Wow, can you believe it's been an entire year since we started the RV Life Podcast? We're thrilled to celebrate our first anniversary in this episode, reflecting on the journey that has brought us here. It's been a year full of ups and downs, from personal challenges like the loss of a loved one to the sheer joy of meeting fascinating guests from all walks of life. We're taking a moment to acknowledge our accomplishments, and we're inviting you, our dear listeners, to join us in our celebration.
One of the highlights of the past year is our live recordings at various events such as the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, Hershey RV Show and Tampa RV Show. Remember the fun, chaos, and unexpected interruptions? We're revisiting those memorable moments in this episode. We're also looking back at the enriching conversations we've had with industry leaders like Andy Rabinowitz, owner of RV LIFE Bonus Episode 1/18/23, Brett Davis, owner of NIRVC Episode 13, Jeff Sather President of Freightliner Bonus 1/25/23. These chats have taught us the importance of authenticity and shared values, lessons we carry with us as we navigate our RV Life.
Episodes we mentioned:
# 7 First Aid Kit #29 RVing on a Budget #24 Unique Locations
#51 Creating Your Bucket List #17 Cook Over a Campfire
#39Embracing RV LIFE #3 Girl Camper Magazine #46 Home Schooling
#48 Ins and Outs of Winter RV Living #6 What is a Health Coach #49 Why the RV Chassis is so Important
And we are looking forward to meeting you our listeners at the Tampa RV Show January 17-21st! We invite you to visit us and possibly be featured on the show or win some pretty cool gifts. It's a chance for us to meet you, our listeners, face-to-face, and answer your RVing questions. Here's to another year of RV Life Podcast!
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• Motorhome Tires: $50 discount FIND MY INSTALLER
•Thousand Trail Membership Call/Text Membership Specialist Warren & Sharon Lewis 804-366-0798
•CLEAR2O
• Open Road Fuel Card save on Diesel Fuel
•Open Roads Innovative Tolling Solutions
Toll pass, all 48 state & customer support
• Open Road Resorts Mention RV LIFE Podcast
• Harvest Hosts • Boondockers Welcome
Code: HUNT20 for 20% off
• AirSkirts
Receive $100 off any kit purchase. Use Discount Code: RVPOD
Sponsors
• National Indoor RV Centers
Wow, can you believe it's been an entire year since we started the RV Life Podcast? We're thrilled to celebrate our first anniversary in this episode, reflecting on the journey that has brought us here. It's been a year full of ups and downs, from personal challenges like the loss of a loved one to the sheer joy of meeting fascinating guests from all walks of life. We're taking a moment to acknowledge our accomplishments, and we're inviting you, our dear listeners, to join us in our celebration.
One of the highlights of the past year is our live recordings at various events such as the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, Hershey RV Show and Tampa RV Show. Remember the fun, chaos, and unexpected interruptions? We're revisiting those memorable moments in this episode. We're also looking back at the enriching conversations we've had with industry leaders like Andy Rabinowitz, owner of RV LIFE Bonus Episode 1/18/23, Brett Davis, owner of NIRVC Episode 13, Jeff Sather President of Freightliner Bonus 1/25/23. These chats have taught us the importance of authenticity and shared values, lessons we carry with us as we navigate our RV Life.
Episodes we mentioned:
# 7 First Aid Kit #29 RVing on a Budget #24 Unique Locations
#51 Creating Your Bucket List #17 Cook Over a Campfire
#39Embracing RV LIFE #3 Girl Camper Magazine #46 Home Schooling
#48 Ins and Outs of Winter RV Living #6 What is a Health Coach #49 Why the RV Chassis is so Important
And we are looking forward to meeting you our listeners at the Tampa RV Show January 17-21st! We invite you to visit us and possibly be featured on the show or win some pretty cool gifts. It's a chance for us to meet you, our listeners, face-to-face, and answer your RVing questions. Here's to another year of RV Life Podcast!
Special Discounts Codes: Click Link & Use Code
• Motorhome Tires: $50 discount FIND MY INSTALLER
•Thousand Trail Membership Call/Text Membership Specialist Warren & Sharon Lewis 804-366-0798
•CLEAR2O
• Open Road Fuel Card save on Diesel Fuel
•Open Roads Innovative Tolling Solutions
Toll pass, all 48 state & customer support
• Open Road Resorts Mention RV LIFE Podcast
• Harvest Hosts • Boondockers Welcome
Code: HUNT20 for 20% off
• AirSkirts
Receive $100 off any kit purchase. Use Discount Code: RVPOD
Sponsors
• National Indoor RV Centers
Do you celebrate your accomplishments? This is the RV Life Podcast. And well, we do celebrate our accomplishments, and that's what today's show is all about. This is our one year anniversary show for the RV Life Podcast and we are going down memory lane with the goal for the RV Life Podcast to educate, entertain and explore all things RV life. Today, we'll take a look back and see what we have accomplished this last year. So if you have any cake or champagne in the fridge, break it out and let's have a party.
Speaker 3:One year of the RV Life Podcast. It is absolutely mind-boggling to think it's been a year. Now. If you're joining us for the very first time, dan and I have been full-time on the road for almost three years living the RV life and, as most of you know, in any endeavor there are some challenges, but Dan and I have spent each year where we look back on what we've accomplished and celebrating them. We've had to make it a mission to do that. We do this by again doing a review of the past year and then celebrating our wins, both big and small.
Speaker 3:Now, while we are celebrating our one year of the RV Life Podcast and we are so excited, this year did not come without some major challenges, and that started back in January when I had to fly back or I chose to fly back to be with my mom and we found out she was, you know, near the end of her life and was going on hospice. I am so very grateful to have been able to spend her last six months with her. I just I can't tell you how grateful I am to be able to do that. So, within the challenges, there is good that comes out of it, and now this week, dan and I are in Disney World, where 13 of our family members will ascend on us. So 13, my brother, my brother-in-law, my sister, my kids, their kids, five grandkids, will be all coming to Disney World to really celebrate my mom, and we are so excited to be able to do that. So let's get on with the show.
