21. The Workamping King & Budgeting Queen @OpenRoading

A Travel Path Podcast

www.atravelpath.com

https://delicioats.com?sca_ref=2606128.heLxZNHtFuUse Code “PATH”

Welcome back Pathfinders! Today we have a great episode in store with Joe and Kalyn from Open Roading.

Going Full Time

Open Roading originally only planned on traveling for a year, but they soon fell in love with the lifestyle. Learn about how they were able to continue traveling and some of the obstacles they had to overcome that almost sent them back home.

Workamping

From python catching to gate guarding to a beet harvest, we discuss a ton of information about getting into workamping. We discuss the requirements to get into this industry as well as websites you can use to find jobs. And of course, I couldn’t change the subject without asking them their favorite and least favorite workamping jobs!

Budgeting

If you are familiar with their Instagram or YouTube, you’ll know that Open Roading are very detailed and open about their budget. We break down what a typical month looks like for them, and talk about some of the things they are spending most of their money on, like health insurance, fuel, and internet. Open Roading also shares their favorite budgeting app to make budgeting easier for them.

The biggest takeaway I found here was that they meet with each other once a week to go over their budget. Most people will sit down on a monthly basis to go over this. You could almost hear the glass shatter as I came to the realization that if you only sit down once a month and are setting a monthly budget, it really doesn’t do you any good…

Routines

We talk about the importance of having routines while traveling. Although it can be difficult because they are never in the same place for long, Open Roading provides us with some insight on some things you can do stay consistent. For example, you can always wake up early, schedule a meeting, and exercise or take the dog for a walk (weather permitting!)

YouTube

Open Roading has made three attempts with YouTube after getting burned out and pumping the brakes a few times. In their latest effort, they have been met with some pretty big success. We discuss what they have done differently this time around as well as some of the reasons they believe their channel didn’t take off at first.

And much more!

Chapters

· 00:00 Introduction

· 04:30 What is Work Camping?

· 08:00 Gate Guarding

· 09:15 Work Camping Requirements

· 13:00 Favorite/Least Favorite Work Camping Jobs

· 16:00 Balancing Work Camping with Exploring

· 17:15 Biggest Challenges to Start Traveling

· 18:45 How Did You Know When You Were Ready to Hit the Road?

· 20:30 What Adjustments Did You Make to Continue Traveling?

· 23:30 Delicioats “PATH”

· 24:30 What Are Your Biggest Travel Frustrations?

· 26:15 What Are Your Most Helpful Travel Routines?

· 27:30 What Do You Love Most About Your Travel Lifestyle?

· 29:45 How Long Do You Plan on Continuing Full Time Travel For?

· 30:45 Budgeting

· 35:00 What Are Your Favorite Money Saving Travel Hacks?

· 39:30 What Is It Like Traveling with a Bunny & Dog?

· 42:00 What Has Been Your Coolest Travel Experience?

· 45:15 What Can You & Can’t You Live Without?

· 48:15 What Tools Should Every RV Owner Have?

· 49:15 How Have You Been Successful Your 3rd Time Around with YouTube?

· 53:00 How to Start Planning

· 54:45 Influential YouTube Channels

Open Roading on Social

· YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@OpenRoading

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/openroading

Videos From Open Roading

· 5 Years of RV Life Cost: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVHSnw-1jI4

· Solar Setup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5De9SPEddfc

· Clouds Rest Hike: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX0dv05Z6yA&t=683s

· Gypsum Cave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ajkUK1Iarg&t=135s

· How Much We Make on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5h49_LH4Ag

Work Camping

· Kamper News: https://www.workamper.com/

· Workamping Jobs with Wages: https://www.facebook.com/groups/workampingjobswithwages/

· Workampers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/weloveworkamping/

· The UNBEETABLE Experience: https://www.theunbeetableexperience.com/

· Mackinac Mill Creek Campground: https://www.campmackinaw.com/

Budgeting

· You Need a Budget: https://kalynbrooke.com/refer/YNAB

Camping/Boondocking

· Harvest Host: https://www.harvesthosts.com/

· Boondockers Welcome: https://www.boondockerswelcome.com/

Internet

· Starlink Roam Plan: https://www.starlink.com/roam

Favorite Experiences

· The Presidential Chain Trail: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/new-hampshire/presidential-traverse-trail

· Channel Islands National Park: https://www.nps.gov/chis/index.htm

What Can’t You Live Without?

· Portable Waste Tank

· Solar Panels

What Have You Learned You Don’t Need?

· Extra Clothes

YouTube Channels

· Less Junk More Journey: https://www.youtube.com/@LessJunkMoreJourney

· Kara and Nate: https://www.youtube.com/@KaraandNate

· Flying the Nest: https://www.youtube.com/@flyingthenest

Books

· Alyssa Padgett RVing Across America: https://amzn.to/43bcV7B

· (Commissions may be earned through purchases on this page)

Music

· Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/abbynoise/rocky-mountains

Disclaimer

*All content from atravelpath.com, including but not limited to The Travel Path Podcast and social media platforms, is designed to share general information. We are not experts and the information is not designed to serve as legal, financial, or tax advice. Always do your own research and due diligence before making a decision.

Transcript

Host: Joe and Kalyn, welcome to a travel path podcast.

Guest: Thanks so much for having us on. Yes, it's so exciting to be here with you.

Host: Yeah, we're looking forward to getting to know you guys. Um, so we know you guys on Instagram as Open Roading. You guys turned a year-long road trip into just about five years full-time in your fifth wheel. You post content on your YouTube channel, everything from RV how-tos to work camping, and very detailed budgeting videos, which I'll tell our audience right now to make sure they pay close attention to once that part comes. Um, but no pressure on you guys. Um, and I know you're very hard to miss driving down the road with your fifth wheel and your setup with your motorcycle attached to the front of your truck, so clearly, anything is possible. Um, but yeah, why don't we start by having you share a little about yourselves and letting your audience know what your current travel lifestyle looks like.

