Beauty of a Beach House

Pt 1 …Without the House

About thirteen years ago, long before the pandemic, and while my husband and I were still working, we purchased our first RV. One of the best things we did was to connect with an RV travel club (here is an article that explains them a bit more). One weekend out of the month we traveled to campgrounds in the tri-state area. During the summers, we trekked from the southern tip of Florida to Canada. However, on one of our local weekend trips, we landed at an RV park on the Jersey Shore, which we totally fell in love with. Less than a mile from the beach, we rode our bikes to evening sunsets and enjoyed dinners overlooking the ocean. We kept thinking about how much fun we’d had and were excited to hear that the campground offered summer seasonals! Although disappointed to find out that there was more than a year’s waiting list, we added our names to the list anyway. About nine months later, in January, after digging out from a foot of snow, we received a phone call from the campground asking if we were still interested in renting a spot for the summer. Well, that was a no-brainer. 

Yesterday we arrived at our campground to open our RV for our seventh summer season. After plugging into house power, connecting a garden hose to the outside water connection, we walked up three steps and creaked open the door. We stepped into a narrow space stacked to the ceiling with Rubbermaid tubs filled with linens, paper products, clothing, and beach necessities. My husband pressed the button on the wall to bump out two of our three slide-outs. Magically, our space transformed into a beautiful living room with a fireplace and kitchen equipped with a granite counter center island. In seconds our third slide-out converted to our bedroom, including a king-size bed and zone air conditioning. 

Compared to my 2600 square foot home up north, I love living in my 300 square foot summer home, where it doesn’t require me to spend hours cleaning and vacuuming floors, organizing closets, putting away loads of laundry, or tossing clutter. It’s a simple life that frees me up to be inspired and to spend my time writing. Oh, and did I mention I can ride my bike to the beach?! (No driving around for half an hour in search of a parking spot.)

However, there is one downside to living in an RV. We don’t have space to entertain overnight guests every beautiful weekend. For those of you who own shore houses, you may feel that isn’t such a terrible thing.

After opening the taps to bleed pink antifreeze, we popped a bottle of Prosecco, settled into our recliners and toasted to another great summer ahead. Our RV is officially open for the season, and I’m ready to begin my writing life at the beach. To be continued…

P.S.

If this piqued your interest in an RV, try this fun quiz!

Shellie

Where the rhythm of the road meets the rhythm of the page