RV LIFE Podcast

Great River Road to the Northwest, Fitness & Future RV Tech – RV LIFE 157

• RV LIFE • Episode 157

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From the 3,000-mile Great River Road adventure to smarter Pacific Northwest RV planning, healthier habits on the road, and a bold new electric trailer concept, this episode blends travel inspiration, practical lifestyle advice, and a look at where RV innovation may be headed next.

  • Explore the Great River Road and how RVers can turn a 10-state Mississippi route into a flexible trip full of food, history, and river towns.
  • Learn why the Pacific Northwest deserves more time on your itinerary, plus practical tips for weather, mountain passes, and planning.
  • Hear how Jake and Sarah of Active RV Life built a wellness platform to help RVers stay strong enough to enjoy the lifestyle.
  • Get a first look at Evo Trex and its power-generating PG5 trailer, designed to blend electric camping, backup power, and active towing assist.

John talks with Alan Hamry about the Great River Road, a 3,000-mile route following the Mississippi River through 10 states, packed with river towns, scenic drives, food, music, and history.

Then Jim and Rene welcome back Brooks Smothers of RV Out West to share why the Pacific Northwest is one of the most rewarding RV regions in the country, and how to plan for weather, reservations, and mountain travel.

Rose and Glynn sit down with Jake and Sarah of Active RV Life to discuss the health challenges many RVers face, and how they built a business around helping people stay mobile, capable, and consistent on the road.

Plus, Bob talks with Stella Qin of Evo Trex about the PG5, a futuristic trailer concept combining electric capability, onboard power generation, and a new approach to off-grid camping and towing.

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Cold Open Road Food Teasers

SPEAKER_12

You've got your cheese curds in Wisconsin, you've got walleye in Minnesota, and then downtown you got catfish.

SPEAKER_13

Both Washington and Oregon State Parks are absolutely crown jewels.

SPEAKER_09

You know, hey, like let's just embrace this lifestyle because RV life is chaotic anyway.

SPEAKER_06

It's not meant to be rocket science.

JOHN

RV life, RV life, RV life, RV life, RV life, RV life podcast.

JIM

Hello again, everybody. Welcome back to the RV Life Podcast. I'm Jim.

RENE

And I'm Renee. Thanks for joining us again. We've got another fun and informative episode lined up with a little bit of everything. We'll hear about another epic American road trip and some smart RV trip planning tips. Plus, we discussed fitness and wellness for life on the road and take a look at some very interesting innovation in the RV industry.

JIM

That's right. John kicks things off with a travel segment that feels tailor-made for RVers. He's talking with Alan Hammery about the Great River Road. This is the 3,000 mile route that follows the Mississippi River through 10 states, from Minnesota all the way down to Louisiana.

RENE

And honestly, after all these years on the road, that is still one route on our bucket list. We just haven't done it. There's something about following the Mississippi through all those small towns, scenic overlooks, cultural stops, and changing landscapes. It sounds like so much fun.

JIM

Right, we'll get there. In our lifestyle segment, we welcome back Brooks Smothers from RV Out West. I'm excited to have Brooks back on the show since I talked with him all about marketing and branding on the RV Entrepreneur Podcast, episode number 341. That was a while ago, so we'll make sure the link is in the show notes. This time, Brooks joins us to talk about all things Pacific Northwest, including why it remains one of the most overlooked and most rewarding RV destinations in the country.

RENE

Oh, and speaking of RV entrepreneurs, next up, Rose and Glenn sit down with Jake and Sarah of Active RV Life. Listeners may remember them from our lifestyle segment back in episode number 155, where they shared practical tips to stay active and healthy on the road. This time they're talking about the business they've built around that mission, helping RVers create healthier habits and stay strong enough to really enjoy the lifestyle.

JIM

And finally, Bob wraps up the episode with Stella Chin, co-founder of EvoTrex, for a conversation about a special new breed of travel trailer that blends electric power, onboard generation, and some pretty futuristic thinking about where the RV design may be headed next.

RENE

All right, let's get things rolling with a trip that covers 10 states and thousands of miles, all while following one of America's most iconic rivers.

Great River Road Explained

JIM

Here's John with Alan Hammery from The Great River Road.

JOHN

Thanks, Jim and Renee, and welcome to another segment of the RV Life Podcast, a travel destination segment. And this segment is a little bit different because it's not one destination, but it's really ten destinations, all rolled into one. And we're talking with Alan Hammery of the Great River Road and National Scenic Byway and All American Road. And Alan, welcome to uh the RV Life Podcast. Thank you so much for having me, John. You know, the first thing everybody wants to know is where is this Great River Road? What is the Great River? And um, that's why we brought you on board today to tell us all about this exciting potential journey for our listeners.

SPEAKER_12

Yeah, well, if you know where the Mississippi River is, that's where the Great River Road is. So it follows the Mississippi River from its start in far northern Minnesota all the way to southern Louisiana to the Gulf. So it's approximately 3,000 miles of routes that go through 10 states, as you mentioned. It is a an all-American road and a uh national scenic byway. Um, so it's it offers a lot for people to see and do from outdoor adventures to culture to music to food to really anything, anything you're interested in, you can probably find some place to and we should say, Alan, that this is not an interstate highway like like 90, which goes all the way from Massachusetts out to the West Coast, uh, but a series of interconnected roads.

JOHN

And um, I guess you kind of stay off the interstates, right? And in kind of small towns.

SPEAKER_12

Yeah, it's mostly um state and federal highways, U.S. highways, um that that go through the 10 states. Uh you can kind of you can kind of demarcate where you are by the we have pilot's wheel signs. So you'll see a sign that says a great river road in whatever state you're in. And it's uh looks like a you know pilot wheel that you've used to steer uh an old time your river boat. Um and so that's uh that's kind of how you navigate your way through through the route, and each uh state has its own section. The longest section, I believe, is in Illinois, which is 500 something miles. Great. Um then like there's a real small section, 60 miles or so in uh Kentucky. So it kind of is a real western edge. Far western edge, yeah. Yeah, so yeah, it goes through, like I said, 10 states and all kinds of things to to see and do along the route.

JOHN

Yeah, so any RVer that has said, you know, my goal is to RV to all 50 states, they can get uh 20% of their journey done.

SPEAKER_12

Exactly, exactly.

JOHN

So, Alan, um the part that I've read and I found very interesting here, it says 10 states and um you know plan on taking 10 to 14 days to do it if you want to see things. Um, but I've read that some people drive it. If you were to drive it from one into the other, it would take you 36 straight hours of driving. I don't know why anybody would want to do that, but I guess that's just there for uh for mathematical purposes, right?

Best Seasons And Pacing Your Drive

SPEAKER_12

Yeah, we just kind of wanted to give people a picture of how long it would take to do that. But really, you can take as short or as long a time as you want. You can do one state, two states, you can do all 10. There are people who who do all 10. The people who do all 10 generally kind of break it up into maybe a different a year or two, you know, right northern section in the summer, maybe the southern section in the winter when it's a little warmer down there.