Guest: Sure. So, we both grew up in Upstate New York. That's where we met, and then we ended up transitioning down to Florida, just love the Sunshine State, and that's when we started thinking about a potential travel lifestyle. She says "we," she means her; I was the one that started the conversation, like, "Hey, wouldn't this be cool?" And Joseph was still working at the time, so he was in the news industry as a videographer. And um, eventually, I was, you know, working on my online business. I had a blog that I was writing on different articles and starting to earn some money with that, and it got to the point where it was a full-time income, and Joseph could come home and work on it with me. And that was kind of the catalyst for like, okay, like, can I convince you now that we can get an RV? We don't, you know, have jobs that are tied outside our house. We can work from anywhere with a good cell phone connection. And so in 2019, that's when we started off.

Yeah, and it was a whirlwind for that first year. We were traveling like every five days, and because we didn't have much black tank capacity, basically, we always had to dump and fill, so it was like every five days, why not move somewhere else? And we were trying to do the YouTube content all at the same time, and we really got burnt out over that first year. And then we tried again with YouTube a little while later, got burnt out again.

So, our travel style now is a lot different than it used to be. Like now, we are trying to settle into a travel style where we only move every about two weeks, maybe 10 days if there's a reason. But two weeks is kind of what we're trying to get into, where we can kind of settle into a place, still do our work, you know, do a 30, 40-hour-a-week job from the RV, and then continue on.

Host: Very cool. I'm not sure if you noticed there was a thumbs-down sign that got sent. I don't know if that was you or me, but that we were not giving you a thumbs down. I don't know where that came from, but that was weird.

Guest: We have somebody watching, so weird.

Host: Yeah, well, great. So, every two weeks or so, that's the path we want to take on this next trip. Is it... it would be a lot more relaxing going at that pace as opposed to getting up and going every... I mean, we were going every like two days when we were traveling. But our next approach will be closer to a week, maybe two weeks if we're lucky. Um, but you guys do a lot of work camping. What is that? Or maybe not so much anymore 'cause you guys are done with that now. We'll get into that later on, but what is work camping?

Guest: We didn't actually start out work camping. We actually... because we were self-funded by my online business, and then Covid hit and the economy tanked, and we realized that our funding was not working and not as much anymore. And so that's where we started to look at how can we stay on the road as much as possible and also earn money with it. So, work camping is basically you work for someone else, like a campground, a state park, or even agricultural work with the beet harvest. And they are providing a place for you to stay for free, sometimes more. Resorts offer a discounted site. They don't exactly provide free housing. And then some jobs, you'll also get an hourly wage on top of the free housing. So, it's a really neat way to be able to still travel around the country, but yet you have these seasonal jobs and commitments throughout the year.

Host: And how are you finding these jobs?

Guest: Oh, this is all you. Yeah, there's a few different websites that I really, really like. So, one is Camper News, which is with a K, camper with a K, and sign up for their newsletter because they send out once-a-week emails organized by state, what kind of jobs are out there. And there is anything from, "We need help in the camp store for a campground in northern Michigan," to "Python control in the Everglades." So, you get a wide variety of opportunities through that. So, that's probably my favorite. And then, I would recommend two work camping Facebook groups, which is Work Camping Jobs with Wages and Work Campers. Both of those, people that are like management and owners of campgrounds or even farms that are wanting ranch hands, they are posting in there, like, "Hey, we'd love a camper to come for the summer or the winter season to work with us." And I think most of those, you can correct me if I'm wrong, are like resorts, campgrounds, ranch hands, stuff like that. Gate guarding isn't so much in that. You'd have to look specifically. We've been doing some gate guarding for the past three months. You kind of have to look for the gate guarding Facebook groups for those. And then the beet harvest is kind of its own animal. They have... it's a... if you just search the unbeetable experience M, um, that's a one-month-long work camping gig in several different locations across the northern US for sugar beet harvest. But look specifically for either of those, and you'll find those as well.

Host: And are you able to negotiate at all, or is there so much demand for it that on the work side, that you kind of... you're stuck with what they're giving you?

Guest: We never negotiated. We did with one, and we didn't get the job. So either we're really bad at negotiating, or... But I do think there is room, specifically in maybe the gate guarding, but it depends on demand at the time. So, in the summertime for gate guarding, we've been told it pays more because nobody wants to be down in Texas in the middle of the summer. But in the wintertime, there's a lot of people down there who are looking for jobs, and so actually, the pay goes down. And you can easily have a job if you're not taking what they offer, but you can still be picky about the jobs that you take. Like, you don't work for a specific company and have to go to each rig. It's they'll call you and say, "Hey, we have this gate available for you. Would you like it?" And you can say yes or no based on your criteria.

And if people aren't familiar with what gate guarding is... Basically, it depends on the job that you have, but it's usually for the energy industry, the electric companies, or oil patch drilling sites. And you're basically just like checking people in and out, making sure that only the right people are there to work and keep the people out that are not supposed to be there. And our recent gate guarding job that we just finished was actually just security for an electric company, just watching their equipment, so we didn't have to check anyone in and out for that one.

Host: Very cool to get started with work camping. Are there any general requirements or certifications you need just to get started, or does that all depend on the job category?

Guest: It really depends on the job category, but I think the number one thing is a self-contained RV, one that has its own water tanks and waste tanks. We saw many, many work camping jobs that were just like "no tents," a lot of times no vans, no truck campers, unless maybe you could prove that it was completely self-contained. So, I would say that's the big one. Other than that, you just kind of look at each individual job.

Yeah, and for gate guarding specifically, you actually do need a Level II security course for Texas at least.nYeah, for Texas, you need to take that, you need to take a drug test and screening. There's a security application so there's a little bit more involved with that one.

Host: Okay, and then for the python control, you just can't be afraid of snakes, right?