Speaker 1:As they say, Now that sound means it's time for our show's fun fact, which is brought to you by Open Road Resorts with four great locations one in Montana, I'm sorry, two in Montana, one in Idaho and one in Texas. Now we were in the Texas facility, I'm going to say about two weeks ago, and it was beautiful. We parked at a spot that we could sit and look out over a lake. The weekend that we were there there was a Boy Scout jamboree thing, so there was thousands of Boy Scouts out there and it was incredible. We had a great time.
Speaker 3:It was incredible. Thousands is maybe an exaggeration. I'll be honest, I don't think I want to be at a park with thousands. They were very well behaved, they had the area they were in. We did have the opportunity to sit down with Chase Becker, the owner of these four resorts, and we are even more excited about going to those locations in Montana and Idaho this summer. Yeah well, you got to go in the summer, we're in winter. When you travel in an RV, it's hard to keep track of seasons, because it's warm here in Florida, where we are. So let's get to the fun fact. Often we are so busy and consume with reaching our goals that when we finally do, we simply say what's next? Studies that I've read prove, when we celebrate accomplishments, even the small ones were able to accomplish even more. I love that.
Speaker 1:Now you know we're talking about celebrating your successes. It's been said for years that people never leave their job. They leave their managers. Why? Because they're not happy. A happy worker is a productive worker. That leads to ask the question why? And we'll talk about that right after this break.
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Speaker 1:Music. You're listening to the RV Life Podcast. I'm Dan Hunt with my incredible wife, patty Hunt. She's right over there Today. We are just going to celebrate you, our RV listeners. We're going to celebrate our guest, the concept of the RV Life Podcast, and we also have to celebrate all of those that support us and our vision for the RV Life Podcast.
Speaker 3:And over this last year. Wow, it's just been so incredible. And you know I have to add here that to be able to do this, this celebration on the podcast, to really take time for us to really be able to look back over the last year, this is an incredible thing to do, but I got to say the last year. We've had so many incredible, inspiring guests on. We've met so many people that have truly become our friends, Without a doubt. They've become our friends and we just want to take a minute right now and celebrate all of these people.
Speaker 1:Cheers and applause. Okay, we've done almost 60 shows. I know a year is 52 shows, but we've done almost 60. We had a couple of specials that we threw in there and some Saturday ones and some live ones and episode seven, which was very, very early on, one of my absolute favorites, and I will tell you that we are going to try very hard through technology to bring in the guest of episode seven.
Speaker 1:That is, my friend, bob Batchelor. He is the owner and CEO of Flying Angels. I think we have Mayor Bob. Are you with me? Hey Dan, how are you doing? How are you and Patty? We are absolutely incredible Now. Through the years, we've celebrated a lot of successes together. We've been to weddings of ourselves and weddings of our children. Together We've celebrated you starting your new company. We've done a lot of different things together through the years and we celebrate those successes because it really makes us feel good about what we're doing and that we're on that right railroad track. Can you tell me a little bit about your company, flying Angels, what it does and why the RV listener needs to know about Flying Angels?
Speaker 5:Well, it's funny you mentioned that, dan, because the only thing that seems to grow a little bit faster than watching your children grow up is watching your company grow up, and I think you were there with me eight years ago when we launched Flying Angels. And here we are into the thousands of transports and having phenomenals. So we're really thrilled, and as your successes, that I've got to watch you, and especially with this podcast. It's been a terrific experience watching your pie grow and watching your audience grow. Our company here, flying Angels, has also had the fortune to grow.
Speaker 5:Those who don't know many people have heard of Flying Angels, but they really know what we do. So we have doctors and nurses all across the country who accompany people who have medical needs on the commercial airline, the Mestic and International, so you know, is in a nursing home in Florida and only wants to move her up to. You know they're in their RV or traveling Midwest. Well, they can reach out to us and we'll make sure that grandma gets from where she is to where she needs to go. And you know, having one of your RVers, you know, gets injured while hiking or doing some kind of other interesting activities and needs to get home move their own RV. Well, they call us up and we'll get them home. They can figure out I'm sure you guys can help them figure out what to do with me, but you know we can certainly get them where they need to go.
Speaker 3:Right Again, Bob was on episode seven and you know, first of all, Flying Angels is an amazing company, not because Bob is our friend, but it is an amazing company. My dad, many years ago, was ill and had to be transported. Unfortunately Flying Angels didn't exist at the time, Otherwise it would have been a perfect solution. We know a lot of our beers that have their medical issues that happen and they want to go back to their quote unquote home base. But you fly people all over the world, or to most countries. You really fly people all over the world. Right, I've heard some crazy places. You've taken people.
Speaker 5:Yes, there are a few countries that end and stand are currently on the on the no go list and Russia's been a no go for a while. But yes, we've been all through Asia and even, during COVID, all through Africa flying people around the world, around the world.
Speaker 1:Now, patty, episode seven was one of my favorite episodes because it covered something that I think every RVer needs. And what was that?
Speaker 3:And it was actually Bob on that episode talked about something incredibly important. I'm going to say this most important, more important than your RV chassis, the kind of RV you drive, the kind of tow car you have, more important than any of that. Bob talked about first aid kits and what to have in your RV because we had talked to prior to doing that episode. We had talked to a lot of people that said, OK, space is limited, what should I have on board? And, Bob, you were really instrumental in helping with what people needed in a first aid kit and that's most important, right.
Speaker 5:Well, I'm really glad to hear that and I hope you and your listeners will take some of that information and be prepared. At the same time, I certainly hope that you and your listeners didn't actually need the kids, so I was happy to help.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Now, Bob, the topic of today's show is celebrating all of your achievements, and accomplishments not just business, but through personal life as well. Now, why do you feel it's important to do that for you and your employees?
Speaker 5:Well, I think celebrating the little victories in life is really what gives great happiness, when they can actually sit down and say, hey, we have accomplished this minor goal, or accomplished this minor goal. I mean, the big success is my daughter's wedding earlier this year was wonderful. These things happen every so often. But if you're able to add up the little successes, when we passed the thousand case transport list I remember it seemed not long ago I was thrilled. While we passed 50 cases, we passed 100. Well then we passed 1,000. We would celebrate our Google reviews. Well, we got 50 Google reviews, got 100 Google reviews, got 150 Google reviews. And we love those, because this is what other people are saying about that. So to us that's a little success.
