'I’m the kid of one of those traveling RV families online and I hate them for it every day.' UPDATED 2X
"I’m the kid of one of those traveling RV families online and I hate them for it every day."
Educational-Army-915
My parents decided when I was only around seven years old, far to young to get an opinion on anything to pack us up and move into an rv to travel around the us. My dad works online and my mom makes content online.
She’s not huge by any means but big enough that we get recognized sometimes and big enough that I’ve had a camera shoved in my face for as long as I can remember. For my privacy’s sake I won’t say anything else on that.
I sleep in a tiny bunk bed that I outgrew years ago and the other bunk is the only space I have to put anything I own. I don’t even have a room just a curtain and thank god I’m an only child or else I would have to share the small space I have already.
I was home schooled for most of my education and then switched to online school at my own insistence for high school. I’m an 18 year old girl, I don’t have a single friend in person because the longest I’ve ever stayed anywhere is a month. I don’t have a job and no way to get one because of not being stationary unless I find one online which also means I have no way to move out and get away from them.
I’ve had conversations with them about all of this countless times and they are so delusional and genuinely believe that “a nomadic existence is the best way to live” so why would I ever need anything else.
I hate them for treating me like some pet they can just drag along in their plans rather than their child. I hate traveling, I don’t like heat, I hate dealing with bugs, and I’m so sick of hiking.
I can’t wait for the day that I finally figure out a way to get away from them with their mornings hikes and cameras in my face. I’ve traveled around the us yeah but god forbid I want to have a normal life, go the college or maybe even makes some friends? That’s asking too much.
Here were the top rated comments from readers in response to the OP's inital post:
gumbyrocks
1800runaway provides a list of programs that will provide housing and supportive services. We help people like you every day.
DownvoteEvangelist
Ironically, if you were to start creating content about getting away from your hipster parents you'd probably gain a lot of attention...
jewel_flip
I think we’ve all been waiting for the tell-all from the children of these influencers.
Educational-Army-915 (OP)
Honestly I’ve considered it just for the purpose of spreading awareness but it didn’t seem smart to me for a few reasons. firstly it didn’t seem like a long term solution, I don’t think the content would be all that interesting once my story is told there isn’t any other real content there. there is only so many time you can talk about the same thing without it getting repetitive and boring people.
Plus I would have to be in a stable position enough to feel comfortable talking about it and have an out just in case things went sideways. but more importantly i’ve already had my life plastered onto the internet from such a young age I don’t think it’s worth giving up the one aspect of my life that hasn’t been published publicly.
scrubberducky93
This comes across as a form of child neglect to me. They are 100% socially isolating you to only having a relationship with them.( Very unhealthy). Mom is also using you as a content piece and not as her child, so she can continue to make her content.
Nine days later, the OP returned with an update.
Educational-Army-915
Hello, barely over a week ago I made a post talking about my very negative experience living in an RV with my parents for around 10 years now. Despite it being such a short time since I’ve posted it a lot has changed for me since then.
I don’t know how many people here would be interested in an update on my situation but I know quite a few people were very concerned and would probably appreciate an update so here it is.
I had a lot of people give me really helpful advice, resources, as well as even offers to try to help personally, some being questionable admittedly but a majority being genuinely concerned wanting to try to help and I very much appreciate that.
It was slightly overwhelming to be honest and I ended up not responding to a lot of people so you’ll all have to forgive me for that, but even if I didn’t respond much I have been doing research on a lot of the information people gave me.
Something that stood out to me was people asking if I had any family I could stay with to which I had to respond “not that I know of” because I don't have anyone on my dads side of the family and my mom strictly no contact with her family. I did not know if they were alive, if they cut her off, if she cut them off, or even any details about them and my mom had never wanted to talk about it.
What information I did have was my mom’s maiden name which is pretty uncommon and where she was born, which in terms of trying to find family can actually get you surprisingly far I’ve come to realize.
I’ve always had a slight hatred for the internet because I never had any choice in my life being public knowledge and I know that once something is out there it’s out there, but for the first time I'm actually really grateful for the internet.
I was able to find some information on my mother’s side of the family and specifically was able to find my grandma’s Facebook account though it did take me some effort.
After a lot of stressing on how to approach messaging her, if I even should, as well as potential outcomes I messaged her explaining my mom’s life, who I was, and my situation.
I won’t go into details onto why my grandma and my mom are no contact because that is not my story to share but my grandma was appalled that she has a granddaughter she didn’t even know about and even more so the way in which her daughter raised me.
I found out I have an aunt and an uncle, both of which my grandma told them about me and my situation. Ive been in pretty much constant contact with all of them since just learning about each other, all of them want to help me get out of this living situation with my parents and luckily with me being 18 now it’s actually possible.
Again I don’t feel entirely comfortable going into details but I have arrangements to go stay with my aunt who lives in a big city on the west coast that had a lot of potential opportunities for me to start college or whatever I see fit (Which I do plan on figuring out college happy to announce!!)
My uncle has kids but my aunt lives on her own and has a spare bedroom which she has no problem letting me stay in for as long as necessary. I have a train ticket scheduled and purchased by my aunt and enough money to get to the station.
I’m talking with my family (Still feels weird to type) currently and trying to plan out the details like how or if I’m going to tell my parents. My mom doesn’t know any information on where any of her family lives so even if I were to tell my parents who i’m going to live with they wouldn’t know where I was specifically.
