Over the last 9-10 years, Kevin and I have put considerable time into researching, planning and beginning to execute a thoughtful plan towards our goal of “going full time” RVing.  In this blog post we tell you about four of our most favorite RV bloggers/vloggers and include a little about them and links to their blogs and YouTube channels.  They are entertaining, inspirational, educational and oh yeah…..travel to amazing destinations!

Originally and shortly after we sold our Class A 32′ motor home back in 2012 we realized then–after she was not in our driveway, how much we missed life on the road.  Albeit at that time, and it continues, we only get to do long weekends and the occasional big trip of a week or two around the eastern half of the USA but—each time we do we are more and more convinced this is the right path for us.    We also know it is not for everyone.

Along our journey we have found some truly inspirational friends in bloggers/vloggers who have chronicled their similar journeys from the decision to forego the traditional and head into the non-conventional life of making a rolling home….your only home.  We also have learned there are many variances in between this.  Some people live a portion of their year on their RV while returning to their sticks N bricks for the rest of the time.  More times than not, these are snowbirds who fly south in the winter RV in tow (or behind the wheel) and spend a warm and sunny February in FL, AZ or TX.

There are others who “escape” the brutal hot sizzling summers of those same places for their “camp in the northern woods, cottage on a New Hampshire lake or the beach family compound on Cape Cod or the rugged shores of Maine.  For many and varied reasons they prefer (or cannot quite imagine not having) a structure to call home base.

For us….that decision was easily made.  We did not want to be tied to the maintenance of our rolling home AND the maintenance, cost and distance filled with concerns about the safety, etc. of a northern sticks N bricks home base.  We would rather have what we own on our back so to speak and know that where ever we wanted to be…we would be and that could change from year to year, season to season depending on where the wind and whims blew us.  I personally have owned one home or another since 1982 and I am more than ready to not have that responsibility.  We simply do not want to deal with frozen pipes, switching out storm windows or raking leaves in our retirement years.  Been there….done that….done!

So we watched, learned, read, and chatted with many who have made similar decisions such as ours to “go full time”.  This is not a decision we have made on a whim.  But don’t be fooled, we have some family and friends who think we are nuts….and others-like my adult children….who are totally supportive and know we will succeed.

After being “RV-less” for about three years the itch became unbearable.  We started falling for Airstreams but did not want to do a total restore and ones in road worthy, camping shape were out of our price range.  Quite by accident we stumbled upon Avions.  Their iconic aluminum, rounded exteriors, quality interior and exterior build and their reputation for excellent tow-ability had us sold.  It took us another two years to find one we wanted….and although we had anticipated having to fly across the country to buy one, we found one on Craig’s List right in VT not more than 15 minutes from my daughter and son-in-law’s house!

We purchased our 1973 Avion, 28′ LaGrande in September, 2016 (some Birthday gift for me eh??!!) and we have never have looked back.  Each month we grow more and more fond of her.  We sold our house in Oct. 2017 and moved into a townhouse apartment all under the methodical plan of incrementally doing our downsizing exercises in prep for full time RV life when we retire.

Below are a few of our very favorite bloggers/vloggers and for various reasons we have noted underneath each one.  Along the way we have internalized and put into practice some of their suggestions and methods, and in other cases it forced us to have heart to hearts with each other to realize….yeah, that may have worked for them…but we will be more comfortable doing it “our way”.  Watching literally hundreds of hours of YouTube videos (we subscribe to most of our fav’s so we don’t miss an episode) to reading countless articles and books on the topic….we have grown in our understanding of what life is like on the road…and what we as a couple expect from the journey, each other and life in general.  It has been a good way to learn…together to prepare for this next chapter.

Here are our favorite bloggers/vloggers.  They are not in any particular order because each offers us different windows on life on the road that are equally important in our planning phases.  You will notice a bit of a pattern here where 3 of our 4 fav’s are also Airstream owners.  Similar enough to our Avion…we all love round aluminum corners!  LOL