JOHN

Oh, interesting. Okay, that's true because you are running into two weather zones that depending upon when you try to do, unless you do it all in July. Right, you know, where when you get to the middle of the country, it can be rather hot. Um do people is there a preferred route north to south, south to north, or do you find people drive in and like go to St. Louis and then some go north, some go south. Uh it's not certainly not mandatory that you do the whole route.

SPEAKER_12

Right. Yeah, it's it's kind of based on what you want to see where you want to go. Um we we we've done routes from north to south and south to north. It it I mean it depends if you want to start in New Orleans or start in northern Minnesota, you know, and it's uh it's kind of kind of up to you where where you want to go. And and like I said, what time of year? Obviously, the northern section is not as scenic in the in the winter, but you know, in the spring, summer, fall, especially the northern part, the the roads right along the river. You get those beautiful fall colors in the fall, that that's a great time. In fact, September is uh what we've called drive the great river road month. So that's when we promote travel uh on the great river road, yeah. And then say, okay, go to the northern states, you're gonna see some some great fall color along the Mississippi River when you do that.

JOHN

Then you're beating the snow as you head south. Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_12

Yeah, again, you can do it, you can do one state, you can do three states, you can do ten states.

JOHN

It's it's really how about the major cities that you might run that you'd run into um on this road.

SPEAKER_12

Yeah, so yeah. So the the bigger cities would be New Orleans, it'd be St. Louis, it'd be Memphis, and it would be the Twin Cities in Minnesota, or the bigger cities, but along the way, there's you know, it's dotted with kind of small, charming uh river towns uh in the north and south, both. You know, Galena is on the Great River Road, that's in northwestern Illinois. That's uh commonly voted as one of the most charming historic downtowns in the country. You know, it's been it's got a lot of coverage, so that's where uh uh a lot of like uh downtown buildings there on the National Register of Historic Places. You've got the Ulysses S. Grant home, that's where Ulysses S. Grant was from.

JOHN

I mean, um you could really do a um uh a cultural tour as well for you know, with the people up north uh are totally different uh foods and culture than than the Cajuns down in Luze in uh in Narlands. Sure, sure, right? I mean that because you do a culinary trip along the Great River.

Food Music And River Town Culture

SPEAKER_12

Yeah, yeah, there's lots of lots of great foods. Um I you know, like you've got your cheese curds in Wisconsin, you've got walleye in Minnesota, and then down south you've got catfish, got Tamales, Arkansas has its own tamale trail. It has a lot of uh old restaurants and uh old family restaurants and stuff on it. So that's it's yeah, like I said, you can do kind of any anything you're interested in. And the vast difference between the north and the south is just kind of you get the whole spectrum of whether you're doing culinary or culture or you know, music, music to work deposit in the south. Yeah, you know, if you if you go through Mississippi, you go along the Blues Highway there, you go to Clarksdale, uh, which is home to the Delta Blues Museum. There's a Grammy Museum in uh Mississippi on the Great River Road. So there's lots, again, there's lots to do whatever you're interested in.

JOHN

And you know, um, with this year that we're in right now, uh 2026, we've got the more than the bicentennial America 250. And my guess is that small town America is gonna have tons of festivals and events, and you know, depending upon where you are, 4th of July, uh, don't go to a big city, go to go to small town America and really see, you know, the what the people did when they were um you know living on the river.

SPEAKER_12

For sure. One thing I wanted to bring up in talking about those events is uh in Miz on the Missouri side of the Great River Road, there's the town of Hannibal, which is Mark Twain's boyhood home.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_12

So every you can go you go visit his home, you know, there's a museum there. It's a really charming uh river town. And every June, I believe it is, I think it's in June, uh they have um Tom Sawyer Days, which is a big community festival. It's got a parade, it's got a carnival, it's got activities, and it's got a lot of things tied into uh Mark Twain and like the the sources that he got for for his Tom Sawyer stories. You know, so there's a there's a frog jumping competition, there's a fence painting competition, there's a I I believe they pick a Tom and a Becky uh as like you know, the the king and queen of the of the event. So there's there's things like that. And then there's also things like I mentioned Glena before, they've got a uh air hot air balloon race every June, so that goes above the bluffs and you know northwestern Illinois there.

Maps Campgrounds And Headwaters Stop

JOHN

You you mentioned the uh the Missouri side, etc. I didn't realize that when you when the as the river goes north and south, you've got two sides of the river that you can travel on. And my guess is that there are enough places that you can cross the river to do the east side for a period of time, then do the west side for a period of time. And um, you know, maybe you don't want to do the whole route down, but you want to go down on the east and then flip over, come back on the west or whatever. But the thing I that I was very happy to see on the website, and we should say, um, what what website do you want to send them to um for for this?

SPEAKER_12

Is it Experience Mississippi River or go to experience Mississippi River.com, you'll find a lot of the stuff that the John has been talking about here. Um I'm gonna order a map. It's not really a navigational map, more of an attractions map, and it just kind of gives you the lay of the land as it were to plan your trip. But yeah, there's a lot of uh helpful info there at experience mississippiriver.com.

JOHN

Yeah, and one of the things that I noticed on that is I just where it has a little search bar, I typed in campgrounds, and there's a special page that will give you campgrounds all the way from Minnesota all the way down to uh Louisiana. Uh you know, with the bulk of our audience being RVers, um that's a major factor for them, but I'm sure there's harvest host properties along the way as well, and you know, some local campgrounds that aren't even included in that.

SPEAKER_12

Yeah, there's a lot of great, like you've mentioned, a lot of great state parks and things. Uh one to point out in particular, if you want to see the headwaters, if you want to see where the Mississippi River starts, uh Itasca State Park in northern Minnesota is about a three and a half hour drive north of the Twin Cities. It's beautiful. I've I've been there in the in the fall, and it's beautiful. And Lake Atasca is the headwaters of the Mississippi River. That's where it starts. It's, I don't know, 25 feet wide, but the Mississippi River starts, they have stepping stones in there, and people like to walk across it in the in the summer.

JOHN

So that's what I was gonna say. There's got to be pretty cool spot where you can walk across the Mississippi, and then when you get down to St. Louis, you can't even see across the Mississippi.

SPEAKER_12

Right, yeah, yeah, yeah. It starts 25 feet wide and it goes, you know, ends up being a mile wide at some point.

JOHN

We want to thank you, Alan Hammery, for representing the Great River Road and let people know. Alan, give us that website one more time that you can find out more.

SPEAKER_12

Yeah, that's experiencemisissippiriver.com.

JOHN

There you go. So let's get back to the rest of our show. This is the RV Life Podcast. My name is John DePetro.

RENE

Thanks, John. As always, such a great conversation. And I have to say, the more I hear about the Great River Road, the more I want to go. It really sounds like one of those routes where the journey is the destination.

JIM

Exactly. It's not just one stop, it's a whole chain of experiences, river towns, food, music, history, scenic drives, and all the little places in between that you'd probably miss if you stayed on the interstate.

RENE

I loved hearing about how flexible it is too. You can do the full route or just tackle a section at a time depending on the season, the weather, or how much time you've got.

Why The Pacific Northwest Rewards RVers

JIM

All right, all right, all right. We'll get there. Coming up next, we shift from one classic American route to one of the most beautiful and varied regions you can explore by RV, the Pacific Northwest.

