I always felt that the ‘Tiny House Movement’ and #RVlife had a lot in common. Holly and Hank (h.2.road on Instagram) live full time in their 1995 Damon Intruder motorhome in Yellow Springs, Ohio. They are full time RVers, but they are stationary, essentially turning their RV into the ultimate tiny house on wheels, which is exactly what the RV was meant to be.
At their Ohio home they are raising their dog, Roscoe, a pair of turkeys and a flock of chickens. They also grow their own food, set up solar so they can full become off-grid, and oh, yes… they still travel when allowed to break from work. Do Holly and Hank have the best of all worlds? I’m beginning to think they do!
I caught up with Holly and Hank on Instagram and they were kind enough to grant Fern the Camper an interview.
FTC: What motivated you to the RV life and how did you go about finding your current RV?
H2R: “We became interested in RV life to simplify our lives, focus on making memories instead of 'things' and also as a means to save money to be able to retire while we're still young enough to enjoy what it is Mother Nature has to offer.
“We looked at a couple school buses before finding our tiny house on wheels, but none of them spoke to us. When a co-worker told us his father was selling an RV, we decided to check it out to see if it would fit our needs which it did! We then spent 4 months renovating it to make it our own.”
FTC: What's the biggest change/s you've made since becoming RVers?
H2R: “That's a tough question. Since we still have a full-time job, we are basically stationary, so not much has changed. We replaced our old inside space with outside space. I have a vegetable garden for the first time and we're raising chickens for eggs. We're trying to focus on a more sustainable way of life, which I think a lot of times goes hand in hand with tiny living. In the next couple years, we're planning on adding solar and a composting toilet to make it easier for us to boondock in the coming years.”
FTC: What's your favorite go-to camping spot?
H2R: “When we travel, we take our '18 Subaru Forester with a pop-up roof tent. We don't 'camp' the way most full time RVers do. We take at least one, 2-3 week road trim every summer and camp at national parks and surrounding areas. When we're home in Ohio, we frequently visit Hocking Hills state park, John Bryan state park, and other Ohio parks on our weekends.”
FTC: The most breath-taking place you've ever been?
H2R: “I think we've been fortunate enough to have seen some pretty incredible places, but I would have to say that Havasupai Falls and the village of Supai in Arizona would take the cake. It's a remote Indian reservation in the Grand Canyon that is only accessible by helicopter, or more commonly via a 12+ mile hike into the canyon and back out, and requires a permit. We backpacked there July '19 and it was a literal oasis in the desert. The mineral rich water creates stunning blue-green water that cascades over rocks in a series of impressive and refreshing waterfalls.”
FTC: How do you earn when you're traveling?
H2R: “We do not make money while we travel. We work full time all year, and travel on weekends, and take a few trips per year. We're actively saving money and making lifestyle changes to enable us to be able to retire in 12 years. We will still not be making money on the road, but plan on selling everything we own and buying a truck bed camper and building it to our needs to travel full time.”
FTC: Is there anything you would have done differently?
H2R: “I can't think of anything that we would have done differently, besides doing it all sooner. We've only been living in our RV for 5 months so far.”
FTC: What advice would you give someone else who is thinking of making the jump?
H2R: “Don't wait. Don't make compromises. Make a goal, and set plans to achieve it. This community is so great, there are so many resources available. There's no reason not to.”
FTC: What's next on your awesome adventure?
H2R: “At the end of July, we're going to hit the road on a national park road trip to Indiana Dunes NP, Theodore Roosevelt NP south, Glacier NP, crater lake NP, Redwoods NP, Yosemite NP, and possibly Sequoia NP. We'll be on the road for 25 days, so if anyone's going to be in those areas during August, hit us up!”
All photos credited to h.2.road
All writing copyrighted to Fern the Camper
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