By Mike Wendland, F426141
August 2016
Mike and Jennifer Wendland identify some trends that have transformed their RV experience during the past five years.
We’re now working on our fifth year of enjoying the RV lifestyle and are as excited today as we were on that very first trip. We’re no longer newbies and these days find ourselves answering questions for people seeking the same type of help we were when we started out.
Jennifer and I spend about half the year on the road. And as we’ve made our way all across North America checking off our bucket list of “must visit” parks and places, we’ve realized that the list never shrinks. It only grows as we hear about new places.
Five years is not a long time, of course. But we’ve noticed some changes. Following are the five things we think are the most different today as compared with when we began RVing.
1. Technology. The need to keep the two house batteries on our first motorhome charged meant that except for a few hours, we needed to be tethered to electricity if we expected to use all our appliances, such as the microwave and the air conditioner. Yes, we had a generator. But we didn’t like to run it for more than a few minutes because of the noise.
Now, thanks to a rooftop of solar panels that constantly charge a large bank of lithium-ion batteries on our Roadtrek motorhome, we are basically energy independent. This has opened up the whole continent to us. We can boondock pretty much anywhere, and for as long as we want.
2. The internet. When we started out, I thought I had retired from a life in the media. I had no idea that this RV lifestyle would become my new job. But it has, what with the Roadtreking blog and podcast Jennifer and I do each week. It doesn’t feel like a job, of course, because I love it so much. And the now-universal availability and reliability of 4G LTE internet connectivity means I can post my stories, podcasts, photos, and videos and answer email from anywhere. I use a Verizon MiFi data card that provides us our personal Wi-Fi network in our motorhome, along with a cellular booster with an external antenna, and have never missed a deadline.
The first year or so, there were vast stretches of the United States where I couldn’t get online. Now, connectivity is just a given.
3. Communications. That’s the other thing that has changed as it relates to the internet. During the past couple of months, Jennifer and I have started to host live video feeds broadcast via Facebook. We do this with our smartphone, and the quality is amazing. Not only can we show and tell about the areas we’re visiting, but users can post comments and questions that we see in real time and can answer live.
Five years ago, I would never have imagined that such a means of connecting and communicating with an audience would exist. In my TV broadcast journalism days, it took a microwave truck with a 40-foot mast or a satellite truck with a huge dish and a whole bunch of support people to manage a “live shot.” Now, it can all be done on my smartphone, and our audience can watch and interact with us via their smartphones. Anywhere. Anytime. Amazing.
4. Community and friends. Common interests bring people together. I guess I always knew that, but it wasn’t until we embraced the RV lifestyle that I realized how many wonderful people there really are out there. When you listen to talk radio and watch cable TV news, you develop a pretty depressing picture of a nation of people who are polarized, bitterly divided, angry, rude, and intolerant.
But when you go out across the country, slow down, meet people in campgrounds, parks, and small towns and really get to know them, you realize that the world actually is full of nice people.
Our circle of friends has mushroomed. And they are all so different. We have met fellow RVers in red states and blue states, from very diverse religious, political, and lifestyle persuasions, and have never had an unpleasant encounter. We’ve found that Americans are not nearly as polarized as the pundits depict us. We’ve learned a lot from all those we’ve met and are now part of a very diverse and vibrant community of friends.
5. RVing is now an “in” thing. Over the past two years, we’ve noticed a lot of new RVers. A whole genre of RV and travel blogs, TV shows, and major media coverage is now devoted to the romance, adventure, and fun of RVing. We’re seeing more communities embracing and warmly welcoming RV travelers, and we’re noticing younger people out there. Several times in the past year we’ve run across whole families on the road, with the kids being home-schooled in the RV. This is more than a pastime. It’s a major trend.
We had no idea how our lives would change when we began this adventure nearly five years ago. We can’t wait to see what the next five will bring.
See you out there!