I have read through an awful lot of RVer blogs on various topics, but I haven’t seen one, although I am sure they are out there, talking about the primal fear that can come over you when you are face to face with giving up the “security” of a 9 to 5 job. Of course, many folks have the envious position of working remotely, primarily technology jobs. In fact, I worked remotely for many years out of our stick and brick house, but my company will not allow me to be mobile. So we decided to sell our house, quit our jobs and hit the road. I think we have done our due diligence to ensure we don’t end up as total paupers. We have been living the last 5 months on our new full-timer budget, even though I am still working. Our plan is to live off a savings, set aside for this purpose, and work occasional temporary contract positions. After working with a financial planner we have determined that we can be on the road about 3 years if we don’t work at all and much longer if we work temp jobs.

When we sold the house I was scared, but I knew it was a step we needed to take. Besides, it was too big for the two of us. Plus, we were going to be saving a ton of money with both of us still working. When Carrie quit her job it was scary too. She really liked her job and loved the people she worked with, but we knew two weeks of vacation a year wasn’t going to allow us to travel like we wanted to travel. Besides I still had my job and I make about twice as much. Now it’s my turn…

Just before we headed off to Camping World I got a call from a recruiter about a possible contract position in the Bay Area. The call went really well. It seems like a good fit for me, skill wise, and it would be close to where my family lives in CA. By the time we got to Camping World I was just about in a full on panic. It turns out I am a lot like that chihuahua you see shaking in the corner. The reality of giving up a job of 12 years, giving up a six figure salary and perhaps the scariest part of all, giving up a part of me that has defined a good part of my life. I don’t want to sound like an arrogant ass, but I am pretty good at what I do, even if I am in management. I am respected, people seek me out for advice. My work is a big part of who I am. I’m that bossy chick! It all hit me right in the gut. I’m not sure how others have handled it, but as you can tell from the title I didn’t handle it well.

I knew our decision to become full-time RVers meant we are choosing to value experiences over possessions. What I didn’t fully realized was that it also meant redefining how I define myself.