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Trading the 9-to-5 for Adventure: A Family’s Transition from Big House to Tiny RV

on September 3, 2023

Like so many of the families we’ve interviewed, this family of five had the American Dream — the big house, lots of “toys” and plenty of stuff — but it came at the hefty cost of the dad working lots of hours and missing valuable time with his family. They already owned an RV and decided it was time to switch things up!

Once they were living in it full-time, they decided to upgrade their RV to something a bit more spacious, but now that they are used to life on the road, they realize they don’t even need the space they have! Enjoy the photo tour and hear from Mom, Lauren, about their tiny life below.

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They Sold Their Big House For Family Time

We were living the “American Dream,” the house, the cars, the pools, nice clothes, vacations but we realized it wasn’t “our dream.”

We weren’t truly living. My husband was in a thankless job as milestones with our kids passed by as he worked for our big home filled with everything you could want.

We already had a travel trailer and decided to start off [living tiny] in that. We were “weekend warriors.”

But we soon realized it was too small with three growing kids and a dog.

We have upgraded twice to our current rig which is a Grand Design Momentum 395 msr, which we have renovated to meet all of our needs.

We absolutely love it, but now talk about going smaller. Funny when you truly start “living” you realize you need less because your cups are filled with experiences over things.

It took us about 6-9 months to sell everything and transition to tiny living.

I feel that tiny living has caused us to be uncomfortable, and that’s when you truly start to grow.

Constantly in a new scenario, meeting new people and a new environment. You start to see the ugly in yourself, and you also want to become the best version of yourself.

We afford this lifestyle because the thankless job came with a pension. The one thing we were thankful for!

We decided we would rather enjoy retirement young and give the experiences of our country to our kids.

Eventually, we will have to find another source of income down the road to supplement the cost of living.

Tomorrow is never guaranteed, so the time was now for us.

The hardest part of tiny living, for us, would be not having your own individual space.

But the most rewarding would be the experiences, memories, and opening your eyes to what truly matters in life.

Our advice to others contemplating tiny living: Do it! The only regret you will have is not doing it sooner!

Highlights:

  • The family traded the materialistic American Dream for a full-time RV life.
  • Dad’s demanding job kept him from his family; they sought more meaningful experiences.
  • Started with a small travel trailer but upgraded twice for space and comfort.
  • 6-9 months transition to tiny living involved downsizing and selling possessions.
  • Dad’s pension enables their current RV lifestyle.
  • Uncomfortable aspects of tiny living led to personal growth and self-discovery.
  • Embracing experiences over possessions brought them closer as a family.
  • The challenges of limited personal space were outweighed by rewarding experiences.
  • Encouragement to others: Don’t hesitate, start your own tiny living journey now!

Learn More:

Related Stories:

Our big thanks to Lauren for sharing! 🙏

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Natalie C. McKee

Natalie C. McKee is a contributor for Tiny House Talk and the Tiny House Newsletter. She's a wife, and mama of three little kids. She and her family are homesteaders with sheep, goats, chickens, ducks and quail on their happy little acre.

Latest posts by Natalie C. McKee (see all)

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