Our Story 1

Now that you are a part of our RV Lifestyle tribe, I thought it would be good to introduce myself a bit, tell you how this all came together, and hopefully inspire you to fully embrace the adventures awaiting you.

Here's my backstory:

After 40 years in journalism, I was empty. I had traveled all over the world. Won 18 Emmy statues. Covered wars. Interviewed presidents. Met the Pope. Even the Queen. But I never truly experienced the places I visited. Always rushing. Always on deadline. Always missing the real stories.

Never spending enough time with the people I most cared about.

Something vital was missing. I was not happy and journalism, the career I so loved, had changed. Instead of reporting the news, it more often than not made it up.

So I walked away from my TV contract, took some time to stop being a cynic and ask myself what I wanted to do. The first thing was to reconnect with my wife, Jennifer. So we bought a campervan RV.

That one decision changed everything.

What began as our personal escape became the foundation of a movement. As we discovered hidden waterfalls at dawn and slept under desert stars, we realized the joy wasn't just in finding these treasures—it was in sharing them. Every campfire conversation, every chance meeting with fellow travelers showed us the power of connection.

Now, with 300,000 miles behind us in several different RVs, our greatest achievement isn't the distance we've covered but the community we've built. Our blog, videos, and guides have become gathering places for seekers like you—people who understand that true adventure comes from helping others find their way.

Here's How The RV Lifestyle Started

This RV Lifestyle blog is a dream come true for us. Decades in the making, but now being lived out like one giant movie, seen through the wide expanse of our windshield as North America rolls on by. We can stop anytime, explore anywhere.

And we do, sharing it with you on this blog, the RV Podcast, our RV Lifestyle YouTube Channel, a weekly RV Lifestyle Newsletter, and through very active social media groups. And we also have written a series of 24 books and travel guides about the RV Lifestyle.

Our Story 2

It's all very much serendipity. Serendipity means a “happy accident” or “pleasant surprise,” something fun and useful and enjoyable that was discovered by happenstance along the way. That's a perfect description of what we find every day in this new wandering life in an RV.

It started when my wife Jennifer and I bought a used Roadtrek Class B campervan-type motor home in early 2012 after years of dreaming. When we did, I started writing a blog about seeing North America, enjoying our RV, and the interesting stories about the people and places we came across.

See, as a journalist, I had traveled everywhere. Across the U.S. and Canada, even overseas, chasing wars and rumors of wars. I've covered presidents, the Pope, even the Queen. I've attended the big political conventions of both parties and worked for big city newspapers, television stations, even NBC News.

At one time, I traveled so much that my newspaper at the time took out an advertisement in a trade publication promoting me as “one of America's Most-Traveled Reporters.”

Our Story 3

But that kind of travel is what we call “parachute journalism.” We drop into an area, focused on just one story, and then head out to the next. Sometimes after just a few hours.

When I left daily journalism, I wanted to go back to many of those places to see what I missed. So I bought an RV and, with Jennifer and our Norwegian Elkhounds, we've been traveling and sharing our adventures ever since. Our first dog was Tai. When he died, we got Bo, who has been traveling in RVs since he was a puppy.

Photo of Mike and Jennifer Wendland, hosts of the RV Podcast

We live the RV Lifestyle 24 x7, but travel 3/4 of the time

So, about half to 3/4 of the year, we travel North America, discovering the interesting people and places I didn't have time to meet when I was a news reporter working for newspapers or TV stations. Technology, like the RVs we have owned, is a big part of my life, and being able to try out new tech toys and stay connected while on the road makes every day an adventure.

Right now, we have a 2024 Montana High Country 311RD Fifth Wheel from Keystone RV that we tow with a 2024 Ford F-350 Lariat one ton pickup

We began this blog in March 2012. Since then, we have traveled over 300,000 miles. Typically, we mark out a route, identify a few spots we want to be sure to visit, and then take off, stopping when we want or find something that interests us. An old editor of mine once told me that “every person has a story to tell.”

Our Story 4

My journalism career has shown me that to be very true. It's the same with most places. Places have stories, too. So we like to wander, chat up the people we meet, and start taking photos and videos. Usually, we return with more stories than we can do.

We travel year-round, even to cold, snowy places in the winter. We have driven RVs to Michigan's Upper Peninsula and the North Lake Superior shore of Minnesota in the month of January, where we found a winter wonderland that most people never see.

Our Story 5

I remember one night when there were 28 inches of snow on the level ground and deep in the wilderness, it got down to -21 degrees F. It was an awesome experience. We slept snug and warm inside our RV and realized winter is no excuse to put the RV in storage.

The RV Lifestyle has grown so fast!

Truth is, though, that if I'm not careful, RVLifestyle.com could become all-consuming. The blog has been growing so fast that we also started a weekly RV newsletter. Our Facebook Page has 525,000 “Likes.” Some 475,000 people are members of our Facebook RV Lifestyle Group. We're also active on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn and we just launched a new RV Lifestyle Community with more than 15,000 members.

And then there are our RV travel guide books – 24 of them! We've written travel guides to various parts of North America, how-to books on various aspects of camping, and instructional books on how to save money while enjoying the RV Lifestyle. Check them out at https://rvlifestyle-ider.wp1.sh/books

We're on our 14th year now of traveling and I can honestly say we enjoy it every bit as much as we did when we began. Maybe more.

We have no plans to quit anytime soon and look forward to each trip like newbies.

So that's our story. It's still unfolding.

We hope to meet you on the road someday!

Our Story 6