The quiet beauty of seasonal RV life with John and Charlene.

The moment we pulled into our new spot at Twin Mills campsite in Indiana, John was there, helping us back into our site, helping us set up our utilities, helping us unhitch our rig, and generally gabbing like a schoolboy. He was eager to be of avail to us, smiling the whole time. We have found generally this is not an uncommon occurrence with RVers, but John was more. He was more friendly, more helpful, more smiley. He just seemed to be more happy. He was clearly delighted to be here, at this spot, in his new to him 5^th wheel, his wife, Charlene, and miniature pinscher dog, Bitty, by his side. I have never seen someone smile more than John did. I immediately gravitated to his spirit. I knew I wanted to get to know him better, and to talk with him to find out his story. Because Everybody has a Story. So, I asked him and his wife if they’d be willing to sit down with me and talk. They gladly did.

Charlene is originally from Elkhart, Indiana, just 30 miles from where we are currently sitting, and moved to Florida 20 years ago. There she met John, and they’ve been happily married ever since.   Her family are all still located in the Elkhart area, including her two sons, six grandchildren, and one great grandchild.   

Making RV Life Work (Their Way)

John and Charlene, in their 70’s now, are not new to RVing.  They are, however, new to full-time RVing. Up until now they have used multiple platforms to do their traveling.  They have a timeshare they travel mainly throughout Florida with, and they’ve pulled their smaller 26’ travel trailer back and forth between Fl and IN several times. However, as they grew older they wanted something that was a little less work. They were finding that the long drive between Florida and northern Indiana while pulling the trailer was getting a little too arduous.  They looked long and hard for a new home on wheels but were having no luck in Florida. “The ones that were advertised sold in 2-3 days!”, Charlene says frustratedly. So, they were ecstatic when they found the 5^th wheel they are in. They bought it sight unseen, and this year they took the leap to become annual members at the campground. This way, they figured they would have the best of both worlds: to be with family and their grandchildren in Indiana during the warm summers, and to be in Florida with the other half of their family in their sticks and bricks home in the cooler winters.

Now, they take a few days to leisurely travel back and forth between the two locations and stay at hotels along the way.  They love that they can spend longer, more quality time with their family up here. 

I asked if the two have any words to the wise for anyone thinking about getting into the RV lifestyle. “You have to expect a lot,” he responded, grinning.  “You never know what the unexpected is going to bring you.”   Case in point: this was the same man who jumped and ran to help us after we managed to snap our main water line in half. Obviously, something that no one expected. Instead of being angry or upset at my partner and I, which he had every right as water was spraying all over his property, his belongings, and his RV, he bemusedly helped us contain our water spillage until maintenance came to fix the line. He handled the situation with grace, kindness, and not a little bit of mirth.   John also suggested “If you’re going to buy an RV, you need to see it.” The couple bought theirs sight unseen from a private seller. They did have their son go look at it and inspect it, but as Charlene says, “He didn’t look for the same things I would have looked for.” It has thankfully worked out well for them, but it’s not something they would repeat, and advise against doing. 

Rain droplets started coming down, and we squeezed in a little closer underneath the awning. Listening to the sound of the drops on the vinyl material above us, sheltered from the wet but still feeling the warm summer air, I could smell the earthiness that rain seems to always bring with it. I asked how they came up with the idea of becoming seasonal full-timers. Charlene, in her quiet pragmatic way I’ve been becoming accustomed to, told me how one day she offhandedly mentioned, “Wouldn’t it be nice to go there, be seasonal, and leave our trailer there. Then we don’t gotta pull it back and forth. ‘Cause actually we would use it more here than we would back home.” The rest, they say, is history. They were able to find a 5th wheel suitable for their needs and in their price range in Elkhart, Indiana, the RV capital.  They had their son transport it to their new permanent site and eagerly started making it their summer abode the moment they arrived from their home in Florida. 

After 7 years of retirement, the pair have fully immersed themselves in this next chapter of their lives. They are happy and content, eager to start living their dual lives; half Floridians, half Indianans. 

The rain is coming down harder now, and the thunder is starting to roll, but I have one more question I want to ask the duo before I make my mad dash back to my own tiny RV home on wheels. Do you have any regrets?



I immediately, and without hesitation, get a response. “I wish we would have done it sooner. We don’t live forever so we should be doing things that we enjoy doing, and I wanna spend time with my kids.” 

Author’s note: When I first found out that John and Charlene weren’t 100% full-time traveling on the road, I didn’t want to sit with them. In my closed-minded way, I wanted ‘only full-time travelers’. But then I came to the realization that the reason RVing is so great is because there’s so many options, and the most interesting thing is how different people make those options work for them. So, thank you, John and Charlene, for not only taking the time to sit and talk with me, but for making me realize that there is more than one way to live the RV life and forcing me to broaden my horizons ever more.