Our RV Love Story – Mike & Jennifer

This is how Mike and Jennifer Wendland came to embrace the RV Lifestyle and start their RV travel blog, RV Lifestyle YouTube Channel, RV Podcast and RV books and newsletters

This RV Lifestyle blog is a labor of love by us – Mike and Jennifer Wendland. It started as a hobby back in 2012. Now it's what we really believe is… our calling. So let me explain. This is the long version “How'd you end up doing this?” If I could have had a quarter for every time we've been asked that about our RV Lifestyle blog we could buy another motorhome.

Here's How The RV Lifestyle Started

This RV Lifestyle blog is a dream come true for us. Decades in the making, but now being lived out like one giant movie, seen through the wide expanse of our RV's windshield as North America rolls on by. We can stop anytime, explore anywhere.

And we do, sharing it with you on this blog, the RV Podcast, our RV Lifestyle YouTube channel, a weekly RV Lifestyle Newsletter, and by very active social media groups. And we also have written a series of 10 books and travel guides about the RV Lifestyle.

It's all very much serendipity. Serendipity means a “happy accident” or “pleasant surprise,” something fun and useful and enjoyable that was discovered by happenstance along the way. That's a perfect description of what we find every day in this new wandering life in a motorhome. It started when my wife Jennifer and I bought a Class B campervan-type motor home in early 2012 after years of dreaming. When we did, I started writing a blog about seeing North America, enjoying our RV, and the interesting stories about the people and places we came across.

We want to share our RV Lifestyle adventures

The goal then and now is to share our RV lifestyle. I have to admit, I am not very mechanical. It took me an orientation session with my RV dealer to find out where the gas, ah, make that, diesel fueling point was on that first vehicle. This blog is only partially aimed at tinkerers and mechanics. It's about the RV lifestyle and the great things to see and do out there on the open road.

We live the RV Lifestyle 24 x7, but travel 3/4 of the time

So, about half to 3/4 of the year, we travel North America discovering the interesting people and places I didn't have time to meet when I was a news reporter working for newspapers or TV stations. Technology, like the motorhome, is a big part of my life, and being able to try out new tech toys and stay connected while on the road makes every day an adventure. You can read about my tech gear here.

Right now, we're traveling in a 2021 Leisure Travel Vans Wonder, RTB (Rear Twin Bed) model, a Class C motorhome built on the 2020 Ford Transit chassis. We frequently “boondock,” or stay in remote places, off the commercial power grid, typically in national or state forests, National Parks, or wilderness areas. The Wonder allows us to be self-contained for long periods of time.

We began this blog in March 2012. Since then, we have traveled over 250,000 miles. Typically, we mark out a route, identify a few spots we want to be sure to visit, and then take off, stopping when we want or find something that interests us. An old editor of mine once told me that “every person has a story to tell.”

mike and jennifer wendland

My journalism career has shown me that to be very true. It's the same with most places. Places have stories, too. So we like to wander, chat up the people we meet, and start taking photos and videos. Usually, we return with more stories than we can do.

We travel year-round, even to cold, snowy places in the winter. We have driven the motorhome to Michigan's Upper Peninsula and the North Lake Superior shore of Minnesota in the month of January, where we found a winter wonderland that most people never see.

I remember one night when there were 28 inches of snow on the level ground and deep in the wilderness, it got down to -21 degrees F. It was an awesome experience. We slept snug and warm inside our RV and realized winter is no excuse to put the RV in storage.

The RV Lifestyle has grown so fast!

Truth is, though, that if I'm not careful, RVLifestyle.com could become all-consuming. The blog has been growing so fast that we also started a weekly RV newsletter. Our Facebook Page is approaching 540,000 “Likes.” Some 45,000 people are members of our Facebook RV Lifestyle Group. We're also active on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn.

And then there are our books – 10 of them! We've written travel guides to various parts of North America, how-to books on various aspects of camping and instructional books on how to save money while enjoying the RV Lifestyle. Check them out at https://rvlifestyle.com/books

My son, Jeff, has pitched in to help run the “enterprise” so I can concentrate on traveling, content development, and reporting. Daughter Wendy helps with the newsletter.

 

mike and jennifer wendland