The modern love story of Tiffany and Caleb Remmington is one that deserves to be told and celebrated - a power couple defying the odds on a daily basis and making a difference in the community and lives around them. Caleb was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) when he was 1 year old, a rare genetic disorder that causes persistent lung infections and limits the ability to breathe over time, and Tiffany is a 29-year-old, social entrepreneur who overcame childhood trauma from sexual assault, depression, emotional abuse, poverty, first generational living, suicide and the pressure of raising her siblings. Despite their individual challenges, Tiffany and Caleb not only strive to live life to the fullest but have turned their focus towards helping others. Their wedding, known as The Greatest Wedding Ever Donated, raised over $200,000 for charity. Now they are working on turning their wedding model into a nonprofit called the Vow of Giving, as well gaining a mass following on their social media channel, Good On Wheels by sharing stories of their daily life, health challenges and RV living. Read on below for a deep dive into the lives of Tiffany and Caleb, the work they do and the process of converting their RV into a modern apartment on wheels.

F10 - Tell us a little bit about your’s + Caleb’s story?

TR - Caleb and I are 29-year-old Chicago suburban kids living full-time in an RV with our one-year-old pup, Oso. Caleb is a software engineer and I am a nonprofit and philanthropy consultant. Having lived in Los Angeles and Orange County for a combined 10 years, we now call San Diego home. We may live on wheels, but we don’t go far due to work obligations. A little more about us:

Growing from personal challenges allowed us to become the humans that we are today, which is what initially attracted us to one another. We met through a mutual friend who went to grade school with Caleb and college with me. I was on her Instagram one day and noticed Caleb liked one of her photos, so as millennial as I can be, I stalked his profile for a solid hour and had vested interest in meeting him. Long story short, she never made the introduction so I gave him a follow on his page and he followed back. We liked each other’s photos back and forth for six months without exchanging a word. My patience broke on my 24th birthday, so I stole my friend’s phone and pretended to be her and asked him to a baseball game -- since he lived in SoCal as well. He excitedly accepted the invitation. The week of the ball game came and he said he couldn’t go any more, but quickly replaced plans as he extended the invite to join him and his friends at a house in Lake Havasu. We met that weekend and the rest is history.

F10 - Why did you decide to move into an RV full-time?

TR - We had talked about living tiny for years. We have always wanted to build a tiny commune with our closest family and friends in the Pacific Northwest. It’s been on our minds for a while. Caleb’s sister actually moved into their RV six months before, so we had a little taste when we visited. One day, I, stayed up scrolling through renovated RVs on instagram until 7 AM in the morning. When I had finally reached a point of delirium, I started sending Caleb some links to Craigslist listings of used RVs. By that evening, he had already made some appointments to see a couple of them with cash in hand, you know, just in case we wanted to buy it... The end of our lease was coming up in a few short months, so that gave us a little more of a push to make a decision. Caleb lives life on the edge and follows his highest excitement, and also knows how to sell to me -- which is highly dangerous at times. To give you perspective -- we ended up with an RV in five days after my 7AM instagram scroll.

F10 - What was the renovation process like?

TR - A lot of You-Tubing and breaking things. We had no idea what we were doing. I had a Pinterest board of designs that were used in homes, so I tried my best to visualize and draw out modified mini versions of what I liked.

Here are a few of the steps we took:

Demo -- took out all unwanted furniture, carpet, valances, cabinetry, countertops, and anything that was old and musty
Removed all the staples and random screws left behind from demo, took off cabinets to repurpose and repaint
Saw a bazillion exposed wires and WATER DAMAGE, cried and then sucked it up and ripped the wall out
Sanded all the walls and cabinets down, cleaned the walls and prepped for paint
Added woodwork for accent walls -- got frustrated with math and making a thousand wrong cuts, wanted to give up
Paint, paint, paint, paint -- white EVERYWHERE
Installed our kitchen backsplash and countertops
Hung out with Home Depot employees for 5 hours to understand how to do plumbing
Celebrated wiring up our new plumbing with a cold brew
Added all of our decorations and new furniture and worked on finishing small projects throughout the rest of the year

F10 - What was your favorite and least favorite part of the renovation?

