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This blog post is written by Explorer Family @kufamba_thetravelingtribe, and they have contributed to us their story about letting go, and moving from a 1600 square foot home to a 400 square foot RV. Read along below their story that we are very excited to share with you, and maybe inspire you to do the same!
Our Family Adventure of Living and Traveling Full Time in a RV as a Family of 5
We are the Pambuka Family, Malvin, Chelsea, Eden, Levi and Titus and our golden retriever puppy Olive. We are from kufambathetravelingtribe.com and on Instagram @kufamba_thetravelingtribe. Kufamba means travel in Malvin’s native language, Shona. Malvin grew up in Zimbabwe and Chelsea grew up outside Chicago. We met and fell in love in South Africa. We have been living outside of Chicago with our three kids, but our life recently made a drastic turn towards adventure. We sold our home in Skokie and moved into our 400 sq ft RV for an epic adventure.
Weekend Warriors
This was our chance to close one door that would then in turn open another.
We had an RV for years prior to deciding to go full time. We were “weekend warriors”, people who RV on the weekend and vacation. We loved to explore the midwest, we were from Illinois, in the summer and on the weekends. But it never felt like enough. We were always looking forward to the weekends to explore. We watched other families on Youtube living full time in a RV with kids, and we would always say “someday”.
Time for Change
In the spring of 2021 things started to shift in our lives. Many things were pointing to the fact that it was time for me (Chelsea) to look for a job in a different school district. I started to job hunt and interview for jobs as an Elementary Reading Specialist. There was one job in particular that I really wanted. We had started looking for houses in that area because Malvin’s job was remote and it didn’t matter where he lived. As we were packing up our fifth wheel to head east for spring break of 2021, we heard that I didn’t get that job. I was disappointed, but we were excited to head to South Carolina.
We had the most relaxing break and as we drove the 14 hours back towards the midwest it dawned on us, this was our chance. This was our chance to sell our house and move into our rv full time. Our kids were still small so they wouldn’t feel uprooted from their friends. This was the perfect window to travel and explore before we decided where we wanted to settle.
This Is It
We got home from that and started prepping our house to put it on the market Memorial Day weekend. I was excited, terrified and sad all at the same time. Many doubts went through my head, but we kept coming back to the fact that we would regret it if we never tried. If we spent a few months on the road and then bought a new house, that would also be okay. Memorial day weekend we went camping and our house went on the market and sold in one day. We were able to pay off all our debts and save money for a down payment for our next home. We had spent years working to pay off our debt, and here we were finally living with financial freedom. We would transition from two incomes to one, and I would homeschool our three kids.
The Adventure Begins
We said goodbye to our house in July of 2021 and started our full time RV journey. Once we closed on the house, we knew that we made the right decision for our family. Do we miss it? Yes, but we would not go back. This journey of exploring has been invigorating and encouraging as a family. We have been able to slowly explore by hiking, biking, fishing, swimming and learning as a family. We have enjoyed using our adventures to drive what we are learning about in school and what we are reading about as a family. Our plan was to do this for one year, but July is three months away and we have no intention of stopping.
Be Intentional and Get Outside
Now we love to share our adventures with other families to encourage them to get outside and explore. We know that not all families can move into an RV, but we can explore locally by finding a new park or walking path. There are adventures to be had no matter where you live. These adventures also allow families to be more intentional about spending more time together, which has been a big blessing in this journey of ours!
Thank-you for taking the time to read today’s blog post about letting go, and moving from a 1600 square foot home, into a 400 square foot RV. Are you inspired to sell your home and move into an RV? We are now! Make sure to tag us in your adventures on IG @KidsWhoExplore and using #KidsWhoExplore.
