We lived a dream life for nearly a decade. We purchased a house in the mountains, surrounded by trees and natural beauty – but not people. We were an hour from the nearest grocery store and 90 minutes from the nearest city.
There are memes made about how we chose to live. In the meme, they ask, “Would you move here and give up social media for a million dollars?” Well we did it and didn’t need a million dollars to do it. We lived where the deer and the antelope roam, but the cell phone signal didn’t.
We had the remote, secluded mountain life that others dream of… and today, we traded it off for a camper.
Home Ownership Comes with Complications, Too
Yes, we’ve sold our sticks-and-bricks house and committed to life on the road in a rolling rectangle with wheels. Are we crazy? Maybe. But if you’ve ever lived on a rural mountain property, you already know: home ownership is not all white-picket-fence dreams and sun-dappled porches. It’s more like dry rot, driveway erosion, and propane tanks that only run out at 10pm during a blizzard at Christmas.
So, in honor of this monumental milestone, here are some of the real reasons we’re choosing full-time RV life over the so-called “security” of home ownership — especially in the mountains:
1. No Instant Gratification… Literally
Living in the mountains means you’re blessed with scenic views and soul-soothing silence — and cursed with no delivery options whatsoever.
No pizza. No DoorDash. No Uber Eats. Not even Amazon Prime.
Two-day shipping? Try two-weeks-if-you’re-lucky and you better pray your package doesn’t get rerouted to “Undeliverable” because your driveway scares the FedEx driver.
2. Everything Breaks. Always.
Owning a home means you’re never not working on it. Roofs leak. Windows warp. Pipes freeze. Septic tanks burp up unpleasant surprises. Even your “low-maintenance” appliances conspire against you the moment you dare to take a weekend off.
Our cooking range once tried to kill us with a carbon monoxide leak.
And just when you think you’ve fixed everything, you realize nature has other plans. Spoiler alert: Chipmunks will destroy more insulation than you think, and if a squirrel wants in, it will get in.
3. The Grocery Gauntlet
“Oh, just run to the store!”
…Said no one who lives an hour and a half from the nearest grocery store, one lane road, mountain pass, and two elk crossings away.
A “quick” grocery run is a full-day commitment complete with weather window calculations, extra fuel, and a detailed route plan like you’re prepping for an excursion on Everest.
And don’t forget the cooler. You’re not coming home in time to keep your ice cream frozen or your edibles from melting.
4. Fire Season is the New Anxiety Season
If you’ve never lived through a Red Flag Warning, count your blessings.
The moment those words hit your weather app, your brain spirals:
Do we have enough gas?
Where’s the fire?
What direction is the wind blowing?
Should we pack the animals? The heirlooms?
Wait — did we pay last month’s insurance premiums?
Fire season isn’t just scary — it’s existential. There’s nothing like standing on your porch and sniffing the air like an amateur meteorologist trying to decide if it’s campfire vibes or an incoming apocalypse.
Once you’ve experienced a wildfire, you’ll never look at a campfire the same.
Colorado Wildfire is Terrifying (Image created with AI)
5. Rodents, Rattlesnakes & Random Power Outages
Country living means cohabitating with the entire cast of a National Geographic special. Every critter wants in — and some of them will succeed.
You will:
Battle mice in the closets.
Scream when you lift the toilet lid and find a spider that could rent a car.
Lose power randomly for “reasons” that no utility company can explain.
Bonus fun? When the power goes out, so does your well pump. That means: no lights, no water, no flushing, and exactly zero fucks given by the utility company.
6. Snow Removal = Full-Time Job
Living in the mountains sounds dreamy until you realize snow is your new boss, and it’s an overachiever. Luckily for us, we didn’t have full-time jobs or deadly commutes… so we would wait it out. But when you get with four feet of snow, you might wonder if you bought enough groceries to last.
You will shovel. You will plow. You will beg your truck not to slide off the icy roadways. You will learn to identify snow types like Eskimos and know exactly how many inches = cancel all plans.
Oh, and surprise storms? They’re just the universe reminding you who’s really in charge. The weather report may call for clear skies, but when it’s 44 degrees and you’re at 9,000 ft. snow and graupel are not your friends.