TR - Least favorite, hands down, prepping to paint and removing those stubborn carpet staples that are EVERYWHERE. Favorite part, was definitely figuring out how to do things that we were previously scared of doing and had no clue on how to manage. (i.e. plumbing, electric work, using new tools)

F10 - Tell us about some of the challenges that you faced during your first year of RV living?

TR - Something is always breaking or was already broken. We didn’t have hot water because our water heater was broken for 8 months. We were on a budget and didn’t have money to replace it for a while and then we were just used to boiling water for our showers -- haha. There were water leaks from old sealant cracks when it rained, our fridge leaked water, there was hidden dry rot in the roof, etc. Our heater is broken and we are too afraid to get quotes on what it would cost to replace that. With older Rv’s it’s honestly just maintenance to worry about. We also have a harder time finding places in SoCal to park that isn’t more than $1200 a month. Some parks we have stayed at, we got our clothes and some patio furnishings stolen.

F10 - Are there any appliances, tools, or gadgets that you couldn’t live without now that you didn’t use in pre-RV life

TR - Power drill, miter saw, circular saw, hammer, and reciprocating saw.

F10 - Do you travel often with your RV or do you stay long term in specific places?

TR - For work, we have to stay long term in San Diego. We move back and forth between two RV parks in Pacific Beach and Mission Bay Area. For long term stay each RV park has its own rules and regulations on how long you can stay and how long you have to leave before you can return again. (i.e. you can stay for 6 months but have to leave for a month before coming back, or you can stay for 9 months but have to leave for 24 hours every 90 days). These rules are set in place because technically “full-time” RVing is not legal.

F10 - Have you felt any societal pressures whether good or bad about your transition to RV life? Did anyone in your family have reservations about your choice?

TR - We found that a lot of people actually celebrated our move into RV life. I think it is a dream for many people, so they live vicariously through us. Of course, there are certain stigmas that we are put up against, but it doesn’t bother us because if we are happy then that is all that matters. Caleb and I do a lot of things out of the ordinary so it didn’t surprise our family that much. It is fun to see their reaction when they come to visit because, the RV is more spacious than they anticipated. Instagram has helped us as a ton in making friends in the tiny home life. We support one another and share laughs about the good and the bad.

F10 - What’s the biggest piece of advice you could give someone who is interested in renovating and living in an RV?

TR - Drop expectations whether it is good or bad. I think when we have less expectations, there is less pressure to achieve this ideal of “perfection”, may it be towards design and renovation or how to live this lifestyle. It will keep you more grounded and present. When certain challenges pop up, you have less of a reaction and more of “how to prevent this from happening” mindset (i.e. pipes break, water leaks, things get stolen). Appreciate your efforts in lessening your carbon footprint. That is something we love so much about this lifestyle is that we can positively contribute to one of the most problematic issues today. Know what is broken can ALWAYS be fixed.

F10 - We’d love to know more about the topics you raise awareness for and the fundraising work you do through @GoodOnWheels and @VowOfGiving?

TR - Goodonwheels is currently our platform where we share our life on wheels. The original intent was to share all the community organizations we were going to visit as we made the trek around the country. Due to work and non-remote status, we ended up staying stationary in San Diego. We are on the verge of switching over our profile to “UsTheRemingtons” to create a larger platform outside of our DIY and RV life. We are hoping to create a space for open conversation on mental health, cystic fibrosis, chronic illness, infertility, health and wellness tips, along with inspiring creativity through DIY/home projects. The Vow of Giving is our baby project in continuation to our charity wedding that raised over $207,000. We are currently in the infant stages of program design as well as completing paperwork to register as a 501(c)3.

F10 - Where can we go to support / make donations / help your fundraising efforts / find out more?

TR - We don’t have any current fundraisers, but love to connect with like-minded individuals who aren’t afraid to live big. Collaborations of any sort can be directed to me, Tiffany at ustheremingtons@gmail.com