Guest: Yeah, um, crazy.

Host: So, it sounds like... I was going to ask, does the work camping dictate where you travel, or the other way around? But it sounds like you're finding out where these jobs are and then you're heading in that direction.

Guest: Yeah, that's what we try to do, I guess. At least like, what area do we want to explore and be in and would be satisfied to be stationary for six months.

Host: Is that the typical time frame, six months?

Guest: It depends a lot on what the job is, like if it's a seasonal campground, they're going to want you for the entire season. So, like, your Florida campgrounds are going to want you for the entire winter and up in Michigan, they wanted you from April through September or October. So, we specifically wanted to go to Michigan because we wanted to spend the summer near Mackinac Island and then that was close to the Beet Harvest. So, we just kind of did our planning ahead. We're like, well, we know we can get a job at the Beet Harvest because we did that the year before. So, we went from there to North Dakota and then for our goal that you talked about earlier, like, we were like, well, to make the most money to save would be gate guarding so we knew we'd need to head to different locations. Like, the agricultural jobs like with the Beet Harvest, that all depends on the harvest, the length of time, like how good is the weather for you to be able to go harvest. So, it typically takes two to three weeks for the Beet Harvest. There's more volunteer positions with state parks and national park services that usually require like a one to two month commitment at a time. And then the gate guarding, I mean they ask for a 30-day commitment and our first job was done after 12 days and then the next job lasted like 83 days so that's more of a wide range there. So, you just never know.

Host: I feel like we're talking a lot about work camping, but I'm interested in it. It sounds... I hadn't really heard much about it. So, about six months roughly? I mean, it depends a lot on what the job is, but how soon before you start working are you looking and applying for those jobs?

Guest: That's a good question. A lot of it depends on the season, to be honest. If you're applying for a winter job in Florida, Texas, Arizona at one of the resorts, not so much the gate guarding, but those resort-style RV park jobs generally a year in advance, you want to start looking. It doesn't mean you might not be able to get one a couple weeks before, you know, because somebody didn't come or somebody had committed and just backed out. But about a year before for those, for the summer jobs, a month before, there you'll still see places hiring, again, depending on the location. If it's a very in-demand location, they're going to have their stuff down right earlier, but cool, good enough.

Host: What have been your favorite and least favorite jobs?

Guest: That's a really tough one. So, I did the majority of the work camping because I was trying to bring in a second income while Kalyn was working on turning her business around. It's tough because my favorite job was the one at the campground in Michigan, but that one also was just something that it was like meeting our monthly expenses, you know, it was just kind of there to help supplement. It wasn't helping us put money aside for our future goals. So, when we finished the work camping job in Michigan, we kind of felt like we were still at the same place we were when we started that job, as opposed to like making progress financially. So, I really got to work with people, got to have front-facing customer service type stuff which I really enjoy. So, it was my favorite, but if I'm trying to save money for something then I would go with the gate guarding just because it's the easiest way, you're not having any expenditures really, you're just sitting there and making money, almost printing money in our second gate guarding job. But the first gate guarding job, I think, was our least favorite.

I actually worked that one because it was a 24/7. So, we're there at the rig, we cannot leave together, we, it's like a constant, no time off. He's either sleeping or working, I'm either sleeping or working, and it just, even though it only lasted 12 days, was so exhausting. And it wasn't a busy gate. There are oil rigs we were checking in between 40 and 60 cars a day. There are rigs called fracking rigs where they have like over 100 cars or 150 cars coming in and out a day that you're checking in and out. So, we had an easy gate and we were exhausted after 12 days.

Host: Yeah, no, it sounds like it's a great opportunity, like you said, you were working full time, Kalyn, and then once your online business slowed down a little bit, you picked up this gig and it sounds like it's great for someone either starting out without that income or in your situation, you had to make that adjustment. And even if you have, it's even better if you have somebody who is working full time and then you have someone else like a spouse or a partner who is doing the work camping and you're getting a free site so your housing is basically free and you have that other source of income.

Guest: I did want to chime in there, are probably the majority of work camping positions look for couples. It doesn't mean the singles aren't out there because we're a prime example of that, like almost all our positions were singles, but Beat Harvest prefers couples over singles. A lot of the campgrounds prefer couples just because it's an RV site that they're providing and they want to have two people working from it. But don't let that deter you if you're a hardworking individual from applying anyway and saying, "Hey, I'm a super hardworking individual. I'm willing to work X number of hours a week and you can find a job."

Host: Were you able to have a good balance of kind of work and play when you're doing that? Like, in other words, would you work at this place for however long you were assigned that location then would you take some time off in between and explore? Or how did you balance your work and your travel lifestyle?

Guest: Yeah, that's what we did with the work camping. I felt like with the Michigan campground, it was a very nice balance of working and then being able to explore the area. When it came to like Beet Harvest and gate guarding, it was more you're just exploring in between driving to and from actual job locations. So, like when Beet Harvest was in North Dakota and the gate guarding, which was the next job was in Texas, so we kind of stopped on a couple places on the way down and then it was heads-down work again until gate guarding was done.

Host: You touched on it a little bit and I do want to dial this back to where this thing started because point of this podcast is we're helping people who want to reach their travel goals. They haven't quite gotten there yet, but they're listening to this because they want to get to traveling and reach their travel goals. So, you were starting out, you had this dream to go traveling, you were working on your blog, and you were, you ultimately had a full-time income that could support your travel lifestyle. So that's how you were funding your travels, yes. But what were some of the biggest challenges you faced in getting on the road?