Speaker 5:We have the great fortune to be able to help people who are in need. When we are able to accomplish a particularly difficult task one of our nurses is able to fly somebody out of Israel, as happened just last week it was not a particularly easy thing or when we're able to get somebody out of a terrible situation and get, we share that experience that our nurse has and it just gives that feeling that, hey, you know what we're doing good in the world. We're actually out there having a positive influence and those are the things that we like to say, the positive influences we have in the world. We're all going to go with the end. We're going to die at the end. The question is did you leave the world a better place than when you found it?
Speaker 3:That's awesome.
Speaker 1:You know, bob, I'm going to reach back to the middle of COVID and I saw a video and I believe it was you I think you were actually the caseworker on this one where you actually took somebody home from the hospital that was in COVID. It was a doctor that was working at that hospital and I think you took them home and everybody in the hospital lined up and clapped in. It was really a touching moment.
Speaker 5:And I still kind of get a little bit of an interior when I think about this, because this was in the first few months of COVID. I mean, this was June, july, and the world was a dark place. People were really despondent. We didn't know what was going to happen. We went to the shopping center in particular hours. There were taped arrows on the floor of our local store which way to go. People were very, very tensile and edged. It was a hospital case manager who had gotten ill and nearly passed. They called me and asked us if we could get her home, which we were able to do, and it was really quite touching that, as I was actually wheeling the patient out of the hospital, it seemed like every staff member in the hospital plus a few other people just formed a corridor and they were just cheering away as she was able to get out of the hospital and go home. So we're still in touch with her to this day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know that, to me, was one of the most touching moments, a real good feeling in the middle of COVID, when everything was, as you say, very, very dark. Now, bob, I got to say thank you to you because you are our number one super fan. I don't think you miss an episode of the RB Life Podcast and you're always out there making comments. So, for those of you listening, we'd love to hear your comments, we'd love to talk to people. If you see us at the Tampa RV Show, stop us and talk to us. We're out here to meet and greet and answer your questions and do whatever we can. So we are really, really looking forward to that. Bob, I want to thank you for taking the time today to share with us and our listeners. We truly, truly appreciate it.
Speaker 5:No, dan, it's really been my pleasure. It was an honor to be on the podcast. It's absolutely a thrill for me personally to just watch your podcast grow and watch your audience grow. I know you got in trouble, I think, in the last podcast where you talked about your one-year mark and Patty was like well, we're not a year yet.
Speaker 5:So, hopefully, at the risk of not getting in trouble, let me congratulate you on your one-year anniversary of the podcast. And you're right, I never miss an episode and I love it and I hope you just continue to grow.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much.
Speaker 5:Thank you so much that is so sweet to hear.
Speaker 1:Now, Patty, that episode was my favorite episode. Ok, what about you? Do you have any faves out there? That threw the last year.
Speaker 3:Wow, Dan's really put me on the spot here because I have so many episodes. Let me start with just some of them that come to mind and then let's see if I could pick a favorite. I really enjoyed the episode RVing on a budget, and just to say that was with Beth and Court and I'm looking.
Speaker 1:We love them. They are so great.
Speaker 3:That was episode number 29, and we'll give you the episodes, but don't worry about it. If you're listening in the car, jeff from Freightliner, if you're listening in the car, I'll put the episodes in the show notes so you don't have to worry about which episode if you want to go back and listen. But Beth and Court were so much fun and they did. They talked about RVing on a budget, because I think a lot of people are trying to do that.
Speaker 1:Well, I think a lot of our RV life listeners are just really, really cheap.
Speaker 4:So RVing on a budget. Wow, you just insulted.
Speaker 1:That was one of our most listened to shows.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:So I'm just saying RVing on a budget must be very, very, and last night I was playing poker here at Thousand Trails, orlando, with a bunch of the guys and a couple of the girls and I got to tell you it became a topic of conversation RVing on a budget and how expensive things are getting. Yeah, but he has all the.
Speaker 3:You just called our listeners cheap, so I have to now apologize to our listeners. I think we all are on a budget. It doesn't make us cheap. Okay, moving on exploring unique locations, that was also a great episode. We had Harvest Hose. We had Kerry Price on I'm trying to see what the episode number was, episode 24,. Dan and I love unique locations and we do a lot of those unique locations using Harvest Host, but she just talked about things and again, we had so much fun with her and she talked about things that I hadn't even thought of and that was an amazing episode. A lot of great thoughts and ideas on places to camp.
Speaker 1:That was great. In our almost three years we have been to some pretty unique locations and a lot of them were Harvest, host or Boondockers Welcome Locations. I'm going to talk about the Lavender Farm and Lufa Farm. I didn't know Lufa actually grew on a bush, but we were able to go out and actually harvest some for them and cut them down off the tree. Yeah, cut them.
Speaker 3:I'm cutting them down off the tree, yeah, cut them. He had signals and everything. For those of you who can't see, that was amazing. And one of the more amazing for me was seeing a long horn cattle a calf being born. That was pretty, that was highlight and that was a harvest host.
Speaker 1:Now I'll tell you what over on our YouTube channel, exploring through our lens. We'll put a link to it in the show notes. But I actually took the camera out and I videotaped that. It took a couple of hours to do, hours, literally hours. But you know, this mama came right up to me and she sniffed me and make sure I was okay, and then she walked over to the fence and had her calf and, yes, it was really really really an experience and a half, yeah.
