When we sold our home, a year ago this February, the hardest thing was cutting down on the amount of ‘stuff’ that our family of five had. It clearly must have been a mindset issue because we have now been living in a motorhome for four months with room to spare. Seriously, I have empty totes under the storage bin that I thought I needed and haven’t filled yet.
Here are some questions (and answers) that people have asked after finding out we were living in a motorhome:
1) I love my family…but I don’t think I could be cooped up together 24-7…. what about privacy??
Thankfully we are not cooped up 24-7 with each other. Part of living in the motorhome has been traveling to new (and warmer) places. In the morning the horse chores need to be done and school starts up. We are all in and out of the motorhome, sometimes for the horses, sometimes to go hiking and other times for school projects. We are also camping in areas where there are other people. Many RV parks have a recreation room, a swimming pool or another type of gathering place where people gather and some or all of us will wander in and out of there. With all the moving around there are as many times that I am alone in the motorhome as I was when we lived in our house.
2) Favorite food to eat/make…favorite recipe you make?
My favorite food to eat…yikes, thats tough. Pizza is my go to. Did you know I had pizza in the hospital after the birth of each of my children? Papa John’s with Green Pepper & Onions. I love great Greek food or Mediterranean food too…I could go on but I better stop there.
I don’t love to make pizza though so I more often make: spaghetti and garlic bread, pasta salad, tacos and I’m currently into soups.
3) So glad you asked that question..it’s been on my mind about her food/ meals situation…
One of the biggest changes is that when we left Ohio in November we chose to pull our horse trailer and not bring a run-around vehicle. This means that we don’t go out to eat as often as we did before. It is amazing how much money we have saved as a side effect of this…especially because I can’t run to the coffee shop for a latte. On the positive side, this has driven me to learn how to make my own lattes at home! I think that might be another video….
4) I’m assuming you homeschool your kids?
Yes. We had homeschooled in the past and when we listed our home for sale, a year and a half before it sold, we began homeschooling again.
5) How do you transport the horses? Does the Motorhome pull the horse trailer?
Yes, we are currently towing a 3 horse bumper pull with the motorhome. This allows us to keep the front stall full of hay and still have room for the two horses that are traveling with us. We refill the hay and grain as we travel and also carry some hay cubes.
If you have additional questions about our motorhome adventure please leave them in the comments below and I will try to work them into an upcoming blog and/or video.
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Do you have trouble finding places to stop and get gas or groceries? How is the gas mileage anyway?
I was worried about that too at first. It hasn’t been a problem. If you think about it, semi trucks deliver to most grocery stores. That means that they have to fit in and out somehow. The diesel tank is 100 gallons so we don’t have to get it very often and truck stops are easy. We are probably getting around 7-8 miles to the gallon while towing our trailer.
What’s the full length of your motor home plus trailer? Have you come across many places where it was hard to get in to or turn around? I can only imagine it would be similar to pulling Rocky Mtn doubles with the pup on the back instead of being the first trailer. lol (I drove semi’s and a 53′ trailer was awful to pull, turn and back into tight spaces).
The motorhome is 40 foot and I would guess the total is around 56 feet (I guess I need to measure). We haven’t had much trouble. When we got the trailer we went to a parking lot and figured out the turning radius without jackknifing the rig. It can turn amazingly tight. If anything we have to watch that it kicks the trailer to the *outside* of the turn because the rear wheels are further up the MH. Jesse does a great job backing the rig. Much better than either of us thought it would be before we tried it.
Wow! Havnt seen something like that in South Africa yet. Is it possible to post this video in a non youtube format pleassssseeee. Must show my man……We dont have internet at home, i want to download on my tablet.
I’m jealous. Your kitchen is bigger than mine.
as a girl that needs “potty stops” are you able to use the restroom while the motorhome is motion on the road?
I do. I’m not sure if thats legal but if we get pulled over while I’m in there…I’ll let you know! Otherwise we stay strapped in. Some people treat it more like a school bus theory, I’m still the ‘stay in your seat’ mom. My mother-in-law goes to bed while they drive to Florida!
Absolutely beautiful! I have lived in several houses that were not that roomy! I, too wondered where the third son sleeps? 🙂
In the living room video you can see a pull out couch and that kid gets the HUGE TV instead of the bunked drop down tv, I guess I should have shown it better in the video, lol.
That is amazing, I’m thinking the size of it may even be bigger than the first house I bought! I am living vicariously through you guys 🙂 Do you miss having other animals? Apart from horses I have cats, dogs and a turtle, I couldn’t live without them.
I miss having more horses. Thankfully Newt can do lots of riding but I do miss having more. We get to be around lots of dogs because everywhere we stop has them, lol. I do keep threatening to get a winter white dwarf hamster. Jesse won’t pull into the pet store but someday, someone will sneak me to the pet store! Then my hamster attack passes and I go ride my horse, homeschool the kids, cook, do the dishes, write a blog…
Love all the features, especially the FULL size side-by-side fridge and the slide outs for extra counter space.
