We are Chad & Tara – husband and wife and, as cheesy as it sounds, best friends. (You kind of have to be, in order to live harmoniously in 400sq. ft. full time!) Near the end of 2016, we wanted a change, a new adventure, and thought moving into a new home would be that for us. Until one day, when Chad said “What would you think of selling the house and everything in it, and hitting the road full-time in an RV?”
Since Chad has the ability to work remotely (anywhere that we can get an internet connection), we really thought this could be great for us.
It was an exciting, scary, and overwhelming idea. I (Tara) had been fighting Chromic Lyme Disease for 4 years and, although I loved the idea of not feeling trapped at home in bed all of the time, I was scared to death about actually making this dream a reality. Despite the fears, we started researching… and researching… and researching. After attending the Tampa RV Show in January 2017, we were sold on the ideaand set a goal of being in our own RV by January 2018. We had one year to figure this out. Turns out there is a LOT to learn before moving one's entire world into a box with wheels!
Since we were living in the Tampa Bay area, we were able to tour multiple RVs at the nearby dealerships. We went to them as often as we could, looking at hundreds of different models. We thought we had it all figured out… We were going to get a Class A diesel-pusher with a hydra-lift on the back for our 980 lb. Indian Roadmaster motorcycle, and tow a jeep. As the year went
on and our timeline was soon approaching, plans colided with reality and we realized that in order to make our timeline, we had to start looking at other (more affordable) options. That is how we decided upon our toy hauler, fifth wheel: a 2018 Grand Design Momentum 397TH.
We had slowly been getting rid of our belongings throughout the year and ended the time in our “sticks and bricks” home with a huge garage sale. What we didn’t sell got donated. Our home was rented out by good friends and we hit the road full time on
Dec. 20th, 2017. We actually made our deadline! Whew!
It should definitely be noted that we are a couple who NEVER camped and, frankly, never enjoyed it in the past. We had NEVER RV’d or even rented an RV before. So, we are completely brand-new to the RV lifestyle and loving every minute of it. We are both much happier and healthier living this way and spending more time with each-other in nature. We get to move our “home” to a new location every couple of weeks! Even our little fur baby, Daisy, is (slowly) adjusting well to being a camping dog!
About half way through our mega-planning year, we decided we wanted to document this journey for ourselves, our family, and anyone else interested in watching us find our way through this new life. We decided to name our VLog / Channel / Blog “Changing Lanes” because it is perfect metaphor for what we're doing with just about every aspect of our lives.
We love getting out on our motorcycle (a.k.a. Lucille) and exploring each new area we find ourselves in. We look forward to interacting with many of you online and, hopefully, meeting many of you along our journey. Got a motorcycle and like to ride slow? Maybe we can go on rides together!
We really hope you enjoy watching our travels and adventures and hope to hear from many of you about ideas for rides, places to see etc..
We are beyond excited to see where the road takes us, and live our best lives one “lane” at at time.
Safe and happy travels,
– Chad & Tara