RENE

We're joined by Brooks Smothers of RV Out West, and he's sharing why this region deserves a whole lot more attention from RV travelers. From the Columbia River Gorge to mountain towns, rainforests, and coastal drives, Brooks makes a strong case for slowing down and really exploring this corner of the country.

How RV Out West Started

JIM

It was great chatting with Brooks again. Here's our conversation with the host of RV Outwest. Brooks, thanks for joining us. It's so great to chat again. You know, we last talked on the RV Entrepreneur podcast, but for listeners who may not know RV Outwest yet, tell us how the project started. What inspired you to focus specifically on RV travel in the Pacific Northwest?

SPEAKER_13

Well, first off, Jim and Renee, thank you guys so much for having me on the show. And I'm excited to just talk about the Pacific Northwest. It's a place that is very near and dear to my heart. So I am a born and raised Washingtan. I grew up here, lived through Mount St. Helens eruption, the whole conversation for another time. I was alive and I have vivid memories of when Mount St. Helens erupted. You know, I've been to all 50 states as well, and I moved away for a decade from my like mid-20s to early 30s, and I came back. I just love this area. And so when my wife and I started getting into RVing, I'm a big podcast listener and listen to a bunch of podcasts. I was trying to find kind of a podcast that would talk about places to go do RV travel and RVing in and around the Pacific Northwest. And there wasn't really anything I could find. Sure, I could find episodes from, you know, larger podcast shows like the RV Atlas or RV Miles talking about, you know, places to go and do things in the Pacific Northwest, but it was like a one-off episode. There really wasn't anything that would kind of do a deep dive. And then COVID happened. And it was a lockdown. We were doing a remodel to our sticks and bricks, not because it was COVID and whatever. It was just timing-wise. My daughter at the time was five and caused a flood in our house. And so we had to remodel. And then COVID happened. So I needed to find a creative outlet. And so I was like, you know what? I could totally talk about RVing in the Pacific Northwest.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_13

So it started with the is this thing on? And next thing you know, I'm like 180 episodes in and having a ball, talking about various different places to go RVing and exploring and adventuring right here in the Pacific Northwest. Fantastic.

RENE

You know, it is one of our favorite places too. We always seem to be bouncing around Oregon and Washington and Colorado. We can't decide which one we like more.

SPEAKER_13

So I know that short list too when we were looking to move back.

RENE

So we we just love the region and there's so much to see and do there and such different terrain from place to place. How do you decide which locations and destinations you want to share? Do you ever hold back? Like you ever is there like a really special place where you're like, I don't want this place to get overrun. I don't want to tell everybody. So how do you how do you decide what you're gonna talk about?

SPEAKER_13

Okay. So first off, for my small group of camping friends that I camp with who hopefully should be listening to this episode, yes, there is one campground I do not talk about, which is where we go as a collective group, and they have specifically given me instructions not to talk about that one campground. So, yes, there is one campground I don't disclose on RV out west for that reason.

RENE

Fair enough.

SPEAKER_13

That said, I want, you know, I want to encourage people to come and visit the Northwest and RV here. And so most of my audience is really Pacific Northwest listeners. When I look, you know, they're from Seattle, they're from Portland, they're from Bend, they're listening from Boise. You know, they're this kind of the big kind of city areas are the big places in the Pacific Northwest. Now, that doesn't mean I don't have people listening who don't live in the area who are looking to come here and trying to do their own research or find out other things and places to go and see. So I talk about other destinations that I find that I like. You know, we got Leavenworth in the Cascade Mountains, this faux bavarian town that's very iconic and in the mountains. And if you look, but also Leavenworth is a great springboard place to go hiking or mountain biking, or if you're a winter camper, you know, there's skiing and great snowboarding an hour away, 45 minutes away. So I talk about some of these places because I want others to experience maybe that you live in Idaho, and when you come over, you know, you only go to eastern Washington, or, you know, you go into Oregon to go to the Rogue River or to Bend or to some of these other places. And so I want to share places that are on the way. I did an episode where I just talked about the last part of the Lewis and Clark Trail that really only is affected by the Pacific Northwest. Yeah. And to think about where they started in Idaho and coming down off of that pass into then the Columbia River Gorge and the majesty of the Columbia River, I can't even imagine what that would have been like in that time frame that Lewis and Clark were traveling without an interstate and their wagon wheels and chuck wagons and all of those stuff that I think then going, hey, I want to do an RV trip that follows along the route that they took.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

Gorge Rainforest Desert In One Region

SPEAKER_13

But yet I now have my convenience of my ice machine, my midway fault mattress, and you know, I don't need to worry about the chuck wagon. I don't want to drink cowboy coffee. I want it filtered, you know. So, like, you know, so I but uh to kind of think about that and go, hey, that's a really cool idea. So that's kind of where those lesser-known destinations I think are fun things to talk about.

JIM

I think it's great that you're sharing that kind of stuff. And, you know, I've heard you describe the Northwest as an often um overlooked RV destination. And we've spent a lot of time roaming around Oregon and Washington. I was surprised by when we discovered the Ho Rainforest. A lot of people might not have cared for the weather at that time when we were there. But I know it's hard to name like that one special destination, and I know of one that you're not gonna mention. What's one region or an area that you think completely surprises people when they first discover it by RV?

SPEAKER_13

You know, it's hard because I'm gonna back up before I give you a straight answer.

JIM

Sure.

SPEAKER_13

I think the thing that's really interesting about the Pacific Northwest and even Washington State, but if I were to make Seattle the epicenter within a four-hour driving radius in any one direction from Seattle, let's say, you have the mighty Pacific Ocean. You have the temperate rainforest of the Olympic National Park. And there are only five temperate rainforests on our planet, and only one in the United States, and it's right here in Washington State. You then have the high alpine area of the Cascade Mountain range, and so high alpine lakes and great hiking and skiing. And all of the cool things about uh the mountains. And then in eastern Washington, you have the desert, the rolling wheat fields of the Palouse, and wine country of the Palouse, and the Columbia River Gorge. So you have these crazy diverse ecosystems that are dramatic and mind-blowing and vastly different. In a three-hour drive, you can go through very different terrain. So to think about that PW place that would just be like, what? I really go back to the Columbia River Gorge and kind of from the mouth of Astoria or the mouth of the Columbia River up through like to Hood River. And then I go back to that kind of idea, what we were just talking about about Lewis and Clark and kind of what that might have been for them the first time they kind of dropped down into that gorge and saw that. I think the Columbia River Gorge, my one kind of comma and would be Bend, Oregon.

RENE

Yeah.

SPEAKER_13

Because Bend is that high alpine kind of really cool area that if you're any sort of outdoor person and you like hiking and paddling and kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding and mountain biking and trail running and the list goes on and on. Bend is like a playground for that kind of stuff. But I think for that first time, somebody who's never been to the Pacific Northwest, the Columbia River Gorge, I guarantee you will blow your mind.

RENE

I would have to agree with that. I mean, we discovered it little by little and and had no idea how different it could be from place to place. I mean, we've stayed, um, what was that place by the locks? We boondocked near the locks on the dam. Yeah.

SPEAKER_13

Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, the Bonneville Dam.

RENE

Yes. Yes, yes, yes. I believe that's it.

