So many of you have asked why would we want to become transient.  Give up the security of a permanent location.  I know it sounds totally crazy! But to us, at this point in our lives, it makes perfect sense.  I only wish we had arrived at this place sooner.  You see we have owned the big, pretty house in the nice neighborhood.  We have owned the luxury cars. We have been there and done that.  It was nice.  But we worked a lot!  There were times when I would come home, eat, go to bed and get up, to start that race all over again.  I didn’t have a lot of time to enjoy what I had worked so hard for.

When I left North Carolina in the fall of 2012 to return to school to follow my passion (Teaching), I began adopting some minimalist techniques.  I also jumped on board with the tiny house craze.  I just love them. Well, the hubby, Tim, was not trying to hear about a tiny house.  Needless to say, we all have to follow our own paths. So, I began to reduce my “stuff.” Each year, I reduced and reduced.  Some years, I added more than I really needed, but that was my way of coping with some emotional issue.  #RetailTherapy

When we began to prepare for our move to Johannesburg, South Africa, we decided that we weren’t sure where we would live when we returned stateside. It would depend upon our job situations. So, we gave away almost everything in our apartment in Long Beach, California and moved in with family for the last few months before we left. Let me tell you…it was the most amazing feeling!  We opened our doors at 10 am. The apartment was cleaned out by noon. The last family also offered to help us pack up what we had to move.

They say it is a blessing to give and I am a witness to that truth!  Our cups were running over after that experience.  We decided that we would continue to do that as we rented.  We love second-hand stores and can completely furnish an apartment with stuff we find there so why not, re-cycle it when done by offering it to someone in need.

Since being in South Africa, we have seen people with so much less and they still have a smile on their faces. There is the concept here called Ubuntu. (No, it’s not just an open source operating system). It basically means “humanity towards others.” We have lived our lives based on a pay-it-forward philosophy. This Ubuntu has resonated with us.  We want to live a life where not only can we enjoy the beauty in nature, come and go as we please but also help others. We have not decided how to give to others, but we do know that we will incorporate some regular volunteerism in our lives.

We also have several passions. We love wine. Cheap wine. Expensive wine. It doesn’t matter as long as it’s good to us.  I have also developed a taste for a whisky (with Tim’s prodding…lol) so I am looking forward to traveling around expanding my knowledge. Finally, we realized that we really enjoyed road trips!  We have had some of our best times in a car, whether it was going to a football game in Montreal, Florida, Wisconsin, Utah, Georgia, Arizona, Texas or driving to Mexico or Vegas for a mini-vacation.  We always have fun!  So we had initially decided to do the RV thang for a short term and then the more we researched it, we realized that this way of life could actually work for us.  I hate debt and this will help us get out from under it and remain debt free.

We also love to travel!  This lifestyle will afford us the ability to travel to other countries.  See friends who live abroad. Expand our horizons. We are going to meet up with some Norwegian friends next summer before heading back to the US. So excited!

Will we be full-time RVers for life?  Probably not, but who knows.  We will follow the route the Universe opens up for us.  Until later……

My name is Leigh Lester-Holmes.  I am a pre-retiree. I have been with my partner, Tim, since 1995. We have been downsizing our “stuff” and our “lives” since 2012 when I decided to go back to school to get my PhD.  (I am still working on it). Currently, we are volunteering in Johannesburg, South Africa and living in the smallest space since we left our home in 2012.   I also have my own business, Holmes Unlimited. We are happier than we have ever been. We recently came across a Youtube Channel for Technomadia and that was all she wrote. We made the decision right then and there to go full-time when we return to the USA this fall.  We will be blogging and taking pictures along the way.

We love wine and whisky and hope to visit as many wineries and distilleries as possible. We also plan to  track down as many “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” locations as we can. We are foodies to our core!  Plus, we’ll be reviewing locations as well. I love to cook and I am learning to sew. Tim loves Football especially the Carolina Panthers so we plan to catch those games too.  We hope to find a company who wants to wrap the RV and we can earn a little come from it. Fingers crossed!

For us, this is about financial freedom and quality of life. We will share what we learn along the way. We look forward to getting your feedback on our blog and meeting up with you along our journey.