How do you handle receipt of your mail? I assume many things can be dealt with online (and I guess some go away with the brick and mortar home : ) Also curious about state of residency, license plates, banking, taxes, etc. When your home is actually anywhere the heart leads you, it seems that much of what we have become accustomed to reporting as to residency would no longer apply. Do you simply report the state you spend the most time in? We are considering attempting that sort of life (at least for a while) and have much to learn. You seem to be handling it effortlessly. Thank you for sharing your experience with all of us. Good luck to all of you and safe travels : )
We still have our PO Box in Mount Gilead and mail comes there. A friend picks it up and mails it to us. If anything looks important she can text a photo too. We keep going back to Ohio…I even have a child in braces that report to an ortho in Ohio…so Ohio is still home. They are happy to take our taxes. Different states have different laws. I think it was South Dakota that would grant RV’er residency if you had a receipt for ONE NIGHT in an RV park! Some people own a small piece of land, or rent a small piece of land, depending on the state requirements. I’m glad it looks effortless…but maybe I need to make a “Stacy having a stress attack” video…it would probably get lots of views…lol!
I’d like to know how long you plan to live in a motor home, and more importantly, how in the heck did you talk your husband into this? lol
Our first thought was a year but nothing is set in stone. My husband is actually the one that had this dream many, many years ago and I’M STILL TRYING to figure out how HE talked ME into this! I’m loving it…but it was his idea.
How do your horses do with so much travel? Do you give them a supplement to ease travel stress? You have a beautiful motor home! It is my dream to travel that way with our horses some day as well, but for now, I am working on a bachelors and then need to have a job to save up for the travels!! Love to keep up with what is happening in your adventures!
One more question, I have three boys as well. When I home schooled they got along better than they do now that they go to public school. Was/is it that way in your home?
The horses are fine with the travel and we met many other people traveling with their horses. Especially now in Arizona during the winter…lots of snowbirds with horses!
Yes, yes, yes. Our boys get along better and are more social when we homeschool vs when they are in school. I’m glad to hear you noticed that too. I think that we spend lots of time together and figure out how to work through stuff together.
Love this thanks for sharing…Home is beautiful
Very very nice !! Love the tile & colors ! Did you get to help decorate & where does your 3rd son sleep-I only see 2 bunk beds 🙂 ?
I told them I might hyperventilate if I had to make too many decorating decisions. We did pick wood color and a couple other things. In the living room video you can see a pull out couch and that kid gets the HUGE TV instead of the bunked drop down tv. Tough life.
Do the RV Parks you stay at have facilities for horses? Is there a directory where one can find such places? This is my plan within the next 2 yrs, to sell my house and hit the road with my 2 horses.
We used horsetrip.com and horsemotel.com and sometimes random Google searches of the area we want to visit. Although it may seem more limiting, these places are located in horse friendly areas and have other horse people around. We generally end up out riding or trail riding with the owners and/or other people staying. Most will gladly show you around. Very happy we are doing this and learning so much!
Quite interesting. Thanks for sharing.
You certainly have figured out how to keep things tidy for a family of 5. We have a fifth wheel. Love to use it in the Spring/Summer/Fall. Haven’t yet committed to being a full timer. Looks like a great life for everyone.
It goes through cycles…maybe I will video tape the ‘stages of mess’ sometime!
Are you coming to Washington?
Do you pull your horse trailer behind your RV?
Your motorhome is beautiful!
Possibly in the summertime. Yes, we are pulling a three horse bumper pull. Thanks!
that Is a really nice motorhome I took a two bumperpull made it to a small campper that I tow with my chev to best of American by horseback rides and use it at camp grounds that allow horses and it is fun to show it off to other people so check out my facebook page to see what I have done to it
Sign Brian Moser Wangler for Best of American by horseback
Just wondering, where do you keep your other horses while your on the road?
We cut back to only four horses and two are with us. The other two are with good friends for now.
Thanks for that Stacy, a helluva nice home, and the reining pattern note cracked me up !
Also do you carry a few fence panels for a makeshift corral in a emergency? And where do you carry them?
I don’t carry extra panels. I could tie them with water or hay bags but if something happened I would find some where to take them. We blew a tire once with our dually, inside tire, and couldn’t get it fixed. We called someone who came and towed the trailer. If the trailer was an issue I would find someone with a trailer to come and get them. Hopefully I don’t have to but that would be the plan. There are wonderful horsey people lots of places:)
Do you have trouble with the horses not wanting to drink different water at different places since you are traveling from state to state? What do you do for that problem?
No, we don’t have that problem with the horses. I do have that problem with Jesse though. Seriously. Thankfully the horses don’t request bottled water, they just drink.
Very nice! 🙂
Bahahahahaha…. your boys with their noses in the books!!!!! … WOW….there is more room up in there than I first thought….and I bet your 1st rule is “Boots off at the door!!!”
Lol, I was glad they consented to that shot too! No shoes come past the small entry rug I bought…or they get to clean the floor, not me!
🙂 ….you care to share your recipe for the blueberry crisp????
I used this one that I found online because I had all the ingredients. I did replace the yogurt with ice cream…http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/blueberry-crisp-la-mode-0
How did you come to the decision to sell you house and go to full-time motorhome living?
We had changed our lifestyle and the property we had didn’t fit anymore. We knew we were going to sell and Jesse has always wanted to live ‘out west’ so we decided to see if we could find exactly where ‘out west’ might be. The motor home is a great way to move around, have everything with, and be able to stay as long or short as we wish.