Life as Full-Time Travelers

Life as Full-Time Travelers

In this episode of TravelEssary, we’re giving you a real-life look at what our weeks actually look like as a “mostly” full-time traveling family.

From move days and prep days to exploring new places and embracing the freedom of an ever-changing routine, this episode offers an honest, heartfelt glimpse into the rewards, challenges, and everyday magic of life on the road.

Transcript

  We are the Esri family and we're exploring America one destination at a time. On today's episode of TravelEssary, I'm going to break down what a full time travel life looks like for our family. Let's chat.

Welcome back to TravelEssary. It is just me today. Jeremy is out doing a run trying to get everything done before Thanksgiving. This is recorded just a few days before Thanksgiving and he wants to make sure he gets back in time for the holidays. So it is just me to, and I thought it would be a great idea to share with our listeners what full-time travel life.

Actually looks like for our family. People ask us all the time, what does your week look like? What does a work week look like for you? Do you ever slow down? How do you balance the work and the rest and the fun? And I am ready to spill that all for you today. So I'm pulling back the curtain and giving you an honest behind the scenes look of what it looks like specifically for our family.

'cause I know that not every family is going to have the same full-time travel look. So I'm going to preface this with saying full-time traveling, does not mean full-time vacation. And I know Jeremy and I have said this so many times on this platform. But it absolutely is true. So yes, we do travel full-time, , well mostly full-time.

We do have an a home base in central Texas that we go back to for holidays and special occasions, but for the most part, we are traveling. However, we are still working 50 to 60% of that time. The difference is that when we do have off time, then we are able to go and explore the world around us. Or sometimes we just rest.

We just get exhausted and we rest. So I think as most of you know, Jeremy works in RV transport. He works for Wave Express, and if you're interested in more information on that, please contact us through our Facebook page, , and we will give you more information about that.

We've had several people since we have a. Been going public of our life and what we're doing that have asked, Hey, how can I get into this? How can I check out information? And if you would like more, then Jeremy will be more than willing to give you that information. But Jeremy does RV transport. And sometimes it is a lot of work, and then sometimes it's not any work at all.

It really just depends on what time of the year it is and what his preference is for that time. So the great thing about the RV transport is that Jeremy can pick his own hours essentially. He can work whenever he wants to. He can choose not to work if that's the case. So there are times where, since we've been traveling, that he'll leave on a Sunday night and go to Indiana and you know, pick up a load and then he'll bring it back to wherever we are and he's home by.

Tuesday, Wednesday at the latest, and then that gives Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning to do whatever he wants for the rest of that week. So he's spending about half of that week doing halls, and then there are times where he decides to do seven or eight days worth of runs, and then he's going to take the next 14 days off and not do any work at all.

So it really just depends on, , what's available for transport. , Where we are and what we're doing and what time of the year it is. And his schedule never quiet looks the same because he revolves it around what we're doing as a family. So for him, I would say if you were to break down the days if you're to break it down by the days of the month that he works, then.

It's probably about 10 to 12 days a month that he works doing RV transport. So that's not bad at all. He is doing the rest of that time. He is here with our family and we think that's awesome. Now there will be months where he is doing a whole bunch more than that. There will be months that he's almost taking the entire month and doing runs, and that will be so that the next month he basically doesn't have to do any runs because we have something special coming up and he wants to take that whole time off.

So the flexibility is the whole entire reason that he got that job. It is amazing to be able to pick and choose when you want to work and when you want to go out and explore the world around you. So that is what Jeremy does. He still works. I also still work. Mine looks a lot different than Jeremy's.

For instance, I have already published two books and I am so excited about that. I've been kicking them off and doing a lot of promotions. One of them's available on Kindle Unlimited. I'm going to do some promotions coming up very soon and get some discounts for you guys with the Christmas holidays coming up, so please make sure that you follow us on all of our social media platforms so that you can see that.

And then of course, I always share links to my books in our show notes, but I am working on my third book right now, which is going to be very, very different from the first two books, and I just can't wait to share that. I'm so excited. It's a project I've been working on for about three or four years. So I'm doing a lot of writing , on one hand.

And then on the other hand, I am doing so much content management. So not only are Jeremy and I recording podcasts, you know, weekly, , and recording videos weekly for our YouTube blog, but I'm the one who goes through and edit.

