We swear.. we’re not becoming rally people! But when the Wynn’s invited us to join them for the Fleetwood rally they were presenting at in Goshen, IN – we couldn’t resist attending our 3rd major rally this spring.
After years of blog stalking each other, we finally got to meet up for dinner a couple months ago as we were both passing through Georgia. This would be a perfect opportunity to get more time together, and check out another style of rally too.
We met up in Goshen for early entry on Monday, which gave us two chill days together before the rally officially started.
We decided to park our RVs ‘awning to awning’ so that we’d have a shared yard space for hanging out, sharing meals, co-working and letting our cats mingle. Kiki, Singa and Cleo got along pretty well, as well as cats can anyway. At least there’s wasn’t too much hissing.
And it was pretty evident from the beginning, this was going to be an amazing time getting to know Nikki & Jason better.
The rally itself was on the same fairgrounds where we had just attended the Escapade, and was similarly attended in terms of numbers. However, this rally was actually a meshing of two smaller ones – the Fleetwood Motorhome Association and the Great Lakes Area Motorhome Association (i.e.. GLAMA). The Fleetwood rally had lost their other venue and the two merged rather last minute.
Seminars! Seminars! Seminars!
Given the chaos of merging two rallies with two different schedules together, it came together pretty well. But there was a lot of confusion, as different versions of the schedule with different information were floating around.. which led to seminars being less attended than anticipated.
Jason & Nikki were signed up to present 4 different presentations (Boondocking Tips, Solar for Newbies, Kitchen Gadgets and Top 5 Destinations). However given the scheduling debacle, they ended up with a bonus time slot.
That open time slot was Saturday morning at 9am – definitely not night owl friendly. We offered to brave the morning hours with them, and co-present on a topic we both know lots about – Working on the Road! Since we weren’t sure how many rally attendees were interested in earning incomes on the road (many tend to be retired), we decided to also livestream the presentation to our readers.
We were really surprised with how well attended and engaged our audience was – both live and on video! It definitely seemed to be a welcomed and needed topic, and personally I think the four of us totally rocked it, especially considering we put the material together last minute. Not to mention that whole morning thing.
Here’s an archive of that presentation, if you’d like to hear what we had to say:
We also stayed afterwards and did a live video Q&A session, if you want even more Gone with the Wynns & Technomadia goodness!
If you’d like to be notified when we schedule our live video chats, which sometimes we do rather last minute, be sure you’re on our video notification e-mail list.
Our friends the Geeks on Tour were also presenting at the this rally, and invited us to participate. For their ‘Tech for Travelers’ overview seminar, they had us present on mobile internet – a topic we know a thing or two about.
And we also assisted them on a presentation about Harvest Hosts, sharing about some of our recent stays at a winery and an air museum.
So, for not having planned to attend this rally a week prior – we ended up contributing to three different seminars. Fun! We do love presenting, it’s so much fun to share with others and help educate.
Touring Coaches
One of the reasons we went with our vintage bus was because at the time, there were slim pickings for well constructed motorhomes 35′ and under with appealing designs. It’s always fun to have an opportunity to tour the latest and greatest and see how the manufacturers are coming along.
Fleetwood had a good selection of all of their current floor plans on display, so we spent some time with Nikki & Jason touring them and hearing their perspective after now having traveled in a new 33′ Fleetwood Excursion for the past 6 months to help give the company feedback about what younger RVers are desiring.
We were impressed with some of the Bounder & Excursion floor plans that integrate in L-shaped collapsable couches that create a separate living area from the dining/kitchen and bedroom.
And it seems some other manufactures are also playing around with this concept and innovating making comfortable living spaces in a compact space.
But what’s still missing is usable work space. With more and more pre-retirement folks hitting the road and combining work & travel, this just seems like a market that remains mostly ignored by the RV industry. Heck, the boomer generation is retiring now in mass numbers – and many are armed with computers and a desire to do part time work, keep in touch with family, blog, participate in social media, and other desk oriented tasks.
It’s rare to see anything but a laptop nook or dining room table to cater to those who need a spot to set up shop.
