Are you just
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dying to know
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the big
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life changing
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decision?
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We’re moving!!
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Or rather, I should say, we’ll be on the move. 
Meet Benny the Brave:
Here’s the deal: Justin is facing layoff within a month or so. 
He feels fairly certain he can scrounge up a few more months of work. But construction is grimmer than Vegas has ever seen. And he knows he’ll need to find work elsewhere. And with Benny, we can follow the work while we scope out new places to live.
Apparently, he’s been thinking about and researching going on the road for awhile. He approached me with the idea while at GVC and totally freaked me out. (I think Jeff Sabo’s talk at Good Vibrations on pursuing our own Passions pushed him over the edge.) But after thinking about it and talking it over with Zeb, we all started to feel really good about the idea. As soon as we made the decision together, things clicked into place and we found Benny immediately (although we took several more days to research and compare before coming back to him).
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Here are his specs:
- 1982 Winnebago Brave Series M-22RB – 22′
- Chevy 6.2 L DIESEL engine with only 67k miles
- Ugly as sin VERY retro
- But cheap as DIRT (thank you poor economy)
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Some things he needs:
- New air, oil and fuel filters
- New tires (they’re okay but we’re not taking chances)
- New blackwater tank
- New fuel cap (we’re using a sock right now!)
- A deep clean
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Some things he WANTS:
- Veggie oil conversion (#1 after small maintenance)
- Solar panels
- Complete indoor remodel: new flooring, paint, storage, cushion, curtains (I’m totally inspired by Sara’s recent remodel)
- Some outdoor sparkle…maybe some stenciled “Unschool Bus” or buttloads of bumper stickers
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We’re going to make a conscious effort to sell our home. Home values are down 60% and I’m not yet familiar with short sales. So, we could be looking at a foreclosure when the work stops. Scary, yes. But I’m trusting everything to work out for the best.
We’ll sell everything that we don’t absolutely love, store what we don’t absolutely need and tow the truck (with Justin’s tools) behind the RV. We’re also trying to create a way to accomodate as many of Zeb’s LEGOs as possible. (Eep!)
We’re thinking six more months until we’re on the road. Talk about revamping our Five Year Plan! Anyone interested in buying an urban homestead in the making? 
ETA: More photos here.
I'm Tara Wagner, life coach and creator of the Digging Deep process, where I coach women out of survival mode to recreate their lives and families.
OMG!! When you are on the road, you HAVE to drive up to Oregon and stay on the coast with us for a while!! I should have eggs by then…
Cool!!!! We have seriously considered this ourselves and may yet do it. Dh really wants to. Kids and I are on the fence, but you never know!
Have fun! I can’t wait to read about your new adventures! Woohoo!
Congratulations! This will be such a WONDERFUL and POWERFUL opportunity for your whole family!! If you ever make it as far as Toronto, Ontario PLEASE let me know!!!
Awesome!!!!! I’m so happy for you guys! If you swing through the Phoenix area (or even the Grand Canyon area), *please* let me know!!
Yipee!! Lovin’ Benny.
Ok, Hillary and I both agree, no visiting us in the winter! Take your time coming across the country and Ithaca should be at it’s finest by the time you get here. Not to mention the work we can round up for you is summer seasonal.
So exciting!
That’s so exciting! I can’t wait to follow along on your trip. Go Benny Go!
Awesome! I’m jealous. We’ve been looking at a small budget bus conversion, but Benny looks road ready. You’ll have plenty of places to stop, visiting all your loyal fans. =) When coming through Sacramento, holler!
Good for you! I love total radical whole life shake outs. They rock. We hope to live on the road part of each year as the boys get older. Planning to downsize first, blah blah blah.
Looking forward to more!
How totally awesome!
Ever since I found your blog a few months ago you have constantly kept my head spinning with ideas. This is no exception!
Friends did pretty well selling their home in Los Angeles (as bad as Vegas market I imagine). Good luck with that side of the adventure.
My fave, being an anrachistic anti-planner nomad hippie, is that your ‘plan’ is totally redundant. And see how your garden did just fine and no more than you were going to need?
This is very cool. We’ll be doing something similar but different. I’m so excited for you guys. OH! But now we can’t come visit – I suppose we can meet ‘on the road’. 
Tara, this just feels right! Go with it. Zeb will have so many memories of this time in years to come. I’m truly so excited for you!!!
I thought Miranda’s comment on your ‘home from the gvc’ had given us a pretty big clue about the change. Fantastic! How exciting! I can’t wait to get back on the road here. Benny’s gonna look awesome by the time you’re ready to go. Have fun getting rid of stuff and good luck selling your house.
congratulations! that’s amazing! i’m really happy for you and your family….and secretly envious
We just bought our first rv and doing a quick remodel before leaving THIS Thursday or 4-6 weeks.
