Family That Hit The Road In RV During COVID Comes Home After Amazing Adventures

The Severance family sold it all in May 2020 and the family of seven hit the road for nine months — clocking 9,400 miles, exploring 19 states in Bonnie, their 1994 model Foretravel RV.

 This month, Chip and Paige Severance decided their next destination was to return to Knoxville. Their five children had one condition, that they keep Bonnie.

“The kids wouldn’t hear otherwise,” said Paige Severance. “They are so adaptable. Re-entry has been really difficult for me.”

These days the Severance home is a little more spacious. The family has upsized from their 40-foot RV into her mother’s 2,000-square-foot, three-bedroom cottage set on a hobby farm south of the Tennessee River.

Severance’s mother died last year.  Paige had grown up on that patch of land after her father left the military when she was 12.

“There are a lot of good memories,” said Severance. “We had no idea the abundance that was waiting for us; it is like she was creating this haven.”

The Severance kids have happily transitioned from city to RV to farm life and have plenty of outdoor space to explore and a treehouse to play in. “We were open to doing it one more year, but structure on the road doesn’t go together,” said Severance. “The kids thrived and learned so much, but we didn’t think it would be fair to keep traveling.”

The adventures of Chip and Paige Severance and their children — Scout, Tate, twins Rynn and Jack, and Hank — were documented on Instagram @thesevyseven.

Lesson 1 from the road: Be flexible   

While on the road, the family planned only two weeks in advance. “It was difficult to get campground bookings and we often had to boondock,” said Severance, reflecting on what they learned. “It always worked out.”

Stay in the places you love   

“When I thought about RV life, I thought we would continually be on the move; I didn’t expect to be able to stay in one place,” said Severance. “We loved New Orleans and stayed three weeks. We were only supposed to be in Sedona for four days — we stayed three weeks. Savor it, or if you don’t like it move on. The trade-off is that you don’t make it to as many places. It is the off the beaten path places that you don’t expect to love. Telluride is a Gold Rush town with million-dollar views.”

Check out the rest of the article from the Knoxville News Sentinel here.