Episode 2: The Plan

Mike and Elizabeth discuss their plans for full time RV life and what they've learned so far. An RV buyer loses $10,000 on a bad RV buy but is saved from a second disaster by an RV inspection.

#rvinspection #rvinspector #rvrepairs #rvrepair #rvliving #rvlife #rv #podcast #austin #sanantonio

Transcript

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:15:23
Unknown
Hey, y'all, I'm Mike, the RV inspector and technician. And I'm Elizabeth. I'm the wife of the RV inspector and technician. And welcome to our podcast.

00:00:15:23 - 00:00:37:19
Unknown
Hello, Elizabeth. Hello, Mike. Welcome, everyone, to episode two of the Cozy Camper Podcast. Elizabeth, we wanted to take a second and we are small business owners in the RV space. Let's talk a little bit about our RV business this week. Let's do it. It's summer in Texas. This is our busy season. What was the high point of the week for you?

00:00:37:21 - 00:00:57:08
Unknown
The high point has been all of the inspections. It's been really cool having back to back to back inspections because up until recently that has not been a thing. It's been one inspection a week, maybe two. And then all of a sudden this week for yeah. And last week. So well it's been going on probably since February or March.

00:00:57:09 - 00:01:15:12
Unknown
March. I would say probably March or April when we started to heat up. But then like we've never been this consistent this long. Yeah. And I really like that because I like inspections days because that's where you're at all day. Everything is already set ahead of time. There's no there's no parts for you to order. Yeah. It's just you're there.

00:01:15:13 - 00:01:38:12
Unknown
You come home, you do the report, you're done. Yeah, it was great. And on that note, I was really excited because we had the one client that I went to CD for. Yes. And that was my high point. So they purchased an RV without an inspection, a used classic motorhome and did not go. It did not go well, like they took it to a trusted, RV repair shop in town here.

00:01:38:12 - 00:01:53:13
Unknown
And they were like, you know, this thing's going to fly. Part is all kinds of water damage on it. So they they called that dealer back, and there was a consignment dealer, and that dealer said, oh, well, we'll just all we can do is give you back our commission that we made on the sale because it's consignment, but you're stuck with it.

00:01:53:19 - 00:02:11:16
Unknown
But here's someone that can help you sell it. So they took it to this wholesaler and lost $10,000. So just immediately they lost $10,000 on this RV within 48 hours of owning it. I'm going to stop you there. I think our listeners are going to be a little confused why you said this was your high point. We're getting there.

00:02:11:18 - 00:02:32:01
Unknown
Just hear me out. So they they really want an RV. And they said they called me. They said Mike let's do an inspection. So we went out to Katy, did another inspection for them and they're like kind of nervous. Like do we really want to go. Do you understand. Right. And they're from Austin. They went to Katy to go look at this RV.

00:02:32:01 - 00:02:52:27
Unknown
And they were like, oh, this thing looks great. I went out there to inspect it. That two had hidden water damage. So while it's disappointing that they weren't able to buy that RV either, we've now saved them yet from buying a second RV that had water damage, and they have been very thankful this whole journey. They've been very appreciative.

00:02:52:28 - 00:03:20:22
Unknown
And we're actually going to go do another one, coming up for them Saturday. Yeah, because they go they're committed to finding the right RV for them. And when you're when you are looking at a for a motorhome that's ten years old, a lot of them might have water damage. And you you should be prepared to either one not inspect and then spend a lot of money on water damage, or to budget for 2 or 3 inspections to find the right one.

00:03:20:22 - 00:03:36:15
Unknown
That you don't have to spend money on water damage for. And I think that's what's going to happen this time. But I'm I'm excited that we were able to save them from definitely that disaster. Definitely. Literally I don't think I told you. So in addition to the water damage, because I called them, told them I found it and I kept going.

00:03:36:17 - 00:03:53:11
Unknown
I turned on the water, and water started dumping out behind one of the walls. So I was like just pouring out the side. And when that happens, it's frustrating for the dealer to. Right? Because. Right. They don't know even it. Right? Even I mean, I guess we would hope they do their they don't. They were they were guy.

00:03:53:12 - 00:04:18:04
Unknown
They were clear they had not touched the RV since they took it in on trade. And and actually I went on a test drive with the seller, with the dealer and super nice genuine person. I if she's from any judge of character, the salesman, salesperson, saleswoman, whatever was a nice person. And then I started doing the inspection. We went on a test drive and one of the tires was ripped in half, and I talked to her and I was like, did you know this?

00:04:18:05 - 00:04:44:10
Unknown
She's like, no, I'm like, do not take this on another test drive in this condition. Like someone could die. See, in those situations is like you do feel bad for them because now they have this. Yeah. RV and what are they going to do with it? Because now they know, right. How that it is. And if you if you don't know, if the listener doesn't know when an RV dealer takes an RV and on trade, they don't usually really do anything to it until someone is interested in buying it.

00:04:44:10 - 00:05:07:16
Unknown
So if you're looking at an RV there, it's the condition. More than likely it's the condition that the last owner left it in plus time. Well, I didn't even know that. Yeah. So like I assumed they did a version of a PDF. They do nothing. Like, they might walk on the roof to see if it's soft, but in like they'll do a quick visual survey, but they don't actually trigger a make ready until someone is ready to buy.

00:05:07:17 - 00:05:26:02
Unknown
Does it not lose them any money in the long run? If this happens or no, they count on people not doing inspections. Well, no. The reason they do it that way is so like there's a budget for every for most RV of stuff. They will fix batteries and sometimes tires. Most dealers will say, yeah, we'll at least guarantee the appliances work when you leave.

00:05:26:05 - 00:05:47:24
Unknown
But then if you find something that's outside that scope or maybe an appliance, for example, a refrigerator works on electric, but not propane. They might just let that slide out the door, but they're not going to look at suspension stuff like used RV RVs. I find, you know, propane leaks, all this kind of other little bitty stuff that takes time and money to find.

00:05:47:25 - 00:06:03:04
Unknown
Wow. I guess that's a whole other side to RV inspections that I hadn't thought of. I had been thinking about how they come out of the factory needing a lot of work, because there's a lot of issues with the factories and yeah, how fast they pump them out. But I it didn't even occur to me about the used ones.

00:06:03:04 - 00:06:25:29
Unknown
Yeah. And that's, that's the thing like there and I all the time I go in and like my first question and the answer is always know what my first question always is. Has anyone looked at this since I got traded in. And the answer is almost always no or to very limited yes. Like, hey, we knew the air conditioner was broken because the seller told us so we put a new air conditioner on, but most of the time they they won't do it.

00:06:25:29 - 00:06:45:00
Unknown
And the reason for it is, is that until they can build an account, they're just losing money on parts that make sense, right? I mean, I get why they do it, but also this dealer that sold these people the first RV, they didn't look at it at all or did they know? And that is a consignment dealer with multiple locations in Texas.

00:06:45:03 - 00:07:08:28
Unknown
And they have actually reined in their little pre-delivery inspection where they do more or less, they do less. So they used to be one where I would like they would be like, oh, we did this 90 point inspection or whatever. And then, I'd get into and I'd be like, this whole wall is d laminated. That one was the one that was famous for propane leaks and no propane detectors.

00:07:09:00 - 00:07:28:01
Unknown
Like they didn't test it. So I'm like, alright, has a leak. You didn't find it. And the propane leak detector doesn't work. So like I remember your client, your buyer might die in the middle of that. And they're the ones who changed the rules on inspections. Here's reindeer game way off topic, but they're the ones who changed the rules, were they?

00:07:28:01 - 00:07:47:27
Unknown
They wouldn't allow inspectors in until after the buyer went under contract. I remember it's all coming back to me now, right? I remember this conversation. I remember we had one where I went and did the inspection, and I found the back wall was all d laminated. And then the dealer's point of view was, well, you bought it. Like we can fix it for you now, but it's your problem.

00:07:47:29 - 00:08:08:29
Unknown
And that's not a no. That's a chain consignment dealership. That aisle 90%. What they do is consignment. And if you don't know what consignment is, it means they're selling the RV for someone else. So if you have an RV, you take it there. They sell it on your behalf and take a cut. I feel like I'm learning more in this podcast than our listeners because I also didn't know what that meant.

