Engaging with the RV Lifestyle Journey

In this week’s podcast, we introduce you to two of our RVing friends, Jeff and Deb Spencer, who live and work fulltime in their RV, traveling all across the country checking off their bucket list as they pursue their passion of endurance running and visiting new places. Now your passion may not be running 100 mile races and climbing mountaintops but I think you’ll enjoy our conversation because as Jeff and Deb say, you too live out your dream on the road. They’ll tell you how they did it and you can, too, coming up in our interview of the week. Also this week, RV news you need to know and the questions you want us to answer. Show Notes for Episode #242 May 15, 2019 of The RV Podcast: WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK JENNIFER.  It's been a busy travel week for us as we traveled to Holland, MI to take in the spectacular Holland Tulip Festival. We saw hundreds of thousands of blooming tulips, watched parades, attended a huge street dance done in wooden shoes by more than 700 people and enjoyed Dutch food, entertainment and hospitality in Western Michigan. Look for a video on our RV Lifestyle You Tube Channel this coming Thursday.  MIKE This week, we are scheduled to travel to Elkhart, IN and the RV Capital of the World to learn about new advances in solar and battery energy management systems for RVs and maybe a factory tour or two. We also has a slew of RV-related products to test and review, including a new cell phone booster system made just for Class B and C RVs, a new rear view wireless camera and some RV cleaning products. Naturally, we'll do reviews on them all, letting you know if they are a hit or a miss. JENNIFER Also, you may have a question you’d like us to answer, or a comment on the things we’re discussing. If so, we invite you to leave us that question or comment on the special voicemail number we have for the podcast – it’s 586-372-6990.  If you are driving and can’t write it down right now, just go to the RV Lifestyle travel blog at rvlifestyle.com and scroll down the page. You’ll see that number prominently posted on the blog. RV LIFESTYLE NEWS OF THE WEEK MIKE Nation's newest national park to start accepting camping reservations this Wednesday Interested in checking out the nation's newest national park? Indiana Dunes National Park, on the shores of Lake Michigan, will open half the spots in its Dunewood campground for reservations this Wednesday. In past years, all 66 sites at Dunewood campground were available on a first-come, first-served, basis. Under the new system, 34 sites can be reserved up to six months in advance. The remaining 32 sites will remain first-come, first-served. The price is $25 per night. The campground is open April through October. JENNIFER Five new glamping spots open near Yosemite, one a loaded Airstream camper  Five new glamping spots have opened near Yosemite National Park permitting camping in a covered wagon ($279 per night), a loaded Airstream camper ($225 per night), an air conditioned  yurt ($145 a night) and more. While glamping is definitely a growing trend, I think at those prices, I'll stay with my camper van, thank you. MIKE Three men who illegally killed a mountain lion at Yellowstone banned from hunting anywhere in the world  Three men who illegally killed a mountain lion in Yellowstone National Park late last year were given their sentence recently in a federal court. Their punishment includes a three year worldwide ban from hunting, fishing  or trapping, and a fine, among other things. JENNIFER Kansas RV dealer fined $40,000 for selling salvaged RVs to unknowing buyers Central RV in Kansas agreed to pay $40,000 in fines and fees for selling salvage recreational vehicles without informing buyers. The charges came after a Kansas state attorney general investigation, and they show the importance of buying your used RV from a reputable dealer. For some tips on what you should know before buying a used RV, listen to an interview we did on the subject some time back by clicking here.  This part of the podcast is brought to you by RadPower Bikes,an electric bike manufacturer offering direct to consumer pricing on powerful premium electric bikes. Now with free shipping   LISTENER QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK A listener called the Voicemail line and asked about the hitch we use for our Rad Power Bikes. By email, we received this question:  Hi, Mike.  We have a brand new 2019 Unity MB LLplus, LTV.  We are new to RV'g.  Right now, our biggest challenge is technical. We do not want to get on the roof to switch out the SIM card for our Winegard Connect2.0, in order to get a Verizon Plan.  However, from what we are reading, it looks like we will have to do so!  