Every single podcast and creates and edit every single YouTube video. I'm the one who manages our social medias and our Patreons and all of that nonsense that goes along with it. And it's a lot because we are on a lot of platforms and to some it may not look like a job, but it is . Absolutely a job considering that we do have income streams coming from a lot of these platforms, especially our Patreon and our podcast.

So yes, it is a job for me, and as we continue to grow, I absolutely hope those aspects continue to grow as well. So I like to try to get as much as my editing and writing and all of the content creation that I have to do. I like to get it done while Jeremy's on the road.

I will take those four to five days at a time that he's gone, and I will sit at my computer almost nonstop between taking care of children and household chores. That is what I'm doing, and I get it all done and get it all scheduled so that when Jeremy is here, then we get to spend that time together with our family doing the things that we love to do.

The whole reason that we decided to full-time travel. So yeah, some days is exhausting. It looks more like a marathon. We are just sprinting to that finish line, trying to get that work week or those work days like over with. Like Jeremy is in the truck for four to five days nonstop, and I am sitting at this computer and wearing my back out for four to five days nonstop for like 18 hours sometimes a day.

And then there are days that we absolutely get to do nothing. So for our chill days, we have approximately six to eight chill days a month, and that's definitely more than the four Saturdays that most people get. So I'm very grateful for that. So for our family, a chill day looks like this.

A slow morning walk or a hike somewhere. Just swimming in the pool or hanging out in the hot tub. I like to read outside. Jeremy likes to read outside. Justin likes to read outside. If you're just sitting outside in a chair or a hammock or in one of the porch swings that many of the campgrounds have around us.

It's wonderful, and most of the ones we've been to also have lodges with libraries in them. And so when we have chill days, especially if it's raining and we don't wanna be stuck in the RV the whole day and our outdoor activities have been canceled. We like to go hit up the lodge and grab books out of there.

The other day I went up there with Jasper for a few hours and I read him books and let him run around, and I checked out a few books. So that was a beautiful, wonderful, chill day. We'll do family nights, we'll go play bingo sometimes down at the activity centers with the older people, and they have crafting afternoons here at the campgrounds that we've been visiting.

It's just time that we actually get to be together and not really have to worry about punching out an itinerary or getting work done, and it's been so great having those chill time that those built in. Rest times we usually do our rest times. For a day or two after Jeremy gets back from his hall, because like I said before, it's like nonstop work for several days in a row.

For both of us, and so when Jeremy gets home , when he gets back to wherever we are. Home is where our fifth wheel is, right? So when he gets home, we take the next day or two and we don't do anything. We don't do any work. We don't go and travel. We stay in our campground and we'll do maybe some activities here.

, They'll have like minor outdoor activities or we'll go hit up the lodge and visit. Or we do nothing except for walk and swim and take naps, and it's wonderful. It's wonderful to be able to have those chill days after basically sprinting through that marathon of getting work done. And we just love it.

We absolutely love it to be able to have so many days of basically just us time, just time for our family and for recouping and for restoration. But once we are done resting, we hit the ground running again, but in a different way because then we take probably six to eight days a month of exploring.

Exploring the areas that are around us, and really, this is why we are traveling in the first place, right? So that we can get out and explore what's around us. So far we have just been in Texas and we'll be in Texas until the end of winter but we have been able to visit a lot of really great things that we didn't even know existed in Texas, which just makes us so much more excited for whenever we do get to leave Texas. But exploring days looks like this for us.

We have visited historical forts and so many museums. We love to visit weekend markets and small town festivals. We have been to so many festivals and that's just a highlight for us, mostly because festivals are usually free to get into. If you're going to a town event or a town festival, nine times outta 10, it's free to get into and then you pay for your activities and your food once you get inside.

But they're always lined with markets and stalls and live music. And the last one we went to had a car show. So it's just been really nice to get out and do something and explore. You get to learn a little bit about that community. And we love small town festivals. If you know anything about us, if you've watched our YouTube videos or if you've listened to any of our previous podcasts, you know how much we really enjoy those small town festivals.

