Another year of full-time RV life is in the books! This year we celebrated our 5 year nomadiversary. Click here to read our lessons learned and biggest regret.
We finally made it to the west coast and then traveled back across the United States to Florida. In all we visited 17 states and driving just over 9,000 miles towing our RV (see blue markers in the map below). This included stays in 14 private, 5 public (state/county), and 5 military campgrounds in addition some dry camping along the way. We also flew to a few places for Sean’s job (yellow markers) and RV shows (purple markers) and spent 77 nights in hotels.
January – Tucson, Arizona
We started the year at the Tucson Lazy Days KOA. We loved this RV Resort with 2 pools, 2 hot tubs, and a bar & restaurant. We also really enjoyed our time in Tucson and went on several terrific hikes. The weather was really nice most of the time. We actually said if it wasn’t so far away from family, we could see ourselves living there.
While there we traveled to several RV shows & rallies to speak. This is a new venture for our business, Chickery’s Travels. We enjoyed it so much, we’ve already booked several more shows & rallies for 2020. You can see our schedule here.
February – Arizona & California
In February, we decided to try out our new solar system with some dry camping. We also wanted to use our new Harvest Hosts Membership. Harvest Hosts is a program that lets you dry camp overnight at wineries, breweries, museums, and more! During the month we stayed at the oldest winery in Arizona, a new craft rum distillery, and the General Patton museum just outside of Joshua Tree National Park in the California desert.
March – Seal Beach, California
Next we headed west to Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station, just south of Long Beach, California. We loved the weather and the beaches to the south. We did not love the traffic in Los Angeles. However, when Justin came to visit we did take him to the tourist locations as well as Universal Studios and Disneyland.
That’s our friends Nick & Julie’s St Bernard, Lucy, at the Huntington Beach Dog Park.
April – Nevada
On our way to Las Vegas, we stopped for a week to speak at an RV Show in Scottsdale, Arizona. While there we bought a new RV. It’s a 30′ Arctic Fox Fifth Wheel and we love it! Click here if you’re interested in why we chose this particular RV.
We took it to the Nellis Air Force Base campground for a month where Sean upgraded the solar set up. While at Nellis, we enjoyed some hiking around the local area including Valley of the Fire State Park and Mt Charleston in the Spring Mountain Recreation Area.
We finished out the month at a gorgeous campground just outside of Reno, Nevada, Gold Ranch RV Resort. It was the perfect base to visit the local area and Lake Tahoe.
May – California & Oregon
We put a lot of miles on the new rig in May. First we stopped to see the Redwoods. There are simply no words for how impressive they are! Our photos can’t even do them justice. We stayed at the Crescent City Redwoods KOA, and would highly recommend it to anyone. They even have cabins if you don’t have an RV, but the best part is they have a nature trail that goes through Redwoods right there in the campground!
Next we drove up to La Grande, Oregon to see where our RV was made. We were able to tour the factory and it really confirmed our decision to purchase an RV made by Northwood Manufacturing.
June & July – Central California
Sean had several business trips in June and July so we stayed in one place. On our way back down to Central California, we made a quick side trip to see Big Sur. Then we drove a little further south and stayed at the campground at Vandenberg Air Force Base for almost 2 months. This base is located on the central coast and has over 30 miles of coastline. We enjoyed its private beaches without worrying about crowds. Julie was fortunate to spend time with a good friend from her military days. In fact, they were stationed together at Vandenberg in the 90’s. Justin payed us a visit here too.
August – Tucson, Arizona
As we started to make our way back east, we decided to stop for another month at the Tucson Lazy Days KOA. Some folks might think we’re crazy that we stopped there in August, but we loved it just as much as in the winter. We bought bikes and took advantage of Tucson’s more than 100 miles of paved trails. We also did some hiking up at the higher elevations on Mount Lemmon.
While in Tucson, we also flew out to Northern Virginia to see Richie & Agata’s new house! They bought a 1,500 square foot townhouse near Dulles airport. They also got very familiar with Home Depot as they started to remodel their home and really make it theirs.
September – San Antonio, Texas
Of course we had to stop by San Antonio to visit Justin & Donovan. We were in the area for about six weeks and stayed at two different campgrounds. The first was our usual, Alsatian RV Resort southwest of the city. We still love Alsatian, but also wanted to see a little of the Texas Hill Country, so we also moved to Buckhorn Lake RV Resort northwest of the city for a couple of weeks. It also really nice and we’d recommend either one. To us, the best part is spending time with our sons.
October – Arkanas & Tennessee
In October, we went to our first Workamper Rendezvous to lead a seminar on Budgeting for RV Travel. We had such a terrific time, we’ve already put it on our calendar to return next year. After that, we went to Tennessee to spend a week with Julie’s parents. Between Arkansas and Tennessee we were fortunate to experience some gorgeous fall colors!
November – Galveston & Disney
November was an exciting month as it marked the third annual Full-Time Freedom Week, the largest online event for RVers that Julie co-hosts with 3 partners. This year, in addition to the online event, they held a live rally in Galveston, Texas at the Jamaica Beach RV Resort.
After all that fun (and hard work), we went to Disney World. If you’ve never stayed at Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, you need to put it on your list now. It is 100% worth the expense, and they also have cabins if you don’t have an RV. This trip was extra special because we spent it with Sean’s podcast partner, Kenny & his wife Sabrina. They’re great friends and serious Disney aficionados. A highlight of the trip was the Wild Africa Trek we took with them at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. We went on a private guided tour that included a rope bridge over hippos & alligators, as well as a private safari ride and dinner overlooking the savanna.
December – Key West
We finished out the year in Key West staying at the Navy Sigsbee Campground. Our campsite was steps from the water, and we had amazing weather most of the time. The entire month was fun-filled, but the highlight for sure was taking a seaplane out to Dry Tortugas National Park. Click here to see more from that amazing day.
We’ll be updating our annual expenses shortly so we can share how much we spent over the full year of RV travel.
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