00:08:09:01 - 00:08:32:21
Unknown
to educate the public man. But in this case, they had a bad experience. We saved them from a second bad experience. Yes. And all that to say, they're very thankful. And this is one of those times where we're thankful for them, that they're giving us two inspections and trusting us. Obviously, the first one went well enough with you and with the communication in the report that they did get that they were, you know, wanting to do a second one with you.

00:08:32:21 - 00:08:56:05
Unknown
They were adamant that it had to be you. Right. And so that's pretty cool. I could see why that might be the high point. I'm grateful for that. Trust me. The the rough part to all this is that these people are particularly motivated to be our viewers. Yes, a lot of people after that first experience in $10,000 would be like, RV life is not for us.

00:08:56:05 - 00:09:16:21
Unknown
Yeah, and that sucks. And if you are a dealer that is contributing to that, why are you in this business for like for all the things that we are going to show you and all the industry inside and out, we love the RV life. Absolutely. We love it and it can be amazing. But things like that chase people out of it.

00:09:16:24 - 00:09:37:04
Unknown
Yeah. And that makes me wonder. Like, I spoke to a person today who was wanting to purchase her first RV, and she found this one that she thought would be a really great starter for her. It's used substantially similar in age and type to the one I just described. Right. And and now after this conversation, because she was like, oh, I walked in it, it looked great.

00:09:37:04 - 00:09:59:08
Unknown
It looked like they kept it in really great condition, like I didn't see anything. And and at the time of the phone call, I was like, well, that's good news. I mean, that's half the battle if you don't see anything. But now I'm a little worried after talking to you. Yeah. Not about how you get a little nervous about, you know, and that's, you know, because for her, she's like, I want my first one to be used because I don't need it to be brand new until I figure things out.

00:09:59:08 - 00:10:16:26
Unknown
But I also don't want it to be a money grab or like, whatever you call that. Like, she's like, I don't want to, you know, right by this thing. And then, yeah, you buy the thing and then you find there's $15,000 of water damage, right? She's not wanting that. And, I feel like this is going to give me a new understanding when I'm talking to customers or.

00:10:16:27 - 00:10:39:15
Unknown
Oh, that's this why we're here, man. Let's try it. what was the low point of the week for you? probably. It's only Monday for for our listeners. So, today's low point was the amount of calls that I received for repairs, but they didn't actually want repairs. they just wanted me to talk them through the problem.

00:10:39:15 - 00:11:01:29
Unknown
And then one of them specifically was frustrating because I offered her, a possible solution. When you're listening on the phone and when you're talking to me. I don't know that much yet, but I'm very open. But just for everyone. Everyone. She was right. Like your suggestion was the first one that I would have made. Thank you. I suggested that possibly the coils had been frozen into to take it.

00:11:02:01 - 00:11:17:25
Unknown
The thing off. I didn't have the technical work, but the cover. Take the cover off and check to see if the coils were frozen and they immediately dismissed me. Right. And we're like, no, it can't be that. But you came and asked me about it and I was like, yes. I was like, this is what they're describing. And I was like, that sounds like a freeze issue.

00:11:17:27 - 00:11:32:28
Unknown
But they didn't want to try it. And it was like, that happened like three phone calls in a row. And so Mike came home and I was like, I am tired. My brain hurts from having to work really hard with these people of like, because I want to help them like my heart. I want to talk them through it.

00:11:32:28 - 00:12:00:27
Unknown
But then there's the part where I don't really know a lot, so I actually can't help them a lot. And then also, we're a business. Well, yeah. And that's like we have some plans to someday in the future have some kind of tech support. But like you need a technician to technician you through these things. Right. So as a business, if I'm sitting telling you how to do these things on the phone for free, then I'm not going to be in business very long.

00:12:00:28 - 00:12:21:26
Unknown
That's why my brain was like being divided. While I'm also trying to listen to these people's woes like, I want to help you, I don't quite understand what you're saying. Oh we're business. What would Mike say? Mike would say we have to find a way to, like, we've got to go out and do diagnosis. Now, the part that we kind of do for free is our is our Instagram and Facebook, where we're like, hey, if you're having this problem, you can look at this.

00:12:21:29 - 00:12:42:26
Unknown
We do make videos like that. And and if they happen to get you on the phone, because there are times when you answer the phone for a repair and I you, you have the knowledge right there to be able to sort of answer some of the basic questions that sometimes solves the problem. I don't really have that ability yet, because even if I do know how something works, it takes me longer to.

00:12:42:28 - 00:12:59:08
Unknown
Yeah, but kind of get there. You know, the thing is, is that, like, people especially like if someone doesn't know that much for right now is all air conditioners, right? And every air conditioner call is a crisis in Texas. Yes. So, you know, people will call and they'll be like, well, my AC is not working. What does that mean?

00:12:59:08 - 00:13:18:10
Unknown
Does that mean is it not turning on? Is it blowing cold? None of the time. Does it blow cold? Some of the time is blowing a little bit cold, like all of those things can tell us a little bit about what's going on. And but even if you say, for example, what's blowing, but it's not blowing cold, what it's like is the compressor coming on and it's still not blowing cold, because that's one thing.

00:13:18:10 - 00:13:37:11
Unknown
Is the compressor not coming on at all because then it's probably electrical, you know. So yeah, I don't and I tell people this when I do get on the phone, I'm like, I these are like five things it might be but I don't know. And I don't want you but just tease this out. Let's say that you decide that somebody it goes on the internet.

00:13:37:13 - 00:13:55:11
Unknown
Coleman air conditioner not blowing cold right. And they're going to see all the different possibilities. So they go through a capacitor on there for 30 bucks on Amazon doesn't solve the problem. Then they're like, oh we put a new control box on there for 150 bucks from Amazon. Right? And an hour of their time and maybe they get electrocuted while they're doing it.

00:13:55:13 - 00:14:10:11
Unknown
Right. And then that doesn't fix the problem. They're like, well, maybe it's my thermostat. And then they spend $70 on the thermostat. And then I get there, I'm like, oh, dude, actually, your compressors blown, right? And you've bought all these parts where if you were to just had somebody come out and and actually diagnose that, you would have.

00:14:10:13 - 00:14:29:14
Unknown
And I get it. You know, the RV people are typically problem solvers typically. And they're very and they want to be friendly. Right. But it just doesn't always work that way. No. But so to that point like yeah, we can't always we're not like, you know, the air traffic controller teaching you how to land a plane. Right? We do make content that does explain this stuff.

00:14:29:14 - 00:14:43:28
Unknown
And sometimes times I can spitball it if we're on the phone. But but if you get me. Sorry, you're out of luck. Yeah. And I'm in the field actually solving these. I'm kidding. I should give myself a little credit. Like I do know a little bit. Especially over. Just like the last few weeks, I kind of learned quickly.

00:14:43:29 - 00:15:00:20
Unknown
Yeah, not a lot. I'm nowhere near where I need to be or where you are, but I'm getting there. But is it is this a low point for you? Because you want to help them, but you can't because it feels frustrating. It feels like I'm not. Yeah. Like I want to help them and I can't. And then I don't really know how.

00:15:00:20 - 00:15:18:15
Unknown
And so it's kind of like a it's a lot of feelings all in one while just trying to talk on the phone. You hang up and you're like tired. You're like, oh, that was a lot of work. You're catching their energy because it's a crisis, right? And I feel for them too, because we are in Texas, it's 101 plus, you know, and a lot of these people that are calling are living in their camper.

00:15:18:16 - 00:15:35:03
Unknown
So like I do get it. And we did live in our camper for a little while, just on the edge of summer. And it was hot and we had a working air conditioning, like a really good one. So yeah, I it's like I had the technician to clean the coils and, you know, maintain it, but I just it's hard.

00:15:35:04 - 00:15:52:29
Unknown
This job is hard. I was not prepared for a little bit of the heart that it takes to talk to each person. Right. You know, and want to help them. That's how it's hard to say no. And it's hard to because people will call and and I think we talked a little bit about this last time. People will call and they'll tell you the story.

