Motorhoming represents a new chapter in this family’s life.
By Elizabeth Mendez, F460842
November 2017
As relative newcomers to the RV world and lifestyle, my husband and I still occasionally look at the motorhome in our backyard and say to each other, “I can’t believe that’s ours!”
The surreal quality of our circumstances isn’t likely to go away anytime soon. Growing up, neither of us knew anyone with an RV or had even seen inside one. My husband, Franz, was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and moved with his family to the United States as a young child. His family’s primary focus was on gaining citizenship and assimilating into a new country.
My parents met at Berry College in Rome, Georgia; married very young; and survived on the small incomes that are typical of young couples just starting out. I was born a year after their wedding, with a brother and sister following shortly behind me. An RV was the last thing on the horizon for either of our parents.
Franz and I took more of a meandering path to becoming a family. We met in our mid-20s while working weekends at an event venue in Atlanta. I was drawn to my husband by his wit and his kindness, but also his spontaneity. Anytime I suggested we try a place off the beaten path, be it a restaurant, karaoke bar, live band venue, etc., he was up for it. Needless to say, we have accumulated many good stories! Our shared love of adventure would soon lead us into something we never expected.
In 2012, Franz and I made it official and were married. By the end of 2013, our first child, Eli, had arrived; I was working as a registered nurse; and Franz was running our real estate investment company. Our lives were significantly more structured and scheduled than they were during our courtship, but adventure was on the horizon.
My aunt and uncle bought a beautiful motorhome in 2016 and started going on trips with their three small children. One afternoon, while I was working, Franz took our son up to the north Georgia mountains to visit with them at their campsite. He saw their RV and was hooked. We had our own motorhome a month later and have not looked back.
I vividly remember the day the Fleetwood Discovery was delivered to the driveway of our home in Fairburn, Georgia. I was afraid it would not be able to make the turn around some of our pine trees!
We have explored parks in Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Kentucky, West Virginia, and New York. We are the only people we know who have seen Cumberland Falls, Kentucky, and Niagara Falls, New York, in the same week.
Our 9-month-old daughter, Elena, and our 4-year-old son, Eli, already are well traveled! We plan to “road school” with the kids. Rather than just read about national monuments, historical events, battles, and characters, we intend to take them to the places where these events occurred and where the people lived. I want to take my children to the Alamo, and help them to truly remember it. Rather than simply showing them pictures of Colonial life, we can take them to Williamsburg, Virginia, and the haunting story of the “Lost Colony” of Roanoke can be all the more poignant if we study it while we are actually there.
We are putting together illustrated children’s books about our travels, with real locations and some fictional story lines. They will be educational but with a fun twist.
The beauty of the RV lifestyle is multifaceted. We are able to enjoy our country’s marvelously diverse landscape and people; zoom out from the tedious, day-to-day tasks that typically consume us when at home; and also provide our children with a living, breathing education through real, tactile experiences. The ability to hike and sight-see all day and return to all the comforts of home has made traveling for weeks at a time a feasible endeavor. We are able to come back to our rolling home; shower; do laundry; make dinner; read; do schoolwork; and then relax under the awning or nestle near the campfire. Eating out is an option, but not a necessity as it is with hotel travel. Plus, we are able to sleep in our own beds and on our own sheets, not bedding used hundreds of times before us.
Although it appears that the majority of the wonderful people we meet on the road are retired, we have met other young families like ourselves. My husband is a University of Florida alumnus and has sparked up many a conversation with fellow campers debating whose college football team is better. Along with our FMCA plaque on our windshield, we also have a Florida Gators vanity plate on the front and a Florida Gators license plate on the back. These have proved to be great conversation pieces with fans of all ages and backgrounds, and can instantly generate either a mutual Gator bond or a friendly rivalry.
Most RVers we encounter share the same adventurous spirit and love of the road less traveled, so there is a kinship among us, despite the fact that we come from all parts of the country and various walks of life. This new chapter in our lives has opened our eyes to a whole new world that was here all along, but unknown to us. We look forward to the many trips to come and to meeting more of you in the RV family.