Speaker 3:Okay, now I got to say so. If I have to sort of kind of pick a favorite, I'm not committing, but I will say Girl Camper, janine Pettit from Girl Camper Magazine. She was episode three. She was one of our first episodes, if I have that right, and that to this day has actually been our number one episode. She's just great to speak to. She's an incredible person. She does this amazing magazine and social media and, again, like having these experiences talking to these people, that's the big thing. That's been so exciting, meeting people I don't think we ever would have met, but Girl Camper that was a highlight for me as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, now I have to just go back about a year ago. This week we were here at Thousand Trails Orlando. Here, when you're at Thousand Trails Orlando, you can go out to the dock at the lake that's in the back of the facility and actually watch the Disney fireworks. We're that close to the Disney property. Well, I met a gentleman back there and his name was Matt Dean. He is a chef and he specializes in cooking on open fires. So we did an episode with Matt here at Thousand Trails. We did it as a live episode. Thousand Trails, let us use the community center and we set up in there. We had about 50 people in the audience. Just a great thing to do a live episode like that. And then later that night Matt came over to our campsite, started a fire and he cooked us a gourmet dinner.
Speaker 3:It was incredible and I didn't have to cook. It really was. I mean, this was an incredible meal the whole nine yards chicken and vegetables. It was asparagus, I think, and there was gravy on the. I could taste it. Now Maybe we could find Matt and he could recreate that.
Speaker 1:I'll bet he's here.
Speaker 3:You could also see that video on our YouTube channel. I don't know if you just literally just said that or not, but being able to do podcasts at live locations we've done a number of them and having that live audience at a location. So what we do is we go in to like here at Thousand Trails, Orlando, and we ask them if we can set up in the activity center. They send it out to people. But then people come in we did it in Hershey as well and they could see the RV Life podcast being recorded live. They can interact with us. They ask questions. We love, love, love meeting people.
Speaker 1:And I give stuff away.
Speaker 3:I love giving stuff away and Dan always has stuff to give away. He always. So if you ever see us, ask Dan for either and, or a sticker or a t-shirt, because he has both to give away. We are carrying hundreds of t-shirts with us. So, yes, if you see us out somewhere, you know, message us on social media, let us know when we're going to be out. Sometimes we're in the RV, like today, recording, so you know we can't have visitors right now, but if you see us or message us on social media.
Speaker 1:We're heading to Disney, though we're heading to Hollywood Studios tonight. We are heading to Disney.
Speaker 3:Yes, we are, and you know we are happy to give you a t-shirt, give you stickers, but those location episodes I just want to talk about the episode at Hershey. We had Melody and Kurt and Marcus. There's some Marcus and they are RV plus three. That's their social media. Please, please, please, link with these people. Why do I say that? Because they are real, they are amazing people and Melody just became my social media person, so I am ever so grateful for her and Kurt and Marcus has always been there to help us out and help us through things. But that was a great episode. They talked some about homeschooling. Marcus shared his he's 12 or 13.
Speaker 3:He shared his homeschooling experience and how he loves it. That was a great episode as well.
Speaker 1:And Kurt is one of those guys. He's ex-military and, kurt, thank you for your service. We truly, truly appreciate it. But he's that guy that can do anything. He can fix anything, he understands everything. He really, really gets it. He's been a great help to me. I know I've watched him help other people too, so I know that he's always out there to help. They are RV plus three, right.
Speaker 3:Yes, rv plus three on Instagram and Facebook. Definitely connect with them. Tell them when you connect that you heard about them on the RV Life podcast. I would love that, and they listened to the podcast. So I'm going to say thank you, kurt, melody and Marcus, for not just I mean their family. We say friend, they're not blood, but they are truly family.
Speaker 1:I'll tell you what I want to have Marcus back on.
Speaker 3:I want to have Marcus with me because he loves to work with us, to help him work, and he's fantastic.
Speaker 1:Okay, so it is time for a break. After the break, we're going to talk about some of the mistakes that we've had over this first year. We're going to talk about some RV education and we're going to talk about the time that Patty had to leave me all by myself. We'll do that right after this.
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Speaker 3:Dan and I are all about family, whether it's the family that we have because of blood or the family that we have decided to connect with somebody and call them family. And I will tell you, brett Davis and the people from NIRVC have truly become family to us. These are amazing people. We sat down with Brett last month for a quick meeting that lasted two and a half hours, and Brett Davis from NIRVC is truly an amazing person. He has six locations, so if you're looking for a motor home, a sprinter van, that is the place to go. There's so much integrity there.
Speaker 1:The number one thing that I look for in a company is integrity, and I want to tell you that it starts at the top, and Brett Davis is just incredible. Not only his integrity, but his knowledge. He knows more about the RV industry than anybody I have ever, ever met, and probably all of the people I've ever met put together Right. He is just an incredible, incredible person.
Speaker 3:And we love working with him. Yeah, and we're actually going to talk about him because we did have him on the show, but before we get into his episode and talk about him, let's talk about the mistakes, the screw ups, and we're talking about mistakes that we made during the podcast.
Speaker 1:Well, there are times when I hit the wrong buttons on it. So the board that I have is called a Roadcaster Pro and there's eight colored buttons on it, but there's five pages of eight buttons. So that's a lot of buttons and a lot of different colors. There are times where I just misprogrammed it. There are times where I just get confused and hit the wrong button at the wrong time. But we have done some things like that over time. But the bucket list show, yeah.
Speaker 3:Let's oh yeah the bucket list show. Let's talk about basket list show.
Speaker 3:But yeah, so here we are at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. The Excaper sorry about that, excapers is part of Excapies, so if you haven't heard about them, you want to find out more about them. But we're at their compound because at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta they have a number of RVs that get together I don't remember how many, but so they invited the RV Life podcast, dan and I, to come to their compound and do the podcast, for you know the people that were there. Okay, that sounds great. Now we're in a live audience with there maybe 50 people there Dan would say there was 150, but probably somewhere between 50 and 100. And we had so much fun. I was literally laughing so hard I couldn't speak. Well, you could imagine if you're doing a podcast and the host can't speak, this is a problem. You could hear the noises, you know, and at one point I said I've been laughing so hard I can't speak, and it happened three times, probably because you were doing something ridiculous. Let's just be real, I don't know what you were doing.