00:15:52:29 - 00:16:13:24
Unknown
And you know, we're we're not like vicious capitalists. If we can help somebody out, we're going to we will. But it's an extraordinary circumstance and it's not something that we can do a lot because we do have bills, but it's not because we don't want to. And I think that's what is hard about it is like, we want to help at all costs, but we can't.

00:16:13:24 - 00:16:33:18
Unknown
Right. And it's like, you know, what I like to do is let's set the expectation that someone's going to pay full price. Okay? Yeah, I can go out there and diagnosis, this is the service. And then if I can get out there and solve it easily, we'll surprise them with a discount. Right. It will waive the service fee or the hourly or something like.

00:16:33:21 - 00:16:56:12
Unknown
And that's where you and I are different though. I want to tell him upfront, like we're going to help you out. We're going to give you the best deal, like we got you and you're like, no, I'm going to make them wait for them. Well, yeah. And that's in the feeling of gratitude. The reason for that is my experience has been that when we can't people upfront, we usually for some reason we incur an attitude about it later.

00:16:56:12 - 00:17:17:11
Unknown
Then, you know, like whenever we're like, oh yeah, we'll just do this for free or we'll just charge you for parts for whatever reason, that always, every time it seems to blow up in our face. And I found that it's it's better to set the expectation that we go in. It's going to be full price. And then, you know, we can we can walk that back later.

00:17:17:11 - 00:17:33:24
Unknown
You know, I'm thinking of that person. She's an older woman. I think it was in the spring. Call this you only had the one AC. It wasn't working. And I you know we money was a factor and I was like, well let's come out and let's figure out what's wrong. And then, you know, it turned out to be just a fan motor.

00:17:33:24 - 00:17:48:24
Unknown
And I threw a new one in there and I was like, hey, you remind me of my mom. So, you know, I was about to say you have a soft spot for the older generation. I do women, I do, and I'm like, you remind me of my mom. So. So this is how my mom would want me to treat you.

00:17:48:24 - 00:18:07:20
Unknown
So just make me whole for the motor and we'll write off the. Yeah, but we can't do a lot. We're business once in a while, and thankfully we're small enough and we're mobile enough that we can once in a while, make that decision. But yeah, everyone has something going on in their life and we try to be sensitive to it, but it's just hard for me.

00:18:07:20 - 00:18:27:00
Unknown
I'm an empath and you had like a wave of people in crisis today. I did today was like everyone kept calling it all at once. That seems to be how it happens. Like the day last week when we got all those inspection calls. And I'm not complaining. Like I'm glad people are calling us, keep calling us. But it's just a lot when it happens all at once, it's overwhelming.

00:18:27:03 - 00:18:47:22
Unknown
So not a bad problem to have just working through it. Can I tell you what my low point for the week was? Yeah, I think you're going to know. So we got that call from a customer from like a year ago. Look at their air conditioner. Yes. And in the last year our businesses evolved. At that time, I was willing to text people on the phone and have conversations with them.

00:18:47:22 - 00:19:05:25
Unknown
So, like 6:00 at night, someone texted me and was like, hey, they'd had actually a different technician there, and they were like, hey, the air conditioning. This guy says, we need a new one. and these are his circumstances that he thinks that we need to do. And I could tell from the text that everything was wrong.

00:19:05:27 - 00:19:29:03
Unknown
This dude was just incorrect. And they sent me photos with this guy was saying, and I was like, that's demonstrably wrong, which that isn't that stressful. What was stressful was that any time that we have installed an air conditioner and they're like, hey, it is leaking, that is a cause for stress. That's Mike's trigger, if you will. And so I literally and immediately I stood up from we were eating dinner.

00:19:29:05 - 00:19:46:08
Unknown
We were stood up from the table, got in the truck and went out to go, service. And I saw it on his face. I was I knew you needed to go. And I was like, it's fine, I'll sit here. So I went out there and I fixed the air conditioner and figured out that the leak was not really our problem at all.

00:19:46:08 - 00:20:05:09
Unknown
It had nothing to do with our install. but you wouldn't have felt better if you didn't go out there to see with your own eyes. And at least, you know, we. So, you know, we went out there and figured out what the leak was, and fix the air conditioner. So at least that client is, is now able to have their AC again.

00:20:05:11 - 00:20:26:04
Unknown
unfortunately, the leak did go on for a while, so they've got some other damage they're gonna have to replace. But it was not your it was not our install at all that caused the leak. There was actually any one of 15 places on the roof that water could have intruded. Yeah. not our air conditioner. It was just appearing there and coming out because there was a hole in the ceiling there, right?

00:20:26:04 - 00:20:44:18
Unknown
For where the air conditioner comes. So good news there. But that is my anxiety button. Yes. And I saw that it was triggered and I, I sat back and just let you go do what you need to do. I didn't ask you when you were going to be home. I was like, you just it has never we've never had a our fault air conditioning leak on wood.

00:20:44:20 - 00:21:08:08
Unknown
but that is our anxiety. That is my anxiety button. Low point of the week for sure. In that moment, I did not care for that. And you worked through it. I was very proud of you. I actually had anxiety dreams that night. I didn't like it that much. I literally, I dreamt about that air conditioner and I had like all of my basic cup nightmares that I used to have, right?

00:21:08:08 - 00:21:25:02
Unknown
Like invincible bad guys. And then courtroom forgot. You said that. Yeah, like courtrooms full of my enemies. It's funny, because obviously it's not as much of a crisis as when you were the police, but it reminded me of how when we used to go get lunch together while you were on the clock, it would be your lunch break, and we'd be sitting at whatever restaurant, and you'd get a call and you'd have to go.

00:21:25:02 - 00:21:41:01
Unknown
And I would just be sitting there like eating by myself, like, yeah, again, different. You're not the police in this situation. But it brought me back to that time. I literally we were eating right there, right there. I just got up and left and you're like, what? I didn't even clearly verbalize what I was doing. I figured it out pretty quick.

00:21:41:01 - 00:22:03:12
Unknown
You're like, you just left me here. I was supportive, you were, you were. That's because we want our customers to be happy. I don't worry free campaign. That is the whole point. And and I feel kind of goofy sometimes when I say that, like, someone was talking about wanting an inspection from us today and he he expressed concern is if something goes unnoticed during the inspection.

00:22:03:12 - 00:22:25:05
Unknown
And I was like, I didn't know how to word it like, but our our our motto, our our whole mission is worry free camping. And I wanted to be like, we're going to try to not have that happen because we want to alleviate any of your worries, your concerns, and but I don't want to sound like I'm giving a business speech necessarily.

00:22:25:05 - 00:22:51:00
Unknown
I will though. So, this is why I don't do the no, but business part of it, like that part. So like selling, you know, I have never knock on wood. I have never missed anything of any significance within the scope of our inspection. Right. So, you know, like that it has never happened where someone has called me and been like, oh, dude, you missed this.

00:22:51:03 - 00:23:14:21
Unknown
And there's a reason that the inspection takes eight hours. Yeah, right. Very thorough. It's I'm like, you know, there's you're using infrared cameras to look under couches, right? So it's it's very unlikely that I'm going to it's very unlikely that I'm going to miss something, major like some kind of water damage or something.

00:23:14:24 - 00:23:43:05
Unknown
But in the event that I did, we would figure it out. Because you're a good person, right? If there was some. Even if in the event of an apocalypse scenario, you know, we, we have insurance. If it really came to, we've never used it, but, like, we have it and, like, even like this last there was a there was a situation recently with a, a fire, smoke detector and.

00:23:43:08 - 00:23:58:26
Unknown
Oh, yeah, I brought it up and the bank was like, well, until you get a new one, you know, and it was a private sale. And I was like, okay, well, I just want you I want you to close this sale, so I'll buy you one and with $10 because they just it right that you had said that it was out it without an out of date.

00:23:58:26 - 00:24:13:11
Unknown
It was out of date. It was functional but it was out of time because they last like five years or something. And like they were like, well, the private seller wasn't with the RV and they couldn't close the loan and the person was flying in from out of state. And none of this was my problem. But I was like, hey, I want the worry free, right?

