March 2026 Canlife Correspondance: Stunning Seashores, Solar Coaching Services, Spring RV Trips, & Savory Breakfasts
The End of the Tour...For Now.
The television monitor flashed between fires, floods, a talking head, missiles fired from naval warships, and explosions. What was going on? Oh, it’s just the nightly local news show, “Good Night L.A.” hovering above our head as we waited to board our red-eye flight back to North Carolina. It took a bit of self-control to look away. We shuffled onto the plane, hoping to get some sleep, and wondered if there might be a better way to tuck the denizens of greater Los Angeles into bed without visions of disaster dancing in their heads.
After a steady diet of news, it's no wonder why we don't all throw up our hands and say, "F@%K IT! Let's just go camping!" Because fear sells, or so the nightly news assumes, and it’s in no short supply. To paraphrase New Yorker cartoonist, David Sipress, our desire to stay informed is often in direct conflict with our desire to stay sane. So, when an audience member asks a question like, “don’t you ever get lonely on the road?” or "do you carry a gun?" they’re really expressing their own fears about a new lifestyle. We all have fears and we want reassurance about them, maybe just to learn, or hope that they’re not as big as we make them out. But how will we really know unless we really find out?
When we first went nomadic in 2012, what worried me the most was traveling without campsite reservations and failing to find a safe parking option for the night. Shari was more worried about how we were going to fit everything we wanted to do into the short two years we had planned -- believe it or not, it flies by!
"May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears."
~ Nelson Mandela
Within a few months, I’d learned to relax about finding our nightly parking space, and Shari realized that we didn’t have to put an end date on our travels. Less than six months in, I looked over and asked, “Do you think you ever want to go back?” She replied, "I don’t think I can.” We soon settled into our new normal and while it hasn’t always been sunsets and holding hands, it has been more (and perhaps longer) than we ever imagined during those early days.
We embraced the traveling RV lifestyle, because it welcomed us almost everywhere we went. And it's become our mission to share that connection with others, so that they (you) can also find it. Faith in our communities, both the ones we left behind in our hometown, and the ones we've discovered along the way have settled whatever fears lingered.
So, it’s with a bit of mixed emotion that we wrapped up our winter RV Show season last weekend in Pomona, CA. During 7 RV shows in 5 states in 9 weeks, we’ve met so many people, made many new friends, and explored a bit more of our country. We facilitated a total of 57 seminars -- answered questions and calmed concerns about traveling to Alaska, taught folks how to size a solar powered system and find boondocking locations, offered advice for working and volunteering from the road, inspired travelers to deeply explore their national parks, and shared key insights about how to save money while traveling.
We still made time to go camping for a couple of those weeks -- celebrating both of our birthdays along stunning national seashores! Hutch chose Cumberland Island, Georgia with dripping moss-covered live oaks and fascinating history to celebrate his 55th while Shari longed for the serene beaches, warmer weather, and long-range dune views of Ocracoke Island on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore in the NC Outer Banks to ring in #57!
While camping certainly may not solve the problems paraded out on the nightly news, perhaps getting in touch with nature, making new friends who enjoy the outdoors, seeing a few of your bucket-list destinations and traveling with a vehicle that supports that mission -- be it a tent, van, or RV -- might just help you be better prepared to do whatever you can to help, and to hope, for a better future.
To all of you who’ve just joined us, and to those who have been here since the very beginning, it’s a privilege to have you along for the ride, and we hope that you’ll stick around for more. Oh, and take a note from the late, great John Prine, and "blow up your TV"...you might just sleep a little better.
Thank you for joining us in Grand Rapids, Charlotte, Raleigh, Dalton, Mobile, Birmingham, and Pomona! It was an honor to meet and chat with so many of you along our RV show route this year. We've given out 35 prize packages to our lucky winners who attended our seminars this season...and got back to us via email!
We simply cannot do this with the support of our favorite brands who generously donated prizes for our give-a-way! If you weren't one of our lucky winners this time, you can still enjoy deep discounts on our favorite camping and RV brands by using our links and promo codes!
Here's yet another way to win!
We want to know what you think! Please take a few minutes to fill out our survey about Solar Coaching Services -- EVEN IF YOU DON'T NEED ANY COACHING AT THIS TIME!
We'll be giving away more annual RV and camping memberships to some lucky respondents!
Please Take Our Quick Survey
Solar Skoolie Conversion: Turning a Bus into a Home on Wheels
Converting an old school bus into a home-on-wheels might be one of the ultimate DIY projects. Who among us RV tinkerers hasn't imagined the possibilities of that blank space inside a yellow bus with all that history just waiting to be transformed? But where to begin on such a complex project?