Speaker 1:You were up out of your seat. Well, there was also the water truck issue. You know, when you're boondocking for weeks at a time they actually trucked water in for the different RVs and stuff. So we're right in the middle of doing a live remote and of course, doing a live remote, anything that can will go wrong. And this guy with this water truck just comes by and he turns the water on full blast out the back to get the dust down. But I will tell you what it made a lot of noise.
Speaker 3:Yes, yes and again, and I'll be honest, we've had people say hey, there was noise in a podcast. We're not in a studio. We are literally sitting here in the RV. We're in a class A. We have two desks next to each other. There's noise outside. Today it's 80 degrees here in Orlando and we chose to turn the air conditioner off so it doesn't interfere, but I am getting warm.
Speaker 1:But this is just real life. Wait, wait, wait. You've made our dining room table a desk now.
Speaker 3:It is a desk. It's a desk slash dining room table. We could talk about that another time, but let's talk about something else. How about if we talk about we also love, love, love doing the podcast live at events? So Dan did it in Tampa, we'll talk about that. We've done it in Hershey. So last year in Hershey in September we're in the freight liner. Freight liner custom Chassie has a booth and they invited us to be in the booth to do the podcast live. Okay, so I'm setting the stage for you. Our guest is Jim Beelen and he is the creator of air skirt, which is a way to keep warm or cooler during the winter or summer months.
Speaker 3:Okay, so now yes, these things, they look like great big torpedoes. They're inflatable and they look like great big torpedoes. Well, we're interviewing Jim from air skirts.
Speaker 1:Jim brought one with him.
Speaker 3:He brought one with at Dan's request.
Speaker 1:Eight feet long, about three feet around, and it is big and light and it was wonderful.
Speaker 3:So do you want to tell them what happened, or you want me to?
Speaker 1:Okay, so I decide, while he's talking about it, I decide to go and get it, and we were in the freight liner booth, which is where we will be at the Tampa RV show every day at 12 30.
Speaker 3:Patty that is correct. 12, 30 Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
Speaker 1:Wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday. We will be at the freight liner booth and we have some great guests lined up. But anyway, I took Jim's tube and I went over to one of the freight liner Chassie's and I was going to show people how it went under the chassis. Well, unfortunately, the one that Jim brought was for like a small air stream.
Speaker 2:It was a small trailer trailer, one yeah.
Speaker 1:Yep, so he brought that one over. So it just went right underneath the chassis and right as I was putting it underneath the chassis, and I thought it was going to hit the frame rail. Well, guess what? A gust of wind came up and it took that thing, and it took it right across the midway.
Speaker 3:Okay. So here's again the setup. I'm sitting at the desk with Jim. Dan decides to get up and again, podcast, not scripted. I have no idea what this man is getting up out of his seat and what he is going to do, and so he is chasing after this air skirt torpedo looking thing. It's big, it's gray. You could go to our social media RV life podcast, instagram or Facebook and see a picture of it, and Jeff Sather, the president of freight liner, is cracking up laughing. I'm laughing, I'm trying to keep it together. We're trying to explain how to winterize your RV. Well, I'll tell you, it was crazy and it was a lot of fun. So that was now you know, when you listen to that episode and that is in in an ounce of winter RV living, that's episode 48. So when you listen, you could hear some of what's going on. It is a shame.
Speaker 1:We need to go to the social media. I think somebody took some pictures of it.
Speaker 3:There are pictures yet on social media as well, on RV life podcast.
Speaker 1:Now some of the great times we had and this wasn't necessarily for the podcast, but because of the podcast. Patty and I were asked to be the MCs at the RV life live event, which was at the Hershey event and that featured us and the RV life podcast and my favorite RV musical group in the entire world, the border hookups.
Speaker 3:Yes, yes.
Speaker 1:And they were there and they have this great song. I will tell you, you just can't get it out of your head. It's like we were over on the carousel of progress the other day and the lady started the ride says good luck getting this song out of your head. Well, good luck getting this song out of your head. Yeah, oh yeah. I will tell you I am living the RV life and I absolutely love it.
Speaker 3:Okay, the border hookups, and I am actually looking for the show number because you have got to check it out. They're an amazing singing duet, but really here, incredible.
Speaker 1:Now they are RVers, so they live in an RV. They travel around the country. They do what they call pop-up shows all over the country. If you happen to see them anywhere, it is well worth your time in the five bucks or whatever they charge to get into a pop-up show. It is really really just a great show and a great great time to be with them. I enjoy being with them socially. I enjoy being with them on stage. We really really appreciate everything that they do.
Speaker 3:I wanted to find the episode number, but I will put it in the show notes. Shacklin and Dave are just amazing people. They were also at the escapees because they performed at the SXCAPERS event in Albuquerque. They do go around and perform and it was just great to hang out with them.
Speaker 1:Now, I also told you that we would talk about RV education after the break, and our goal is to educate, entertain and inform the RV audience. That's what our goal is. That's what we set out as our mission statement for the RV Life Podcast. Well, guess what? I believe we have done just that. We have had Todd from the RV School on One of our first shows was a gentleman talking about RV maintenance and this is a problem with having so many shows and trying to remember all the incredible people we talked about.
Speaker 3:But if we're talking about education, I've got to say, and we'll talk again about why, in January Dan was by himself, but one of the most the thing, that was the biggest education for me. You said, hey, I'm going to interview Jeff Sather, the president of FreightLiner, and I thought, hey, that sounds cool, he's the president, but what does that do for our RV Life audience? Because that's our goal and I listened to that episode. I have since met Jeff in Hershey because I didn't meet him when you did that first interview, and we've spoken, spoken, spoken to two of his guys in Hershey about why it was so important, and that was because of Chessie on your Class A.
Speaker 1:It's the foundation.
Speaker 3:It is. It is everything. It is literally everything. I will tell you, to this day, that is the biggest piece of education Dan and I were given, and now, as we look to buy our new, newer to us RV, that is the most important thing. Sure, I want the king size bed and the slide outs and the kitchen on the driver's side. But I can't thank Jeff enough. I mean, I tell him every time I see him how grateful I am to have heard about a piece of education that's so important for everybody. Again, I'll. That was a bonus episode and it was on January 25th and it was called stuck in the mud, because when you first talked to him, you talked about being stuck in the mud. Anyway, go listen to it. It's a great episode. Dan did a great job, even though I wasn't there with him.
