About Us
We are Scott and Laura.
I (Laura) am, and always will be, a Montana girl. I was born and raised in Billings before moving to the Midwest in my early 20’s. I grew up camping and fishing all over Montana and Wyoming. Those early camping years were spent in tents, truck campers, and a class C motorhome.
Scott is a Marine. He’s no longer active duty, but still a proud marine through and through. Scott grew up in a small town in Missouri about an hour outside of Saint Louis. His family also enjoyed camping trips while he was growing up.
Fast forward more than a few years to 2015 and our first vacation as a couple. The trip occurred pretty early on in our dating relationship. I was feeling the call of the mountains and wanted to head home for a few weeks. I planned on renting a small, class C motorhome so I could take my two totally spoiled rescue dogs with me. They had never been kenneled since I adopted them from a rescue organization, and I knew renting a class C was the easiest way for me to take them with me, have my own “stuff”, and not worry about noisy hotel rooms.
While discussing my plans with Scott, he shared that although he had been stationed all over the world, he had never seen Yellowstone National Park and knew nothing of some of my favorite places from my childhood – Jackson Hole, WY and Grand Teton National Park. He was in without any more questions other than if I would allow him to tag along. I was cautiously optimistic that I may have found a partner in “my kind of adventures”. It took me just a few days to secure the rental, come up with a great itinerary, and make some campground reservations.
Vacation day arrived. We picked up the 24′ Class C motorhome, loaded up my two dogs, Scott’s dog, way too many clothes, and set off for two weeks out West. As we were loading up the dogs, we both knew this trip had the possibility to make or break us (and the dogs) as a couple. During that trip we learned a lot about each other and the possibilities for our future together began to take shape with a few key revelations.
While staying at a small campground in Jackson Hole, WY, we had the opportunity to spend some time visiting with some lovely couples who shared with us that they worked at the campground all season in exchange for a free site for their campers. Each couple worked 2-3 days per week and they absolutely loved it. All three couples were retired and loved sharing the stories of this glorious life full of exploration and meeting new people. Neither of us had ever heard of such a thing. But after 5 days playing in Jackson Hole and Grand Teton National Park, Scott was hooked on the area. We then headed in to Yellowstone National Park where we had more opportunities to visit with campground hosts and marvel at their “homes” in one of our country’s most beautiful areas.
At the end of our two-week trip, as we made the long drive back to Missouri, we talked briefly about the camp hosts we met, all the fun we had exploring together, and how much we enjoyed travelling in our own space with the dogs. Not only were we able to set our own pace, we realized how many more conversations we had with fellow travelers and the locals because we did not retreat to a stuffy hotel room at the end of each day. The dogs enjoyed being able to spend so much time outside at the campsites, and walking around the campgrounds meeting new people in the evening. This whole RV thing was even cooler as adults than what either of us remembered from our childhood. The biggest revelation on that trip was that we both wanted to share the rest of our lives together.
Within a month of returning from that trip, Scott and I had decided to go all in and purchase a 5th wheel camper so we could continue exploring this great country together in the comfort of our own second home. After working the kinks out of the new 5th wheel, we headed to Tennessee for another two-week trip. While visiting Great Smoky Mountains National Park, we discovered the guidebook, Passport to your National Parks. This became a key component to our adventures as we set a goal of exploring every National Park in the book and collecting the cancellation stamps. The goal drove decisions about our destinations and routes.
Over the next few years, we spent several weeks each year travelling in the 5th wheel with the dogs visiting National Parks, historic sites, friends and family. By 2017, we realized that with a limited amount of vacation time from our full-time jobs, it was going to take a long, LONG time to collect all the passport cancellations. We began strategizing about how we could retire sooner and hit the road full time.
We had already explored the idea of becoming campground hosts at retirement, but knew that we would need an income stream in addition to a free or discounted camp site, if we wanted to retire early. We investigated some work-from-home options, but neither of us had the opportunity to do that in the fields in which we were working. This was pre-pandemic and most employers were requiring in-person presence.
The next big revelation came over the course of a few RV trips. In nearly every campground we had stayed, someone was experiencing some sort of breakdown or maintenance issue with their RV. Some were missing valuable time with their friends and family as they called for parts or waited for appointments, and others were just plain stuck. Scott is a journeyman lineman, has worked in the construction trades, and has mechanical experience from his time in the Marine Corps. He’s pretty handy and he’s always willing to help people. He was able to either completely repair or provide a temporary fix to get each of these fellow RVers on the road again. Several of them told us that he had found his calling and suggested that Scott become a mobile RV technician.
This is where our grand plan starts to take shape. Scott made a strategic career shift and began working at an RV dealership. He studied, attended training, took tests, and became a certified RV technician through RVTI in 2018. We set a target date for my retirement on my 20-year service anniversary – June 1st, 2024. We had 6 years for Scott to gain RV technician experience, downsize our house into our 5th wheel, and realize our dream of truly experiencing every National Park and exploring every state.
Those years have gone by pretty quickly. Scott is currently the Service Manager of a high-end Class B and Super C dealership with 4 locations in the US. He has experience working on all types of RVs including towables and driveables. He understands everything from simple maintenance to complex diagnostics, troubleshooting, and repairs. As I write this, we have 6 months until I can retire and we hopefully hit the road full time. We have learned a lot about traveling and living in an RV and we know there is so much more exploring and learning ahead.
We hope this blog is entertaining and useful to you. Whether you are thinking about RVing as a way to vacation with your family, a newbie just getting started, or an experienced full-time RVer, we hope you find this blog informative, practical, and inspirational as we share everything from rookie mistakes to tips and tricks picked up along the journey. We will also be sharing some of our experiences as we transition form weekend and vacation trip clampers to full-time RV life.
Happy adventuring!
Laura and Scott