00:24:13:11 - 00:24:36:09
Unknown
And I was like, I'll just spend the $10 and get your new smoke detector. And that way I can I can truthfully say, and I don't get compensated for the smoke detector, but like, I can truthfully say, yes, it has been remedied. Here's a pass. Yes. again, it's not something I can do a lot, but in this case, it was an easy fix for, a stressful situation for the seller and the buyer assume and assuming.

00:24:36:09 - 00:24:59:05
Unknown
And it's worth noting that if we talk about doing repairs and inspections, it's really repairs or inspections. Because once we inspect an RV, right, it's radioactive. We don't we can't fix it for money for a period of one year. And that's so that we oh, it's after a year, it's one year. And the, the idea there is that like a home inspector is not going to come tell you that you need a new water heater and then sell you that water heater.

00:24:59:10 - 00:25:28:28
Unknown
Right. There's conflict of interest there. So we separate it out for for one year. I thought it was just indefinitely. So that's good to know. I have, I'm not particularly interested in personally doing service on RVs I've inspected. Really? Really. How come, the I feel like it's two different businesses, and I don't like to cross the streams, but if we had a return client that call this, I would totally do it.

00:25:28:28 - 00:25:49:19
Unknown
It's not a problem. I just I don't like it. And even a lot of inspectors don't do repairs at all. And a lot of repair people, even if they, they are also inspectors, it's easier to generate business from repairs, like if you just go to an RV park and have a truck says RV repair. Probably make enough money to make a living.

00:25:49:19 - 00:26:14:11
Unknown
That makes it's much harder to make a living doing inspections because it requires resources and advertising. And then once you get the ball rolling, everything's great. But like it's easier to do the other way. So a lot of people there are reasons that people do one and not the, not the other. And that's like me personally, we actually had someone reach out to us today, say, hey, I'm a tech, I'd like to come work for you.

00:26:14:11 - 00:26:38:17
Unknown
Right? I try to do most of the inspection stuff myself and then have a bright line between that and the repairs. Yeah, that way there's no there's no that makes sense. Yeah. There's no accusation of of wrongdoing I appreciate that. Well thanks man. We were going to talk this week a little bit about the RV life and our plan.

00:26:38:17 - 00:26:59:23
Unknown
And we talked last time about how we got to here. And we mentioned that we've had our house for sale for 110 days still for sale. If you'd like to buy, we'd love to sell to you. It's a beautiful three bedroom, two and a half home. Gorgeous. here in Buda, which is south of Austin, Texas. Very close to Costco.

00:26:59:23 - 00:27:27:04
Unknown
Anyway, so what else do you need? Yeah, it's close to target, so target ten minutes. Target right there. Right. There's Rudy's barbecue. They're good. Yeah. It's great. Torchy's torchy's right down the street. Anyway, so, but our intent is to be full time. Our viewers and we were full time our viewers for a few months this spring because our not our naivete, we were like, oh, hey, we first put the house, we were like, oh, let's just move out into our RV now and be done with it.

00:27:27:06 - 00:27:51:12
Unknown
And that didn't help. I mean, it was great. We had a great experience and we worked out some of the kinks of living in an RV full time with a five year old and two dogs, and we learned a lot. We really did in a short amount of time because we didn't plan to move into the RV. We were going to be there for my spring break, remember, just for a week while we did photos, and then I was like, let's just end the first open house.

00:27:51:12 - 00:28:06:00
Unknown
Yeah. And then we were both like, well, this is silly. We moved all of our essentials in there for the week, right? I was like, I'm not moving at all back into the house and then back into the camper, right? And we thought it would sell fast and it did not. And our vision was we're like, we'll just leave the house like a museum.

00:28:06:00 - 00:28:27:06
Unknown
And right. And it worked great for those three months. Right? Great. But we only had like 1 or 2 showings a week, not enough to justify staying in the camper any longer. And so we we moved back into the house, which has like none of our stuff in it anymore. We sold so much. Like, we actually think the Lord still had this kitchen table, but we sold it.

00:28:27:07 - 00:28:47:14
Unknown
So most of our stuff we've like, totally decluttered this house and like we're now here waiting for it to sell. And this weekend we went camping. We did spare the moment. Yeah. Like we woke up Saturday morning and we were like plus bail out and go camping. Well, to be fair, you were like, let's bail out and go camping.

00:28:47:14 - 00:29:01:00
Unknown
And in typical Elizabeth fashion, I was like, let me have a minute and just. Yeah, what do you always say? You say swirl that around in your brain, that let that percolate. There you go. And I do, I do, I process and I say at first I said, no, actually, I came back and I was like, no, it's not working.

00:29:01:02 - 00:29:19:14
Unknown
And then I was like, how about we do this? And I gave some suggestions and then, yeah, I just, I believe I was like casually like, go ahead, look into it, let's do it. And you didn't even hesitate. You're like, let's do it. Yeah. We were like at 9 a.m., we were having coffee on our porch. And then by like 1030 we have very different brains.

00:29:19:17 - 00:29:39:09
Unknown
Yeah. No, I wake up at full tilt every day and I wake up very slowly. And even just like with activities and spontaneous spontaneity, like you are very much, let's do it right. And I love to say YOLO, like that's my thing. But I don't often act upon my YOLO like it's 2005. But I got there and we had a great time and I was really glad we went.

00:29:39:09 - 00:30:00:17
Unknown
We only went for 24 hours. It started and we were talking about this. It like totally like reminded us of why we want to do the full time RV life because everyone, literally everyone is happier. It's true. Even Nolan Nolan was so happy. Yeah, he he's our five year old, and he was here. And we find in the house it's easy to fall into ruts, right?

00:30:00:17 - 00:30:19:20
Unknown
Like he's watching YouTube or, you know, and we find in the camper, it's like we're spending time. And this was true even though we were living in it. Like we're spending time together doing things more because you're not no matter how nice your RV is, in our in our experience, you're not really spending a lot of time inside the RV.

00:30:19:25 - 00:30:33:03
Unknown
And if you are, though, you're still in close proximity. So you're but it's like, you know, even like when we were staying and it was like we went for like 2 or 3 walks a day as a family, right? Like we'd walk to the park or we'd go to the pool, you know, we would just. Or the office.

00:30:33:03 - 00:30:53:29
Unknown
Just little things, nothing even fancy. We're not even doing anything crazy. We're just together. And you're just, by default, more active. Yeah. It's like, okay, let's go for a hike right now. Right? Like, yeah, but like to go on a hike here, we would have to get in the car and drive to or hike and go, you know, and while it's not a big deal, it just does sort of make it harder.

00:30:54:01 - 00:31:12:23
Unknown
Just as humans I think there's barriers and it put some people don't care at all and they fly over those barriers. We are not those, you know, we're not. And that's okay. And we find that when we're when and when we're in our RV, we're happier and we're more active and we're closer and we have more fun for we do longer periods of time.

00:31:12:23 - 00:31:30:28
Unknown
And you were still working at your job when he was still in school, when we were in the RV, full time. And even with all those dramas, those challenges. Yeah. Still better. I said that when May came and I was finished with the school year, was our niece. Oh, no. I was saying when May the month of May.

00:31:31:01 - 00:31:48:19
Unknown
Sorry, I won't mansplain for my wife again. Thank you chief, I'll let it this out. When the month of May came and I was done with school, and we were becoming frustrated that the house didn't sell, we're going to have to move back. Or maybe, if not frustrated, but discouraged. I think you were like, oh, it feels like a waste of money.

00:31:48:19 - 00:32:08:10
Unknown
And I had the like moment of like, no, this was so good for us for so many reasons. Mental health, just our family got closer. Nolan thrived. It showed us that we could do it. The dogs were living their best lives again. 3 or 4 walks away, right? Yeah. it was worth every penny. And then we came back to the house and we settled back into our routines.

00:32:08:12 - 00:32:22:02
Unknown
And then we went away for 24 hours. And now we're like, we need to sell our house. We need to do it. Yeah. We put a we put like, I think the night we got back. So yeah, last night we like emailed the realtor. We're like, we'll do 5000 off in closing costs. We need to be in our camp.

