Several years ago now, when our son was still very small, we decided we’d like to live on a sailboat and travel the world. We saw that other families were doing it and wondered how it worked for them. That was the beginning of our research into location independence.
For a couple years we focused on the boat plan. One of us had sailing experience and there was a lot about the live-aboard life that was appealing to us. In particular it seemed to satisfy our wanderlust and need to travel, while letting us keep a familiar and comfortable home base.
We read a lot, took ASA classes to hone our big boat skills, and hunted for boats online. We devoured blogs of other sailing families and dreamed about what we’d name our boat. But as we progressed further down that road, we realized that there were some things about our plan that made it logistically difficult, as well as perhaps not a good fit for us.
For example, it’s hard to find live aboard boats in the Midwest, and it’s near impossible to live aboard here year round given the weather conditions. That meant that not only would we have to take lengthy trips to look at potential boats, but we’d likely have to move away quickly (and probably cross country) once we found one. Additionally, as our son got older started to feel like we might get a bit cramped in such close quarters. Cost and maintenance were not small issues either.
So the search turned towards RVs, something still allowing movement, but an easier transition option with something a bit more familiar here in the land of Winnebago. We went to an RV show, looked at dealerships and online, and learned a lot about roadschooling families. We decided what kind of rig we’d buy. And yet, that option did not seem right for us either.
We made acquaintance with some awesome nomadic families online, many of which have no set home. They just perpetually travel. But as appealing as that sounded, family consensus was that we need to keep a base of some sort, if for no reason but to store our LEGOs.
So in the end we decided that we needed to maintain a residence in the area. But how to do that without breaking the bank? After all, to achieve our goals of being a full time family, we need to get both parents out of full-time, out-of-home work.