Someone pointed out that if I did leave without telling them I should leave a note or some form of proof that I left willingly so if I do opt out of a conversation I’m planning on either leaving a note or filming a video explaining my plans and why i’m leaving which would be kinda of ironic wouldn’t it.
Regarding my mom filming I’ve been very quiet around my parents and just refusing to talk when the camera is on but neither one of them has mentioned it yet so far luckily. Also speaking of my mom’s content I would like to very much emphasize something quickly.
Almost everyone was genuinely trying to help but I had a few people replying trying to guess who I was (Luckily the few I saw were basically torn to shreds and ended up deleting their comments). I also had a few people who messaged me privately trying to make a guess at who I am which at least that’s not’s public I guess.
Although I can understand being curious, I posted anonymously with very little personal information for a reason. As I stated in my previous post I have gotten enough attention and i’m very much sick of it, I would very much appreciate it if you guys can respect that.
Even if you think you might know who I am please please please don’t make public guesses and understand that I don’t want this to be even more public information tied to my name. Very long story short, I have set plans to leave as well as a safe place to go with my aunt once I do and very much appreciate so people for being so willing to help.
If you had told me not even two weeks ago that not only would I have a plan to move away from my parents but contact with family members I didn’t even know existed I don’t think I would have believed it. I’m currently not planning on making another post updating this but wanted to let anyone who was concerned about me to not worry, genuinely thank you.
Here were the top rated comments from readers in response to the OP's first update:
KF_Lawless
I do not recommend making a video, your parents will use it for content. Write a note at most, keep it simple though.
Educational-Army-915 (OP)
I realistically don’t plan on filming a video I think I was just feeling petty and upset thinking about it all which just lead to thinking about drastic ideas of what I should do for telling my parents. Video definitely isn’t a good idea if I don’t just tell them myself.
KF_Lawless
Please please please do not tell them face to face. To them you are a cash cow, a source of income. Notify your local police that you are leaving willingly - on the day of - and ask them to record as much. Send a letter to your parents once you're free. Please don't underestimate how unpredictable people can be when their control is threatened.
Two months later, the OP returned with an update.
Educational-Army-915
Hello, It’s been awhile and I wanted to check in on here to hopefully give a few people some peace of mind. In my last update I explained that I had gotten in contact with my mother’s side of the family and had a place to go stay.
I can proudly announce that I did it and am in a safe place now totally away from my parents with absolutely zero contact. My aunt is an absolute angel truly, she’s so kind and that’s not even including my grandma and uncle.
When I first got here my aunt as well as my grandma took me out on a little shopping spree, bought me clothes, decor and furniture for my room(because I have one of those now!!), and honestly anything they thought I would need.
My uncle has introduced me to my cousins, he has younger son and a daughter who’s very close in age to me and I would say that we have become friends, I’ve been able to go out a do a lot of fun little things with her.
My aunt is currently helping me research colleges near us but has reassured me I can do everything at my own pace and there really is no rush, that her home will always have a spot for me.
My aunt in general is such a cool person, she is someone I very quickly have started to look up to and have gotten close to. The more time we spend together the more we learn that we actually have a lot in common. I’m just so grateful to all of them for being here and being so supportive.
My aunt is also really helping me figure out who I am as an individual. For the first time i’m in charge of my identity, what I share, and who I share it with. I dyed and cut my hair, got a nickname and have been exclusively going by it.
My cousin is currently on journey to help me learn about what makeup I like. She’s also introducing me to her favorite music groups as a self proclaimed “cringe but free kpop fan”, I have an entirely private Instagram account with all of five followers and I plan on keeping it that way.
I just feel like a normal teenage girl for once and I’ve never felt happier. When I look in the mirror or just think about my life in general i’m actually happy with it, I guess never realized that I wasn’t comfortable in my identity as a person because honestly, I had bigger things to worry about.
This is all more than I could have ever imagined and honestly I have a hard time even processing it sometimes. I am officially in therapy though! So maybe I can start working that as well as processing my past, and how it plays into my identity in the future.
My new therapist is actually the part of the reason i’m making this update, she thinks that posting this could be a good way to get closure to a certain extent. As sort of a way of acknowledging what I went through but also moving on into my new life because I have my whole future ahead of me, one that I am very excited to experience.
So keeping that in mind this will be my final update on here. I want to be able to enjoy my life and future while keeping my privacy. A lot of people really wanted me to share my story more, expose my past, but at least for now I’ve decided against that. It’s my story and I can choose to share it or not.
For once I have control over who gets to know what information about me and I’m not willing to give that up yet, but I suppose I don’t know what the future holds. So I’m asking as nicely as possible that people please respect that.
I absolutely appreciate the support and advice so many have given me and just know i’m safe, I can honestly say that i’m happy, i’m planning out my future, what I want to do with my life and who I am beside just a persona on camera. So thank you so much for everything, and goodbye :)
Here were the top rated comments from readers in response to the OP's post:
matchamagpie
No respect for "family influencers", "lifestyle influencers," or "mommy influencers" that exploit their kids. OP is really friggin' strong to be able to ask for help and get herself out. Thank god she's in therapy.
Sorchochka
I am so glad that she didn’t give more details. Honestly, the response to “my life is completely open to people online and I have no identity” should not have been “tell us who you are!” Good for her for making this leap and I hope everything stays happy and healthy for her.
LucyAriaRose
I genuinely got a bit teary when I read OOP's update. And she was so sweet to just message me and tell me she was ok (with no mention of her update either.) I sincerely wish her well.
Sera_YA
Very happy for you! Good luck and may all your dreams come true 💕