SPEAKER_13

But and they use the swim ladder for all the salmon to go up. Yeah. Yeah.

RENE

You know, I love that you're an R Ver and you give it that perspective. Because you can find a lot of shows about travel and destinations and things. John, John Day. John Day. John Day, sorry. Yeah. John Day. Yeah.

SPEAKER_13

In the Painted Hills. If anybody hills on my list, I didn't even talk about that yet, but beautiful.

Reservations State Parks And Family Time

RENE

Beautiful. You know, so being being an R Ver, you give it this perspective that other other podcasts and travel series don't. So I I love that. But as an RVer, you know that the demand since COVID has gone way up. And it takes some planning to to plot out a good route and find places to stay and things like that. How has your style of planning a trip and the recommendations you give changed over the years from when the time that you started?

JIM

You can't just go out anymore and stop and stay there.

SPEAKER_13

You can't. And you know, I think a lot of it too, you know, both Washington and Oregon state parks are absolutely crown jewels. We are very lucky here with this our state parks. They really definitely have we a lot of them have full hookups. A lot of them will definitely have electric and water, and then you know, sewer dump on site in the campground, maybe not in your campsite, but at least on on property. We have incredible state parks. And they're all on a rolling calendar, I can't remember if it's six months or nine months, but they're on that rolling calendar. And so, you know, it's a bit of a game. You know, you wake up early and be like, okay, I need to, you know, have my morning coffee at 6 a.m. So I'm ready to rock at seven to make a a reservation. Right. You know, and so there's a bit of that, but I think the overall, maybe my answer to that question is a little different on my approach to RV travel because what I've realized about RB Travel now is that it's really about my family time. And when I think about the summers I have left with my children, that really narrows things down. You know, I have a 14-year-old, which means I got four summers left. And then he's launched. I mean, you know, he'll be going off to school or doing whatever he's doing. I mean, sure, he might still be here, but on the whole, you know, I mean, I got four summers left with him. And so as a family, RV travel has really brought in for us the idea that we value experiences. And so we choose to spend our discretionary income on having those experiences together as a family. And so the RV travel has really changed how we travel as a family. That's crazy. I think, which isn't necessarily, I think, the answer to the question that you were looking for, but I think it's a different way to approach what that looks like.

RENE

I think it really shows the value of the extra effort that it takes these days to plan a trip in a populated region like that, just because it's it's worth it. I mean, it you see the value, you get to spend time as a family together. My best memories as a kid were RVing with my parents. I would not be a traveler today if it wasn't for my dad taking us out every summer. So yeah, these are lifetime memories that what was that?

SPEAKER_13

Did you ever thank him for that?

RENE

That is such a big question. Maybe I I'm trying to remember. I I think I did, right? I think so. He's not around anymore. Dad, thank you. He's hopefully he's listening somewhere.

SPEAKER_13

That happened for me, whether it's, you know, whatever.

Misconceptions About Cities And Safety

JIM

But I mean, I hope that's what you said sheds light on the value of the RV lifestyle to experience and get out and explore those places. But for the other people out there, with families or not, who are planning their trip and they think about the Northwest, a lot of us or a lot of them might get intimidated by the Northwest. It might be the Seattle traffic or mountain roads or the weather ranging from coastal rain to your Washington heat. What are some of the big misconceptions you might hear from RVers who might have not have traveled to the region and what they might think of the place?

SPEAKER_13

So, first off, let's talk about the weather. Okay. Right off the ball. Let's talk about the rain. You know, we very much like to joke and say we don't tan, we rust.

ROSE

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_13

And maybe that's part to keep the California migration to stop coming up for us. I don't know. If there are any Californians listening, I'm sorry, but no. Um, but also I think part of that too is that it kind of also goes back to what you had mentioned, Jim, earlier about the overlooked. And I think from the stories I've read online, the people I've talked to, that a lot of times we're a pass-through state or a pass-through area on your way to Alaska. We're that kind of last big springboard before you cross the border, head into Canada, and start your route up to Dawson Creek. So we're the, you know, Bellingham was the last stop for big major provisionings before you kind of cross that border. And when people come up here, they don't give themselves enough time to experience the area because they're more focused on getting to their destination and their trip up the Alcan. And then it becomes a wow, that place really blew my mind. I need to come back and I want to experience it more because it's not what I thought. And so it goes back to, hey, we have all of these crazy diverse ecosystems that are very different. Like I said, I've been to all 50 states, and this place still blows my mind. And so I think that's a big misconception that people don't allow themselves enough time to stay. The other thing is not to be getting political, and I don't want to be, but I think current events and news sources are painting the Northwest in such a light that is not true, is not common, and they are finding those smaller voices who help push out that narrative of whatever it might be, and that is really not the case here.

RENE

I hear you.

SPEAKER_13

Seattle is a great city. Portland is a great city. I feel safe in both of those cities. Does it have homelessness and tent encampments and that kind of sure? It's a city. You're gonna find that in any city you go to across the United States. I don't think it's more prevalent here than it is in any other city elsewhere. And that's just part of cities. Right. And so I think there's narratives coming out that are causing people to be like, oh, we don't need to go there, or I don't want to go there. And ultimately, you're cheating yourself.

RENE

Oh, I couldn't agree more. I mean, that's why I love your show because you you take these deep dives into the region so that we can see that there's so much to do in one little space of the country and and it's not what you think it's gonna be until you get there. I mean, really, our our traveling style has always been keep your expectations low because everything is gonna surprise you otherwise. If somebody is gonna go to the Pacific Northwest and they're not gonna blow through there, what are some of the important things that they need to know to have the time of their life? Depending on the season, will will you know summer be different from fall? What are some like your top tips for a newbie?

SPEAKER_13

The biggest thing is no matter when you are here, layering is critical because you know, our weather changes on a dime. And I'm not just talking about the rain. I'm saying the temperature, you know, in the summer it'll be, you know, whatever, it could be 80, 90 degrees during the day, but at night when you're sitting around the campfire, it drops down to 60, and you're like, hmm, I need to put a hoodie on, or I need a I need a sweatshirt and jeans now because it's not shorts and flip-flops. You know, so that temperature swings, and so you need to be able to peel off layers, put layers on, put a hoodie on, put a beanie on, take the beanie off, put a ball cap on, you know. So I think layering for those weather conditions. I think the other thing too is when you come in the summer, not knowing how far north we are, and that the sun doesn't set until 1030 at night, it's not quite Alaska and the summer sun. But, you know, as a kid, when it was like, hey, come home, it was come home when the streetlights turn on, not come home when it gets dark, because if I come home when it gets dark, I'll be walking in the door at like 10 45 at night, being, hey mom, what's up? Um, and so you know, I think that takes a little bit. You know, it the sun comes up at 5 30 in the summer and doesn't set until 10 30, 11 o'clock at night. So knowing that. And then the other big thing really is um mountain passes and doing that travel. You know, I have my wife and I have uh a Jaco 267 BHSW. So we have the 26-foot bunkhouse uh with a slide out. I want to say, I can't remember off the top of my head, but I want to say it's about 7,700 pounds. And when we first bought it, you know, I didn't it was the first, well, actually, it was the second vehicle or second thing I'd ever towed, but it was the first time it was something significantly larger than a pop-up to tow.

