Group Photo credit to Paige Setzer
We have a lot of family and friends who follow our blog that are not Fulltime RVers or RVers at all for that matter. There is a group of people…other families just like us who live in their RVs fulltime. They work on the road, travel, and “road school” their children…just like us. Each family has a different “why” and “how” that they are living this lifestyle. For most, as it was for us, it was a very intentional decision to put their family first above the hustle and bustle of life. I know to some people, what we do is a little weird and “out there”, but let me reassure you, there are a bunch of us doing it! The group we are members of is called Fulltime Families. We’ve been doing this RV thing for 4.5 years now, but only last year became members of this group. We had put off the membership until we were ready to attend what they call a “rally”. You have to be a member to attend these organized rallies.
The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta has been on our radar for a long time, so in October of 2018, we bit the bullet, joined Fulltime Families, and booked the Fulltime Families Balloon Experience Rally that coincided with the 2019 Balloon Festival. The rally actually ran the week before the Balloon Fiesta kicked off, giving us time to meet other families, go on field trips, outings, potlucks, hangouts, kids’ marketplace, coffee talks, and much more before the balloons happened!
We were very “nervouscited” about this experience! 3 out of the 4 of our little family lean heavily to the introvert side of things. I don’t know where Tyler got his outgoing personality, but I want to be just like him when I grow up!
48 fulltime RVing families packing into a cemetery parking lot for a week? Holy cow! Was it overwhelming at times? Yes! Was it a blast? Yes! Were we outside of our comfort zone? Yes! Did we have to retreat to the comfort of our home sometimes? Yes! Did we make lots of new friends? Yes! Would we do it again? Yes! We’re already signed up for another one…this time in Florida in March 2020.
There is just something really special about finding your “tribe”. We also discovered that Fulltime Families has different “branches” for different interest groups. Our favorite find has been the Traveling Mercies Branch, which is a group for Christians. We fell in love with this group of people…so much so that when we left the balloon rally, we joined them at the Broken Arrow Bible Ranch for a week-long service project. Then, after that, headed to the Grand Canyon with several of the families. These are our people. This is our tribe.
I could go on and on about all we did that week at the Balloon Fiesta/Rally, but I think pictures say it better than I could. What an INCREDIBLE experience!
Our Moving House 