I’m kind of excited to share this recent article from The Washington Post, on the surge of new families and individuals opting for the full time RV life. I’ve rarely in my life been part of a trend, but this time, I am!

I’ve been talking with lots of people about this trend, and I have a few theories about it:

• Older people who aren’t ready for the rocking chair are still finding RVing a great option for their retirement years, as they have since just after WWII, when the RV industry was born. They want to see the parts of the country they dreamed about all those years when all they did was work.

• Men and women who have lost a spouse decide they don’t just want to sit around being sad. They hear that the RV community is very kind and welcoming, so they head out on the road in search of a more interesting, less lonely life. Perhaps they may even find love again.

• People my age, not yet ready or able to retire, want to see the rest of the country while we are still young and healthy enough to enjoy the journey.

• Younger people in the middle of their careers are becoming disenchanted with the supposed “American Dream” of high-paying careers and big houses and lots of stuff, because they’re discovering it doesn’t add up to happiness. So they downsize and hit the road in hopes of finding something more spiritually fulfilling.

• Very young adults just beginning their lives have watched their parents work their butts off and sacrifice and deny themselves life’s simple pleasures just to achieve that American dream, and don’t like what they see. To them, it’s just not worth it. They’re onto the whole commercialism of everything and are disgusted with the outcome of that lifestyle. They see the environmental destruction and cultural decay and spiritual bankruptcy of a life chasing stuff. So they reject that whole thing and opt for a life of experience and adventure.

• People in all these age brackets find themselves unable to keep up with the rising cost of sticks-and-bricks housing, and opt for something more affordable that has many positive side effects.

Anyway, that’s what my recent experience tells me is going on. I will watch to see how this develops on a larger scale. Meanwhile, I welcome the company on the road!