RENE

It's pretty good size.

SPEAKER_13

And I had a F-150 with the naturally aspirated V8 engine in it. And, you know, the the sales guys were like, oh yeah, you can you can tow that, no problem.

RENE

In this last.

SPEAKER_13

And I could. And I did, and I towed it over mountain passes, and I used that truck and towed it over mountain passes, and it was okay. But luckily, I knew the roads, had driven these roads numerous times, but there were times coming down where, you know, that those truck brakes were hot and they were smoking. And, you know, I'm coming down off of mountain pass to the point now that I have a one-ton diesel to tow a 7,700 foot trailer because I'm in mountain passes. And so using that exhaust brake and some of the power of that, you know, so it might be an overkill truck for the trailer I'm towing, but given the fact that I'm going over mountain passes, it seems like a good fit for me.

JIM

Oh, yeah. You can never have too much truck, I think. And yeah, I know you have a lot of I I heard about your your your plans for RV outwest this season. You got a lot on the docket. Where's the best way people can learn more about where you're headed and what's going on in the Pacific Northwest these days?

SPEAKER_13

Sure. You know, people can uh find us online at rvutwest.com. I'm on Instagram, Facebook. I'm new to TikTok. So you can find me on TikTok. I learned I'm learning that area right now. And obviously, you can find the show in any podcast app that you're choosing to listen to RB life in right now. I am in that same directory and in that same app as well.

RENE

Well, we love your show, so we are definitely going to get the word out about what you do because it's it's really valuable and helpful. So thank you so much, Brooks.

SPEAKER_13

Yeah, you guys, thank you so much for having me on. I really appreciate it.

JIM

Ditto, thanks a bunch. You know, Brooks always makes me want to hitch up and head back to the Northwest. We've been up there so many times, but it still missed so much.

RENE

Oh, I know. And I really appreciate how he talks about the Pacific Northwest from the perspective of an actual RVer. It's not just travel inspiration. It's practical, realistic, and rooted in what it's really like to camp and road trip through that region.

JIM

Right. And his point about not rushing through everything really hits home. There's so much there from the coast to the mountains to the desert, river country. If you blow through it too fast, you miss the whole point, folks.

RENE

All right, next up is another RV entrepreneur profile with a familiar pair. Jake and Sarah from Active RV Life are back.

JIM

That's right. Our earlier conversation, a while back now, they talked about fitness, mobility, injury covery, and how to stay active enough to enjoy your RV lifestyle. Now, Rose and Glenn take the conversation in a little different direction and dive into how Jake and Sarah turned that passion into a business built specifically for RVers.

RENE

They talk about the health challenges they saw in the community, the platform they've created, and what it really looks like to build a business while living full-time on the road.

JIM

Here's Rose and Glenn with RV Entrepreneurs, Jake and Sarah.

ROSE

Hello, Jake and Sarah. Welcome to the RV Entrepreneur segment of the show. Thank you so much for joining us today.

SPEAKER_09

Thanks for the invite. We're really, really excited about this.

ROSE

We are really excited too, because the health, fitness, and RV lifestyle come up constantly in our world. So it's really neat that we have some things in common. And you guys have been full-time RVers for four years now. And you're the founders of Active RV Life, a fitness, nutrition, and wellness platform built specifically for life on the road. But before we dive into the business side, give us a quick picture of what RV active, I mean active RV life is and the problem you saw in the community that made you say, this needs to exist.

SPEAKER_09

So it's a a place, it's and it goes beyond just working out and getting a good, you know, a good sweat session. So if you picture folks are preparing for either retirement or they're preparing for travel, they have this idea of what travel is going to look like. And so you're picturing the open road and going to all these national parks and the hikes and doing all this sightseeing, what this great country has to offer. And leading up to that, your family, you know, has obligations, you know, the work the has obligations. And before you know it, your health is starting to deteriorate. And by the time that you get there, you don't have the health to actually do the dream that you had dreamed of doing. And so we have a personal story where we had some family come down to St. Augustine, Florida to visit us. And it's it's it's beautiful down there. There's a lot of it's actually the oldest city in America. So there's a lot of rich history. There's a fort, there's a lighthouse, there's all this stuff to do. And we go check the lighthouse out, and Sarah and I go up and we're heading up to the top, and we kind of turn back, and our family members weren't able to climb the stairs of the lighthouse. And so you're you're there. Like they were there, they saw the tours, they rode the trolley, we did all that kind of stuff, but you're you're not experiencing like how you envisioned. You're not up on top of the lighthouse, looking out over the bay, over the ocean, being there, kind of seeing what the other folks are seeing. And so that's what we want to make sure that we do is we really want to be huge advocates of health and fitness, community, getting people out there and really accomplishing the travel dreams that they've been working so hard for.

GLYNN

You know what? The the human body requires maintenance. And do you feel like when someone, you know, they initiate this new journey that there's such a huge learning curve and it takes so much time to figure out how to back up the RV? Where are you staying? That you disregard your personal health.

SPEAKER_01

Dude, you have no idea. Like, I mean, people that don't RV, they think it's just buy the rig and like figure it out from there. But yeah, you are right. There is so much behind the scenes that people don't understand. Because like you grow up in a home, apartment, things like that, and you slowly learn how to do these things. But in an RV, it's just like, oh, let just try to figure it out as things are going and driving it, like you said, like trying to back the truck up on the hitch. There's just so many little small things that people don't understand. So I always tell people, like, within the first year, you're gonna be fighting a lot. Just understand it's not you as a couple, it is RV life testing your limits. And then from there, how do you overcome those like challenges with the RV and keeping your, you know, your um relationship afloat as well? So yeah, there's so many hidden things behind the scenes um with just maintenance and then of course the health side of things as well.

GLYNN

Absolutely. So it really seems that, you know, serving this community just it feels right, doesn't it? Absolutely, yes, it does.

ROSE

Yeah. So take us back to that beginning. You know, you have this platform. So when you first started thinking about building a business, I guess you already knew that our VRs kind of would be your niche from this story. But, you know, what made serving this community feel like the right fit?

SPEAKER_09

So first, like Sarah and I always wanted to start a business together. Um, I was in corporate America. It was a great company, people were great, you know, it was it was really a good experience, but health almost became secondary just because of the you know, the corporate lifestyle. So long hours in front of a computer, sitting, uh, just it's it took a lot of mental strain from problem solving all the time. And Sarah had uh an applied sports psychology business, and she's working with athletes and and other um other folks within the uh the sports psychology realm. And so when we had an opportunity when I was able to quit corporate America, we wanted to do something that really aligned our personal life and professional life. And with being in the RV and the love of travel and the love of community, the love of health and fitness, it just seemed like here we go. Like it was, you know, kind of a dream come true. Um, definitely uh entrepreneurship has its struggles. And so I'm sure we're gonna talk about that later. You have a feeling how hard it's gonna be, but until you actually do it, it's it's hard to it, you know, it's hard to explain that uh to folks that haven't jumped headfirst into entrepreneurship.