7. Isolation Is a Double-Edged Sword
Sure, the solitude is lovely… until you need a neighbor. Or a mechanic. Or a tow. Or a plumber. Or an emergency room.
Out here, it’s just you and your YouTube degree in DIY survivalism. Hope you watched that “How to Thaw a Frozen Pipe with a Hairdryer” tutorial before the storm knocked out your internet.
Have an emergency? No worries, it’ll only take an ambulance, the fire department, or the sheriff 20-30 minutes to come to your rescue – and they’ll likely show up with an attitude because they’re a volunteer that you just got out of bed at 2am.
8. You’re Always Behind Schedule
Rural life operates on mountain time, which is code for: “Nothing is on time.”
Contractors don’t show. Deliveries disappear. Mail takes a sabbatical. And don’t even try to schedule anything official like permits, inspections, or DMV renewals unless you’re prepared for an all-day wait.
So, Why are We Going Homeless by Choice?
Because freedom.
Because we’re tired of fixing things that break so that we can sit still in one place.
Because we’d rather deal with small, manageable chaos on the road than big, overwhelming chaos in one location.
Because we want to wake up in the desert, fall asleep by a river, and have the world as our backyard.
Most of all, because after years of doing everything “right” — the house, the property, the work — we realized something:
As much as I would love to call myself “retired at 50,” I’m not. Yes, I’ve planned ahead and prepared ourselves for this adventure by setting aside a little money to cover our basic living expenses. I intend to continue to work as a freelance writer while we travel.
Fortunately, I’ve trained for this. Over the last several years, living in a Colorado mountain paradise – birds, chipmunks, and deer frequently distracted me. Sorry, but when a herd of 32 mule deer wanders into your yard, all work comes to a screeching halt.
The key is learning to prioritize your time, set daily goals, and mind your task list, so when nature or adventure calls, you don’t feel guilty taking a break.
Prioritize Your Time, But Go With the Flow
Personally, I’m a morning person. I love the wee morning hours before the rest of the world wakes up. It’s quiet. It’s peaceful. But I also know I can’t write anything until my brain wakes up and gets inspired by something. So, rather than wake up and try to jump straight into writing something, I read first.
I read today’s news, maybe a few blogs on Medium, and I scroll through social media for a little while until something triggers an idea. (These days, it usually doesn’t take long.) While traveling, maybe I’ll read my notes from the previous day’s excursion, or spend some time looking ahead to find our next destination.
The moral of the story is this… pay attention to what works for you. Don’t set your schedule based on some article you read about some random celebrity’s idea of a perfect day. Do what works for you. Maybe you’re a night owl who doesn’t really get inspired until the moon comes up and can’t imagine waking up at 5 am every day. It doesn’t matter what your preference is, but learn to use your time so that it works best for you.
Show of hands – who’s a lister? I’m a lister, and I blame my mother. She left lists of things for me to do while she was at work in the summer, and it stuck.
But for years, I was doing it wrong. If you have more than 10 items on your daily to-do list, you’re doing it wrong, too. I would create lists of completely unattainable proportions or so vague that the item was never really complete. Thus, I felt like I never accomplished anything.
Now, I write many of my blogs on the fly. I can write 1,000 words in an hour or less when I’m inspired, triggered, or otherwise emotionally motivated.
But for larger projects, client work, or research projects, finishing a little each day trains your brain to trust the process—and that’s where true self-discipline is built.
Break It Down
Break your lists into small, achievable chunks. Take your big tasks and break them down into little tasks. Not sure how to break a project down into daily chunks? Ask ChatGPT to help. (Yes, I’m a writer—and yes, I use ChatGPT like an office assistant and mentor.)
