Less House, More Living - Full Time RV Family Follows God, Explores America

Jared & Kris Gillis, with sons Eli and Matt

Don’t let your comfort kill your courage.  That’s Jared Gillis and wife Kris’ motto as they explore the United States with their two boys – Eli and Matt – living full time in their 5th wheel RV trailer. 
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That first sentence pretty much sums it up – as major life decisions are often based on comfort and stability, not faith and courage.  Not for the Gillis family.

Following a near-death experience during a mission trip in Nicaragua in 2015, Jared’s eyes were opened to the power of God.  During a ministry outreach in a park in Nicaragua, Jared found himself face-to-face with a local violent gang opposed to his church’s ministry.  “I could be dead, or at least injured and hospitalized,” he said as he recollected the gang swarming the park.  Out of nowhere, a very strong wind and rain shower [microburst] collapsed the tent that Jared’s ministry was under, shielding him from the swarm of aggressive gang members – who then ran for shelter elsewhere.  “I was terrified,” he said.  Through this experience, though, Jared realized God’s omnipotence and omniscience, and began to seek God’s will for his life, and his family’s life, even more.  

After leaving his job, Jared and Kris prayerfully decided to either build – or purchase – an RV trailer and truck to pull it.  Turns out, God was faithful and provided the Gillis family with both – exactly within the budget that Jared and Kris had set. “God was just speaking so clearly to us,” Jared remarked.  

Solid Rock Film - Handcrafted Films

Jared’s plan was to become more involved in his filming industry – Solid Rock Film – by documenting his family’s journey travelling the country as well as producing and selling promotion videos for RV parks and testimonial videos for church ministry. ​

Solid Rock Film on Thankfulness by Jared Gillis - From Sermon Spice (Click For Preview)

​Although some believe that full-time travelling is expensive, Jared explained that his family spends less money on the road than they did owning a house.  “We don’t live like we’re on vacation,” he said as he stated that his family’s monthly budget hovered around about 2,000 dollars.  “We pray a lot about our truck,” Jared remarked, stating it had over 200,000 miles on it and that every time it breaks down, the money spent to repair it taps into their monthly living budget.  “We just pray God will keep it going until we get back to Arizona,” he said as he commented that his family was headed back to family in Prescott for a short period of time before hitting the road again.  

“One time I took the engine apart thinking it was the turbo [that broke].  It ended up just being bad diesel fuel,” Jared laughed, in hindsight, after recalling that the RV park did not allow any major mechanical work to be done on-site, yet remembering he was covered head to toe in grease while explaining to the park owners why his family couldn’t vacate their camp site, yet.  

​“We’ve had to rely heavily on God,” reflected Jared, as he explained the numerous opened and closed doors his family has encountered in regards to income during their adventures across much of the west and central United States.  California, for example, was not great for the RV-park promotional filming business because the high cost of living has driven a surplus of permanent RV residents, leaving no room for tourists. "Every day is a fresh new day," said Jared, "[God's] mercy and grace are new every day.  It's an idea of living in God's grace [that] gives me an optimistic outlook." 

Less House, More Living - The Gillis Family Truck and Trailer

“God just told me one day, when we were in church, to sell the house,” Jared said, after returning from his mission trip.  His wife, Kris, had been praying for two weeks about the same thing, but hadn’t mentioned it to Jared, yet.  “We listed the house that day, and it [only] took one day to sell!”.  

Without a house, the Gillis family decided on a theme for their new adventure – Less House, More Living.  “I wanted to be able to spend as much time growing as a family as we could,” said Jared, as he explained how having a bunch of “stuff” can often be a distraction from living life the way God designed it.  A general contractor-turned church board member, Jared was often spending over twelve hours a day with the various ministries at the church.  “I didn’t want my kids to resent church because [I was spending all my time away from them working at church]."

​Of course, there were plenty of concerns, even before embarking on their journey – concerns like vehicle trouble, tires blowing out, lack of personal space, severe weather, and financial stability.  But, the benefits outweighed the concerns to the Gillis family – seeing God’s creation, spending time and growing as a family, encouraging one another, and exploring new places together.  

Matt and Eli – ages 11 and 13 – are home-schooled on the road, and have been afforded the great opportunity to explore much of the Rocky Mountains, Great Plains, and the Pacific Coast in the past 11 months of their travels as a full-time RV family.  “We don’t really look at days as weekdays and weekends, but travel days and non-travel days,” Jared said, “sometimes we do school on Saturday.”  In a recent video, Kris explained that she feels that Matt and Eli are learning and retaining much more when they visit places - like National Parks - than they would simply reading and writing about them.  Jared concurred, “The [knowledge] that they get from when we travel is just amazing.”

The family records their travelling lifestyle weekly on YouTube, under the title “Less House, More Living”.  Jared, an expert video photographer and editing specialist, generally creates short videos of their adventures.  He has also been contracted to create a number of promotion videos for RV parks, and hopes to continue sharing the beauty of God’s creation with online viewers.  Jared also shares testimonial videos on Sermon Spice – topics that God has laid on his heart to share.  

Although money remains tight, both Jared and Kris agreed that God has spoken very loudly to both of them – and has set many opportunities in motion that have allowed them to continue discipling and growing together on the road as the family, and make some great friends along the way.  

To support Jared and Kris and their family, subscribe to their YouTube channel and "like" their Facebook Page using the links above.  To learn more about Solid Rock Film, contact Jared via the mail button above.