If you've been following along with our journey, you already know Colton and I (and our 2 pups) are also attempting to make the adjustment to living out of our RV full-time. And what an adventure that has been! From getting a flat tire in the last 3 hours of our 24 hour drive here to broken AC units and toilet malfunctions, this change has been interesting- to say the least! 

And that's exactly what I'm going to center this post about. I'm going to be giving a special glimpse into our "home away from home," some tips/tricks if you're thinking about transitioning to this way of living, and why I'm loving RV life so much!

Choosing The Mobile Home Route

If you've read my "How I Came To Choose Travel Nursing" blog post, you know the decision of travel nursing was not an easy one, but one that had been weighing on my heart for quite some time. I battled feelings of guilt when it came to leaving my previous job, moving away from family, and the stress it would place on Colton and his job when thinking of sharing what was on my heart. 

But Colton has been supportive from the start and thankfully, he was approved to keep his job while working remotely out of the RV. He works in finance, so when I first brought up the idea of trying travel nursing it came as no surprise when his mind went directly to the financial aspect of things and whether or not it was doable for us. 

In the beginning, we had no plans to do anything but what I would consider the normal housing route for a travel nurse: Airbnbs, extended stay hotels, and/or apartments. I have always loved the idea of 'van life' (where people buy and convert vans like Ford Sprinters to live out of) and have followed along with multiple couples on social media who live this lifestyle. But I knew something like a Sprinter was simply too small with a 6 foot 5 inch husband and two dogs- one being over 100 pounds with more than a tendency to shed. Plus I didn't find it was fair to Colton since he was signing up to spend practically 24 hours a day there.   

Up until a few months before we hoped to start my first contract, we remained on the path toward an apartment or Airbnb. That was until one evening after work Colton sat me down and said, "I want to bring something up to you, but I don't want you to get stressed out."

Honestly, my mind spiraled into thinking he was about to ask me to drop the dream of travel nursing altogether. But when he started rambling about going over the numbers in his head and suggested looking into a used RV, I couldn't have been more excited. The only thing that did stress me out was the limited time we had left before leaving and the idea of finding an RV we liked enough we wouldn't have to make many improvements to.

Thus began our deep dive into Craigslist. It got to a point where every RV looked the same to me- I simply couldn't fathom buying one without walking through it first. We kept our search restricted to Ohio and neighboring states for awhile but then ventured into Florida since Colton's parents live there. That is when we spotted the RV that would become our beloved, 'Switchback Sally.'

It honestly was such a 'God-thing' because everything fell into place so quickly after that. Colton's parents live in Naples and were a short 1 hour drive from the RV. They gave us a tour of the RV via FaceTime and kept it parked in their yard until we were able to fly down and drive it to Ohio ourselves. 

The previous owner had kept it parked in Florida and used it as his snowbird home during the Ohio winters. You heard that right, he was in Ohio too. Colton was able to meet up with him before we flew down to get the RV and everything. Also with it being mostly stationary in Florida, there weren't nearly as many miles on it for it's model age.  

Let the tour begin, shall we?!

Switchback Sally is a 35 foot, Used Class A 2004 Fleetwood Bounder.

This picture is the front of the RV, directly to the right upon entering.

Here is our bedroom area. To the left of the image is some storage closets we use for Colton's clothes, towels, and extra bedding. There is another closet to the right of the picture with mirrors on the doors. This closet is bigger, so naturally it's where I keep my clothes, haha.