By breaking down a writing assignment into daily, bite-sized tasks, you can avoid overwhelm, build momentum, and actually enjoy the process. Here’s an example of how a 1,200 to 1,500-word article can be completed in five focused days without overwhelm, anxiety, or procrastination:
Day 1: Brainstorm, define your audience, and create an outline
Day 2: Draft your introduction and first section
Day 3: Write the body sections and develop your core examples
Day 4: Wrap it up with a conclusion and complete a rough edit
Day 5: Final polish, format for submission, and hit publish
Even the biggest, most insurmountable projects can be accomplished by simply hacking away at them, chunk by chunk. As long as you’re making progress, you’re moving forward, and that’s all that matters.
A Few Listing Hacks to Build Self-Discipline
For me, listing isn’t just about getting shit done. It’s the mental preparation for planning the day, maximizing my time, and allowing myself a little guilt-free downtime. You see, as a child in my house, I was taught that rest and recreation are rewards for a hard day’s work.
So, my little list of crossed-off items was my ticket to freedom. Whether freedom meant a day at the pool or a night at the local skating rink, those scribbles equaled cash, even to a 10-year-old.
Forty years of listing later, there are a few things I’ve learned to make my lists more effective.
Categorize Your List by Energy Level
Let’s get human for a second, shall we? Some days, you wake up ready to conquer the world. Other days, you’re lucky to conquer your inbox. One trick I’ve learned to stay disciplined without burning out is to group my to-do items by the amount of energy or brainpower they require.
Here’s how it works:
High Energy Tasks – writing, graphic design, recording, editing (mornings)
Medium & Low Energy Tasks – admin work, social media, emails, website maintenance (evenings)
Labeling your list this way lets you match your energy to the task instead of fighting your body or brain. It’s still self-discipline, but it’s self-discipline with compassion—because burnout doesn’t serve your long game. Plus, notice how I’ve focused my tasks for morning or evening? That’s so I can prioritize “play time,” such as exploring, hiking, or doing whatever during the day.
Keep the List Visible
I’m a tech geek, but as much as I’ve tried, digital to-do lists and apps simply don’t work for me. Don’t get me wrong, they’re fantastic, and I’ve tried dozens of them. The functionality in many of these apps is phenomenal.
But here’s my mental dysfunction – if it’s out of sight, it’s out of mind. If I have to pull up an app, a tab, or a separate window to look at my to-do list, it will get overlooked.
I require paper, where my to-do list is always physically visible. A good ol’ whiteboard works well, too – if you have the room to hang one. Obviously, RV living makes whiteboarding a little more challenging.
Use Your List to Make Tomorrow’s List
Now, here’s the kicker. ALWAYS make item #10 on your daily to-do list, “Create tomorrow’s to-do list.” By the time you make it to the last item on your list, you’ve prepared tomorrow’s list and you’re already ahead of the game.
No matter how you slice it, accomplishing 10 productive tasks toward your goal is called “progress.”
This item is critical, because one – it triggers that moment in your brain when you can lean back in your chair, and mentally disconnect – “Ahhhh, my list is done.” Plus, it also mentally prepares you for tomorrow.
Self-Discipline Is Freedom in Disguise
At first glance, self-discipline feels like a buzzkill. It sounds like structure, rigidity, and saying “no” when you’d rather say, “Hell yes.” But once you reframe it—as I have over years of freelancing, mountain living, and now RV life—you realize that discipline isn’t the opposite of freedom.
It’s the path to it.
When you master your time, your energy, and your workflow, you get to earn those mid-day hikes, those long lunches, those spontaneous adventures. And even better? You enjoy them without that nagging feeling that you “should be working.”
In 2013, wandering aimlessly through Walmart on a quest for new kitchen gear, I stumbled upon a mini-jackpot. However, it would take 12 years for me to recognize it. I found a purple bella toaster at an astonishingly low price of $9.95. Purple—because life’s too short for beige appliances and, also, “SKOL Vikings!”
With zero hesitation and a Minnesota Vikings sticker, we inducted the toaster into superfan kitchen badassery. Built for Pop-Tarts and Eggos of a college dorm, I’ll be damned if that little toaster didn’t last 12 years!
This toaster powered through more than a decade of artisanal avocado toasts and everything bagels.
The Little Toaster That Could – 12 years running!
