In preparation for Turkey Day, I've been starting each November morning tweeting something for which I'm thankful (not "that I'm thankful for" -- good grammar prevails even during the holidays!) I wasn't sure that I could come up with a new gratitude every single day, but this little exercise has actually been easier than I imagined. And most of my "I'm thankful for" items are related to the fact that we're full-time RVers now.

Appreciating Life's Blessings

When Matt and I hit the road in our little rolling Airstream, we had no idea if this lifestyle was really going to click for us or not. We knew that we wanted to live a smaller life with less stuff and fewer expenses. We wanted to travel year-round, meeting new people and having experiences that just wouldn't happen if we were tied to a house and a mortgage in a suburban neighborhood. We wanted to pursue our own creative projects and be able to support ourselves on the road, without a 9-5 job.

However, we also recognized that we were giving up a lot to have these things -- like living space, a certain level of stability, a big chunk of income, and a houseful of furniture! What if it didn't work out -- if Matt and I ended up broke and seeking a divorce from a little too much "togetherness?" No matter how adventurous we considered ourselves to be, this was still a big leap of faith! But I'm pleased to announce that at the 16-month mark, we are loving this life, and feel blessed to have so much:

• freedom (we are not on anyone else's schedule -- we go where we want and when we want, as long as there is an RV space available for us! by letting go of the traditional idea of the "American dream" with a big house and lots of expensive toys and a high-salary job to pay for it all, we've regained control over our time in a way that we never knew was possible -- my quality of life shot through the roof on that first day I had absolutely no "have to's" except writing my blogs and taking my pictures -- I now wake up eager to tackle the day's tasks, because I'm doing what I want to do, instead of what someone else expects me to do -- and at this point in our existence, we wouldn't go back for anything in the world!)
  

• life experience (just being able to live in a different spot every few weeks is exciting to me -- I love having something new to look forward to, and I never have a boring moment in my life anymore -- but our travel is for more than just selfish pleasure -- I feel that we've got a much broader world-view than before, having seen so many different perspectives as we wander the country -- Matt and I don't just spend time with the same group of folks day in and day out, little carbon copies who look and think and act just like us -- we are thrown together with people from all sorts of different backgrounds, socio-economic strata, and cultures -- we really feel more a part of the "melting pot" that is America than ever before, and my goal is to share that experience with all my stationary peeps out there)
  

• simplicity (minimalists that Matt and I are, our lives had still become intolerably complicated before we decided to take the RVing plunge -- we had more responsibilities than we could ever fit into the available time, we both felt terminally "behind" on our obligations to other people, just maintaining the status quo drained us of all our energy, and we had no time to pursue our own interests -- every bit of that changed once we offloaded both the house and the too-big-for-us-too-manage-on-our-own business -- daily life is just so much EASIER now, everything from cleaning and home maintenance to bookkeeping and running out businesses -- free at last, free at last, thank God almighty we are free at last!)
  

• frugality (even with the "travel" expenses, full-timing costs just a fraction of what owning a house and maintaining a traditional lifestyle did -- we can easily live below our means, even when our means are much smaller than they used to be!)

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