00:32:22:02 - 00:32:43:01
Unknown
Like, let's get rid of this house. We are better people. And we in our camp. Yes. And I agree, I'm happier. I feel, lighter because we just. We don't have the extra. Like, I'm looking around this room right now, and I'm like, there's a box over there. And then there's, like, random keys over there, and it's like, did you just say tchotchke?

00:32:43:03 - 00:33:03:19
Unknown
I can say whatever I want. We are not in Chicago anymore, Mike. People don't know what it is. It's little worthless garbage that you put out for decoration and just things that don't have really too much meaning. Like a little like a little figure, a little candle or, how to explain it. They don't. Yeah. Like, so it's like this little silly cactus thing over there that's not alive.

00:33:03:19 - 00:33:26:11
Unknown
But it's just right now, at the opposite would be my authentic reproduction of the Haugen from the Star Trek The Next Generation. That's not an episode. Captain's holiday. No, that's not a tchotchke. Who gave you that, by the way? did you know the Haugen is the rising symbol for sexual fertility? Who gave me that? That is no, you gave me that.

00:33:26:13 - 00:33:46:05
Unknown
Anyway, so the, but, like. Yeah, it's like you have all the extra stuff. I'm going to get an E after this podcast. Now for explicit D for Elizabeth. so I but anyway, yeah, we've discussed like, we don't like having all the extra stuff and we like condensing down to, like, the minimum stuff that we actually need.

00:33:46:08 - 00:34:04:23
Unknown
except our son, who still needs all of his toys, all of them. But it's very freeing. And just like the act of just cleaning the house is, is so much harder. Yes, there's just more physical space. Right? And then we also like, really enjoy the freedom, like, oh, I don't like my neighbor. I'll just move. I don't like this park.

00:34:04:23 - 00:34:27:18
Unknown
I'll just move. There's an opportunity somewhere else. We'll just move or people don't like us and then they move. Yeah, that was the thing. How many did we lose? How many neighbors. So which I'm going to state is not our fault. But it was a little like disheartening after the third one. Yeah. Three. So yes, there were a bunch of there was a couple things we in the RV park, we were at.

00:34:27:21 - 00:34:48:17
Unknown
So what we're describing first is people would come stay next to us for a couple days, week or two, and then we'd see them like somewhere else in the park. Yeah. Jinks, show me a float every time. And a couple things were happening because someone we were staying in a spot that was technically not a long term spot, but the park management hooked us up.

00:34:48:19 - 00:35:07:22
Unknown
so those are supposed to be for, like, weekenders because they were like the super premium spots, and we had a deal about that. So it was more likely that there'd be transient people coming and going. We found that there was a couple times where like, they somebody picked that spot and they were willing to pay extra to stay there, but then somebody else had like already booked it.

00:35:07:22 - 00:35:24:03
Unknown
So they had to move. And then they just didn't move back. But I think there were some people that didn't want to be next to us. And there was a couple reasons for that. We were still working. So every morning at 6 a.m., you'd be getting you'd be driving him this term, like parking spot was right next to their caravan.

00:35:24:09 - 00:35:41:19
Unknown
Right. And then the beds are in the front of their RVs. Right. So you'd be closing your car? I tried to be really quiet, but in the spring, when the air conditioners aren't running, it's difficult to do that. And someone who stayed at an RV park before, right? Like when you're trying to sleep, it sucks when the guy turns his motorcycle on at seven, it's not great, right?

00:35:41:21 - 00:35:58:07
Unknown
So I get it. Nolan has no chill in the morning either, so no, despite how much we work with them to respect quiet hours, he just runs outside and pretends to be a velociraptor. He did his best. Yeah, and we at six in the morning. To be fair, he was good. It was more so like on the weekends at like 8 a.m..

00:35:58:07 - 00:36:17:20
Unknown
We've already been up for two out the door would blast open. It wasn't so much the 6 a.m. problem. Yeah, so we're not that bad. Then I could understand. He understood that we had to be quiet. We'd have to tiptoe to the car. Yeah, but it's possible. You know, you have a five year old, and that's. There are different groups of people that stay in RV parks.

00:36:17:23 - 00:36:37:08
Unknown
It's so true. You know, like we're people that we like to hang out outside. Yes. We have like a propane fire pit. And we'll we will have our coffee out by that fire pit at eight in the morning and we will, you know, hang out outside of that fire pit till quiet hours start at 10 p.m., right? Like that's our lifestyle.

00:36:37:11 - 00:36:53:26
Unknown
Other people never go outside at all, right? Some of our neighbors. Yeah, some of them we never saw. we had one that came over every time, that one next to us, she'd come over and be like, that's such a cozy fire. Come on, come on, come join us. Come join us. Nope. No, she never did. She just wanted to come tell us the fire look nice.

00:36:53:26 - 00:37:19:04
Unknown
We're really nice people. I don't understand. You're a nice person. You're nice. But anyway, so we've we've now we're, like, dying to sell the house. and we're wanting to get back out there because we have a plan. And this, this was our original plan. And the longer it takes to sell this house, the more shortened version of our plan is going to exist.

00:37:19:11 - 00:37:41:20
Unknown
Right? So we wanted to sell our house by Memorial Day, and then stay in the Austin area until about Labor Day. And then our vision was to start traveling the country, and we were going to go back to our kind of home area in Illinois, the outskirts of Chicago cago, and stay for a couple of months and visit all of our family and then maybe work a little while.

00:37:41:20 - 00:38:02:24
Unknown
We're up there. So the benefit of this business is we can take the business with us to an extent, and then we're going to come back here for the holidays and then travel the probably southwest during the winter and early spring, and then come back to Austin and run the. This is our busy season here in Austin, and we're not going to leave our clients right now.

00:38:02:26 - 00:38:24:21
Unknown
So we were going to do that and then get through a second air conditioner. Season 2025, and then decide what we want to do more permanently. We were talking about maybe moving to Wisconsin or to Michigan, relocate our business in the in the summer. But as as we're still here, we are having to curtail that plan a little bit.

00:38:24:21 - 00:38:48:21
Unknown
So we can't be full time RV until we sell this house. We can take day trips and weekend trips and things like that, and we can go to Chicago for a week, but we just can't do it to the extent that we'd like to. Right? So it's definitely a little discouraging. I mean, we're not giving up hope. It's only July 1st, but it's just not where we saw ourselves being on July 1st.

00:38:48:23 - 00:39:21:14
Unknown
Right? It was our hope that we would be in our camper house, sold. You know, in our we were wanting to buy another camper because our, our current one is not really summer ready. It was fine actually, with all of us in it. It was more the temperature as we crept into the summer, just that midday heat. And it gets it's it's and this is why is a 30ft 30 amp RV and it has one air conditioner, which is fine all the time until it loses the race at about 4:00 in the afternoon every day.

00:39:21:14 - 00:39:39:17
Unknown
And then it creeps up to about 80 degrees and it stays there till about 7 p.m. and then it comes back down. So by the time you go to bed, it's comfortable again. But we cannot I shouldn't say that it's uncomfortable. We can do it. We were going to do it. Yeah. So that part honestly I'm not that sad about I'm enjoying our air conditioned house.

00:39:39:21 - 00:39:59:23
Unknown
Yeah. It's nice when you come back in and you're sweating bullets. You're like, oh, that feels good. There are perks to being in the house. Still doesn't mean we're not sad and right. Like we wanted to sweat through the summer, we were planning and then like, oh, sell this camper, but by this great big Brinkley and then, you know, be comfy, comfortable and yeah, rolling in style.

00:39:59:23 - 00:40:22:04
Unknown
But it will happen. So we will be going to Chicago in some capacity for some length of time. We're just not sure what it's going to look like right now. And that's okay. You know, where everything else in our lives has fallen into place when it was the right time. So we have to, I think, just go into this knowing that when it's time, it will happen.

00:40:22:11 - 00:40:51:06
Unknown
Well, and that's like kind of the, the, the mantra of the RV life. And how many people have said to us, oh my God, you guys are doing what I want to do. Oh my gosh, so many people. But some of my colleagues were like, I'm going to live vicariously through you. And that is so heartwarming because like, I love that you love what I'm doing, but also you should do it right if or try and, you know, like whatever your RV life is because it's not.