Guest: This is kind of an interesting one. I feel like it was telling people that we were changing our lifestyle. It's a big hurdle to be able to go to people that you had commitments to and be like, "You know, we're selling our house, we're leaving the area, we're going to be traveling full time." And then it's even a little bit tougher too when you say, "We're doing it for like a year and then we'll see what happens." And now we're almost, you know, five years in and we're still not done. So, it's definitely having that conversation with people because they don't always understand like why can't you just do one to two vacations a year like normal people, you know, and have a house, an actual house. So that was probably the most challenging part. And then I would say on the road, staying on the road, something that I wish we had known before going on is that especially when you work for yourself, your income can really ebb and flow. And have a game plan, have multiple streams of income, you know, if you're getting on the road because you've spent years building a savings for a specific number of months, what are you going to do after that to fund? Just kind of like having a future game plan in mind of how you're going to be able to maintain staying on the road. It's like getting on the road is one thing but then being able to stay traveling is another.

Host: How did you know you were ready? Was it just a matter of how much you were making with your business? Did you have a number in mind and you said, "We're ready"? Or how did you know when it was time to hit the road?

Guest: I think when the right RV popped up. Yeah, we had a list of things that needed to happen, and one by one, they just started happening. We had a property in New York that we didn't think would sell because of the economy in New York, and it had been on the market for a long time, and it sold. Then we had an RV. We wanted to get an RV, but we had a specific list of, like, it needs to be this, it needs to be in our price range, which was not super high, and it popped up. The couple that was selling it was like, we told them we can't buy it until we sell our house, and they're like, "Oh, yeah, no problem." You know, and they actually sent us the deed in Florida before we even paid them a dime, so that we could get it registered. And it was just a super awesome couple, and like, everything just started falling into place. I'm like, "Oh, now's the time." And it solidifies that you're making the right decision, too.

Host: Sure. And once that house sells, you don't have much of a choice.

Guest: Yeah, now that doesn't mean we didn't have like nights of like tears or like, did we do the right thing, or freak out or anything like that. We totally went through all of that the first couple of months of travel, just like as we were getting used to everything.

Host: Well, I'm glad you say that because I've had those exact same thoughts, too, so it makes me feel better. Did you have to make any adjustments? So your original plan was to do a one-year-long road trip. You decided to extend it, obviously. Were there any adjustments you had to make to extend that and to keep going?

Guest: We had to, um, because we wanted to, like, Boondock more, I would say. We invested in... This is going to be like TMI, but, like, a portable black tank so that we could go longer because that was one of the things, like we had mentioned before, we were traveling, we thought this was going to only be one year, so that's where we're traveling every, like, four to five days. Um, and then we realized we wanted to slow down, we wanted this to be a lifestyle, and so we started buying things that would help us stay in places longer. Um, so things like that, yeah, the portable black tank, a macerator pump, a, uh, we have water storage that we have in the back of the RV, those are the only things that we really, we did buy a generator too, yeah, we bought a small generator, we have a, we have, we call it a minimal solar setup. It keeps us going, but it's not anywhere near what like some of these people have where the whole roof is covered in solar panels. Um, but the other transition I would say happened longer than a year, and that actually had to do with the work camping and everything, where we realized over the past year that if we want to keep doing this, we need to bring in another income stream. And so that has come down to, uh, YouTube and treating it as a full-time job to get that second income stream in so that we don't end up off the road because we literally did almost end up off the road uh, this last year.

Host: Yeah, yeah, keeps it exciting.

Guest: Oh, yeah. When, so when your back's against the wall like you try to do everything, yeah, now you got to find a way.

Host: You'd mentioned you like the water jugs. You, you, it seems like when we watch your videos, you have a couple of almost unique and original ideas. Like the one I'm thinking of is you have that it's almost like a 2x4 and a string of like 5-gallon water drums in the back of your truck for extra water. Do you think of that yourselves or where do you come up with these ideas?

Guest: That some people transport water with a like a 60-gallon water bladder. Some people transport water with a like a 60-gallon water bladder, to bring it from point A to point B. My problem with that is I can't, um, I can't functionally keep a 60-gallon water bladder full in the back of the pickup while on a travel day. Like, I want to have the RV full of water, and then I want to have extra storage. And so that's why we went with those, uh, with those, uh, six-gallon jugs in the back. And the 2x4 between it is literally when those jugs are empty and we haul the RV, they blow right out, like without the RV, they stay there fine. But when the RV is there, some wind suction comes in and just sucks them right out, uh, so the 2x4 is literally just to keep them from flying away.

Host: Did you learn that the hard way?

Guest: Yes, yes, on a, on a, like, 10-degree day. And so when The Jug hit the pavement, it shattered basically, yeah.

Host: Oh, man. Oh, it was full.

Guest: No. No, it was, it was empty, but it was, it was just so brittle. Brittle plastic and 60 miles an hour, just broken into a few pieces.

Host: Hey, guys, I wanted to take a quick break to tell you about Delicia oats. We've been enjoying Delicia oats for many years, and they have helped fuel us for those extra long hikes. They are flavored oats that come in a pouch and are very easy to set up. Just add water, give it a shake, and let it sit overnight and enjoy the next morning. Or you can add boiling water if you like them served hot. We've also added them to our morning smoothie, or I'll sprinkle some into my yogurt for some extra flavor and to help fill me up. You can make them in less than a minute, and there is no cleanup, which is huge for us on the road. Now, if you're like me, the first question you'll ask is how much added sugar is there? And here's a big one for me: no added sugar. They come in a variety of flavors. My personal favorite is Cherry Chocolate. Enjoy them for yourself by placing an order at Delicia oats.com and use the coupon code PATH at checkout. That's Delicia oats.com, D-L-I-C-I-O-A-T-S.com, and use the coupon code PATH.

Host: Well, on that note, we'll fast forward a little bit, talking about your past. We'll fast forward to kind of the future and leading up to where you are now. What have been some of the biggest frustrations you faced and currently face while traveling?

