Today we’d like to introduce you to Cassie Bailey.
Hi Cassie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We are the Wild Thornbaileys. We sold our 3,000-square-foot home and moved into an RV over 3 years ago. We travel with our 4 children, ages 4-11, whom we road school, and our dog and hamster! We’re a family of 6. This journey began on February 10th, 2019. Our 5-year-old son came down from his room that morning and said, “Mommy, something feels wrong inside my body” He said he felt weak and laid around a lot that day. I figured it was some virus-like mono causing him to be so lazy. He had no fever, but I could see he wasn’t doing well. That evening Josh told him to go upstairs to brush his teeth and get ready for bed; he collapsed at the bottom of the stairs and said, “Daddy can you carry me? I’m too weak”. Josh carried him up to the bed, but something felt very wrong. He’s never had such a hard time-fighting sickness before, and my son was slipping away right before my eyes. After speaking with Josh, we decided to take him into the emergency room; I stayed home with our youngest; at the time, she was 6 months old and still nursing. Assuming they’d give antibiotics and send him right back home. Around 2 a.m, I got the call, “They’re taking him by ambulance to a larger hospital. He’s very sick, and they can’t treat him here. He has an auto-immune disease called type one diabetes and is in DKA.” I could hear my ears ringing like a bomb went off nearby. I distinctly remember laughing, “That’s not a funny joke, Josh, are you guys on your way home now?” He repeated the sentence he had said before, and I dropped the phone, sobbing. My son was hanging on for life, and I wasn’t there holding him. What if he doesn’t make it? I had never heard of type one diabetes, an auto-immune disease; I’d only ever heard of type 2. When I got to the hospital, the doctor let me know we are not brought him in that night; he likely was not waking up the following day. His blood sugar levels were over 500 (they usually should be between 70-120) leading up to that day, and he had excessive thirst (I assumed a growth spurt or was more active than usual, started wetting the bed and peeing more often (I figured because of all the drinking), pain around his belly button (which I thought maybe his pants were too tight), blurred vision (we took him to an eye doctor and got him glasses) weight loss (which we thought was him losing baby weight) I was able to explain away each one of these symptoms without realizing they were all connected to his pancreas dying and no longer creating insulin for his body. That’s when I realized I had almost lost my son. Those days following were soul-crushing; we also discovered his celiac (another auto-immune disease that attacks his organs), and he cannot consume, touch or even breathe in gluten. Our lives were forever changed that day, and our perspectives shifted dramatically.
Josh was a contractor for 14 years, running crews, often working long hours or even out of town. After asking for an extension on his job while his son was in the hospital. And being shown no mercy as his jobs were ripped from him and handed off to other contractors losing thousands upon thousands of dollars. He quickly realized how disposable he was to them. If he weren’t there working, it would go to the next guy willing to break their back for people who would just as easily replace them as well. The ones who could never replace him were always waiting for him to finish these long grueling jobs, begging for more of his time. I was a photographer working evenings and weekends. We were both focused on growing our careers which left little time with one another and with our kids. It felt like a trap, wake up, leave the house to work to pay for the house we had to leave. Life didn’t make much sense anymore. When you almost lose your child, everything is really put into perspective. You think of all the things you’d regret had you lost them at that moment. The places you never got to go together, the things you’d never gotten to do or see. Every moment you said, “not right now, buddy, I’m busy.” We both knew life had to change dramatically and fast! That’s when we decided to sell the house and all our belongings and move into an RV! The decision was so easily made, but the process was complex! After all, our house was 3,000 sq ft and full of so much stuff. Once we listed the house, it became genuine that we would be nomads!
We joined memberships to keep our campground costs very low and to plug into the RV community where thousands of other families were full-time! It’s an entire community of people we’ve been able to create long-lasting friendships with and travel together! The kids have made incredible friends and get to have these unique experiences with their friends by their side. One of the hardest parts was finding the perfect job to do from the road. There are plenty of remote jobs, but we needed something flexible to give us time back with our kids that we missed out on. It was a lot of trial and error. Josh did video editing, RV roofing, and handyman jobs. There’s even something called “work camping,” where you work for specific campgrounds.
