On August 12th last year, we moved into Samwise the Brave to embark on a journey around the 50 states. Throughout this year, we’ve spent considerable time soaking in where we are and planning where to go next. The places we explored, the borders we crossed, and the long travel days we kept each other company with our thoughts and anxieties and ideas — we never imagined one year of life could be this fulfilling and this energizing.
During a recent drive, we discussed a piece in Medium that said the cure to burnout is experiencing “profound and utter awe.” The most compelling example is the perspective shift astronauts gain after seeing the earth from space and feeling a “universal connectedness” that transforms how they think about their lives. Having just left the jaw-dropping scenery of Niagara Falls and Toronto and finding ourselves perched above the great blue strait between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan on the Mackinac Bridge, we couldn’t help but breathe a collective breath of awe.
This sense of awe has fed us and fueled us this year. Every mountain, canyon, and roaring waterfall. Every sunset, skyline, and capitol dome. Every week had something in store that amazed and renewed us. String 52 of those weeks together, and you get the opposite of burnout — a year of burnin.
In place of complacency, we now know the empowering feeling of taking deliberate steps toward goals we set ourselves. In place of spectating others or wishing to have done something, we now push each other to do it and not feel shame if it turns out it’s not something we enjoy doing. In place of seeking external validation, we try to keep the fire of what truly matters lit on the inside.
There are so many ways full-time RVing has strengthened us as people, as a married couple, and as citizens of this country. Looking forward to the next chapter of our life in Denver after we wrap up our journey next month, we’re grateful and excited to carry the fire into the future!
“Why do you do this?” – a question we get asked often when people learn that we live and travel full-time in our RV. It’s easy to immediately think of the things we gave up. We had a spacious Jersey City apartment with a walk-in closet, washer/dryer, and dishwasher, a law firm job in Manhattan, the picturesque park down the block, and the corner deli where we could get Taylor Ham, egg, and cheese sandwiches (a Jersey staple) whenever we wanted.
But when we reflected on our life, we realized that although we were happy, we always dreamed of a more meaningful life together with more time, more experience, and more freedom. Despite all the inertia and deeply instilled risk aversion tugging us to stay the course, we knew that what we stood to gain from breaking out of our old routine far outweighed the conventional comforts we’d be leaving behind. We simply couldn’t deny the call of the open road any longer.
Today is Day 250 since we embarked on our new life, and we wanted to reflect on those key reasons that compelled us to take a giant leap of faith back in August of last year. Here is our Top 10 list (in no particular order) of why we RV:
1. More quality time
We wanted more quality time with each other, beyond just evenings and weekends. Practically speaking, we’re young, energetic, newly married, and don’t have kids yet, so we saw this as the perfect opportunity to maximize our time together. RV life has allowed us to spend pretty much every day together and nurture our relationship.
2. More time outdoors
Before moving into Samwise, we both spent the vast majority of our time indoors. Whether it was in a windowless office or in the apartment, our weekdays were not vitamin D heavy, to say the least. At the end of a long day or week, it was often the default to just curl up on the big comfy couch and loaf. We wanted to be more physical and spend more time outdoors. Living in an RV connects us to the outdoors all the time, as our home naturally extends to the space outside. Whether it’s a short walk around our campground or a full day exploring a national park, our new default has become spending time outside in nature.
3. More time to create
Before, we found ourselves almost exclusively consuming content rather than creating. Of course, we still love to watch our favorite shows, movies, and everything else, but we’ve become more thoughtful about our habits. Now we can devote significantly more time to finding and creating with our own voice. We’ve also exchanged a lot of time doing routine things like commuting every day with a dynamic life that regularly introduces us to new places, scenery, and communities. This helps keep our minds stimulated and inspired to keep creating.
4. Experience this country
As Americans who both grew up in the small state of NJ, we have always shared a passion to experience our big country to the fullest extent possible. By RVing, we can visit more of America’s vibrant cities, spectacular national parks, small historic towns, and see all the corn fields, wind farms, and giant roadside dinosaur statues in between. We’re privileged to call such a massive and diverse land our home. We want to take full advantage of that by seeing and living it for ourselves – to truly understand our culture and find the familiar in far-flung places across all 50 states.
5. Collect experiences, not stuff
Yi caught onto the Minimalism and Marie Kondo’s tidying movements many years ago (before it was cool). So we’d already made an effort to downsize our possessions and keep only those we really value – those that “spark joy.” When we reduced physical clutter, we also made room for ourselves mentally and emotionally, allowing us to focus more on seeking and appreciating new experiences. Moving into Samwise took us to the next level. Even in a 30ft RV, our space is very limited. We try to keep only the essentials, things that serve a purpose and spark joy – looking at you multi-position ladder! We used to collect commemorative magnets when we traveled to new places, but now we focus on collecting the precious memories.
6. Living our values
We’ve always seen ourselves as adventurous people who get out there and try new things. But we wanted to walk the walk, and exchanging our Jersey City apartment for an RV allowed us to do that. When your home has wheels, you’re constantly setting out a course to something new and encouraging yourself to not fall into the routine. We also hope to impart these values onto our kids one day, and draw on this experience to encourage them to be curious, bold, and open-minded. We want to teach them to be unafraid of taking calculated risks, embracing adventure, and appreciating all that the world has the offer.
7. Freedom to live and work how we want
We now live in a hyper-connected digital economy, and we wanted to take advantage of this shift in the world to free ourselves from the traditional office and daily commute. Through living it, we hoped to prove that a rewarding career and work life doesn’t always have to be tethered to a neatly defined path. You can forge your own personal mission and path by doing what you love. We value the ability to be location-independent, and RV life has given us the flexibility to work from anywhere and truly shape our work life by doing what excites us.
