RV LIFE Podcast
The RV LIFE Podcast, created by one of the premier companies in the RV industry, is for the RV Community with a mission to Educate, Entertain and Explore the RV Lifestyle. The Podcast will explore all things RV Life: living, working, exploring, learning. With hosts Dan & Patti Hunt, full time RVers, content creators, educators and explorers.
RV LIFE Podcast
Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zones
Have you ever been scared to death, to do something, but did it anyway?
Getting out of your comfort zone is about facing what scares you. Our guests today have stepped out of their comfort zone and have some great advice for our listeners.
Jim Nelson & Rene Agredano have been RVing for 16 years, today they talk about how to step out of your comfort zone, “Be More Dog”, achieve “Income Anywhere” and “LiveWorkDream” to a more fulfilling life.
Jim & Rene are offering the first 5 RV LIFE Podcast listeners a FREE copy of their e-book “Income Anywhere” which teaches how to Full-time RV and Support Your Nomadic Lifestyle
Coupon Code: RVLIFE
https://liveworkdream.com/income
If code does not work, all coupons have been used. Offer expires August 1, 2023.
Episode Information and Links
Live. Work. Dream.
Full-time RVing and Workamping Tips Since 2007
https://liveworkdream.com
@LiveWorkDream
Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter
The RV Life Entrepreneur Podcast
https://therventrepreneur.com/
Project M Truck Camper
https://fourwheelcampers.com/model/project-m/
Workampers Facebook Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/weloveworkamping
Be More Dog: Learning to Live in the Now
Enjoying Every Day to the Fullest on the Road to Happiness
https://bemoredog.net
Tripawds Pet Amputation Resources
https://tripawds.com
Tripawds Foundation Assistance Programs
https://tripawds.org
Books mentioned
The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter
The Richest Man in Babylon by George S Clason
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Have you ever thought about doing something that was out of your comfort zone? You're listening to the RV live podcast. I'm Dan Hunt with my incredible wife, patty Hunt, and today's guest has decided to step way out of their comfort zone. They're going to Alaska in the winter to live there and they're going in their RV, and we'll be talking all about that today.
Speaker 2:It was definitely a step out of our comfort zone when we decided to sell everything and go full time in our RV over two and a half years ago and it's still a little uncomfortable at times, but I wouldn't change it for the world.
Speaker 1:I wouldn't change it for the world. It's been an adventure. It's been the adventure of a lifetime and I am so glad that we have done everything that we have done, including starting the RV live podcast. where this is June and June is June giveaway month, we have set up a giveaway and all you have to do is click the link about the June giveaway, put your email address in so we can contact you when you win, and that's all you have to do. It is going to be so much fun.
Speaker 2:It's going to be a huge giveaway $400 worth of goodies to go glamping. So whether you're just in your backyard or you're going camping, you've got to sign up. The information is in the show notes Now today, Dan and I are in Virginia and if you listen to last week's show, we are updating our RV and we talked about couches and we did get the couches in.
Speaker 1:Oh, my goodness, it looks so good. You will not recognize our RV, our RV. I can say that five times fast. It is just so beautiful. We put these new laminate wood floors in. We have brand new TV theater seating couches.
Speaker 2:You can't even describe it. It's so exciting, indescribable.
Speaker 1:And you know, patty came up with this great idea to take the dining room table out, rotate it around, so when we're sitting at the dining room table we're actually looking out the window at the beautiful landscapes that are on the passenger side of our RV And I have to say that twice in one paragraph. But it's a live wood table, and they called us the other day. It said that it's got its first coat of finish on. It'll be done later this week. I'm so excited I can't stand it. I'm looking for this. I've been waiting so long for this. It is just incredible. We didn't go out and buy a new RV, we just took everything in the RV out and made a new RV. We've got a new refrigerator, we've got a brand new king size bed, we've got theater seating, we've got new floors. We put new lights all the way down the middle of the RV and we got rid of those ugly, ugly lights that are on the wall. What do they call those?
Speaker 2:Sconces the wall sconces. Now for those of you who haven't listened, first of all, listen to last week's show, where we talk about whether we one did an update or upgrade, and you could hear all about the fact that we have a 2002 Monaco. So it is an older unit, so there's a lot of things that certainly needed updating. But now let's talk about comfort zone For us. We're not going to be going to Alaska, right?
Speaker 1:Maybe in the summertime.
Speaker 2:In the summer, but not in the winter.
Speaker 1:And you know, anywhere we go, we take our glamping stuff with us. Thanks to Lito and Carol luxury in the outdoors. They're the sponsor of the giveaway this month And we are so excited about this giveaway. That dog collar and leash that lights up it's the coolest thing that I have ever ever seen. Now we don't have a dog anymore, but I wish we had this when we did have a dog, because it is really cool. And the table cloth. I'm not a table cloth guy, but I got to tell you I use those table cloths everywhere we go And anytime we set up to do the RV Life podcast, one of those table cloths is on the table that we set up on.
Speaker 2:They are just beautiful. They really are. We kind of looked at the products for Lito and we got two of these beautiful table cloths. And you know what, when we walk outside I just I don't know. It just makes me happy seeing the beautiful table cloth, the cups, the light. Anyway, go check out all the details in the link below. You do not want to miss this giveaway.
Speaker 1:You really do not want to miss this giveaway, because it is just incredible. Now we're going to move on here, and I guess that sound means it's time for today's fun fact. And today's fun fact is brought to you by Open Roads Resort for Amazing Campgrounds. Two of them are right outside of Yosemite and Yellowstone I'm sorry, yellowstone.
Speaker 2:We were just talking about Yosemite. These campgrounds are outside of Yellowstone and we cannot wait. They're amazing.
Speaker 1:Now one of them is in the heart of Texas, right outside of Dallas. That's a whole another story down there, But outside of Yellowstone I'm telling you some of the most beautiful country that I have ever been to in my life. The skies up there and the stars up there are like nothing you have ever, ever seen in your life. You want to take some time and get up there to where Open Roads Resorts are for just amazing campgrounds.
Speaker 2:Yes, Open Road Resorts And their information is also in the show notes. Chase the owner. one of the owners is offering a discount. Check out those details. But the fun fact today and this is kind of sad, i got to say the average age of retirement in the US is 61 years old according to a 2022 Gallup survey. 64 years old according to the US Census, so there's a little bit of difference there. but 61 or 64 is the average age of retirement. but the average age of life expectancy, or the average life expectancy in the US according to the CDC in 2022, is 77. That's the shortest in two decades And that only gives you about 16 or 13, somewhere between 16 and 13 years to enjoy life.
Speaker 2:That doesn't sound like good numbers.
Speaker 1:No, i don't think it sounds like good numbers at all, especially since I had a birthday last week And I'm there in my 60s now And they're telling me that I'm going to not be with us at 77, in just a few short years. Well, i'll tell you what. You know what? I listened to my parents and listened to my teachers and everybody talked about how great it's going to be in retirement. Well, quite frankly, i retired and I work harder today than I did when I was out shooting movies, because Patty and I have our own business where we have this podcast, we have a YouTube channel, we travel all over the country. Now, we love every minute of what we do and I have got to do some things and Patty has got to do some things that normal people just don't get to do. I got to drive a train. I mean, literally get behind the controls of a Southern Pacific train and drive it down the railroad tracks. How cool is that? You know I'm going back to flight school now and just about to pass my sport pilot and drone pilot license. It's called a Part 107. So I'm looking forward to doing that in the next week or so.
Speaker 1:Retirement I don't know, it's a little overrated. Yeah, everybody you talk about when you get there, when you get there. When you get there, well, guess what? I'm there Now. I'm not saying that I don't love life and I don't live every single day and have a good attitude every single day that we go out. You know the way we sign off every single show. Have a great rest of today and an even better day tomorrow. That's been a motto that I have used my entire life. Have a great rest of today and an even better day tomorrow. So, as good as you make things happen today, it's going to be even better tomorrow, and that's what I was looking for in retirement and that's what I guess I'm seeing. You know we're having a great time Now. We're a little bit grounded right now And it's because of this lifestyle that we can be grounded right now.