00:40:51:08 - 00:41:17:07
Unknown
Hi, there's a weird noise. I don't know what it was. Whatever. Whatever your RV life is. Maybe it's, you know, going on a cruise every year or maybe it's moving to the country or moving into the city, or you want to buy a boat, like, whatever, whatever. Or maybe you know, you want. You you don't want to work anymore to stay home with your kids, whatever it is that like you want to do, you just have to make incremental progress in getting there.

00:41:17:07 - 00:41:38:00
Unknown
Small step exactly like we're we're we're talking to you right now with the benefit of like, being at the very end of a five year incremental progress march towards our goal. We talked last episode about where we started and now look at us. And now we're we're literally on step 99 out of 100 to achieve. Like we're literally on the last step.

00:41:38:00 - 00:41:58:08
Unknown
We're so close and it's fine. It'll happen. But we talked to so many people that are like, oh, that would take me ten years to do. And so I just won't do it. And then you're like, well, where will you be in ten years if you don't do it like ten years going to relapse? So what are you going to do during those ten years?

00:41:58:08 - 00:42:14:07
Unknown
Right. Like you're not going to you're just going to be miserable. Go forward with your goal. Yeah. And I've been there. I used to have that mindset where I was like, oh, this is too hard. I'll just and to be fair, there's when you're in a rut, when you're in, you like to call. When you're in the black, it's very hard to see outside of that.

00:42:14:07 - 00:42:33:03
Unknown
It's very hard to see your goals and to know what to do to reach them. So, you know, I don't want to be insensitive to that, because we've also been very much in the black, right, where we're unable to do anything in forward motion. Yes, of our goals. But it's like it's like there is a path to do basically anything you want to do.

00:42:33:03 - 00:42:47:06
Unknown
And there was, oh God, they're going to be so mad because I want to talk about their Instagram and I don't remember their name. but I remember their name, but I can't remember the name of their Instagram page, but they're like, they're full time, our viewers, and they're like, oh, you must be rich to have to do this.

00:42:47:06 - 00:43:04:15
Unknown
So like, no, we both work remote jobs. We bought a used truck body, used RV. We had to spend a little money to fix that RV when we bought it, but. It's fine now, right? Like okay. Yeah. So that is a path. Like you bought a budget truck and a budget RV and you were willing to do the work to me.

00:43:04:15 - 00:43:31:17
Unknown
Okay, cool. There are people that can afford to go out and buy the Newmar motorhome. And, you know, go out and live their lives that way. That is not us. That's not we could not afford currently a Newmar motorhome. if we wanted to more tiffin or really any motorhome for that for that matter. But, you know, it's just like, hey, if, if, if your vision is to be a full time RV or you can do it and it just takes a minute to get there.

00:43:31:20 - 00:43:46:05
Unknown
Yeah. and there's I mean, yeah, to be fair, you pitched it to me, what, to two and a half years ago, maybe not quite that long ago. And it was a while, and you were like, no, I well, at first we were pretty serious. We kind of wrote down a plan. We're like, all right, we could do this.

00:43:46:05 - 00:44:00:17
Unknown
But it was like going to be two years in the future. And then we started talking and you were getting a little too serious about it. And I was like, no, we're done. I don't want to talk about this anymore. It's too real. No. And then we tabled it for like three, four months, five months. Then you came out of nowhere and then I had this.

00:44:00:17 - 00:44:18:26
Unknown
I don't even know what happened. Oh, I do know what happened. We traveled. It was a really busy fall. We went, I went, sorry, I this I went to multiple places and we went to Chicago for the homecoming for. And I use homecoming with friends and family in the camper and then a month later, I went to Colorado.

00:44:18:26 - 00:44:36:29
Unknown
And then I went somewhere else. And I just had this feeling of like, I love this. I love traveling to see the people in my life, and I don't live near them, and that's okay. But I love going to see them and spending time with them, like so many core memories are made. And I just it made me realize, like, I want that feeling all the time, right?

00:44:37:00 - 00:44:55:01
Unknown
And if we live in the camper, we can have that. When you're in a house like money and just your lifestyle sort of takes that away from you, you can maybe go on a trip occasionally, but like, you know, can't consistently go see people like it. It wasn't even ideal that those three trips were back to back to back.

00:44:55:01 - 00:45:14:08
Unknown
It just happened that way and we couldn't avoid it. And you know what I mean? Like when you're living in the RV, like we can go see friends in Wisconsin and friends in Chicago and go do cool stuff, like on the way, you know, go randomly to Roswell, New Mexico and see aliens, right? Like, yes, like you did when you went to Lubbock and like, you took a two hour drive, like a two hour drive on my day off.

00:45:14:08 - 00:45:38:22
Unknown
And it's like, I don't know that I would go to Roswell again, but it was a cool. You were disappointed there were no aliens knowing. but yeah. So the this is the opinions expressed in the next segment are those of Michael Murphy and Michael Murphy alone. So I have found that when you live close to all of your family and friends, like, do you value the time with them?

00:45:38:22 - 00:45:53:23
Unknown
Yes, but it's kind of not that special because you see them all the time. Right? And I have found that like when we go home for a month or two months or something and we're like, okay, yeah, we get to go to so-and-so's house and go to the birthday party. And it's something we haven't been able to do.

00:45:53:23 - 00:46:28:04
Unknown
It's like really special. So special. Yeah, because we get to do it and everyone's excited and you get to reconnect and then, you know, then you leave and you get to do it again a year from now. And, and so and it's great, but and it's great. And to me, that's what I really, really like about family because like when we lived in, when we lived in Chicago and we had our own place, we probably saw in the month that we were in Chicago last year, those friends and family that we wanted to see more in that one month than we did in the two years we lived together on the South Side.

00:46:28:04 - 00:46:47:20
Unknown
It's true. And it was like just because you had more going on and you've got things you need to do and all this other stuff, and then it's not always a priority, right, to go do this other stuff intentional, that it's not a priority. It just happens. Life just. And there's something about the RV as a vehicle to take us to the special moments that I really like.

00:46:47:20 - 00:47:06:00
Unknown
So it's like, yeah, I'm going to go to Illinois for. And to your point, when we went, people are probably listening. Well, what about Illinois? So okay, so we went to Illinois. You're not wrong. Sycamore, Illinois I graduated from the Northern Illinois University, and so we got in an RV park that was close to that. We went to the homecoming with my friends.

00:47:06:00 - 00:47:21:27
Unknown
We tailgated at the homecoming, right? So we got to have like a big party there. And then we got to go to, we had some family member's birthday and I'm married. That's right. It was that Mary's birthday and won't disclose her age, but it was a big no. She turned 30 and so it was a big birthday for her.

00:47:21:27 - 00:47:36:04
Unknown
We got to go to the I forgot it was that Mary's birthday. And then so we got to go to that and then we got to do all the fun things on the way to and from, and we came out of them. We're like, that was awesome, right? Like so many core memories, right? It was, it was it was incredible.

00:47:36:04 - 00:48:09:00
Unknown
And then we were like, we could do that more. Yeah. And like, let's just do that more. And it's funny because we've taken a lot of trips over the last few years since we got our permanent RV, like the one that we have now, right? We got we go every year. Yeah, we've gone, but it's just like something different, I don't know, like between you and like your two job changes over the last few years, and then my pretty significant life change with my job and the difficult two years I had at this new job, like just something felt different this time it was it was like the stars were definitely aligned.

00:48:09:00 - 00:48:23:19
Unknown
This. Yeah, there was a different. Yeah, exactly. It was a different experience. It overtook me and I knew it was right. I've talked to my therapist about this. It was like I just knew like a switch flipped. And I did come out of nowhere seemingly to say like, let's do it right. And you were like, not, no, you're not serious.

00:48:23:19 - 00:48:37:13
Unknown
And I was like, no, I am, I don't know, I can't explain it yet. I can't put it into words. But like something I straight up like didn't leave you when you were like, let's, let's do this thing. And I haven't backed down. I'm like, and when people were like, oh, this must be Mike's idea. Like, Mike's been wanting to do this, like, yeah, you're right.

