Kondo-ing our house & full-time travel w/ 2 kids

[Fi365]

Overview

Family of 4 planning to sell everything and live in long-term AirBNB travel. Wife will work; husband will be stay-at-home parent. What am I missing? Examples of others who have done this that we can learn from?

Us

- Wife, 33, running own business for 5 years and enjoy 90% of it
- Husband, 34, Federal govt employee, job is just a job, enjoy 10% of it, would rather be doing something else like raising kids
- Daughter #1, 3 years old
- Daughter #2, 3 months old
- DC area (and hate it)

Background

How our thinking has evolved over the past 5ish years:
- Life Plan A: Work until 65; keep up with the Joneses.
- Discover FIRE concept & minimalism; realize that working until 65 is a bad idea for sanity/health/life purpose.
- Life Plan B: Reduce expenses; increase income; on track to FI & RE by 40ish.
- Realize that our 2 kids will be in middle school by the time we RE; why wait that long to actually spend quality family time together?? And my small business is awesome; why would I quit when I already created my dream job for myself???
- Life Plan C: Husband quits job now and becomes stay-at-home dad (his income and daycare expenses basically cancel each other out). Wife keeps working in her self-employed dream job. Work towards FI but skip the RE.
- Realize that we can live anywhere we want because wife's self-employed dream job is virtual (with a few flights here and there). Feel a mixture of freedom and overwhelm.
- Plan to move from congested & expensive DC area to the southwest (a.k.a. our version of Paradise).
- Spend a few months house-hunting. Sticker shock. Remember that mortgages are stressful and not our style.
- Plan to rent instead.
- Spend a few months looking for homes to rent. Remember that 12-month leases are restricting and stressful. Don't want to commit to spend 12 months in a place that could turn out to be crappy. Investigate moving costs; moving services would be around $10,000. GROSS. What a waste of money. Do the spreadsheet legwork and realize we're better off selling furniture and starting over than moving our current furniture.
- Briefly consider living in an RV. But wife does tons of video for job (online courses; webinars; client calls). Need 24-hour wifi and a room with a door to be able to work from "home" better.
- ***Plan to rent AirBNB's for 1-3 months at a time and live wherever we feel like in the U.S. or abroad.***

Currently

We're on Life Plan Z but we finally nailed the perfect one for us!!!!! PHEW!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Current mood: I feel excitement instead of anxiety for the first time in a year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- We're selling as many possessions as possible. Remaining items will go into storage so that we can return to regular suburban life when the kids are school-age. We've been minimalists for a few years so selling the remaining stuff makes me feel FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- We're downsizing from 2 homes (1 primary residence and 1 paid-off rental home) to 0 homes. Home-ownership is overrated!!!!!!!!
- We're downsizing from 3 vehicles (Jeep, car, motorcycle) to 1 vehicle (just the Jeep). Less maintenance, insurance, and personal property tax!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- We'll take whatever fits in the Jeep as we Airbnb-hop around. Probably 1 suitcase per person, a bin of toys, and some electronics needed for my remote business (webcam, mic, etc.). We already buy used clothes and toys so we'll just buy and sell stuff as our needs change.

To-Do List

These are the to-do list items we need to tackle in coming months. Hoping to move in Summer 2019 after our we sell our primary residence.

- Sell our rental home. Easier to make passive income through my business than through real estate. On the market now.
- Sell our primary residence. Will go on the market in March. Best timing according to our real estate agent.
- Put the cash from those sales (maybe $125,000) into... boring old savings account? This money will eventually be the down payment on the next house whenever we stop traveling full-time.
- Establish a domicile/permanent address. Probably Nevada (?) because my dad is likely going to retire there soon, so it's someplace we'll visit once a year. No state income taxes is a must. Florida is also a possibility.
- Figure out a mail-forwarding situation. I think there are RV/full-time travel companies that provide this service for a monthly fee. Shop around.
- Register my LLC in Nevada even if we don't live there? Is that a thing?
- Sell everything & put the rest in storage.
- Fine-tune our household budget. What size emergency fund is recommended for something like this--a fairly risky scenario where 1 self-employed parent with variable income is supporting the family of 4, and we're driving to different locations every few months?