Surviving the chaos of a Denver move and braving the altitude of Colorado mountain living, this toaster gave zero toasts about the odds. Even as we opened our home and our life to the public, hundreds of Airbnb guests inevitably paused mid-bite in disbelief, “Wait, is that seriously a Vikings toaster?” Damn right it is.
Twelve solid years, hundreds of slightly burnt bread products, and more houseguest praise than it had any right to claim. And yet, like most of us hitting middle age, it’s starting to slow down. Now, it toasts at its own pace and occasionally requires an encouraging smack on the ass.
Our New bella Toaster
Now, as we prep for our next adventure—downsizing into an RV—our trusty purple warrior is finally, gloriously tapping out. But legends never truly die; they evolve.
How will this icon of my countertop legacy be replaced? With another bella toaster, obviously. Because loyalty, sarcasm, and a deep appreciation for budget-friendly rebellion run thick through these veins.
Here’s to the “Little Toaster That Could”—$10, twelve years, countless laughs, and proof positive that cheap, purple, and trustworthy never go out of style.
How long before this one gets a Vikings sticker? 🙂
Downsizing from 2,000 sq. ft. to less than 300 sq. ft. means space efficiency. Here are some RV essentials we purchased to prepare for the great adventure in such a tiny space.
I like to cook, and I cannot wait to see what kind of fun new meals we can whip up while we’re traveling. But let’s face it, many kitchen appliances are not intended for small spaces. I mean, who needs a six qt. crock-pot when you’re cooking for two? That only means leftovers – which will take up precious refrigerator space. I snagged these kitchen goodies from Amazon before we even bought the RV.
bella Kitchen Gear
First, let me explain that I’ve had a bit of a love affair with bella kitchen products for several years. The toaster that we are throwing away when we leave this place, is a bella – and I bought it for $10 in 2013 when we moved to Minnesota. It’s nearly 12 years old. When I learned that bella has a line of products called the “Fit Anywhere Kitchen,” my heart my have fluttered a bit.
9 Piece StoreMore Cookware Set by bella
We know that RV kitchens often run short on storage space. I need a pots and pans set with a smaller footprint. So the first purchase in my RV essentials list was this stackable, nesting set from Bella. It’s a bonus that they also come in this beautiful plum purple and are incredibly affordable.
Absolutely nothing sticks to the surface of these glorious pans, which take up the cupboard floor space of one large skillet.
bella 2-Slice Slim Toaster
Naturally, with a former bella toaster that lasted more than 12 years, I wanted to replace it with another bella toaster. This little gem boasts the same gorgeous plum color, and a slim design to take up the least amount of space possible. Counter space is precious real estate in an RV, so this was a must-have purchase.
Coffee Gator Moka Pot
If you’re like me, coffee is an essential part of your morning. Sadly, a countertop coffee pot with a glass carafe isn’t the best design for traveling. Besides the fact that the glass breaks, camping may not always involve electricity. I want coffee, whether I’m off-grid with cloudy skies and no solar power, or not.
Coffee isn’t just for RV essentials – it’s essential for a happy life. 🙂
RV Essentials: Utensils and Dinnerware
When stocking up your RV for full-time living, it’s important to remember your house is going to be bouncing around on wheels. Glass is probably not the best choice. So, 90% of our dinnerware – must be replaced.
Unbreakable, Wheat Straw Plates
The last thing I want to do is find a cupboard full of broken stoneware after a long day of traveling. So wheat straw plates were the first purchase I made for new mobile lifestyle.
While these plates aren’t recommended for the microwave (we can use paper plates for that anyway), these plates will never break.
Silicone Kitchen Utensils
You know, sometimes the best part about purging is replacing the things that are old and worn out. While there’s nothing sexy about buying new kitchen utensils, these are things that you simply need to have and must replace from time to time.
While not having a dishwasher is somewhat of a setback, at least I can own utensils with wooden handles.
RV Essentials Must Include Storage Containers
A keystone of any well-organized kitchen is storage. Keeping your pantry items organized, sealed and fresh is critical while traveling. Bags of snacks come open, cereals go stale, and baking ingredients can end up all over the place if you’re not careful. To avoid spilled flour mess that looks like a pound of Columbian bam-bam exploded in your kitchen, you must have well-sealed containers.
