What if you could build your dream home on wheels, travel full-time, and not go broke doing it?
That’s exactly what today’s guest, Fiorella, has done—twice!In this episode, we dive into her journey from growing up in Bolivia to hitting the road in the U.S. with her husband, Zach.
Starting with a DIY shuttle bus conversion (with no building experience!), they eventually upgraded to a one-of-a-kind search and rescue truck turned cozy rolling home.
Fiorella gets real about what she’d do differently, why she doesn’t necessarily recommend DIY builds for beginners, and how RV rentals can be the perfect way to test-drive the lifestyle before diving in.
Plus, she shares her top tips for budget-friendly travel, underrated destinations, and why unplugging on the road has been a game-changer for her life.If you’ve ever dreamed of full-time travel, love a good budget hack, or just want to hear from someone who’s figured out how to blend adventure with financial freedom, this episode is for you.
Key Takeaways
1️⃣ Budget Travel is All About Strategy
- Fiorella recommends combining expenses (like renting an RV that doubles as transportation and lodging), exploring state parks instead of tourist-heavy spots, and embracing last-minute travel flexibility.
2️⃣ Hidden Gems Often Beat Bucket List Spots
- While national parks get the spotlight, some of Fiorella’s most memorable experiences have been in state parks, national forests, and off-the-beaten-path locations that offer breathtaking beauty without the crowds or high costs.
3️⃣ Turning Your RV Into an Income Stream
- If you own an RV but don’t use it full-time, renting it out could be a lucrative side hustle.
4️⃣ Why RV Life is the Ultimate Travel Hack
- After backpacking and trying other forms of travel, Fiorella says RVing gives her the perfect mix of adventure, routine, and comfort—no more packing, unpacking, or dealing with the hassle of flights.
Connect with Fiorella online:
🔗 Shop travel art and vintage finds → Growing Slow & Wild
🔗 Curious about RV rentals?
→ RVShare
—
Join the RV Queens Community
Already living the RV life but craving deeper connections with women who get it?
- Join the RV Queens Circles for weekly chats, resources, and a network of women balancing travel, family, and entrepreneurship.
- Use code PODCAST for 20% off your membership for life!
—
Support our Partners
Bryce Canyon RV Resort by Rjourney is located near Bryce Canyon, Zion, the Grand Staircase and many other Southern Utah destinations.You'll enjoy full hook-ups and tons of family friendly amenities including ATV trails, swimming and star-gazing during your stay! 🚌
👉 Book Now
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
RV sure is a marketplace in all 50 states.
So we're everywhere. And the demand for RV rentals
has just exponentially grown, especially since the pandemic.
I think more people are aware ofthis category of travel, more
people want to experience this category of travel, and it's
really open for everyone. Hello my friends, and welcome
back to another episode of the RV Queens Podcast where we delve
(00:22):
into the lives of women making money and living life on the
road. I'm your host, Kate White, and
today we are diving into a topicthat I know so many of you are
curious about. I know I am building out your
own rig and making the most of this travel lifestyle without
breaking the bank. Our guest today is Fiorella Erie
(00:43):
Berry, who has been living a nomadic lifestyle for five years
now and has seen a lot. Over 40 States and 35 national
parks, not to mention a bunch ofinternational travel.
But what makes her journey extraunique is that she and her
husband didn't just buy an RV and hit the road like so many of
(01:04):
us did. No, they built out their own rig
twice. First, a shuttle bus and 2nd
which they live in now, a converted search and rescue
truck. Yes, you heard that right.
OK, as with anything, hindsight is 2020 and Fiorella shares why
she actually wishes she would have started by renting out an
(01:26):
RV 1st instead of going crazy and building their own.
And for current RV years, she shares how thousands of people
are turning their parked RV's into a profitable rental
business. She is also brilliant at
planning budget friendly travel and gives great advice on how to
stretch your dollar on the road.You guys, this is a must listen
(01:49):
if you want to travel more, earnmore and stress less when it
comes to RV. So grab your coffee and let's
roll Fiorella, welcome to the Army Queens podcast.
Where in the world are you this week?
Thank you for having me, this isvery exciting to be here with
(02:09):
you today. But I am right outside of Yuma,
AZ so like southwest corner of the state.
Oh beautiful. Are you there for the season,
the winter season, or are you just passing through?
In this particular like area kind of passing through, we're
making our way to California, but we we are very much
snowbirds. So we spend most of our winter
down here either in Southwest Arizona or New Mexico.
(02:32):
California's kind of moving around that area.
Love it. Oh I like that area.
It's so pretty it. Is so pretty and this is like
the season the flowers are starting to come out and like
the cactuses, it's just spring is around the corner and I love
it here at this time. I know, isn't it funny?
Like the rest of the United States is still getting
Blizzards and you're like, I'm enjoying Spring A. 100% I just
(02:53):
saw. I was checking my husband's
family's from Ohio. I was looking at the weather and
I was like, oh, that doesn't look nice and I'm out here.
Yeah, exactly. You said like looking at
flowers. I'm like flowers.
That's why we like this lifestyle.
That's 100% OK. I'm especially excited to chat
with you today because you're a van lifer.
(03:13):
Sort of like what do you refer to yourself as?
Because you you have your own custom build situation going on.
I know it's kind of weird. It's like I don't really know
what to call it. We sometimes call ourselves Van
Lifers, sometimes our viewers, you know, we're just nomads, a
little bit of everything. But yeah, we have a very
specific truck situation that's very rare and unique, so it's
(03:33):
very hard to fit one one of the groups.
Yeah. And we will get into your rig.
Let's just call it a rig for now.
We'll get into that in a little bit.
But OK. So I've only had a few people
like you that, you know, createdyour own rig to travel in.
(03:54):
And I want to start off by asking, going back before your
travel days, describe for us what your life was like before
you traveled full time and what led you to just like completely
bucking the system and hitting the road?
Yeah, I love those questions. So I was born and raised in
Bolivia, so my whole family's inSouth America, and I immigrated
(04:15):
to the US for college. So I did my four years of
college and my senior year met my husband and I've always had
the trouble bug. Like I come from a family that
always prioritized travel. So it was always like, instead
of Christmas gifts or, you know,extravagant Christmas presents
and stuff, we did a family trip.So I've always grown up really
appreciating the sense of traveland adventure and just the
(04:39):
experiences that you gain from doing it.
So after meeting my husband and graduating college, we were just
traveling, you know, anytime we could, like, how can we maximize
long weekends and travel here and there?
And we were, we had the travel bug that we just kept looking
for ways that we could do it full time.
And that's kind of how we stumbled into the RV life and
(04:59):
just all of it. And it was a very foreign
concept for me. Our views are not a thing in
South America. So it took me a little bit to
get around to like, wait, how dowe do this?
Like how does this work? We quickly just like we're like,
you know what, like why not? We're young and we could always
come back and get the job back if it doesn't work out.
But why not try? And so fresh out of college,
(05:20):
like 2 years out of college. And just like with this deep
craving to just keep doing it asmuch as we could, we have
traveled a little bit already. So we're like, let's just keep
going and see how far we can go before, like, our luck runs out
and we're here five years later and just loving every minute of
it and with no plans to stop. Oh, I love that.
I always look back. I've been married like 13 years
(05:41):
now, almost 14, and I wish we would have been as brave and
adventurous as you guys are. So I love seeing newlyweds that
are just out there on the adventure.
And you and your husband, Zach, started in a bus and then you
converted a search and rescue truck, which is like totally
(06:03):
wild. And you made it extremely cute.
Like you're sitting in a right now.
If anyone's watching on YouTube,look at this cute coziness back
here. It's amazing.
I'm always amazed at people who built their own rig instead of
us yuppies. You know that.
Just buy one from the RV dealer.So I have to ask, how did you
know what you were doing when you built out your rig?
(06:25):
And do you recommend doing your own build to other people?
We kind of just jumped right in.So we kind of did it more
because at that time the RV likeprice tag was too much for us.
So we had started seeing on YouTube just a bunch of people
converting school buses. So we're like, hey, the must,
this might be an alternative forus.
(06:46):
So we ended up purchasing a shuttle bus and we just took our
time building it. It was kind of like our way of
like slowly building to the RV. So that's kind of what we
stumbled on it. We had no experience, no
building experience, really no camping experience either.
Like I said, not coming in Bolivia where I'm from and my
husband didn't grow up from a family that was outdoorsy of any
(07:07):
kind. So it was really just a lot of
YouTube videos and like kind of asking ourselves like, what do
we need? OK, we need a bathroom.
Where can we put that like a bag, like essentials and just
kind of figuring it out little by little.
I definitely don't recommend doing that.
We like the part of the reason we did a second build was
because quickly after getting onthe road, we realized like, OK,
(07:29):
we made a lot of mistakes. This is not going to work out.
So that that was a learning experience.
I wish we would have like rentedan RV before or like experienced
the lifestyle a little bit, tried the different like, you
know, RV tices and I feel like and just styles and layouts and
all all that world that exists before we started converting.
(07:50):
So that's why our second conversion was so important for
us because then after a year anda half on the road and a bus
that was not serving us in a layout that wasn't serving us,
we were really eager to do it again.
Now with the understanding of like, OK, what size do we want
to be in? What can we do?
What is comfortable, what is notcomfortable?
And we, one of the big things for us was being able to
(08:10):
boondock or dry camp as much as we can and, you know, go as far
down like dirt roads as we can. So that's why we started looking
for different vehicles that would get us out there because
not every vehicle can get you out there, not like every RV,
not every bus. So that's how we stumbled on,
yeah, an old search and rescue fire truck.
And we were like, why not? You know, it's a cool vehicle.
(08:32):
It's very unique. It is very masculine in the
outside and like, look, we haven't painted it yet, so it
looks very official too. But our goal with the inside
was, first of all, like answering these solutions or
giving solutions to these problems that we had in our
first build and that we have learned along the way.
And then second of all, yeah, making it very homey and as soft
(08:52):
and feminine as possible in the insides to like balance the
outside. So that's what we ended up with.
And I love your honesty. OK, so I've had several people
that have renovated a bus or something like that on the
podcast or like even, I don't know if if you're familiar with
BB in the RV, that's their handle on Instagram and stuff,
(09:14):
but they came from like not knowing anything about RV's and
now they're like luxury renovators.
And I'm like, how did you guys learn this?
I asked almost everyone this andI think people are just so handy
naturally that they just, you'reout.
But you're the first person to say, like, yeah, I don't
(09:35):
recommend it if you don't know what you're doing.
No, I mean, our first boss was like, we were like trying to
learn from YouTube. And granted, this was a time
before like the boom of like conversions and van life.
So there was a lot less resources than there is right
now. We were building cabinets.
First of all, you've never builtthe cabinet and we're out here
trying to build cabinets. And for instance, like the
(09:55):
example I like to use a lot, it's like we used to nails when
we were building a cabinet. We were like, I don't know,
nails. Cabinets hold wood together.
That makes sense. And we quickly realized you
don't want to use nails because like with the friction and the
movement, our cabinets were likefalling apart.
So we spent the better half of our first year on the road just
like fixing our mistakes constantly.
(10:16):
And that's not what you want to do when your house is so small
and you depend on every inch of it.
It just, it adds a lot of stress, especially if you're
trying this lifestyle, you're new to all, you're learning so
many things, you're outside of the comfort zone and adding that
huge level of like upkeep so early on.
And it's such intense upkeep. Definitely don't recommend.
So if you don't have experience,maybe just like try RV's, like
(10:39):
slow down the process or really just buy an RV and renovate it.