Speaker 1:And, by the way, jeff is one of what we call a super fan. He listens to every single show, he comments on the show. He picks up the phone and calls me and says Dan, that was so funny when you did that. It is just absolutely incredible to have people like that. We would love you to become a super fan of the show. And if you do become a super fan of the show now, there's no money in them. We're not. We're not charging extra money to be a super fan or whatever. But if you become a super fan of the show and if you can show me that you have watched or listened to our last five episodes, I'll give you a t-shirt.
Speaker 3:Okay, and I'm sitting here making vases because I never know what's going to come out of his mouth. So if you show us you're a super fan and you're going to be in Tampa in January that show is January 17 to the 21st. I think I have those dates right we will be there. Like we said in the Freightliner booth, come up to us, Just say, hey, I'm a super fan and we will make sure to get you a t-shirt.
Speaker 1:Yes, now, if you see me walking around right now, I have my t-shirts to give away in a little blue Disney bag of some sort. So can't always promise you the right size, but I carry around a large, extra large, and two X. They do shrink. I am going to say they do shrink.
Speaker 3:Now we have been talking about Tampa. Anybody that's going to be there, please reach out to us on social media. We'd love to meet you, we'd love to get together. We often hear people say, hey, I was in Hershey or I was in Tampa, or I saw you at that campground, and then they never reach out to say, hi, we'd like to get together with people. The best way to do that is to reach out on social media, privately or in a message, a group message, a comment on something we've posted. Because we want to get together, we want to know you saw us before we leave the campground. Most of the time we could come, say hi, hang out together, whatever that looks like. But now we've been talking about Tampa last year that I was not at. So, dan, you were there alone.
Speaker 1:Why did you leave me? I'm sorry, all by and by and lonesome.
Speaker 3:I did and you handled it. You did a lot of great podcast episodes. But here's the story Again. I talked about it a little bit in the beginning. In January we were at an event and I got a call that my mother went to the hospital and we looked at each other, we had to decide what to do with. The RV, got me on a plane and I flew out to be with my mother and from there we knew that she had to go into hospice. So I came back to Florida briefly, but for the most part I stayed with my mom for six, seven months and Dan kind of held down the fort for three months by himself and then drove the RV up to Virginia where we were staying by ourselves.
Speaker 3:And again, the one thing I have to look back on this year is, as far as accomplishments and actually absolute grateful for the fact that, first of all, I'm grateful for Dan to be able to handle everything he had to handle. I'm grateful for this lifestyle that we live. I'm grateful for the RV community that allowed me to stay with my mother till the very end, and I mean that, if anything, it was one of the toughest years, with a lot of challenges but a lot of things for me to look back and us to look back on and say we accomplished and are very grateful for. So now let's talk about those great excerpts, episodes you did with some incredible people, and I think we have to start with Andy Rabinowitz, who is the owner of RV Life.
Speaker 1:So let me set this stage here. We're traveling down here. We were at an AIM rally. That's when we got the call. We moved the RV from wherever we were in Florida, where the rally was the pre-rally for Tampa last year. We moved it down to Tampa. We were there two days before the show started and then Patty got on an airplane and left me by myself. Thank you, Thank you. Thank you, Melody and Kurt, because I'll tell you I don't know that I could have done it without them. Oh yeah, Marcus too. But yeah, Marcus was there. Marcus, really, he's young, but I'll tell you what he got into it. He started figuring out the wires. He helped me set up microphones. He got the speakers all set up. I was really, really impressed with how quickly he was able to get this all done. But that's what living the RV life is all about is having friends and we're a big family, and that's what happened, and a lot of people came together and helped me put this whole thing together.
Speaker 3:Right Now. The episode I'm referring to was a bonus episode on 1-18, January 18, 2023. And that was with Andy, and again it goes to Dan, and I work with RV Life. Obviously, it is the RV Life podcast. Andy is one of those kind of people that you meet and there's a connection there and these are the kind of people that we align ourselves with Honestly and maybe I should be saying this, but we've met owners and big quote, unquote big people and if we don't align with their authenticity and their belief system and they're just their overall kindness, we want no parts of them. And at this point I have to talk about Patrick Buchanan, who is who we met. Again, he was family immediately, like a long-luck's brother from the very beginning We've done speaking for RV Life. We have the RV Life podcast, we're looking at what's next with our allegiance to RV Life and we just have to thank them and we are grateful. But let's talk about some of your other episodes. Casey Tubman from Newmore.
Speaker 1:Wait, wait, before we get to Casey and I love Casey, but before we get to Casey it's like Get this, I'm coming into Tampa. The podcast is only a couple weeks old. We've only done maybe five, six episodes at that time and Now, all of a sudden, I'm all by myself and I have to do an interview with our boss, andy verbinimitz, and I'll tell you what. He carried that very, very well. He's got a lot to say, really a great individual and somebody that I'm proud To say that we are partnered with, because it's that like kind of person, somebody who has the same value system, somebody who cares about their employee and somebody who celebrates their wins, celebrates their victories. How doesn't matter how little they are, we celebrate those victories. So I'm so bad to be a part of that. Now we were in the aim tent. Aim is an RV club that that national indoor sponsors, and the first person that I got to interview was Brett.
Speaker 3:Davis.
Speaker 1:Brett Davis and Angie, and she's director of sales for National Indoor. Well, I'll tell you what that was an incredible show to do. Brett did not want to do it. He's like you he hates speaking in front of people. We had to break his arm and handcuff him in, but wow, he was. He was really, really a good interview. We truly, truly, truly.
Speaker 3:He got into. He really got into it. And Brett's episode and I'll be honest, you talked about so many things on that episode. Again, brett is the owner of NIRVC and they have six locations. They truly help people to find the motor home that's right for you and they are people with integrity. They are family. We already talked about them a lot. We can't say enough about them.