Camping Must-Haves
Overmont 6QT Camp Dutch Oven
During our stint in Colorado, I practically became famous for my cinnamon rolls. I don’t want to give up my favorite morning delicacy, but instead, I’m looking forward to putting a little twist on the recipe by making them over an open campfire in this beautiful, 6 Qt. Dutch Oven by Overmont.
Not to mention, there are numerous other items we can make over the fire, from soups and stews to campfire lasagna. A dutch oven is an essential cooking tool for off-grid camp living.
Clothes Line
You know what else we’re not always going to have access to? A laundromat. But clean clothes don’t have to be a luxury. Believe it or not, you can hand-wash items in your sink and hang them to dry with a portable clothes line.
RV Essentials For the Dogger-Doo
Our dog absolutely lives to travel. Seriously, he loves it. The first time I knew we had a travel dog was when we drove 12-hours straight through to Iowa and he laid in the backseat of the car without so much as a whimper. He’s fabulous on the road and we cannot wait to take Bocephus for the road trip of lifetime.
But traveling with an animal also takes special consideration. Here are a few essentials we bought for Bo.
The Backseat Apartment
Our new truck is a crew cab, which means it has a spacious backseat, but we want it to be as comfortable as possible for Bo, and we want to protect the truck from Bo, too. So with this lovely little purchase, we basically turn the truck’s backseat into an efficiency apartment made just for the dog.
I’ll replace this picture with one of our dog, once we have it all set up.
The Doggie Ramp
Like us, Bo isn’t getting any younger. He’s going to be 11 years old this year, and he’s starting to slow down a little. While he can still make the jump into the back of the car, jumping up into our truck may be another battle. So, just to be prepared, we will start training him on a ramp.
Travel Water Bowl
Everyone who owns a dog knows that if you plan to take them anywhere, you have to plan for water. But carrying around a bowl isn’t always convenient or easy. Fortunately, they make snazzy little travel bottles like this one that come with a built-in water dish.
A Growing RV Essentials List
I’m certain that this is only going to grow. After we pick up the RV and start to get situated, there are several other items that I’m sure we’ll add to this list, such as security and anti-theft devices… maybe even a little covert surveillance to keep the riff-raff out.
Closing a beautiful chapter in our lives and moving on to the next adventure.
I had a moment this morning.
It dawned on me that we’re not coming back when we leave here, and the emotional weight of that hit me like a lead brick.
This has been our home for over 8 years, and we have built a helluva life here. But I’ve learned that humans grow, change, and evolve. We live through phases in life. This was a great phase, but it’s time to move on.
To balance those emotions, I try to remember that this isn’t a loss but an exciting adventure leading us to the next place we need to be. Although we’re leaving much of our trip to spontaneous adventure, believe it or not, there’s a method to our madness.
But what helps the most is remembering the things that made us put our house on the market in the first place.
The Skinwalker – Beginning of the End
I always said inviting strangers into your home is a numbers game. Eventually, you’ll end up with a rotten egg. We started hosting Airbnb guests in 2017 and were incredibly blessed with a “mostly” respectful guest list until June 2022.
We had some entertaining experiences with a few guests, but nothing prepared us for this guest. We’ll call him “Doug” for anonymity.
Doug was a paranoid schizophrenic off his meds (and on lots of other drugs) who showed up for his stay at 11 o’clock at night, ranting about killing demons in the desert in Utah. He was the second person we hosted who made me feel compelled to lock our bedroom door at night. But he made the first questionable guest look like a kitten.
The following day, I watched him medicate with a sublingual suboxone strip, and within 45 minutes, I watched him transform from a somewhat stable human being into a walking coconut. He spent an hour doing laps around my pool table, chanting “God-Country-Family” and mumbling about demons and his father while wearing a straw cowboy hat painted with an American flag.
While I won’t go into the entire, horrific story of his two-day stay, I’ll fast-forward to when we started receiving his mail a few weeks later. He left our house, went to a bank, and opened an account using our address. He attempted to establish residency in our home.