Workouts Built For Small Spaces

GLYNN

We had a business for 20 years, and yes, it's a tough task. So maybe you can walk us through what goes into designing a platform that you've, you know, A, tell us about your platform and then all the trials and tribulations of designing this platform that you have.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So with the platform itself, like we understand RVing is challenging in itself. Like it is kind of a workout having to do all the maintenance and things. So when we're building at it, we're basically trying to figure out the specific goals somebody is like looking to do. So like um, I know Angel's Landing is something that a lot of people want to be able to do, but how do you get yourself ready for something along those lines? Or even, and that's like something really challenging, like a hike that's outside of your RV. But as we know, these RVs, they do use every nook and cranny possible for storage. Like our seats we're sitting in, we can flip them over and there's storage under them. But we also know, like I'm looking at our cabinets to the right of us, we have to stand on top of our um couch to be get be able to get up there. And we're pretty young, and that's not too challenging. But at the same time, if we're not paying attention about stepping down or how uh cushion-y the couch is, we have kind of fallen before or like we stepped down and hurt ourselves. So, anyways, with the program, we really thought about more like the functional independent side of things, especially for the 55 plus. We understand, like we were talking about um the cabinets up top, so high reaches. But even those little um compartments under your RV, you have to like maneuver your body in such a way to be able to do that. And a lot of people are like, man, like I'm just my body's hurting all the time. We also know that if you have RV furniture, it's just not great on your body. Like, it's just so much elements that start to like build up to eventually. It's just like you feel tired all the time. So, anyways, our workouts are made to specifically help with that kind of functional independence. Travel days, we understand travel days aren't very easy. So we created something that's a quick 15-minute workout, body, um, all body weight, but something that's quick, fast, that you can just do to warm up your body uh before tearing down your rig, or even um maybe when you're done, um whatever location you're at, maybe just opening up your body again, because we all know sitting is the new smoking, like we do it so much. Just opening up that body from there. So we're really thinking about all the elements of somebody that just wants to be more functional in their daily life, especially with how RB life is, or things that just you want to have a nice, consistent travel day, something that allows your body to wake up before having a long sit-down, you know, travel day.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, but the community itself is is evolving. So, you know, before the the the 55 plus demographic, the you know, you picture that class A diesel pusher, that was the the majority of what our Vers were. And now it's actually kind of migrating to, you know, to kind of like Sarah Nized demographic where we're in our mid-30s. Um, and so we wanted to be able to, like Sarah was talking about, the the workouts themselves, they're tailored, like they're purpose-driven. So um they're for if it's for the 55 plus community, they're they're designed in a way that it's gonna benefit them, um, benefit the the fitness level, and and there's things about like functional independence, mobility, flexibility, and stuff. But also, you know, for that younger crowd that kind of like Sarah, uh, what we were actually doing in the original, like the original reason why we started RVing was to follow the Spartan Race series around. Um, we needed something high intensity to to really help with uh her fitness. So we do have programs that are more of that crossfit style. We call it peak performance, where I have a hard time doing the workouts myself. They're challenging. Um and so it's it and it's great. And and so you have the the folks that you know the that want to do the 55 plus style with chair yoga, chair fitness, uh, also the mobility, and then you work your way down to like the active, healthy lifestyle, and we call it active lifestyle. So they're approachable, they're scalable, you can tune them up is how how aggressive you want, or or scale them back down. Um, so push-ups would be a great example. So if you don't want to do a you know traditional push-up, you could do it on your knees or even do it elevated on a picnic table or on the side of the RV. And then there's the wild and crazy stuff with with peak performance. So we kind of have a good variety to fit a taste for everybody, basically.

SPEAKER_01

That's what we're trying to say. Yeah.

GLYNN

You need it, you do need a taste for everybody. We watched that migration happen well. We were out on the road too, where it became younger and younger individuals. So you're you're covering the grounds, yeah.

ROSE

And your platform. So this is follow along with you, kind of do the workout with you, or is this just you set up a program? How does this work?

Community Accountability And Rally Credibility

SPEAKER_09

So the the bread and butter of it is the follow along. And you know, just coming up with workouts on the road in general can be challenging. So we're trying to make it as easy as possible. So it's small spaces, limited equipment. Uh, Sarah has done an awesome job at keeping it like fun and exciting. So you're not just doing air squats and push-ups, like there's some really cool body weight stuff and calisthenics that she throws in there. Um, and then as the app's growing, so it takes a long time to film and edit and do all that kind of stuff. So we do have just like uh, you know, here's what the standard workout is, here's a demonstration on how to perform the movements, but the follow-along portion, there's a little bit of a lag because it takes a long time to edit, you know, and do all that kind of stuff. So um and one last thing about it, and I know I'm rambling a little bit, but we're I'm passionate about it. Um it's kind of set up like Duolingo, where if it's kind of streak-based. And so it's really focusing on the consistency rather than perfection. And so you can show up, um, and so you can have the like support from the community members, and it doesn't matter if you're doing the same program, you can still, you know, cheer each other on, kind of have that supportive environment that you would get from a brick and mortar gym. Um, and you're just meeting a bunch of people out on the road and building the community that way.

ROSE

Yeah. Speaking of community, I mean, it's obvious that that is the core of what you've built. So at what point did you realize this wasn't just about workouts, but the connection and accountability?

SPEAKER_01

So that's kind of where we understood in the in the first place. Like when we first started RVing, we were basically racing a lot and we kind of forgot, like we made a community in the races we were doing, but we kind of forgot to make community in the RV space. It's like, man, we we kind of screwed up a little bit. And we realized like one of the um moments where we were just at an RV park, we uh ran into some people and they are super awesome. They just kind of invited us in their little hangout session rally that they were having. And it just made so much more sense having community in person. Cause as you know, like online it's a little saturated until you actually meet that person in person. Like it's like, who is this? Like, there's so many people doing so much random stuff, and you want to be a part of that community, but it doesn't feel like it sinks fully until you see them in person. So we kind of started this because we care about the community and accountability. And it also just makes it more fun. Like a lot of people look at fitness as something that's unappealing because it can be strenuous and intense and tiring, but that's not why we're doing this. We're trying to make it fun, exciting, and having a community a part of it. So, yeah, like that was kind of the premise of us starting this in the first place. That was smart.

GLYNN

That was, yeah, very smart as necessary. You've also gone to rallies and shown up in person. How much has that helped?

SPEAKER_09

Uh it's been a huge help. So kind of like what Sarah was was talking about is like there's so many influencers, there's so much like fad diets and fad exercises, and you don't know like if you number one, if they're credible, you know, or you know, what what program do you do or whatnot? Um, and so like starting out from that grassroots where we're going to the so we have a grand design, so we go to like a lot of the grand design rallies and and meet those folks, completely awesome. Like, we're so very fortunate. We got some mentors. Um, so just meeting with them and then building that credibility and then asking for feedback, you know, what what works for you, what doesn't, you know, we're able to have those face-to-face interactions. Um, and I I do want to give a couple shout-outs. So, like Scott and Denise Thompson, uh Jarrett and Jen Burnett and the Hubbards, like they're you know, some of the wagon masters for Grand Design, like just taking us under their wing and just you know helped us out tremendously. And and everyone's like, it's just like a tight-knit community. So it's really cool that we were able to do that. And then now we're kind of getting out, you know, online. And so we're we're meeting a lot of them, like those folks down at Courtsite here at the RV show in in Arizona. So um we're gonna have it, it's gonna be so much fun. We're gonna have a lot of fun.