Speaker 1:Patty's mom is a little under the weather and we have been able to change our current thought and pull in here to Virginia where she lives and stay with her and help take care of her in this difficult time. So that's one of the great things about this lifestyle, and there's many, many more. Just keep listening to Patty and I and you will hear about all the great things about this lifestyle, because it is absolutely wonderful. And one of the greatest things about this lifestyle is the June giveaway month brought to you by Lito Luxury in the Outdoors. The link is in the show notes. All you have to do is hit the link, put your email address in and then we're going to send you an email and say congratulations, you won Yay. So we're really excited about that. We're also kind of excited about this Hershey event coming up. Patty, are we?
Speaker 2:Yes, you are really excited, and I guess the message here is, before we jump into the Hershey event, is start living today. One of our other sayings, and the reason we do the podcast, is to inspire people to live life fully. We're talking today about stepping out of your comfort zone, whatever that looks like for you. Now, if you are looking to get out and find something exciting to do September 14th, the Hershey big RV event is on Thursday. It starts Wednesday, actually September 13th, but on Thursday, september 14th, rv life is putting on an event. Again, all the details are in the show notes. There's food, there's drinks, there's entertainment and Dan and I will be hosting and giving away thousands of dollars. Literally, we have not added up all the prizes. One of the big prizes is a brand new electric bike and not one of those cheaper ones. You get a Costco. This is a $2,000 electric bike, along with other things that will be given away. The Hershey RV show you got to come. Come meet other RVers, listen to seminars, just join us for the fun.
Speaker 1:And the stuff. The stuff, yes, we're going to give away a lot of stuff And we're looking forward to giving away a lot of stuff because it's so much fun to be in an event like that. And last year we gave away one of the Jackery Generators and we gave away some tires. And now we have a brand new sponsor called Motorhome Tires and we're going to hit him up and see if he won't give away a couple tires.
Speaker 2:Really A couple tires.
Speaker 1:I'm not sure about that. Why not?
Speaker 2:We're not making promises, but stay tuned. We'll be posting some of those giveaways. Go to the link. Spaces limited and once we're sold out, we are sold out.
Speaker 1:This is going to be the event of Hershey. You want to get your ticket as soon as you can because it's going to be the event of Hershey. Everybody's going to be talking about it. We are so excited to be given a little bit of a budget to put this thing on. So go to the link, sign up, get your tickets. Get your tickets now. If you have a child, that's great. Bring your child.
Speaker 2:Kids under 12 or something 12 and under or free?
Speaker 1:Yes, Kids 12 and under are free. So bring your child, bring your kids, we'll have a lot of fun stuff to do. We have a great band there. They'll be entertaining us and doing some singalongs and all kinds of stuff like that. You might even get me to bring the mic out into the audience and let some of you guys show us how great your voices are.
Speaker 2:We'll see about that. But, we've got a great show coming up. It's all about getting out of your comfort zone.
Speaker 1:Let's go. You know, jim and Renee are just incredible people. We're going to bring them on with you in just a couple minutes. Now, when we did what we call our pre-interview, renee talked to Patty about this book called The Comfort Crisis And Patty went out and got it on audiobooks And it's just kind of Patty's and my thing. We listen to a book almost every night. We listen to a couple chapters of a book And you know we went through Comfort Crisis in pretty quick time.
Speaker 2:It was kind of a long book, so, yeah, pretty quick, but it is a little bit longer a book, so it I don't know. It took us a couple weeks maybe, maybe not that long. I can't keep track.
Speaker 1:Really, really interesting about this gentleman, a married gentleman that worked in an office and getting out of his comfort zone, going up to Alaska and going on a hunting trip with some of his hunting buddies And really, really, something kind of makes you look at the world and through a different set of glasses than what you look at every single day. So we really, really enjoyed that book And it's called The Comfort Crisis. You can get it on Audible because that's where we got it And not that we get any commission or anything for that, but you can get it on Audible.
Speaker 1:Jim and Renee clearly have listened to this book, and not only have they listened to it, they did something about it. They actually are going to get in their RV and go north. Young man, they're going to go north And they're not going to stop till they get to the snow. So you know that's great And that's what we're going to talk about all of that And you know we'll have a lot more coming up right after the break. This is the RV Life Podcast. I'm Dan Hunt with my incredible wife, patty Hunt, and we'll be back right after this.
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Speaker 1:National indoor RV centers. With over 1000 motor homes available across multiple locations, national indoor RV centers continues to provide an outstanding, hassle free motor home ownership experience. National indoor is the number one New Mar dealer in the nation and also features brands like Integra, winnebago and much more. Visit NIRVCcom and become a part of the national indoor RV centers family. This is the RV life podcast and in 2007, our guest today took the leap and they went full time with their dog, jerry, who had just lost a leg to cancer. They now live full time and work from their RV. They have adopted to the full time living and working from the roads of America and are stretching their limits yet again by planning a trip to live in Alaska for the winter That's right, i said the winter where the highs reach a balmy 30 degrees below zero every single day. Talk about getting out of your comfort zones.
Speaker 2:Welcome Renee and Jim to the RV life podcast.
Speaker 5:Hey, thanks, it's great to be here. It's an honor.
Speaker 6:Thank you.
Speaker 2:You're welcome. Today we're going to talk about stepping out of your comfort zone and facing your fear, and a process you guys went through to get there.
Speaker 1:Now we stepped out of our comfort zone, or Patty stepped out of her comfort zone. when we went full-time a little over two years ago, i think, patty's idea of camping was a holiday and express, so she had never really camped in her entire life and we are now full-time and loving each and every minute of it. How about you guys? Is it a? is it a? oh boy, we're here every day.
Speaker 6:It is After 16 years. it still is fantastic, and we've changed that comfort zone a number of times.
Speaker 5:I think that since we've been out here this long, if we didn't like it, we would have known pretty much within a year. I think most people decide whether or not the lifestyle is going to work for them in about 12 months, And for us it's been working out great. I wouldn't have it any other way right now.
Speaker 2:Okay, so what I'm hearing? I made a past a year. We're at about two and a half years, so I'm probably good to go for the long haul. Is that what you're saying?
Speaker 5:I would say so. You know, and in this lifestyle, plans are made in Jell-O, So long haul. For us it could be six months, for you It could be three months, it could be three years, you never know. You just kind of play it day to day when you live like this.
Speaker 1:That's a great term. Plans are made in Jell-O. We call it our current thought. So we don't make plans anymore, we have current thoughts. This is what we're doing today, tomorrow and the next day. And you say that plans are made in Jell-O because they're always wiggling around a little bit, but you know that's great. Now you guys had a normal life with normal jobs. Your writers, you're. Tell me about the day that one of you in our case it was me I sat us down at my office desk. Most people sit down at the kitchen table and say let's sell everything and let's buy an RV and go on the road and live on the roads of America. Tell me about that day, that day that that idea went from one of you to the other one. Whose idea was it, and was it a good idea?
Speaker 6:Oh, absolutely. And I'll never forget the day We talk about plans being made in Jell-O. We planned for a year off because our dog, jerry he was our chief fund officer of our business and he lost a leg to cancer. And we were growing a business and it was either grow or sell And it was all up in the air. And Renee sat me down one day and said I got an idea And I'm like, okay, let's hear it. And she said let's sell the business, let's sell the house, let's buy an RV, let's travel full time.
Speaker 6:And the idea was to plan a trip and budget for a year off and travel with Jerry. He had osteosarcoma, he was recovering from surgery and the prognosis was not good. But he ended up living two years. He was loving life on three legs as we traveled the whole country. We were just going to give him this great road trip of the lifetime to send him off, but he kept on hopping on And by the time we had reached the year point we were kind of burning through the budget and starting to tap into reserves. So at that point we discovered work camping and it kind of evolved from there as the little blog we started for tripods with the paw in the middle about amputee pets kind of evolved and became our full time labor of love.
Speaker 1:Now one of the questions that we ask all the time to people that are 10, 12, 15 years 16 years in your case into it. Close your eyes and think back to that first night and you pulled the covers up and it was a little bit colder than normal and the bed wasn't that normal cushy, big, you know coil spring bed that you had at home. Do you remember that first night and tell me what your thoughts were when you woke up or when you were going to sleep that night?
