In need of a life reset, a widow turned to full-time RVing with her children.
By John Johnston, Associate Editor
December 2018
At age 52, Susan Davis, F457287, has lived two starkly different lives. One ended on Valentine’s Day in 2008. That is when her husband of 18 years, who she said had long suffered from depression, died by suicide.
Traveling in a 38-foot Fleetwood motorhome has provided a range of experiences for the Davis family.
“I was a stay-at-home mom, a homeschool mom, we did the church thing. So when he died, my life ended at the same time his did. Everything I knew, everything I was, everything we did, was gone. I still had the kids, but I was no longer a wife. Everything shifted.”
This is the story of the life that Susan has lived since then.
At the time of her husband’s death, Susan’s six children — Garrett, Jeremy, Lindsay, Jennifer, Matthew, and Mary Emma — were ages 14 years to 14 months. They all lived in a large house in Dallas, Texas. They also had a 7-year-old Type A motorhome, which Susan had never driven and knew almost nothing about. Her husband had handled all aspects of its operation.
Susan wanted to sell the motorhome, but she kept it because the economy had crashed and she owed more than it was worth. So, through a friend, she connected with a former truck-driving instructor. “I got a 15-minute driving lesson through the streets of our city, and he’s like, ‘Okay, you’re good to go.’”
Soon after, she took the motorhome and her kids to a homeschool conference, 2½ hours away. Dallas’ wide expressways were not a problem, but her anxiety rose as she ventured onto narrow rural highways. Motoring down a hill, she saw a bridge at the bottom with guardrails on both sides, and no shoulder. Then she spotted a semi tractor-trailer, and realized they would have to squeeze past each other on the bridge.
“Okay, here we go,” she told the kids. And then, “I just screamed all the way across the bridge.”
When they arrived at a campground populated by homeschoolers, some knew that Susan was a widow, so she was directed to park next to a family — a large, famous one — who could assist as needed. Soon Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar were introducing themselves. They and their children were the stars of what was then a new reality TV show, “17 Kids and Counting” (which eventually became “19 Kids and Counting”).
The Duggar boys taught Garrett how to connect the motorhome to the campsite hookups. And on the day the Davises were leaving and needed assistance at the dump station, Jim Bob Duggar stepped in to help. “Mom, the famous guy is dumping our toilet,” Garrett quipped.
For the next five years, Susan and her children used the motorhome twice a year — for a short vacation and a homeschool conference. Then in 2013, the Davises and their two dogs and four cats embarked on a nine-month trip to the West Coast. While in Arizona, they traded in their 12-year-old coach for a new 38-foot Fleetwood motorhome.
From left, Lindsay, Mary Emma, and Jennifer Davis shuck corn in Maine.
When the family returned to Texas, Susan’s father was ill. They stayed close to home until his death in 2015, after which Susan asked her kids: Do you want to hit the road? “They all said yes.” They sold or gave away almost all of the items in their 4,400-square-foot home, put the house up for sale, and became full-time RVers.
RVing has not always been easy. In 2013, near Yosemite National Park, Susan’s GPS guided her to a twisting road that large RVs should avoid. That’s where they encountered an unforgiving rock that jutted just far enough into the roadway to rip the two basement doors from the motorhome.
There was a time in Susan’s life — her previous life — when such an experience would have shaken her to the core and left her reeling.
“After (my husband) died, something happened in me,” she said. “It’s like, okay, you’ve just gone through the worst thing you could possibly imagine, and you survived. So what else could happen? (Now), I just have to stop and think, how bad is this, really?”
They’ve had to fix things on the fly. They’ve had to dodge wildfires. Their motorhome had to be towed out of mud, twice. In Alaska in 2015, inadequately marked fuel pump handles resulted in them filling their diesel-powered coach with gas. Also on that trip, everyone caught the same stomach bug. Try to envision six people banging on the only bathroom door, shouting, “Move! I’m going to puke!”
“One’s daily challenges are never the same,” said the oldest child, Garrett, now 24. “The lifestyle keeps you on your toes.”
Garrett Davis had the opportunity to climb ice walls in Alaska when the family visited the state.
It also offers great opportunities and rewards. The Davis kids have kayaked in Alaskan waters amidst sea lions, seals, and a pod of orcas. They have seen whales in Newfoundland. They have swum with dolphins. Garrett has climbed ice walls in Alaska. After that 2015 trip, he moved to Florida, where he is a professional diver. Jeremy, the second oldest, recently joined the Texas State Guard. The other four children still travel with their mother, along with five cats and a dog.
Said Susan: “I ask the kids every few months: Do you all still want to keep doing this?” The answer has been yes.
“Sometimes I do miss having all my toys and having my own room and closet,” said 11-year-old Mary Emma, the youngest child. “But other times I’m glad that we sold the house, because if we hadn’t, we never would have traveled to so many different and amazing places.”
“It’s so cool to meet new people and (see) the things that are different about each state,” said Jennifer, 15. “My goal is to see the whole world someday.”
“The best two months of my life was my time in Alaska,” said Lindsay, 18, “where I had no phone or internet service, and I spent 90 percent of my time outdoors,”
Susan said her kids see the world differently from most. They are more self-reliant and less dependent on material goods. The children, for their part, say “road schooling” is a great way to learn.
If there is one overarching lesson, it may be this: When the life you know dissolves in an instant, it is possible to bravely set out on a new journey.