Guest: I would say our current struggle is balancing the work and the play side of things because, like, we've got sort of three types of days. We've got work days, we've got travel days, which will take a lot out of you, and then you have adventure days and exploring days. And so trying to make sure that, okay, we need to get in like five to six good work days that doesn't leave... that leaves room for maybe one travel day a week or, you know, one adventure day a week. Kind of have to choose, so it's not... I used to go into a location saying we have a list of like 10 to 12 things that we have to hit, and that's not enjoyable because we're so stressed trying to make time for it all. And now it's like I have a list of 10 to 12 things, but it's like we've prioritized them now, okay, these are the top three, and if we have time, we'll go to the next one on the list. And that's made a little bit easier. And this is somewhat Creator-focused but also being able to have an adventure day that isn't for YouTube. So getting to a location being like, okay, we want to put this in a YouTube video, this particular hike or whatever it is, but then we also want to go on a hike together where we don't have the stress of also trying to create content. That was something we failed on our first attempt to, maybe second attempt at YouTube, is we were just trying to film everything, which was just adding extra stress because we weren't actually having a day to ourselves.

Host: Yeah, I know, Kalyn, you have your business. It's you're helping women with planning, scheduling, and routines throughout their day, so clearly, I would assume like routines are your forte. Have you discovered any routines that have helped you specifically with travel?

Guest: Yeah, and we're also like implementing routines now that we're done gate guarding and work camping in general and we're on the same schedule because we were just on opposite shifts for so long. But the key to staying on the same page has been weekly meetings. As we plan our week, we go through okay, where are we traveling this week? What are our adventure days this week? What are our deadlines for work stuff this week? And making sure that we're on the same page, that everything's getting done. And then like a quick five-minute meeting in the morning. But I would say morning routines too have been really good for us. Just getting up at the same time, taking our dog Trinity for a walk or going running, and having breakfast, and then getting to work and just kind of having that stability because on the road, you don't have a lot of that all the time. You know, things are changing. We don't have a laundry day because it really depends when we can get to town, you know, to do laundry. So there's not those routines, but we try to establish structure, sure, where we can.

Host: So you put the routines in where you can control. You can't control where you are or what's around you, but you can control when you wake up, you can control those meetings wherever they are, um, and just that gives you more structure throughout your day. That's great. Um, what do you guys love most about your travel lifestyle?

Guest: I love the fact that we have a different backyard every couple of weeks. So we are very active people. When we're in our best element, we like going on hikes and exploring places. And when you're in the same place for years at a time, you run out of hiking trails, at least within a short distance. So the fact that we get to a new place, it's like, okay, now everything behind us is new, even just taking the dog for a walk. It's going to be a completely new area that we're exploring, even before going on a hike. And I think the other thing is just like getting to get a broader perspective on the country as a whole. And someday, maybe the world if we ever do any world travel. But just being able to see like, oh, this is where your food comes from, to sound super simple, like I grew up in the country so I was aware of some of that. But like you go to different states and see how different people live, and it just gives a broader perspective on how our country works and how people work and how people can work together.

Host: Same thing, Kalyn?

Guest: Yes. Sorry. Sorry. I was like, he's taking that question. If he wasn't going to mention the broader perspective, I was going to chime in with that one. But yeah, even things that we knew nothing about, like, su... Yeah, we had no idea there were sugar beets that people literally were eating sugar from sugar beets. So that's like a whole thing that you learn, the oil industry, you know, all the workers that come together and the things they do on the oil patch. So it's... It's... you really get to see like the American work ethic.

Host: Yeah, that, and I think going back to work camping, that's... that gives you those experiences at a deeper level. Like, yeah, you're in these areas, you can see things kind of from a distance, but when you're actually working those jobs, doing the gate guarding and doing the beet harvest, gives you even more of an appreciation for those things. That's great.

You had mentioned world travels in your future, so how long do you plan on continuing this travel lifestyle for?

Guest: It's unknown. It's unknown. As long as we are capable of, and Kalyn and, you know, things align, eventually, we'll probably transition into more like 80% travel and 20% at some sort of home base that we can come back to, especially if we start adding international trips, um, just to have a place where you have the same doctor's appointments and dentists and, and can come back and kind of recover before you go out again. So that's what we see happening in our future. I think no matter what it looks like, travel will always be a part of our lifestyle.

Host: Yeah, that's great. We'll transition, we'll switch to budgeting tips, and I'll just remind our audience you're going to want to bring your pen and paper for this section here because you guys post on your YouTube and your Instagram, you guys are very thorough. You have not only monthly expenses but you break it down what you're spending money on, you have how much you're making with YouTube with work camping, your whole Alaska budget. We'll dig into. So breaking it down, stripping it down to kind of a monthly or weekly budget, what does that look like?

Guest: Well, obviously, it's going to be different for everyone, but for us personally, for someone who tries to be really budget conscious, doesn't have like a truck payment or an RV payment, and also tries to do as many free activities as possible, we spend about $3,500 to $4,000 a month. And that includes everything. It includes health insurance, vehicle insurance. I think sometimes when people say, like, well, you know, this is what you can find that you'll typically spend in the RV lifestyle, they're not necessarily including everything that maybe $3,500 to $4,000 roughly.

Host: And keep in mind, everyone, that's without the RV, that's without the truck payment either.

Guest: Which we don't... we don't have any payments on those.

Host: Yes, that's outside of that. So if you were going to finance just... you want to factor that into was that budget a little bit tighter when you started out? Have you been able to loosen that up since you've... own your business?

Guest: It's actually a little bit tighter now because... I mean, everyone's feeling the effects of inflation and we recently did a... um... five years of RV life costs and at the beginning of RV life, we were spending probably around $350 for groceries, which was just food. And now we're struggling to come in under 500 a month for the two of us. So it's not like we've changed our practices, I think it's just that inflation coming through.

Host: Yeah, yeah. Do you have any budget apps or tools that have helped you track your expenses?

