After thorough research and planning, one couple became full-time RVers, enjoying many travel experiences — but also facing unwelcome news.
By Larry Q. Allen, F477689
It was Mary’s idea.
My wife and I were sitting at the airport in Fairbanks, Alaska, returning home after a two-week cruise/tour. We were celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary. She turned to me and said, “When we retire, we should live and travel
full-time in an RV.” We didn’t even own an RV, but I was in.
Larry and Mary visited the Great Mississippi Tea Company near Brookhaven, Mississippi.
We had been planning to buy one for a while, but hadn’t acted on it. We were longtime campers, though. We celebrated our first anniversary in a pup tent. When our two girls were growing up, we owned a series of pop-ups. When the last pop-up was sold, the plan was to get an RV. Now we had a reason to do it.
I began researching full-time RV living. I read everything I could find on the subject, listened to podcasts, and watched YouTube channels. We started figuring out what kind of RV would be best for us. Ultimately, we decided on a 27-foot fifth wheel.
Two years before retiring, we sold our house. This was step one of the drastic downsizing necessary for us to become full-time RVers. We rented a one-bedroom apartment, thinking that might help us learn to live smaller. It did help, but that apartment was palatial compared to our fifth wheel.
One of the things I learned in my research was the benefit of belonging to an RV owners group. I discovered a club primarily for full-timers, so we joined that one. I also had seen the oval plates proudly displaying Family Motor Coach Association member numbers on the backs of motorhomes as we traveled. But we couldn’t join that organization, as FRVA was called then, because motor-home ownership was required, and our RV was a towable.
I was excited to learn when FMCA opened its membership to towables, and I joined right away. I wanted one of those plaques to put on our RV. When we were ready to hit the road, there it was: member number F477689 shining on the
back of my RV.
The Allens traveled west with their youngest daughter and her family, where they explored Mount Rushmore.
A whirlwind of travel. Upon my retirement in the fall of 2019, Mary and I began living and traveling full-time in our RV. That first year was quite an adventure. We camped on the shores of Lake Superior and the Gulf of Mexico. We traveled from the Atlantic coast as far west as Devils Tower in Wyoming. In those 12 months, we camped in 28 states.
We first headed to South Dakota to establish residency there. We had already acquired a mail service in Sioux Falls. It was surprisingly easy to get a driver’s license and register our vehicles in South Dakota. But it was already November, and time to head south.
Our first major stop was Savannah, Georgia. While we enjoyed this beautiful and historic city, we camped nearby at Fort McAllister State Park. We spent the first half of December at a campground in the Fort Pickens area within Gulf Islands National Seashore. Our site was right on the Intracoastal Waterway, just across from Pensacola, Florida, not far
from Pensacola Beach.
That first winter on the road, we stayed at the Rainbow Plantation campground in Summerdale, Alabama. Then spring brought COVID, which threw a wrench into our plans. But we were able to continue our traveling to see our youngest daughter in Minnesota.
Along the way north, we discovered one of our favorite stops: the Great Mississippi Tea Company, outside of Brookhaven, Mississippi. We stepped right out of our RV into a tea field. We were given a tour of the property, saw the tea processing area, and received tea samples before we left.
We planned to head west to the Black Hills when we left Minnesota. Because of COVID, our grandkids were out of school and our son-in-law was off work, so they joined us. We made the most of our time while in South Dakota. We visited the Corn Palace in Mitchell, boondocked at a spot overlooking the Badlands, had breakfast at Wall Drug, visited Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial, and did so much more. It was my highlight of that first year of RV travel.
The remainder of the summer saw us traveling all over the country. We spent 10 days boondocking outside Theodore Roosevelt National Park, a week in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and a week at the Jersey Shore with our oldest daughter and her in-laws. We then visited the Gettysburg and Antietam battlefields and finally arrived in Michigan for a few weeks
of camping before heading south for the winter — settling in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas.
The Allens explore Devils Tower.
The unexpected occurs. As a retired chaplain, I planned to serve Christian Resort Ministries in an RV resort for the winter. But shortly after arriving in Texas, I began to lose my energy and appetite. It grew progressively worse, and Mary finally took me to the emergency room. After several tests, I was diagnosed with advanced liver failure. Within two weeks, I also experienced acute kidney failure. I was in real trouble, and the Texas doctors didn’t offer much hope. We decided to return to Michigan, where we lived before retirement. There we had family and friends who could help my wife when I died.
When we joined FMCA/FRVA, I did not know about the association’s Medical & Travel Assist program, which is included in every membership. I later read an article about it in Family RVing magazine, so I had my daughter call and check on the help they might be able to provide. The Medical & Travel Assist team immediately began to follow my condition.
Larry, a retired chaplain, has continued his ministry at RV communities in Texas and Wisconsin.
On December 27, 2020, we received an email from the assistance coordinator affirming that they had opened my case. The goal was to get me strong enough to travel when my doctors decided I was ready. We gave the Medical & Travel Assist team access to my medical records and permission to discuss my condition with the medical team in Texas. Over the next several days, they stayed in contact with my daughter, keeping her informed and encouraged about my ability to travel.
On January 11, 2021, it was decided that I finally could travel. The next day, we returned to Michigan. Blake, the nurse who would accompany me, came to the hospital and met with my medical team and my family. I was taken by ambulance from the hospital in Harlingen, Texas, to the airport, where Blake joined us for the journey to Michigan. Upon arriving in Detroit, I was taken by ambulance to a rehab facility about an hour away. In the meantime, a gentleman drove our RV from Texas to Michigan.
My wife and daughter said that the Medical & Travel Assist team was amazing. They took care of everything for us. Finally, we were surrounded by family and friends.
But the story was far from over.
In the weeks to come, my condition declined rapidly. I came down with COVID and later had surgery to stop internal bleeding. I was very near death. Thankfully, on March 5 and 6, I received a double liver and kidney transplant. I had only been on the transplant lists for a few hours before learning they had found my new organs!
The next chapter. It was a long and difficult recovery. But 13 months after the surgery, Mary and I hit the road again.
These days, I am a huge advocate of Family RV Association. Every time I meet RVers, I ask them if they are FRVA members. If they are not, I urge them to join, because FRVA played a huge part in my life-saving journey.
The FRVA Medical & Travel Assist program provides emergency medical evacuation and repatriation coverage and is included in every Family RV Association membership. Learn more about the program at frva.com/med-travel-assist.
RVers can learn more about Larry Q. Allen’s experiences in his book An Unexpected Journey, which is available on Amazon and from larryqallen.com.