While spending $100-200k for a new house on wheels is not insurmountable for a career focused professional replacing a sticks-n-bricks home, needing to immediately remodel one to accommodate usable workspace can become an obstacle.
Who wants to rip out or modify the interior of a brand new rig? Those desiring office space still tend to lean towards converting an at least slightly older coach.
But of course, in this class of entry level motorhome – the construction quality is a bit on the low end. Quite honestly, most of the ones we toured just didn’t feel solid. Mis-aligned cabinet doors, wonky shelving, filmy feeling walls, flooring that easily gets scratched up, and non well integrated systems.
It’s hard to imagine many of these vehicles being in good enough shape 10 years from now to be worthwhile keeping on the road… especially if used for full-timing.
Not to mention the off-gassing smell of the construction materials. I was getting quite the headache after touring just a few new coaches.
We’ll stick with our vintage bus conversion, thank you very much… which we’ve now had 3 years this weekend. Stay tuned for a post summarizing our thoughts after of living in our bus a few years, including our maintenance and remodeling costs.
Other Rally Fun
Probably the best thing about attending rallies is meeting people, and then seeing them again at future rallies. Each rally we’ve attended has gotten more and more fun, simply because we know more people. And that’s awesome.
Some random shots from around the rally… random bits of mayhem left out to protect the innocent. 🙂
What’s Next? We’re now off on our adventure of exploring Michigan. Two summers ago we started in Madison, WI and explored parts of the UP and then the gorgeous west coast of Michigan. It was part of secret mission, ‘Operation: Dip Toes’ – a special present for my father before he passed away.
So this time around, we’re exploring the upper east coast along Lake Huron. We’ll be aiming for Tawas later this week to meet up with some friends, and then keep heading north into the UP. We hope to rendezvous again with the Nikki & Jason, who are setting off to explore the western shoreline.
Along the way we’ll be finding scenic and quiet spots to super focus on re-writing The Mobile Internet Handbook, and testing out cell phone boosting gear in weak signal areas.
Hey, we’ve been blog stalking you guys for a a while in our whirlwind attempt to learn everything we can about RVing and especially internet access. Your blog is a great resource — and I found it after watching the Wynns talk about wifi & cellular boosters and thinking “I need that”.
We’re in the process of looking for an RV and I intend to work on the road.
I am also a programmer, so a workstation is important to me. But between sitting at a desk and sitting at the wheel, my back couldn’t possibly survive, so I’m looking for a way incorporate an adjustable sit-stand desk (and dual monitors).
Needless to say, customization seems to be the only option.
I’ve thought about the following range of options for a stand up workstation:
* Convert the bathroom sink to a desk
* Build a shelf in a wardrobe
* In the space over a washer/dryer
* Rip out the cupboard over the dry bar
* Use the overhead bunk in a Super C
* Replace the “security guard” chair by the door
* Drop down from the ceiling
* Fold out counter from counter-top
* Flip up from exterior basement bay
* Stack on top of table
* Build a portable table/lectern
* replace the second sofa
All of which require customization and sacrifice, and most of which don’t do well as a permanent workstation.
It certainly makes me hesitant to buy a nice MH and start tearing it up as soon as I get it off the lot though.
The big challenge is deciding what the best route is before buying, because no one MH will have all these features.
I’d be interested to learn how you do it.
Hi there.. and welcome. It’s always a series of trade-offs when picking out an RV that is right for you. One reason we went with an older unit is so we wouldn’t feel bad about ripping things out and making it just right for us.
