Reported by: Ariane Aramburo
Friday, Oct 3, 2008 @12:00am CST

What used to be known as a recreational activity has now turned into a way of life for many.

Tough economic times are forcing more and more people to leave their homes and turn to the RV Lifestyle.

It's an all-too familiar story happening throughout the country.

Longtime friends, Steve Osborne and Gene Gingrich, were two of almost a thousand people who were laid off from a GM plant.

"I kind of knew where I was by a seniority list. I did not realize that I would never get back into that plant," explains Gingrich.

Both men were then forced to transfer from plant-to-plant to stay working, always deciding their next move.

"My wife and I sold the house and decided that this could happen again. 'Why buy another house and just have to go through the process again?' So we took up the RV lifestyle," says Osborne.

Now retired, and still living at an RV park, both agree it's become a lifestyle they're not quite ready to give up.

"You can pretty much pack up and move and go wherever you want to go, live the way you want to live," says Gingrich.

Osborne adds, "Originally, we were planning on going back into buying a house and everything, but with the way the economy is, we're not about to."

In fact, the RV life has a financial benefit, too.

"Once I sold the first house, anytime I wanted to move after that, I didn't have to find a realtor. I didn't have to pay that bill. I didn't have to go and find a new house some place in an area I wanted to live in," explains Gingrich.

Just two years ago, where the men currently call home, only 6 people lived on the RV's lots.

Now it's completely full and neither Gingrich nor Osborne plan to move anytime soon.

One in 38 Missouri homeowners is likely to go through foreclosure on their home.