Helping RVers learn, travel, connect, and grow on the road.
This RVLifestyle platform is a labor of love. It began as a hobby in 2012, when Mike left a long career in journalism. It's turned now into our life's passion.
RVifestyle is what we really believe is a calling. To help others and build community,
So let me (Mike) explain. This is the long version “How'd you end up doing this?” If we could have had a quarter for every time we've been asked that we could buy another RV!
Our RVLifestyle Journey
What began as a distant dream has blossomed into our everyday reality—a magnificent adventure viewed through the panoramic windshield of our rolling home. North America stretches before us like an endless canvas, each mile offering new possibilities and every stop a chance for discovery.
We truly believe our journey into RV living wasn't planned so much as it was destined. We've found that the most extraordinary experiences are often those unscripted moments—the roadside attractions not marked on any map, the conversations with strangers who quickly become friends, the breathtaking vistas that appear around unexpected bends.
This beautiful serendipity defines our nomadic lifestyle.
The adventure officially began in 2012 when we purchased our first home-on-wheels, a pre-loved 2008 Roadtrek Class B. What started as simply documenting our travels soon evolved into something much more meaningful—a way to share the authentic heart of North America.
My previous life as a journalist had me crisscrossing continents, covering everything from presidential campaigns to papal visits. I've witnessed history unfold in real-time and earned recognition as one of America's most traveled reporters. Here's an ad the newspaper I worked for at the time took out in a national trade publication:
But that sort of traveling existence was what we in the industry call “parachute journalism”—briefly dropping into locations, capturing a single narrative, then quickly moving on to the next assignment.
When I stepped away from the demanding pace of daily news, I yearned to revisit those places with fresh eyes and an open schedule. Our RV gave us that freedom—the ability to linger, to explore deeply, and to truly experience each destination alongside our beloved Norwegian Elkhounds, first Tai and now Bo, who has known no other life than one of adventure on the open road.
The goal then and now is to share our RV adventures and experiences.
About half to 3/4 of the year, we travel North America, discovering the interesting people and places I didn't have time to meet when I was a news reporter.
Since we began, we have traveled over 300,000 miles. Typically, we mark out a route, identify a few spots we want to be sure to visit, and then take off, stopping when we want or find something that interests us. An old editor of mine once told me that “every person has a story to tell.”
Our current RV is a 2026 Brinkley Z-3100 Fifth Wheel. We have no relationship with Brinkley, and they are not a sponsor or advertiser. We bought this RV with our own money, paying the full asking price of the dealer – the same price everyone else pays.
My journalism career has shown me that to be very true. It's the same with most places. Places have stories, too. So we like to wander, chat up the people we meet, and start taking photos and videos. Usually, we return with more stories than we can tell.
We travel year-round, even to cold, snowy places in the winter. We have driven RVs to Michigan's Upper Peninsula and the North Lake Superior shore of Minnesota in the month of January, where we found a winter wonderland that most people never see.
I remember one night when there were 28 inches of snow on the level ground and deep in the wilderness, it got down to -21 degrees F. It was an awesome experience. We slept snug and warm inside our RV and realized winter is no excuse to put the RV in storage.
RVLifestyle has grown so fast!
Truth is, though, that if I'm not careful, RVLifestyle could become all-consuming. The blog has been growing so fast that we also started a daily RV newsletter. Our Facebook Page has 520,000 “Likes.” Some 600,000 people are members of our Facebook RV Lifestyle Group. More than 200,000 people subscribe to our YouTube Channel. We're also active on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn, and we just launched a new RV Lifestyle Community
And then there are our RV travel guide books – 25 of them! We've written travel guides to various parts of North America, how-to books on various aspects of camping, and instructional books on how to save money while enjoying the RV Lifestyle. Check them out at https://rvlifestyle.com/books
We have an awesome team that helps run the “enterprise,” so we can concentrate on traveling, content development, and reporting. Phyllis Khare manages our content and keeps all the balls in the air. Wendy Bowyer helps with the podcast, the RV Community, and special media. A whole crew of very dedicated volunteer moderators keeps things civil on our Facebook Group.
We're on our 14th year now of traveling, and I can honestly say we enjoy it every bit as much as we did when we began. Maybe more.
We have no plans to quit anytime soon and look forward to each trip as if it were our first.
So that's our story. It's still unfolding.
We hope to meet you on the road someday!
Happy Trails.