And one of the great things that we do, I might say my favorite thing that we do when we're out exploring is trying new restaurants. We always, always, always. Hit up mom and pop restaurants or food trucks or you know, something that is privately owned, not a chain. Okay. I take that back. There was once we went to a chain, but it was a chain we had never been to before, so of course we had to try it one time at least.

But we love trying new restaurants and new food for each area that we go to.  We've had some disappointments. I'm talking about you, Bridgeport. I don't know if we had anything in Bridgeport, Texas that was.

Worth the money that we paid for except for a bakery that we stopped at. It was amazing. But most of the places we go to Amazing Food, , and we're supporting the local community when we're out doing that and we're trying new foods and it's just, it's been great because who doesn't like it? I feel like that's half the point of traveling, is to be able to eat your way through your journeys.

We also love to find hidden gems. Sometimes we stumble upon them accidentally, which , we feature a few of those in our YouTube videos, and sometimes it's because we ask the locals when we're at the restaurants or . When we visit the visitor centers, we will ask, Hey, what is a lesser known place to visit in your community that we can go and visit and we find great, great places to go, which most of them are also free.

So bonus for that. And it's just the magic of being able to discover something new while we're. Also working at the same time, we're still bringing in an income, but at the end of a long work day or the end of a long work week, we're not just in our backyard, in the places we're familiar with. We're somewhere new.

And when we get out in those evenings or those weekends or weekdays, whatever, it falls on that we're not working and we get to go explore the area around us. It's so nice. We don't have to, you know, pack our bags and travel to go somewhere for the weekend because we're already there.

All we have to do is step outside of our fifth wheel and we are in that someplace new. So that is amazing.

And then of course we fill our days with, , faith and community. So even though we're on the road, we still wanna stay rooted and

we find the nearest church of our faith and we visit that local church and we get involved during the time that we are in that area. So we'll go to all of their services. If they have special activities, we get involved. It's a great way to stay rooted and to. Again, build a small little community for ourself while we are in that area.

So we're attending midweek services, we're attending Sunday services and everywhere that we've been, we have been welcomed like family and it's been so great to have that.

It keeps us grounded when, you know, everything else around us is constantly changing. Being able to go and be a part of a faith-filled community where you just absolutely feel like you're a part of their family. It just keeps us grounded when everything else is constantly changing.

And it just gives us a little bit of continuity in our travel life. And then we have move day. So move day. Um, it really depends. Right now it's about once every three weeks, every 20 to 21 days, there will be times where we have more move days in a month than others, depending on how quick we're trying to get to one side of the country or not.

Right now we have one or two move days a month, so a move day. It is exactly what it sounds like. We are breaking down the fifth wheel. We are running through checklist. We're making sure everything is secure. We're packing up and hitching up, and sometimes there's a little bit of chaos.

It seems like there's always one little thing that's gonna not necessarily go wrong, but give us a little hiccup. , It just always seems to happen, but, you know, mostly we work together as a team. We knock it out really fast. We've actually learned we can break this trailer down in about 30 to 45 minutes.

From beginning to end and have it hooked up. So that's not that bad at all. And there is just , this weird satisfaction that comes after rolling out of the campsite. , It's like you get such . A thrill because you don't know where you're going next. Yes, you have an address. Maybe we've even looked at some videos or pictures online, but we usually don't know what spot we're gonna be in until we get there.

, so it's always interesting to see what that campsite's gonna look like and what that campground offers as far as amenities and their facilities. , We always have like this bit of anticipation that builds up a little bit on our way there.

And then we get there and when reverse do everything that we just did, we set up, we unpack. We unhitch, we do all of that and , we do it all in one day and it's really not that bad. Nine times out of 10 we are done. By two o'clock in the afternoon, and then we have that entire rest of the afternoon and evening that we go and explore our new campground.

So that's what we have done every single move so far. After we have set up, we take the evening and we go explore the campground around us and find out, okay, what do we have to do while we're here for the next 14 to 20 days? , Since I am in a second vehicle with two of the children, we will stop and pick up lunch along the way.

And then we don't have to worry about trying to find something and make something to eat after we have set up and everyone's hungry. And sometimes a little cranky move days can sometimes bring out the cranky part of us, . But we manage.

