Discovering the Roads Less Traveled: Your Guide to a Nomadic Lifestyle

Are you captivated by the idea of RV living or the sailing life? Do you dream about full-time travel and embracing a nomadic lifestyle? We are Emily and Mark, and for years, we’ve turned this dream into our reality. Back in 2007, we chose to leave the conventional behind and embark on a life filled with full-time travel adventures, both on the open road and the vast sea. Over the years, we’ve been fortunate enough to realize our most cherished dreams.

This website serves as a chronicle of our journey, starting from our initial days of full-time RVing, moving through our sailing experiences, and up to our most recent travels. Beyond our personal stories, we offer a wealth of nomadic lifestyle tips and technical advice for upgrading and maintaining both RVs and sailboats. Interwoven within these resources, you’ll also find the valuable life lessons we’ve gathered from truly “living the dream.”

Our deepest hope is that our extensive library of nearly 1,000 articles will inspire you to pursue your own dreams!

Full-time RVers with puppy living nomadic lifestyle and traveling in Montana

The Reese Goose Box proved to be a GAME CHANGER for our RV setup. It gave us back the much-needed space in our truck bed and simplified the hitching and unhitching process significantly.

Explore our detailed review here: HERE!

EXPLORE OUR LATEST ADVENTURES:

Catch up on all our recent posts HERE.

For thirteen incredible years, we embraced full-time RV travel and for a portion of that time, we also enjoyed the sailboat life. We’ve been dedicated to sharing our travel stories, along with cruising insights and practical RV lifestyle tips on this website since day one.

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Peggy

Throughout our years of travel, we’ve been fortunate to call several wonderful rolling and floating homes our own. As our dreams and aspirations evolved, so did our rigs and modes of transportation.

Our current setup for seasonal travels includes a 2022 Genesis Supreme 28CRT toy hauler and a robust 2016 Ram dually truck. We’ve been exploring with this rig since 2022, and we’re excited to share what living in a toy hauler is really like!

Arctic Fox 860 Truck Camper towing Polaris 900 RZR

Before our current toy hauler, we traveled seasonally with a 2005 Arctic Fox 860 camper mounted on a 2016 Ram dually truck, also towing a 2017 Polaris 900 XC RZR on a flatbed trailer. We enjoyed this truck camper setup for a year in 2021.

Fifth wheel RV living and nomadic lifestyle travel stories-min

Our former full-time home on wheels was a 2007 36′ Hitchhiker fifth wheel and the same 2016 Ram Dually truck. We called this rig home from 2008 to 2020, having started our full-time journey in a 27′ travel trailer in 2007.

Hunter 44DS sailboat Groovy on Mexico cruise and nomadic lifetsyle-min

“Groovy,” our cherished floating home, a 2008 Hunter 44DS, took us on incredible journeys in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez from 2010-2013. During hurricane season, we would return to our fifth wheel, ensuring she was safe while we continued our land travels.

Our adventures have spanned across North America, from the breathtaking landscapes of Canada to the vibrant culture of Mexico. We’ve explored scenic back roads and byways in our RV and sailed along Mexico’s stunning Pacific coast. Through this blog, we are excited to share our wealth of knowledge with you.

Happy campers RV living at the Tetons in Wyoming-min

The Honda EU2200i portable generator is a reliable and lightweight power solution that can be paired with another unit to double the output. We highly recommend it, and you can read our review here: Honda EU2200i Generator Review.

Rainbow over saguaro cactus and RV living travel stories from Arizona-min

From essential RV tech tips and practical RV lifestyle advice to valuable cruising tips and captivating travel narratives, we provide you with the resources to plan your escape. Whether you’re seeking full-time RVing ideas or a glimpse into the realities of RV living, we aim to equip you with the tools to live your dream of a nomadic lifestyle!

Our mission is to inspire you, uplift you with entertaining travel stories, and share our proven tips for living the dream of full-time travel by RV and sailboat in an exciting nomadic lifestyle.

Rustic barns nestled in the mountains of eastern Oregon.

East Quoddy Head Lighthouse Campobello and Lubec Maine-min

OUR STORY IN BRIEF

Our full-time RV travels began in 2007 with a comfortable 27′ travel trailer. We spent a year crisscrossing the United States in that RV before upgrading to a spacious 36′ fifth wheel. (You can explore our progression of trucks and trailers here: Our Rigs for Full-timing (also accessible in the menu)).

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Horseshoe Bend Overlook Arizona RV trip-min

In early 2010, after nearly three years of full-time RVing, we embarked on a new chapter by purchasing a sailboat and taking our travels to the sea. For almost four years, we cruised the entire 2,000-mile Pacific coast of Mexico on our 44′ sailboat Groovy. During the summer hurricane seasons, we’d return to traveling in our RV in the US while Groovy patiently waited for us in Mexico.

Our sailing adventures took us from the US border down to the Guatemala border, exploring nearly every Mexican port in between, including the stunning Sea of Cortez. We also ventured inland to experience Mexico’s magical colonial cities and the awe-inspiring Mayan ruins deep in the southern jungles, traveling by public buses on long, memorable journeys.