8. Freedom to be at home anywhere we go
This one might be a little self-explanatory. We have a home that moves with us, so no matter where we move, we still feel at home. But it’s not just the physical aspect of taking everything to new places – it’s the feeling of being at home in Samwise and by extension, feeling at home in our new community. Over these past 250 days, we’ve been home in states as far as North Dakota, Utah, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, Arizona, and more. We’ve lived in the mountains, the desert, the plains, and the coasts. RV life gives us the steady comfort of home with each exciting new environment.
9. Freedom to express ourselves
The RV lifestyle has allowed us to define our lives and put our voice out there. This goes hand in hand with #3 (more time to create) – now we have the freedom to be creative and expressive. Instead of just watching travel videos, or reading others’ posts, or watching movie reviews, we create those things. We experience, travel to awe-inspiring places, and learn how to create videos and blog about the things we’re interested in and our experiences. We’re challenging ourselves to learn new skills. Trying something new can be frustrating at times, but the reward is ultimately getting to express our own voice.
10. Freedom to live intentionally
For us, that means being intentional from our everyday decisions to how we plan for the future. RV life teaches us to be more conscious as consumers, to set goals for ourselves that align with our values, and to not let toxic notions of success – that our personal worth is tied to the size of our paycheck or job title – derail us from the life we want to live. No one laid out the RV life for us. We had to go out and get it. Planning and executing on this dream has liberated us to really define our own path going forward, whatever that might be.
Established in 1967, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area now encompasses 197,349 acres of land in Southern Nevada. In 1990, its status was changed from Red Rock Recreation Lands to a National Conservation Area. It was just the seventh to be designated in the country.
A short 17 miles from the glitz and glam of the world-famous Las Vegas Strip, Red Rock Canyon is actually visible from there. But it is best experienced up close, as over 2 million visitors find out every year. In addition to its natural beauty, the park also features a particularly robust exhibit at the Visitor Center. Check it out before setting off on the 13 mile scenic loop.
Red Rock Canyon’s dramatic landscape developed through a fascinating geologic history. Over 600 million years, the land transformed from a seabed, to great sand dunes, to the Keystone Thrust we see today. It features colorful and jagged sandstone walls rising up to 3000 feet tall.
The natural environment is also an oasis in the desert, playing home to hundreds of species of plants and animals due to its perennial water supply and cooler temperatures. And while we weren’t lucky enough to see any desert tortoises, we did manage a couple of close encounters with two of the area’s more than 100 bird species.
Situated just a half hour from the bright lights and buzz of the Las Vegas Strip, Red Rock Canyon stands out as a natural refuge for residents and tourists alike.
There are a lot of campgrounds. In the age of Google, it’s natural to want to pick the “best” of anything because we have more information and reviews than ever about almost everything. This process for camps can become overwhelming – sifting through all the options and considering variables like location, price, amenities, and type of site. When full-timing, the planning becomes a constant part of life, especially when moving at a faster pace. For this reason, it’s important to find ways to streamline the process and use discount clubs when you can. Here’s the way I’ve approached finding and booking campgrounds.
There are several prominent discount clubs: Good Sam, KOA, Passport America, Thousand Trails, Harvest Hosts, and others. We decided to join two of these, and we have not felt the need to join another one yet.
First, we joined Good Sam because it was relatively cheap for a robust set of benefits, including 10% off of campgrounds and 5 cents off per gallon at Pilot/Flying J. Right now, membership runs at only $29 per year or cheaper if you join for more than a year.
Second, we joined Passport America because it offered a steeper discount for participating camps at 50%, and it was only a bit pricier at $44 per year. It doesn’t boast other benefits and has a more limited selection of camps, which often have day and date restrictions, but with 50% off it can pay for itself in just one stay. We’ve already saved hundreds of dollars using these memberships since we started full-timing in August.
I always start my camp search by checking Passport America’s site. You can’t beat 50% off! I will simply click on each campground in the target area mapped to open in a new tab, then quickly scan the “Important Campground Notes” for each to determine if there are any restrictions that knock out an option, such as blackout dates. If there are any options left, I will then look at the camps’ websites and search for reviews on Google and sites like Campendium. I will also check Good Sam to see if they have ratings and reviews for the camps. Amenities and types of sites can also differentiate them. Does the camp have a pool, hot tub, lounge, larger sites, back in sites, pull through sites, picnic tables, etc, and do the prices match what they are offering? If a camp looks good, my search will end there, and we’ll happily enjoy our 50% off!
Colorado Heights Camping Resort, Monument, CO (Passport America)
If I don’t find anything on Passport America, then I will visit Good Sam and use their “Find a Campground” feature, filtering for only Good Sam parks where we can use the 10% discount. Good Sam camps don’t have as many restrictions as Passport America, so you don’t really have to worry about blackout dates, but keep in mind that some camps, like many in the Phoenix area, do have age restrictions (usually 55+ only). I will go through a similar process with the Good Sam options, looking at the camps’ websites and reviews on Good Sam, Google, Campendium, and other sites, and comparing amenities and pricing.
Winding River Resort, Grand Lake, CO (Good Sam)
Sometimes camps also offer their own discounts, such as weekly or monthly rates, that are better than the club discounts, but the memberships can still point you in the right direction. For example, we stayed a week in Moab at ACT campground, which at that time was honoring Passport America for one night only. Instead, they let me know that for a weeklong stay at the full rate, the 7th night was free. We took advantage of this discount instead!
ACT Campground, Moab, UT (Passport America)
I’ve found that utilizing these club memberships has circumscribed the camp search and helped deal with some of the choice paralysis when traveling to areas with plentiful selection. And obviously the savings don’t hurt either! Take a look at Good Sam, Passport America, and some of the others I mentioned above to see what suits you, and get out there!