Speaker 5:The first night we spent in our RV was actually spent in the parking lot behind our home office. We had a building in downtown Eureka and we parked the trailer behind there. We slept in there that last night because the buyer was coming over the next morning to get the keys from us and take over. And yeah, i just remember thinking, wow, this is small, this is going to be really different, and I was trying not to make up too many, trying not to expect too much other than hey, let's go have a good time and see where this leads. But it was pretty daunting at first.
Speaker 6:And for me it was exciting. It was, yeah, we lived in 3700 square feet and we were going down to a 24 foot fifth wheel, but it was like camping, like I was reflecting on my childhood, when my dad would take us out in a rented RV, and it was like camping.
Speaker 2:Camping. But now the realization comes in that this is life, everything else is being sold and you're in this. So, renee, it was your idea, you had a little bit of concern that first night and Jim was like this is great, this is camping. It's kind of funny, it worked that way. Tell us a story about one of those rough times in the beginning. I think we all have had them.
Speaker 5:Oh my gosh, there's so many. I mean, I think that as full-timers, you go through a rough time at least once a week during the first year. Where should we start? Let's burning the brake cell. So we started in 2006.
Speaker 6:We hit the road in 2007, long before this glut of RV influencers out there telling people what to do and how to do. We were total noobs. I had never used a trailer or a brake controller and we had a new truck and a new camper And not long before we hit the mountains of Colorado we were burning up the brakes pretty good and we were getting frustrated and we actually ended up replacing all the rotors and disc brakes And after that we discovered to get the better type of controller we needed and how to actually use it and how to use gears downshifting. But in that we kind of understood that we had to get through it. We were stuck in this thing It's like there's nowhere to go and slam a door and hide from the other person and we had to get back in the truck together and we just made it work.
Speaker 5:The first realization I had that this was going to be challenging was we were about a week, maybe two weeks traveling around Northern California, brand new, And we went into a campground, a Forest Service campground. That looked really nice. Wow, that looks beautiful. It's right on a river, Let's just go in there. And we went for it and didn't even think about the tight turns or the low trees And within about five minutes we scraped up the awning pretty good, realized that we would be really lucky if we were going to get out of there in one piece, And we did. And after that it was like okay, we need to pay attention to these external factors of pulling a big box behind us. So every week there was something like that and I think we just stayed patient and patient with each other and made sure that we kept remembering. this is a learning experience and we're going to be better because of it.
Speaker 1:You know you've said it a couple of times now, but communication between each other while you're on the road is so important. I just think it's the key to this kind of lifestyle. How did you navigate that communication of having 3,700 square feet in a house to you know, 300 feet in this RV and you're on top of each other day and night. Whether you want to be or not, it's a transition, but I think for us anyway, the communication and be able to sit down and chat and talk things through is really, really important.
Speaker 6:We had already been working together as a couple running our own business for a good 10 years and through that, and we kind of took it on the road. We learned to do what you do best and designate the duties. Back in the day, when it was okay to say these things, Renee had her pink duties and I had my blue duties that we used to call them pink and blue duties but she would do things inside, preparing the rig to leave, and I would do things outside. I would end up doing the sewer type things and we just wouldn't get in each other's spaces and if we thought they might be doing their duties wrong, we just bite our tongue and that helped kind of delineate where the line is and get things done efficiently as a team.
Speaker 1:It really is teamwork and you know I love the pink and blue duties. Patty's got a lot of the blue duties in our job because she takes care of the sewer and she puts the car on the back of the RV, she hooks it up. that's her job and she's having a problem tough, but I love that concept of pink and blue duties.
Speaker 2:I think that it's about whatever works for individuals. It's funny because a lot of our listeners are newer and they're trying to learn what do I do and thankfully today, or at least from the time we've started moving forward, there is a lot more information than when you guys had it out there, you know. It's this whole idea of getting out of your comfort zone, doing something that is so for all of us, outside of what we ever would have thought we'd be doing, and then figuring out how to navigate it. And again, i think it's about finding what works where, like Dan said, i do a lot of the blue duties and he does some of the pink duties. I don't think it's even, but we've found a way to what would be something and making this decision. What would you tell our listeners about what to consider before they get on the road, or they just got on the road? What's a tip you'd give?
Speaker 5:I think there has to be goals in mind. What do you want to get out of this experience? Not necessarily where do you want to go, but why are you doing it?
Speaker 6:It's very important to understand that those goals often aren't met and things do change like the plans made in Jello type of concept. It's important to know on the road that leap happens and it can change you and take you down a different route, whether it's metaphysically or mentally or physically. You got to be prepared.
Speaker 1:If you had RV Trip Wizard, you'd know what route you were going all the time with your RV and it would be RV safe.
Speaker 6:If only that worked with the sponsors of the.
Speaker 1:RV Life Podcast. How prepared were you That first day going out? it's like I got everything I got me, i got the dog, i got all my clothes, let's go But how prepared were you really when you hit the road?
Speaker 5:When you're new and you think you know everything, you don't know how unprepared you really are. Growing up with parents who always had RVs, i could see that my dad was really holding back every time he tried to give us advice. He would stop himself because he's like hey, they just got to figure it out. I would say we were less prepared than we thought we were, but that was something we wouldn't discover until the leap happened on the road.
Speaker 6:And I think Renee is being modest because she had planned and prepared for a good six months. We had spreadsheets and whiteboards and post-its, we had satellite internet, we were getting solar installed. We were prepared until that leap happened.
Speaker 5:Logistically prepared. We were emotionally prepared for the unexpected. That's a whole other ball game.
Speaker 6:And I think one of the most important logistics that we weren't prepared for is we had a loan on our RV and we hit the road, quitting our nine to five and selling our business and budgeting for a year off. But it was a good six, seven months in when we met a family on the road who handed a copy of Dave Ramsey's book and we decided debt is dumb. We have the capabilities here to do this lifestyle debt free, and that became one of our top rules and suggestions for anyone doing this. Being debt free and having a budget and sticking to it is very important because when that bleep happened and recently it did we had to spend $8,000 plus dollars on a new transmission. You're prepared, one way or another, to get through that together.
Speaker 2:I love that because I think, for the most part, for me, you know, it's about feeding fear, not having enough money, fear of the debt that you accumulate, all of those things, fear of what will happen when we go out on the road in an RV. I mean, i know, i thought about it. I certainly had some fears around it. I think that's what stops people For me. I was a high school teacher. I had, you know, this whole lifelong plan of being a teacher, forever retiring and then enjoying life, so jumping out of my comfort zone and into we created our own business many years ago. definitely a leap of faith. And you do have to get past that fear and you hit on it. I think money is the biggest, biggest one out there. So it's what do you do to get past that and get over that? You kind of talked a little bit about that. How do you, what do you suggest to people to get past that so they can live the life they want?
Speaker 5:I think first you have to remember that money fears will happen, no matter where you live. If you live in a stick house or in an RV, you're always going to be worried about not having enough money. There's just there, never seems to be enough, no matter how much you make or how little you make, or and houses can float away, just like an RV can, as we're finding out in this era. So those risks of your stability, the foundations of what you think is your life, all of that can disappear in a heartbeat, it doesn't matter where you live. So I think you have to accept that.
Speaker 5:And then the second thing to get over those fears, i think for me it was just learning how to proactively budget instead of retroactively looking back and seeing what we spent. One of the biggest impacts that I've had that has been had on my life is it's called You Need a Budget, and I heard you talking to two women about it earlier on one of your podcasts. It's called YNAB and it is amazing and it will teach you how to manage your money like nothing else can. That alone has given me peace of mind at night to know where our money is going to go, what it's doing and where it shouldn't go. So for me, that was what gave me peace of mind.
Speaker 6:You know we're mentioning all sorts of books and apps, So I'll just mention one that helped us address those the fear concept in general, And that's fear vana, by actually nonevante nonevante I believe it is And it really comes down to embracing your fears, combining fear and nirvana and getting through them, because, honestly, I do believe the only way we can grow as ourselves and our business, etc. Is to work through those fears rather than run from them.
