thinking beach and a book would be so much easier and more relaxing, right? But we love adventure, seeing new places, finding things we didn’t know were out there. Glad I found my person who likes the same. Also glad he prefers to do the driving!)