Last spring, we spent a weekend helping our friend Jacob with his skoolie project, and luckily for us, all the interior electrical, plumbing, cabinetry, insulation and floors were already done – and done beautifully! Where they needed some help was appropriately sizing the solar components to be able to live off-grid while traveling.
Do you simply put as many solar panels as will fit on top of the bus, or set up a portable solar panel to plug into a port on the side of the bus? You could just install what your fellow skoolie friend or favorite social media influencer put into their school bus conversion project. But how do you know that it's the right size for YOU and how you want to live off-grid in YOUR bus? This blog is designed to help you figure all of that out. And, if your “bus” happens to be a van build, this blog and installation video will guide you as well.
Planning an RV Road Trip to Newfoundland & Labrador?
"Are you going to Fogo Island?" We got this question at least 10 times from other travelers. Is a side trip to Fogo Island, off the north coast of Newfoundland, worth it? Check out our Week 6 video to find out!
After crossing the border more than 18 times to various parts of Canada, Hamlet finally made it to his final Canadian province! Last summer, we spent 2+ months traveling and off-grid camping in this stunning province -- along the way we learned a few things that are very unique about this region. To help others plan a road trip to this special place in northeastern Canada, we put together a bunch of helpful resources along with some tips and advice that we wish we'd known before heading to this remote province off the eastern shore of North America. Let us know what else you'd like to know, and we'll add to it.
Want to see more of Newfoundland & Labrador? Grab your favorite bevie and check out our entire playlist!
Escapees Membership
The OG of RV Clubs is now offering 20% off an annual membership with our link and CANLIFE20 promo code (only $40)!
Your membership is chock full of resources, tips and advice, bucket list trips, member campgrounds and discounts, inspirational "members only" magazine, remote jobs, exciting gatherings and community events, and so much more. An Escapees membership is worth it's weight in gold for part-time, full-time, and any time RVers alike! Makes a great gift for new RVers, too.
P.S. We wrote a 7-part series for Escapees on RV Solar 101 -- breaking down the details of every component for newbies. An Escapees membership will give you access to all of those archived articles, and open up a whole new world of RV fun and learning!
How Do You Recharge an E-Bike with Solar?
In every campground in the U.S. and Canada, we’ve seen RVers with e-bikes! People of all ages (including Hutch's 85 year old father) are using e-bikes for exercise and as alternative transportation while their rig is set-up at the campsite. It’s exciting to see this trend that not only gets people out of their vehicles and into the outdoors, but also helps reduce car traffic and pollution in and around popular campgrounds and national parks!
But, e-bikes have their downsides, they need to be recharged frequently. Recently, we’ve seen signs popping up in campground bathrooms explicitly banning the charging of bikes at bathroom electrical outlets. Why? E-bike batteries are large, expensive, and take a lot of energy! I mean, who wants to have to share a small bathroom with a charging bike?
How can you stay off-grid and keep your e-bike battery charged and ready to go? We break it down for you in this blog.
Harvest Hosts Route Planner Makes Spring RV Road Trippin' Even More Fun!
Plan some fun date nights along your journey! The Harvest Hosts route planner has been a great addition to our app tool kit for finding fun, romantic, and beautiful places to stay the night -- from Alaska to Newfoundland and Washington to Florida!
From hip breweries and beautiful vineyards to fun family farms, we've enjoyed overnight stays at a wide range of fascinating places around the continent. Every single host has been incredibly welcoming -- giving us tours and making us feel at home on their property.
Consider this...the cost of an annual membership is equivalent to just 2 nights in an RV park! With our link and code CANLIFE20, first-year members can get 20% off -- whether you choose the Classic, Harvest Hosts + Boondockers Welcome, or get the All Access pass! Each membership comes with different benefits, perks, and options. Explore which membership option is best for you...and JOIN NOW to get the very best deal of the season!
Recipe of the Month: One Pan Omelitto!
"Eureka!" This phrase famously quipped by Archimedes as he leapt from the bath and sprinted back to his workshop wearing nothing but a smile, is also the state motto of California. Initially referring to the great California gold rushes, "I found it!", now means so much more.
This state is made up almost entirely of people who are from somewhere else. Even native born Californians, unless connecting back to first nations, can only count their generational ties with a couple of fingers. Yet, nearly 39 million people have found it, or something like it, here.
Shari, who claims central Orange County as her earliest home, needed to leave Southern Cal in order to find it; now as an adult gets to enjoy it with a new set of eyes and skills. While she camped a bit as a child, her parents are happy homebodies who take great pleasure in seeing the world through our eyes.
Parting Shots: Stunning National Seashores of North Carolina & Georgia
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