Speaker 5:And there's one more thing I want to add to that, i think also surrounding yourself with people who are living the lifestyle that you're aspiring to. Way before we hit the road, we met a man named Ted Simon and he had ridden his motorcycle around the world back in the 70s And back then it was like this monumental feat because there was no internet, there was no cell phones, there was nothing. He just went for it And we met him when he was 70. He did it when he was about 40. And I asked him like weren't you scared? What did you do about health insurance? I was just asking him all these questions and he's like man, i just did it And he was there to talk about it. He was still alive and still riding a motorcycle And I just I started looking at people like that, going what's to be afraid of?
Speaker 5:if you don't follow your passions and live the life you want to live, you're going to regret it. Today we're just open to meeting people who are living differently and trying to look at them and go well, how do they do it? We met a full-time couple, nancy and Larry. They had been full-timing as long as we have when we met them and we were brand new And they were like, yeah, we just work and live in RV and move around. And to me back then, 16 years on, the road sounded insane And I thought, you know, if they could do it, we could do it, why not?
Speaker 2:I'd love that, and for us it's probably been about 12 years ago. For us, life just seemed like it was not working, nothing was working out well And the idea of doing something else quitting my job. We've done a lot of I'm going to call it mindset stuff to get us out of that comfort zone, to help us face that fear, because you find people that live in fear constantly so they never do anything. And for us it was really important. And I think when we did decide to go out in the RV, dan had said to me hey, let's sell everything and go in the RV. I literally started laughing because I thought he was joking, and so I was like okay, well, what's this going to look like? Why would we do it, how? And as we talked about it, like, all right, what do I have to lose? What the heck? I really was able to get past the fear, and it's like you said. It's not that it doesn't exist. You just look to the bigger picture. You hang around people with the same mindset.
Speaker 2:Now, renee, when you and I spoke, we spoke about the book Comfort Crisis, which Dan and I have listened to. Was that helpful in leading you down this road of? now you're talking about going to Alaska in the winter. Yeah, actually.
Speaker 5:I started reading it RV in.
Speaker 1:Alaska in the winter.
Speaker 6:So we'll clarify that.
Speaker 5:Yeah, Oh yeah. No, we are not living in an RV in Alaska in winter.
Speaker 6:That we no, no, no, So explain.
Speaker 5:No, we have friends who are dog mushers. We've known them for many years And I always admired how they would go north instead of south. In the winter They would leave their place in the mountains outside of Denver, take their 20 Huskies and go north to Alaska to do what they loved most, which is race their team, have fun, meet other mushers And I'd always wanted to do it. And then I read the Comfort Crisis, where he talks about you know, we live in this situation where everything is air conditioned, everything is completely comfortable, we have cell phones, we have electronics at our disposal. We have so much. We are never uncomfortable to the point where we're pushing ourselves physically or mentally.
Speaker 5:And I thought, you know, i think we had kind of fallen into that. We go and we winter at this lovely resort in the desert where we hook up and we soak in hot tubs all winter And it's great. But it's been the same for the last few years. And I read the Comfort Crisis and thought you know, we need to push ourselves. Well, what's the best way to do that? Well, i've always wanted to go to Alaska in winter. How about you, jim? And he thought I was nuts.
Speaker 6:But even prior to this I've often said comfort is overrated, because I believe it's really important to become comfortable with being uncomfortable If we're going to get through those times and be ready for those hard times and what we found ourselves that Renee's getting to. We found ourselves getting uncomfortable with being comfortable. So she threw us for another loop and said let's go to Alaska. I said I'm not taking my RV up there because we went up there previously in our fifth wheel and beat the heck out of it. We lost a leaf spring, We lost the multiple tires, The windows are all pockmarked And we're going to take stuff since we're going to rent a place for winter And it's going to take a couple of months to get up and a couple of months to get back if we do it camping wise.
Speaker 6:And that's when Renee discovered the Project M. It's a truck topper camper, because I thought we needed a shell for the truck just to keep the stuff that we're taking cozy and dry. And this is basically a storage shell with a bed and solar power and a battery bank and and and so it's getting uncomfortable in a comfortable way.
Speaker 1:That is incredible, and I was going to say we're going to talk about going to Alaska after the break. That's how I was going to take us out to break, but we've already talked about going to Alaska, so we are going to continue talking about Alaska and the things that you guys have decided to do right after this.
Speaker 2:When traveling in your RV. How do you navigate? Do you use a paper map, a GPS, or do you use Google Maps? Our sponsor, rv Trip Wizard, has the solution and it just works.
Speaker 1:It just works. We do not move one inch without first consulting RV Trip Wizard.
Speaker 2:And Jim and Renee, those first days, weeks, months out in your trailer would have been helpful to have RV Trip Wizard So you wouldn't scratch the awning off. I believe you said It is a great product, that we literally don't go anywhere without it.
Speaker 1:We really don't go anywhere without it. And you talked about living with a budget. I know that we had Beth and Court on a few weeks ago or a month ago or so And they talked about the budget and living on a budget. I think it's really a movement of living debt-free and location independent And that's kind of your key or your turn location independent, running your business wherever you are. But living debt-free is really really important. One of the things that we learned and it probably doesn't have a lot to do with RVing, but just in life in general from a great book about Babylon. What's the name of the book? The Richest Man in Babylon, the Richest Man in Babylon, and he talks in that book about paying yourself first. Pay yourself 10% of whatever you make and put it away and then have that money work for you. Don't let it sit in the savings account at 2% or whatever you get each month for it 0.2%.
Speaker 1:Use that money to make more money. Make sure that you pay yourself first, which was a great great concept and something that we've been doing for quite a while, But talk a little bit about the attitude of living debt-free and being location independent.
Speaker 6:You know, it was, I think, 2011 or something. This was long before the digital nomad craze. Cnn reached out to us or CNBC for their website, And they put a thing up there and interviewed me And I called ourselves location independent entrepreneurs, because that's what we were And that's why I'm excited to take on being a host at the RV Life Entrepreneur podcast coming soon more about that later. But we'd also talked about doing what you do best, And this is Renee's realm, So she's the CFO in our company and the planner and the budgeter, So I'll let her address that.
Speaker 5:You know it's just living within your means, That's all it is. It doesn't matter if you're an entrepreneur or you're a work camper, going from job to job, living within your means, knowing that sometimes you have to pass up on some of these great entertainment options concerts, different venues, things like that because it's not in the budget. And if you want this lifestyle to continue me personally, I think the only way to do it is to do it without having a huge credit card bill hanging over your head and not being able to sleep at night wondering how you're going to pay for it. I know it's really hard for a lot of people, especially right now, to stay out of debt, But, God, the more you can strive to get there, the happier that you're going to be in the long run.
Speaker 6:If I could real quick. I run a work campers group with 100,000 plus work campers that run the gamut of people you know, van dwellers to full-time RVers in their big rigs, and oftentimes you'll see someone you know living out of the van who might say oh well, you must be lucky or you must be rich. How do you do it? And it's all. It's not necessarily a debt problem, it's an income problem. I mean, all you need to do is make more money than you spend And that turns into the budget which you've got to create and follow. And I say that's all you have to do. I know that's difficult, but it comes down to income not facing your debt necessarily. So what we learned early on is to develop multiple revenue streams, and that's how we've grown one to kind of support us and have other irons in the fire And when they glow you blow on them.
Speaker 1:That is great advice and it's great life advice. So it is a great thing to do And you know you talk about going out to a concert or seeing something. That's like having a second mortgage. I just celebrated a birthday and we were looking at going to a concert or a show here in the what we're in the Washington DC area right now And it literally was a mortgage payment just for the two of us to go to a concert and or a show that night of my birthday. It was extremely expensive at best, extremely expensive.
Speaker 6:And the way Renee explains it to me, since she does this stuff with YNAB the you need a budget thing. it's like you have your different buckets and you've got your money in your bucket And so well, we have this money and we have it in different accounts, but she creates buckets and one bucket is for concerts and excursions and another bucket is for trucks.
Speaker 5:Getting back to the whole couples communication thing, you know, the other night it was a long day and Jim said, well, let's just order out. And I looked at him and said are you kidding me? Money fall from the sky What?
Speaker 2:Do you know what?
Speaker 5:And that's my fault, because I didn't communicate to him that there was no money in the eating out budget In that bucket. So communication But like the transmission.
