It’s easy to write a blog that no-one cares about – the web is full of them! When we started TrekWithUs.com in 2010, we weren’t sure what the site would be, but we knew that we wanted it to inspire people.
I’d say that thus far we’ve only been moderately successful, and I think that’s because we haven’t had a clear vision for this website. Is our site for family and friends so they can keep up with our travels, or is it for the general public to give them ideas about where to go, or is it to share our insight about full-time RVing, or is it…?
As it’s the first day of a brand new year (Happy 2014!) I think now is a perfect time to give our site some direction.
From today on this website will be focused on how to/DIY, travel insights, RV tips, and life on the road info. I’ll continue to update our location in the sidebar, but will only discuss where we are or what we’re doing if it’s of particular interest. Let’s face it – the vast majority of travel stories are boring, and the last thing we want this site to be is boring!
Not only that, but it’s become very clear to me from visitor comments and emails that what most people care about is how they can do what we’re doing – not tips about where to go and things to do and see, but rather how you can join us on the road.
So we thought instead of resolutions, we’ll share a list of 10 things we can think of off the top of our heads that we’ll write about this year. If you have any questions or subject matter that you’d like us to cover, please share it in the comments below – the more comments the better!
10 Subjects We’ll Cover This Year in Detail
#1 – How can you transition your life from where it is right now to where you want it to be. This is a huge subject and can fill many posts, but we’ll focus initially on making money while traveling.
#2 – How do we successfully work while we travel? I get a lot of questions about what we do and how we do it. I’ll share this with you, but for the purpose of helping you figure out how you can do the same.
#3 – How do we stay connected to the internet. I get a lot of questions about this on Youtube, and I think it’s one of the most important subjects for people who plan to work full-time while traveling full time – what we call travel living. The internet gives us a tremendous amount of freedom and flexibility – in fact we couldn’t live this life without it.
#4 – All about campground memberships. RVing full-time can be very expensive if you don’t leverage memberships and monthly rates. We’ll explain what we use and how this keeps our costs down.
#5 – RV Kitchen. I’ll share food and recipes that are particularly RV-friendly, and how we keep our food expenses reasonable while eating well.
#6 – How to stay in shape on the road. Gym memberships aren’t a good fit for the RV life (unless you stay in one place). We’ll share how we stay reasonably fit from the road and how you can do the same.
#7 – How To / DIY. This is another HUGE subject and one of our favorites. We love to customize things, and are even painting part of our RV as we speak (yes, you can paint the inside of an RV if you use the right stuff – GRIPPER!). I’ll go over speaker upgrades, decorative improvements, custom headboards, you name it, we’ve probably done it!
#8 – Water filtration. We have a pretty elaborate system, and clean water is a big part of successful RVing. I’ll go over everything we use and do in detail.
#9 – Electrical system. I installed an Energy Management System, and I’ll show you how it works, and explain why you should have the same.
#10 – Towing a car. I’ll cover all the equipment required, how to install it, what you need to stay legal, and show you how everything works.
That’s a list of 10 things off the top of our head. As we discussed this we both thought of several more, but we’re interested to hear what you’d like to know more about. Please share in the comments below.
Happy New Year, and happy trekking in 2014 from both of us (Rich & Kathy)!
I came across your YouTube video of your TV, and looked at your website. I liked the story of traveling across the country. I have driven a lot of large vehicles in the Army, and travel a lot for my current job.
I am heavily into the research for full time RV-ing. I am hoping to make the transition to an RV lifestyle in the next 5 years. I have been looking at the Navion RV’s. I like the Mercedes Sprinter Chassis with the Diesel engine. I think I can set one up to be pretty efficient living.I am more interested in “Boondocking” a godo portion of the time. I am researching solar power recently.
Great Blog, and your saved a a favortie now. Keep up the writing, and if I have anything to get on Amazon, will try t ogo through your site.
Hi Ron – It sounds like you have a good plan. We looked pretty extensively at Sprinter Chassis RVs when we were first looking, but ultimately ruled them out as I’m a bit too large (6’4″) and the showers in particular are pretty small in most of them. That said, they get very impressive MPG and drive like a smaller vehicle which is nice.
We were also very focused on boondocking in the beginning, but have changed our focus a bit. As we both work it’s really important to us to have consistent water/power/sewer and phone/internet. A lot of good boondocking spots are thin on phone reception, so make sure you check out Wilson Electronics phone signal boosters and antennas as they can dramatically increase your range assuming you need internet or need to stay in touch.
Let us know how it goes – we love to hear about other people getting into the RV life.
Hello, Stumbling around on the youtube network, I came across your video of your rig-home. So I visited your website and viola — you have the life I am aiming for but do not know how to get there. My husband and I have a 2002 FourWinds, 31 footer, with no slides. Living life in there is a far cry from our current life. I am interested in following your travels and renovations in your home. Thanks for having the courage to talk about your experiences in this lifestyle to strangers not yet friends. Good Fortunes in this year 2014. Lynn
Hi Lynn – thanks for visiting our site and leaving a comment. We will continue to write, and definitely plan to share how we got from a ‘normal’ life to the one we live now in more detail. It took us several years to get there, but we did it, and I’m sure you can get there too! Thanks for the well wishes. – Rich
Your 2014 plan sounds great. Would only add that we also love to hear about any new accessories, appliances or tech devices which you use which make full timing better.
Looking forward to what you have to say!
Hi Richard – Thanks! And YES, we will definitely cover accessories and gadgets that we use.