How this all began

Jeremy works from home for a company in Cleveland, OH. We settled near family in the meantime, but our long-term plan has always been to move to Cleveland by the time our son starts school, in fall 2012.

Recently a lot of circumstances had changed in our lives and we decided to go ahead with the move now. We started getting our house ready to sell and visited Cleveland to look for housing. Those nice yuppy houses we liked (good neighborhood, good schools, shiny sidewalks and big yards) were way beyond our budget. Smaller/older homes scared us with the possibility of expensive maintenance like our current house. Apartments are expensive and the layouts aren't great for Jeremy to work from home, plus there's no equity. We found an old manufactured/mobile home we liked, but it's pretty remote and the financing is difficult with leased land. New manufactured homes are expensive and have the same leased land challenges. It seemed like every possibility we explored had a significant downside.

Then we looked into rv's. We found we could buy a truck plus a fifth wheel or travel trailer for less than even an old mobile home. We racked our brains for all the foreseeable expenses, and still came up with a monthly budget well below our other options.

Not only did this look like the cheapest way, but it also looked like the most fun! We have been wanting to travel, but air tickets & hotels are cost-prohibitive, not to mention limited vacation time and kids who aren't really good with full days of sitting in car seats. With a RV, we can travel leisurely, just driving short distances while Jeremy still works 40 hour weeks. We'll get to see all the people we've been wanting to visit in a way that's easier on everyone. More travel for less stress and less money-what could be better?

Now we just have to sell our house, choose a new home, and iron out the myriad of details to make this work. Piece of cake!