Life Update
So much has been going on since my last “about us” post in January! We finished our downsizing, got the last boxes to the donation bins, and got our last “at home” daughter into her own apartment! We packed the rental car with the few items we were keeping and headed south! I drove the mini-van and Trevor was on the motorcycle!
Heading South
Our first stay would be at a friend’s house in North Carolina. She welcomed us with open arms, and it was great to be settled into a place for a short while. Trevor got his work/office set up and worked during the day. On the weekends we road all over North Carolina, exploring some areas that we had never been to, and climbing our first mountain, Hanging Rock, together!
Back to Massachusetts
The first week of May I headed back to Massachusetts for some appointments and to visit my mom and daughters. My friend and I drove together, and she was able to spend some time with her daughter as well! We had a great time road-tripping together!
The end of May Trevor and I headed to Virginia for some riding and sightseeing. Virginia is beautiful and has amazing roads for motorcycles! We had a great time.
Unfortunately, a family emergency came up. We found ourselves headed back to Massachusetts. My mom passed away on June 2. I was by her side and said goodbye. Although she had Alzheimer’s, her passing was a bit unexpected. She got an infection and was unable to recover. This was a very hard time and we ended up staying in Massachusetts for seven weeks!
It was nice to be with family and friends, but we longed to be on the road! After seven weeks, we jumped on the bike and headed to Ohio to visit our oldest daughter.
Cincinnati is a wonderful city. So much to see and explore! We also had some decisions to make. Where do we want to go next? How will we get there? What are our long-term goals?
Big Decisions
At this point, we decided to make a BIG decision! We bought a fifth-wheel toy hauler RV and a truck to pull it! Oh yes we did!
Now, if you know me, you are probably laughing! I’ve never been camping. Never been in a camper. I know nothing about the lifestyle!! But I do know that I want to be outdoors, in nature, exploring the USA!!
Before buying, we (and when I say we, I mostly mean Trevor!!) started researching and reading everything we could about RV’s, camping, the lifestyle, and all it involved!
We settled on the Forest River Rogue Armored Fifth Wheel Toy Hauler!! It’s 45 feet long, has the master bedroom, two bathrooms, kitchen, living room, garage/toy room/office, and a patio! It can sleep eight people comfortably, but in the near future we will probably take out the two benches/beds that are in the garage/toy room/office and the bathroom in the garage.
This model RV fit our needs and we are excited to get on the road! But first we needed to register our vehicles and determine where we would call “home”.
We were sure that we didn’t want to go back to Massachusetts to do all this and began exploring other options. We settled on South Dakota!
South Dakota
South Dakota is one of the few states that recognizes the nomad/RV lifestyle, and they make it very easy to become a resident and register vehicles! We worked with a company called Americas Mailbox. They provided step by step instructions on everything we needed to do!
Why did we pick South Dakota?
- SD recognizes nomad lifestyle
- We only have to be in the state once every 5 years, for 24 hours, to renew our license
- Online renewal for vehicle registration
- No state income tax
- No vehicle inspections
- Low sales tax
- And let’s not forget the amazing scenery, parks, and attractions!
How did we do it:
- We worked with Americas Mailbox and they provided:
- Mailbox service
- Street address
- Step by step instructions on how to become a resident
We are beyond excited to call South Dakota our home state! We spent the last week there and were blown away by its beauty! We got our drivers licenses, registered our vehicles, and registered to vote!
After our trip to South Dakota, we headed back to Cincinnati, and we are now ready to pick up the RV this week and hit the road!!
It has been a crazy summer, not what we were expecting, but we are excited to see where this new adventure will take us!
If you’d like more information on Americas Mailbox, please feel free to leave a comment or send us an email! We’d love to share all the information we learned!
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