ROSE

Yeah, I mean, you can't do it alone. It takes a village being an entrepreneur sometimes.

SPEAKER_09

For sure, for sure.

GLYNN

Your passion comes through. I mean, your excitement is definitely coming through.

ROSE

Okay, getting back to that like entrepreneurship. Uh, I think you said that you were in corporate before jumping into this. How was that transition for you? How do you like being an entrepreneur now?

SPEAKER_09

I I prefer it. Um, and so, like with corporate America, you have the the board of directors, there's a standard operating procedure. You you kind of like you have to stay in your lane a lot. Um, and so there's that that structure that's there. And some folks, you know, they like that's how you want to operate. I love the freedom. I like wearing multiple hats, I like getting my hands dirty. And so, you know, helping Sarah design the workouts to going out to market, to, you know, doing workouts with with people on the road. Um, it is, you know, it's it's not uh all Instagram and you know, it's a lot of hard work.

SPEAKER_01

And she likes not sleeping, basically. That's what he's trying to say.

ROSE

Uh well, it sounds like you guys are a great team. So that that helps.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, and and super, super lucky. So, you know, with the business back end and doing all the tax documents and all that kind of like fun stuff, like you know, I can gravitate more towards that, where Sarah's like the you know, the fitness guru expert. She designs all these cool, you know, programs.

SPEAKER_01

So it's yeah, I like being hands-on, doing the work, and he's kind of behind the scenes creating all the um back end type of stuff that I just don't understand. And that's where our um our team dynamic, like you said, works really well.

SPEAKER_09

One one thing that I it took me a long time to to kind of I don't want to say calm down, but have a mindset shift. So, like in corporate America, you have a lot of resources, you have a whole team, there's different departments you can rely on, you know, you can delegate a lot. Um, there's a lot of KPIs and things and and milestones that you're following. And so, like for me to realize, like, hey, it's gonna take twice as long, it's gonna cost twice as much, you're wearing multiple hats, you just have to embrace the journey, you know. And and in the beginning, I was kind of getting stuck like we we were gonna launch at this date and we were supposed to have this. My coworker is and is my spouse. And so, like, that excitement was kind of, you know, we're just we're figuring it out as we go. And so it took me a long time to kind of reel in and you know, hey, like let's just embrace this lifestyle because RV life is chaotic anyway. And so, you know, it's it's been fun.

GLYNN

Jake, Jake, give yourself some grace, okay, man. Yeah, you got plenty of time. Uh is do you feel like, you know, is there one lesson that you learned the hard way when you were starting this?

SPEAKER_09

That that's uh it's that is a hundred percent it. So I had, like I said, these these milestones in my mind, um, and just trying to push and drive. And it it was just like Sarah almost had to like break me out of it. She's like, listen, you know, you don't have the corporate America team. We don't have the resources, we're doing this ourselves, we're learning as we go. Let's just take a break, you know, smile, relax, embrace this journey. And and so, like that, the constant feeling of being behind, and there's always something to do. And, you know, it it's just it's an imaginary finish line, you know, that you just have to embrace that, just like with fitness, you have to embrace the process, trust in trust in the process, and everything's gonna work out.

GLYNN

That's great advice for uh for anyone trying to start a business on the road. Period.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

GLYNN

Go ahead, Sarah.

SPEAKER_01

Well, I was gonna say, like, besides that hardship that Jake was having, another thing was just like we were trying to make the conditions perfect for filming too. And I'm like, RV, like we know that one.

SPEAKER_09

Exactly. I forgot about that one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And we all know that's not how it works. Like, we have an RV that's right in front of us. Their dog barks every second of the hour. We have a street net right next to us. Um, there's kids that are running around like crazy, dirt bikes, side by side. It's like it's just a madhouse sometimes. And I was trying to like be like, you know what? RV ink is messy. Our videos, of course, we are going to try to give the best workout. But if something happens, we have to roll with it because that's what RV life is about. So, like, just a quick story like we were trying to make the filming perfect. So we purposely stayed at this RV park. It's called Settlers Point. They've worked with us tremendously to help us with our filming. But we purposely stayed here for multiple months because we're like, the setup for filming is fantastic. Now, if you know where Settlers Point is, it is in southern Utah. And when April hits, it gets hot. And then May is extremely hot. And then June is like, why are we here? Um So we realized that our camera was shutting off on us because it was getting too hot, it was overheating. Yeah. It's just like, why didn't we make these things black? Like, why do we need to make them lighter color so the sun doesn't just beat on it? Did you put it in the freezer? I had to put it in the phone.

GLYNN

We had to put it in the freezer once in a while.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I've definitely done that. Jake's like, what are you doing? I'm like, this is just how it works. Don't ask.

SPEAKER_09

And so then then I had the bright idea of, okay, let's get like a canopy. So it's like a 10 by 10 canopy. I didn't secure it well enough. Well, again, in the desert down in St. George, like the high winds, and so that's another thing we learned. And the canopy blows on the side of the RV, like flies out. Thankfully, it didn't hit any other RVs but ours. And it was just like, ooh, okay. And then we realized, okay, because of the heat, you know, and it would get up to like 108 during the day. If we didn't film by nine, eight, like nine o'clock in the morning, I swear it was 7:30, 8 a.m. You have to cover everything with towels. Um, just you can you can't even lay on the exercise mat because you're you're burning your skin. And so, like, you know, going back to that corporate mindset where everything was controlled and had to be perfect, and you had to, you know, you're presenting in front of the the C-suite. And so like, Sarah's like, we're not gonna get that here.

ROSE

Yeah, so RV life is messy, and that's okay. People want to see the real life, you know, it is what it is. But you guys, you sound like you're doing a great thing with your platform. This has been a lot of fun chatting with you and kind of getting to know you and this, what you're doing. Uh, but where can people listening find you today?

SPEAKER_01

So we are on, I don't think every social platform, but Facebook, Instagram, I finally got TikTok and YouTube. Um, everything has the same handle, ActiveRV Life. Um, ActiveRV Life. And then if you wanted to learn anything about our portal, you can go to our website, which is just active RBLife.com. You can go check out um every single program that we have and uh check out the portal from there. Beautiful.

GLYNN

Thank you both for coming on today. This has been very insightful.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, thank you guys. Yeah, thank you so much for having us. This was amazing, and we really appreciate what you guys are doing as well.

RENE

Thank you. I really love what they're building. It goes way beyond exercise. It's really about helping people stay capable of doing the things they dreamed RV life would let them do in the first place.

JIM

Exactly. It's one thing to plan the trip, it's another thing to make sure you're able to enjoy it and keep enjoying it.

RENE

You know, I think that message resonates with so many RVers no matter what age or stage they're in. You want the freedom of the lifestyle, but that freedom does come with some real physical demands.

JIM

All right, to wrap up this trip, Bob has an exciting industry conversation that looks ahead to what may be coming next in RV technology.

RENE

He's talking with Stella Chin, co-founder of EvoTrex, about their new travel trailer concept that combines electric capability, onboard power generation, and some very forward-thinking features for off-grade camping and towing.

