Why Are We A Full-Time RV Living Family

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Why Are We A Full Time RV Living Family?​​​​​

Why are we doing this?

Well, first what is THIS exactly??

Tony and I sold most of our belongings to live a life of travel with our 4 kiddos in May of 2017. Our dream was to travel and explore together as a family as often as possible. We wanted to make the amazing memories now, and not wait for ‘someday’.

We bought an RV and began following the sunshine with our kids!

Yet, there is much more to the story than that. There were several other factors for us in living this lifestyle.

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Living With A Lifelong Disorder

​​​​​Tony has Type 1 diabetes, and it’s a lifelong disorder that rules our lives. He needs to check his blood sugar every few hours, give himself shots after every meal and before bed, and regulate his diet every day of his life.

Think about that for a minute.

Could you imagine being on a diet….one in which you couldn’t really cheat, every single day of your life? No alcohol, no cake or candy, exercise after every meal…but be sure to then check your sugar and not overdo the exercise or your blood sugar will drop!

It’s SO hard to do. Honestly, it’s not sustainable.

Even though we know that it’s in Tony’s best health to refrain from alcohol, he wanted to have a beer with friends occasionally.

So he did.

Even though we knew it was bad for him to eat sugary desserts, he wanted to have a treat once in a while.

So he did.

Even though we knew he needed to exercise daily, it was hard to do throughout the Minnesota winters when he worked 8-9 hours a day and came home to help me with our 4 young children…oh and it was -20 degrees and pitch black by dinner time.

There were phases in our lives when Tony would be so motivated to lose weight, exercise daily, eat super clean, and be in top shape!

Then….the season would change and he couldn’t go running outside anymore because it was too icy. It was dark so early that his moods would change and so would his sleep schedule. He’d then start eating unhealthy again and gain weight and his insulin intake would increase.

Stress Is NOT Good 

Did you know that if you have too much stress as a diabetic, it will make your blood sugar (glucose) spike or drop?

Or that if you do not have good and regular sleep it will affect your blood sugar more than eating a piece of cake might?

Time For A Big Change

We made a big lifestyle change of traveling full time to not only live our dreams now, but to travel to find ‘nice’ weather and climate that would allow Tony to live a healthier diabetic lifestyle year-round.

The lack of sunshine and regular exercise was bringing my moods down each winter as well. We wanted to get outside and exercise more. Feel the sun on our skin year-round. 

We were ready to travel, live a life that we wanted, and avoid too many family and friend potlucks that have HUGE temptations to eat foods high in sugar or drink alcohol. 😉 

So, we made a BIG change to help Tony boost his healthy living mindset, while also living each day to the fullest because we do not know what tomorrow might bring. We wanted to know how to shift for the first time in our mindset while helping our overall health.

We Chose Happiness

Living with a lifelong autoimmune disorder, such as Type 1 diabetes, we know that Tony’s life expectancy is much different than mine. So we are determined to live a life that puts a smile on each of our faces each day. 

Tony and I have dreamed of traveling more as a family, and only thought we could take 1 or 2 vacations a year on our budget. However, once we transitioned to living in our RV full-time, we have been able to travel to a new destination every week while taking our home along with us!! 

We chose happiness!

We Chose Healthy Living

Living a healthier lifestyle has always been a goal of ours. Yet, it was a struggle when we lived in Minnesota full-time. Now, we travel to follow the sunshine and weather conducive to getting outside and moving our bodies each day. 

Since our kitchen comes with us, we can make healthy meals at home and avoid eating out and eating at many potlucks with cakes and treats on a regular basis. 

Since we have been traveling for over 1 year in our RV, Tony and I have lost weight, increased our weekly exercise, smile more, and eat much healthier than we did living in a sticks and bricks. 

We chose to decrease our stress, increase our Vitamin D and sunshine while exercising and overall ‘moving of our bodies’ more when we began the life of full time travel. 

You know what?

It was one of the best things we could have done!

Tony is now gradually losing weight, improving is A1C and blood sugar levels, decreasing his cholesterol, getting MUCH better sleep, and smiling year-round!

You see, living the life of a Type 1 Diabetic can sure bring you down and make you feel in a depressed state at times.

You can’t escape it, you don’t get ‘cured’, and you need medication every time you eat.

Yet, we are determined to not let it bring us down. We are finding ways to smile, enjoy each day together, and make those lasting memories we want so badly with our children.

Growing Closer As A Family

With our full time traveling lifestyle, we have also grown so much closer as a family. The kids see their dad every day, as he doesn’t leave for work and only see them at dinner time anymore. Working as a digital nomad has really improved our family bond!

Tony and I are connected more now than ever before. Some may wonder, what about getting a date night?

In all honesty, we do not feel like we need one. Instead, we are intentional with spending time together in the evenings or early mornings before the kids wake up. Or, we let them play on a Saturday afternoon around the campsite while we make a meal together and play our favorite game, Colorku.

Our life is better now than I ever hoped it could have been. We have now been traveling full time for 18 months and there’s no going back to the way things were.

We now crave sunshine.

We are motived to go for a run, walk, hike, or bike ride regularly.

We no longer drink alcohol at all and we eat so clean that sometimes it’s hard to find the foods we want at grocery stores.

We try to keep our stress levels down, as we know how much that can really affect Tony’s glucose (blood sugar) and overall health. 

Things Can Still Happen

You know what though?

Bad things can still happen. Any time, any day, any place.

A few weeks ago Tony had a scary low blood sugar incident in the middle of the night. It was a reminder to us both that no matter how healthy we live our lives, he is still at risk for ‘bad things’ happening living with diabetes.

It Reminds Us To Live Each Day To The Fullest

Enjoy the small moments in life, because it is SO precious and fragile. For that reason alone, we will continue to pursue happiness and adventure. Memory-making and living the life we want to live.

I don’t want to be angry at Diabetes, as it doesn’t help my stress levels and ways of coping. Instead, I want to start today with a refreshed and new attitude.

One in which I find joy in MORE things than before. One that motivates me even more to grow our business with Let’s Travel Family so that we can share our experiences with others to encourage them to follow their dreams, while also helping us reach our financial goals.

So, if you are wondering if you need to make a change your life to live a healthier and happier life…..a BIG change.

Then I say do it!

Do it now. Make it happen, you won’t regret it.

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