Full Time Travel with Boundless Bakers

My name is Jessica, and I am 1/4th (or 1/8th if you count the cats) of the Boundless Bakers. I travel fulltime with my husband Ross, son Finnegan (4 years old), daughter Hazel (2), and yes, four cats. We have been living and traveling in our Crossroads Cruiser 5th wheel since November 2018. We launched from Heber City, UT where we worked and occasionally got the chance to live. We had a beautiful 2400 square foot home that Ross and I worked 90+ hours a week to live in. We had a fulltime nanny that spent more time with the kids then we did. Life was exactly as it was supposed to be. Right?

Well, we finally got fed up enough with missing out on what truly matters in life and decided to change everything and hit the road! Living this fulltime RV lifestyle meant we’d be able to go from a two income family to one, get rid of the “things” that really weren’t bringing us joy, spend WAY more quality time together as a family, and see this beautiful country of ours!

Even though Ross and I had been toying with the idea of fulltime travel for about a year, we didn’t pull any of the necessary triggers until August 2018, only three months before our intended departure date! First, we traded in my mom-mobile (aka Penny the Honda Pilot) for a 3500 Dodge Ram. This is when I knew things were really going to happen! We purchased our rig a few weeks later after only looking at a handful of options. I knew I wanted to renovate so we went with an older model, 2010 to be exact. What drew us to our tiny home on wheels was the mid-bunkhouse and how spacious 5th wheels feel with the higher ceiling.

August through mid-November was spent renovating the RV and downsizing our belongings. We donated 99% of our things, sold a few more, and kept some items at our stick and bricks home for our renters. As for the renovation, our biggest projects were painting the entire interior white and redoing the floors. With Ross and I still both working fulltime, we knew our reno time was limited and wanted just to get the necessities taken care of. My biggest piece of advice for anyone renovating an RV is to take your time! Spending a little extra time properly sanding the walls or applying an extra layer of primer will make all the difference in the end.

Because we had literally NO RV experience, we turned to the internet a lot through our transition and into the early days of fulltiming. Heck, I just watched a YouTube video yesterday on how to fix our broken antenna crank! A lot of our RV advice comes from YouTube. Some of our favorites include Keep Your Day Dream and Two Tired Teachers. Now that we are old RVing pros ;) we mostly look for advice on traveling, route planning, etc. We use Facebook groups such as Fulltime Families and Thousand Trails (Outdoor World) & Encore -- The Good AND The Bad, and apps such as Campendium.

We are so happy to be living this lifestyle. We are honestly healthier and happier than we’ve ever been before. The amount of time we are able to spend together is priceless, and the experiences we are having are life-changing. I was worried about how this lifestyle would affect two toddlers, but I am happy to report they are thriving! They are more outgoing, adventurous, loving, and affectionate than they’ve ever been before. I have been so impressed by how well they’ve adapted to this change.

So in closing, if you are considering changing your life and traveling full time, we hope we can inspire you, let you learn from our mistakes, and maybe even meet up with you someday on the open road. In the meantime, I dare you to live the life you’ve always wanted.

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WEBSITE : https://www.boundlessbakers.com

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/boundlessbakers/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/boundlessbakers/

RV and Travel with @homewiththehoopers

Happy Friday, i’m so excited to share Janelle from @homewiththehoopers. They’re enjoying full time travel and family time.

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“Hey babe, what do you think if I traded in my motorcycle for a camper?” asked Andrew as he returned from a trip to Sturgis with his father.  I blankly stared at him holding our newborn son while my toddler used my legs as a jungle gym.  I simply replied, “Okay.” Within two weeks, we were the proud owners of a fifth wheel toy hauler.  We were so excited about the camping adventures and memories we would make with our kids.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would ever be living in our “adventure house” full-time.  Had anybody told me that is what was going to happen I most likely would have never been so carefree in my response to Andrew’s question that hot August afternoon 4 years ago.  

Two years ago, on March 10 this wild and crazy adventure we are on began.  A phase is what we called it at that time; to last no longer than six months – one year.  We had a plan.  We were using our camper as a means to escape life in suburbia and transition to a life in the country.  We weren’t happy with the mortgage we had, the car payments, the never-ending pile of stuff.  It was all so suffocating.  We dreamed of a simpler life, one that only the country could provide (so we thought).  Financially we were stuck.  We could not buy a piece of land as long as we had our mortgage.      

We are the Hoopers’.  My name is Janelle.  Together with my husband, Andrew, and our 2 little boys Corbin (5) and Wyatt (3) we sold our “picture perfect” suburbia home and comfortable life.   We took everything we knew and felt comfortable with and left it behind.  Downsizing from 3000 square feet to a little over 300 square feet, we moved into our tiny home on wheels in the pursuit of land (happiness).  What we did not realize is how happiness would find us in those tiny walls.  The debt disappeared.  The stresses of life lifted.  We never had to “pack” for vacations.  We never looked for land.  I will be the first to admit tiny living is not easy at first – it is a transition.  Transitions can be painful.  For me, I was a bit paralyzed if you will.  Within six weeks we had sold our house, sold a ton of our stuff, I tore down my baby’s nursery I had just completed – I was emotionally paralyzed which on the outside looked like survival mode.  I was doing the bare minimum (ie: I am pretty sure we were eating cereal and PB&J for almost every meal).  It literally hit me about one month into tiny living when Andrew so kindly reminded me that this was our home and it actually had to be cleaned like a house.  I kid you not.  I was in such survival mode and still coming to terms with the fact that I was now the dishwasher instead of my actual dishwasher HAHA!   It literally never even occurred to me that our bathroom needed a cleaning or maybe I could dust.  It was an awakening moment for me.  I snapped out of whatever funk I was in and got down to tiny living business.  I started organizing and downsizing more.  I bought cleaning supplies and started talking about our new lifestyle with joy and hope.  