And then we have a prep day. So prep day comes before Jeremy's halls. So prep days, how many prep days we do? A month varies. It could be one to three prep days a month that we do. But what we have to do is. One, go grocery shopping and you guys, when you are full-time traveling, grocery shopping is such a challenge.

I think me personally, this has been my biggest challenge so far. Probably not Jeremy's biggest challenge, but definitely mine because . Within such a short amount of time, you have to find the best grocery store that offer the best products for the lowest prices, and it has not been easy.

Some of the places we have been. The towns are so small that you're either paying outrageous prices for groceries because there's no competition, or you're traveling 45 minutes just to go to something as simple as a Walmart, because that's all that they offer. I'm actually currently in a place like that right now.

And I think the only two places they have here is a Kroger and a Walmart. I've really been wanting an Aldi's so bad. You guys really been wanting an Aldi's. None of those stops we have made so far have had an Aldi's within 30 minutes, so haven't enjoyed that part. I do miss my Aldi's very much and I can't wait until we get to a stop where there is an Aldi's close by.

Also, while we're in Texas. I really, really want to, , get as much HEB products and stuff as I can before we leave but there's also not been an HEB within drivable distance in all of the stops we've been as well. So I am really hoping that soon. We will be able to have either an Aldi's or an HEB close by Kroger is, you know, okay.

Walmart. I hate shopping at Walmart. Their prices are not that great. Their variety's not that great, but it is what it is. Grocery shopping, it is a challenge while traveling, but it's okay. It's worth it. So prep days we grocery shop so that Jeremy can have his meals while he's on the road. , We'll get things for me to prep, like I'll prep his meals and I'll prep his snacks for him, things like that.

We're gonna make sure all the laundry's done that Jeremy needs for that week. , If he needs something specific, if it's cold time of the year and he needs jackets washed. I'll do whatever it is that he needs the day before and he packs his bag. While I'm doing all of that, we'll do small maintenance tasks.

Jeremy will check on the truck, you know, run all through his maintenance list before he goes on a long call. We'll do a little bit of maintenance on the RV before he leaves us for however many days we clean up the fifth, well really well. We also do that right before a travel day as well. But Jeremy's checking tires, he's checking tanks, he's checking oil, he's checking fluids, and it's probably the least glamorous day of our entire lifestyle, but it's totally necessary.

, If you're a full-time traveler, you absolutely understand this. Prep days and maintenance days. Are 100% necessary because without them, you're liable to have some problems down the road. And if you would've just taken that day, like two or three days a month to do some prep and do some maintenance, then it will save you a lot of headaches down the road.

And then we repeat, we repeat it all. We start the work week or work day. It's weird saying work week. 'cause a work week is never a work week for us, not a typical American work week. But then we start the work days again. We sprint through that marathon getting as much done, and then we'll chill for a few days and then we'll explore for a few days.

We'll do some prep and then start it all over again. That's just the rhythm that we have created with our needs and our. Desires and it's been working really great for our family. This may change the more we travel. I have absolutely no idea, but the great thing about it is we make our own schedules and we can change it if we need to.

it gives us so much freedom, so much freedom, being able to work while we're on the road and travel. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing. Something I never thought would actually happen. Something. Jeremy and I have been dreaming about four years and it's finally happened. Our kids get to see and experience things and discover things that they would normally not get to Our son, he loves to go on walks our 18-year-old son.

He loves to pop in some music or an audiobook and just go walk for an hour or two outside. He's always done this at home . Well, now that we are traveling, those views change every few weeks and he absolutely loves being able to do that. Really. It's simple. It's very simple.

We're still working. There are days we do absolutely nothing, and then we're going out and exploring small local communities. Sometimes they are larger communities, but for the most part we're just exploring, you know, within an hour radius of what's around us.

And it sounds so simple, but it's so incredibly amazing. It's small towns, big adventures, and we are loving. Every minute of it. So I hope everyone continues to stay with us on this journey. To see where it takes us, because you know what? We don't even know where it's going to take us.

We've had so many people ask us, how long do you plan on doing it for? , What are you wanting to see? Where are you wanting to go? And our answer is always, we don't know because we wanna see and go everywhere. Will it happen? We don't know. How long will we do this? We don't know.

But I can't wait to find out.