answering your letters...

Occasionally I receive emails from people who contact me through the blog. They are usually wondering about various aspects of getting on and living on the road. I thought that I would answer some of the letters here on the blog in case anyone else is wondering the same things! :)

Hi,I found your blog on families on the road website. I have questions if you have time. We have 6 boys 9 and under. I also just found out we are expecting.

Congratulations! :)

We moved into our 35ft travel trailer in Dec of 2011. Right now we are parked in ___ where we live (not a great idea with the wind) we will be traveling hopefully in the spring. My husband is a ___ part time, so we get to travel occasionally for his work.

You are starting out much like we did. We sold our house, and we stayed in our travel trailer in our hometown for 3 months before heading out. It is a great way to get used to living in your rv since everything around you is familiar - friends for a 'run in a big house' day, familiar stores for parts and propane runs, and, if you are like us, access to the storage unit! We were in and out of our storage unit a ton those first months; putting in items that we thought we 'had' to have, and pulling out things that we thought we wouldn't use but ended up wanting.

What are some things you suggest for a newbie?

Actually, my biggest suggestion is exactly what you are doing - trying out living in your RV!

And then talking to others who are doing it... I would spend time figuring out realistic cost projections, and keeping open communication with your kids to see how they are adjusting to the changes...

How did you do doctor appointments on the road?

Actually, we don't. We try to take care of any needs before we leave (we are rather unique in that we travel during the winter months and then go back to our hometown to work in the summers to support our travel fetish). We did have one child that needed a cavity filled on the road. And, boy did that dentist see us coming - what would have cost $80 back home dinged us $440 in Casa Grande, AZ. Our kids don't get immunes, and I don't do 'well-child checkups'. That's not to say that we don't use or need Drs, just that we only go if there is a problem. Generally, you will be able to find a Dr. in the area you are visiting that will be able to work you in; there are also local public health clinics that can see you even if you aren't a resident.

I read you are home in the summer. How does that work for you?

It is both great and a pain at the same time. We love it because it gives us a chance to reconnect with friends and family, have access to our stuff that is in storage, and catch up on any Dr, dental, or eye checks that need to be done. On the other hand, if we did not have to come back home during the summer, we probably wouldn't -or at least not for the whole summer. Having the freedom to travel during the summer would allow us to tour the northern states while it's summer up there. We would love to find a job that we could take on the road with us, but typical workamping jobs would barely cover our grocery bill alone...

Do you get lots of school done then?

We school year round. kinda. While it is true that we get more tangible schoolwork done during the summer because it is a slower pace of life for us, we also don't take scheduled breaks; more of a go with the flow mom/teacher. If we are somewhere super cool, I usually give the kids the day off from their bookwork, and if we decide to do something that day, last minute, we just have the kids put their work away and pick it up the next day. I guess it's kind of backwards from the 'usual', but it works for us!

We homeschool and I have a hard time keeping up. We like to be out doing things. I have a 4th grader, 1st grader, and kindergartner. We like to be out doing stuff also! And for us, in the younger grades, we do a certain amount of bookwork, but a lot is caught when we do extra activities like visiting museums, national parks, zoos...even just walking around the campground checking out the new insects, animals, and plants (and looking them up in the field guides ;)

I was wondering when you had a smaller room in your 1st trailer, where did you put the baby to sleep?
In the 30' bunkhouse travel trailer that we had when we first started out, we put the baby to sleep in the same place that we put our babies to bed in this rv - with us :) We had modified the tt's queen bed into a king, but here it's still just a queen.

Sorry for all the questions. Most people think we're crazy for having 7+ kids. Living in a travel trailer makes us even crazier. I know you understand. Thank you for your time.
I totally understand :) and I think it's great - I love to share our unusual, wonderful life with others! I know that lots of people think we are a little crazy also - and I'm OK with that. But as we travel and meet people, we find that there are a lot more folks than we would have imagined that are curious about, or interested in, fulltiming as a family. I hope that sharing our travels and experiences encourages others to realize that families can travel successfully too... :)