Living and traveling in an RV used to be only for retirees or the annual family vacation. But over the past few years there has been a new movement of young RVers who have intentionally chosen to live with less stuff, be mobile, and take their lives on the road.
This week’s interview segment introduces you to a young man who has done just that, becoming an RV entrepreneur.
Mike and his guest Heath Padgett share ways anyone – no matter their age – can make the break , travel and earn a livable income on the road in an RV.[spp-timestamp time=”45:37″]
Plus we have tips, trends, RV news and a great off the beaten path report.
Click the player to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details and resources and click the player below to start listening. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast.
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Show Notes for Episode #109 Oct. 12, 2016 of Roadtreking – The RV Lifestyle Podcast:
Mike and Jennifer come to you this week from the remote Upper Peninsula of Michigan where they’ve been exploring the deep woods and taking in the beautiful fall colors. [spp-timestamp time=”2:37″]
JENNIFER'S TIP OF THE WEEK
I love getting your tips and suggestions for this segment. We al are really one big family and we’re in this RV travel lifestyle thing together. So when you leave me a voicemail from the Roadtreking dot com RV travel blog, it’s always excitingd to learn something new and get new ideas.
So it is this week from a listener named Julie who has solved a problem many of us have experienced… namely… when one wants to stay up late reading and the other doesn’t. Julie’s tip also helps save battery life, something very important when out there boon docking [spp-timestamp time=”11:30″]
So here is Julie…offering a tip about a great LED light for reading…Mighty Bright Clip on LED light
And for everyone… be sure to send me your tips and suggestions for the RV lifestyle. You can use the “Leave Voicemail” link at Roadtreking.com. Just click it and then use the built-in microphone on your computer or mobile devise to record a message to me. You can do it over as many times as you want, until you are satisfied. And then you just click a button and it comes right to my email inbox.
If I use your tip in the podcast, we’ll send you a free Roadtreking hat!
I love hearing from you!
Jennifer's tip of the week is brought to you by T RadPower Bikes (www.RadPowerBikes.com_… an electric bike manufacturer offering direct to consumer pricing on powerful premium electric bikes.
LISTENER QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK:
Stephen asks about cell phone use by US citizens in Canada [spp-timestamp time=”16:25″]
Larry asks about parking in unrestricted areas on the California coast [spp-timestamp time=”20:07″]
Reader e-Mail: [spp-timestamp time=”22:00″] — I've enjoyed your Roadtrek site, podcast and facebook page for a couple years. After hearing about your yearning for a kayak the last few weeks — something that I also have had lately — I wanted to tell you about a foldable kayak (Orukayak.com). My wife, son and I purchased a 2014 CS Adventurous new and have enjoyed it immensely. When I retire — I wanted to be able to take two kayaks and 2 bikes on a Roadtrek. So, I've been trying to figure out how to do it. I had looked at the set up you recently mentioned a while ago — but didn't like so much that only a 9 or 10 ft kayak could be used — plus, couldn't get in the back of the RV if I remember right (it didn't swing out). I'm definitely not an inflatable kayak guy — earlier in my life I had a 17 ft. sea kayak and just need something better then a raft. A few weeks ago we purchased a Beach model of the Oru Kayak. I was skeptical — but really amazed at how quickly it went together and how well it performed in the water. Then got a Bay plus model and really liked how well it works. Both of these are 12 ft kayaks and fold up in to a box size of 33 x 30 x 13 inches approximately. I love the innovation and engineering that went in to them. Their website of course has some great information about them. Weigh about 30 lbs — so I look forward some day to backpacking them in to a remote lakes including mountain lakes. I know your experience with foldable bikes didn't go well — but, I think this might be different. Plus, I think you could get two of them in the back of your CS Adventurous XL if you gave up some other toys. REI sells them and they have a great return policy of one year – Todd Foster (Kalamazoo)
Sponsoring this part of the podcast is Van City RV in St. Louis, and their Partner Dealerships Creston RV in Kalispell, Montana, and Wagon Trail RV in Las Vegas. Bringing You the largest Inventory of class B’s from three locations.
RV BASIC TRAINING
Going paperless on the road…. [spp-timestamp time=”27:30″]
For a transcript of Mike’s report on going paperless, go to: https://rvlifestyle.com/paperless/
This part of the podcast is brought to you by Campers Inn, the nation’s largest family-operated RV dealership with 15 locations on the East Coast
RV NEWS OF THE WEEK:
Three stories this week…[spp-timestamp time=”32:42″]
- [spp-ctabuttons]Camping World, biggest RV dealer in the country, is now publicly traded. Read more
- Bear near Vail, Colorado, finds wildlife camera and ‘takes' a selfie. Read more
- Atlanta Motor Speedway offers free camping to Hurricane Matthew
This portion of the podcast is brought to you by Alde the only name in heat that you need to know for your RV
TRAVELING TECH TIP:
Verizon's Steve Van Dinter reports: [spp-timestamp time=”37:48″]
Where did the year go? As you are well aware we are speeding through the month of October which also happens to be domestic violence awareness month – a cause near and dear to our hearts.
