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Rig
1. What’s your setup?
2. What kind of gas mileage do you get?
3. What’s a travel trailer like?
4. How does it all work?
5. How long does it take to set up?
6. Have you had any mechanical problems on the trip?

Lifestyle
1. What do you miss most about living a normal lifestyle?
2. How has it been different than you expected?
3. Does the constant travel grow old?
4. How does the 24/7 close-quarters affect you?

Places
1. Will you go to Canada or Alaska or Mexico?
2. How do you decide where to travel and what to see?
3. What are some of your favorite places?

Cats
1. What’s the story on these guys?
2. How do you pronounce “Kaw-Liga?”
3. Where are the cats while you drive?
4. Have they adjusted to traveling?

Trip Completed
1. Your initial pool of hometown possibilities included where?
2. Where exactly is Portland, Maine?
3. What is Portland like?
4. Isn’t Maine pretty freakin’ cold?

Most Popular
1. Will you collect souvenirs from each state?
Yes. We’re collecting tiny stones from each state. It sounds lame, but they’re cheap and don’t weigh much—the perfect souvenir!

2. Why didn’t you wait until retirement like most people?
Based on our career tracks, we may never be able to fully retire. Life is short and there aren’t any guarantees—experiences shouldn’t be put off! Besides, now all of our friends and family will have someone to visit when they retire and travel.

3. How can you afford it?
We have some savings, we made some money selling excess possessions, we are on a tight budget and yes, we might have to get jobs somewhere along the way. Or… we may just run up our credit card balances. We have the rest of our lives to pay, right?

4. What do you do about health insurance?
We bought a basic plan for emergencies that runs about $100 per month.

5. How can you get mail and pay bills?
Unfortunately we do still have some monthly bills to pay, but thanks to the Internet, they are all taken care of electronically. Some things still have to go through the mail, though and Holly’s parents will forward them periodically.

6. How do you get online?
We have a dial-up ISP and some campgrounds have a phone jack. When we're lucky enough to wander into a Kinko’s, we have free high-speed Internet.

Rig
1. What’s your setup?
A 2000 V8 Toyota Tundra and a 2001 27’ Sunline Solaris trailer (“Sunny”). The trailer size is about as big and heavy as we can go without killing Tundra. The truck has an external transmission cooler; the trailer has its own brakes. Between the two we’ve got an anti-sway, weight-equalizing hitch.

2. What kind of gas mileage do you get?
We average about 11 mpg while pulling Sunny, down from 16 mpg without. Hills bring down this average of course, but the worst we’ve done so far has been in flat west Texas, driving against constant headwinds. We got 6 mpg.

3. What’s a travel trailer like?
Our travel trailer has most everything a house has. There’s a bedroom, kitchen/dining/living area and bathroom. The kitchen includes a sink, oven, range, microwave, refrigerator and freezer. The bathroom has a sink, shower and toilet. We put the cats' litter box in the shower and use campground facilities for bathing. There’s ducted heat and A/C. We have no dishwasher or laundry aboard, though.

4. How does it all work?
Almost all the appliances and systems operate on either the trailer’s marine batteries or propane tanks if we’re not plugged into an electrical outlet. The exceptions are the microwave and the A/C, they are electric only. There are three holding tanks: fresh water, grey (sink drainage) and black (sewage). We can last about four days when we camp with no hookups—called “boondocking”—before our batteries die, our grey tank fills and our fresh water runs out.

5. How long does it take to set up?
With both of us working in tandem, it takes about 30 minutes to park, level, unhitch and organize.

6. Have you had any mechanical problems on the trip?
Nope, both Tundra and Sunny performed flawlessly. Both manufacturers are known for their quality products and we always kept up on their regular maintenance schedules.

Lifestyle
1. What do you miss most about living a normal lifestyle?
H: Real showers, a dishwasher, all of our dishes and new clothes.
D: Consistent high-speed internet access, seeing music live and movies in theaters, a garbage disposal. Plus, grabbing drinks with friends.

2. How has it been different than you expected?
It’s a lot more work than we expected. We figured we’d have lots of free time to do projects and play games. With the schedule we keep, we have to make a conscious decision to plan time in which to relax and get our laundry done. The desire to purchase things has been quelled because of weight and space restrictions—that’s been quite refreshing.

3. Does the constant travel grow old?
It sometimes gets tiring to travel in the truck for days at a time. Perpetual tourists with no money do not make valuable citizens in many locals’ eyes.

4. How does the 24/7 close-quarters affect you?
We get a little cranky if we don’t have some “alone time” every once in a while. Alone time includes no cats.

Places
1. Will you go to Canada or Alaska or Mexico?
We're not including Canada, Mexico or Alaska as part of the plan, but we certainly will visit them if time and money allows.

2. How do you decide where to travel and what to see?
We try to see things that give a good representation of what the state is about, balancing rural with urban and touristy with non-touristy explorations. Our interests have a role in what we choose to see, too. “Free” has a special place in our hearts. The most scenic campgrounds are State Parks, so we try to stay there when we can.

3. What are some of your favorite places?
Mackinac Island MI, Ann Arbor MI, New York state, Portland ME, Cape Cod MA, Newport RI, Kentucky, Asheville NC, Athens GA, the Florida Keys, Madisonville LA, Bisbee AZ, Savannah GA, Tucson AZ, St. Louis MO, Lawrence KS, St. George UT, Moab UT, Iowa, Black Hills of SD, San Francisco CA, the coast of Oregon, Portland OR, the Bitterroot Valley of Montana, Glacier National Park MT, Olympic National Park WA and the Olympic peninsula, and Door County WI are some of our favorites.

Cats
1. What’s the story on these guys?
Storm is fifteen years old. He was born in Wisconsin. Kaw-Liga is five and a native Marylander.

2. How do you pronounce “Kaw-Liga?”
Click here to hear.

3. Where are the cats while you drive?
They are in the truck. Their sleeping quarters, “condos,” are in the back seat. They come out for breaks to look out the window and hang out in our lap.

4. Have they adjusted to traveling?
They have done much better than expected. Actually, they love the trailer. They are very interested in the new places we visit and were already harness and leash-trained so they do well out and about. Always very sociable, the campground guests seem to enjoy them, too.

Trip Completed
1. Your initial pool of hometown possibilities included where?
There were seventeen cities: Ann Arbor MI, Asheville NC*, Athens GA, Austin TX, Gold Beach OR, Lawrence KS, Lexington KY*, Missoula MT*, Portland ME*, Portland OR*, Rehoboth Beach DE, Ruidoso NM, Savannah GA, St. George UT, St. Louis MO, Tucson AZ, Wilmington NC.
*These cities made it to the final cut.

2. Where exactly is Portland, Maine?
It’s in southeastern Maine, directly on the Atlantic Ocean. It’s just north of Maine’s touristy beaches but remains only a two hour drive south to Boston.

3. What is Portland like?
Portland is Maine’s largest city at 66,000 residents, very much divided into a community of neighborhoods. It’s a funky combination of working waterfront and restored downtown, crammed with galleries, restaurants and non-franchised shops. It’s got a lot of creative energy and is considered to be one of the nation’s best small art towns.

4. Isn’t Maine pretty freakin’ cold?
Portland’s January average high and low temps are 31° and 12° respectively. July’s are 79° and 59°. The average annual snowfall is 60-90 inches.