We Need Your Help

What are we missing?
What else should be on our radar?
Who else has done this with 2 little kids?
I'm sure the community is there somewhere.
Favorite YouTube channels or blogs for families like this?
Trying to find our "people."

Thank you!

[Dr Kidstache]

Wow! You are en fuego with enthusiasm. It's great and I'm so happy that you're going to explore a new lifestyle.
Re: choosing a location domicile - research health insurance options before choosing! 
Health insurance is probably the #1 concern for working age full time US travelers. I'm assuming that you'll have to get your insurance through the ACA in the state in which you domicile? ACA options vary significantly between states (and the difference might make staying domiciled in a state with income tax actually more cost effective for your family).
I've been an RV/AirBnB nomad and am domiciled in Texas. I don't know how feasible domiciling in Nevada is - it's not a common choice for RVers. The other easy domicile states are Florida and South Dakota. Escapees has great information about how to legally domicile in TX/FL/SD: https://www.escapees.com/education/domicile/
Good luck!

[fatcow240]

I am on a similar path.  We have considered the short-term rental, but I think we want to move around more for now.  I am going to 50% hours and remote later this year.
I currently live in TX, so I will likely just remain a Texan on the road.
Our kids are 5 years, 3 years, and 4 months.  We are leaning toward the RV (fifth wheel) route right now.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about your endeavours.

[Fi365]

Wow! You are en fuego with enthusiasm. It's great and I'm so happy that you're going to explore a new lifestyle.
Re: choosing a location domicile - research health insurance options before choosing! 
Health insurance is probably the #1 concern for working age full time US travelers. I'm assuming that you'll have to get your insurance through the ACA in the state in which you domicile? ACA options vary significantly between states (and the difference might make staying domiciled in a state with income tax actually more cost effective for your family).
I've been an RV/AirBnB nomad and am domiciled in Texas. I don't know how feasible domiciling in Nevada is - it's not a common choice for RVers. The other easy domicile states are Florida and South Dakota. Escapees has great information about how to legally domicile in TX/FL/SD: https://www.escapees.com/education/domicile/
Good luck!

Yes, health insurance, of course. I can't believe I left that off the to-do list.

The simplest route is to use COBRA, I think. My husband is a Federal employee so we basically pay the employee + employer portion + a 2% admin fee. I think the coverage lasts for 18 months after he stops working.

Or, ACA out of our domicile state. I think a Silver or Gold tier for a family of 4 will be around $1,500 a month. I budgeted for $1,500/month ($18,000/year) and to max out the HSA at $7,000/year.

Or, some sort of living-abroad-insurance. I've heard of people on podcasts who do this but I haven't looked into the details yet. I think we'd only go that route if we decided to live abroad for more than a couple months.

Domicile-wise, it's so interesting to hear that not many people do Nevada. I had certainly known about Texas, Florida, and South Dakota being the big ones. (We're in the "we're doing this, and we'll learn the details as we go, and there's no way to know everything up front" mindset.)

More tips welcome anytime! I really appreciate your insight. Thank you.

[Fi365]

I am on a similar path.  We have considered the short-term rental, but I think we want to move around more for now.  I am going to 50% hours and remote later this year.
I currently live in TX, so I will likely just remain a Texan on the road.
Our kids are 5 years, 3 years, and 4 months.  We are leaning toward the RV (fifth wheel) route right now.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about your endeavours.

Do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So your timeline is.. later this year?

We're thinking summer-ish.

The husband's mom just got diagnosed with cancer a couple days ago, so that might keep us closer to the DC area for a bit. It's slow moving and Stage 1 so she should be okay, but you never know. Either way, we're still doing long-term AirBnBs. The flexibility is so important as important life events like this come up.

