About Us
let's get acquainted
We're The Hamblins, Bill and Frances, and are full-time RVers. In 2022, we sold our home, Bill "retired" from his career, and we left the only state we had ever lived in. It's just us and our two dogs, Sutton and Rhett, traveling the U.S. with no end date in sight.
How did we get to where we are today living life on the road? Read on to find out more.
We are high-school sweethearts and have been married for over 20 years. We both grew up in Tampa, Florida and have always been outdoor enthusiasts. From rock climbing to open water swims, we've always found ways to enjoy nature. We're also foodies at heart. We love to cook, but mainly because we just like to eat good food.
So after a backyard chicken project in the city turned into a full blown dream of owning land, we moved to Parrish, FL where we started a small farm and raised beef, chicken, and eggs for our community for nearly 6 years. All while maintaining our full-time jobs. Throughout the process, we met a lot of really awesome people and learned so much about ourselves. To put it simply, our confidence grew and we learned that it was possible (and fun) to follow and live out your dreams.
Like many others experienced in 2020, our family was hit with tragic loss. Both of Bill's parents passed and life suddenly seemed so incredibly short. Rosemary and Bill always taught us to treat life as an adventure even when things were going wrong. Especially when things were going wrong. The farm naturally started to wind down while a new dream slowly grew.
We talked of ways to honor Rosemary and Bill and landed on an epic trip to Alaska. A place they both had visited by cruise ship, but something we wanted to do our own way. We talked of configuring our truck for overlanding and tried to figure out how we could each get 3 months off work to make it feasible. It was easy in the beginning to dismiss these dreams as too far fetched, but each time we thought about them there was a voice asking us 'why not?'.
So we put a plan in place that would put us on the road full-time in 2022. By mid-2021, I had taken on a new position where I could work fully remote. We circled around and around on how best to travel with dogs and still ensure I had a reliable working environment. We landed on a travel trailer, put down a deposit, and killed time watching other full-timer's YouTube videos while we waited for ours to arrive. We were fortunate to take delivery on ours within just a few months. We named her 'Rosie' in memory of Bill's mom. In February 2022, Bill "retired" from his career so he could be our full time driver, route-planner, chef, and mechanic. By early-April we sold our house and belongings and hit the road.
And so here we are! Starting off on a new adventure that we know will be both incredibly fun and downright challenging at times. But we've learned that following our dreams always brings us the rewards of seeing new places and meeting new people. We're back in Florida for the holidays but will be hitting the road again in March. The plan for 2024 will take us through the Midwest with stops in Ohio for a rally along the path of the solar eclipse and further on to Missouri in October for the Airstream Club International (ACI) Rally.
See you down the road,
Frances and Bill Hamblin
