I had the pleasure to interview my cousin Shannon Sawyer, otherwise known as Tag Mom, about her family's journey across the US. It takes guts to take a family of 5 away from the comfort of their two-story Florida home to live in an RV. Still a yearning for adventure couldn't keep my cousin Tom, the dad, from taking a travel nursing job to give his family an experience like none other. Some family members were certainly skeptical when they heard my cousins sold their house to live in an RV, but making their own opportunity to live as desired has proved to be amazing and inspiring.

What do you think of the journey so far?

The journey has been great so far! We started in Florida and made our way around the perimeter of the country to Washington! We have been able to see a lot of places we never otherwise would. White Sands National Park was my favorite. I admittedly, had never heard of this place before. I don’t know how I hadn’t! It’s such an incredible place. We were fortunate enough to not have any big set backs, which is a relief. Driving in a truck and fifth wheel around the country comes with its fair amount of concerns. We opted to skip the north and went around the countries perimeter because of the winter weather. We wanted to avoid any harsh weather during our first road trip with Mama Momentum.

What have you found successful about it?

Successful--the bonding time. Tom was able to take a month off during this adventure and we were able to spend really memorable quality time together. During certain parts of the trip it opened up doors to some education for Thomas (the oldest son) and they now all have an interest in our National Parks. They have been opened to more culture as well and food variety. Our kids have experienced seafood from the French Quarter in Louisiana, the BBQ in Texas, and the sushi in California. So far it has been a success!

What difficulties have come up?

Low trees! Our fifth wheel is almost 14 feet tall on the road. That brings extra stress on the road. I think every RVer is afraid to be in the situation of coming up on a overpass and that overpass not being tall enough. During our trip from New Orleans to San Antonio we hit a little snag. The time had changed on us and it was now getting later much earlier.

We ended up getting into the area where the park was located in the dark. This specific RV resort company is known to have their parks far far away from the roads. Once we got to the area, we still had a mighty long stretch through mountains, STEEP mountains. We thought we were good once we got to the park, but that was wrong. We noticed in the morning that their park had low trees and ripped up the roof of our camper!

We are getting it fixed in a few weeks, but that was an undesirable situation. Also, along the way we had been just enjoying the days, to the point where we forget what day it was! Sounds great, and it was, but comes with some issues. One of these issues is site availability during the weekends.

We had originally planned to head to Zion after our Arizona visit. We left Tucson on a Friday and headed north. We started calling around for reservations and realized quickly that we were not going to get one. Everyone was booked up. So we just adjusted our plan and headed to California early. We now know to plan a little better and reserve sites in advance. Learning opportunity!

Why do you find it important to take this leap in your life?

Tom and I were stuck in a rut. We were tired of living paycheck to paycheck and not having much to show for it. We wanted more! We had a two story house, which just meant more to clean. I spent most of my days breaking up fights, doing laundry, cleaning the house, doing dishes and studying. I was over it. My kids only stayed in the playroom or right beside me, we didn’t need all that space at this point in our lives. We have always wanted to travel, but with three kids, the opportunity didn’t come up very much.

So, we decided to make that opportunity. We wanted to show our kids what all is out there. Speaking for myself, I hadn’t been much further than North Carolina when I was a child. I never had the opportunity to visit other states or view other environments. We had a chance to give our children this, and we went for it. We have trips planned to show our kids all about the history in this country and the wars that have been fought here. We are so excited.

And let's be serious, it’s also about the parents! I had never been to California and had always wanted to go. I am SO excited to see this country and everything it has to offer. This will make us a closer family and better individuals.

"So, we decided to make that opportunity. We wanted to show our kids what all is out there."

How is everyone in the RV family responding to life on the road?

So far everyone has been great! There have been a few occasions where our kids get sad and miss home. We were really close with Tom's family and they miss their papa, grandma and aunt. Those times can get hard, but overall, everyone is extremely happy. We are a family of 5 living in a small space, you’d think we would be ready to explode! But we aren’t! We spent just about every minute together this past month, and we are all doing great. The drives were an experience for sure. Griffin did not like that. A lot of seat changes were done during long drives to balance out the screams and fits from the toddler. Haha.

Give advice for breaking society's norm or advice for other travelers!!

Advice - DO IT. I know a lot of people are confide in their jobs and can’t just take off, but if you have the chance to travel, just do it! Even if it's for a month or a year. Getting outside your comfort box can really help improve your person. Especially with a family. Confiding to the regular ins and outs of life will be completely fine for some people. But it wasn’t for us. Don’t be afraid!

One thing we learned and are still learning, is that full time RVing is definitely a community. Everyone we have met at every stop has been so friendly. Once you get to know your community some will have get togethers, some will have daughters that will watch your kids for you, others will have little clubs. They all have great advice and we have learned something from all of them. I think some people have a misconception of this lifestyle or the RV grounds that we stay at and I hope during this adventure that we eliminate some of those negative thoughts. We are millennials! We do things different.

Thanks to my interview with Tag Mom, I am even more inspired to travel. Taking the risk to leave your comfort zone to travel may seem daunting, but it is certainly worthwhile and doable with adequate planning. Who's to say you can't live a life worth living, even before you're in a rut? After all, Winnie the Pooh says it best: life is a journey to be experienced, not a problem to be solved.