Top Tips for RVing at Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

Tyler is the Chief Operations Officer with Tough Top Awnings and took over the day to day operations when Ray, his father-in-law, retired in 2013. Before that, Tyler worked as an installer and helped with the production and expansion of Tough Top Awnings. With over 1000 installations and over 10 years’ experience from main patio awnings and slide out toppers, there is nothing Tyler hasn’t seen or worked on.

He plans to continue company growth and keep the name Tough Top Awnings a privately owned company working for the RVer’s to ensure that quality products are made and backed up with outstanding customer service. In addition, he enjoys exploring the world through travel and continued education as a private pilot.

Matt, originally from England, and Diana, originally from Latvia, met in San Francisco in 2014. Their first trip together was backpacking in Yosemite where they fell in love with each other and the National Parks. After two years of planning, they quit their Silicon Valley tech jobs in July of 2018 and moved into an RV to hit the road full time. They are on a quest to visit all 419 National Park Units which includes National Parks, National Monuments, National Historic Parks and many more. Whether it’s hiking, cycling or kayaking, they are always looking for ways to explore more. There is such amazing natural beauty all around us, and it has never been more accessible.

As well as being avid outdoors enthusiasts, they’re also very technical. With both having engineering backgrounds, and Matt’s degree in Physics, they’ve made major upgrades to their RV since hitting the road. They have written detailed guides to the electrical upgrades and other mods to their 25ft Outdoors RV travel trailer on their blog AdventurousWay.com as well as sharing their journey on the Adventurous Way YouTube channel.

Sue is a retired Air Force officer with 20 years of service.  During her career, she earned a Masters degree in Education. She taught everything from space & missile operations to Russian language at the Air Force Academy, to electronic warfare in Iraq.

Sue is a full-time RVer of 12 years. She has lived in a 35’ fifth-wheel, a 30’ Class A motorhome, and now a Class B camper van.  Her current set-up allows her to spend 100% of her time living off-grid, searching out the most amazing remote campsites.

Serving as an Escapees RV BootCamp instructor and as a moderator for several online forums, she shares her expertise in boondocking, personal safety for solo travelers, packing & organization,
power & water conservation for off-grid living, and alternative cooking methods

As with his other TV series, The Aviators, Anthony is the driving force behind The RVers also serving as the show’s Executive Producer and Director. A long-time wannabe, he and his wife Lisa and their 2 rescue dogs entered the RV world in 2015 in a big way – by selling their house and starting the RV life as newbie full-timers!

Since 2011, Peter Knize & John Sullivan have co-hosted The RVgeeks, one of YouTube’s most popular channels about RVing. Now Peter & John have made the big leap to broadcast television as they co-host the new TV series The RVers on The Discovery Channel, PBS, iTunes, and many other outlets. They also serve as Co-Executive Producers on the show. Full-time travelers since April 2003, they specialize in DIY and How-To videos, helping fellow RVers learn to manage, maintain, repair and upgrade the systems on their own RVs. Follow Peter & John at TheRVgeeks.com, YouTube.com/RVgeeks, TheRVers.tv and Instagram.com/RVgeeks.

Kelly and Marshall are both full-time Rving boondockers. They have a combined 9 years of experience living successfully off-the-grid. They met in 2016 and created Camp Addict shortly afterward. The site was born out of frustration when trying to find answers about the RVing products they used or needed.

Before Camp Addict, there was no one particular ‘go-to’ site that had all the answers in one spot. They quickly realized that they should combine Marshall’s excellent RVing research/technical background (the brains) and Kelly’s writing and style skills to create the site themselves. CampAddict.com was born and launched in 2017. Kelly and Marshall also love to teach others to learn how they live the lifestyle- how to boondock, how to do it fearlessly (especially as a solo female, per Kelly) and how to do it safely.

In 1997, Mark Nemeth quit his job, sold his house, bought an RV and joined Escapees. He has contributed to Escapees magazine and served as a technical advisor for 19 years. He still maintains an RVer’s resource website with technical articles, tips and information at www.marxrv.com.

