The Story Of Kate And Todd Asherwood Who Have Been Traveling Full Time Since 2013, And Plan On Traveling For 10 More Years
Kate and Todd Asherwood have been traveling around the country in their 2010 22-foot Keystone Hideout trailer since 2013. And they will continue until they retire…in 10 years. “We’re doing it backwards,” Kate said. “Most people start traveling after they retire, but we’re not retired. I’m 48…and Todd is 51. When we are ready, we’ll maybe get a little place at the beach and stay put. For now, since we can still run, jump and play, this is our life.”
Kate and Todd owned a home for seven years in San Jose, Ca. and both were in real estate. Kate is still a realtor and Todd was a real estate appraiser. All was going well until the recession hit in 2009.
“We were facing a short sale and, truthfully, we didn’t like our careers,” Todd explains. “We decided to sell our house, take a loss and cash in our retirement savings to buy a trailer and a truck. Everyone thought we were crazy, but I tell you, we learned to breathe easy again.”
Both of the Asherwoods had grown up camping with their parents, but the idea of an RV was new to them both, so their first destination was Kate’s sister’s driveway in Prescott, AZ.
“We had to learn how to keep the rig warm in the winter and how to save on propane if we were out in the middle of nowhere. We both got jobs working from home, which meant from our RV, so we took short trips in Arizona to make sure we could get cell service and Internet and if not, what did we need to buy?”
“Sometimes we have to head to some rural areas for my job, but my boss gives me plenty of notice,” Todd said. “We aren’t rich and sometimes we have to stay in one place longer if we need work done on the truck or the rig, but that’s how it is. [But] we’re never stuck in one place for very long.”
The Asherwoods spent three months in Prescott before hitting the road full-time. They immediately had two flat tires on their trailer their first day on the highway.
“I thought I was going to cry,” Kate said. “They towed it back to Prescott and we had to wait a day for the tires to come in so we slept in a hotel. I was too embarrassed to tell my sister we hadn’t even managed to leave Prescott.”
With new tires and some trepidation, the couple made it to Lake Powell and then Colorado and New Mexico. They read RV blogs, talked to other RVers in campgrounds and grabbed tips from Pinterest. They decided that dry camping wasn’t their thing, but they became members of the Elks Club so that they could take advantage of inexpensive camping.
“The Elks are awesome and the cocktails are very cheap,” Todd said laughing. “Most of the RV sites are basic hookups, but they run about $20 a night and you always have the lodge with good food and really nice people.”
“We don’t have kids, so it’s fun to meet families with little ones,” she said. ‘I even babysit sometimes so the parents can get away for a night.”
The couple has found they like to stay on the West Coast, visiting Mexico and Canada more than the middle and the east coast because of weather concerns, but they have been to 46 states.
“We missed a couple like Kansas and Nebraska because we were fleeing a tornado and we needed to take a different route,” Todd said. “I’m sure they are great states, but we didn’t have time to stop in and buy a souvenir.”
The couple say it’s not all-smooth driving, but when they look back on the stress of their mortgage and their careers, they say the life they have chosen can’t even compare.
“We have so many nights where we sit around talking to new friends and look up at the stars and wonder why we didn’t think of this sooner,” Kate said. “I truly believe that this is the life we were supposed to lead.”
Candice Reed
A graduate of Kelsey-Jenny College in Communications as well as a certified grant writer, Candice has written for The Los Angeles Times & The New York Times. She loves entertaining and all things French
Make Sure To Stay At:
Two Springs Resort, located in sunny Palm Springs, California. Palm Springs is one of the hottest destinations for "Snowbirds" in the desert southwest.