I tell you this story because tiny living is not for everybody.  With all the tiny home shows on TV and Marie Kondo-ing going on these days it is very easy for one to feel as if their life is not good enough or they are selfish because they enjoy space and a large shoe closet.  I hear you!  I miss my bathtub and my walk-in pantry.  I want to inspire you that you need to do you.  YOU do what brings YOU joy.  Think outside of the box, leave your comfort zone.  Wanting to start your own bakery – do it.  Want to write a book – grab a pen.  Want to get a different degree - start applying to schools.  The only thing that is binding you to your current life is you.  You hold the power of change, don’t be scared to use it.  Do not be scared to pursue that “stupid” idea you have been keeping to yourself for years – it may just end up being the greatest chapter of your life.

Once we finally acknowledged that we were in fact tiny dwellers and this wasn’t as temporary as we thought we began to really embrace the lifestyle and all it has to offer.  We became park hosts at a local state park and for 1.5 years our children grew up in a magical forest hiking and exploring every day.  Their back yard was over 600 acres.  It was a beautiful blessing for our family.

Last year when Andrew was between jobs we took off and explored the west coast for 3 months.  That was the trip that really made us step back and realize the wonders this lifestyle had to offer.  We had been sitting on a gold mine of potential without even realizing it.  We began to plan how we could in fact turn traveling full-time into a reality.  A part of our souls came alive on that trip and we could not ignore it.  When we got home, Andrew began searching for jobs where he could work remotely.  He is in accounting and finance and was able to secure a job working from home and eventually the road!  I quit my job as an RN right before Thanksgiving and we hit the road for full-time travel January 1, 2019.  

We are starting our fifth week of travel and I have never once doubted if this is what we are supposed to be doing.  We have swam with manatees, kayaked, held baby alligators, and played in the ocean from sunrise until sunset.  My kids have made friends from all over and talk about those friends often as well as their friends back “home.”  They are thriving.  We have asked them to let go of every sense of normalcy they had and move every week.  We told them they wouldn’t be going to school anymore, but that mommy would be their teacher.  They are thriving.  We downsized their toys (again) and weeded thru clothes (again).  They are thriving.  Our oldest has come out of his shell and places his own order when we go out to eat, he goes up to new friends and starts the conversation, as much as he fights me on homeschool somedays (we are still learning a routine) he is learning SO much.  Corbin is thriving.  Our youngest little fellow walked into the ocean by himself and put his whole head under water, he is learning so much from big brother’s homeschool, his already bubbly and social personality has exploded.  Wyatt is thriving.  As for Andrew and I, we continue to grow together and learn more about each other daily.  We can pretty much read each other’s minds when the other just needs a minute to be alone.  We are perfectly imperfect.  We are learning as we go and because of that we too are thriving.

I am really leaning into the minimalist lifestyle.  Almost two years in and I am still downsizing!  Minimalism does not come easy for me, but its something I am striving for, not only for less clutter in our tiny space but for less clutter in my life.  I have come a long way and as things I love need replacing, I am replacing with high quality items.   If I have learned anything in this journey quality vs. quantity is key.  If you are considering downsizing, I would take all the stuff you plan on bringing with you and take 1/3 of it.  It is truly and simply amazing how little you NEED and the more you bring in initially the harder it is to let it go.

So many people have inquired on how the boys do traveling (or are shocked with the amount of stuff we do with them).  Our goal has always been to be inclusive with them.  We want them to see and experience as much as they safely can at their age.  Wyatt does not remember life without hiking and at the age of 3 he could easily hang with us on family hikes with fairly minimal holding.  Our big secret, we are not above bribery.  An ice cream treat is like the golden standard in our house and man is it a motivator.  With that said, we are in a spell as I am writing this and there has been no ice cream treats all week.  HAHA.  When we are in places where we are outside 99% of the time the nighttime meltdowns tend to drastically increase due to pure exhaustion.  On the same hand they have been outside playing in the dirt, fishing, climbing trees all day and just being kids so I am willing to deal with the tradeoff of meltdowns.  On car travel days they generally do pretty darn great.  The longest travel day we have ever done was 17 hours.  That was once.  Our typical long days are around 5 hours but most days average 2-3 hours.  We are currently moving 1-2 times per week.  On travel days I always pack lunches and snacks to have in the car with us.  We do not have DVD players or ipads for them to use and that is our own personal choice.  We have tried it and just do not like the vibe it brings into the car – again we are not above bribery and if we have a super long day ahead of us sometimes, we will download a movie for them.  At the end of the day they are 5 and 3.  Some travel days are better than others, but we power thru and roll with it.  Children are incredibly adaptive and the benefits they are receiving from traveling are far too numerous to count.  I do not think that children should be an excuse not to travel – they teach you so much in the process and to see the world from their eyes the first time they are experiencing new things is one of the greatest gifts. 

Our journey is just beginning!  We are currently in the Florida Keys and heading to Alaska for the summer!  We do not know how long we will travel.  Right now, we have no end in sight.  We do desire to plant roots somewhere, someday.  Maybe.  For now, our wheels are rolling, and we are exploring!  You can keep up with us here:

Website: www.homewiththehoopers.com

Instagram: @homewiththehoopers

YouTube Channel: HERE

Facebook page: HERE

Cheers,

Janelle