“The magazine became a motivational tool for me,” the vibrant young RVer states. “But the premature death of my mother in 2003 gave me the final push. She was my best friend and we often camped together in the pop-up trailer I had bought. That little camper was worth every dime!”
Natalie grew up in Utah. According to the ideals of most career-minded individuals, she lived the American dream, working at the Utah Department of Transportation in the division that issues overweight and oversized permits for vehicles. Her job came with healthcare benefits. She owned her home. Yet, Natalie observed friends who retired with plans to travel. Suddenly, they were too ill—or dead.
“I thought, I gotta do this—and now! I’ve got to get out there and enjoy everything there is in the world to see and do!” Natalie recalls. “My friends and co-workers thought I was insane. They asked: ‘You want to do what? Go and live in a campground?’”
Sitting in the ICU waiting room when her mother lay ill, she spread out brochures of RVs on a table. “My dream kept me going during that difficult time,” she says.
After intense research of the different types of RVs, Natalie decided on a fifth-wheel for its storage and the ease of taking care of the unit by herself. “It has no motor, so that gave me a sense that less could go wrong!” she says.
Natalie started her adventure with a new truck outfitted to pull a fifth wheel. Next, she perused the Internet for the trailer that suited her needs. Making the switch from a tent trailer to a 37-foot fifth-wheel turned that first step into a board jump. She engaged her dad and her nephew to accompany her to pick up the new home on wheels.
To make the final leap to freedom on the road, Natalie had to sell her stick and mortar home. She began remodeling the house for the market while still holding down her day job. To test her compatibility with the Workamping lifestyle, she took a weekend job in an RV park in Moab. In March 2006, she declared herself a full-time RVer.
When her house sold a few months later, Natalie trucked down the highway, following some friends to Yuma, Arizona. They invited Natalie to join them in an RV park for Thanksgiving. When she drove in, thinking to herself, ‘This is great,’ she looked up and saw the sign: 55-Plus RV Living. Only a week before the holiday, she wondered where she would spend Thanksgiving—and with whom.
She timidly asked the managers, “Can I stay?” They said, ‘Yes, on the condition that you throw no wild parties—unless we’re invited!”
“I run into this all the time,” Natalie admits. “I’m not your typical RVer—or Workamper—age wise! But so far, everybody has welcomed me with open arms!” She quickly picked up a job at Arizona Market Place. “I loved selling hair pieces in a shop called the Hair Booth. I met all sorts of people, although I was a little out of my element, surrounded by folks in a retirement area. “ In fact, Natalie’s youthfulness often poses the question: “You’re retired?”
After Arizona, Natalie worked in a KOA in West Yellowstone, Montana. “To live there for a season was a dream come true. I observed incredible wildlife, and I could hike in Yellowstone almost any day.”
Natalie enjoys biking, hiking, and photography. She prefers the interpretive side of hikes and would like to work as an interpreter. “I can get lost in my own world on a trail,” she says. “If I stayed for ten years in the Yellowstone area, I couldn’t take all the hikes. A lot of people don’t even know those trails are out there. Many visitors think that Yellowstone is just the geyser. When working at the KOA, I had folks ask me what time they turned on Old Faithful!”
Her favorite place around Yellowstone is Lake Hebgen—away from all crowds with nature out the back door. At Island Park, Idaho, Natalie’s dad, her brother and his wife often gets together and venture around the area together. “On the surface, my dad thought I was crazy to live full-time on the road!” Natalie says. “But now, he has a fifth-wheel and travels around with friends. He’s even trying some Workamping!”
Natalie at pancake bfast_use.jpg Natalie adopted her little dog, Koda, a few months before she started full-timing. “He’s adapted well to the lifestyle—and to adventure, often trying to bark his opinions to people we meet!”
Flying by the seat of her jeans, Natalie typically does not have a clue about where she’ll set down next. “My plan is to work in each of the lower 48 states—at least once,” she says. “Since, I had never been as far east as Kansas, the amazon.com job in 2008 appealed to me as a reason to work in that state. Koda and I were like Dorothy and Toto—landing in Kansas! From her job at amazon.com, she traveled to Slidell, Louisiana, to work on a Habitat for Humanity Build. She considered options in Florida for the winter months of 2009 while she waited to start a new job at ABC Campground in Branson, Missouri, in May—a month later than her original contract.
With the downturn in the nation’s economy, Natalie says her lifestyle went from being sensible to being very cautious. “I find that I watch prices and do the comparison shopping more than ever,” she says. “Not that I didn't analyze everything before, now I really analyze. Cautiousness dictates everything—what bread I buy at the store, which gas station I use to fuel up, where and how long I stop and set up camp.” Natalie left the security of health insurance benefits when she quit her traditional job to full-time RV. “I simply try to eat right and keep myself healthy, hoping I have no major medical bills,” she says.
“For a few weeks, the slow economy threatened the job I had with ABC Campground. The possibility that there would be no work in that setting put the fear in my mind that, even in this simple lifestyle, I could lose everything at any moment.” Her employer, Sue Alkire, owner of ABC Campground, assures Natalie that autumn is one of the busiest times in Branson, which is considered the Veteran’s Capitol of America. Natalie is planning to work at the campground until November, and then, once again, take advantage of the job opportunity with amazon.com for the rush season before Christmas.
She notes that when she thought her job might not materialize in Branson, quite a few jobs were available to her for the summer of 2009. However, often the travel was too far to be feasible—or the paycheck too low.
“I believe things happen for a reason,” Natalie says. “So I just put my resume out there and see where it takes me! With that said, I’m glad I’m not a traditional house owner now with all the gadgets and toys that make the stress level soar. I tote my home wherever I go—park wherever I need to be.”