JIM

This trailer is incredible, and this is a fascinating look at where innovation in the RV world may be heading, especially for RVers interested in new approaches to power, energy use, and trailer design.

The EvoTrex Power Generating Trailer

RENE

Here's Bob with Stella Chin.

BOB

Okay, today we're with Stella Chin, one of the co-founders of EvoTrex, right? EvoTrex.

SPEAKER_06

Yes, EvoTrex.

BOB

Yeah, I always Evo Trek. Yeah, I have a trouble with that in terms of the whether it's the K or the X on the end, but welcome, uh Sheila. Stella, and why don't you start, if you would, with giving us a brief introduction of the company.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, absolutely. And thank you for having me on. EvoTrax, we're a team that makes better travel trailers to enable a more free and unlimited camping experience. So the EvoTrax PG5 is our first travel trailer that is not only electric, but it goes beyond electric to be power generating, meaning that we have integrated a system called Horizon. It is the automotive engine um slash generator that can have fuel, gasoline input into the horizon system and basically generate unlimited power for your use, whether it's on the road, when you're camping, or even as you're parked in front of your driveway to act as a power backup in case the house, um, your house goes out of power.

BOB

Very interesting. How did you come up? How did you come up with that kind of technology? It it's it's not all electric, but you mentioned different power sources. Was it just genius? I find it very interesting. And I'm not a technical person, so I should probably should probably tell you that up front.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, of course, of course. And it's not meant to be rocket science. Um so what drove us to come up with the idea is seeing the demand or some pain points as a firsthand camper. I myself is a van lifer, and Alex, our founder, is a big time camper and in uh RV year as well. Seeing that need and unmet need actually for off-grid power, and also having the knowledge and experience in the power technology and electric vehicle world. And we see that there is the technology that can solve that problem, which is bringing power generating capacity or capability to the electric RV space. And how it how it works is that we have put in an automotive grade engine or generator that is much more efficient and delivers much more power than a traditional RV generator, bringing that on board together with a very large battery pack to provide you um an experience you can electrify your travel trailer at camp, but also recharge it as long as you have access to gasoline.

Towing Weight Motor Assist And Range

BOB

Interesting. Now, how about the weight of the trailer with with the generator with the batteries? RVs are always interested in how much it weighs because of what they might be able to tow it with. So, what do you recommend that they tow the trailer with and how how about the weight issue?

SPEAKER_06

Yes. So at this moment with the PG5, the dry weight of the trailer is about 8,500 pounds. With everything loaded, um, the GBWR is rated at now 95,000. So, and that weight is definitely not categorized as a lightweight trailer, but you would be able to tow it. It's totally doable with uh most of the half-ton pickup trucks, whether it's gasoline uh power, diesel power, or electric pickup trucks like the Rivian R1T or the Cybertruck or Ford M50 Lightning. All of those models can easily tow this trailer. Um, I would like to add X uh actually because there is power assist. We call it power, active power assist. The wheels are designed to be motorized and self-propelled.

BOB

So you don't reduce the range of the vehicle.

SPEAKER_06

Exactly. You don't reduce the range, you don't need a or like you don't impact on your gallon per mile per gallon.

BOB

Mile per gallon, yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_06

It helps with that, definitely, and it takes a lesser toll on whatever the towing vehicle is. So with that, I think, and we know that most of the pickup trucks can comfortably tow this trailer.

BOB

Wow.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah.

Preorders Pricing And Production Timeline

BOB

Again, it's very interesting, and I think it would be very attractive to uh many RVs, especially as we get start to see more and more adoption of the EV technologies. Now you're saying uh right now from a uh marketing or sales standpoint, you're taking pre-orders?

SPEAKER_06

That's right. That's right. At now on evotrex.com, you can pre-order or put in your reservation for$100. So that basically secures your spot. One of the earlier adopters or earlier owners of EvoTrux. And as we approach um closer to production, we will reach back out to everyone to configure their final trim model and finalize on the setup of their rigs.

BOB

Okay. Now, when do you anticipate production models coming off the line?

SPEAKER_06

Yes, now we're planning for production to begin late 2026 or early 2027, working very hard towards getting people on the road on the camping season of 2027.

BOB

Well, it's a beautiful looking trailer.

SPEAKER_06

Thank you. Thank you.

BOB

The design is great. Now, is it too early to anticipate what the selling price would be on that?

SPEAKER_06

So actually, we do have the MSRP listed on our website. Um, the starting Trim, which is called the Pioneer model, starts at 11,990. And then there is a premium trim Atlas. That price includes everything. So from the power awning to the fully uh decked out patio and deck and coffee machines projector, all included. So everything you see on our website, that Atlas motto is um at 150,000 nine sorry, he scratched that.

BOB

Around 150.

SPEAKER_06

It's like Ivan has to make it.

BOB

I just wanted an estimate. I just you know, I I think as people plan on putting down that pre-deposit, they'd probably want to have some idea what the price would be. So let's let's just say it'd be around 150,000 US.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, yeah. So the the starting price at it is uh close to 120,000. And then the fully flushed out motto, the Atlas motto, is uh around 160,000.

BOB

Right. So 120 to 160,000.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah. That's much easier.

BOB

And now what about what about the length of the trailer?

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, so tip to tip it's uh twenty-eight feet.

BOB

That's good size.

SPEAKER_06

Yes, so it would fit most of the campsites, even dry sites.

BOB

Most of the campsites, and if you boondock, and if you go in national parks or something, it's gonna be able to fit them in there.

SPEAKER_06

Definitely.

BOB

All right, our guest today has been Stella Chin. And Stella, I appreciate you coming on. How do people get in touch with you? Or the uh list the website and maybe if you have some kind of a uh email address or something?

SPEAKER_06

Yes, absolutely. So go on our website, it's ebotrex.com, e-v-o-d-r-e-x.com, or you can reach us at support at eboTrex.com.

BOB

Well, I look forward to having you on again. It's a very exciting product. I always enjoyed working with Ivan, and I know he's a smart marketing guy, so he he's gonna figure out how to get that message out there. And congratulations to you on co-founding the company, and uh we'll be looking forward to the progress that you make.

Wrap Up And Trip Planning Tools

SPEAKER_06

Thank you so much, Bob. It's nice talking to you. Thank you.

JIM

Well, you gotta check out that PG5 if you get a chance and start saving. Big thanks again to all of our guests this week, Alan Hammery from the Great River Road, Brooke Smothers of RV Out West, Jake and Sarah from Active RV Life, and Stella Chan of EvoTrex.

RENE

And of course, thanks to John, Rose, and Glenn, and Bob for bringing us all of these great conversations.

JIM

You know, if today's episode got you thinking about a future Great River Road Trip or a Pacific Northwest adventure, why wait? Start planning. And you might want to consider RV Life Trip Wizard.

RENE

And check the show notes on the episode page at podcast.rvlife.com for links to those previous episodes and get more intentional about your health on the road or discover the future of RV innovation. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow the RV Life Podcast and share it with your RV friends.

JIM

Happy travels, folks.

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SPEAKER_09

Until next time, remember, you just have to embrace the journey.

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