The sofa made me do it.

That’s what I like to tell people when they ask why I left everything behind to live, work and travel in an RV full time.

I can’t really blame the sofa though, it hadn’t done anything wrong — except it was old, raggedy and needed to be replaced. But when it came time to buy new furniture for our nearly empty house of two years, my husband and I just couldn’t stomach the idea of being anchored in one place any longer.

Before the RV:

I’m part free-spirit, part Type A overachiever and I tend to live in one extreme or the other.

I’d lived and worked in Orange County, California my whole life. Other than a six-month, solo backpacking trip through New Zealand and Australia after college, I never left home. After that trip, I landed a corporate training job and stayed for about twenty years.

My husband and I got married in 2014 and bought our dream home — matching towels and marital bliss ensued. Then our dream home turned into a water-logged prison.

Okay, maybe that’s a little dramatic but a slab leak did wipe out our first floor and walls and we had to move to a hotel and remove our belongings due to flood and mold remediation.

Then there was that back thing.

Despite the inconveniences, we took everything in stride. We would have returned home, finished buying furniture and settled back into life if it hadn’t been for one thing: the “back spasm” incident.

It turns out that my husband occasionally got these painfully crushing back spasms that he somehow forgot to mention. I witnessed one first hand — for five straight days straight — and let me tell you, it’s a frightening thing to see a loved one in that much pain.

You’d think it was exercise or lifting a heavy object that caused such an injury, but nope — it was just the ten- to twelve- hour work days. All that sitting and crouching over spreadsheets had wreaked havoc on his body.

I also suffered my own health challenges. The combined stresses of long work hours, the house and my husband’s back incident left me depleted. I experienced a series of flu, bronchitis and sinusitis episodes for the better part of a year.

But we continued to drag our sore, tired selves to work and kept being loyal and dependable employees.

The sofa that broke the camel’s back:

The series of events I just described spanned nearly two years and by the time we were ready for furniture, something had shifted in us. We no longer felt the pull of settling into life. We felt a strong desire to do something different — to live a little, explore and create a new future together.

It had never occurred to either one of us that we had life options.

Our upbringing had us convinced that we were supposed to be on a certain path. It took something significant to shake us awake. The housing and health issues led to us finally ask what we wanted out of life.

Honestly though, in the end it was all those camel (or was it taupe?) colored sofa choices that put us over the edge and made us realize that we wanted something more.

Goodbye cubicle, hello open road!

After we decided to seek out a different future, we explored our options and discovered full-time RVing.

We had never been in an RV before. We thought people only RVed when they retired and we had no idea that “full-timing” was a movement. All we knew was that trading in our cubicles for the open road sounded like a dream come true.

We put a transition plan together and worked up the courage to quit our jobs. After nearly twenty years in the workforce as a dedicated and loyal employee, I rediscovered my free spirit and turned in my resignation letter. It was both scary and exhilarating.

Now we’re exploring new terrain and discovering our identities as we learn about life beyond the cubicle. We’ve seen a lot of states, covered thousands of miles and have no regrets.

In fact, I even forgive the sofa.

Renting an RV on Campanda is the perfect way to discover if the RV life is for you.

Click Here To Rent An RV

The post The Full-Time RV Life Chose Me appeared first on Campanda News.

I’m a people person.

I go to farmer’s markets because I love talking with the growers. I chat with strangers until my voice goes hoarse.

And I use peer-to-peer marketplaces because, as corny as it may sound, it makes me feel good to give my money to a real person rather than a big corporation.

So when I was moving cross-country last summer, it was a no-brainer to book overnight stays using peer-to-peer rentals.

Little did I know that this booking system was going to change my life forever.

My husband had just gotten home from a yearlong tour in Afghanistan. He was quickly assigned to a new duty station. It would be a four-day cross-country trek and I was looking on a peer-to-peer marketplace for places to stay along the way. Since it would just be me and my daughter on the first night, I was looking for something small and inexpensive.

