autoevolution
 

RV Living Is an Entirely Different Experience in a Heartland Cyclone 4150 Fifth-Wheel

RV or tiny living doesn’t come without compromises, but does it always have to be that way? Is there some unwritten rule that says you can’t enjoy a proper full-size bathroom with a bathtub, a full kitchen, or even your own private bubble of personal space inside one such mobile dwelling?
A Heartland Cyclone 4150 RV can be the perfect family mobile home 12 photos
Photo: Instagram / @heartandsaultravel (Composite)
A Heartland Cyclone 4150 RV can be the perfect family mobile homeA Heartland Cyclone 4150 RV can be the perfect family mobile homeA Heartland Cyclone 4150 RV can be the perfect family mobile homeA Heartland Cyclone 4150 RV can be the perfect family mobile homeA Heartland Cyclone 4150 RV can be the perfect family mobile homeA Heartland Cyclone 4150 RV can be the perfect family mobile homeA Heartland Cyclone 4150 RV can be the perfect family mobile homeA Heartland Cyclone 4150 RV can be the perfect family mobile homeA Heartland Cyclone 4150 RV can be the perfect family mobile homeA Heartland Cyclone 4150 RV can be the perfect family mobile homeA Heartland Cyclone 4150 RV can be the perfect family mobile home
The answer depends on everyone’s idea of a mobile home, their budget, priorities, and the kind of mobility on the road they wish to enjoy. For one family from North Carolina, the answer is in the negative and, at a first glance, it seems like they have found the secret to a compromise-free life on the road.

That’s because their mobile home of choice is among the best out there: a massive Heartland fifth-wheel with an impressive layout, which they further customized to adapt it to the needs of a family of four, not including the two small dogs. Kearstin and David Saul, together with their 12-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son, and pooches Stella and Queenie, have been living on the road for more than a year, and they’re so happy with their transition to the nomadic lifestyle that they can’t imagine a future where they’re back to 9-to-5 jobs or a brick-and-mortar house.

They had both these things before Kearstin came up with the unexpected proposal to just “sell everything” and pack for a life on the road. The proposal might have been unexpected, but they’d been talking and dreaming about “living tiny” for a while. She suggested pulling the kids out of school, a decision that she would later have to defend online, after she was criticized of depriving them of a proper education and other children’s company.

A Heartland Cyclone 4150 RV can be the perfect family mobile home
Photo: Instagram / @heartandsaultravel
In October 2021, the couple’s $320,000 home in Asheville, NC, was officially sold, and so was everything else they owned, and in the place of these possessions was a 45-foot (13.7-meter) three-axle Cyclone 4150 fifth-wheel they bought on the second-hand market for a little over $56,000. It was a bargain, if you consider the fact that a Cyclone starts at well over $140,000 new.

They did some remodeling on the RV to prepare it for family life, and have been traveling ever since, pulling it with a RAM truck, making their own itinerary and their own rules.

Since they started on their new lifestyle, the Sauls have been to more than 20 states and 19 national parks, and for shorter trips into Canada. David is a civil engineer who works from home, while Kearstin takes care of the “tiny” home and homeschools the kids. They make money on social media, where Kearstin also explains that they consider a life education like the one they’re giving the kids far superior to what they would have learned in school.

But this story isn’t about that, and neither is it about the Sauls’ choice to leave everything behind and embark on a never-ending journey. It’s more about the way in which they strive to show that, regardless of what detractors might tell you, you can make a family home out of an RV. Granted, their RV is not your standard-sized bus conversion or a tiny home, and least of all a cramped van that forces you to use public restrooms for your most basic needs. Their RV is a massive and quite luxurious Cyclone, with fancy amenities and more space than you’d get in a city apartment.

A Heartland Cyclone 4150 RV can be the perfect family mobile home
Photo: Instagram / @heartandsaultravel
The Sauls’ “tiny” home has two bathrooms, a full-size one with a full bathtub and even a wardrobe, and a half-bath that serves as the master bathroom. The master bedroom is the girl’s room, while the boy gets the loft berth, and the parents sleep in the converted toy hauler, where they added a hydraulically actuated bed that lowers from the ceiling at nighttime.

They have a massive fold-out patio in the back, and a full-size kitchen with all the appliances necessary to cook gourmet meals, including a residential double fridge, oven, microwave, stove, and loads of storage space in cabinets. They have a dining nook with a 3-person breakfast bar with views out a large window, and they have a generously sized living room with a 60-inch TV and a fireplace. The Sauls’ tiny home might be a lot of things, most of them amazing, but it’s not tiny by any acceptance of the word, as neither is it downsized.

If anything, the Sauls’ “tiny” home is luxury living on wheels, even if they were able to attain it with less money. But it does prove that you can make a home out of an RV, and that it can be one with minimal compromises, if at all.

For the rest of us, those who still work 9-to-5s in the city or the suburbs, and for those who are considering the transition to the nomadic lifestyle themselves, the Sauls’ adventure can serve as delicious escapism or the right kind of motivation. You choose which works best for you.



If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Elena Gorgan
Elena Gorgan profile photo

Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories