 Happy Sunday everybody. It's Robin with Creativity RV. I hope you're all doing well out there. I am doing great I am boondocking solo in a beautiful place, but a couple of weeks ago I had a chance to camp with some rad nomads of Different ages and different work and relationship statuses and in much different ranks And they were nice enough to let me ask them Four questions about what they wish they knew before they hit the road now I had to cram them into one RV on a couch to get them all in one spot to ask the questions So it looks a little bit like a hostage video, but their answers were so amazing So I'm going to introduce them all now so you can see their rigs and hear about them and then we're gonna get to the questions. I Have the best group of nomads here to tell you what it's really like to be on the road and what they wish they knew before they got started Ashley this is my husband Jared and we travel in a minivan. We've been on the road since September of 2022 and He is a project manager and I'm really a relationship consultant. So my name is Marie I've been on the road almost two years. I travel in a 2019 leisure travel van a Serenity model And I am retired very happily retired nice. Hi, my name is Jackie And this is Moon Pie Mary. I am recently retired. However, I do volunteer work San Francisco based organization woman in clean tech and sustainability. I Have been part-time traveling meaning six to nine months out of the year for two years and Went through an evolution started with a trailer dead in workout. That's another video and Went to car camping camping until I could figure out What I could live with and what I needed and now I have Moon Pie Mary and she is a game changer Hi, my name is Debbie Bruning and I live in a 2000 lazy days classy motor home. I've been on the road This is my third year as a full-timer and I work from the road my business is Debs RV services I'm a certified inspector question number one What were you afraid of before you hit the road that you found out later? You didn't need to be afraid of Ashley so for me I had safety concerns and it just took me making sure that I took the Appropriate measures that made me feel more comfortable and just realizing that I just need to be cautious aware of my Surroundings, but I wasn't gonna let it stop me from the new experiences that I wanted to have Do you feel afraid now? No, no, okay. How about you Marie? Well with me it was like the inevitable Breakdowns and repairs that were gonna happen on the road and how I was gonna handle those and you get Unfortunately quite so many that you start to just roll with the punches and you know You have people helping you and it all resolves itself and you actually get very proud of yourself How you managed to overcome all these you know issues, right? It gets easier. Yeah. Yeah How about you I almost mirror Maria I was actually had a fear of not being able to get help if I needed it And also a fear of not being able to ask for help when I needed it And I have been able to overcome both of those both right, right So are you scared now? I mean nobody wants to break down or have some kind of a problem, but I Am not in the rig that I am in now when I was pulling the trailer if something was constantly breaking down And I never got over that fear and frustration it turned into frustration and then it turned into I'm doing this to simplify my life and all of a sudden it became more and more complicated But I'm in a good spot now, so I do not have that fear anymore. Yeah, it's good So I was actually afraid of the road itself like driving across the country for me It felt like it would it was gonna be such a scary situation Like what was it? What were the roads gonna be like was I gonna end up at on a like Incline where I wasn't gonna need like be able to tow my car and take my rig over some pass that was gonna feel really scary and dangerous But it wasn't scary at all when I actually got out there traveling across the country You're just really going like three or four hours at a time So you just make it to the next stop and after I traveled like several times across the country I realized that there really wasn't anything to be afraid of I'm surprised that none of you said you were afraid to be out you know in nature or You know scared of wild animals scared of Like I always say the guy with the hook hanging off the side of your door Michael Myers Yeah, exactly because I think a lot of people ask women especially aren't you afraid to be out there? None of you had that fear beforehand I mean there are a couple of times where I was a little bit nervous because I was out in the woods And I knew there was a camper and you know and then you say to yourself, you know They're not out here to go and kill people. They're out here to enjoy themselves just like I am So you just you get over it. The serial killer really isn't out there in the desert, right? They're in the city statistically you're much more likely to be well Killed by somebody you know People and also in the city so right right right if you're a solo female traveler not in the city your chances are pretty good You'll be fine. Yeah, and I think too is just as we've all do is listen to our instincts and intuition and Yep, that's it. I feel right. Yeah, it doesn't feel right move your spot. Yeah Yeah, so I think for all of you the fear whatever your fear wasn't diminished over time Yeah, it's greatly outweighed by the joy of what we're doing You know that just totally you know, it may be there but the the benefits far outweighed concerns And most of the things that we're afraid of they're bigger in our minds and our thoughts than they are in reality Yeah, they're really not that scary. Yeah, so yeah, okay second question What was more difficult than you imagined it would be before you got on the road Ashley So mine was not having a private bathroom So I really recommend just educating yourself exploring the different toilet and shower options that are there and Finding out what you're the most comfortable with to definitely What did you decide to do? Can I ask what your toilet and shower solutions were? so we're in the mini van and so we just have a Portable toilet that we use our bags and our kitty litter and then for our shower We typically are going to use Planet Fitness. We've done truck stops as well. We actually do have a Portable shower that we can use if we're out on like, you know private land and things like that as well. Yeah, our public land. Yeah Okay, great. How about you Marie? Well, I think what's kind of surprised me was the amount of time that you need To do all the research and figure out where you're going and you know, there's so many apps out there You're looking at all the apps. You're looking at reviews You're trying to see what do I want to see when I'm in that area? It takes a lot of time That was a lot more than I thought it was gonna be difficulties for me Oddly enough it was I think you can relate to this driving east coast west coast from Washington I drove the Cascades and then the Sierra Nevada's down to Tahoe and So I just I never really left the ridges. I Had no idea of the vertical height and Straight down the mountains were oh, yes Versus them my the mountains that I live in. Yes And because of the fires, there's miles and miles and miles and miles of no trees So what once gave you a visible? I think comfort maybe horizon of looking over and seeing something there There's no trees. So you're going thousands of feet down I was white knuckle for miles upon miles and miles. I did not expect that I'm normally not a scaredy cat with stuff like that, but You would glad that didn't happen to me Yeah, I it was so unpleasant. I will never take that route again So how do you plan your routes now? Do you have a solution? So you don't have to do I do I don't go over the mountains Literally go around the mountain literally I'll take three days out of my yeah route And I will go around the mountains because I can yeah, you can also ask other people like I know when I was Traveling out in Colorado. I actually asked Robin about the route that would be best that would take me Where I wouldn't feel like I was on a cliff, you know going around these huge vertical drops and then around these you know Ben's so I found out you can find out from other people or Facebook groups Which route is best and a lot of other travelers will know there's actually YouTube channels that show you routes They're just the driving no words. No nothing so you can say it like truckers do it So drive from here to here. You can see the route. Also. There's a website called the flattest route comm I wish somebody would make an app it would kill if it Somebody has to make it Google Maps where you could put the little person on the road I've done that to see like but mostly it's like is this prettier or this prettier and I draw I'll be Person and I'm like, oh, I'll go this route You know when you've got something big and heavy behind you pushing you or you know You're big and you're going over the edge and it's a drop. That's scary Can I go back in and Before I should have asked Marie, how long does it take you to find a spot and do you feel pretty comfortable finding your your camping locations now? I feel pretty comfortable because I have some really good apps and you know it varies I think a lot of it is You know, it takes like I don't know four hours or so to find like the next spot to camp But then it's like well, what should I do when I'm there? How many days should I spend? Oh, is this worth going looking at? Let me see what they said and that sort of stuff. That's where it gets time-consuming. Yeah Because you really do your homework. Yeah beforehand. Yeah. Yeah, I like to know sometimes I feel really bad because I feel sometimes I spend more time doing my homework than getting out and doing things Planning for the next trip, but I haven't visited the fun You know, I actually have the opposite where it was easier than I thought it wasn't as difficult I had in my mind I had all this anxiety about what if I don't find a parking spot or a boondocking spot, you know What if I'm driving in this situation? Well, I mean it's all the what-ifs were in my head while I was at home But when I got out there, it just seemed so much easier. It just flowed I never really have a problem if I'm driving from one side of the country to the other I I can always stop at a rest stop. There's so many apps that you can look at. There's cracker barrels And then once I get out West it's like BLM land is everywhere I've made friends on the road some people fear that they won't they'll be alone or lonely And I've met so many people on the road that I have friendships and like it seems like almost every state I could always connect with somebody I one time I was driving and I was going into Custer State Park and It was like a hundred degrees and I was freaking out because I had gotten a harvest host at the time And when I landed at the first harvest host, I was so hot that I was like miserable So I just reached out to a Facebook group and this one woman connected with me and said Oh, I have a spot on the side of my house where you can get hookup Come on over and you can stay the night and it was and then now we're friends We're hiking buddies because you're not afraid to ask. I'm not afraid to ask, right You know, I think probably just the most frustrating part is like you have to when you have to dump your tanks and Like you have to get propane and stuff because what happens is you start to get really comfortable when you boondock like I do You get comfortable in a spot And then you're you have to like look for a place where you can go dump and get all the supplies Right, and it's not really that that's difficult. It's just that that is something that you Don't want to have to do necessarily. So it's a little bit Yeah, and you have to conserve water and you're always watching your water and everything that you have so you don't use it up So I guess that that would be my a lot of chores a lot of chores. You're constantly doing stuff Yeah, you're always busy for your spot or Do your choice so you can get to the your next spot the next question is how has been a nomad changed or enhanced their