Here’s our series of case studies on workspace setups folks have gone with: https://www.technomadia.com/workspaces
The information that you guy’s put out is very informative. You touch on subjects that sometimes get overlooked. I think the biggest hurdle is that you have to have a source of income before you do this. It’s nice to say just do it but reality is it still takes money to do it. Work camping is great but like Chris had mentioned in one of his videos, do not expect to live off of it. That is what I like about the information that you guy’s put out it is honest. You do not hide what you guy’s do for a living which some do in their post thinking that hey look how easy it is they can do it on just part time work. But than you find out they are retired early with full pensions or are still working full time for their companies remotely. (Not that there is anything wrong with that.) But that is not helpful to people looking to do this with out those sources of income. Reality is there is still a cost, food, health insurance ( a nightmare in itself), fuel (a big one depending on your plans but without a doubt you can not go anywhere with out dropping at least 200 to 300 to get anywhere substantial. Unless you plan on staying in a 50 mile radius), hopefully you were able to pay cash for your RV or you will need to come up with that monthly payment, RV insurance, plus insurance on what other vehicles you may have, and a big issue is you without a doubt need to have some kind of reserve in the bank for emergency’s. Those emergency’s could be mechanical such as a major issue such as you guy’s had where you needed a engine overhaul or a unfortunate medical issue that puts you in a hospital for a period of time. These are things that if you say they will never happen to me the day that it does and you are not prepared it will be a catastrophic. Our biggest hurdle will be since we are about 10 years short of retirement age and if there is anything there when we need it, we will still need a source of income to live on other than minimum wage. We will be fortunate enough to buy our RV out right after we sell our house and hopefully put something in the bank for emergency’s but we will still need a income. So that is as mentioned in the beginning the biggest hurdle. I have a very open mind as to different types of employment. Being a ex trucker and mechanic for more years than I care to remember I could probable get something almost anywhere but the question is will it be enough with today’s wages. Still a lot of research needed before the final commitment. Also in case you might ask when is the date it will be after my youngest daughter graduates college and has determined which direction she is going to be going in. I would never in a million years force my children out of the house just so that I could fulfill my dream. We are just not like that. Anyway sorry for the long rant but I just wanted to thank you guy’s for all the information that you have given out and I will be interested in exploring all kinds of options of making money remotely without needing to punch a full time “time card”. Any information in that direction will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.
>I think the biggest hurdle is that you have to have a source of income before you do this.
While it certainly can help, that’s not necessarily true. There’s no one true way of making it work. We’ve encountered several folks who hit the road living off savings as a bit of a career sabbatical, and loved the lifestyle so much that they figured out income sources so they could keep it sustainable long term. And some folks just get fed up with stationary life and leap, and make it work. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
For us, all of our earned income sources that where there when we hit the road have gone away, and we’re now entirely funded by projects we’ve created and obtained since becoming mobile.
Here’s our article about income on the road for further thoughts: https://www.technomadia.com/jobs
This was a great post with plenty of good info. I learned a bunch from the working on the road video, as I watched it from end to end. Keep having fun and keep up the good work.
Thanks to both of you and to the Winns. 🙂
Glad we could lend a little information.. thanks for stopping by!
What a great recap! Makes me miss you both even more. I hope our paths continue to cross and our late night fire dancing days will continue!
Can’t wait until our next rendezvous.. and thank you guys again for inviting us along. Priceless.
When I went RV shopping Fleetwood was by far the most common brand anywhere near my price range, and they were pretty much all worn out. The rubber roofs needed replaced, and the wooden framing was frequently showing signs of rot. More info on what I was looking for and what I found on my blog.
Bummer… I had hoped we were wrong about our projections. Sometimes, it’s worthwhile going back 20-30 years and buying the used really high end coaches. We’ve seen some fantastic Newells, Prevosts and Wanderlodges that from the 80s and 90s that look … and are… fantastic to this day.
We’re considering switching to a Motorhome from a Fifth Wheel and your comment about work space really hit a nerve with me (not in a bad way). I am a polymer clay artist and one of the reasons we chose the fifth wheel we did was because I could turn the dining area into a mini studio and it still had a desk for hubby’s computer work/play. One thing we are considering if we do go the Motorhome route is to get a “bunkhouse”; tear the bunks out (or fold up the top one on the models that allow this) and put in a work top and build my mini studio in that. The ones with the actual doors would be great as it would keep stuff in place and away from animals when I’m not creating. . . Thanks for some more great information. Smiles, Sue C
We are excited to see more innovative designs coming out… but creating workspaces still takes a bit of modification. A motorhome layout wouldn’t be impossible at all, and some of the bunk house designs I could see working for that. Best wishes in your search for your ideal layout!
