Well, this feels weird to even see typed out on my screen, but yes, we are selling our fifth wheel! We have loved every stage of this process (maybe not painting cabinets LOL), and after lots of conversations and prayers we have decided to sell our RV and move on to the next chapter in our journey.
When we bought our fifth wheel, we probably fell into the category most first time RV owners do. We were looking for space and size. Our top priorities were plenty of room that felt like a traditional home in some ways along with solid construction and reputation of the brand. So, good news, we got exactly what we wanted. We found a little bit older RV that checked all our boxes and has so many great features.
Our fifth wheel has four slides (one is a mega slide that is an entire wall) that create SO much more square footage and a more traditional floor plan. Our cabinets are solid wood construction along with all the slide frames, and we have solid surface countertops (basically a lighter weight granite). We liked the idea that our model was one of the higher quality builds of its year.
And, we have storage space to spare. When we downsized from our brick and mortar home, we were brutal and walked away with about 14 Rubbermaid boxes full of our belongings, a mattress and a tv. That’s it. So when we moved into our fifth wheel and realized our closet was the same size as our first married apartment, we were pumped. My closet is still half empty with hanger space and the upper cabinets in the living room and bedroom are rarely used.
When we bought our home we planned on being fairly stationary. A month here, six weeks there, and maybe spend the whole holidays season in one spot. Our RV was perfect for that! The indoor space was comfortable enough we could totally manage long winters without feeling cooped up (which we did this past year, it was awesome!). We spent many nights by the fireplace not missing a thing. And since the heat has come this early summer, we are enjoying the same comforts. Two air conditioning units and lots of windows are letting us take breaks from the Missouri heat and not feel like we are missing out on being outside. We are comfortable in our RV no matter what the, usually incorrect, weather forecast brings.
We viewed our RV purchase as a long term investment. We wanted this space to be our home till we were ready to settle down (and maybe even after that too?). We got excited and dreamt up a space that fit our lives and felt like us. We wanted a clean, airy, and fun space that was our own and we feel like we have achieved that.
But as our life usually goes, enjoying all our “MUST HAVES” just wasn’t in plan for us for too long. We knew God was asking us to be flexible when He put the goal of untraditional living in our hearts, but we really weren’t expecting it to be changing this much this soon.
Colton’s job is requiring a lot more travel and location flexibility than we anticipated. It doesn’t look like staying very stationary is going to be obtainable for us (at least this next year). This is all great news, the best. We prayed, fasted, talked, and dreamed about Colton’s career for a long time, and God is 200% providing. There are some really exciting things coming up that we don’t want to miss.
With all that in mind, we started to evaluate if our RV was still the best fit for us. A few of the questions that led us to this decision included:
“Would it be wise or practical to tow around a half empty closet and multiple empty cabinets across the country?”
“Say we fill the space, wait no, why would be buy more THINGS to justify our space?!”
“Wait, would following the weather actually be obtainable? Maybe we could plan on more outdoor living space rather than in?”
Plus a hundred more.
We love our house. We love the memories we hold in every nook and cranny of this space. We love that when we look at the bathroom, we are reminded of the massive amount of conversations Allie had with her sisters about what to put on the wall. When we sit on the daybed, we remember how it was the first building project that Colton and his brother Trevor completed together. When we sweep the floors, we remember the group of friends who helped us lay them, and of course Allie’s dad telling us we had done it wrong and helping re-lay them. (If you know Steve, you know he was totally right too.)
And what we love most of all is that did it together with the help of friends and family. We accomplished something. We set a goal and hit that finish line.
So friends, here we are. Living in a space we love and walking away from it. We know this is just another chapter of our journey and are praying for someone to come along who loves our home as much as we do. We’re beginning our search for a new home. To answer a few question I know you’re probably thinking: Yes, we’re looking for another RV, just something that matches our current season of life a little better. No, we’re not looking forward to the massive amounts of brown and beige and brown and brown upholstery and brown carpet that the RV world provides fresh from the lot. Yes, that much brown. And yes, we will hopefully document that renovation journey as well.
If you are interested in viewing our listing here’s a link. Please feel free to share it with anyone you know who might be interested. We want to be transparent in our sale and aren’t trying to turn this into a profitable business. It’s just time for us to move on.
Follow this link to the listing on RVtrader.
https://www.rvtrader.com/listing/2003-Forest+River-CEDAR+CREEK+37CKQS-5003255613
Thanks for reading. See ya in the RV lot next time :)