Downsizing to a Life on Wheels

When Patty Gill thinks about her old life in San Antonio, in a sprawling 3,500-square-foot house, she doesn't miss it. "I feel like I used to spend my entire life cleaning that house," she said.

For the past five years Gill, 52, and her ex-Air Force husband Shane, 57, have lived in a recreational vehicle. Not only have they traveled to every state -- including Hawaii, which they flew to and then rented a different RV -- they've also saved over $100,000.

"A giant house was fun when our sons were growing up, and it was filled with friends. But when the boys left home it was awfully quiet," said Patty Gill. Then there was the expense. "Our electricity bill would top $400 a month in the summer, our mortgage was $2,000 monthly, and in an old house there was always something needing fixing."

Home is still officially Texas, where they have a post office box address for paying their taxes. But it is also wherever the wind takes them.

For a growing number of the Generation X cohort, which includes people born between 1965 and 1980, retirement no longer represents gardening and golf. Having entered the workforce just as employers were switching to employee-managed 401(k) plans, they are the first generation without career-long, employer-guaranteed pension contributions. With the additional stressors of inflation, volatile markets and caring for aging parents, only 16% of American Gen Xers feel they have saved enough money for retirement, according to the Schroders 2025 US Retirement Survey.

"Many people in the older generations planned for a future that just hasn't happened how they expected it to," said Fiona Harkin, director of foresight at the Future Laboratory, a London think tank.

For some of these, RV life is a preferable alternative to typical at-home retirement. Around 170,000 Americans over the age of 55 live full time nomadically in a recreational vehicle, according to RVIA, the trade association that represents the RV industry. Over half of that demographic feel financially insecure. But while living in an RV can be a last resort, as depicted in the book, "Nomadland," and the Oscar-winning film of the same name, some full-time RVers have found financial freedom in the lifestyle.

The Gills' current RV, the fourth they've owned, is a 33-foot 2025 Jayco Eagle HT 28CRT they bought new for $55,000 last year. The interiors are tastefully boho-chic, with indoor plants, macrame and wooden bead hangings, layered with cozy tasseled cushions and rugs. A fridge magnet sums up their inspiration: "Explore."

Their monthly living costs are around $3,500-$4,000, about half what they were before. They pay $1,656 a year for RV insurance. Diesel ranges between $600-$1,000 a month, depending on their mileage, and a campsite spot is usually about $400 a month. Frequently, the Gills go "boondocking," camping for free on public land. They can do this for long periods without power thanks to the 800-watt solar panel on the roof of their RV, which gives them off-grid independence.

In five years, living off Shane Gill's pension and earnings from advertisers (their Instagram account, Gills On Wheels, has more than 200,000 followers), they say they have saved $115,000. It was enough to buy a 0.6-acre plot in San Antonio, where they plan to build a house, as "a plan B." "It will be tiny though," said Patty Gill.

"There are so many ways you can live this life, you can cut your bills to almost nothing or spend even more than in a home," said Kati Evans, 52, who with her husband, Vernon, 51, have been full-time RVers for 12 years -- nine years with their four children and three dogs, and three as empty nesters. They have a 2022 Keystone Alpine Fifth Wheel and they are digital creators, documenting their journey and tips for other RVers. "We love being off-grid, which means we don't spend any money and you are in the most beautiful places full of nature and adventure."

Jessica Johnson, a 45-year-old empty nester from Memphis, Tennessee, said she has "more money now," since she and her husband, AJ, 46, became nomads. "It's a relief not to have the stress of paying $2,500 on rent," she added.

The Johnsons and their dog, Toast, live between their pop-up travel trailer, which they tow behind their Honda, and hotel rooms, paid for by AJ Johnson's employer.

AJ Johnson, who trains surgeons on new medical equipment, was always traveling to different states. When their son left home, Jessica Johnson, an influencer, began accompanying her husband on his business trips.

The stars aligned as AJ Johnson's friend was looking to off-load a pop-up trailer and their rental lease was up for renewal last February. They didn't resign. Instead, they sold most of their belongings and put the rest into storage in Tennessee. They've been renting the friend's pop-up for $500 a month and plan to buy a Class A recreational vehicle of their own, soon. "It feels like we could do this forever," Jessica Johnson said.

For others, embracing RV life is more philosophical.

"This was never about saving money or escaping something. It's about not waiting," said Beverly Brown, a 63-year-old from Texas who became an empty nester at 39 when her daughter moved to California. "I want experiences now, instead of 'some day.'" She has been RVing since 2019, currently in a 2021 Ram ProMaster she bought "with a little windfall" from selling the business shared with her ex-husband. Originally an empty cargo van, she vamped it up herself. "It's my dream van now."

Belinda and Duane Banks have found RV life has helped revitalize their marriage. "Even though we've been married 41 years, our relationship has gotten closer. When you're not mowing the grass, tidying the yard or cleaning the house, you spend more quality time together," said Belinda Banks, 66, from North Carolina, who with her husband Duane, 66, lives in a 43-foot Grand Design Momentum 376 THS, which they tow behind their Ford pickup truck. They run a YouTube channel, All About The Banks, with 25,700 subscribers.

Often it's a life change or a health scare that brings mortality into view, and the ensuing carpe diem mindset. This was the case with Scott Kahler, 66, and his wife, Carolyn, 64. "Scott had a couple of major health issues between the ages of 49 and 54, which emphasized that life comes with no guarantees, and we should embrace as much as we could, sooner rather than later," said Carolyn Kahler.

The Kahlers, who were living in Texas, sold their home in 2018 and became full-time RVers in 2020. They RV for nine months of the year, and for the rest, they stay put in Florida, parking near their children and grandchildren. They live in a 46-foot 2026 DRV Mobile Suite Houston, which cost around $250,000 and is quite luxurious, with a full walk-in closet in the nose and one and a half bathrooms. In the two RVs they have owned, they have traveled to 46 states and eight Canadian provinces.

Of course, things can and do go wrong when living on the road.

Becky Goodell, a veteran RVer and a co-founder of the RV rental company Blacksford, said maintenance costs typically range between $3,000 and $5,000 per year, depending on how handy you are, and recommends finding "a good mobile mechanic who you can call from the road." When all else fails, there are YouTube videos on almost every problem. "But be sure you have a Starlink so you can access the internet to watch them," she said.

Brown, who has AAA membership, recalls getting a ruptured gas tank and a broken air conditioner on the 2004 Chevy Express she was driving at the time. "You figure it out," she said. "Those repairs cost me a few thousand dollars, but that was it for three years."

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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