Good luck with your move! We sold 2 dressers and a bunch of toys tonight thanks to Facebook Marketplace. A dozen items down.... a million more to go.

[I'm a red panda]

I don't know hat the likely hood they will respond is, now that they have a huge number of followers, but you might look up the bucket list family.  They did something similar to what you describe.

[noplaceliketheroad]

I'm going to focus on just the packing part of this plan! For me, living on the road is a constant shuffle of packing the right stuff, fitting it into our car, and making sure each item is necessary!

Start making a digital list now of everything you'll need to bring with you. This can be a fun project leading up to a trip if you're looking to actively start doing something. And if the thought of packing for a grand adventure is a little daunting.

We live in hotels about 50% each year, and what always travels with us is:

Tax stuff (box of receipts for the year + important papers/contracts, you'll most likely have to file while out of town so necessary to bring everything along)
Important papers/stuff for dog (vaccination record, heartworm medicine, extra leash, plenty of poo bag rolls)
First Aid kit for humans and another for dogs
Rice cooker/slow cooker
Vitamix
Towels/favorite blanket/2 pillows (I can never sleep with the blankets/pillows offered by hotels/airbnbs, towels for muddy dog paws, stopping at a lake/beach while driving, airbnbs don't usually have enough)
Clothes for all weather including giant winter coats/snow boots/snow pants
Computers + cameras + passports + check book + anything else you need for work. Really think about that. We have a wide range of work equip with us (that usually gets shipped out by DH's job beforehand, but random things like HDMI cables are always good to have with you)
Our one indulgence is a portable record player and a small stack of records. Instantly makes a new place feel like home!

We have a Thule roof carrier thingy. Usually we're packed to maximum capacity. One of the best things we did after the first long term trip was to buy a bunch of suitcases so nothing was in boxes. Much easier to unpack and get into new place! As for packing your car, each person gets one suitcase for the road trip portion, and those go in the car in a very accessible place. Thule gets stuffed with the things we won't need until we reach our destination.

As for clothing, I recommend doing a capsule wardrobe, where everything can be worn with everything else. This is truly game changing! I don't pack prints/florals/anything with a pattern that needs to be worn with specific items. Everything I have with me can be worn with blue, black, or grey jeans. All my tops are black, grey, or white. Plus, 1 cocktail dress, 1 evening gown (this is work related, not necessary for most!), 1 pair of heels, 1 pair of rain boots, 1 pair of sneakers, 1 pair of casual shoes (I'm in converse everyday), 1 pair of flip flops. Everything in my wardrobe can be worn with black shoes/purse. Nothing that requires brown shoes/purse. DH wears exclusively jeans and flannel button down shirts, also all in the same general color scheme.

Good luck with your plan, and if you have any packing related questions, let me know! :)

[MarciaB]

I'm going to build on noplaceliketheroad's reply and talk a little about stuff management. We too (without kids in our case) have been hopping around from short-term rental to house-sit to rental...meaning, we've been moving ourselves in and out of other people's spaces (this is after 3 months in Asia with carry on luggage - we're minimalists too).

I love the idea of buying suitcases and not using boxes for the sheer ease of moving. Wish I'd thought of it myself.

You'll probably be carrying around a "pantry" of foodstuffs from place to place, so you'll need crates or coolers or bags or something to manage that. We carried oils, vinegars, canned foods, coffee, our favorite spices, snacks...etc. And then there are the foods in the refrigerator that need to move along with you from one place to the next (yogurt, fruit, cheese, greens, mustard, and on and on). I'm assuming you'll be cooking and eating mostly at home.

And speaking of kitchens in rentals...they're often woefully short of the most essential things. They will have a few kitchen knives...but super dull ones. We traveled with a few good sharp ones. Bring along anything you really need (can opener for instance) and don't assume any essential thing will be stocked in the rental kitchen. This will take up additional space. We had a rubbermaid tub we called the "Kitchen Essentials" box and it had stuff like knives, various tools, some tupperware, etc.