SWEET!
That is so awesome! You will have a wonderful time. Congrats on making such a big decision. I hope you can sell your house. Lots of people would love to be doing what you’re doing, but so few take the chance. I’m glad we can follow along on your blog!
As grateful as I am right now for having a home and a husband with work, I’m so madly envious about your new life on the road. How exciting!!!
Cool! My cousin and his wife and 3 boys just did a two month whirl around the country in a bus. he was between jobs. They made some nice memories.
You’ll have to let us know where all you are going…. if you pass thru GA, I’ll welcome you!
Sounds like you guys are happy with this decision. Hope you can sell the house.
Adventure rocks!
It sounds like you are trying to make the best of things. Just an FYI, to let you know that home sales have picked up a bit in Maryland, our economy is still better than most. Esp around the DC metro area….with govt growing, builders are building new homes again. And in our county, people are asking, “recession? what recession?” I wish you the best.
Wow, congrats! If you come Montana way, let me know… construction has slowed down here but not nearly as much as the rest of the country.
Hee! That’s what I thought, but you sure do work fast! Awe. Some.
Very exciting! I will send you good thoughts for a successful house sale.
we thought about doing it a few months ago and then we landed this apartment! congrats. if anyone can make this work it’s you!
what exciting news! Congrats on the ability to change your thoughts and go for the dreams……..somedays they morph right in front of one don’t they! Cheers!
holy smokes!! change is in the air! yahoooo. can’t wait to hear more-and good luck with everything.
blessings,
stacy
I have been stalking craigs list for weeks now trying to find a benny for us =-)Whoohoohoo
Wooo-hooo! This is so exciting! We have a camper in our future so it’s so exciting to see how fast you guys found something! I think Benny is super retro and coo!
This is going to be exciting!
DUDE!
haaaaa how cool! <3
My husband and I are taking the small steps to do the very same thing very soon… except that we do not have the RV yet.
We have 3 girls and I am researching something we could live in without being too too cramped.
Will you still be blogging on the road? I will be reading eagerly if you do… from *our* RV hehehe
AWESOME!! Come by Vancouver Island……
Woo hoo!! That’s so exciting!! I can’t wait to see the remodel.
I have no idea how I found your blog – perhaps through unschooling this or that?
Anyway, this is so cool! If you will be in the L.A. area let us know (we’re at the beach, and there is an RV campground nearby)!
Here’s some RV renovation inspiration for you:
http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=26479&forum=1&start=0
i am so excited for you guys and echoing what others have said, that seems so awesome and perfect for you and your family. i love it! and you will definitely have a place to veg in Northern California, and hey, i could probably even find some construction work for the mister!
yippee!!!
What fun! I wish I could pack up all the kids and take off!
I really admire your ability to take something really scary and make it work for your family. Good for you all! I’m sure your adventures will be unforgettable I would love to read about your adventures on the road.
Wow, life on the road. Now that sounds like an adventure! Good luck with everything. (And what’s this about Las Vegas laying off construction workers? They are ALWAYS doing construction in Vegas! Oh, right, poor economy.)
My husband would LOVE to do this, Im the chicken though!
How cool! Our family lived and traveled in a Winnebago in 1976 when we first started unschooling and launched our business publishing Natural Life mag. Rolf was working in construction at the time (he’s a plumber/steamfitter, as well as a mag publisher, community college administrator, etc., etc.) Have fun!!!
Don’t you feel it’s a bad lesson for Zeb to see you ditching your responsibilities? If you just leave the house you are not fulfilling that which you made an agreement with a lender to do.
@remitter: I do, in fact, think it’s not an ideal thing for Zeb to witness us needing to do. But it’s not something we undertake lightly, nor are we doing it because we *want* to. Reading our blog for any amount of time should mean you know what our original goal was – losing our home was not a part of it.
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Thankfully, Zeb’s had 10 years to watch us make responsible choices, he’s heard us speak against credit card debt, and he’s watched us work hard to pay off loans early and live frugally and below our means. Unfortunately, losing a house was never something we thought we’d end up doing. But neither is Justin’s layoff or the economic situation in Las Vegas something we foresaw. Zeb’s seen us agonize over this situation and make the best of what life is handing us. He’s heard us lament the consequences to our credit, as well as the challenge to our own moral compass. Losing a house is never easy but then neither is life and sometimes we just have to roll with the punches.
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Do I think it’s a tough lesson? Yes. For all of us. But I think that makes it a rather good lesson for him to witness.
You can do it!
Go Winnie!
I’ve got goosebumps, Tara, and it’s November 2010!