My BF and I are avid motorcyclists. Every year we would make ‘the plan’ to do a motorcycle trip in the summer, just the two of us and our bikes... Well, every year, something would get in the way of ‘the plan’ and the bike trip would never happen. But, we never worried about it because we lived in motorcycle-friendly Ontario where we could ride out an hour or two from our house and be somewhere beautiful, enjoying the quiet, rambling curves of the roads less-traveled.... We were living the dream, but only on the weekends...
Fast-forward to October 15th, 2019. We moved out of our gorgeous country home and down-sized into a 44 foot 5th wheel toy-hauler. Our house now has wheels and we’re living the RV lifestyle full-time!
So... Why did all of this happen...?
My BF grew up in Alberta, and his parents still live there. They are both in their 80’s so they’re getting to the point in their lives where (we) my BF needs to be closer, to be there when his parents need (our) his help. And I support him 100%.
So, we started exploring our options...
I was still 3 years away from early retirement, but... Housing prices in Medicine Hat, Alberta were about 1/3 of what they were in Ontario, and if we chose a fixer-upper it would be even less! So, we made the decision to move to Alberta. Cool!
I’m not really sure which of us threw out the RV suggestion, but we’d often talked about retiring in a toy-hauler and taking the bikes with us as we traveled. At some point, our focus changed and we were on the hunt for the perfect toy-hauler that we could live in full-time, and work from. We were both on-board, so we were full-steam-ahead to find the best toy-hauler for our needs.
Oh. My. Gosh. There were SO MANY toy-haulers on the market I wasn’t sure HOW we would choose the right one... There were many late nights of research - searching out floor plans, price points, winterized options, garage sizes - the list was endless! Gradually, we narrowed our choices down to two models - the Keystone Raptor and the Heartland Cyclone. Both had more than one floor plan we liked, great reviews and looked pretty live-able, especially in the Canadian winters.
Now, we needed to see them in person to make an educated final decision...
Once we had a finalized house sale, we started making ‘the plan’ for the bike trip from Ontario to Alberta - THIS time, it was really happening! We would ride out to Alberta, find our new home, store the bikes and be back to work in Ontario until the house closed.
We left Ontario on August 24th and spent the next 7 days making our way from Verona, Ontario to Medicine Hat. Alberta. This was the longest, most challenging bike trek I’d ever done, and let me tell you, it was exhilarating!! It was so much more to me than just another bike ride - I think I reconnected with my inner biker on that trip! I grew more confident in my riding skills with each day, and at the end I felt I had outgrown my Suzuki Boulevard C50.
But, I digress, that’s another story...
Over the Labour Day weekend in Medicine Hat, Alberta we found our new home - a 2020 Keystone Raptor 415. 44 feet of beautiful living and working space for both me and my BF (who will continue working for his Ontario company from the garage space). There is also room for our 3 fur kids, a white Boxer, Annie, a black cat, 5, and a calico cat, Carli. And, of course, our bikes when we travel!
We’re currently nestled in at the WildRose Campground in Medicine Hat, Alberta and at the very beginning of our RV lifestyle adventure...
Livin’ the RV Dream begins NOW! Thanks for tagging along on our adventures!
