'Ditching Suburbia'

The Boyink family had always wanted to travel, but it wasn’t until their oldest child turn 13 that they decided to stop talking about it and take action.

“We just knew that if we didn’t move on the idea, time was going to go off in a hurry. They’d be off to college, be off to jobs, and it was in a hurry,” Michael Boyink said.

In September 2010, the family moved a friend into their Holland Township home, packed up into an RV and took off on a year-long trip around the United States.

Or at least, that was the original plan.

“We were saying a year, but in the back of our heads we were considering the option to do it all the time,” Michael Boyink said.

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The Boyinks decided to be full time RVers and sold the family home in March 2012. They’ve been to 39 states, worked on Texas ranches, swam with manatee and kayaked by monkeys in Florida and visited dozens of national and state parks.

“We have a beautiful country and there are so many cool places,” Boyink said.

There were obstacles to overcome at first. Michael, his wife Crissa and son Harrison were happy with the idea of traveling full time while daughter Miranda was against it.

“We talk to other families who do this and some get permission from their kids,” Boyink said. “But from our perspective, you don’t have the tools to make that decision as a 12-year-old. So we hoped she would come along and become happy with traveling and that’s what happened.”

Schooling was another adjustment to be made. The kids were already homeschooled when they lived in Holland, but Boyink said the approach to schooling changed on the road, with taking advantage of educational opportunities on the road and finding a balance between education and experiencing the country.

“The last thing I wanted to do was be outside the park at Yosemite and be like, “No you can’t go, you have to finish your workbook,” he said.

Other adjustments many people may expect to be difficult, like space, weren’t an issue for the Boyinks.

“It’s funny how that really hasn’t been hard at all,” Boyink said. “ We didn’t have a huge house to being with, maybe 1,000 square feet. We all have our beds we all have a chair to sit in. If someone needs alone time, there’s the truck to go sit in. There’s outside, depending on where we are. So space isn’t an issue.”

The financial adjustment hasn’t been so difficult either. The family is supported by Michael doing web development and running a training business and doing classes around the country.

“We’re not rich by any means, but you don’t have to be rich to travel full time,” Boyink said. “ When we look at our budget from moving and traveling, it’s not that much different from living in a house. We traded mortgage for traveling expenses.”

Boyink said the biggest adjustment and challenge during the past five years has been deciding where to go next.

“I know that sounds like such a first world problem,” he said with a laugh. “But when you have so many options, where do you go? There’s so many decisions to figure out, there’s times where it’s hard to make choices at all.”

The decisions are ultimately made on many factors, like weather patterns, national parks and attractions they want to see and looking at a private Google Map that lets them see where other RVing families they’ve befriended are in the country.

Sometimes, they caravan with those families for weeks at a time.

“The big unexpected surprise for my wife and I was we have more friendships now and deeper friendships than we had in Holland,” Boyink said. “And I don’t mean that as a slam against Holland. I just think it’s because you know you have a limited time to connect with somebody, so people jump over their inhibitions and develop friendships quicker. Since you know time is going to be limited, you make the most of the time you have together.”

Meeting the other families has inspired the Boyinks to write a book called “Ditching Suburbia” about families who choose to live unconventionally, whether it’s RVing full time, living on boats or living in a tiny house. They expect the book to be available early next year.

“There are so many neat stories of other ways to live as a family outside of the traditional suburban existence,” Boyink said. “We tell our story, but their stories as well. And maybe it will inspire people who find the suburban life lackluster or doesn’t live up the promises to make a change.”

The Boyink family’s story right now is going through a change. Harrison, now 18, has just gotten a room to rent in Holland and a job at Herman Miller. Miranda, now 17, still has a year left of school, but she’s already eyeing California and has said she doesn’t want to live traditionally.

“We try very hard not to say I told you so,” Michael said.

As for Michael and Crissa, they don’t see themselves leaving the road and going back to the traditional suburban life.

“It’s hard to pretend what life would have been like if you’ve stayed in a house,” Boyink said. “It’s an amazing country and we look at the cost of what we did, compare that to the price of a year at college and you see you can easily travel full time.”

— Follow this reporter on Twitter @SentinelErin.