Tales from the Scenic Route: A Lesson in Living Life to the Fullest
I had the pleasure of interviewing blogger and now author Kate Gilbert, writer of the blog “Tales from the Scenic Route” and author of the book “The Happy Camper”. I found out about Kate while researching networking opportunities with bloggers who specifically write about the RV travel life. I was intrigued by the short bio on her site stating she and her husband had sold everything they owned and left their corporate jobs to travel full time. As Kate will tell you though, life on the road is not always “rainbows and unicorns”.
1. Tell me a bit about your background, how you got started RVing, and how long you have been doing it.
We started off in tent campers over 13 years ago. We bought our first RV in 2008, when we wanted to extend our camping season into spring and fall. In June of 2014 we decided we just weren’t happy enough with our lives and especially the amount of energy our jobs were taking from us, so we quit our jobs, sold our home and started traveling full time. We currently split our time between RVing around the US in an Airstream travel trailer, and renting apartments in different countries around the world.
2. How do you subsidize your income while on the road?
My full-time job before we started traveling was in healthcare marketing. I still work in that field but as a freelance consultant now. As long as I have an internet connection, which I nearly always do, I can work from wherever I want. I work a lot fewer hours than I used to, but our expenses are much less than they used to be, so economically we don’t see a difference.
3. What was the most memorable RV trip you’ve ever been on?
We spent this summer in Wyoming and Montana. We camped for free on national forest land with the most fabulous view of the Grand Tetons you could imagine. We are set up to be pretty self-sufficient — with the solar panels we installed on our roof we can spend a week or more out in the open like that.
4. Is the Airstream trailer the only one you’ve ever owned?
No, before the Airstream we owned a 24-foot Winnebago View motorhome. We used it for weekend camping a lot. It was a great start for us and was one of the reasons we knew we would love living in an RV full-time.
5. What made you decide to start the blog?
Several reasons, really. We wanted to record where we had been and keep friends and family up to date too. Another reason is that we relied on a lot of other bloggers when we were starting out, so we wanted to pay back that support. One of the other benefits we have found is that “putting yourself out there” helps you connect with other members of the traveling community.
6. Why did you decide to write a book?
The main reason is that I wanted to be an advocate for living a different kind of life. After many years of soul-searching in a corporate world, corporate life had changed and no longer made me happy. It sounds so cliché, but life really is short and not doing everything you can to pursue happiness seems like such a waste.
7. Being on Amazon is a pretty big deal — was it a hard process to get there?
Not difficult, just laborious. Writing the book was easy compared to the rigorous proofreading, editing and formatting I had to do. It is definitely a labour of love.
8. If you could do anything differently would you?
Start sooner! Full-time travel and running on our own schedule has been so beneficial to our quality of life. Also, we started out our travels in a much more structured way with plans and reservations for many months in the future. Now we hardly ever have any reservations and just live week to week.
9. What advice would you give someone interested in full-time RVing?
Start by part-time RVing. Make sure you are comfortable living out in campgrounds or RV parks and being in a small space before you commit to a big change. It is not all rainbows and unicorns, so be realistic. Read lots of blogs about people who have done it. Reach out to them and ask questions. If you really want to give it a try, do it. What’s the worst that can happen?