Joe Russo - Take Risks

TAKE RISKS

One Couples Journey to Quit Their Jobs and Hit the Open Road

* * * * *

By Joe Russo

Were the Russos

Copyright 2017 by Joe Russo

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Dedication

To Dad.

Your advice changed our lives.

FOREWORD

By Kevin Tumlinson

T his is the book I wish Id read two years ago.

That was around the time my wife (Kara) and I had a brief but interesting conversation while she stood in the doorway of my home office. I think we should sell the house and get an RV, and travel full time while you write and publish.

Aside from the Scooby Doo-like noise I made, I couldnt answer yes fast enough! And at that moment, the whole thing starteda year of prepping the house for sale, picking out and buying an RV, and making ourselves ready for life on the road. And in that time, I did a lot of research, particularly diving into podcasts and vlogs, looking for people who were doing what we planned to do. Thats how I came across Were the Russos, and from there I had the honor and privilege of interviewing them on my show, the Wordslinger Podcast.

But I dont think I asked enough questions.

As it turns out, Kara and I had an experience nearly parallel to what Joe and Kait went through. We had triumphs and pitfalls. We had successes and mistakes. Never regrets, but a few miss-steps. In particular, we discovered halfway through our own journey that we had chosen the wrong kind of RV for the life we wanted. Cue more Scooby Doo-like noises.

All of that could have been avoided, had I just read this book beforehand.

This isnt a how-to guide. Its more of a how-we-did-it guide. From page one, you get to follow along with Joe and Kait as they make their decision, as they contemplate leaving their jobs, as they search for the perfect RV, as they, ultimately, take risks, and then reap the rewards.

Thats the key theme at play here, by the way: Take risks. Its more than just the title, its a decision, a choice. Joe and Kait decided that it was better to take a risk than to stay in the same safe, comfortable, but ultimately soul-numbing lifestyle they were accustomed to.

Theres an apocryphal adage about insanity that makes its rounds on the internet: Insanity is doing the same thing, again and again, expecting a new result each time.

By that measure, choosing to risk everything and try a whole new life on for size has to be the very measure of actual sanity. Where some would look at Joe and Kait and wonder at their crazy choice, they look at the world around them and wonder why everyone is so content to stay in the loony bin.

Again, I wish I had read this two years ago.

The popularity of RV life is growing at a rapid pace. Every day, people are embracing a full-time lifestyle of minimalism and expansive freedom. Maybe its a sign of some cultural shifta reversion to the glories of a nomadic life. Or maybe its a sign of evolution, the opening of an inner awareness that yearns to see whats on the other side of that hill, what lays in that distant valley, who might be waiting on that other coast.

Whatever drives us to want to downsize, pack up, and get on the road, there are a lot of lessons we can take with us, expressed in the pages of this book. Its endearing, and sometimes alarming, but it is raw experience that brings with it a wisdom we all need. If youre thinking of starting your own RV life, your journey really does need to start here.

Kevin Tumlinson

Author, Host of the Wordslinger Podcast

July 12, 2017

PROLOGUE

Take risks and have lots of children.

T his is one of the last things my father told me before he passed away in 2013. By then, Kait and I had been together for eight years and our idea of taking a risk entailed not checking our work emails at night. Little did I realize that my father's words would be the driving force behind us quitting our jobs, selling our house and most of our possessions, and living a nomadic life wandering the United States in a motorhome. This story is about how we gave the modern definition of success the finger and took the biggest risk of our lives. This is our journey to living free.

To learn more about us, head to our website: weretherussos.com

1. MOTHERS DAY

S aturday, May 10th , 2014

It's almost 7 a.m. and I'm lying in bed half awake. I've become so accustomed to waking up early every morning that I haven't slept in for years. Kait on the other hand is still sound asleep and apparently Leo, our white Husky (at least we think he's a Husky) is also passed out because I can hear him snoring. Heck, he could be part timber wolf for all we know, but that's the thing with a shelter dog, you never quite know. Duke, our Belgium Malinois, typically sleeps on Kait's side of the bed because it's closest to the door. He's 80 pounds of lean mean fighting machine and I sleep soundly knowing he's there. On the rare occasion I have to fly out of town for business, I know Kait is safe with Duke protecting the house and the family. Duke is also a rescue and when we found him, he was twenty pounds underweight and scheduled to be put down by the shelter. He's graying quite a bit and our guess is that he's about 12 years old but still full of life and acts like an adolescent most days.

Somehow with those giant ears of his he knows I am awake and walks over to my side of the bed, stepping over Leo so he can rest his head next to mine.