On the move! Jamie Otis and husband Doug Hehner are looking to buy a new home after moving into an RV full-time in October 2021.
The Married at First Sight couple, who tied the knot in March 2014, initially planned to have one home in New Jersey and a second home in Sarasota, Florida, but “quickly [learned] that that is way too much work and instability.”
Otis, 35, further explained via her Instagram Stories why the pair wanted a more permanent house while visiting a possible new pad on Sunday, January 23. She revealed that after getting rid of their Jersey home, and moving into an RV, things proved to be harder than they expected.
“We decided that we’re going to do the RV thing for a little while and see if we like that,” she said in a series of Instagram Story videos on Sunday. “Once we got in the RV, we realized that it wasn’t set up in a way that was suitable for us with kids.”
The Bachelor Pad alum noted that it was “impossible” to renovate the RV the way they wanted while living in it with their two children, Henley “Gracie” Grace, 4, and Hendrix, 20 months.
Otis told her followers that the family still plans on living in the RV during the spring and summer.
“We will live full time in the RV and travel across America before Gracie starts kindergarten,” she wrote alongside an Instagram Story snap with her kids. “But this August she starts formal school so we wanna have a FOREVER home that has enough bedrooms for our babies (and our future babies too).”
The Wifey 101 author admitted that the process has been a “whirlwind” for her and Hehner, 38, adding, “We’re learning as we go and we’re just trying to do the best we can for our family.”
Although the duo were “trying to be minimalist or just more eco-friendly” when ditching their home for RV living, Otis explained, “We also realized that the kids each need their own bedrooms. That just works for our family.”
The mother of two concluded: “Basically, we’re just figuring our lives out, trying to build our marriage up, and be the best parents we can be, but we really don’t know how and we’ve made a ton of mistakes along the way. But we aren’t giving up.”
Otis previously told Us Weekly in October 2021 that the duo’s choice to live in an RV was partially due to their ongoing marital issues.
“This is a very huge change and I feel like it can go one of two ways — I feel like it can probably strengthen us for sure, that’s why we’re going for it, but I’m a little worried that maybe it’s going to add stress and maybe more tension,” she exclusively told Us at the time. “We are going into it with — my husband and I each have our own therapist, plus a couples’ therapist — and we are going into it as a team to try to truly minimize all the clutter in our life and the distractions and try to really focus on us as a couple and as a partnership and as Mom and Dad and to build on that and just get stronger.”
The Bachelor alum added, “We’re not sure of what’s gonna come of it, to be honest, but we’re hoping to come out stronger and then we’ll be ready to add to our family and maybe travel the world. We’ll see what we’re going to do.”
Earlier this month, Otis revealed that she and Hehner handed their RV over to a renovation expert in order to get the rig ready for their trip across America.
“The time is ticking though bc April 1st we begin a three-month road trip with our fifth wheel,” she wrote via Instagram on January 17. “Sooooo we are emptying out our storage unit (and my in laws garage
), packing up our new truck & heading down to our Florida home while Rachel from @rv.family.reno renovates the RV!
.”
Otis further explained that the couple chose to sell their current Florida home after previously selling their Jersey place.
“Now it’s time to get our Florida house ready to sell & find a new one to buy SO WE CAN DO THIS ROAD TRIP across America this spring!” she captioned an Instagram video on Saturday, January 22.