Everywhere we go, everyone we meet gushes over our lifestyle, whether they mean it or not, whether they believe it’s awesome or a train wreck, doesn’t matter. I’m not naive, I’ve seen the hate, read some comments, but no-one has ever been hurtful in person – I’m not the type of person that would take it in stride. I’m a hothead, there would be some words, it would be memorable. LOL. But the truth is everyone is floored that someone could make this decision, to turn their backs on possessions, on 20 years of hard work and some semblance of security and opt for a life of simplicity and the unknown. We are simply doing what everyone in this country is supposed to do — exercising our right to live how we want and raise our children in the way we believe is best. We’ve done it all. We’ve had the 9-5 life, the cubicle coma, the feeling of being trapped in a dead-end job, the wanting something, but not sure what. We’ve lived the rat race, complete with hours long commute and the running our kids to 80 million different activities, soccer, hockey, ballet, dance, football, swimming, etc and coaching every single one of these sports at one level or another. Our kids, passing out on the way home, our smug smiles revealing our pride that our children were so “involved” and so “socialized” that they were exhausted by the end of the day. We’ve lived all that and everything in between. We choose … choose…to live alternatively.
We refuse to live for weekends, to ever utter the words, TGIF, to lament the coming of Monday, to countdown the days until our allocated two week vacation from work. I refuse to offer the raising of my children to daycare, the education of my children to the government. Everyday is the weekend for us, everyday is a learning experience filled with adventure and awe. We wake up excited, like kids on Christmas morning, for another day to explore, learn, bond and LIVE. That’s why we ultimately made the excruciatingly difficult decision to sell everything and move into our RV. It sure wasn’t easy to say goodbye to our close friends. It sure wasn’t easy to say goodbye to our town, our beautiful location, our possessions, the home where I brought home 7 of our children. It was scary, it was sad, but it was exciting.
By making this decision we have shown our children that life has passion, excitement, difficulties, triumphs. We’ve shown them that it’s not ok to be the Dunkin Donuts guy shlepping to work. It’s not ok to live a life comprised of work you hate. But most of all we’ve shown them it’s never too late to go after your dreams, never too hard to make them a reality! Because if it were, you would think pushing 40 with 12 kids would be that point. We’ve shown them that we are unStoppable! Truly. Everything was stacked against us in making this move. In the Why column was 1 reason … Want. In the Why Not column was everything else you could think of. 12 kids, job, house, financial stuggles, fear, bills, 13 year old vehicles, you name it, it was stacked. We take risks, we are still taking a risk, but it was a calculated risk because we love and adore our children and want the BEST for them. This is the best for them. The one thing we didn’t do, which we never do, was ask permission. We just did it. Dan’s boss found out we were no longer in Colorado via this Denver Post article http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_21866034/colorado-family-14-kayaking-throughout-u-s. We didn’t ask permission, we prayed incessantly and then just did it. We are proud of that.
Everyone says they would love to do what we are doing. I say living in an RV might not be for everyone, but we all have dreams and waiting for the right time will leave those dreams simply dreams. There is no right time to do anything. You have to make the time right and take a leap of faith. And, btw, you never have enough money either, so don’t wait for that to happen. I saw a Facebook post the other day that said, “I wish I had the balls” to do what the Kellogg’s did … it does take balls, it also takes a rebellious spirit, a strength in your convictions and a whole helluva lotta faith! But if we did it, with 12 kids, a crap load of bills, 20 years of stuff and baggage … then there is NOTHING standing in your way. There is no excuse for why you and your family can’t follow your own dreams. The one thing I never expected in my wildest dreams is the attention we’ve received for simply saying “Screw You” to the man and doing what we want. It shows that more people than we know want to break out of their rut, or even just try something new, shake things up even just a little bit. Really, The Denver Post, Fox News, The Today Show, and all the other news outlets, then ABC Family, TLC, LifeTime … this attention has brought out a lot of haters, which is fine, I have tough skin and I have strength in my convictions, but the best thing is the people it has brought into our lives through all the various social media outlets! I can’t tell you how much the emails, the PM’s, the DM’s, the comments, the likes, the everything, brightens our lives! It’s nice to know that you are making a difference in someone’s life, it’s nice to know that you inspire someone to do even the littlest things differently! Thank you for the kind words, the supportive and encouraging comments … it’s very touching!!! Now go out and make your dreams into reality!! 🙂
Thank you for this post. It was perfectly timed as we power through the final, crazy busy, week in our stick home before heading off for the winter in our travel trailer. The temptation to freak out and question ourselves is strong, but I take great comfort from families like yours who remind me why we are doing this.
I cannot tell you how much I admire your family. Your faith, your assuredness, your sense of adventure – it’s so unusual I find myself emulating you in my thoughts and deeds. God Bless you all.
I can’t imagine anyone condemning what you do. Your husband provides for your family. You pay your bills. Your children are being educated. You are causing harm to no one. Sounds like jealously to me. My husband and I don’t have portable jobs or I’d be waving at you going down the road.
I have a question and need some encouragement. How did your children respond when you made the decision to change your lifestyle? My husband and I have been praying about taking the full-time family plunge and believe the time is now. We are taking steps to make it happen as soon as possible…Probably within the next few months. I’ve been planting seeds in my children for several weeks, casting a vision for something different, dreaming about the “what if”. Our daughter is 11 and son is 12. I just had a long talk with my daughter about our plans and she did not take it well…at all. She is very upset. I’m sure she just needs some time to process things but would love to hear how your kids handled the change.
Hi Kellie!!
Dan & I were the holdouts, we were the ones who had baggage … all the kids (once our oldest was on board) were actually the catalysts for the whole adventure!! Perhaps you could take some mini “vacations” and let your kids see how much they are missing out on? 🙂 Plan some super fun family trips that afford them freedom to run and play without many rules? 🙂 In the end it really wouldn’t have mattered what they thought, we are their parents … ya know?? :)))))
I wish there were more people who refused to take no for an answer. Go Kellogg’s!