Ward and June

In the summer of 2009, we sold all of our possessions and purchased a 1993 Award Travel Trailer…then headed out to experience rv life on the road. After months of weekly garage sales, selling everything but the family pets, we scraped enough together to buy “Ward” (um…yep…we named him) and had a little left over for necessities. Yes, we were broke…but we were now rvers, in search of a simpler life. Worried that tomorrow might never come and, quite honestly, not enjoying the fast-paced, materialistic world we were enduring daily, we closed our eyes and jumped…never looking back.

In October, when the house was finally empty, we hooked up our Award camper to “June,” our 2006 Nissan Frontier (yep…named her, too…Ward and June…I know, I know) and plummeted straight into the rving lifestyle. It didn’t take us long to recognize that, though we knew nothing about the best rv to buy, we got extremely lucky when we found Ward.

Award trailers, made in Canada, are not average rvs. When we were shopping around, we needed a lot of room inside because we planned to rv full time. However, we had a V6 truck, so we needed a lightweight camper. Then, just for fun, throw in the fact that we had an extremely limited budget, refused to have debt so could only pay cash…which left us with just about zero choices. It is very hard to find a lightweight pull camper that is roomy and affordable…but Ward had it all! Yes, June could pull his 30 foot length, 4000 pound weight with ease.

We traveled from our home base by Glacier National Park Montana, to Illinois, on to North Carolina, Myrtle Beach and eventually all the way back to Montana. With exception of a “tire incident” which had nothing to do with the trailer (hint: tires that look like new can have dry rot inside…and will disintegrate after about 1500 miles), we had no problems at all. The unique, aerodynamic design made you forget you were pulling a 30 foot object behind you due to the decreased wind drag on the highway.

Inside, everything was pure quality. We are both very tall, but could walk Ward’s halls with ease. You could tell that this rv was built to last. It is designed with heavier items located between the two axles, to create balance. Every item is placed with the utmost thought and care. In addition, we wintered in Montana last year (I know, what where we THINKING?) and were the only rvers not freezing…actually cracked a window to cool off. An Award rv is very well insulated, and we are living proof of this, having survived a NW Montana winter.

A few months ago, we had to say goodbye to Ward…and tears were shed, no joke, as his new owner pulled him down the highway. Because we are now blogging about and dedicated to cheap rv living, on our personal budget, we needed to get a motorhome so we only had one vehicle to insure, maintain, etc. Before selling Ward, carefully we compared the pros and cons of both campers and then made the decision to sell. When we made the sale, because these rvs are so hard to find, we actually made more money than what we purchased it for…a great investment, guaranteed. However it was an awful decision to make and we will always miss Ward – and how he gently guided us into the rv lifestyle, and changed our lives for the better.