Meet the Bethunes, a true “American dream” family who had it all, or so they thought. They sold everything, bought a bus, and are now living their true dream life all across the country! Check them out!
When we were growing up, we were sold the same “American Dream” as you probably were. You know the one? Where you work all the time to try to afford the big house, newest car, white picket fence, and a Golden Retriever. All the while you are working very hard every day at a job you hate so that you can pay for your “dream”.
Two years ago, that was us. We had a successful Pet Styling Spaw, our kids were getting a private school education, and we had our “dream home” on two acres of land in the Tampa Bay Area. From the outside, it looked like we had the PERFECT life, but in all reality, we were just burning the candle at both ends to trying to do it ALL.
Every summer, we would take a month-long trip in our RV to a different destination. This summer was no different, we had an AMAZING time with our 3 kids, laughing and making irreplaceable memories all summer. When we pulled into our driveway with our Monaco Windsor Class A, we were already dreading going back to “reality”.
As I was loading my arms up with a basket of dirty laundry, my husband Kyle turned to me and uttered a question that would change the trajectory of our lives, forever. “Babe”, he whispered, “What if we sold everything, the house, the salon, all of our crap, and we bought a bus, remodeled it, and traveled the country?”
A look of terror instantly came over my face as his question ended. My brain was frantically buzzing and about to short circuit. What in the world was he thinking!? We couldn’t possibly do that. You aren’t allowed to do that until your kids are grown and you retire. It’s totally out of the question. No. No way can we do this.
I looked down at my expectant husband and I calmly answered “Babe, you know we can’t do that, it’s just not possible.” I kissed him on the forehead and sullenly went back to loading all our massive amount of laundry back into our “dream home”.
For the next two weeks, as I was shaving dog’s backsides, I kept dreaming each day of that beautiful life where we are at the Grand Canyon watching our kids laugh, play, and be free. I saw all our oversized smiles as we lived in the outdoors, experiencing new places, journeying wherever we wanted. THAT was a dream life, I thought.
On that 14th day of daydreaming, after work, tired and covered in dog hair, I walked up to my husband, and I gushed “Let’s do it.” He had an extremely puzzled look on his face as he questioned, “Uh, do what?”. In that moment a massive grin spread across my lips and up into my eyes as I stated, “Buy a bus, remodel it, sell our house, get rid of all the crap, and live a life of our dreams, traveling across the country.”
And the rest, my friends, is history.
We bought a bus, spent 4 months remodeling the ENTIRE thing, front to back. We sold our house, getting rid of all the excess material possessions we truly didn’t need. Then, we moved into our TRUE dream home, a 1983 Silver Eagle Bus.
We have been in that bus for nearly a year and a half now and I have to say, this was the single most important decision of our entire lives. Fulltime with our 3 kids and 4 dogs has truly SAVED our family. Our marriage has never been stronger, the relationship with our kids has never been this connected, and we can finally say that we are totally happy, 100% to our core.
When we look back, we wonder what took us so long to take this leap. I suspect it was that society told us what was expected of us, we were supposed to live a certain way. We were told that you grow up, get married, buy a house you can’t afford, make sure you have new cars, don’t forget the white picket fence, have kids, send them to school, get the Golden Retriever, and never have family dinners around the table because you’re working too hard to pay for all the things that are supposed to make you happy….
We are incredibly thankful that we created this new dream life of ours. To us, THIS is what life is all about. Now, we disconnect from technology to truly connect with each other. Our kids are experiencing places that some adults will never get the opportunity to see. We get to meet new people, from all walks of life, right here in the USA. Our kids can BE KIDS and live outside. They get as dirty as possible, go fishing, hiking, and learn about this beautiful country we live in. More importantly, we are raising kind humans that have love for everyone and nature.
As you can imagine, after we have curated this beautiful dream life of ours, we want to make sure that we protect it. The only one we trust with our little family is Coach-Net. No matter what this new life brings us, we have the peace of mind knowing that they are by our side. Whether that be from roadside assistance, having a RV problem and being able to speak with their RV Specialists, or having the most important tire and wheel protection. We feel safe and secure, Coach-Net will be there for us, no matter what we come across in our travels.
Coach-Net isn’t just for Full Time RVers, it is for weekenders too! Being a weekend camper, you may not be as hands on with your rigs as the full time RVers are. This means that unexpected things are bound to come up when you take your RV out to go camping. Make sure that you have that protection behind you, so you can sit back and relax once you get to your camping spot. Coach-Net even has protection for towables in addition to your daily driver.
Want to know our only regret though? That we didn’t start this amazing life sooner. Don’t have any regrets of your own, live a life you WANT to wake up to and make sure to bring Coach-Net with you along the way!
About The Author: The Bethune’s
We are a Tampa-based family of 2 adults, 3 kids, and 4 dogs living in our remodeled 1983 Silver Eagle Bus! We are a Full-Time Family who is always up for an adventure.
Tag along as we show you America, through our lens!
Tune in and get to know us—we’re just an average American family!

Willie D. ~ “We LOVE Coach-Net!”
What great short story. Love it. Bill
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Great! But will CoachNet cover towing when your bus is that old? I read that they don’t cover expenses on rigs over 40 years old. We are members and live and travel in our 1984 Bluebird Wanderlodge.
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