Guest: We highly, highly recommend You Need A Budget. Um, it is an annual fee, I think it's like last I paid was like $106. So it is a little pricey, but it takes... it connects all your credit cards and bank accounts, import the transactions automatically, very easy to reconcile and categorize things. And I think it's why we've been able to stay on top of all those numbers because we know exactly like where they're being attributed, um, so that would... I absolutely love that app and maybe they'll sponsor us in the future. We'd be totally game for that. I just love that you keep saying we track, we track this, we... I'm the one hiccup in the budgeting process. She does it. It takes her like 15 minutes every Friday to check in, do everything, and probably 10 of those 15 minutes are locating receipts that I've misplaced.

Host: Yeah, I don't miss the days of scanning receipts and to get the copy online, and yeah, that's just painful. So, I was going to ask, my next question was how much time, so you're spending about 15 minutes a week, so about an hour a month, sounds like you've come up with a system where doing it per week is more efficient than just holding everything for the end of the month.

Guest: Yeah, and because you can check, because you check in more often, you can pivot quicker, you know, if you see something like, "Oh, you know, our eating out spending is getting a little out of control," and we're halfway through the month, we know to rain it in and eat more at home. So, the more check-ins you can have, I think, I mean if you want a check-in daily, if you feel like that gives you peace of mind, do it daily, but we found like, I've found that Weekly a good Cadence.

Host: That is a good point yeah checking in once a week because if you set a weekly or a monthly budget of you know 300 bucks for going out to eat but you only touch touch base every month then it's kind of pointless so actually doing that per week and then yeah that's a good tip right there yeah awesome um what has been some of the best travel hacks you've come across that have helped you save money?

Guest: Boondocking one 1,00% boondocking we have so you can Boondock people Boondock with generators I don't recommend it but you can get a solar setup for your RV uh and it doesn't have to be the $50,000 solar setup like we set up our solar system I installed it myself so I did save myself some money there but for $6,000 we didn't have to use a generator our whole first couple years um we if we ever got close to the batteries running low which was rare we would get a campground for a night plug in get everything back up but but um but now we even have just a I think it's like a $800 or even less $300 generator that we can just use to charge us up if we have a couple cloudy days in a row but for that $66,000 we have 700 Watts almost 700 watts of solar and three 100 amp hour batteries um an inverter converter Char inverter charger converter something um does everything clearly he's an expert yes clearly and uh but it has run flawless for the 5 years that that we've been rving and you don't need all the fancy smancy now we also don't have uh some power sucking things like we don't have electronic uh stoves like it's a gas stove and and things like that and we also don't have a giant TV uh if you have a giant TV and that's a necessity then you might need more battery I don't know how much they take and we have the typical RV gas gas electric fridge that we just r on gas for we boondocking nice and I'm sure there's a video on there we'll Link in the show notes that you guys posted and you said $50,000 that's how much those things cost be50 Grand think that's a little I've seen I've seen I've seen at least $25,000 solar setups that people have like when their whole roof is covered in solar panels and they've got 12 batteries underneath like as a general rule when we started rving as a general rule 100 amp hours of battery was $1,000 that has gone down depending on the brand of battery you get um but yeah you can you can get expensive in a hurry with a solar setup.

Host: Sounds like it yeah um and you did it for six grand setting up yourself the um so you talked about boondocking are you boondocking because obviously that replaces your camping expense how often are you boondocking when you're when you reference that $3,500 to $4,000 monthly?

Guest: Um budget most of the time yeah it's we we Boondock unless we absolutely cannot it is obviously harder when you're closer to cities or East Coast or on the East Coast we will like stay probably an hour and a half sometimes two hours outside of where we want to go just so we can Boondock because it's it saves more money to even pay the gas to get there in back than it is in the campground fees that are usually near CI so we do that and there's also um Harvest host and boondockers welcome that you can take advantage of as well um so staying in people's driveways and sometimes it's fun to like just meet new people and and get to know others on the road so that's an option too.

Host: Wow so that's almost 4,000 you're spending a month and that's really not including um housing or or finding a place to stay so your biggest expense is probably fuel groceries and you said your health insurance?

Guest:Yep yep health insurance I was when we have starlink turned on for internet then our internet sell bill is expensive um because starlink itself is is $150 a month but we've opted for the ram plan so you can turn it off um like every month you can decide whether you want to keep it going or turn it off and so if we're on the East Coast where we have Verizon sell signal and T-Mobile sell signal then we'll turn it off and save that money there well when we have all three running that's going to be about 300 a month to 4 just for just for Internet yep.

Host: Wow yeah like I said very thorough thank you guys for sharing so much detail on everything that's that should give everyone a really good idea of how much this lifestyle can cost um so you guys travel with Trinity your dog and Cody your bunny what's it like traveling with two pets like that and do you want to share how you came across Trinity or rather how Trinity found you?

Guest: Yeah, that's, yeah, CU, she was at an oil pad for our first gate guarding job, and as people were showing us the ropes, we're like, "Is this your dog? Whose dog is it?" And they're like, "Nope, it just kind of hangs around here." And we got to know some of the workers, and they're like, "Yeah, she's been hanging around here for a few months," and she just seemed to get really attached to us. So we provided her water, um, she slept in our chair, she slept in our outdoor chair, and started providing her some food. But the problem is, we were like, we have a rabbit, and dogs and rabbits don't necessarily get along, so that's one of the things where really, really, really worried about if we kept her.

And we weren't looking for a dog. Um, we've always had rabbits since we've been married. So we actually ended up, like, outside the shelter, and we couldn't go through with it. We just couldn't drop her off because we obviously didn't want her to stay there on the oil pad trying to get scraps from trucks and sleeping by Slo pipe and like we wanted to get her a good home.