Any other suggestions? RV INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK Jeff and Deb Spencer Over the years that Jennifer and I have been RVing, we’ve met lots of people who have truly become friends, kindred spirits, so to speak, who embody all the things the RV Lifestyle can bring. You are about to meet two of our favorites, Jeff and Deb Spencer. They live on the road fulltime in a fifth wheel after giving up their 9 to 5 jobs for the RV living so they can pursue their passion as endurance athletes. They run long, long races. Like 100 mile runs. Marathons are training runs for these guys. Jeff had a big corporate job. Deb left her practice as a chiropractor. They both work from the road for the Dometic Corporation and are extremely well known and well respected by manufacturers, suppliers, campground operators and RV clubs and organizations. We asked them on to share how they live, work and play from the road and how you can, too. Here’s a transcript of the interview: Some of the travel and race stickers Jeff and Deb have collected Mike Wendland:           Well, joining us now from, looks like you're in your tow vehicle, Jeff and Deb Spencer. And you are at the Grand Canyon right now, if I'm not mistaken, right? Jeff Spencer:                 Yes. Deb Spencer:                Yes. We made a little pit stop. We were in Las Vegas at an event there, and we had a week in between the next event over at Overland Expo West, and so we just decided to pull in to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Mike Wendland:           Oh my gosh. They did more than that, folks. These guys, as we have said, are endurance athletes. And knowing them, they ran around the canyon, down the canyon, up the canyon. And fortunately it looks like- Jeff Spencer:                 We have done that. We have done that a few times, but this time here, we just finished up a few weeks ago at Boston. We did the Boston Marathon, and then went to, like Deb said, Las Vegas, to Mount Charleston Marathon, and then we worked in the National Hardware Show. So we did a little... Mixed the business with some pleasure. Mike Wendland:           Well, let's let everybody get a quick idea of all the things that you do. As I mentioned in the introduction, you guys are living your dream. And we've had a couple of people that you helped us be introduced to, and some that we've known who... And we've kind of been talking about that for so many people, about living your dream and how you can really do that out there. Just go out there and try it. The worst case scenario, it doesn't work, you'll do something else. Mike Wendland:           But the proof is right in front of us with Jeff and Deb Spencer. Tell us a little bit about one, what you do to earn your living while you're out there on the road, but what you do full-timing and also what you full-time in. Deb Spencer:                Well, we full-time in our 32-foot fifth wheel, a 2009 Carriage Domani, and we've been out on the road full-time for four years now. We decided that when we got married, one of our compatibility things was that we both wanted to be traveling in an RV across the country. And so, after looking at RVs for 20 years, we finally bought our first one in 2014. Deb Spencer:                And we started out with a little travel trailer and then we did a lot of shorter trips. We still had our house then, but four years ago, when we sold the house, is when we bought the fifth wheel and went full-time. Mike Wendland:           Yeah, Jeff, you worked for, I guess we can say, right, you worked for Walmart, ran some of their biggest stores. Deb, you, by training and profession, were a chiropractor, still are a chiropractor. But you guys left all that behind and are now out there working from the road and enjoying your travels and your athletic competitions. How do you earn enough money to live that lifestyle? Jeff Spencer:                 Well, as you alluded to, I worked for Walmart and then I started working in the supplier community supporting Walmart. We domicile out of Bentonville, Arkansas, which is the headquarters for Walmart. Jeff Spencer:                 And so, we're formalizing our vision, like Deb mentioned, about traveling the United States, and it was very specific. It was traveling the U.S. in a fifth wheel. Jeff Spencer:                 We were fortunate enough to meet a guy that you had on your show, Dan Miller, who wrote a book called 48 Days to the Work You Love. Dan shared that if you don't like what your life, then create a new one. And we have the ability to be able to influence the things that we do. Jeff Spencer:                 And so, Deb and I had a dream of traveling the United States in a fifth wheel, and then we put plans in place to live that dream. In order to do that, it required us to financially look at some opportunities on how we could leverage our backgrounds and add value to some organizations to create income to sustain this dream. And that's what we did is we met with some different suppliers that sell to Walmart and that work in the RV industry, and we were able to leverage our skillsets to help add some value, and that helps fund our lifestyle. Deb Spencer:                Yeah.