How it started, how it’s going. A life time of journeys, adventures, and work.
Before the RV, there was the pop-up camper…
I grew up camping. Not the glamping kind – the actual kind, with canvas, campfire smoke in your hair, and a sleeping bag that was never quite warm enough. My family had a pop-up camper and a Thousand Trails membership since the early 80s. My dad eventually did a full school bus conversion. I was a Boy Scout until I was 18.
Camping wasn’t a hobby for us. It was just how we lived on weekends.
Tents were nice, but when I was 18, I bought a pop up camper – what a change that over a tent was! I was living the life, using the campground on my free weekends.
The 1992 Fleetwood Bounder. She was a character.
When I decided to go full-time (well, I kind of decided), I needed a rig fast. My job had just asked me to relocate to Amsterdam for a cloud computing contract – I’d already stored my stuff and terminated my lease – and then the project was put on hold two days before my flight. I had nowhere to live and nothing to lose.
Within days I found a used 1992 Fleetwood Bounder 32ft. It wasn’t pretty. But it was mine, it moved, and it had enough room for me and my monitors. Did I tell work? Nope 🙂 just decided I’d give it a try and replace my weekends at the campground with a weekday until the job changed.
2016 Thor Outlaw 38RE. A whole different animal.
After a year in the Bounder, and post work “finding out” (that’s a funny story for later), I upgraded to my current home: a 2016 Thor Outlaw 38RE. 40 feet, triple slides, full kitchen, not one but two bathrooms, a fireplace and enough power hookups to run a small IT department. Which, effectively, I do.
For a hot minute in 2018 I had both rigs at the same time. This is still one of my favorite things I own. See the post “Tour My Crib Rig” (coming soon!)
2020–2022: The years the road went dark. Camping World: Zero Stars, would not recommend
In December 2020, my main slide got stuck out at a campground in North Carolina. What started as a repair job turned into an 18-month nightmare that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.
I dropped my rig off at what was then Tom Johnson Camping World in Marion, NC. What followed was a masterclass in bad faith: missed commitments, parts that “hadn’t arrived” (but had been sitting in their parts department for weeks), damage from months of sitting exposed to the elements, and a service manager who literally told me to ignore a falling slide floor.
I tried the legal route. My attorney passed my typed notes to them with a cover letter and called it a case. I finally fired him, posted the video evidence publicly, and eventually got a call from Marcus Lemonis — Camping World’s CEO — who offered to make it right.
They sort of did. And I learned some things I’ll never forget.
50 states. Done. Take that.
By 2023, the rig was back on the road and I had unfinished business. I’d been to most of the lower 48 over the years but a few states had been nagging me. I mapped out a final push and documented every single day using the PolarSteps app.
I called it “The Grand Finale” – half joking, because people kept asking if I was done after everything with Camping World. The answer was no. The answer is always no.
I finished the last states in 2023. All 50. Two countries in the RV (Canada and USA with Mexico coming in 2027 makes three). And I made a hardcover book out of the whole thing because if you’re going to do it, do it right.
They wrote about it. Yeah, I’m kind of famous 🙂
In 2019, Escapees Magazine featured my story in their national publication. “Finding Balance in the High Tech Wild West.” Still one of my favorite moments.
“Going into full-time RVing, I set many expectations, just to walk away from all of them overseas. Since then, it’s evolved so much.” — Tyler Williams, Escapees Magazine 2019
Want to read the full article? Here’s a link to the magazine. Note – all copyrights are reserved Escapees Organization, and no reproduction should be produced without their approval. I’m just linking to the original article here for your viewing pleasure :).
The travel doesn’t stop.
I’m currently back on the road after repairs, work travel out of the country, and cruises (lots of cruises!)
2026 plans include the theme of Miles, Memories & Milestones. For the first time (other than family travels), I’ve had a friend join me on the adventure! My best friend and I headed out for a surprise party – over 1,000 miles in 4 days to go surprise her mom and family in the midwest. I’ll be heading through the Chicago and Michigan areas, north again into Canada – Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, back through Maine, New York, Massachusetts, and back towards North Carolina in time for the Nascar Race! The end of the year will most likely be heading back to the desert in the southwest.
This bucket list is very much alive.
I post about my travels here, a few days or weeks after the fact (a lesson learned the hard way).
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