lives Ashley So for me, I feel like I'm starting my life over I'm really learning what my true wants and needs are I'm learning What kind of physical things that I want to have around me what kind of energy from other people? I'm willing to tolerate And I'm learning what drains me what motivates me and I'm going out there And I'm just trying and experiencing things that I never thought I was capable of and it's really showing me what I can do That's inspiring For me like when I are being for me is not camping. It's really traveling. I love to travel. I love to see things changes love Scenery that changes and so it's really I mean I just love every day. I mean in beautiful scenery. I get to meet great people I mean do wonderful things So it's it for me It's a huge enhancement to my life and stuff and you know, you call the shots you do what you want You go where you want when you want. I mean, it's it's incredibly free. Yeah, that's how it's enhanced it for me That's great Jackie. I Have to again mirror Marie because I travel six to nine months out of the year I consider myself a part-timer not a full-timer because I still have a six and bricks But guess a lot It's still a lot to go and I feel like I'm kind of going back to my own roots My mom used to always say that I was born with happy traveling feet And I was the one who would get lost inside of a snowstorm drift Or the creek or something. It was me always. Yeah, so I feel this This is the opportunity now to learn how to chill. I'm learning how to chill. It's taken a while It's taken almost a year to learn how to chill to learn how to go with the flow be happy and Just travel and kind of do what I want when I want within limits within reason and I wouldn't have it any other way Debbie So I know one thing that I feel is that how it enhanced my life is I don't need near the things that I thought I needed I am living so little in comparison to how I used to live and I could probably even go smaller and You kind of learn as you go as you're on the road what you need and what you don't need But I also I have such joy in my life. I feel happy. I feel free all the time and It's just it's amazing to me the whole world we are the country that we have out here that we are looking at and we can You know travel to and there's just so much to see and do so when I get tired of a place or frustrated I just moved to a new location. Yeah, and it's just that easy and I just I don't know I just feel like a lot of joy in this lifestyle. I really love it. It's not that it's easy There's a lot of a lot of things that are not easy and you have to be the type of person that can Be open to change and those little struggles and to be able you're gonna have to tinker with things or find a mechanic If you can't but overall the joy outweighs anything negative. So yeah question number four When you told your friends and family what you were going to be doing how did they react? Ashley I didn't ask for permission I Just did it we were saying this is what we're gonna do and and we'll have you know things in place to where we can stay connected and stay in touch and We have select family members and friends that we send our GPS coordinates to so when we're in different areas They they know where we're at but It was the decision, you know for for us and our happiness and so that was that's great. How was presented? Yeah, that's great Marie well My family thought it was a bit harebrained like you especially in a full time You're giving everything up and you're going out on the road and like, you know, you don't know how hard it's gonna be You know this it's gonna be so expensive. You think it's not all this sort of so a lot of like, you know You don't know what's out there And then the other half were like didn't believe I was gonna do it and then it was like oh my god Like they thought I was a dreamer for five years right looking at RVs and all this sort of stuff And then when I bought my RV, they're like, oh my god. She did it. What are they thinking now? They're very happy for me. They're following me on Facebook. They're like, oh my god post more pictures You know, that's so good. They're like, you know a few have definitely said I'm living vicariously through you because and the amount of people that you meet that say oh my god, you're living my dream and It's just it's just been great. So yeah, now everyone's totally psyched about it and stuff. So Jackie I thought my family was going to think it was the most ridiculous thing I've ever done in my life And it was just the opposite. They just looked at me and said went back to the happy traveling fee As a kid. They said what took you so long? Yeah, they said of course why would you we would not expect you to do anything else. That's great. So I Had did not have an issue and I do I'm not I don't have a big social media presence But we do have ways that I share my pictures and travels and they love it and where are you now and Yeah, my brother has you know that you can follow people on Google Maps. Yeah, so he'll be like, are you in the foothills of Yuma? That's a good point always give your location to Follow each other so I'm like You know, it's funny because I think that it for when I first started looking into this life when I was binging the YouTube my mom is actually the one that sent me my first Bob Wells video And she was just sending it to me because she thought it was cute And then all of a sudden I was like hyper focused and that's all I watched was how to have this life And I was I think they thought I was I had fallen off my rocker like really I was you know, what is she doing? What is going on? I was planning it I was like talking about it all the time and then once I really like as the years passed and I really started progressing towards doing it I think that um, they were really on board. My mom was like my biggest fan So my you know, they the friends and family just love it. They they love to watch my travels So I post a lot of stuff on social media and they're always following me and they love it I don't know if that translates translated the way that I meant it. Um, so like for