Charlie and I began our RV’ing life by traveling with our kids during our summer vacations.  As school teachers, we had 8 weeks to cram in all the fun we could out west and race back to New York and the grind of our fulltime jobs.  We promised ourselves that one day we would do this full time.  After our second retirement, we sold the house and belongings and set out for our fulltime adventure.  Parttime RV’ing and full time are two different things and within our first week, we stumbled into Dome Rock in Quartzite for what would be the first of many fun and informative experiences with the most caring and inclusive group of people.  We learned so much from our Xscaper family and are happy to pass along any help we can to those just starting or someone looking for a new boon-docking spot. This January 2020 marks 3 years “On the Road” as fulltimers and we can’t imagine stopping anytime soon.

Camille’s grandparents taught her to “go to school, get a job, and buy a house” which is exactly what she did until she walked away from a twenty-plus year career in corporate America.

Since 2016, she and her husband, Bryce, have been traveling around the country while working from their RV. They’ve traveled over 30,000 miles, and visited 33 states—all while learning how to find remote jobs, create income streams, and re-invent themselves professionally.

Camille combines her long experience in corporate training with her Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology to offer Remote Work School, a successful online program where she teaches people how to work remotely so they can live life on their terms. You can find Camille and Bryce on their site MoreThanAWheelin.com, offering RV life, travel, and remote work resources.

Kevin has been full-time RVing since May 2016 with his wife Emma and two daughters (ages 6 and 2). Shortly after launching, their second daughter was born quite literally on the road! Since going full time this family of 4 has visited most of the lower 48 states and some of Mexico, and traveled internationally extensively before having kids. Kevin is a “retired” electrical engineering consultant, homeschooling dad, Convergence groupie, and fan of all things outdoors. Emma and Kevin maintain a small blog about their adventures for family and friends ‘back home in Maine’ at: wickedwanderers.net

Tim is a certified public accountant (CPA) and full-time RVer since 2014. Tim has worked with small businesses for more than 30 years as a CFO/COO handling accounting, taxes and business development. He has launched several small businesses of his own and currently owns/operates Quest CPA LLC. His depth of experience in self-employment, tax preparation, and operating small businesses, combined with his intimate familiarity with the needs of RVers, makes Tim a great resource for helping fellow RVers navigate the potential difficulties of working while traveling. Find Tim at quest-cpa.com.

Aaron and Christine began downsizing in 2014 not knowing where their journey would take them.  They sold their oversized house, started purging their possessions, and embraced tiny apartment living in Uptown Minneapolis.  They found themselves enjoying experiences over material items and corporate success (and the stress that comes with that).  After eliminating all debt and maxing out savings for the final few years, they planned a date to embark their new life on the road in January of 2019.  Together they started their new online fitness and nutrition coaching business, Irene Iron Fitness, which embraces flexible coaching programs to help others who are looking to make a dedication to self-improvement.  This new and exciting lifestyle brings together their passions for travel and fitness while exploring the country in their Airstream Sprinter van.

Jason and Lisa Reich have been traveling full time in their Class A RV for four years, covering much of the US and Canada so far.  They both grew up in Vancouver Canada, and lived in San Diego for 16 years before hitting the road. Jason is a software developer working on the road, and Lisa is a retired travel agent.  Both enjoy national parks, hiking, visiting small towns, and searching for great beer and ice cream.

Full-time RV travelers for six years and attendees of the first Xscapers convergence, Eric and Brittany Highland are fleeing their comfort zone. They’ve dug into a style of travel called overlanding, which is self-reliant adventuring off the grid–often in a 4×4 vehicle. With their two-year-old, known online as #LittleNomad, the Highlands lived out of their Jeep Wrangler for three months and overlanded 2,000 miles through the interior of Mexico. Follow the dual sides of their travel life on rvwanderlust.com and jeepsies.com.

Cortni moved into her first fifth wheel in April of 2014 when she was desperate for a housing alternative. She had no intentions of living tiny or traveling. Since then, Cortni has fallen in love with the lifestyle and has built a business building custom RV interiors. She will be talking about a full range of remodeling from how to do minor updates to the full-blown custom interiors. She will also be giving a special tour of her personal custom toy hauler. Find her on Instagram as @TheFlippingNomad and online at TheFlippingNomad.com