We found that we moved around too frequently (every 1-2 weeks or less) and it was stressful. I like your plan of 1-3 months, especially with kids. Don't underestimate the amount of time it will take you to move out. You'll be wandering the rental packing up your stuff, finding things in every corner, filling up shopping bags with odds and ends...it's a hassle. Do it less often!

And I guess finally I think you'll underestimate the amount of stuff you'll actually need for your family. You'll be surprised (alarmed!) at the amount of packing and shuffling this will actually take. Even for minimalists! You'll also be constantly accumulating and culling through the process (we didn't anticipate that).

Go for it! I love your plans, and the thought processes you're doing. I give you 100% odds of success! Keep up posted!

[SpecialSnowflake]

So, your oldest child is 3, you aren’t doing this til mid 2019, and you are going to stop when she is ready for school? It seems like a lot of bother for 1.5 or so years of travel.......

[noplaceliketheroad]

Love everything MarciaB mentioned! (MarciaB, I feel like we could be friends!!)

Moving from rental to rental is a hassle, and there's always another bag of stuff somehow after each place! Hi, new book I had to read, bottles of wine given to us as gifts, beanie/scarf/wool socks I had to acquire, presents people send us (WHY?!?! Dear lord if there's anyone in your life who spends most of the year on the road, do not mail them a 10 pound candle bigger than my head or any other ridiculously unnecessary item...give them the gift of nothing... or a gift card if you must).

Our road trip food situation in the back of the car is:
1 cooler
1 large milk crate for dried bulk goods/spices/oils/etc.

I used to also bring along my favorite skillet, 1 chopping knife, 1 pairing knife, scissors (I'm a leftie) in addition to the slow/rice cooker and vitamix but I left them at home this time since I knew the hotel we would be staying at had sufficient gear. But alas, I forgot how truly awful other kitchens are. For example, the cutting board here is the size of a small dinner plate! Yet, they have an electric kettle, a large counter top coffee maker, grinder, chemex, and scale for coffee... *shakes fist* at whatever hipster thought this was a good idea. Coffee situation is covered, cooking food, not so much. Oh, and like MarciaB, we also have a lot of tupperware with us. 1 giant suitcase is stuffed with our kitchen essentials.

The suitcase idea came after moving into a hotel in the middle of a large downtown city that didn't have parking on site/valet/not even a place to pull over and so we had to park in the assigned lot a quarter mile away. Doing that walk back and forth a half dozen times with boxes/bags was enough for us...

Don't mean to freak you out, Fi365, just thought you might want a realistic picture of what you'll need when going on the road. 1 suitcase per person is an admirable goal, but we're 2 people and have a subaru outback + thule case stuffed to the brim and none of it has been wasted/unnecessary/excessive. I think we have ~8 suitcases + 2 backpacks + 1 cooler + 1 milk crate. I think it would be pretty hard to do it in a Jeep without any other device attached. Unless you plan on never going anywhere cold - I think at least 2 of our giant suitcases are winter gear haha. We do fit all of our own personal clothing (minus winter clothing) into 1 suitcase each, but remember shoes, taxes/important papers, kitchen needs, toiletries, computers, cameras, work equip/gear, etc...

[MarciaB]

Love everything MarciaB mentioned! (MarciaB, I feel like we could be friends!!)

Moving from rental to rental is a hassle, and there's always another bag of stuff somehow after each place! Hi, new book I had to read, bottles of wine given to us as gifts, beanie/scarf/wool socks I had to acquire, presents people send us (WHY?!?! Dear lord if there's anyone in your life who spends most of the year on the road, do not mail them a 10 pound candle bigger than my head or any other ridiculously unnecessary item...give them the gift of nothing... or a gift card if you must).

What IS it with stuff accumulation as you move along??! And why do people think they need to give you stuff when they know you're nomadic and a minimalist? It's all pretty confounding.