I took my photography career to the road and did travel photography and elopements; I worked remotely as an email marketing specialist and did photo editing. I still run my travel photography business and create product photography and brand content. I do affiliate marketing, have an online store, and create digital downloads for photographers and RVers! Passive income is the best way to go when living on the road. Finding the right job on the road can take time, but many of us RV families are on the road, and we all have one thing in common: we’re resourceful! We’re a large group of people who got sick of how life was and knew we were all willing to do whatever it took to break out of the life we were living and have a more intentional and adventure-filled life! Full of experiences instead of stuff. Our troubles stayed the same when we moved into the RV. Life never gets easier; you just become stronger.
The obstacles we face on the road are far more worth it than if we were to stay in the same place, lifestyle, and hamster wheel that we were in before. We’ve had more breakdowns than I can count, been stuck in the sand, been in flood, was in a rollover accident in our truck, and so many sticky situations, but it always works out and has brought us so much closer and made us that much stronger! We’ve also been to 42 states, climbed to the top of mountains, snorkeled and explored the ocean, circled the entire country multiple times, and gone to more national parks than I can count. And made memories I would have never dreamed were possible for my family while the kids were still young! This lifestyle is not for everyone, but it’s the best life I could ever imagine giving our kids! We started this journey to get more time back together, and if one of us were to die now, there would be no regrets because we live life to its fullest and don’t take for granted each day we’ve been given.
Our son is thriving despite his diagnosis, and it is much easier to manage his levels with an active lifestyle and plenty of vitamin D! Plus, traveling with our home makes it easier to be sure there is no cross-contamination of gluten too! Life is insanely fragile; you never know when it will be ripped from your hands. Your last words will never be, “I had such a big house, such a cool car, so many nice things. When it’s time for you to go, you’ll think of the ones you love most and the time you got together. So make this life one worth living! We now spend November-May in Orlando with other RV families we travel with. We enjoy all the springs, like Apopka springs and hunter springs, where we’ve swum with a manatee! We also love to spend time at Disney and Universal as a family! We have made so many memories in Orlando; it is a magical place for us and holds so much meaning for each of us!
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We take the rocky road, the one with many obstacles. It also so happens to be the more scenic route. We had never stayed in an RV, let alone hauled one, before the day we picked up our new home on wheels. On our first trip leaving our home state of NY, our drive shaft fell off 1 hour before crossing the state line. We were stuck in a small town for 2 weeks before we got to hit the road. Those 2 weeks were spent with incredible people and just a taste of the difficulties that follow this lifestyle.
No more than 3 months later, we found ourselves stuck in the sand as we parked on a beach known for RVers boondocking with an oceanfront view. We’ve had to change out 2 transmissions, a motor, and multiple flats on the side of the highway, and many times we have left campgrounds urgently due to storms. We spent all day trying to get unstuck because no tow truck would help. I reached out on an RV group page asking for anyone nearby to help, and sure enough, the sweetest family drove out and pulled us out of the sand pit we were in.
In August 2020, I was driving to a photo shoot in our hometown when it started to downpour for the first time in a long time, so the roads were slick with oil. I saw a small car driving towards me, and my first thought was, “I’m going to end up killing the people in that car!” because I was in a lifted f350 truck, and they had just a tiny car. I lost control and hydroplaned. I watched as my camera flew through the air and all the other belongings inside the truck, but nothing touched me. I landed in a ditch in front of a cross that marked the spot of someone else who’d done the same thing but didn’t make it! I crawled out of the truck untouched, realizing how quickly life can be taken from you!
