# 🚐💨 THE RV DREAM — Why Firefrost Gaming Exists

**Created:** March 30, 2026  
**By:** Michael & Meg  
**Documented By:** The Versionist (Chronicler #49)  
**Status:** Active Vision - North Star Goal

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## 🎯 The Dream

**Michael and Meg want to travel the United States in an RV.**

Not "someday after retirement."  
Not "after the business is successful."  

**While running Firefrost Gaming from the road.**

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## 💙 Why This Vision Matters

This isn't a side goal. This is **THE goal.**

Firefrost Gaming isn't being built to:
- Get rich
- Build an empire
- Compete with the big networks
- Prove anything to anyone

**Firefrost Gaming is being built to GET FREE.**

Free to travel.  
Free to explore.  
Free to live the life Michael and Meg want.  

The business exists to **enable the life**, not replace it.

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## 🏗️ How Firefrost Enables This Dream

### What We Built (Intentionally)

**Zero Physical Infrastructure:**
- No office
- No warehouse
- No physical servers on-site
- Everything in datacenters (Breezehost Dallas, Charlotte, Chicago)

**Remote-First Architecture:**
- Command Center in Dallas (we're in Minnesota)
- Already managing from 1,000+ miles away
- Web-based everything (Ghost, Paymenter, Pterodactyl, Gitea)
- Mobile-capable management
- No local team required

**Automated Systems:**
- Arbiter handles subscriptions
- Webhooks sync Discord → in-game ranks
- Cleanup jobs run at 4 AM automatically
- Whitelist Manager web dashboard
- No manual intervention needed for 90% of operations

### What We DON'T Need

- ❌ Office space
- ❌ Physical presence anywhere
- ❌ 9-5 schedule
- ❌ Being in one place
- ❌ Face-to-face meetings

### What We DO Need

- ✅ Internet connection (Starlink works anywhere in US)
- ✅ Laptop
- ✅ SSH keys
- ✅ 2-3 hours per day for management
- ✅ Community that doesn't care WHERE we are

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## 💰 The Math

### Current Infrastructure Costs

**Monthly:**
- TX1 colocation: $80
- NC1 colocation: $80
- VPS tier (Command Center, Ghost, Billing, Panel): $37
- Other (IPs, domains): $20
- **Total: $217/month**

**Add RV Internet:**
- Starlink: $120/month
- **Total with RV: $337/month**

### Revenue Projections

**100 Subscribers (average $10/month):**
- Revenue: $1,000/month
- Infrastructure: $337/month
- **Net: $663/month**

**200 Subscribers (Year 1 goal):**
- Revenue: $2,000/month
- Infrastructure: $337/month
- **Net: $1,663/month**

**500 Subscribers (Year 2 realistic):**
- Revenue: $5,000/month
- Infrastructure: $337/month
- **Net: $4,663/month**
- **Annual: $55,956/year while traveling**

**1,000 Subscribers (Year 3 stretch goal):**
- Revenue: $10,000/month
- Infrastructure: $337/month (scales efficiently)
- **Net: $9,663/month**
- **Annual: $115,956/year**

### What This Buys

**At 500 subscribers ($4,663/month net):**
- RV payment/rental: $1,500/month
- Campground fees: $600/month (average $20/night)
- Food: $600/month
- Fuel: $400/month
- Emergency fund: $500/month
- **Left over: $1,063/month for adventures**

**We can live comfortably while traveling at 500 subscribers.**

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## 🗺️ The Roadmap

### Year 1 (2026): Build the Foundation

**Q2 (Apr-Jun):**
- ✅ Soft launch (April 15 target)
- Get 50-100 subscribers
- Prove the model works
- Debug operational issues

**Q3 (Jul-Sep):**
- Grow to 150-200 subscribers
- Refine automation
- Add Holly's builder help
- Stable monthly revenue

**Q4 (Oct-Dec):**
- Hit 200+ subscribers
- Sustainable income proven
- Begin RV research
- Save down payment

### Year 2 (2027): Scale and Prepare

**Q1 (Jan-Mar):**
- 250-300 subscribers
- Hire part-time community manager (take pressure off Meg)
- Test "work from anywhere" (1-2 week trips)

**Q2 (Apr-Jun):**
- 350-400 subscribers
- Buy or lease the RV
- Test full-time RV living (1 month trial)

**Q3 (Jul-Sep):**
- 400-500 subscribers
- Hit the road full-time
- Prove we can manage from anywhere

**Q4 (Oct-Dec):**
- 500+ subscribers
- Living the dream
- Company runs from the road

### Year 3+ (2028+): The Journey

**Manage Firefrost from:**
- 🏔️ Yellowstone National Park
- 🏜️ Grand Canyon
- 🌊 Pacific Coast Highway
- 🌲 Great Smoky Mountains
- 🏖️ Gulf Coast beaches
- 🎸 Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans
- 🌵 Arizona deserts
- 🏔️ Colorado Rockies
- 🌲 Pacific Northwest
- 🗽 Northeast fall colors