00:48:37:13 - 00:49:05:17
Unknown
But actually it's my idea. Like, I'm the one. No one believes me, but I'm like, I was the one that came back and was like, we're doing this. Yes. So everyone listening like, yeah, this is me and you. Now, obviously we're don't act like that. You're on board. I'm 100% honestly. But, truth be told, it was me and there's so many is as we've as we move through this, we have found that there's like three groups of people in our lives that that react to this.

00:49:05:17 - 00:49:22:19
Unknown
And if you were thinking about being a full time RV or you will encounter this to the there's one group where they don't fully understand what it is that you're doing, but they want you to be happy. So they're supportive. And I would say most people sort of fall into that category. That's the bell curve, right? Like most people are in there.

00:49:22:19 - 00:49:43:20
Unknown
They're like, okay, like cool, like like you want to live in a little like box with wheels. Like, sure. That makes you happy. It's got air conditioning. Go for it. Right. Most people are in that camp and that's fine. And then there's the people that like, really understand and and they and they, they're like awesome. Like, yeah I've always wanted to do it.

00:49:43:20 - 00:50:03:22
Unknown
Like how exciting. Yeah. How are you going to do it. And they want to know and they want to hear. They're listening there. Yeah. And then there's the haters. Yes. And small group. It's a very small group. But they're clear. They will they will come into your life and they will tell you all the reasons you shouldn't do this thing, or they just won't engage you at all.

00:50:03:22 - 00:50:23:10
Unknown
We've I mean, we there's a couple people that are they're just not it's like as if it's not close to us family members that we've explained this to and they won't get you. They're like, okay, cool. And then what's what are you doing tomorrow? Right. Like or just and then I found those people will sprinkle in reasons that they don't, think you should do it.

00:50:23:10 - 00:50:43:25
Unknown
Like, I was talking to one of these people, and I was like, yeah, you know, the house taken a long time to sell. And they're like, well, have you considered not selling your house and living in a moveable box? And you're like, well, hey, dude, no, I haven't thought about that at all, actually. And number two, stay in your lane for like, I'm not seeking your advice right now like it is.

00:50:43:28 - 00:51:01:05
Unknown
It is not for everybody. Right? What we're trying, it's straight up not. And that's okay. Everybody. That's okay. It's probably not even for us forever. No, it's never been meant to be forever. I think that's maybe the other misconception a lot of people have, which is fair because maybe we don't do a good job of saying that it's not a forever thing.

00:51:01:08 - 00:51:28:11
Unknown
Like, definitely not for everything. Most. This is a right now thing. Yeah, very few people like full time RV until they die, right? Like I almost said, I suddenly. But. but, in their RV because their propane does work anyway. so the, but yeah, most people, you know, do the full time thing for like 1 to 5 years, and then they get it out of their system and then they're done.

00:51:28:11 - 00:51:43:21
Unknown
Like, we've met several people that were like, hey, we're on the outs now. They're coming on the outs. And like, that's cool. You did it for a couple of years. It was good for you and your family. Everyone's gonna remember this experience or it's a later in life ones. But I've like lived their life the way they wanted to, and now they're like, we're gone.

00:51:43:21 - 00:52:07:09
Unknown
They retired. They're going to go, you know, living their tiffin motorhome for five years and then, you know, do whatever they're going to do after that. And that's that's fine too. But like very and there are some but there are very few people that do the full time RV life for like decades. Right. And I think another we actually were this an interesting kind of separation.

00:52:07:11 - 00:52:30:23
Unknown
There's a difference between full time RV years and people who live in their RVs full time. And the first group is what we're describing where like, hey, we're trying to travel the country and we are going to go do all these things. And then there are people that like, stay in one place forever in their RV and there's nothing there's nothing wrong with that.

00:52:30:23 - 00:52:48:02
Unknown
But they're there's two it's two different stories. Now what we're doing, we're choosing to move into our camper so that we can travel and do all these different things. Right. And you when you our experience has been kind of broadly that, you know, the full time RV or group, those are people that are like, oh, I'm excited, I'm doing this thing.

00:52:48:05 - 00:53:00:29
Unknown
And then the other group is like people that are, you know, they're just working. They're just living their lives. And this just happened to be living in they're living in an RV, and this is where they stay. And they haven't moved their RV in ten years. And there's nothing wrong with that. Like, that's not what we're talking about, right?

00:53:00:29 - 00:53:22:22
Unknown
Like we're we're wanting to tour the country. We also want to I this sounds really cliche, but like, we want to live a little. We've been slaves to jobs and money and different family stressors and things that have come our way. And it's like we've never really had a chance to, like, go have some fun, right? Right. I mean, I'm not not to say we've never done anything fun.

00:53:22:22 - 00:53:46:23
Unknown
We have, but we've always been chained by something. Yeah, it's our chance to kind of go out there and let and Nolan to like, no one's been in, in daycare since he was six weeks, nine weeks old, right. He was doing the daily grind before he could walk. And it's like, we want to give him some freedom. Like to not have to wake up at the crack of dawn every day, Monday through Friday.

00:53:46:26 - 00:54:03:16
Unknown
It's so. And he's relentless, right? He's at an age now where we're like, okay, well, we can we can handle his education ourselves for a little while. Right? And he's not so old, you know, once, you know, once they're like a little bit older. Friends become an issue, right? Where they become attached to their friends. And I get it.

00:54:03:16 - 00:54:22:28
Unknown
He's so young that he actually still enjoys our company. Right. So, you know, while we're there, we just have a little window and had the stars aligned maybe two years ago. Would it have been a a good time? Yeah, sure. Like he would have been even a little younger, even easier to kind of take with us. But we still have time in our window.

00:54:22:29 - 00:54:42:20
Unknown
We're not going to lose it just because he is a little older. He's five. He would technically be starting kindergarten this year, but as a teacher I like, I can handle it. People hate on that too. Yes, I'm very tentative to use the word homeschool because it comes with such a negative connotation, right? we talked about this the other day.

00:54:42:20 - 00:54:59:05
Unknown
Like, and growing up, homeschooling looked a lot different than it does today. I don't think I knew anyone that was homeschooled. See, I did, and they were always awkward and strange and and I get it. Like back in the day, there wasn't the understanding that you need to socialize, you still need to be in activities and you need to go out.

00:54:59:05 - 00:55:19:02
Unknown
You can't just live at home and do your schoolwork, you know, 8 to 3 and never go out like. But I also want to be clear, I'm not like doing this new trend called unschooling either, which is where you literally basically do nothing formative with them. Right? I'm just gonna we're just going to live our life, and I'm just going to work with him as we go.

00:55:19:02 - 00:55:34:02
Unknown
Like, yeah, this is not like I'm going to there's going to be structure and routine, but it's just going to be what works for us. Like, right. There's this is not like a rebellious act. No. You know, it's just like, well, he's going to be with us and he's probably going to be in school forever. So I'm going to work with him.

00:55:34:02 - 00:55:54:17
Unknown
So yeah, if you want to call it homeschooling, called homeschooling. Like, I'm not really wanting to put a label on it. Am I going to teach him how to read? Yeah, because that's important to me and I'm capable. And thankfully I have resources. You are. You are legitimately and this is my this is my area to shine. So yeah, I'm going to teach him to read, but am I going to like, make him work from 8 a.m. or even earlier to like 3 p.m. every day?

00:55:54:17 - 00:56:22:04
Unknown
No, I guess and but we can also just only play in rocks and dirt and roll. No, we're going to like, well that's it. Like this. Kind of like, this is why I'm so hesitant to talk. Like I don't want to apply like specific labels to everything. And we talked about it like last time, like there there is, there's all these different like categories like, oh, you're not really camping, you are glamping.

00:56:22:04 - 00:56:41:08
Unknown
Yeah. You're glamping or an RV has to have a motor so you're not really mode. You have a travel in, you're like, yes okay. Well whatever I, I live in a movable box that is at a campground or campers or that's something like is it a campground or is it a camp resort? Okay. There's people that that full time RV and there's people that live in their RV full time.

00:56:41:10 - 00:57:01:16
Unknown
Can we, like just be happy for everyone as long as what they're doing is safe, right? Yeah. Like as long as what they're doing is safe and they're happy doing it. Can we just like the guy that lives in a trailer and he's a, you know, like we were talking about a few minutes ago and he works six days a week, right.