Speaker 6:You know we had a bucket for repairs and such, but when you have an expense of eight plus dollars, you start compiling your buckets.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And that's another thing, being an RV or whether you're full-time or not. It's having that emergency bucket that, for an RV, may be bigger, i don't know, i guess it's about the same as a house actually, you know, having that emergency bucket. But I do love what you said.
Speaker 2:Fear of money had always been a thing for me And I've learned not only the budgeting side of it, but how do we bring more money in? What do we do to make more money? And, you know, getting out of my comfort zone for me, and not living in the fear of, well, i have to do anything and everything to make money. We just got to the point where we only do what we love, whether it's video for our YouTube channel, we were doing video just to do video. No, it's got to be something. We love, the podcast. We have to love what we're doing, love the guests we have on, and that, i believe, is what makes the money come and the things that you want to do come through. So tell us a little bit about the other things you guys do. We touched a little bit, but while you're on the road, what kind of things do you do for work?
Speaker 5:Oh my gosh, How much time do you have? Our biggest problem as entrepreneurs has always been that we do too much. We try to spread ourselves too thin over multiple areas, which can be stressful at times, but it's also nice because you have these multiple revenue streams. I'm a writer, i also make jewelry and I manage a community for three-legged dogs and cats called Tripods, and that is the community that was inspired by our dog, jerry, who inspired our travels. And Jim, how about you?
Speaker 6:This is kind of the whole reason behind the first book we wrote, called Income Anywhere, where we talk about all these different revenue streams that we've developed and, more importantly, finding your purpose and fulfilling your dream.
Speaker 6:So not necessarily a passion for what you do Anyone can be passionate about making hummingbird feeders, but if you have a purpose to make the best hummingbird feeder for someone out there who loves hummingbirds, then you're going to do that to the best of your ability And if you do that, it's going to make money.
Speaker 6:So when we were on a podcast once about finding your purpose and us, for me personally it's to help others never feel lost and alone when their dog or cat is faced with amputation, like we did when Jerry lost his leg. So we created a community And next thing you know, we had a chat room and then we had discussion forums And then we started selling assistive devices And as our viewers we developed dropship relationships. And then we developed a podcast And then we all this content. We created information products. So sure this information is free on the website or you could pay a little bit of money and have all these answers in your inbox within seconds. So it's all about finding the purpose and serving others, and then by doing that, the money will follow.
Speaker 1:And Jim, you know, you you slipped in there that you're going to be the host on our sister podcast, rv entrepreneur alert. Yeah, spoiler alert, you just kind of slipped it in there And we are really looking forward to you coming on to the RV Life team and being part of our family And it is, you know, a great extra form of income, if you want to say it that way. But you seem to be in natural at doing this. When I was looking at your guys bio, you have been on every podcast and their brothers out there, so why not have your own right?
Speaker 6:Well, thank you. It is an honor to join an amazing team of RV Life entrepreneurs, because that podcast is about entrepreneurship by RVers, for RVers, like everyone has, has some sort of RV life and they're all entrepreneurs in some way. So it's an honor to be joining that team and taking it further and possibly doing summits again.
Speaker 1:Now you're still going to be writing and stuff like that as well, right?
Speaker 6:Yeah, so I write for Live Work Dream primarily LiveWorkDreamcom, and Renee writes for tripods and interviews oncologists and orthopedic surgeons And together we run that community. But she also is a writer by trade and writes for RV Life magazine, escapies magazine, amplitude, human, mpt Magazine, National Parks, traveler all sorts of outlets.
Speaker 2:There is a lot of information. I just want to throw something in here. Everything that was mentioned on this podcast will be in the show notes. So books and your writing, renee, you're going to store Jim, whoever's job that is you're going to send all that to me. I know our listeners are saying, wait, i got to remember that book or that website or places you write. We are going to put it all in the show notes so everybody can focus on listening and then look at the notes later.
Speaker 6:Thank you.
Speaker 1:One of the books that you guys wrote is Live Like a Dog and Love the Concept, just Love the Concept.
Speaker 6:So we wrote a book Be More Dog Learning to.
Speaker 1:Live Like a Dog.
Speaker 6:And that was all about our first year or so on the road why we hit the road, coping with Jerry's amputation, and how we grew our niche community online at Tripodscom and how that became our labor of love. And then that's kind of about how we discovered we're camping. but the second book gets more into details about the nitty-gritty about how we do it. So Be More Dog is about the lessons we learned from Jerry that first year on the road which helped us through those difficult times.
Speaker 1:Well, dogs are all. As long as they've got somebody to scratch their belly and take them for a walk, they're happy all the time And I just I love that concept of that book. It's just absolutely Thank you.
Speaker 6:We learned a lot from them. You know being happy, being present, you know resilience, adaptability, all sorts of things. So, yeah, it's good to be more dug.
Speaker 1:But you know, for our listeners, if you haven't seen the book or haven't thought of that process, it's like you can be happy, just being. You don't need to have the next thing every single minute of every single day If you can be more like a dog boy. Dogs are just. They're just always happy. They're happy when you come home, they're happy when you go out there just happy little creatures Just love the dogs and love all the work that you're doing for your tripod community Just incredible.
Speaker 1:Now let's go back and talk a little bit about being on the road full time and this lifestyle of living and working on the road. You know, one of the things that I have noticed is, in the last few years that we have been on the road, i have been able to fulfill probably 10 of my bucket list items and just do things that other people don't get to do because I go to more places and do more things. So we just love this lifestyle for that. Do you guys see things the same way? Have you been able to go out and do things and see more things than when you lived at your home?
Speaker 6:So it's a fine line, because the best thing about being an RV entrepreneur is you get to make your own hours, and one of the most challenging things is you make your own hours. So to be successful at what you do, it takes time and effort and perseverance, and oftentimes you're in a beautiful place near a certain park and you may have meetings that day. Or it's a fine line. It's definitely a balance, but we have had meetings well, at the dump station. So it's just a matter of getting through these things and planning. You know your days, knowing that those plans may change.
Speaker 5:I think it's a huge challenge. when you are in a gorgeous place, you know you have to get work done and you have to just weigh your priorities. Life does get in the way, even in beautiful places, so it's just balancing them what you want to do, why you're there, what other people on board want to do if you travel with a family or pets even our pets play into how we experience locations. But yeah, to answer your question, there are so many things that we would not have done otherwise, just because we would have been in a routine that is very hard to break out of sometimes.
Speaker 2:I think it's all part of the work-life balance. That's kind of the way we see it, and we make sure that when we're scheduling, you have that to-do list and then I've learned to prioritize what has to get done today But for us, also scheduling time for us. So we're going to be in her she will talk about that a little more and we're going to work for seven straight days and then we make sure we plan time that is just ours No distractions, no work, just time for us. Do you talk about doing that? Is that something you kind of add into your busy schedules?
Speaker 6:So one thing that has really helped us with our live, work, dream, the whole balance you talked about the life and work is loving the work you do and living the dream while you work. So when you find your purpose and your work, like Renee often says, oh well, it's not really work. When she's spending three hours in our forums moderating and communicating with our community, it's not really work. But you know what it is because that is what we do. We provide content and it's the whole life work balance. If you find your purpose and fulfill it and pursue your passion, the work won't always feel so much like work.
Speaker 1:You know, those are words to live by, right there, just if you pursue your passion, work doesn't feel like work, because you love doing what you're doing every single day And talking about love doing what you're doing. June is my birthday month and I love getting presents, so we thought it would be a great month to have a giveaway. So this month, rv Life podcast has our June giveaway and we are giving away a glamping package from Lido, which is luxury in the outdoors. What a great company, carol, great woman, really doing great stuff out there. But we are giving away tablecloths and we're giving away this dog collar that lights up at night so you won't lose your little furry friend Or trip over their leash Or trip over their leash. It has these little LED lights in it Also lights for that table And your table outside when you camp full time. That is the middle of.
Speaker 1:It's funny I'm saying that because Carol, we're talking about Carol. She just texted me on the computer screen in front of me. But this is a great giveaway. All you have to do is go to the link in the notes of this show and you can sign up. All you have to do is put your name and email address in there so we can tell you when you win. We're going to be giving away a whole bunch of stuff, including an RV Life podcast coffee mug, which I love drinking my coffee of my RV Life coffee mug every single morning. Just a great month for a giveaway and we're really happy to be able to do that for our June giveaway month sponsored by LIDA, which is luxury in the outdoors. So treat yourself when you're outdoor. Don't go over your budget, but treat yourself when you're in the outdoors because it's worth it to get some of that stuff done.