So there I was, scrolling through the internet when I came across a vintage trailer for rent in Erie, PA.

Just the day before, the deal on our house had fallen through. We were moving to … well, nothing. Our only plan was to rent a hotel until we figured out what to do. Awesome, right?

My husband had joked that we should move into an RV when we got to Alabama. He said lots of people do it in the South. It would be a great way to simplify our life and save money.

Simplification and savings. Hmm, I thought, two of my favorite things.

So I stared at the computer screen, the little RV rental staring right back at me. It was just enough room for my daughter and me, within the right price range and in a great location to boot. Better yet, I saw that the place had been booked many times before with rave reviews from both the renters and hostess.

I was sold. I booked for one night.

About an hour later, my booking was confirmed by the hostess. She gave me a call and said she was excited to accommodate me the very next day. We chatted for a bit and I felt even more comfortable once the conversation was over. It was nice to hear the enthusiasm in her voice and to learn about her preparations for my stay.

I was curious: Would I actually love my husband’s idea of buying and living in an RV? I had never been inside a camper, but loved the idea of small living. Test driving the lifestyle (even for one night) in someone else’s RV was just the thing I needed to make a decision.

I got lost trying to find the RV rental. I called my hostess and she picked up my anxious call right away. Over the phone, she led the way to the site. She arrived about 10 minutes later to show me the ropes of RV life (okay, mainly she just showed me how to use the toilet — who knew there was such a thing as a pedal flush?).

I noticed a stack of menus by the TV. The hostess went through each one quickly and pointed out those that were safe to walk to with a baby. She asked me which cable shows I liked to watch and told me their channel numbers. She even pulled out some toys for my daughter to play with.

This lady had it going on.

Using the peer-to-peer sharing economy, I feel like I’m always getting more than just the rented product. And this RV rental was no different.

Sure, the camper was awesome. It was a super cute vintage travel trailer with all the amenities you would expect. The AC was cold, the bed was comfy and there was even wifi and cable. But it was also so much more than that.

I got to know the hostess. Unlike at a hotel, where the concierge has hundreds of different people to please, my host were there just for me, ready and willing to answer all my questions about RV life.

The more I got to know my hostess and hear about her camping stories, the more pleased I was with my rental choice — and the more I leaned towards buying an RV of my own.

The peer-to-peer rental experience gave me an opportunity to meet someone knowledgeable, stay in an amazing RV, learn its systems, and discover a whole new way of living. It showed me that while the RV was smaller than a traditional house, it was just the right size for me and my family. During that short time in Erie, PA, I fell in love — and decided to become an RVer.

Fast forward a year and I’m happily living in an RV full time. My family and I have never been closer and I’ve never felt more passionate about life.

My husband will be getting out of the Army any day now and we are gearing up to hit the road full-time.

It’s crazy to think that it all started with simply renting out someone else’s RV. I can’t wait to be able to return the favor.

On my website, I publish books, write posts and help fellow full-timers stay entertained and informed while RVing. As soon as I get the opportunity, I’m looking forward to renting out my RV on Campanda to share my love and passion for this lifestyle with others.

Interested in sharing your RV with someone like me?

Click Here To Rent Your RV

The post How Renting An RV Changed My Life appeared first on Campanda News.

At Campanda, top-notch customer service is our number one priority. So we’re always thrilled to get notes like this one from our happy members:

“The best part of Campanda is the customer service. My wife and I have used another RV rental site. The downside was their lack of customer service.

We encountered an emergency while delivering our camper, and when we tried to contact the rental site, we found they had no phone support …

With Campanda, I was pleasantly surprised by the ability to call and have a real live person talk to me. To me, for both the owners as well as for the renter, customer service is vital to the success of the process. 

We greatly appreciate the support we get from Campanda and look forward to a successful business relationship.”

P.S. Dylan is a pleasure to speak with.

Happy RV owners,
Dave and Faith Poore

Click Here To Start Your Listing

The post A Note From One Of Our Members appeared first on Campanda News.