Duncan & Jessica
How did we get here?
Years ago, we lived life the way we thought we were supposed to live. We had the house, the car, the big screen TV… everything that society told us to acquire to make us happy. We both went to college (where we first met) and then got regular 9 to 5 jobs at an advertising agency to pay for this lifestyle.
Our alarm would go off, we’d drag ourselves out of bed, fight traffic, work, fight traffic (again), eat something, reset the alarm and go to bed. Rinse, repeat.
Soon we opened our eyes and realized if we didn’t do something radical, we’d be on our death beds wondering where our lives went.
Sound familiar?
At that moment, we decided to break away and leave it all behind. We’ve sold it all! The house, the car, the TV and we bought a thirty five foot fifth wheel and a huge dually to haul it down the road. We knew we needed some kind of income because apparently, it doesn’t grow on trees. Workcamping was the answer so we drove to our first workcamping gig in Hill City, South Dakota.
Our hearts were full!
We were on our way to our new lifestyle! We were going to hit the road and make everyday different. Have new experiences, meet new people, and start a new life! We no longer needed the TV to entertain us!
The first rig - 89 Ford F350 Dually lovingly dubbed "Elizabeth" and a 89 Carriage Brougham
But soon after arriving in South Dakota, our truck’s transmission died. We planned for something like this, just not this soon! We wouldn’t let this stop us though – we had to keep going! So we sold the fifth wheel and used the money to buy a new rig. We went from one of the largest rigs in the campground to one of the smallest. A popup trailer! We were both outdoorsy people and knew we could deal. The hardest part was figuring out where to put all our crap. We ended up donating 90% of it and keeping just the essentials. After our South Dakota workamping gig was up, we planned a long trip around the US, eventually putting us back in our home state of Florida for the winter so we could visit friends and family.
We headed West to Devils Tower, then to Yellowstone, then to Salt Lake City. But our new rig stumbled as well. First the 4×4 transfer case went kaput. $1100 later, we were back on the road. We knew we couldn’t afford our grand tour of the U.S. so we made a B-line to Florida. We needed another workcamping job to replenish our savings account as soon as possible! A couple days later the transmission refused to go into 2nd gear and overdrive. We were left limping home on 1st and 3rd gear at an astounding 55mph. Soon after that, we had a tire blow out on the popup, but luckily we had a spare.
We finally made it to Florida and found another workcamper job, but we weren’t making enough money to feed ourselves so we had to give that up too. (We worked at an outside bar and it was uncharacteristically cold in Florida that year.) We quit and moved into Duncan’s parents extra bedroom, we sold the popup and inserted ourselves back into the Matrix.
Our hearts were broken.
So we did tried to regroup. We got nine to five jobs again and hunkered down. We moved into a rental house and tried to keep our spirits up about the whole thing. How many people have seen the things we’ve seen? We were going to get back on the road no matter what it took. After a year, our lease was up and we had to make a decision.
Should I stay or should I go?
We got a loan (bleh) and bought our newest rig, a ’97 Fleetwood Bounder Motorhome. We’re still working at our regular jobs and saving our pennies so we can hit the road again full time. We need enough cash to be able to take the financial hits and not have to limp home (again).
So that’s where we are in the Summer of 2011. Thanks for stopping by and feel free to ask us anything or tell us about your own story!
CURRENT LOCATION:
As of June 2011, we are on the East Coast of Florida. If you’re passing through drop us a line! We love to sit by a campfire and laugh about life and the curve balls we’ve been thrown!
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