Speaker 6:You know happy birthday. So what I? If you don't, we'll cut that and say happy birthday. And to join you on your giveaway, we're going to offer the first five listeners a free copy of Income Anywhere with coupon code RVLife at LiveWorkDreamcom Wow.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. And we did not know about this. We didn't expect it. Thank you so much. I wish I can sign up for that because I'd love to have it, but I'll just go buy it. I'll dip into that bucket, my budget bucket on education. So thank you. I appreciate that Education is so important. As I said, i was a high school teacher for 20 years, so obviously education is really important whether you're in high school or you're grown up. So thank you.
Speaker 1:We appreciate that. So let's talk about you guys a second here. You know you went full timing. You've had your ups, you've had your downs. Now you're taking it to the Superman level by deciding to go to Alaska in the winter and hang out there. What's next for you guys?
Speaker 5:Next, as far as going to Alaska or after Alaska.
Speaker 1:After Alaska.
Speaker 5:I'll answer that So.
Speaker 6:Renee had this idea to spend winter in Alaska. I said, OK, if you promise me, we're going to Mexico next winter. So with this new project M-Topper Camper we have it's the ideal scenario to get off road and to remote places and maybe camp on the beach. I had never wanted to really take my fifth wheel down to Mexico and I'm never going to take it up to Alaska again. So this thing's really going to let us build it out the way we want and get back to our roots as true campers.
Speaker 1:Well, jim, from your roots as a real camper, I hear from a reliable source that we have interviewed that NASA has a used RV up on the moon and they're looking to sell that thing and reach out to people who are adventure lovers, and it sounds like that's something that you guys would love to get into.
Speaker 6:We'll add it to the list. It is a very long list of things to do.
Speaker 2:Way out of your comfort zone, right. There you go.
Speaker 1:Hey, you don't have pink suits and blue suits up there, they're all white suits, that's right. Okay, well, you know we've talked about a lot of things and thank you so much for putting that copy of the book out to the listeners. You'll have full information on how to get that in the show notes below, and if you want to reach us, you can always reach us on social media. We have the RV live podcast Facebook page. We have the RV live podcast Instagram page. We're on all the social media so you can get a hold of us there. Patty reads and responds to every single message that comes through.
Speaker 2:I do. That is my job to read or respond. But, renee and Jim, how can people get a hold of you? Why don't you tell our listeners that again, it'll be in the show notes?
Speaker 5:Sure Well, you can find us at Live Work Dream all one word. We're on Facebook, instagram, our website, liveworkdreamcom. That's probably the easiest way.
Speaker 2:Okay, that's easy enough. Live, work, dream, And again it'll be in the show notes.
Speaker 1:So you don't want to put your phone number out there, huh.
Speaker 6:No, but we also manage the Work Camper's Facebook group. on Facebook That's more than 100,000 work campers out there and we've been work camping and providing ways to work while camping in that group. So on Facebook we can also be found at the Work Camper's group or at the Work Dream.
Speaker 1:And I think that is just so admirable. One of the biggest questions that we get all the time and suggestions can you do a show on work camping? Okay, we did a show on work camping, but you guys actually run the group, the Facebook group, for it. How great is that? Let's just change the being out of your comfort zone. Talking about being out of a comfort zone, we talk to the beat farmers and I think doing that, and we talk to somebody that actually spent a couple months up on a beat farm working as a work camper up on a beat farm. Tell me about some of the work camping experiences that you guys have had over the last 14 years or so.
Speaker 5:Sure, we started work camping our first year on the road once we realized that we wanted to continue the lifestyle. So we took on some jobs that were in similar businesses that we thought we might want to pursue in the future. So we thought, well, we want to run an animal sanctuary. Wouldn't that be great? So we worked at an animal rescue. We volunteered there and decided we are not cut out for animal rescue. Then we worked at a hot springs resort. It was awesome And we decided we didn't want to be resort owners.
Speaker 5:An organic farm We worked on an organic farm. That was really great, great experience. Didn't want to be farmers after that, so it was a nice little way to try on different occupations for a short amount of time, get some great benefits out of it and keep exploring to see what we wanted to do next.
Speaker 6:So we've done plenty of work camping jobs over the years, but the most common one is typically working at an RV park and either in the office and assisting people to their sites and such, and we've never done that. We've always kind of been on the edge of work camping. Our favorite was working on a ranch And we returned there nine out of the past 12 summers And I did ranch work and Renee worked in the office. Like we said, we've kind of done things on the outskirts of work camping. So if anyone's interested in learning what is out there beyond the traditional camp host type job, i would suggest heading on over to the workamper's group.
Speaker 2:Great suggestion. We are familiar with that group. We actually had Jennifer and Blake on that are part of work, work camping, work camping Is that how you say it Work? camping Work camping right, yes, no, c Okay.
Speaker 1:Well, i'll tell you what I admire you for being in the animal shelter, working in there, and you know, if I had a job like that, i would be bringing home a new family member every single night. It's really hard to do that kind of stuff, especially when you're out on the road like that too. So are you looking forward to going to Alaska? Are we regretting that decision a little bit?
Speaker 6:No, i am looking forward to it, and it's because I am a firm believer that you need to become comfortable with being uncomfortable. So I look forward to finding some uncomfortable situations and getting through them and discovering what it's like and checking it off the list.
Speaker 2:I definitely agree with you becoming comfortable, with being uncomfortable, but I got to tell you 30 below, i'm out. That is not. You know, we're listening to the book or thinking about the fact that you're going to Alaska in the winter and still no, still no, thank you. I will get uncomfortable with some other things. I'm not sure what that'll be, but yeah, that wouldn't be for me.
Speaker 6:So we'll have to get you on an update And that's why we're not living in our RV. in winter, in 30 below, We will be, you know, renting somewhere. but on the way up and back we're going to be camping along the way.
Speaker 1:Well, getting up there, the roads. I have talked to several people as I'm researching spending a summer up in Alaska. The roads getting up there have done a number to quite a few people's RVs, So be careful as you're driving up there. Those Canadian roads will get to you.
Speaker 6:Oh, we know, Just north of Destruction Bay in the Yukon we busted a leaf spring and I thought it was just a flat tire. But I got out there and noticed my brake fluid in the trailer all over the place and looked up and saw a busted leaf spring And that was a six hour tow back to Whitehorse. And this comes back to being prepared. We had roadside assistance, otherwise that would have been about a $5,000 tow truck drive.
Speaker 1:Wow, yes, being prepared is very, very important If you don't have assistance for your vehicle. We've had a few problems. You look over in our YouTube channel. We actually sunk. We were spending a week at a farm in the Pennsylvania area and it happened to rain about five inches that week and we sunk And trying to get us out, i tried to dig us out and I just made it worse. And then once we finally called the tow company, they sent a little teensy tow truck out for our 45,000 GBW RV and we broke that. It actually burnt the transmission out of that. So they sent the real thing out and it got us out in about two minutes. A real tow truck just boop right out. So being prepared, having the right insurance, having all of that taken care of, that's really really important.
Speaker 6:Oh for sure, and you spoke about Pennsylvania there for a minute. Aren't you heading back there for some event soon?
Speaker 1:We are. We're heading up to the Hershey RV show. We actually were just given a notice today that we are featured speakers at the Hershey RV show this year.
Speaker 2:So we're excited about that. Another spoiler alert, another spoiler alert I can't even say it, but you get it. Spoiler alert Yes, that event starts September 13th, so we'll be heading up there. We're looking forward to it.
Speaker 1:And we are also hosting the RV Life customer appreciation event Live event.