But so right on noplacetheroad! And if you are traveling in Oregon please please look us up - we're in Portland and would love to swap stories and feed you a good meal.

[CanuckExpat]

Congratulations and good luck.

Regarding health insurance, do you want coverage for routine care nationwide, or do you plan to travel back to "home" state for office visits and rely on emergency coverage only elsewhere (or hopefully not rely on). If you want nationwide coverage, it might get either expensive, limited coverage, and/or complicated. If you like your existing plan (do they have nationwide coverage?), COBRA might be a good bet, but are the premiums affordable without the employer subsidy? It is difficult to find ACA plans with nationwide coverage, but they do exist, including at least one in Florida. The plans with nationwide coverage can be expensive unless you qualify for ACA premium tax subsidies. The tricky part here is that the income level which qualifies adults for ACA tax subsidies might put your kids into the Medicaid income range, at which point it means your kids won't have nationwide coverage except for emergencies.

About accommodations. I'm really curious about examples of accommodations you are finding on Air BnB that have good long term rates. My wife and I have looked, but usually found limited options (we are traveling with dogs, so perhaps that limited our choices). For longer term stays we have had to get creative and do more legwork, looking on Craigslist for furnished rentals (hit or miss), and have sometimes had success in the sublet and temporary sections (someone going away for a while but not wanting to give up their apartment). We've also had good luck with house/pet sitting if you want to look into that option. We've used Trusted Housesitters but I believe there are other companies as well.

If you are still interested in examples of other families doing this similar things, I can probably circle back with a big list, my wife follows many on instagram and blogs. We've ended up camping next to at least one family and then realizing it's someone she follows on instagram. It's a small world sometimes.

BTW, something that is less exciting to consider: Do you know how each of you will feel about spending all that time with a 3 month old and a 3 year old? I'd say it's best to lower expectations, that way you can be surprised positively. We've traveled and spent a lot of time with our kids in the last few years, and there often times I really miss having access to daycare. Or you know, just plan for childcare in your long term rentals..

[MarciaB]

I'd be very interested in a big list of folks who are nomadic (and reading their blogs if they have those)!

[shelbyautumn]

For residency - look into South Dakota as well. You can stay one night in a hotel and use that as your address at the DMV. No state income tax.
My mom and step-dad moved to Costa Rica in 2015 and that's what they did. They have a local mail forwarding service and when it builds up they have their mail sent to my house.

[CanuckExpat]

Some nomadic families:
https://worldtravelfamily.com/travel-with-children-family-world-travel-blog/
http://www.thenoregretsfamily.com/
http://thefunemployedfamily.com/
https://outofofficefamily.com/

Forum member @arebelspy probably has input and also a blog: https://www.adventuringalong.com/2017/02/03/traveling-with-a-baby/

[Villanelle]

Totally different situation, but we lived in an airBnB for a while with some of our own stuff moved in.  When we arrived, I quickly realized the remember what was ours might get complicated, an I marked most of our things with a bit of bright nail polish.  I didn't care that my knife handle, spatula, and power strip each had a small hot pink blotch, and it made moving out very easy. 

[Anette]

Nothing to contribute I am afraid, but off
Sounds like a great plan so far!

[Dicey]

Erm, how big is your stache? Hiw long can you last if wife is less productive while transitioning into this new mode?

Also, insurance is crucial. Consolidating your goods into small, portable parcels does make it easier to lose everything. Make sure you have digital copies of everything and keep encrypted copies in multiple places. Back up frequently. There's an old  thread in the [largely unsearchable] forum archives about a guy who had downsized and was moving to San Diego (IIRC). He stopped overnight at a hotel in a decent area. In the morning, the truck was gone. Shit like this happens. Best to plan for as many contingencies as possible and have plenty of cash and insurance to cover unexpected needs and emergencies.

[civil4life]

Sounds like fun.

One other thought is to maybe do some dry runs over the next few months to see what you need and don't need.  I am talking about a long weekend at an AirBnB or renting an RV for a long weekend.  Even if it is close to home or staycation.  It will help work out the kinks.  Also see how the kids handle it.

