Why wait?
That’s the question Shane and Alexi Green began asking themselves in 2016. At the time, they were living in Florida with their daughter, Ella Jo. They had a nice house and steady jobs. Shane worked in property management, and Alexi ran a wedding photography business and a photography studio.
Then, Shane’s mother, who had been battling breast cancer, passed away shortly after she retired. While they were caring for her, they reflected on the direction their life was heading.
“We decided we get one life, and we want to go enjoy the world while we are young. We didn’t want to wait for retirement age,” Alexi said.
Embracing the spirit of adventure, they sold their belongings and traded their house for a Grand Design Imagine Travel Trailer. In July 2017, they headed north on an ambling journey towards Maine.
Freedom, food and adventure
The Greens picked up the basics of RVing quickly, and Alexi fell in love with the freedom of the open road.
“You feel a lot less tied down,” she said. “Having that freedom to go wherever, whenever is awesome.”
She temporarily changed her career focus away from wedding photography so they wouldn’t have too many commitments as they traveled. Instead, she and Shane, a drone pilot, produced promotional videos and photographs for businesses along their route.
“It wasn’t big money, but it was enough to fund us for a while,” she said.
Their main desire, though, was to explore. On their way up the East Coast, they visited St. Simon Island in Georgia; toured Virginia and Washington, DC; and hiked throughout Shenandoah National Park. As big foodies, they scoped out the coolest holes-in-the-wall they could find. They typically stayed in state parks to enjoy the natural settings, and they joined the Harvest Host program so they could camp overnight at wineries and farms.
Alexi was surprised by how comfortable they became living in the RV.
“I thought the space was going to be a bigger challenge, but it’s really not,” she said. Their then-three-year-old daughter also took to a life on the road. “She loves car rides. She will just sit there and chat with you.”
Go with the flow
They suffered their most serious setback when they reached Maine. Shane tore his Achilles’ tendon on the day they arrived, and they were forced to stay put for a month. They had to cancel several weeks of plans, and they lost money on reservations. Yet, the incident taught them to always be prepared for situations to change.
“It pushed us to do things more by the seat of our pants,” Alexi said. “You’ve got to be open to going with the flow.”
Once Shane recovered, the Greens drove back down to Florida for the winter, but they weren’t done with adventure yet.
“We got Disney passes,” Alexi said. “We pretty much wanted to live at Disney every day, and we succeeded.”
Alexi even joined Disney's Fine Art Photography' as a seasonal photographer. With this new gig, they have decided to settle in Florida for a little while, but they are not done with the road.
“I like the feeling of not having a lease or a mortgage,” she said. “If we want to stay in one place for a year, we can, and the second we are ready, we can pick up and go. That freedom is awesome.”
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