Liberty alumni couple bought first home on wheels, traveling the country

“It all started as a joke,” Kim Johnson said, reminiscing on how she and her husband ditched the average post-graduate life in favor of living full-time in an RV. 

As Kim Osborne and then-fiancé Curtis Johnson both prepared to graduate from Liberty University and the pressures of college came off their shoulders, they considered living a more unconventional lifestyle.  

They asked themselves how realistic it would be to live in an RV, and then they sought the opinion of others. Most of their mentors
had the same answer: do it.

The Johnsons graduated in May 2018 and got married a few months later. During the fall of 2018, Kim and Curtis Johnson bought a 1976 Airstream Sovereign on Craigslist and spent many hours renovating it, preparing the old vehicle for 2019. They planned to visit the West Coast
using the RV. 

“(The RV) is a round silver bean; it looks like a burrito from chipotle. We just love it,” Kim Johnson said. “We are really passionate about people, our marriage and Jesus, and so we have just found out that living in an RV lets us really embrace those things.” 

The Johnsons spent the first few months of marriage preparing the RV for the adventure ahead. Finally, after putting on the final touches, the couple began their adventure to the West Coast in February. 

The couple’s first stop was Liberty University where they parked in zone four. Friends living on campus even came to visit. They said it was a good start to their journey. 

“It was so fun,” Kim Johnson said. “We were so nervous about hitting the road that we just took the familiar route from Curtis’ house to Liberty, and tons of our friends came and visited us, and they were such cheerleaders for us and gave us a springboard to leave on our journey.”

Living in an RV does come with challenges. Curtis Johnson said the biggest challenge was not having one-on-one community, as well as the technical difficulties that come along the way, such as not having a consistent water supply. For Kim Johnson, the challenge is not knowing where they are going to sleep that night. 

“You have to make adjustments each and every day based on your circumstances,” Curtis Johnson said. 

With a 31-foot camper as a living space, they have embraced a minimalist lifestyle. They decided that having extra things was getting in the way of achieving their goal for their year living in the RV. 

“I think that desire (of minimalism) did not fuel this lifestyle,” Curtis Johnson said. “It is something that came as a result, so that desire started with starting this lifestyle and realizing that you really don’t need as much as you think.”

The day-to-day looks different than what people would regularly foresee for a pair of recent graduates and recently married young people, but they said it has been a rewarding decision. 

“We don’t go to day jobs,” Curtis Johnson said. “We are definitely outside a lot more. We are forced to interact with more people and ask people for help sometimes.”

They have already hit 10 states together, and they are on the way for more this year. The Johnsons said it is an experience that has allowed them to not only see the changing landscape and journey through the United States, but to grow in their marriage. 

“After experiencing RVing, I want to do it for the rest of my life, even if it’s just during the summer if we go to a two-month trip with our kids,” Kim Johnson said. “I want my (future) kids to experience what we had.” 

By living on the road, Kim and Curtis Johnson said they have met many different people and experienced a lifestyle unusual for many people. 

“I like to say that people who (live) full-time (in an) RV are either retired people or rock climbers,” Kim Johnson, who has her own photography business, said. “So, we are not either of those things. It is kind of random that we are doing it, but it has been awesome.” 

Follow along with the Johnsons’ adventures on Instagram at @just.hitched.