Um, and yeah, we couldn't go through with the shelter, and so like, well, we'll give it a shot. And we just slowly introduced them. And now it's to the place where we don't completely 100% trust her alone with the rabbit, like we put barriers in place, doors pens just just to make sure. But that's not based on her, that's just based on better part of wisdom, knowing that instinct is a thing. She's never done anything like Cody literally will jump off the couch onto her sleeping, yeah, and she'll jump up, you know, like what happened, but there's not like anger or growl or anything. So, and so it's nice that they are able to to live together and it also makes travel days a lot easier too because like Trinity can lay on the back seat of the truck and Cody's kind of in the in the back of the truck on the bottom on the floor um, and he can hop around and they're totally fine. So, it worked out really well and we love her and she's a great addition of the family.

Host: That's funny, unlikely companions.

Guest: Yes.

Host: I feel like if if if we brought our dog into a camper with a rabbit that place would get flipped upside down faster than we could even imagine.

Guest: I think that would happen if a cat strolled into the camper she's not a cat fan.

Host: What has been your coolest travel experience so far?

Guest: H, we have two, can we have two?

Host: Yep.

Guest: I would, you want to do yours?

Sure. So, we did, uh, was this two years ago, yeah, we did did close to your neck of the woods actually we did the presidential chain Trail in New Hampshire in the White Mountains. It's about a 21 22 mile hike and we set off at 5 6 in the morning and we had high hopes that we were going to be done by Sundown uh, we finished at about 4:30 the following morning um, Kalyn injured her knee about halfway through uh, we got up to the summit of Mount Washington and there actually is a tourist area there in roads and and we considered like do we jump off and it was at that we try to hit your ride back ride and Kalyn was at that point she's like no we I'm gonna do this I'm never gonna try this again we're gonna do it so she hoofed another 11 miles um through the dark for most of that and then we we got back and when we got down to the bottom her mom actually texted her and she's like oh I'm so glad you're back it looks like it's about to rain and we had the motorcycle and so we're like well we got to book it to our Campground so we booked it there and just the feeling of accomplishment I actually got back to the RV and just kind of like crashed and it was like at first it was like we will never do anything like that ever again and then after you kind of got over the exhaustion you're just like the feeling of doing something really hard um because we like Seven Summits yeah and we weren't expecting it to take that long we weren't expecting you know so we had a lot of roadblocks along the way but to come off the other side and just be like wow we accomplished something really hard was was huge.

Yeah, and I would say mine is um at Channel Islands National Park which is off the coast of California I didn't even know existed it existed until like a couple years ago and you have to take a boat out to it and there is absolutely no cell service at all no like real buildings nothing um and so we tent came camped out there overnight and there's also a really cute little island fox that like run they run around there they're only native to that Island um and we'll get into your tent if you leave the door open so you have to be careful about that but you have on one side of the island these massive Cliffs with the Pacific Ocean beneath on the other side there's you know Rocky beaches you can see seals swimming it was just a really really neat experience in a national park that like I said we had not heard of and then for it to you know become like one of our favorites and a day and a half was not enough time.

Host: It leaves you with more more to do I was going to add that's the worst possible time to get hurt on a hike is when you're halfway done you're halfway it's not like three quarters or a quarter the way you're halfway so you're going the entire length back you guys you guys are Troopers and you finish it up that's awesome good job yeah after spending just about five years traveling has there been something you've learned besides Internet that you can't live without?

Guest: We can live without the portable waste but we can't really... I feel like we can't live without the solar panels. Yes, that would probably be my answer, just because of the sheer amount of boondocking that we do. That would... We don't want to listen to generator noise, so the solar panels allow us to be able to have a peaceful time in the middle of where...

Host: Yeah, very cool. So, you mentioned the portable black tank, so you're still using the same RV you started out with, I take?

Guest: Yes, oh yeah, yeah, it's a 2005 JCO Designer. We remodeled the inside; we're in the process of updating some of the outside decals and whatnot, but yeah, it's... it's a beast, it's sturdy. We don't... I'm not going to say we're never gonna buy a new RV, but a lot of times when I see people with new RVs and their suspensions breaking and stuff like that are break, I'm just like, you know, this 2005 RV is looking better every day, very solid.

Host: Yeah, they don't build them like they used to. Um, contrary to...

Guest: I hate it that you can say that about 2005, like when somebody says that it's supposed to be like 1950 something.

Host: I know, it's crazy. Like my truck's 2013 and it's like, it's... it's over 10 years old.

Guest: Yeah, yeah, yeah, you look at it, it's like you look, it's, you think it's like 5 years old. But yeah, 2005, it's what, 19 years old?

Yeah, yeah, in 20 years I think is called vintage. Yeah, our RV is one year from vintage.

Host: Yeah, we had a 2002, we were going to, like, redo it and just make it vintage, where 20... it was, it was rough looking, so we just said it's vintage, yeah, exactly. Has there been something you've learned that you don't need while traveling?

Guest: There's... I would say we brought more clothes than we thought we had needed, especially like fancier clothes, and we just didn't end up wearing them. I like... we're not fancy people, no. So I, like, those, I think we ended up just giving all to Goodwill. I think maybe I kept one dress in case of something. But yeah, I don't know why you packed those. And if you have like sports equipment that it's like, "Oh, this is something I will do once a year." Like, I'm not a golfer, but I had some golf clubs, and I was like, "There's no point in having these if I'm going to use them once. I can rent clubs somewhere, you know?" Um, now we have paddleboards, but we use those more than once a year. Like, we just are very intentional about the sports equipment we have with us.

Host: It's a good rule of thumb: if you're not going to use it more than once a year, you can just rent it when you get to that destination. What tools should every RV owner have?

Guest: Oh, that's a... I hate this question because I'm not a tool person and I need to be. Um, but the one I'm using the most all the time is... is my drill. And like, I have a drill and a cordless drill. Like, those come in handy so often. I've got... I've got some drawers I need to fix and the idea of trying to do those with a like a hand screwdriver... I know it's like the most basic tool you can say, but if you don't have that in your toolbox, I think you should start with that.

Host: Sure. I was going to say WD40. I feel like you're using that in like every other...

Guest: I do use that a lot, on everything. Maybe that's the thing you can't live without.

