Fast Facts: Who are Russ & Sherri?

• We’re in our early 50s.
• Our nest just emptied.
• We have 3 amazing kids: Navy Son* (26); Medical Daughter (24); College Son (21).
• *And a Daughter-In-Law! And a Grand Dog!
• Russ works for a great tech company. Sherri is a travel writer.
• We’re both WFH – Working From Home** – since March 9, 2020.

**We are not retired or independently wealthy

Quick Re-cap: How (& Why?!) did we end up traveling across the country in a big-a** RV?

March 2019: Cross-Country Move to Seattle

After 25 years raising our family and building our careers in Atlanta, GA, we came back home to Seattle, where we had met in high school, married in 1988, and both graduated from Western Washington University in 1990.

We set out on our first cross-country adventure after graduation in 1990, escaping the Pacific Northwest rain and chasing the sun all the way to Florida and then Atlanta. We came back to the Seattle area for family reasons (Sherri’s Mom), and Russ’s new job.

March 2020: Pandemic Lockdown / WFH

On March 9, 2020, Seattle went into lockdown. Russ got notice that his office was closed and everyone would be working from home – WFH – “until further notice.”

We were suddenly trapped in our 1000sf high-rise apartment downtown Seattle, with Russ WFH on Zoom and international conference calls at all hours (time zones)…

Locked down with our 20 year-old college student, who is a great roommate, but who definitely did not love being back home with Mom & Dad in the 1000sf apartment.

September 2020: ESCAPE PLAN

Between March & September, we realized WFH – Working From Home…

“Home” can be anywhere (as long as we have reliable internets for Zoom).

Our new adventure started as a part-time, socially distanced getaway plan during the pandemic.

Aside from getting out of the apartment, giving both us and our college student some much-needed space, we had another desperate motivation:

Our 23 year-old daughter was living on her own and working as a frontline Health Care Worker (Phlebotomist) in a large regional hospital in Spokane, WA. Five hours away from Seattle. We were desperate to find a way we could get to her, and be there to help, if she needed us.

We bought a 40’ RV.

• No, we had no experience buying, or even renting, a motorhome.
• No, neither of us had ever driven a 40’ motorhome.
• No, we could not bring it home to the high-rise downtown Seattle.
• No, it was not a spontaneous purchase. Really.
• Yes, we did our research!

Together, we figured it out. We trolled RV Shows and dealerships. We Googled and searched the far reaches of the Internet and RV Trader.

Ultimately, we found Charlie The Unicorn in Orlando, FL… during the height of the pandemic and 2020 travel restrictions. We met her (transported by dealer) halfway across the country and brought her home to the Seattle area from Des Moines, Iowa — our very first RV trip!

So many stories to share — the basis of Books & Travel USA!

May 2021: Full-time RV Living, Working & Traveling!

Eight months later… our lease in the high-rise apartment downtown Seattle was up.

We’d leased the apartment to be near Russ’s office downtown, and to give ourselves a chance — two years! — to figure out where we wanted to buy a home and settle down in the area, after being away so long.

Well… we still had no idea.

Everything had changed.

We didn’t have to be in or near Seattle near the office anymore.

The real estate market in Seattle & Western Washington had gone NUTS.

When we bought the RV, and even more so by the summer of 2021, Charlie was the cheapest condo / vacation option in Seattle. She enables us to travel anywhere, anytime — as long as we have those internets! (Russ will tell you more about that later.)

So why not go full time for a year… or longer?!

Here we go–

As of Memorial Day 2021, we are officially living, working, and traveling full-time in Charlie the Unicorn: our 2016 Entegra Aspire 40P — a 40-foot “Diesel Pusher” Class A Motorhome.

If you’re still with us at this point, we hope you’ll join us on this adventure!