This 42-year-old man wreaked havoc on our lives and robbed us of our trust. His presence changed the air in our home.
I once told the entire story to young, Native American man who was visiting our house, and he looked at me wide-eyed, and said, “You hosted a skinwalker in your home.”
I believe him.
Friends and Frequent Abusers
Let me tell you what happens when you own a disc golf course – everybody in the disc golf scene wants to be your friend. They want unrestricted access to the course and any amenities you offer. And, preferably for free.
Once these people get comfortable, they take liberties they wouldn’t take with anyone else’s business.
One “friend” saw our success with our property and decided to be predatory to cash in on our efforts. He built a course, put it on UDisc, and took advantage of simply being near our highly ranked course. So, when one of our guests arrived to play his course before checking in at our place, he convinced them not to stay with us and to stay on his property instead.
We also hosted another group on numerous occasions – I cooked food and hosted this group like they were my own kids. Their drug-fueled stays frequently involved a variety of hallucinogens, drugs, booze and glow discs, but we never had any incidents – I let them do their thing. But by 2023, they had become so comfortable that they hosted a party with 78 people, in my home, and stiffed us on an agreed fee for the event. Truthfully, I don’t think they ever intended to compensate us for our hospitality.
That same weekend, a repeat Airbnb guest arbitrarily invited a 15-year-old child to our 21+ property without asking for permission. And said ‘child’ left the only negative review our course had ever received, saying he felt like he “almost died” on our course. Thus, this arrogant, entitled little brat tanked our 4.9 rating that we had worked tirelessly for 7 years to build.
I was just done. We immediately closed the course to “by appointment only.” We had lost our tolerance for disrespect.
The Reality of Aging
Let’s get a few hard truths out of the way, shall we? Aging is a sad fact of life. Death is inevitable. Time is limited.
Burying our parents is an unfortunate rite of passage that happens in life that helps us learn to appreciate time more. Just as there are lessons in life… there are lessons in death.
Healthcare matters – and I’m not talking about making monthly appointments with your doctor to fill your prescriptions. I’m talking about taking accountability for the bad habits contributing to your demise and doing something about it.
Stagnancy leads to complacency. As people age, they tend to stay home more, exercise less, and stop living. They live life through a silver smoke screen of Fox News and QVC from an armchair in the living room.
Collecting “stuff” you think might valuable someday is a cruel way to task your children with selling all your junk once you’re gone. Unless you’re investing in gold, rare paintings, or real estate, nothing is as valuable as you think it is.
Don’t leave anything for your kids to divide—especially property. This only creates tension and resentment, particularly if you have a blended family from previous marriages.
Do it now.
Now that we’re over 50, there are important things to think about. After losing Gary’s father in 2023, we realized it wouldn’t be fair to expect our kids in Iowa to handle selling a house and all our belongings in Colorado if something happened to us.
We understood the legal battles that would ensue. Even with a will, things can go awry. It’s irresponsible for us to leave such a mess for our kids. So we’re cashing out.
Wrapping It Up
The years we’ve spent here on the ranch were precisely what we needed nine years ago. However, we are not who we were then; we’ve grown, changed, and evolved.
This home no longer serves us or our future. I don’t want to grow stagnant, give myself excuses to stop living, and surround myself with useless trinkets until the day I die, expecting someone else to clean up my mess.
Yes, closing the door on a chapter as beautiful as this one stings a little. It’s not easy to walk away from something you’ve invested your soul into, but learning to let go and trust the process is just another one of those lessons in life.
What Makes This Blog Different? Let’s be real—most blogs these days are a pop-up minefield. You won’t find that here.
No ads. No pop-ups. No auto-play videos trying to sell you socks. Just clean content and good vibes.
Yes, I have a few affiliate links. But only for products I personally use and love. If it’s linked here, it’s been road-tested in real life. If I wouldn’t spend my own money on it, I’m not sending you to it either. Any purchases made through these links send a little support our way—and we’re genuinely grateful.
This whole operation? 100% homegrown. Self-funded, self-built, and self-maintained. No team, no tech squad—just one woman (and her very patient husband) building something real on the road.