Speaker 1:Live event. So it's $15 per person. It includes your dinner and Pennsylvania wine and Pennsylvania beer. Just going to have a great time. We have the border hookups coming out as well, so they're just an incredible couple that live on the road as well And we are so looking forward to it. So, if you're going to be at the Hershey event, there is a link in the notes below to get your ticket for the RV Life Live event. I wanted to call it the Golden Ticket event, but they decided to call it the Live event. Patty and I will be hosting the event And we're going to have a great time. We're going to give away an electric bike and all kinds of other stuff. We have great prizes that we'll be giving away that night in the raffle thing. So we're really looking forward to it. And we were just told again that we will be the featured speakers at the Hershey RV event. So we are looking forward to going back for our second year now and being the featured speakers there.
Speaker 2:So we're looking forward to that as well. That's exciting. Yes, we're very excited about it, very excited Okay. Looking forward to getting up there, getting back to Pennsylvania That's where I'm from, so that'll be fun.
Speaker 1:Okay, i want to thank Jim and Renee coming in today and talking about getting out of your comfort zone and how you can get out of your comfort zone, what to do when you get out of that comfort zone. Plan and persevere is what I heard. Plan before you get out of that comfort zone, plan for it and stay with it. That'll be a great thing for you.
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Speaker 1:You're listening to the RV Life Podcast. I'm Dan Hunt, with my incredible wife, patty Hunt, your host for this podcast. And boy aren't they cool people. Renee and Jim I'm not even gonna try to say their last name, but I'll tell you what. Just some great, great people. Boy did I enjoy spending time with them today.
Speaker 2:It was such a great time. Now I had spoken to Renee beforehand and we were doing a pre-interview. That should have been about 30 minutes and we just chatted on and on. They're so in line with who we are and what we're about, And we talked about so many books today. Again, as many as possible I'll put in the show notes, but just some great reading. I love the way they think They were just awesome. It was a great interview, I thought.
Speaker 1:It was fun. I don't wanna say that we did a great interview.
Speaker 2:I'm not saying we did a great interview. I'm saying they were. How about that? They were a great interview. But you know what? We have social media RV Life podcast on Instagram and Facebook And we'd love to hear what you think. Where, jim and Renee, awesome. What did you learn? What did you take away from it? Have you ever stepped out of your comfort zone? Are you thinking about it? Just post in the on social media, either on Instagram or Facebook. We love to hear from our listeners And, as always, you could always private message. I answer every message that I get.
Speaker 1:That's how it means. It's time for Patrick Buchanan and the RV Life pro tip of the week.
Speaker 3:Seems simple enough, but when using a laptop or computer to plan trips with RV Life Trip Wizard, many folks don't realize that if they are using a mouse with a mouse wheel when creating trips, the mouse wheel can be used to zoom in and out of the map. This is typically easier than the plus and minus buttons on the map itself And for some it may even be easier than the touchpad on the laptop. Easy is better, so don't forget about that mouse wheel With your RV Life pro tip. I'm Pat Buchanan.
Speaker 2:Thank you, patrick Buchanan, for another great tip. Dan and I love to hear these tips because often we're learning something. We've been using the RV Life suite of products, rv Trip Wizard. Kim Krum reviews all of the products And when we listen to Patrick, we do learn something, even after two. what's it been like two and a half years that we've had it? So thank you, patrick. Thank you again.
Speaker 1:I've got a tip.
Speaker 2:What's your tip?
Speaker 1:It's June giveaway month, sponsored by Lugery in the Outdoors, And we got a Hershey event coming up. I'm so excited about these two things I love giving stuff away And our June giveaway month we get to give stuff away And the Hershey event we get to give stuff away there too. So we're just gonna give away a whole bunch of stuff.
Speaker 2:We love giving stuff away And again, after all this talk about getting out of your comfort zone, doing something that you wouldn't normally do, the Hershey event may be one of those things. For some of you, believe it or not, i'm a bit of an introvert, so when I was first starting to go to events, it was uncomfortable. The Hershey event is not just the place to go buy an RV. It's a place to hang out with other RVers. It's the place to meet people. Whether you have kids, whether you're single, a couple, it doesn't matter. But this event is one of the events of the year And RV Life Pro it's called RV Life Pro Live event, which is on September 14th, thursday, from six to 10. It is going to be the event of the year, so can I say that, or my?
Speaker 1:No, it really. Last year it was the event of the year. This year it's going to be the event of the year. Everybody's gonna want one of these tickets. This event will sell out. It did last year and we didn't promote it all that much. This year we're gonna promote the heck out of it. You'll wanna get your tickets early If you have kids kids 12 and under are free. Free. That's it free, and we'll give them something to do. They have a lot of stuff to do. There's food Pennsylvania Dutch beer. There's Pennsylvania wine.
Speaker 2:I don't know if it's Pennsylvania beer, I don't know it's draft beer. We don't really drink, as you can tell. But check out in the show notes, get all the details. There will be beer and wine. There will be a bar. If you want something stronger, you could purchase a stronger drink, But it will be a blast like it was last year And it will sell out Incredible food.
Speaker 2:It was. The food was great. This place is such a cool place. You know, when you walk in somewhere you wanna feel the vibe, you wanna feel welcome. It looked cool, it was a cool place. You've just gotta come check it out. So if you're staying in Hershey, if you're gonna be in the area, sign up. Dan and I I'm gonna give this away We'll be at the Hershey Thousand Trails. That's where we'll be staying.
Speaker 1:Come on over and stay with us. See us, we're welcome.
Speaker 2:That's stay with us. We've got, we've got.
Speaker 1:Hey, we just redid our RV. Come on over and get a tour of the brand new 2002 Monaco Diplomat that we have redone completely inside.
Speaker 2:I did not approve tours, but we'll have to talk about that one Anyway. so the book Comfort Crisis Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone again, i think it was a great interview because of Renee and Jim. I think they were awesome.
Speaker 1:Now Jim is so awesome that I am told a little secret. Somebody whispered in my ear that Jim is gonna be the host of our sister podcast. Now our sister podcast is called.
Speaker 2:RV Entrepreneur.
Speaker 1:RV Entrepreneur And they have different hosts every week. So I think they have three or four different hosts for the RV entrepreneur And Jim is going to be one of those hosts. So just a really cool guy. He's got a lot of cool things to say. There's even a link in the show notes down there for a book that he wrote Be More Dog. And what a great concept Be More Dog. Dogs are so happy all the time And they just. All you have to do to make them be happy happy is just scratch their little bellies and they're.
Speaker 2:Okay, then I love it.
Speaker 1:So Be More Dog. it's a book that you kind of wanna read by Jim and Renee, And I just really, really enjoyed them this week.
Speaker 2:Yes, And I have to say we truly enjoy the people that we interview. We truly have a great time. I mean, it's a shame the podcast doesn't last a couple of hours.
Speaker 1:Let's go back to the Hershey event. We could be more like Joe Grogan and just go on for four or five hours each show.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't think we're there yet.
Speaker 1:We can go back to the Hershey event for a second. We got a great group coming in to entertain us all night. They play guitars and they sing. It's called the border hookups right, The border hookups.
Speaker 2:Lots of people in the RV community know them Again. if you know the border hookups, if you're gonna be in Hershey, hit us up on our social media. Love to hear from you.
Speaker 1:Now we've already had people asking us how do we get tickets? Well, you get tickets by going to the show notes and there's a link right there. That's how you get your tickets. This event will be sold out. Please do not be left on the outside of this event. You're gonna wanna come to this event. We are going to have a blast, especially after walking around the Hershey RV show all day.
Speaker 1:We're all tired because we're just everywhere. You walk 25, 30 miles every single day at these shows. You're in and out of 25, 30, 50 RVs. So you're going upstairs and going back downstairs and you're going oh I love this one, oh, i hate this one, but you're in and out of them all day long. So you're just going, going, going. It's hot and the food at the RV show is expensive. You can go and get your $10 hot dog and $5 Coke, but at this event, food is included in the price of admission, as well as soda, wine, beer, all of that kind of stuff. You can't go out for that kind of money. It's a great deal and we're gonna have a great time with you there. You guys are the people that are gonna make this event as good as it's going to be. So that's back to the Hershey event.
Speaker 1:We do have the question of the week coming up. That'll be coming up in just a second or two But first I do want to talk about June giveaway. It's June giveaway month. We love giveaway, i love giving stuff away, and I'm gonna give away some of the coolest stuff, stuff that we use literally every day tablecloths, these cups, these. You know, they're the kind that stay hot and stay cold, and they keep your drinks hot and cold Every single day. I get a glass of orange juice with my vitamins in the orange juice every single day, and it takes me about a half an hour 45 minutes, but they stay cold the entire time as I'm drinking my vitamins every single morning.