Insurance didn’t cover the accident, and the truck was completely smashed. We found ourselves without a tow vehicle and what looked like the end of our travels. We found an old 99 ford f350 dually, which we still drive to this day. It was only $4500 but needed a lot of work. Josh has always been great with vehicles, so he got to work to get us back on the road! He has saved us so much money because he is handy with fixing things on the RV and the truck!
In September 2020, we bought land to build tiny homes in NY to Air BnB out and generate some more extra income. We parked our RV on the land to spend the holidays near family and start to prepare the land. Christmas day of 2020, the river behind our land flooded from abnormally high temperatures. The land was complete mud from the rapid heat wave, causing it to be too muddy for the truck to get back there, so we could not get out of there, flooding our home and totaling the RV. Josh had to boat us away from the RV, so we didn’t have to walk through the frigid cold water in the middle of a NY winter to get to the truck.
In 2020 we lost our truck and RV, but that didn’t stop our journey. We pushed through and were able to get back on the road not long after. Living this lifestyle, you have to be ready for trip interruptions. Good savings will save you a lot of headaches when unexpected things happen, like the many we’ve faced. Always embrace the adventure, whether it’s one you planned and expected or one that brought you down a route you never imagined. No matter the difficult path we’ve ended up on, we’ve always made the best of it, met the most incredible people, and had the most unexpected adventures!
Please tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others.
I have always needed a creative outlet. Photography fulfilled that for me for years. I create magical art and composites for clients to hang in their homes. I started Nomadic Creative Photography 12 years ago and enjoyed making people laugh at their sessions, coming up with creative concepts, and editing something magical in photoshop.
More recently, I have monetized my social media platforms and can create content as a form of income! I love sharing parts of our story with others to bring hope and inspiration to keep pushing towards your dreams and that nothing can hold you back! Not money, not a diagnosis, not a job or a person. Anything is possible if you want it bad enough! I teach others how to live full-time in their RV and create content that makes others laugh, even if it’s at my expense of myself. Giving others a moment of laughter and joy brings me so much happiness!
Everyone has a story to share and can make an income by sharing that story on any social platform. We all have struggles we’ve been through and can show others how we’ve made it by encouraging them that they can make it through too! I also get to do product photography and create unique content for brands to use, showcasing their products in a fun way! We are digital nomads! Any opportunity I can find online to create residual or passive income, I work to move in that direction to give me more free time to be with my family and do more of what I love!
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting?
My advice for anyone starting the RV journey is always to expect the unexpected. Breathe through the difficult moments. It’s never about how big the problem is; how you respond to it can make or break an adventure. Follow RV accounts that share information on how they make it work for their family, join the RV Facebook groups and ask questions! Research as much as possible beforehand. Get the expensive tires! We had the factory tires on our RV and multiple blowouts; good RV tires make a huge difference and save you money in the long run! When you choose an RV, spend the extra few hundred dollars on hiring an RV inspector to walk through and ensure everything is in good shape, they can spot things you wouldn’t even think to look for! Choose the RV first, so you know how much weight the truck you want needs to be able to tow.
You can visit RV shows to walk through different RVs to see which style you like the most for your family. Decide if you plan to do a lot of boondocking (no campgrounds or hookups), which you would need solar or a generator, or if you prefer campgrounds with a lot of other full-time RV families and all the amenities. Remember, the RV community is there for you, always ready to help, so feel free to speak up when you need help figuring out what to do! I share a lot of great tools on our website www.Wildthornbaileys.com and all of our platforms on how to start living in an RV, the best memberships to connect with other RV families, and get the best discounts on campgrounds! These tools have helped us save money and make this lifestyle possible!
Pricing:
- Our monthly RV bills as a family of 6 are $1800
- We pay under $300 a month for campgrounds.
- We bought our 5th wheel used for $20,000
- Our first travel trailer was used for $4,500
Contact Info:
- Website: www.Wildthornbaileys.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildthornbaileys
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wildthornbaileys
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/wildthornbaileys
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@wildthornbaileys
Image Credits
Nomadic Creative Photography