me We just didn't leave room for opinions is what I meant. And so, um, it was literally just We were planning, you know, I I did the research We kind of created, you know, our plan and what we were going to do and then We put our house up for sale and didn't even really have a ton of conversations about that initially Because we were starting to kind of, you know, get get everything ready and then we just, you know Just individually told the family like hey, this is what we're doing and Yeah, I think that's great They were so much what other people are gonna think and you you know, you're on mind What do they think about it now? Do have they told you? Um, I mean everybody, you know loves it. I mean they they love, you know When they see the different things that we get to do an experience and and and definitely are very supportive I mean, of course you have the ones that are like, are you being safe? Are you aware? You know, because that the other but um, I mean, yeah, yeah, yeah This is my favorite question If there's somebody out there that is thinking about doing what you're doing What advice would you give them? Ashley I just think that everyone has different financial means and physical abilities and life skills that Sometimes I feel like it's a little bit challenging to give people advice Because I don't want someone to feel that this is like a cookie cutter kind of lifestyle And if you don't do it a certain way then, you know, you're not going to be happy or successful with it Um, but I also want them to realize, you know, as debbie said things are going to pop up Things are going to happen, you know, and you may have, you know friends and family and even strangers that may question You know why you're doing this there's going to be days you're going to question why you did that If you should keep doing it, you know So I guess really my advice would be it's just to get really clear on what your why is Why are you doing this? What do you want to get from this? Do you want to grow? Do you want to find your peace? Do you want to just have fun and go out and see things? You know, what what is it? Um, and then the other thing I would just add is that you're not homeless. You're free Right, you know You are choosing to You know live your life outside of this square box that we're told is normal And you had the courage to take that leap of faith to to go out there and live your life How only people other people dream about and that's right. That's awesome. I love that. Yeah, that's great Marie so I have two two different things one What well what I did is I went and you know, I did a lot of research went to shows I rented I went on five rv trips with different rvs different sizes lengths everything So I could see what I would like, you know, I you know Just the regular class b van was way too small the 28 footer was way too big So it got me to where I wanted to be Um, so I think it's really good because you also want to know is this lifestyle for you I mean you don't want to go out and just buy something and then like have to deal with all this stuff That you didn't know is going to happen So that would be my first recommendation then just another thing To put you a little bit at ease to Debbie's point about you're out on the road and you're thinking Oh, you know, you're you're by yourself and I but you're you're not there are so many clubs you can join I I belong to so many clubs. I go to different rallies and stuff I've met people on the road like we all have I've traveled with these people You know, we hook up in different states and stuff and I you know, you make really strong bonds and everything So it's not a lonely lifestyle. Now if you want it to be alone, you can't you want to be at the top of the mountain by yourself You can't but it's by choice. It's not, you know, so Don't be afraid of that is what I would say. Yeah Uh, I would say that we have all sorts of resources now in tools that we can go to to learn and understand however, I would caution Of not to put yourself into a box that you think you're supposed to be in I started out as with a travel traveler Was a disaster just for me not for everybody just for me because I thought that that's what I needed to do I thought the first thing you did was you bought a trailer and then that's what you did and then I Rather than giving up and getting frustrated. I said step back I tent camped and car camped for two years nine months out of the year Until I could figure out My wants and needs and what was making me happy which has led to the rig that I'm in now and I'm very very happy Be flexible though because in three years, I'm you know, I'm getting a little Rig envy and some of these meetups that we have So if we had this discussion in three years, I might be you know in a 30 footer So be flexible. It's okay to say, you know what this worked three years ago, but it's not working now So it's okay to change it. It's fine to be flexible. Yep. I agree And debbie well, I would say start out small There's so many pieces of advice to give but I would say start out small with the type of RV that you want to get Whether it's a minivan or a truck and trailer or a motor home, you know, just start out with Something you can afford and the smallest, you know, RV or car, you know van whatever And try it out See what that's all about because a lot of times people get into these like really big RVs and they get out there And they don't realize certain things like if you want to get out there in boondock And you've got an all-electric big, you know Class a diesel coach and you can't use any of your things because you don't have the power to do that You know, you're going to be in a situation where you're into a lot of, you know, that's a big investment So start out with something you can afford get out there See what you like see if you enjoy boondocking before you know before you You know invest all that money into something see what you want and then don't forget to hire an inspector when you do We're worthy we're worthy six years ago I'll see you all next week with an all new video until then everybody out there And be free