[AMandM]

We have done longer-term (6 months to a year) stays with kids and one aspect of life that we failed to plan for is the lack of social depth--essentially, not having a tribe.  For little kids like yours, I don't think it matters that they will always be making and losing new friends. If you and your husband are introverts, it may not matter to you either (it didn't to me).  But what did turn out to matter is that you don't have backup adults.  When you're new in town, you don't have friends who can help you out in a pinch.  Mom's travelling for work, Dad has to take baby to ER, who will look after toddler?  It's not likely to happen, but if it does it can be a problem. Or if you just want to do something together without the kids, who will babysit?

Not a deal-breaker, of course--just something else to add to your think-about-this list.

Also, have you considered homeschooling? That would allow you to continue your nomadic life even when the kids are older. I once met a family who spent a year homeschooling centered on US history and geography. They visited at least one historic site in each of the 50 states.

[ATR]

PTF

[noplaceliketheroad]

HA! I don't know what it is about us being on the road that inspires our friends/family to send gifts all the time! Glad we're not the only ones!

And the stuff accumulation. It never stops despite my best/worst efforts. Just recently started a book club with a couple of the folks who work at the hotel we're staying at - here's to 2 new giant hardbacks taking up residency in my stuff just this week :) Though, totally worth it and highly recommend starting a book club to anyone staying at a hotel long term. Great way to meet other guests/staff and stay social.

And we loooove Oregon, have done many roadtrips up and down the coast and taken a few trips to the more inland zones - hi Bend and Ashland! We've only been to Portland once, but next time we pass through, would love to meet up! And if you're ever in LA, please let me know! :)


Would love to discuss more how people make friends/build a community when they're traveling. My DH works 16+ hours a day, 6-7 days a week currently, so it's usually just me and the dog. The only people I know in town are his coworkers (also working crazy hours) and the staff of the hotels. Most of his coworkers aren't traveling with their significant others unfortunately. It's just hard making friends in your 30s! I'm comfortable eating meals out on my own/going to movies by myself, so I have no problem getting out and doing things. But sometimes it would be nice to have more human interaction. How do the rest of you travelers do it?

[/quote]

What IS it with stuff accumulation as you move along??! And why do people think they need to give you stuff when they know you're nomadic and a minimalist? It's all pretty confounding.

But so right on noplacetheroad! And if you are traveling in Oregon please please look us up - we're in Portland and would love to swap stories and feed you a good meal.
[/quote]

[fatcow240]

...
So your timeline is.. later this year?
...
The husband's mom just got diagnosed with cancer a couple days ago, so that might keep us closer to the DC area for a bit. It's slow moving and Stage 1 so she should be okay, but you never know. Either way, we're still doing long-term AirBnBs. The flexibility is so important as important life events like this come up.

Good luck with your move! We sold 2 dressers and a bunch of toys tonight thanks to Facebook Marketplace. A dozen items down.... a million more to go.

Last week I was approved to go part-time remote starting May 1st.  Our lease ends May 24th.  So, between the 1st and 24th of May.

My SO was diagnosed with cancer last year (Smoldering Multiple Myeloma).  This was a big motivation to do the trip now.  As long as the quarterly blood work comes back pre-stage 1, we will stay on the road for the year.

With all we have gotten rid of and how much we have left, it makes me feel like we were hoarders.  We will probably start listing our large furniture items next month.  I was able to collapse nine board/card/dice games into one game box last night.  The left over boxes filled an entire trash bag.

[ontheway2]

For those asking about airbnb longer term rentals, here you go.  They have a separate site for 2 weeks to 6 months

https://www.airbnb.com/sublets

[cloudsail]

PTF

Really want to do this too but a lot will depend on our son's progress in the next couple of years as he is autistic and needs therapy. Don't want long term travel to cause a regression.

Interested in the social aspects as well since our daughter is a very social person and needs friends her age.