Did you know for instance that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men will be the victims of violence at some point in their life by their intimate partners?
It’s a tragic but all too true statistic.
Fortunately there’s something all of us can do to help. If you have an old phone lying around the house from any carrier, take it to your local verizon store and drop it off in the HopeLine bin. These phones will be recycled and turned into cash grants which are given back to organizations in the community that help domestic violence victims.
And if you don’t have a phone lying around, you can also stop by a Verizon store and look at the purple accessories that are available. There’s a Mophie battery pack, UE Boom speaker, LG Tone Pro headset and phone case available. Each purple accessory purchased will mean $3 donated towards Camp Hope America – helping children of domestic violence victims gain access to valuable services to heal, survive and thrive.
If you’d like to learn more about Verizon’s HopeLine program visit verizonwireless.com/hopeline.
This part of the podcast is brought to you by Verizon, which operates America’s most reliable wireless network, with more than 112 million retail connections nationwide.
OFF THE BEATEN PATH REPORT – The Hubbell Trading Post in Arizona
By Tom and Patti Burkett [spp-timestamp time=”41:00″]
When you’re driving around the country, you often see the brown signs that mark some sort of historic site. We often stop for these, even though they’re nothing we’ve ever heard of. Sometimes we hit the jackpot. That was the case when we pulled off near Ganado, Arizona at the marker for the Hubbell Trading Post. As it turns out, although this is a National Park Service site, it’s also a working trading post, still in operation since 1878.
In 1864, the federal government hired Kit Carson to round up the Navajo people living in Arizona and relocate them to a fort in New Mexico. Carson was on good terms with a number of native tribes, especially the Utes, long-time enemies of the Navajo, and enlisted their help in the effort. The march from Arizona to Bosque Redondo proved devastating, with hundreds dying along the way and hundreds more in the forced isolation of an unfamiliar landscape.
When the Navajos were allowed to return to their ancestral lands in 1868, they found their herds decimated and their fields destroyed. Thus began an economic depression that continues into today. It was in the interest of the government that the Navajo should be content and peaceful so they recruited business owners to establish native-friendly trading posts on and near the Navajo nation. One of these was John Lorenzo Hubbell, who was 29 when he began operating this trading post.
Hubbell was born in New Mexico and spoke three languages, including Navajo. He worked hard, traded fairly, and soon established a reputation for honesty and reliability among the natives of the area. The Navajo relied on traders for contact with the outside world and for supplies they couldn’t produce for themselves. In exchange, they brought in wool, furs, and handmade weaving and pottery.
The Hubbell family ran the post until 1967 when it was sold to the park service. Today, the post hosts auctions twice a year at which outstanding native handcrafts are offered—rugs, dolls, leatherwork, and pottery.
We visited on a sunny day and thought that, except for the cars parked in the lot, it could have been a century earlier. Birds flitted through the cottonwood trees at the wash, and people crowded into the trading shop to bargain and buy. The visitor center was full of information and a local school group was hearing a ranger talk on post history.
In the post itself, we flipped through a big box of beautiful handwoven Navajo rugs, only belatedly looking at the price tags, which ranged to several thousand dollars. What an experience. If your road takes you past a brown sign, think twice before passing it by. Happy travels!
INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK – Heath Padgett
Living and traveling in an RV used to be only for retirees or the occasional family vacation. But over the past few years there has been a new movement of young RVers who have intentionally chosen to live with less stuff, be mobile, and take their lives on the road.[spp-timestamp time=”45:37″]
Heath Padgett and his wife, Alyssa, are two people interested in downsizing their life, creating remote income, and working from anywhere. In 2014 Heath quit his job in software sales to go on a year long RV trip across America with his newlywed wife. After spending a year on the road and traveling to all 50 states, they realized that returning back to “life as normal” in a 9-5 job wasn’t going to fly.
So he became an RV entrepreneur. He’s started a podcast, blog and some related businesses and he shares his experiences in this week’s interview.
Here are some of Heath’s Internet platforms:
- RV Entrepreneur podcast
- RV Entrepreneur eBook (just went live yesterday, would love to send you a physical copy when it's out)
- Hourly America documentary
- Make Money & RV Facebook page
- com(recently merged blogs with Alyssa)
- http://campgroundbooking.com/
Please Subscribe and Give Us a Rating and Review!
Many listeners are asking how they can subscribe, review and rate the Roadtreking Podcast on iTunes. With a new podcast like this, those reviews and ratings are really important to be able to show well in the iTunes listings. So if you can, I’d sure appreciate it if you’d subscribe and leave me your review.
Here’s how:
First, open up the iTunes app on your computer or mobile device. Click on Podcasts up on the top
> From the iTunes Podcasts page, use the “Search Store” field up at the top right corner of the page. Type in Mike Wendland or Roadtreking RV Podcast.
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