Speaker 1:That's a great episode that episode aired on January 27th. I don't know the episode number actually I'm not okay.
Speaker 3:You're saying it aired on the 27th.
Speaker 1:I can see that 13 episode 13.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so it was pretty early on and that was a great episode. But again, we did talk about Jeff and you had him on and I Listed to that episode right after it went out because I had to wait. I don't, I didn't get to hear it at the time Because I was with my mom. Just what an amazing guy freight liner yeah yeah, freight liner, president, freight liner. We've talked about him a number of times. Now people are gonna think we're being paid by him.
Speaker 1:He's not even sponsored. He handed me his card and it says Daimler Chrysler, plymouth. Yeah, and it says CEO, president and CEO. I'm like, oh my goodness. Now I had the great honor of Having dinner with him the night before. I'm best out on that you missed out on that and it was a great dinner put on by the AIM group. You know I was able to really spend some time with him. What a great individual and here's the thing.
Speaker 3:So we talk about these people. It's all about education. These people gave so much Education for the RV or so whatever you're doing, whatever kind of RV you have, there's pieces of education from such knowledgeable Individuals in this industry. I mean, they know their stuff. Casey Tubman from New Mars, the president and CEO here's a brand new president.
Speaker 1:When we interviewed yeah, right now, recently added as president and he graciously did an interview with us and, wow, he has got some great ideas. What a great man. Check him out over on his LinkedIn page. He's very, very active and I see he talks to people on there all the time. So, casey Tubman he's a president of the New Mars corporation. They have a lot of great stuff going on. We really, really enjoyed that one right, and bonus.
Speaker 3:That was bonus episode 26 again for those of you or I'm gonna remember, I'll put these in. We could probably spend the next two, three hours talking about some of the great people, the great companies, the great products that we have met along the way. I mean, I'm surprised we kind of narrowed it down as much as we did to try and keep ourselves from going three hours on a Podcast. This is not the Joe Rogan show.
Speaker 1:Now, I didn't do that this at the AIM tent, where I where I did the other ones, but while I was alone down there I needed to fill another show and you know, this guy is the happiest guy I've ever met. He's always smiling, he's always hey how are you?
Speaker 3:What can I do for now?
Speaker 1:I know who you're talking about and we just love Matt and we love his wife and we love his whole team. That goes to all the shows because we're out there all the time with him.
Speaker 3:And that's Matt's RV reviews, if I'm not mistaken, because I'm not sure what episode. But I will add that in I can get to the episode.
Speaker 1:It's episode 14. Wow, season 2, episode 14, live from the Florida RV super show. A conversation with Matt Falker from yeah, rv reviews.
Speaker 3:Foxcroft. That guy has so much energy. It's incredible. I want to know what Tonic he's taking. I'm not gonna say drugs, because he doesn't know what what caffeine, what coffee he's taking. Yes, he was a great episode. I know we're gonna get off of the show.
Speaker 3:I do have to say and we're gonna have her back on in January Jen, you know, do you need it? What's a health coach and do you need one? Now? I will honestly say Jen Davis is one of my best friends. She became one of my best friends. She's worked with Dan and I on our health.
Speaker 3:Health is so important for RVers and again, this is a topic we're gonna we're gonna talk more about in January. And if there is a topic you want to hear, go to the RV life podcast pages, one of the pages or the other and tell us a topic. I get private messages and emails and and that kind of stuff all the time. You could do that. You could do it on the Podcast.
Speaker 3:But here's the thing she really, when you live in an RV, health can be a bit of a challenge, let's say, and I'm just so grateful that she has helped you and I through medical problems you have had a lot of some people don't know, but a lot of medical issues over the last, however many years, and being on the road and then thinking, well, I'll stop for a hamburger, I've got to stop for fast food, can become daunting, and she really helped. If you're at the truck stop, you know what would be a better snack than grabbing, as you said, the Snickers bar, because, dan, that was your suggestion. She said no. She said you know, sometimes, sure, but that's probably not the best go to. She's going to talk a bit more about health and how important and changing her mindset to be healthy is, and she talks to us about that now. I can't wait to get her on. I don't know what her episode was. I know it was in january of last year and I will put that in the show notes.
Speaker 1:Episode is january 4th 2023 at 5 am. It is episode number six, season two Wow, you are prepared.
Speaker 3:That's usually my job. That's great. So Episode six, season two I can't wait to have her back on. I'm grateful for the time that you know she has spent and worked with us and helped us. And, yeah, I, I definitely celebrate the wins of, you know, getting through health issues. That's definitely something to go back on and look at those as wins for sure.
Speaker 1:Yes, it, it really really is. So you know, let's get back to the party for a second here. Another little downer music here. But happy birthday to us. I'm not saying I don't say Podcast happy birthday to you. We are one year old. We've been here for a year. We're gonna keep being here as long as we possibly can, so we look forward to all of you all the time.
Speaker 3:And for those of you listening for the first time, once we do our interview, our next section we have our guests usually stay with us for the next section. I just want to let those new listeners we are getting new listeners every single week and we are grateful. So the next part, once we go to break, we do bring often bring our guests to our into our final section and we have questions that people have been responding to me and saying, wow, thank you for that and that was helpful. As well as our v life pro tips. We have a tip of the week. So there we are.
Speaker 1:So Well, now we hit the right button, and that hot horn means it's time for today's Question of the week. The question of the week is brought to you by clear to owe your RV water solution.
Speaker 3:And again I got to talk about the people that own this company, barb and keith, and they are Like family. They have integrity. They are doing this for all the right reasons. We love them because we love the fresh water. I'm tired of lugging around jugs of water. I used to lug jugs and cases of water. What a waste. What a you know extra work.
Speaker 3:But their new product, tank fresh, cleans the tank, the fresh water tank. Now, dan and I, you know, had cleaned it when it we first started. It had been cleaned and we were told that to clean it takes bleach. I don't want bleach in my tank. Keith developed Tank fresh what you put in your tank no smell, no odor. It takes a couple hours. Even I could do it, so anybody could do it. We are so excited about being partnered with or were Having clear to owe as a sponsor of the show. But let's get to the question. The. This person, this is somebody that we met walking around the thousand trails, orlando. Her name's sarah and she said oh, I'm from Orlando because she is full time. And she said that wherever I am, um, that's where I'm from. So thank you, sarah. The question is the prices of truck stops for diesel seems to be less expensive. Can I just go buy diesel at a truck stop?
