A little more than a year ago, Tara Sage and her partner, Carl Oliver, made a fateful decision when they downsized their belongings, ended their lease, bought a travel trailer and hit the road to become full-time RV nomads.
Today, Sage and Oliver are showing others how it’s done through their Nomadic Living 101 video instruction series – while offering RV dealers the opportunity to tap into a revenue source in the process.
Even before her decision to become a full-time RVer, Sage had always enjoyed traveling.
Fortunately, her career as a life coach allowed her to work anywhere from the world.
Still, taking the plunge and adopting the nomadic RV lifestyle can be intimidating, acknowledges Sage, who, like Oliver, had no previous RVing experience. Despite that, the lure of the road called to the couple, and they committed to pursuing their dream. Within 60 days, they ended their lease, downsized their belongings, traded their cars (a Prius and a Fiat) for an SUV and a 20-foot trailer, and hit the road.
“It felt like a complete whirlwind, and we had a very steep learning curve, but we really embraced it,” Sage said. “We thought of it as an experiment, something that, if we didn’t like, we could undo, sell the RV and get another apartment. That was November of 2017. We love it, and we see no end in sight to this lifestyle.”
Nomadic Living 101
Now that Sage, 43, and Oliver, 42, have navigated those early-stage challenges of the nomadic RV lifestyle, Sage said she wants to help others succeed in making the transition – particularly Millennials. Retirees have long embraced the nomadic RV lifestyle, but they don’t have the same challenges as Millennials, such as maintaining employment or raising children, she notes.
To help Millennials strategize how they can pursue the nomadic lifestyle, Sage created Nomadic Living 101, a digital course that educates people on how to put a plan into action. Whether it be for a temporary season or a lifelong pursuit, Nomadic Living 101 focuses on the logistical, mechanical and social pieces of nomadic living and how to make the lifestyle work for everyone’s individual needs, according to Sage.
“Despite mobility being a dream that many share, a lot of people end up not buying into it because they’re fearful of what’s involved,” she said. “There are so many unknowns, but we share how you can do things your way and how you can overcome any glitches and fears. It’s all personalized, so it’s not about showing you how your grandparents did it, but how you can do it in a way that fits your lifestyle and unique interests.”
Nomadic Living 101 even offers an assessment on how people can choose the best RV for their needs, Sage says. With so many RV options, choosing the right vehicle can be overwhelming, especially for those new to the lifestyle.
For instance, Sage and Oliver love to salsa dance, but they also enjoy spending time in nature. In their case, a 20-foot travel trailer matched with an SUV gives them the versatility they need, according to Sage. She and Oliver can parallel park in the city when a night of salsa dancing calls, or they can tow the trailer up a mountain without a problem.
An Opportunity for Dealerships
While Sage offers this course directly to individuals, she also is looking to partner with dealerships to sell the Nomadic Living 101 video series. As the younger generation purchases RVs, she says they are sometimes coming to dealerships with questions about the nomadic RV lifestyle that the staffs there aren’t necessarily equipped to handle.
By offering Nomadic Living 101, a dealership can gain an upsell while providing a value-added solution, according to Sage.
To sell Nomadic Living 101, a dealership buys a bundle of access codes to the course in 10, 25 or 50 packs. The packs come at different price points, though the 50-pack offers the best value because dealers pay less per access code, Sage said. A 50-pack costs $100 per access code, totaling to a $5,000 investment.
If a dealership charges just $300 per access code, which is the lowest recommended price, the dealership will make a $10,000 profit once it sells out of Nomadic Living 101 codes. In her case, Sage sells the course directly for $747 per access code, but she said she believes in empowering the dealerships to make the decision on pricing.
“We let the dealership choose the price of each access code and how to set up commissions for the salespeople,” she said. “That’s all up to them because they know what works in their market best.”
In the event RVers walk away from the course with additional questions, Sage guarantees that she will personally provide answers. Dealerships don’t have to worry about handling those inquiries and can feel assured that she will take care of their customers, she said.
Providing a resource on how to pursue the RV lifestyle on an extended basis can help a dealership stand out from its competitors, according to Sage. That, in turn, can help make customers feel more confident about their decision.
If a dealership can help these new customers, they will not only be more likely to follow through on the sale, but they also will be more likely to view the dealership as a valuable resource that helped make their new lifestyle a reality, according to Sage.
Nomadic Living Outlook
Sage said she finds that the nomadic living lifestyle is rewarding on many fronts. She said she feels less stress, sleeps better and lives a more active life. For Sage, the experience has been life-changing.
“I could not have predicted what I call the ‘paradox of less,’” she said. “I may have so much less, but I have so much more free time and mental space. I have so much more space for creativity, and my business is doing new and exciting things that I couldn’t have imagined because I didn’t have the time and space of the mental clutter to even allow that to happen.”