Celebrate with Us. Maybe You'll Even Win a Prize!

Five years ago today, we embarked on an epic adventure that was both exciting and scary – we sold everything to live as digital nomads.

We had an agenda, but no long-term plans.

We had some money, but not enough to sustain us for long.

We had a Chevy Silverado pickup truck, but no place to live.

We had a dream, but no clue if it would work out.

But we took a leap of faith into the unknown and we're so grateful we did!

That's the thing about chasing dreams. You never know what will happen or how it will end, but if you aren't willing to take a risk, you'll never find out. For us, it's been a thrilling ride so far with no regrets.

Of course, it's not all been perfect.

Like anything in life, traveling full-time has its ups and downs, along with an increasing number of challenges like overtourism, price gouging, and airline problems, and we've had to learn how to survive being together in confined spaces for long periods. Sometimes we even have to sit still and do nothing for reasons we can't control.

And yet, even with those hardships, it's still better than being trapped in a concrete jungle, waiting for the apocalypse.

A look at the bigger achievements.

It's fun to look back at the stats and all we've achieved in five years! Here's a short list of what we've done.

• Driven approximately 125K miles with two different trucks.
• Achieved our goal of traveling to all 50 states.
• Reached Alaska, our 50th state, in August 2023.
• Visited 35 of the official 63 National Parks and 78 other NPS locations.
• Seen two of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World (Aurora Borealis & Grand Canyon).
• Hiked hundreds of miles of trails and summited Twin Sisters Peak.
• Crisscrossed the United States and the Continental Divide multiple times.
• Traveled to seven different countries, bringing it to a total of 20.
• Spent a fortune staying in hundreds of hotels and resorts.
• Bought a Rooftop Tent to "live in" but just recently sold it. Though we have another one for sale if you're interested.
• Survived 143 major arguments with each other. OK, I made this one up. It's probably more. LOL

We also bought a timeshare with Hilton Vacation Club (formerly Diamond International), and as bad as it sounds, it worked out great because we worked the system and earned thousands of dollars in free stays. They lost money on us!!!

Additionally, we became members of the Armed Forces Vacation Club and Passport America, which saved us even more money.

That's just scratching the surface for our adventure.

WHEW! 🤯

The Next Chapter is about to begin.

Last month, as we traveled around Utah and Colorado, we decided to revisit the idea of upgrading to a camper van, something we've dreamed about for a couple of years. Unfortunately, those buggers are expensive, so we couldn't swing it then, and I can't convert one myself – nor do I want to!

We did some research and discovered a company in Colorado that converted camper vans at a very reasonable cost, and decided to visit them. It started great, and we made an offer on a van, with the promise of delivery the week after Independence Day. But after three weeks of frustration in dealing with their horrible customer service and losing time and money trying to get the deal done, we had had enough.

The good news is I found a company in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that also builds camper vans for a fantastic price, and they do it way better than the other company, so now we're in the process of hiring Next Chapter Vans to build our new home.

We've been highly impressed with the owner, Doug Smith. He spent three hours talking with us about his process and answering all of our questions, plus we love how he builds the vans and keeps it simple. We'll keep you in the loop with the progress and the build.

How about a chance to win a free prize?

Because we love a good party and want to celebrate our five-year travelversary in style with all of our online friends, we're gonna give away a prize. It also happens to be National Give Something Away Day. So why not?

If you're interested in a chance to win, here's how you do it:

1. Make sure you're following our Facebook page.
2. Give our upcoming celebration post a 👍 or ♥️ .
3. Comment with your favorite travel destination.
4. Tag a friend on that post who also loves adventure travel.

That’s it! One lucky winner will be randomly chosen to win a surprise gift from us. It's just a little thanks for being such a fun part of this adventure!

Now for the fine print:

It's only open to US residents who are 18+. The winner will be randomly selected from qualified entries and announced in a post on Tuesday, July 22nd, 2025. This giveaway is not affiliated with or endorsed by Instagram or Facebook.

Thanks for being a part of the community.

While we love what we do, our Road Life Adventure wouldn't be the same without the friends we've made along the way!

In the last five years, we've met amazing people from all walks of life, from all over the world, as well as connected with so many great folks online. It's truly special, and it's a huge reason we continue to write, create, and publish.

As we look forward to the future, we'd appreciate your input.

Share your thoughts on how we can make this a better publication or stronger community. Tell us what you'd like to read about or learn. Join us for a coffee or a beer along our route. Or help us grow our YouTube channel, which is a work in progress.

Your honest feedback and comments matter. We always appreciate it.

We'll end with this.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Until next time.