Courtesy of Romano and Linda Sims
- Retirees Romano and Linda Sims sold their house to live in an RV.
- The baby boomer couple has no regrets about this new adventure.
- They've enjoyed getting to see old and new friends and sightseeing.
Retirees Romano and Linda Sims, in their 70s, traded the lake view of their Tennessee home for a roving variety of sights across the country in their "last quarter."
The boomer couple and their dog, Izzy, are in their third year of living in their RV nicknamed the "BoomerBus."
Romano wanted to try RV living years ago, but it wouldn't have been feasible since Linda was still working, while he was already retired from the military but doing some contract work.
The Sims aren't the only older Americans who downsized to pursue alternative housing arrangements. Empty nesters are giving the full-time RV dream a go, and people who can work remotely are doing so from the road. RVers enjoy traveling across the country, meeting new people, and cutting back on some housing costs.
Have you tried RV living either in retirement or while still working? Share your experience with this reporter at mhoff@businessinsider.com.
In 2023, Romano and Linda's 5,200 square feet home with a dock, where they'd been living for about two decades, was getting too big. The house, their boat, and their Jet Ski would be too much to maintain at their age.
"The things in the house are just that: things; it was OK to let them go, but you have to be at the right frame of mind to do that," Linda said.
Linda brought up the idea of selling their house to travel by RV, and Romano didn't hesitate, even selling one of their cars the next day.
They researched, contacted a realtor friend to share their plans, and prepped to tell their family their plan.
Linda said their granddaughter told her, "it's the right thing for you to do," adding, "you're in your last quarter."
The couple sold their $2.1 million dream home in 2024. Linda said they loved living in that house, which reflected their personalities and styles. The Sims ended up becoming friends with the people who bought their home.
"This house to us was 30 years' worth of dreams that we had collected in a folder, and we drew the plans up ourselves for it," Linda said, adding, "Romano had always said, 'I'm not leaving here except in a pine box. I'm not moving again.' But we changed our minds."
They bought a roughly$700,000 RV, including the cost of some modifications, to start a new chapter of their retirement.
"We wake up and say, 'This is an adventure. Let's go have a good time, as long as we can,'" Romano said.
Courtesy of Romano and Linda Sims
Costs for a campsite stay can vary
"We worked all our lives to be able to do this," Romano said. "We saved, we invested, we did that all our professional lives. So now we're enjoying it."
They said at the time of the interview in mid-March that the gas they put in a week prior was $5 a gallon. "150 gallons at $5 gallons, you do the math, and people freak out, and they say, 'Oh my, that's terrible.' Well, it is terrible, but on the other hand, we don't drive every day," Romano said.
The couple said campsites vary in price, and there are also free places to stay, such as casino parking lots. They stayed at a vineyard for Mother's Day, where they got to park for freeas long as they spent some money at the vineyard.
They also like to go out to eat a few days a week.
"Half the excitement is for us to do research and find out what's good local here, whether it's a little diner or a mom-and-pop place or whether it's a really fancy restaurant," Linda said.
Trying out RV life
Courtesy of Romano and Linda Sims
They like that their RV has large windows, so they can enjoy the views. The RV has a washer, a dryer, a wine fridge, a heated floor, and a storage basement. They also bring a pickup truck around while they travel.
"The actual contract price was $680,000, but we had some modifications made to it primarily for safety," Romano said, such as installation of a fire suppression system.
They initially wanted to do RV living for five years and then evaluate; they just recently entered their third year.
"We keep thinking maybe we'll run into someplace that we fall in love with, that either we want to buy a lot to park a permanent RV on, or an area that we love so much, we say, 'OK, we could buy a small home here, and maybe this is where we'll move to,'" Linda said.
Their healthcare providers are still in Tennessee; they return twice a year for appointments.
The lifestyle requires being open to learning new things
Romano said people thinking about RV living should not expect it to feel like a 24/7 vacation and said there was a steep learning curve, including understanding the RV and the logistics of campgrounds and figuring out where their 45-foot-long vehicle has space to park. The couple finds excitement in learning, though.
"It's taken us some time to learn that the most favored campgrounds are the ones you're going to have to plan a year in advance to get to," Romano said.
When they went to buy an RV, they told the dealership they would buy one but needed to learn how to drive it.
"They taught us both to drive, and that was scary — a 45-foot vehicle pulling a 20-foot truck behind you, that was a little scary, but it worked out OK," Linda said.
Linda also said that their 440-square-foot RV requires maintenance but is easier than a house.
Their dog also adapted to the new lifestyle
Courtesy of Romano and Linda Sims
Linda said they had their rescue dog, Izzy, for a year before deciding to try the RV life.
"She likes the RV living better than the big house because she knows where we are every minute," Linda said.
They have a routine for her when they go to new spots.
"When we pull in, the first thing we do is open the door, take her out so she can smell and understand where she is," Romano said. "After that, she's very comfortable within the area."
He said Izzy doesn't really like it when they leave, but if they are sitting outside, she may go out and then go back in. "She sits up in a window to watch us to make sure we're all OK," Linda said.
The biggest downside is being away from people they care about
"We don't miss the stuff; we miss people," Romano said. He misses being able to spontaneously ask people if they want to get dinner, for example. He said it's great to see people when they revisit Tennessee.
They've also made spontaneous friends along their travels.
"RVers are like boaters," Romano said. "They want to help. and they want to know how you're doing and all that, and they want to know about your lifestyle."
Courtesy of Romano and Linda Sims
The couple likes that this lifestyle allows them to see places and people they weren't able to before. Romano said, for example, while they were in Tucson, Arizona, they got to meet up with people from his time in the army decades ago.
"During our professional lives, we traveled abroad a lot, lived abroad, and then lived in several states here in the United States, but never really got the opportunity to actually travel around the country and at our own pace and see things that we didn't realize existed or just was too far out of reach," he said.
Did you sell your home to try RV living or for another type of living situation? Share your experience with this reporter at mhoff@businessinsider.com.
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