Our First Home

Yep. It's true. This is officially our first home. We have always rented since we've been married. Let's be honest- we live in Victoria which is the land of incredibly expensive real estate. $400,000 for a 3 bedroom starter home? Let's not and say we did. For real though, we have been married for 8.5 years, and I've been a stay at home mama for 7 of those. Matt was a student for 4 of them- realistically even living in a much cheaper place, it wasn't going to happen.

But that's ok. It really hasn't bothered us too much. We always knew we wanted to do something big and grand before we "settled down"- if being married and having 3 kids doesn't count as settling down. Because in my books, it doesn't have to.

We have told several people that we consider out RV to be our first home. Some people think we're joking, and some have even expressed that they found it sad, but not to worry because they're sure we'll own a home one day. Whatevs. This was totally planned. And we think it's awesome. Really, we consider it a blessing that we have this amazing chance of a lifetime to show our children so much of North America. Doing schoolwork at picnic tables is pretty fun when you're a kid.  And as my 7 year old pointed out, we can pretty much just skip over the whole Social Studies section of school- because we will be totally immersed in it.

So. Anyway. After our disappointing search of the island for a decent motorhome, we journeyed to the mainland to see what we could see. We drove all over Surrey and Maple Ridge but were still not excited about any of the units we were seeing. So we went to Hope (which, to be perfectly honest is not actually THAT far, but people seem to think it is.) to look at one last motorhome.

And this was it. We were so excited about it, we brought it home that same day. It's a 31 foot Thor Ambassador and it's perfect. Well, other than the "I love retirement living" bumper sticker. But maybe we'll cover that up with a Disneyland one or something. Or a deathly hallow symbol. I'd totally get on board with that.

Of course the kids were giddy and now they just call it "Thor". And by they,  I mean all of us. Because that's a pretty rad name for a motorhome. So now, with 7 weeks to the day until we leave, it's time to get all of our ....everything.... in order. With just a few tweaks to Thor, like a new TV, new stereo (do people even have cassettes any more?) and a microwave, we should be on our way!

PS...When you have a very large motorhome and want to take your kids on a little drive so they can check it out, might I suggest avoiding Quadra street all together. 4 inches of clearance on either side does not make a relaxing drive. Trust me.

Motorhomes!

We have been spending the last several months researching all of our options for this trip. After a lot of going back and forth, we decided that a motorhome would suit our needs better than a trailer or 5th wheel. Since we will be homeschooling, we will want the kids to be able to work as we drive. Most motorhomes have seat belts at the table, so the boys will be able to work, play games, eat, build lego, colour....the list goes on. We have looked at more motorhomes than I care to even say, and although it is really fun, we are finding the more we see, the more confused we become!

One thing is certainly clear- Vancouver island is not the place to buy a motorhome. So off we head to the mainland tomorrow to see some more. We have appointments to see 4....and with any luck we will be coming home with one tomorrow. Although we don't leave for 2 months, we'd like to take it on at least one camping trip before we go. We need to get used to the feel of it, figure out how much stuff we can actually bring with us, and, knowing me, I'm probably going to redecorate it. Let's be honest. If I'm going to live in it for half a year, it's got to be pretty.

So off we go in the morning to find our little teeny tiny house. Here's hoping we find it!

And so we begin...

Have you ever wanted a change? Not just a little one like a new couch, a new paint colour in the bathroom, or new kitchen countertops. Not even a change like a new house or a new car. I mean a BIG change. We do. Love Vancouver island though we do, we've done it. Seen it. Been all over it.  And we're kind of bored of it. Not like we never want to come back, but we are ready to have a little adventure.

Really, we have wanted this adventure for a long time, but things kept keeping us here. Matt was in school for years, we were stuck here because of jobs, and we didn't want to move away until we were finished having babies. 

Well, now, it kind of seems like the perfect time. Which is actually really hard to believe because it always has seemed to me like "the perfect time" was a myth. But here we are. Matt recently quit his job (scary!- at first) and started his own business. It has been his dream and we just decided to jump in head first and not look back. So now that he's mobile (because it's a home-based/ web-based business) we don't need to be any one place. Our youngest baby is no longer a baby and our oldest is not quite old enough to be devastated about leaving all of his friends. Mom and Dad are still the coolest- and I'd like to hold on to that for as long as I can! 

So,  2 months from now we will be taking off. And I mean off! We will be purchasing an RV and taking the adventure of a lifetime. We plan to homeschool the kids for the remainder of the school year, which will be about 4 months. March 6th is our target day for taking off.  We will spend that time travelling and seeing the (North American) world. Hopefully our trip will take us along the coast of California (Disneyland of course is a must) through Arizona, New Mexico, and then through US to the East Coast. Definitely a New York stop for the musical theatre nuts inside all of us and then up to the Maritimes of Canada. We will be most likely ending our trip in Prince Edward Island or Nova Scotia and staying for a few years. So basically from way out west to way out East. 

So there it is. In writing. So we can't take it back. We are nervous- we are planning- we are budgeting- we are researching- but most of all we are excited! Join us on our adventure as we freewheel across the continent!