Sea of Cortez Mexico travel stories and nomadic lifestyle on a sailboat-min

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Sunset in the ocean Zihuatanejo Mexico-min

In the summer of 2013, we undertook the notorious Baja Bash, sailing Groovy against strong winds and waves from Puerto Vallarta back to San Diego. Throughout the entire 1,200-mile journey, we navigated the narrow window between two hurricanes, riding the coattails of one while being chased by the other!

In early 2014, we bid farewell to our beloved sailboat Groovy and returned to full-time RV living.

Sailing into the sunset

In 2020, we decided to establish roots again, returning to a more conventional life in a house.

However, by early 2021, after just seven months as homebodies, the call of the open road became too strong to resist. We purchased a truck camper for shorter adventures, but it wasn’t quite the right fit for our lifestyle.

In 2022, we sold the camper and invested in a barely used Genesis Supreme 28CRT toy hauler. This rig allowed us to bring our Polaris RZR along on our travels, offered a fantastic open-air patio, and still provided a comfortable home on the road.

This toy hauler has proven to be an excellent choice for our current travel style!

You can delve deeper into our backstory, before our full-time travel days, on our About Us page (also accessible via the menu). For an exciting overview of our first ten years of full-time travel, filled with stunning photos, be sure to check out these posts.

Throughout our nomadic lifestyle, we’ve both cultivated a deep passion for photography. Additionally, I (Emily, the narrator of this site) have realized my lifelong ambition of becoming a writer.

Our photography skills have evolved tremendously, becoming a shared passion that strengthens our bond. This website beautifully showcases our improved techniques and artistic growth from 2007 to the present!

For tips on how we honed our photography skills and the equipment we use, visit our photography page (also in the menu).

Over the years, our photos and travel articles have been widely published in numerous print and online publications. You can explore our portfolio of published work here.

Cathedral Rock Sedona travel stories and RV living-min

We rely on these two-way radios EVERYWHERE! They are invaluable for hiking, biking, shopping trips, and even parking our RV! For more of our RVing tips and tricks, visit this page: RVing Tips & Tricks

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Full moon Zion National Park Utah RV trip-min

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PUBLISHED WORK

We are proud to have published over 235 feature articles in leading RVing and Sailing magazines. An impressive 52 of our photographs have graced magazine covers in the RV and sailing industries, and 12 of our images have been featured in commercial wall calendars. We’ve also created a video guide series for cruising Mexico.

The serene beauty of Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada.

Moraine Lake near Lake Louise Banff National Park RV trip Canada-min

Since 2017, we’ve been contributing a column to the back page of Trailer Life Magazine, showcasing our photos of remarkable places we’ve visited.

Watkins Glen travel stories and RV trip-min

Lovebird parrot in a cactus and other RV living travel stories from Arizona-min

RV LIVING and OUR NOMADIC LIFESTYLE

Our nomadic lifestyle often involves living off-grid, powered by solar energy. In our RV life, we prefer “boondocking,” camping independently on America’s stunning public lands, far from the crowds of campgrounds and RV parks.

Fifth wheel RV living and travel stories from Utah-min

During our sailing years, we favored “anchoring out” in secluded bays and coves, rather than staying in busy marinas.

Hunter 44DS sailboat anchored in Mexico in our nomadic lifetsyle-min

Over our years of RVing, we’ve spent a total of 4,618 nights off-grid, relying on solar and battery power: 3,713 nights boondocking in our RV and 905 nights anchoring out on our sailboat. This unique nomadic lifestyle has taught us invaluable lessons about living simply and frugally, often without traditional “hookups” for power or water.

Saguaro cactus on RV trip to Arizona-min

A pair of storage ottoman benches LIKE THIS ONE significantly improved the dining area in our full-time fifth wheel, adding valuable storage and seating. Discover more about this upgrade: Creating STORAGE SPACE in an RV.

Sunset travel stories at Bryce Canyon National Park nomadic living-min

RV living in Wyoming with a Deer family in Wyoming-min

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NAVIGATING THIS WEBSITE

With over 1,000 articles on this website, you’ll find a wealth of information about full-time RVing and essential cruising tips for sailors. For those who love to travel from the comfort of their armchair, we also offer a rich collection of travel stories.

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The unbelievably blue waters of Crater Lake National Park in Oregon.

We enhanced our toy hauler’s factory-installed 200-watt solar system to a robust 600-watt system using two of these solar panels. See our DIY installation guide here: RV Solar Power Upgrade.

RV living in a nomadic lifestyle during in a Colorado snowstorm_-min

To help you navigate and find the articles that interest you most, please explore these links which explain our website’s structure:

Happy RVers loving RV living and a nomadic lifestyle at Petrified Forest-min

THE INSPIRATION BEHIND OUR BLOG NAME

We naturally gravitate towards the lesser-known paths, always eager to wander off the beaten track.

Years ago, a friend’s email referencing Robert Frost’s poem The Road Not Taken, after reading my post about why we are pursuing this travel dream, resonated deeply. Reading his thoughtful message, I realized the poet’s words perfectly captured the essence of our travels.

Nomadic lifestyle on the road and RV living travel stories-min

The poem’s timeless final lines continue to resonate with us today:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Perhaps you find yourself at a similar crossroads in your life, as we were when we embarked on our adventures. If you choose to follow the Roads Less Traveled, we sincerely hope it will make all the difference for you, too.

In the words of John Irving, “If you are lucky enough to find a way of life that you love, you have to find the courage to live it.”

Fifth wheel RV living stories from Montana-min