Speaker 1:And the answer to that is yes and yes. Um so yes, you can go in, you can use a regular credit card. You got to kind of probably have to go into the cashier to use a regular credit card, but you can go in and use a regular credit card. But If you know the secret, the rb life podcast secret it's called the open roads fuel card and it is Absolutely free, free, free, free, yes.
Speaker 3:Yes, I am going to put a link In the show notes so you could check out open roads, the fuel card that has saved us money, sometimes as much as a dollar a gallon. Now, that's not all the time, I'll be honest, but we have a hundred gallon tank so if we save 10 dot, 10 cents a gallon, 15 cents a gallon, I am a happy camper. So this fuel card again, it is absolutely free. They are amazing and it touches to your credit card. You go in with it, you use it, you get your bill from open roads and you are good to go. There is your money saving tip. Use the link below so people know that you heard about it from the rv life podcast now open roads, reduced, a toll Transponder that works in the whole countries.
Speaker 1:What does that mean? You know, like when you go through the tolls, you have an easy pass or a sun pass or a t pass or a cal pass, wherever you are. It doesn't matter where you are, they're charging you to go on these roads these days. Well, it's a nightmare. We have had easy paths for the last two years and we have been the fortunate recipients of at least 20 tickets because we've gone through tolls and the transponder wasn't the right transponder. Now I just got it yesterday came in a FedEx pack.
Speaker 3:I just holding it in his, because the way he's holding it is as if you can see it.
Speaker 1:So imagine it is being held in his hand that as we speak and it's gonna go in the window later on today, and this thing works every. We have to get to Disney from here, we have to go on the Florida turn bike for one exit, and so no tickets for us. We have got a toll transponder that works in the whole country, everywhere this has been such a great thing.
Speaker 3:When we first started, you know we talked about toll passes and there was so much conversation around it and you know, because of a lot of the Difficulty with tolls, I know Florida some pass now does take easy pass, but now I have to remember that I could use it here but I can't use it in Texas. So this is really, truly, if you are traveling around the country, you need this toll pass and again, you know it costs whatever. It's like $24, which is what any of your toll passes cost, and then it works the same way as any of the other toll passes. What a great solution it is.
Speaker 1:It's just a great piece of mind for me, it really is and the people behind this company you know we met them at Hershey and I have to tell you again, just great people, people that you, the RB live podcast listener, want to do business with yes, and they're gonna be open roads to the people, and I don't even know who yet it is is going to be one of our live guests in Tampa this January.
Speaker 3:They're gonna be live talking about them and why they created this, their, why, their product, how it's helpful to the RV listener.
Speaker 1:You're gonna learn a lot more about this baby. Now I have one. I don't know if these are even out there.
Speaker 3:I think they are. I think they're available now.
Speaker 1:Now that sound means it's time for the RV life trip wizard pro tip of the week, and that pro tip is brought to you by RV life trip wizard by default.
Speaker 2:Rv life trip wizard creates an RV safe route, keeping you clear of any low clearances. If you want to see all of those low clearances on your map, choose the research tab, then the hazards tab and click the low clearance icon. If you see a low clearance on the map that you think is on your route, remember to zoom in all the way. You'll find that the low clearance warning is typically on a side road or underpass that is not on your direct route. If you've properly entered your RV information, you won't be routed somewhere you shouldn't be Seeing. The low clearance warnings might be handy for routes you are considering but haven't mapped yet, or help explain why you're being routed a certain way on the map With your RV life pro tip of the week. I'm Pat Buchanan.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much, pat Buchanan and my RV friends, my RV family. If you are traveling in anything bigger than a small van, you need to know that you could go under a bridge and overpass your. Your weight, your height, your length is okay. I can't tell you how many people said I got on the road and I shouldn't have so again. The RV trip wizard code is in the show notes. You could get a 25% discount. It's less than $50 a year. Yes, I'm doing a sale here, but it is so important that where you are driving is safe.
Speaker 1:So thank you, patrick, for that and I will say just from personal experience. When we were in Oregon, we were going along the Pacific Coast Highway and our Garmin GPS routed us About a hundred miles out of the way because it said we couldn't go through a bridge. But RV trip wizard said we could go under that bridge without a problem. Now we had happened to drive it in the car the day before, so we were able to save about a hundred and fifty miles later out of the way.
Speaker 3:Actually it was literally 100 miles, exactly a hundred mile savings, and I love to say that that's kind of an extreme case. But if you're in an RV and we get what you say nine miles to the gallon, but not so sure about that that's a big, huge money saving and a lot of extra time. So obviously we are very excited about the RV trip wizard app.
Speaker 1:We really love that up.
Speaker 3:We don't move our RV one inch without first programming it in to RV trip wizard and now we have to come to the end of the celebration and I just cannot thank our RV listeners enough, our RV listeners, our guests that have taken the time to be on, our sponsors, our supporters you know Patrick and Andy from RV life for believing in us. I'm going to do this quickly so I don't get emotional. I just can't thank all of you enough. So on that, follow, subscribe.
Speaker 1:We are on all platforms and you don't want to miss an episode and don't forget, if you're going to be at the Tampa RV show, we will be there in the freight liner booth every single day at 12 30, except the last day.
Speaker 1:Sunday we're not gonna be there Sunday, so all days, but the last day, sunday. We're not gonna be in the booth that day, but we'll be there every day. We'll do the show at 12 30. Come on over. If you have a question about RVing, come up and tell me and I will put you on the show. I will have gifts to give away from freight liner, from RV life, from RV life podcast. We are really, really looking forward to this. I want to thank all of you for joining us on the RV life podcast and remind you that my name is Dan hunt, my wife, she's patty hun, and we're reminding you to have a great rest of today and an even better day tomorrow.