00:57:01:19 - 00:57:19:00
Unknown
If that's for him. Cool. Great. If you want to live in a 5000 square foot gigantic house. Sweet deal. Awesome to live your life. If you want to send your kid to public school, private school, charter school. I don't care what you do if it works for you, if you want to call it unschooling and rebel against the man.

00:57:19:00 - 00:57:41:05
Unknown
I hate authority. So I get it. If you want to homeschool your kid and like, still kind of have a curriculum, great dude. Like, do they understand how to read and write? Like I'm here for it? I hate the I hate any kind of gatekeeping activity where we have to like, classify this. This thing is, is this thing and it's not that thing.

00:57:41:05 - 00:57:55:28
Unknown
And we've been hesitant to use the word homeschool for that reason, because as soon as you say, it immediately evokes emotion and upset people are like, what are you some kind of like, conspiracy theory? No, like I'm just going to work with, like, how am I going to send you to school? We're going to travel the country for six months.

00:57:55:28 - 00:58:15:12
Unknown
Like, what? Am I supposed to move him every time? And it's not. Again, it goes back to it's not a forever thing. And even if it was, though, like, let us do our thing, we'll we'll work it out. And if we do and it's, it's like people, you meet people and they tell you their plan and the correct answer, as long as their plan isn't like, hey, I think I'm going to go build a meth lab, right?

00:58:15:12 - 00:58:28:05
Unknown
Like as long as they I mean, lucrative. You do make a lot of money. But like, I'm just saying, what's your plan? Sweet dude, how are you going to do it? Right? Like that's it. What's my line? I love that for you. I love and I'm genuine. I'm not. I know sometimes that comes off like I'm being rude, but I'm not.

00:58:28:05 - 00:58:45:15
Unknown
Like, I love that for you, right? And that's great. Go do it. And people, they they get stuck waiting for things to be perfect and like figure out the plan perfectly. Do just figure it out. Yeah. Just. And again I'm not always the best at that. But that's why we balance each other. Because you know that my wheels need to spin and I need time to process.

00:58:45:15 - 00:59:13:28
Unknown
And then I usually come around in some form. And there's nothing wrong with being deliberate in your actions. But like, even even filming this podcast. Right, like the last time and even I can see in the monitor, like we're not perfectly centered. I'm not really happy with the light right now. I still haven't figured out, like the, the, the microphone situation, but like, what, am I going to not do this or should I just make ten podcasts, make you listen to weird sounds as we're going through?

00:59:14:00 - 00:59:29:04
Unknown
I know I can tell that there's definitely weird noises and. Yeah, but it's fine. But I mean, I'll, I'll I'm learning how to fix it in post and then, like, you know, we'll we'll figure it out over a long period of time. Why don't we just do that? Because we only have so much time, and then we don't worry about what that guy's doing.

00:59:29:09 - 00:59:46:08
Unknown
Yeah. That's hard. It takes practice, and it takes pep talks to yourself like you've been doing it all week. Like reminding yourself out loud. Like, doesn't have to be perfect. Mike. I've heard you say it doesn't. It doesn't have to be perfect. It's our first one. This is where we're starting. Like. It's like, now that I'm. I keep looking at the monitor, so, I mean, I look great.

00:59:46:09 - 01:00:17:22
Unknown
You do look great. but like. But that's that's the thing is, it's just like, hey, man, this is what we think is for us. Yeah. So this is what we're going to try to do. So just support us. And you know, and thank you to those who are. And, you know, maybe I become more sensitive to it because I read the comments that people leave and we had like, we get some in there that you're like, you know, there's this one guy who comes into our comments and every video and he says, all our views are crap, all our views are garbage or something like that.

01:00:17:22 - 01:00:38:24
Unknown
And you're like, okay, that's one opinion. And and I just reply to him every time, like, we don't agree, but we think it's a good idea to get an inspection, right? Like something like that on every single one. Yeah. Sir, why are I want to appeal to you directly, sir, why are you coming on to an RV company's page and trying to make the argument to us that all our RVs are garbage?

01:00:38:26 - 01:00:55:09
Unknown
We're going to reject that argument every time, and there has to be a better use for your time. We will have you on the podcast. If you would like to come in here and try and make a case to us. But there has to be a better use for everyone's time. I'm just sensitive to it. I hear you, and it's it's.

01:00:55:09 - 01:01:19:08
Unknown
I don't want to end on a positive note. What fills my cup is this podcast is hard for me. Does not come naturally to me to do something like this. Thank you. I'm trying really hard and I'm comfortable. Obviously it helps that it's with you, my person. And so I'm very glad we've been drinking water. but, my social media, my personal one.

01:01:19:15 - 01:01:40:22
Unknown
I was vulnerable today, and I shared the first episode, and it was really hard for me because I don't love this feeling yet. But I did it, I shared it, and then I got like, so much love from like, someone, one person in particular who I haven't talked to in a long time, just wrote a really nice comment and it kind of gave me the push to be like, all right, we're doing this like, let's do this because people are seeing it.

01:01:40:22 - 01:02:02:28
Unknown
People are appreciating the hard work and the vulnerable ness that goes into it. And I'm I'm here for it. So that's the part on a positive note that's filling my cup and making me feel good about it, I yeah, I, I enjoy and there's so much that I enjoy I'm first I'm so proud of you because you're doing great like you are.

01:02:03:00 - 01:02:24:18
Unknown
You're on camera now. You don't like to be on camera for an hour and two minutes at a time, right? And you're it's awesome. And so for one like to speak to, like, family togetherness. We run a family business together and which is hard to it's hard to be in business with your wife sometimes, even though I'm a delight, it's even harder to be in business with your husband.

01:02:24:21 - 01:02:49:15
Unknown
And, boy, you said it, not me. And, and but you know, what's it like? We get to do these things together, and it's kind of a microcosm of the RV space. What we like is being able to do things together at kind of our own pace and at our own direction. Yes. And that is what we love about the RV life, is that we get to set that tone right, like, hey, you know what?

01:02:49:21 - 01:03:12:02
Unknown
I've had enough of Austin in the summer. Yeah, let's bail out. Right? Then we go to Illinois like the snow came early this year. Let's get out of here. Yeah, right. And you can you can do those things. Right. And that is my happy place. As long as I'm with y'all and we get to do all these fun things.

01:03:12:05 - 01:03:29:20
Unknown
Yeah, that we have started to do. But anyway, so a little plug here. Tell us what you like about the RV life in the comments below. Yeah, I got some, I got some I can't even tell you. I got some feedback from our last, podcast. We didn't do a couple things that we're going to do at the end.

01:03:29:20 - 01:03:53:08
Unknown
We have to plug ourselves, plug our website, and, what we want people to do next. Okay, I got a text you about that from someone, so. And they were right. I appreciate we should have done it, but we're. So look, leave leave us a comment. How's that? That's excellent start. so that's our plan. We will update you again once our house sells or there's some significant development.

01:03:53:12 - 01:04:14:26
Unknown
But just in case you are in the Austin area and you are thinking about hiring us, we are here. We are van for the foreseeable future. Until something changes. We have a couple coming up here soon. We're going to do our first couple of interviews with some other people that will be coming up. And then I think we're going to talk about what the RV inspection process is.

01:04:14:28 - 01:04:35:17
Unknown
And then we've got a surprise, Elizabeth, conversation about some topics that are important to her and closely related to that. So stay tuned for that. If you are considering purchasing an RV, it is critically important that you hire an inspector before you do so. That's me. I'll spend 6 to 8 hours with that coach and thoroughly evaluated on your behalf.

01:04:35:17 - 01:04:57:18
Unknown
I'll turn it into a written report so you can make an informed buying decision. Visit Cozy Camper at Com to get started today on your inspection. The same is true for repairs. We'd love to help you with your air conditioner or other appliance needs in the Central Texas area. And for those inspections, we are happy to travel beyond Central Texas to do those inspections for you.

01:04:57:21 - 01:05:04:05
Unknown
Please like and share this podcast. Thanks so much for being here. Y'all have a great night. Bye!