The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness
Wonkblog

1 million Americans live in RVs. Meet the ‘modern nomads.’

Couples who have ditched houses for the open road say it has made them happier — and improved their marriages.

By
November 12, 2018 at 8:40 a.m. EST
Chip Litchfield and his partner, Penni Brink, enjoy lunch in their RV at the Interstate 24 Campground in Smyrna, Tenn. Both are working their second year with the seasonal Amazon CamperForce as they travel back and forth between Vermont and Florida. (William DeShazer for The Washington Post)

When Robert and Jessica Meinhofer told friends they were moving into an RV in 2015, most thought they were crazy.

The questions poured in: How could they go from living in a 2,000-square-foot home to living in a 250-square-foot trailer? What would they do with their stuff? What would their children, ages 6 and 9, do for school? Was this a midlife crisis? The hardest people to convince were Jessica’s parents, who grew up in an impoverished Latino neighborhood in the Bronx and worked hard so their daughter could have a better life. They couldn’t understand why the couple wanted to live like migrant laborers.