Host: A few more questions before we wrap this thing up and I can't believe we're already at at 50 minutes. I do want to get into this YouTube thing a little bit because for someone who's looking to get into traveling full-time and getting into documenting and vlogging and creating content, um, you had posted on your YouTube channel that this was your third attempt. You had tried twice, didn't pan out, and this time you've been met with some pretty good success. Um, what's been different this time?

Guest: There's a lot of things. We are now like almost five years in, so our first year when we were trying to document and learn RV life, like, it was too much, too much new at one time and traveling so fast that we burned out quickly. Now we've slowed that down. The other thing was style. We wanted to make content around the locations we were going to and taking people along because we thought they'd just be interested in the hike because it was a hike. And we've learned that we are going to be primarily in the entertainment space and so we need to be more of a vlog style. And so that's what's completely different this third time around is it's much more doing projects around the RV, running errands, taking people with us to go grocery shopping and doing laundry and seeing what real life on the road looks like in addition to the locations. But we're very intentional about keeping those segments short and snappy. I feel like, yeah, we definitely have a lot more in terms of editing of like cutting and and making things shorter so that we can storytelling the shortest amount of time possible. I think a good example of that is if you look at our video about Cloud's rest uh, in yosity, yeah, I got that park right you look at that it's it's one video about one hike and it's about eight minutes long or so and then compare that to our video about uh, what's the thumbnail say it's New Normal I don't remember decision big decision and we explored some jips some capes and that and the whole video is about 20 our dog is snoring I'm sorry it's about 20 minutes it's about 20 minutes long and we have a cave exploring segment that is about two to three minutes long of that whole video and we still want to we still want to take people along for the journey through those things but we have realized that the attention span for those types of things it is much less so just keep things moving.

Host: Yeah, no, those are great points. Thank you for sharing that. And, as you touched on earlier, it sounds like with the editing taking longer, but you're also allocating time where you're not filming, so that kind of keeps you from being burnt out, right? So before it was go, go, go, but now you're actually taking the time to relax. It's not as hectic as it was.

Guest: Yeah, and I think being very selective about what we're filming. Like, a vlog is going to have, I don't know, three to five different segments of different locations and us maybe doing things, whereas we don't have to film the whole beginning to end of a hike anymore. So, you know, we're going on a hike tomorrow and we're just going to take a few B-roll clips, mention it in our next video, you know, show maybe talk about it for like 15, 20 seconds, and that's it. So, it does allow us to enjoy the locations more, because we know now that's not necessarily what people, at least for our audience, want to watch a whole video on. They would rather watch us do dishes.

Do dishes and travel in the truck, get propane, and all that RV life real-life stuff.

Host: Nice. And I would ask, how much you're making with YouTube, but instead, I will say, check the video out in the description, we'll link that video you posted on how much you're making so people can go check it out. If someone's listening to this podcast and they want to get started traveling but just aren't quite there yet, what is one thing they could start doing today to get them there?

Guest: It sounds stupid, but planning, and specifically, if finances are a thing, if it's, you're going to retire and you're going to travel, then just start planning what type of RV and things like that you want to get. But otherwise, it's start making your financial plan for it. Is your financial plan YouTube? Well, if it's YouTube, then you need to build up savings so that you have a runway until YouTube starts earning you money, or you need to have a work camping job plan. And if that's the case, you need to find work camping jobs that leave you enough time to also create content. And so just start getting those things down on paper so that it's not just an idea of "Oh, I want to travel sometime," it becomes more concrete of "Okay, this is the plan that I'm going to tackle."

Yeah, and I would say something that we had heard from other people that we actually followed was to not go super big. Like, when you're moving from a house into an RV, you think, "I've got to get like the 40-footer because I'm not going to have a lot of space," and we went with a 33-foot, and it felt... It's the perfect length for us. And I think that's another reason why we've stuck with the RV, the same RV for five years. See, it's not uncommon for someone to switch out an RV every couple of years, and they generally go smaller. They're getting a big fifth wheel, and then they're going to maybe a Class C, and then they're maybe doing a truck camper for weekend trips. So really trying to match your style of travel with an RV and making sure that you don't necessarily need all that space.

Host: You mentioned a few channels that influenced you. What were those channels? Any other like books or other influences that helped you?

Guest: Less Junk More Journey was the first one, and it was when I came to Joseph and I was like, "Hey, watch these people. They are a normal family like doing this." And we kept watching their videos, every single new episode that would come out, and it just kept inspiring us and convincing you to jump into full-time RV life. So we're really inspired when we see channels who are doing really creative things just to kind of see how that would inspire us in our own channel. So we really like Kara and Nate with their style that they do, and then also Flying The Nest. I think it's Flying The Nest. They are a family that travels the world, and their editing is really good. I was just going to say, to put a finger on what we mean by inspiring, we are ruined for YouTube now because when we watch YouTube, we're like, "Oh, that's how they're editing," or "Oh, that's how they're doing that." And Flying The Nest is one specifically that we were watching, and I looked at Kalyn and I'm like, "We're three minutes in, and they're on their like sixth background song. Like, they're not playing a background song for more than 30 seconds." And I said to her, "There's no way I'm doing that in our channel. That's just ridiculous." And we kept watching, and now we do that. But this wasn't before we were RV life, but I think Melissa Padet from Heath and Alyssa, she wrote a book. Now I can't remember the title of it, but working in all 50 states on, like, their journey through all 50 states, which was just so inspiring. And also with us work camping, kind of I don't know, felt like in a similar vein, like we're trying all these different jobs in different states. So I recommend them as well.

Host: Nice, perfect. And we'll link all those resources below in the show notes. And one last question for part two, travel tips. You guys are coming back. Where are we talking about for that?

Guest: We are going up to Northern Michigan and back in time to Mackinac Island. Awesome, everyone stay tuned. Joe and Kin, thanks again.

Host: Thank you so much for having us.