We Are Not Rednecks – by Tiffany Tyree

I overheard Travis talking to his mom on the phone the other day.  It was obvious that they were talking about the Holiday photo we mailed to all our friends and family this year.  I think she said something along the lines of our family resembling “rednecks.”  It made me laugh.  What made me laugh even more though, is the fact that Travis was quick to correct her and say, “No, mom.  Not rednecks…we’re dirtbags.”  He said this with so much confidence and pride, one more reason why I’m in love with this man…Here we are-I’m not going to sit here and glam up our crazy adventurous lifestyle.  We live pretty simple lives that are far from ordinary. What is ordinary these days anyways?  Travis, myself, our 2 cats and our 80 lb lap dog have been living out of our 21 foot motorhome for almost 7 months now.  It’s crowded, but its simple.  We have our daily priorities like, eat good, run, exercise, adventure, play with our dog, travel, drink coffee, drink beer, snuggle, work (sometimes)… busy life like activities.  Sounds enticing, yeah?

 

How it all started-

 

It started with a simple choice.  We decided to stop WANTING more things and to start minimizing our lifestyle.  Too often we see people who work too hard, spend too much but never seem to have enough.  Travis and I are two twenty-something year olds who have a strong desire for change (Not literally.  We do like quarters though, laundry money!).  We wanted to change the fact that we were spending so much of our lives at jobs that stressed us out and left us unsatisfied.  All for what? More things? More life of luxury?  We wanted to stop living to work and start living life fully. Yeah, we still have bills to pay and yes we still stress a little about finances every now and then, but don’t we all?  Lucky for us our home is on wheels AND gas prices are plummeting so we can take our crazy little home to a new backyard whenever we want.  If we don’t like where we’re at, are stressed out, or need something just a little different and new, then we just move!  A trailhead, a park, a National Park, a quiet dirt road, ahem…Walmart parking lot.  Hey, I said I’m not going to glam it up.

 

How we make it work-

We were able to buy this RV back when we were ‘rolling-in-the-dough’ and working far too much than we would have liked.  We planned out our dramatic lifestyle change in advance.  We worked hard, saved money, and started minimizing our lives.  We took out an RV loan and also continue to pay off our lovely student loans that will forever seem to linger.  With that said, every few months we find a community that we want to call home for a while and pick up some temporary work so we can afford this lifestyle.  Unfortunately, we landed ourselves in a a town this winter that is FAR less than we had desired and cannot wait to get back to those California trails this Spring.  You live and you learn, right?!  The desert trails aren’t cutting it out for us and our four legged trail dog, Bear.  It’s just too prickly for those big paws.

Where we’ve been-This past summer and fall we were able to get out and explore so many fantastic new trails.  From the awesome mountain passes in the Eastern Sierra to the meadows and valleys of Yosemite we sure got spoiled this summer with some awesome adventures.  Hard to beat the Sierra that is for sure.  This fall we did a Southwest tour of National Parks.  Again, some epic trails.  Red Rocks NP, Zion NP, Bryce NP, Canyonlands NP, Capital Reef NP, Grand Canyon NP, Arches NP…  How do people live and never see these places?  I mean, honestly it is just so fascinating out there!

 

What’s next-

We plan to spend the spring in a small community in California.  Hoping to get out and spend more time training for our 2015 race goals.  The summer of 2015 will be spent up in Glacier National Park for a few months of exploring.  After that, we are thinking Colorado at some point.  We would love to spend some time on the trails in Oregon too. Ideally, we would love to live this way for a few years. Continue to seek out new trails, new races, meet fellow crazy dirt baggers, and hopefully continue to live a life of simplicity and happiness for as long as we possibly can.  Why not? Life is such grand adventure!

 

Our home Our family-

Our 21 foot home is quite cozy to say the least, but it is perfect for this goofy crew.  If you’re not tripping over a cat or sitting on a dog you are more than likely covered in dog hair as you shuffle your way through our tight living quarters.  When you have a seat at our dining room table make sure you don’t sit on Bear’s bench, that’s where he sleeps.  Oh, and when you sit on the other bench make sure you sit close to the window because the other side is getting worn thin.  Once you’re seated, feel free to shove the cats off the table, they love to perch on the ledge and watch the birds out the window.  If you need to use the restroom, feel free to pee in our toilet.  Please pardon the heavily used litter box in the shower though, we still haven’t cleaned it out today yet.  When you shut the bathroom door, just use the bungee cord that is dangling, we still need to replace the door knob.  Need a beer?  Help yourself to our fridge.  BUT WAIT…Be extremely careful when you open the fridge because more often then not things got a little “shifted” when cruising down the highway.  Want your beer in a glass you say?  Sure, open up the microwave, and pull out a clean pint glass.  The microwave is only used for storage in this house.  Oh, and it’s raining outside?  How neat?  You should probably close the vents or your going to get drenched!  But you’ll need to grab that little metal device next to the utensils in the drawer, most of the vents are missing that piece.  Make sure you put it back where you grabbed it to, we always lose that thing!  Getting chilly at nights these days, use a sweater from the closet.  Don’t mind the pile of dirty stinky trail shoes at the bottom of the closet they never stay organized.  Grab the red sweater that’s hanging on the left, I think that one might have just got cleaned the other week.  Oh, make sure you close the closet all the way until you hear it click, or else a cat will get stuck in there…

 

Oh, and welcome to our home.

 

We are a dorky, simple, loving and an adventure seeking family.  Our house is probably way different than yours, but it’s our home and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

…and we’re not rednecks.