That first night after trading in my house for an RV I did wonder, “What the hell have I done?” Here I was, trying to wedge a 42-foot RV up these sharp turns at a Colorado RV park. In the dark. Then, it started snowing!

Eventually, I drove back down to the nearby Walmart parking lot. I woke up the next morning to four inches of snow on the ground. But you know, the next two years living in an RV taught me that I can handle anything! Just days later, I would wake up, look out my window, and see the Continental Divide.

At dusk a beautiful red fox sauntered through my almost half-acre campsite. That first night was a good way for me to know that I could handle it. I could handle anything! Selling my home started me on the adventure of a lifetime.

I have never been afraid to try non-traditional things. But I guess to really understand my story, I have to start many years back. Just so you know, I will always be the mother of two great kids – a boy and a girl. Well, they grew up, moved away and had babies of their own. Now firmly in the “nana” years, I was enjoying life with my partner Jim. Then, he passed away at the young age of 52. I was still mourning him when my daughter asked me to move to Colorado to be closer to her. We made some wonderful memories moving all my stuff up there.

Soon after I got there, she died in a car accident. At that point, I knew why I bought a house in Colorado. I became one of the many support people for my two little grandkids, ages 6 and 8. Well, as kids do, those babies grew up. And I was ready to live my roaming RV dreams.

Back in 2018, the market in my part of Colorado was going crazy. I did my research. I knew that I could sell my home and use the profits to buy an RV. Oh, and it wasn’t just going to be any RV! We were talking a beautiful Tiffin Phaeton 48-footer, with four slide outs. I had always wanted to live in a top-of-the-line motorhome, and travel the country. With the grandkids grown, it was time! So I put my big Colorado home on the market.

I started talking with a NextHome REALTOR and we decided that listing in June 2019 would get me the best bang for my buck. Before I even got an offer on the house, I put down $1,000 earnest money on that RV. That’s how committed I was to this dream!

For the next two years, that RV was my home. I drove it from Colorado to Ohio. I saw Oregon in October. I got to take my 89-year-old mom to Florida. My 9-year-old granddaughter would join me out in it for help with her homework. We made a lot of great memories in that thing. I even spent some time as a YMCA of the Rockies Volunteer. I called it my freedom machine.

The totally cool thing is that the sale of the Colorado house got me the RV to have some adventure. I got it out of my system and I am now pretty much ready to settle in as a retired and (mostly) well-behaved Nana! 

Now, I’m living in Ohio with my son. Those two short years of redefining “home” gave me a lot of confidence and experience though. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Then, the sale of the RV enabled me to buy this wonderful new spec house very near my son, his wife and family. The new house is a wonderful place to be during Covid time and being here has provided the opportunity to be helpful and useful to my family. I’ve come 360 degrees!  And it all started with the NextHome sale …

Lucky me!