Speaker 1:So you know it's just some of the coolest products in the world. I know Patty loves the lights that go on the table that just put out these great shadows and things, and the tablecloths are really, really high quality. They have these straps that go under the table. so, no matter what happens the wind blows, how many times has your tablecloth come off your table as you're outside at a campsite? It happened to me zillions of times. Well, guess what? It's never gonna happen again because these tablecloths are so cool.
Speaker 1:So anytime you see us doing the RV Live podcast, there is one of these Lido tablecloths on the table underneath all of our equipment. And anytime that you walk up to our campsite which we love when people come and say hi you will see that front yard and Carol, the owner of Luxury in the Outdoors. she says that the picnic table up front is the heart of your campsite And it really is. We sit out there and we talk to people and we listen to people And I gotta tell you this dog collar that she came up with. that lights up, it saves the dogs and makes sure that everybody can see them, and then the leash itself actually lights up and it's a real long heavy duty leash. So we have some bigger dogs like Tango, our Jim and Renee's dog. Jim and.
Speaker 1:Brandy, jim and Brandy's dog right Different. Jim, different Jim. But there are a thousand trails, friends, and Tango is a big dog and he'll pull you over. He's a big golden retriever And this thing is big enough and strong enough to hold Tango down. And I gotta tell you, we just love this stuff. It just, it makes our life so much better. Well, that sound means it's time for the question of the week.
Speaker 2:Today's question of the week is from a social media person, peggy, from Casper Wyoming. I'm not sure I even know where that is, but thank you, peggy, for giving me this question. And she wanted to know how many hours do people usually travel on their travel day? Great question. It's asked a lot.
Speaker 1:It really is asked a lot. Now we live by what we call the 333 rule Never drive more than 300 miles in any one given day, arrive to your location by 3 pm and stay for at least three days. We love this.
Speaker 2:It's a great rule but, as a lot of rules that we have, it often gets broken. I will be honest.
Speaker 2:So I just yes, it's just a very loose guidelines. There are those days Dan says, well, i wanna get to this next spot And we wanna go more than that 300 miles. But I think the big thing here is doing what's comfortable. We know people who will go. you're saying 300 miles, but we know people who will go for two hours, that's it, they're done. We know people that will drive all day, six, seven hours, stopping in between. So it is all about what's comfortable. but this 333 rule is a pretty good guideline to use And we like this day for at least three days.
Speaker 2:Our big thing is enjoy the journey. Don't try and hit you know five, six, seven places and just cram a lot in. And again, this is just the way we kind of decided to do things, because we were rushed, trying to see and do as much as we possibly could. We crammed so much in in a day or a week that we didn't have time to breathe. So now we've really do take the time to enjoy the journey, because the journey sometimes so much more exciting and fun than the actual destination.
Speaker 1:It really, really is Now. you know a lot of people have a lot of rules. We met somebody at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta who, no matter what, he travels on Sunday, if a Sunday comes he's driving And I don't know. he and I argued that one over for a little bit, but that's what he is comfortable with. He likes to move on Sundays, whether his wife's ready to go or not. He's moving that RV every single Sunday. And you know we have some friends, some of our mentors, as we got started RVing. you know he doesn't drive very far in a day at all. He might even add another three to the three, three, three rule and only drive, you know, three hours for that day.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Because he doesn't drive very far.
Speaker 2:Right, again, it's all about what works for you. So I'm often in groups and you know people talking about RVing and what their thoughts are and what should I do, how long should I drive, how far should I go, all of those kinds of questions And you really have to think about what works for you, the people that are with you. Communications important on this one, but again, it's just a little bit of a guideline here.
Speaker 1:Yes, just a little bit of a guideline. Three, three, three. We really really do like it. I think it's a good guideline for us. You know I'm okay driving 300 miles in a day.
Speaker 2:But there are days certainly there are days that we have gone less and we will. Sometimes you're more tired. You just wanna chill a little bit more and take it easy, And sometimes you wanna go a little further. Sometimes we have a deadline, like we are speaking in Hershey Now we're gonna plan so we don't have to hightail it there that we'll have enough time to get there. But you know, sometimes those deadlines have caused us to go a little faster than we want to.
Speaker 1:We don't make plans anymore. We have current thoughts, and our current thoughts change quite a bit. So that's the way we live our life. Sometimes I don't necessarily recommend that for everybody to live their life. You know, making plans and sticking to your plans is a really good idea. In the RV lifestyle We have been very fortunate that we have what we now call our current thoughts, and our current thoughts change as our schedule changes. We have what we call hard dates, for instance Hershey. We're emceeing an event and we're speaking at that event. So that's a hard date. We have to be in Hershey, pennsylvania, for that event. Well, we, you know, move earth and water to get to that event on that day and we plan, we already have our reservations, thank goodness to Thousand Trails, where you know, with the plan that we have the membership that we have, we can book what? 120 days out, something like that.
Speaker 2:I think that's what it is.
Speaker 1:yes, We can book 120 days out. So our campground for Hershey is already booked and those campsites at Hershey they get to be tough property to get into. So we know where we're going to be. You know, patty didn't know where Casper Wyoming is and it is really the heart of the United States. When you look at the United States map, if you look at the U of United States, where United States is always right in the middle of the country, casper Wyoming is just above that U, so it's right in the middle of the country. It is a city in central Wyoming. It's home to the National Historic Trails Center, featuring dioramas and hands-on displays that evoke the journeys of the 1800s pioneers. Contemporary art is on show at the Nickelonian Art Museum. Fort Casper is a reconstructed in 1865 military post that houses a museum with local history exhibits like the 1901 sheep wagon. South Casper Montana offers a waterfall and ski slopes. It sounds like a cool place to be and a cool place to be from.
Speaker 2:Okay, and we're now giving geography lessons. It's a cool area and I can't wait to go. And again, we want to thank Peggy for her question And let us know if you have questions you'd like us to ask and get answered for you.
Speaker 1:Well, we look forward to seeing what you think about our 3-3-3 rule and see if you're going to adapt that. Just take a little piece of Dan and Patty along on your trip with you. Casper Wyoming looks like a really cool place and it looks like some place that we should head out to at some point Right below Montana, which is where our home base is and where our company is located. So, okay, you're listening to the RV Life Podcast, i'm Dan Hunt, with my incredible wife, patty Hunt, and we're just having such a good time. We just want to keep going and going and going and just never stop.
Speaker 1:But all good things must come to an end And for right now, this might be the end of this show. Now we've got a great show coming up that we tried to do today. We tried to record it today, but it didn't get recorded because we had technical issues. But it's with the big wigs over at Harvest Host, a company that we strongly recommend as well And we have worked with for the two and a half years that we've been on the road One of those memberships that we got before we even hit the road, just like the.
Speaker 1:RV Life Trip Wizard. So we're looking forward to that. But that's just about it for this week. We are just about out of time. I want to thank Jim and Renee, our guests today. Some just incredible stories about getting out of your comfort zone And if they can be, you know, a role model for you to get off that couch and get out and do something. There's a lot of things to do in the US. You don't have to go to Alaska in the wintertime in an RV where it's 30 below every single day. You don't have to do that. But we are recommending that you get out and do something. Take a walk in the park, do something. Get out and go and do something. We do every single day and we absolutely love our life. It's probably put 10 years on our life, so we love it And we love that you are along with us on our journey. Now you can reach out to us on social media anytime. We're on all of them. We've got the Facebook, we've got the Instagram, we've got Twitter.
Speaker 2:Although Patty doesn't like the Twitter. No, we don't have Twitter.
Speaker 1:We're not using it, And if you reach out to us, Patty will reach back out to you. Very rarely will you get me to reach back out to you, But every once in a while I'll sit down and take a look at the Facebook stuff. So you know we really enjoy being able to bring these to you each and every day. We are currently in Virginia, just outside of Washington DC. We're having a great time here And hopefully you are too, wherever you are in the United States. I'm Dan Hunt saying have a great rest of today.
Speaker 2:And an even better day tomorrow.