Sounds as though it was a great rally. Your description was so vivid that I felt as though I’d stood nearby and watched as things happened. It’s certainly made me interested in attending rallies when we retire and can turn our attention to RVing. Thanks!
For us.. a great rally is all about the people. And by that measure, yes, it was a great rally!
Best part of Hoeft was proximity to the lake. The campground is old and sites are close but we really liked the park. This may be a repeat followup comment. My smart phone thinks it’s smarter than me…it probably is.
Smartphones are silly like that, aren’t they?
Your journey has certainly been about a lot more than traveling :-). I love that the spirit of that couple who said their vows at Burning Man still shines in the now sought-after experts on multiple “grown-up” subjects. I’m sure there are days when you miss Chris’ little trailer, but I think you’ve been smart and brave to follow where opportunity and adventure have led you. Thank you for helping to reshape the community of RVers into something we look forward to joining (rather than dreading a life limited to shuffleboard and happy hours).
Awww…. thank you Jodee! Life is a journey, regardless if you are living in one place, or living on the road.
Atou know, I’m fully retired pushing 60, and I need a desk! A real working desk.what I don’t need in an RV is sleeping for 6 or eating for 6. if I had all that room my ideal would be to have a real working desk and then have a slide out table for eating. Now where have I seen that before? 😉
I don’t know but I have had a desk at my disposal since I was a child and I do not imagine ever living without it. So it is not just you young ones still working that need a desk in an RV. Is it really a minority that think this way?
Excellent point.. especially with lots and lots of techno savvy boomers hitting the road in their retirement, the need for dedicated deskspace will only increase. I really do find it hard to believe that this is an uncommon desire, and really hope that manufacturers start thinking differently and offering options for it.
A desk AND bookshelves for the in-use portion of my 20,000 volume library ! …and yes, it took almost 7 decades to accumulate. Wanna know what’s in my baggage bays ?
🙂
edward
Oooh.. excellent suggestion. That’s the next interior change to our bus, a book shelf for the few books and media we aboard. Listen up RV designers 🙂
And 20,000 books??? Wowzers. That’s impressive.
We’ve spent several weeks exploring the UP and northern WI on two different trips. We also did the west side of MI on our first trip and then the east side last summer. (My DH is from Michigan with family still there so we spend a lot of time all over MI. Great state!) We enjoyed stopping and touring as many lighthouses as we could find on all three lakes around MI. A trip to Mackinac Island is time well spent! Be sure to take the island tour via horse drawn wagon. (There are no vehicles allowed on the island.) We spent a few days at Tawas State Park and it was okay. Our next stop was a jewel — Hoeft State Park near Rogers, MI. Right on Lake Huron. It’s a beautiful park (one of the oldest in the state) with great biking trails to Rogers to the south and 40 Mile Point Lighthouse to the North. Rogers is a neat little city with a nice marina and parks. Time in the Aune Osborne City Campground right on the St. Mary’s River where you can watch the big barges/ships as they travel between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron is a great experience. Be sure to visit the Soo Locks in Sault Sainte Marie while there. Tahquamenon Falls State Park is a pretty place. Be sure to eat at least once at the Tahquamenon Falls Brewery and Pub in the Upper Falls area of the state park. Excellent! While in the Tahquamenon Falls area, a side trip 20 miles to White Fish Point and the Shipwreck Museum is well worth the time. Very interesting! We also enjoyed a boat tour of Pictured Rocks near Munising, MI. Upper Peninsula residents are unique and refer to the lower part of the state residents as the “trolls under the bridge”. 🙂 Enjoy your trip!
Thanks for the recommendation of Hoeft SP, that on was on our list to try to stop at. Hoping to hit them all on our way up the coast.
Believe we hit all of the other spots you mentioned in the UP on our last pass through, definitely loved Aune Osborne, watching the barges pass by was awesome.