Empty nesters left their Florida home to become full-time RVers

Barry and Darlene Nicholson, who met as teenagers in Indiana, spent most of their lives raising their two children in Florida, without traveling much out of state.

Since leaving their Florida home to become full-time RVers in 2022, they have visited about 30 states. They had gone to places they had never considered visiting before, and which turned out to be some of their favorites.

With their daughter soon starting college, they realized they would no longer need their large Florida home. Since home prices have increased during the pandemic, they decided it was time to start life on the road.

The couple, aged in their fifties, wanted to experience campervan life while they were still young and physically fit. “What inspired me to do it early and make it work is that you’re not guaranteed to be there tomorrow,” Darlene said. “You’re not guaranteed a pension.”

Navigating Life on the Road

Their first year consisted of learning to drive an RV and getting used to living as a couple in a smaller space.

Even though they’ve been married for decades, Barry said the change can be “a shock to both of your systems” because everyone has a routine they’re used to. Barry used to play in a band, but that stopped when they hit the road. They also learned while traveling the Smoky Mountains that Darlene suffered from travel anxiety.

They said if you were living this lifestyle with someone else, you both had to be into it or it wouldn’t work.

“We told people if you can survive the first six months, you’ll be fine,” Darlene said.

They didn’t sell their house right away; they wanted to use it as a backup plan if they ended up hating this pivot. They rented it for the first year, but after the tenants left, it was difficult to find someone to rent for the same amount. They sold it in 2023.

Although they did not sell their house before traveling, they sold and gave away many of their possessions. They recommend starting downsizing two years earlier if possible, because for them it has come down to the last few days.

“It really forces you to become a minimalist,” Barry said.

Expenses on the road

Even though they said RV living isn’t as expensive as owning a home, they still spend a lot of money on experiences in the places they visit.

“We didn’t want to change our lifestyle,” Darlene said. “We still wanted to go out to eat. We wanted to experience things. We wanted to take tours. We wanted to do all that. So we kind of substituted one thing for another.”

Darlene planned the entire first year in advance, booking stays at RV parks. They ended up, Barry said, staying at many high-end resorts and campgrounds, spending at least $1,000 a month. But since then, they have cut costs by turning more to boondocking, or going off-grid and providing their own electricity and water.

They installed solar panels on the camper in 2023, which helped them cut costs and live more off-grid after Darlene was laid off from her job the following year. Barry said it’s hard to justify the cost of installing solar panels if you don’t plan to live a full-time RV lifestyle or go boondocking.

They don’t have a washer and dryer by choice, and they pay for a service to continue receiving mail.

Although boondocking has become a necessity, Darlene said camping off-grid is better for them anyway and it helps them keep costs down.

“We just like the peace and quiet,” Barry said. “We’ve stayed in places where we’re surrounded by this beauty, and there’s no noise other than the wind and the trees.”

They are on their second camper, a 40-foot fifth wheel. October was the month they spent the most on diesel; they estimate they spent more than $1,000 last month and less than $400 per month at the start of 2026.

Darlene said people should have a few thousand dollars on hand in case of “what if” situations, like needing to replace tires or needing more money to buy diesel.

“You have to have that backup flexibility when these weird things happen, and you can be prepared for them, and it doesn’t destroy your whole plan, but it’s part of that lifestyle,” Darlene said. “You have to know that there are going to be all these fluctuations.”

They still occasionally stay at campgrounds and RV parks. Camping fees may vary depending on where you stay and how many nights you stay. For example, their 40-night stay at a campground costs over $2,000. Meanwhile, seven nights at an RV park elsewhere costs $288; they were off-grid the rest of the month.

Get started on content creation

Darlene looked for a new job but decided to quit due to the tough job market.

“I was just trying to get a job when I was in my 50s, competing against people in their 20s and 30s who are hungry and young, and I was really hitting my head against the wall,” she said.

They launched a YouTube channel in December 2023 called “Like There’s No Tomorrow”, where they talk about RV living and what they have learned as a couple who have never experienced this lifestyle before. The channel became slightly monetized before Darlene’s post was removed. Darlene said she would give the chain three months to see if it could bring in enough money to replace at least half of its income, and if not, she would return to work. Barry quit his job in 2025 and does YouTube and other content creation full time with Darlene.

Try to stay prepared for the unexpected

When they sold their house in 2023, they invested the profit and didn’t touch it.

“I always tell people you have to have an exit plan if you’re going to do something like this because you never know what can happen,” Darlene said.

This may include unexpected repairs or unexpected health issues.

While parked on the hillside, Darlene was pouring water in the dark one night, caught her foot on something, fell forward to open the side patio doors and hit her head on the ground 10 feet below. She lost feeling in her hands for about a month, had a concussion, whiplash and fractured her skull. Another time, their dog Hugo ate something he shouldn’t have and got really sick.

“Not only do you have to think that you’re also not close to your local doctor, but you’re also not close to your local veterinarian,” Barry said.

They also want to be prepared when their full-time RV travel ends.

“We have money set aside for when we decide to get off the road, and we meet with our financial planner often to try to make sure we continue to reinvest enough money,” Darlene said. “We have a goal of one day getting off the road or becoming a part-time traveler and not a full-time traveler with some sort of home base, but that’s not at the moment.”