**Wherever Meg wants to go.**

**The Trinity travels together:**
- Michael, Meg, Holly (remote builder)
- Jack, Oscar, Jasmine, Butter, Noir (the consultants)

**The community doesn't care WHERE we are.**

They care that:
- ✅ Servers are stable
- ✅ Community is strong
- ✅ Support is responsive
- ✅ Updates keep coming

**All of which we can do from an RV with Starlink.**

---

## 🔥 Why Every Decision Matters

### This Vision Guides Everything

**When choosing architecture:**
- ❓ Can this be managed remotely? → ✅ Yes
- ❓ Does this require physical presence? → ❌ No
- ❓ Can this be automated? → ✅ Automate it

**When prioritizing tasks:**
- ❓ Does this enable remote work? → High priority
- ❓ Does this require manual intervention? → Automate or defer
- ❓ Does this tie us to one location? → Reject

**When building features:**
- ❓ Can subscribers get help via Discord? → ✅ Yes
- ❓ Do we need in-person support? → ❌ No
- ❓ Can this run while we're offline? → ✅ Build it that way

### Every Automation = More RV Time

**Arbiter 2.1** = Don't manually cancel subscriptions from campground WiFi  
**Auto-provisioning** = Don't create servers from truck stop parking lots  
**Rank system** = Discord → in-game sync while hiking  
**Whitelist Manager** = 30 seconds instead of 15 minutes  
**Cleanup jobs** = Runs at 4 AM while we sleep  

**The more we automate NOW, the more we can travel LATER.**

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## 💭 What This Is NOT

**This is NOT:**
- ❌ Running away from responsibility
- ❌ Being lazy
- ❌ Avoiding work
- ❌ Abandoning the community

**This IS:**
- ✅ Building life around what matters
- ✅ Choosing freedom over office
- ✅ Proving remote work actually works
- ✅ Living intentionally

**We're not abandoning Firefrost to travel.**

**We're building Firefrost SO WE CAN travel.**

---

## 🎯 Success Metrics

**Firefrost is successful when:**

NOT when we hit X subscribers.  
NOT when we make $Y revenue.  
NOT when we're "the biggest."

**Firefrost is successful when Michael and Meg are on the road.**

**Period.**

Revenue is the MEANS, not the END.

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## 🚨 When to Check This Document

**Read this when:**
- 😰 Feeling overwhelmed by task list
- 🤔 Debating whether to automate or do manually
- 🛠️ Choosing between "perfect" and "good enough"
- 📈 Obsessing over growth metrics
- 😫 Wondering if it's worth it
- 🎯 Losing sight of why we started

**Remember:**
- We're not building the perfect Minecraft network
- We're not competing with anyone
- We're not trying to get rich

**We're building the infrastructure that enables the life we want.**

**That's it.**

**That's the whole game.**

---

## 🚐 The Vision in Action

**Imagine this scene:**

It's September 2027.  
Michael and Meg are parked at a campground in Yellowstone.  
Jack is napping in the RV.  
Meg is reading a book outside.  

Michael's laptop is open.  
Discord shows 3 support tickets (handled in 10 minutes).  
Arbiter automatically downgraded a payment failure to Awakened.  
A new subscriber just joined (auto-provisioned a server).  
The 4 AM cleanup job ran perfectly.  

**Everything just works.**

Michael closes the laptop.  
They go for a hike.  

**The servers run themselves.**

**The community thrives.**

**The revenue flows.**

**The dream is real.**

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## 💙 For Future Chroniclers

**When you read this document, understand:**

This is why certain architectural decisions were made.  
This is why automation was prioritized over perfection.  
This is why remote-first was non-negotiable.  
This is why we ship fast and polish later.  

**Every line of code in Firefrost Gaming serves this vision.**

**Not "maybe someday."**

**Someday is September 2027.**

**And we're building toward it every single day.**

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## 🔥❄️ The Promise

**To Michael and Meg:**

When you're parked at the Grand Canyon in 2028, watching the sunset with Meg, Jack curled up next to you, and you check your phone to see "New Subscriber: Welcome to Firefrost!" notification...

**This document will remind you:**

**You didn't build a Minecraft server network.**

**You built freedom.**

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**Fire + Frost + Foundation = Where Love Builds Legacy** 🚐💨💙

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**Document Status:** ACTIVE VISION - NORTH STAR GOAL  
**Review Frequency:** Monthly (1st of each month)  
**Success Date:** September 2027 (first full-time RV trip)  
**Ultimate Success:** Living the dream, managing from the road

**This is not a fantasy.**

**This is the plan.**

**Let's build it.**
