RVing Fulltime
Who Needs a Driveway
and a Mailbox?

By Tracie Lobstein

Sharing our experience of giving up the norm of stability in a structured home and the routine workday for freedom and exposure to many new faces and places. While finding we can still volunteer and contribute to not only one community but many communities as we turned the highway into our new driveway

When my husband received a job offer that would require constant travel in an RV, he told me we were putting in our resignations to our stable employment and putting the house up for sale because we were taking off on the road! I have held a fulltime job since 1984 and was not sure how I would handle not working. Besides, not working fulltime, the insecurity of not knowing when or where the next job would be should have brought some fear. 

Well, I have to admit, it didn’t take long to adjust to the freedom of RV life and the insecurity we feared doesn’t exist. Our faith is lived out day by day while experiencing the variety of new views from our living room window every few days, weeks or months. Memories are kept by taking advantage of the amazing opportunity to take pictures of remarkable landscape, well known and seldom visited bodies of water and wildlife that we wouldn’t be able to see past our driveway and mailbox if we didn’t give them up. 

Prior to our commitment to the road, we have both traveled a bit during our lives but not in this capacity. We are thankful that we have had the privilege to see places that are new to both of us since our traveling adventure began. We enjoy the freedom of driving and not knowing where we will stay for the night. If we are in the mood for a nice meal we will ask around for the best restaurants when we stop for fuel or at the market, seeking a unique experience. 

Along the way, we have discovered that some RV Parks charge a small fee for a late-night call to park for that evening and we appreciate the service as we travel around feeling like traveling gypsy’s. Thankfully, RV Parks are thinking ahead for their visitors and they usually keep pull through sites open for the convenience of us late-night callers. 

After arriving at a new location in the late hours, we truly love early mornings when we pour our cup of coffee and head out for a morning walk to see our new surroundings. Thanks to technology we do a lot of google searches of the communities that we spend any time in. We are interested in the towns history, from how they got started to what currently drives the environments.  

My husband has us prepared for any type of stay. We appreciate full hook ups but we are also equipped to park anywhere and this gives us the opportunity to park as we did a few weeks ago by simply backing up to the Colorado River. Our living room is in the back of our 5th Wheel with all 3 walls being nothing but windows. I hope you can imagine our view. 

I can’t think of a better way to start the day than my husband cooking breakfast in cast iron on the shore of the Colorado.  

When our stay is going to be longer than a week or two we have discovered that looking for Church camps is beneficial for our stay. The prices are reasonable and they usually have activities that we can participate in too. Such activities that we have been exposed to have included fishing, kayaking, canoeing, horses, ranch animals and walking trails for our exercise. Some Church camps have game rooms too, so this satisfies our urge to shoot pool, play ping pong and foosball during our down time. 

When we owned a driveway and a mailbox with our name on it we gave ourselves to our communities through years of volunteering. By staying at Church camps, we get an opportunity to give back to the community in the same way and the pleasure of meeting new people too.   

Our 3-year-old Border Collie/Australian Shepherd, Tye, goes everywhere with us and has been welcomed wherever we have gone. If there is a body of water feel free to place a bet that he is going for a swim no matter what the temperature is. We’ve imagined icicles hanging from his fur as he climbed out of the Green River in Wyoming a few weeks ago and did his shake spraying water in every direction. 

Tye loves to volunteer too. He has even helped out during our volunteering efforts during one of our stays at a Church camp. This camp offers events for Special Needs adults and he brought many smiles as they loved his company along with the obedience he demonstrates. 

When there is a new adventure every day and we are still able to contribute to communities, who needs a mailbox and driveway to call their own?

About The Author

Traveling fulltime has given Tracie the opportunity to write as she has desired to venture into for years. Tracie is a mother, grandmother.

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