A Streamin’ Life:  Steve and Courtney.  Now mid- 30-somethings who figured out a way to retire early (31 & 34) and we have followed since their decision to sell their two houses  a couple years ago (had recently married), sell their stuff, purchase an Airstream (an older one, 30′) and hit the road full time.  Both were still working the first year in their Airstream, living stationery in an RV park in Tucson, AZ while preparing their rig (and themselves) for hitting the road full time.  They are level headed, practical and very good money savers and managers.  Their blog is full of helpful videos on managing trip expenses, planning big trips and week long trips, downsizing to what is really needed and what is not.  They travel with their two dogs which also has given us tips on travel with our dog, Reddy as well.  Courtney and Steve are a terrific resource for how to determine your financial needs to go full time, save up for early retirement and more.  The recently launched a terrific online course to teach others how to plan Epic RV Adventures– for more about that click here.   To check out more about Courtney & Steve and their adventures around the USA visit…..Their Blog/website     Their YouTube Channel

Less Junk, More Journey:  Marisa and Nathan.  Once again, these are “kids” as we refer to them as…basically Marisa is one year younger than my son, and Nathan is three years older than my daughter.  I am sure in some way I live vicariously through them and their journeys trying to imagine them as extended family.  Kevin and I will often refer to them as “the kids”.  Their blog has some terrific, easy to navigate pages like their FAQ that really gives you a terrific way to see their answers to many questions you may have about how they made their decision to go full time, steps they took, etc.  Their young daughter, Hensley is a year younger than our grandson Lucas and a year older than our grandson Sawyer.  She has been on the road since infancy and it is so fun to watch her explore, learn and travel with her fabulous, down to earth parents. Watching where they go, how Hensley enjoys it and some of their methods for keeping sanity on the road with a toddler has given us great ideas for when our grandsons are with us in our RV (it is our hope and plan that they will do more and more of it as we have more time to travel) Their Blog      Their YouTube Channel.

Long, Long Honeymoon:  Kristy & Sean.  Also known as “Lo Lo Ho“.  What started out as a honeymoon on an RV has progressed into well over a decade of extended travels from this wonderful couple.  For over 12 years, Kristy and Sean have made dozens of highly informational videos on everything from backing into a campsite, to dissertations on generators,hitch locks, and many more pieces of equipment, etc. to their epic journey across Alaska (actually our other two bloggers have just done the Alaska trip now too in the last year!)  Last year, Sean was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor but with proper medical intervention and a bit of a slowing down of some of their multiple month trips he is fully on the mend with no tumor reported at his recent medical check up.  Wow! miracles do happen!  This couple maintains a bricks N sticks home and plans big trips each year to various parts of the USA from the Keys to Maine, from Seattle to Atlanta and everywhere in between.  Their video titles are well organized and were especially helpful when we first started RVing….they have some great tutorials to keep you out of trouble!  Their sense of humor and little bit of Laurel & Hardy type of format is so fun.  Sean’s writing style and sense of humor is unbeatable and Kristy is the perfect foil!  Their Blog    Their YouTube Channel

TechnoMadia:  Cherie and Chris.  These were one of the very first full time RV couples we found and began following. They are wanderlust spirits who travel the country in their upgraded retro vintage bus (yes, converted from a passenger tour bus).  Their specialty is their amazing knowledge of tech tools, internet on the road gear, trouble shooting electronics and over the years they have tested, reviewed and scoped out many pieces of internet and mobile gear that full timers may need or want.  A little over a year ago, Cherie and Chris decided to park their RV bus part of the year and bought a large trawler style yacht which they plan to do the “great loop” the Inter coastal Waterway around the eastern/central USA in sections over the next five years or so.  They are typically based in the FL area but also do presentations and speaking engagements at many large national rallies so they also travel all over.  They could be considered more of the senior statesman when it comes to full time life on the road, having done so for well over 15 years now.  They travel with Kiki their cat who is a star all on her own.  Their Blog   Their YouTube Channel

Summing it all up…..

We appreciate the time and talent that each of these bloggers/vloggers bring to the world of full time RV living or mega traveling.  Each of them share a candid snapshot all the time into their lives, their ups and downs, their triumphs and tribulations.  We have learned so much and not to seem like we are bragging but we sense we are far more informed that many other would be, soon to be, or already are..full time wanderers.  We owe this all to these folks and the many others who we watch from time to time on their blogs. We follow or at least check in with about a dozen RV couples and singles who focus on various subjects.   We simply wanted to highlight the top four that we follow…otherwise this blog post would be longer than it already is!! LOL

Thanks for tuning in.  Please visit our friends above. and PLEASE……Let them know that Kevin and Luisa Sherman from “The Pewter Palace.com” turned you on to them!

Safe travels and please subscribe to our blog so you don’t miss a another post!

Luisa and Kevin Sherman- ThePewterPalace.com