Square Feet: 128
“Why a new American dream? The old dream—Coca-Cola, apple pie, house in the suburbs—just isn’t doing us any favors, even if we are lucky enough to achieve it. It makes us fat, sick, and traps us in a cycle of debt.”
Name the make, model and year of your home
We have a 1987 Toyota Travelmaster Savannah, affectionately named Harvey the RV.
How long have you been living there and do you live there full time/part time?
We’ve lived full-time in Harvey for the past nine months. We plan to continue traveling, but we’d like to eventually have a home base and travel part-time. We like the financial freedom that comes with living on the road, but we miss the ability to set up and do long-term projects when we’re stationary. Right now, we’re talking about splitting time between a van and an alternative dwelling such as a yurt, earthship, or something we build ourselves. The options are endless!
What was the process like to move into your home on the road?
It took twice as long as we expected! We didn’t have a set departure date, so we had some flexibility to finish installing our solar power and prepping the RV. It took us about three years to save up money for the RV (with a safety net) and have Cody’s health stable enough to travel. We also spent weeks whittling down our possessions and taking impromptu votes about what we were bringing versus what we could live without. (Needless to say, Cody’s guitars were a split vote.)
“It wasn’t easy, and we had to sacrifice a lot, but we made every decision with the mindset of getting closer to our goal.”
How do you balance work and life on the road?
Finding balance between travel and work can be a challenge, especially when every day can be vastly different. We’ve found that having designated travel days where we don’t require ourselves to work a lot (and we have the flexibility to do this) helps. Also, we’ve adjusted our pace to not move as quickly from place to place and allowing time for travel. We like to stay in places a minimum of 3-4 days, and prefer two or more weeks to really get into a rhythm and be productive.
What are your hobbies on and off the road?
We enjoy reading, hiking, and exploring new areas together. Cody loves writing and playing music while Tricia enjoys cooking and nutrition.
What are your top three go-to items when you're on the road?
We couldn't live without our laptops, cameras or kindles. Laptops for work and connectivity, cameras for augmenting our memories, and our Kindles for learning and relaxation.
What has been the most rewarding thing about living on the road?
Finding a community of people that are like-minded and genuine has been incredible. We’ve loved being able to meet people we’ve never met before and instantly have real, in-depth conversations about life and the things we care about. We also love the fact that we are now living life on our terms, and have the time and flexibility to pursue our passions and spend time doing the things we find rewarding.
What is the most challenging thing?
We are both introverts and need to have alone time to recharge, so we’ve had to learn how to give one another personal space in a small area and be gracious when the other person needs to be alone.
What is your advice to homeowners who want to hit the road?
We firmly believe that dreams are meant to be pursued, even though they often require sacrifice and adaptation along the way. Make decisions every day that get you closer to your dreams; it is absolutely possible to make them a reality.
“This is our message to share, our hope for the future: the New American Dream is within reach. It may be a gradual awakening, but that makes it all the more inevitable.”
To keep up with Cody & Tricia and their adventures, follow them on Instagram @ourwanderingrhythm or visit their Facebook page. Check out their website or shoot them an email.
All photos credit to Our Wandering Rhythm.