Like I really think that if it would have been possible for us,
that would have been like the smartest choice.
And if I would go back, I would definitely choose that route of
like buying something, renovating it, experience it for
a little bit and then maybe building it.
Smart. Oh my gosh, thank you for your
for your vulnerability and your honesty.
(10:59):
I love it so much. So at this point you guys have
travelled to over 40 States and something I know you love to do
is to help people plan budget friendly Rd. trips.
So what are your top like three to four tips for how not to go
broke on the road? I love this.
I love this question. Yeah, I'm a big budget traveler
(11:21):
just because I feel like we havethis conception about traveling,
you know, that you have to spendall your life savings and all
your PTO when really traveling can be such a simple budget
friendly thing that we can incorporate in our day-to-day
lives. So one of my top tips is like
consider like where you're trying to go and why.
Like I feel like really slowing down.
(11:42):
Like if you're trying to go, forinstance, to the Grand Canyon,
like are you trying to go to theGrand Canyon because that's like
a bucket list location or you want to maybe just experience
the desert? If it's a bucket list location,
then consider like different types of accommodations.
So example, like RV rentals, like an RV rental can be your
car rental and your hotel rentalall in one, especially if you're
(12:03):
flying in the Grand Canyon or a lot of our national parks are in
very remote locations. So they're all gonna really take
a car rental, a hotel, a flight,you know, like those kind of
things really start adding up. So trying to like look at your
expenses, where can you join expenses or split expenses?
That's RV rentals are like my favorite way to get friends and
(12:24):
family out here and to share with other people because they
do combine those big the bigger cost, right, the rental and the
lodging. And then if you're trying to
experience certain areas of the country and it's more because
you want to, you know, make it out to the Pacific Northwest and
you're willing to experience different parts of it, check out
like national forests, state parks.
(12:45):
I think a lot of our national parks get all the glory, but
some of my favorite places and the most incredible places I've
been to are more these hidden gems of like state parks,
national forests. A lot of them will also allow
you to camp there for free or for a very low cost.
They're also allow you to do trips.
They're like less than ahead. It's a lot of national parks.
(13:06):
Their campgrounds will be booked, you know, months in
advance and they're much more expensive than a State Park
where you can kind of plan a last minute trip and spent
$20.00 in a campground. So just really looking outside
of that specific like thing thatthe Internet maybe told you to
go and like trying to plan outside of that scope, trying to
plan locally too. I feel like we don't realize in
(13:28):
the States, there's beautiful areas just two to three hours
away from us. Anywhere in the country takes a
little bit more looking up. But if you're willing to take
that little extra step of preparation, you can save a lot
of money. Travel more just like what I
think a lot of people are tryingto do and just experience like
think different things. And I again, like, I think some
of my favorite locations for sure are like the ones where
(13:51):
there's not this big hype aroundit.
You know, it's like kind of likeyou stumble upon it and it's
just less people, more budget friendly and it just feels like
you get to have this more intimate experience with the
location. I love it.
So it sounds like number one, try to figure out how to combine
a couple of the big expenses if you can.
(14:11):
I think that's brilliant If you can combine your hotel and your
car rental into one by renting an RV very smart.
And then look outside the big, you know, bucket listy touristy
locations and see what other natural beauty is in that area.
I love it. My husband and I were talking
(14:31):
earlier today about this State Park in Indiana, which is like,
honestly not my favorite state. I don't know many people love
Indiana in particular, but there's a State Park called
Turkey Run. And we only spent one.
We were like passing through like just spent one night there
and it completely shocked us because there's like this
(14:52):
little, there's a lot of hiking trails through these caverns and
it's like a very cheap, unassuming campground, like
maybe full hookups every like ina small section of the
campground. It's not glamorous at all, but
the heights around there are mind blowing.
And I would never have expected that.
(15:13):
I would have never known that about this area if we wouldn't
have like, yeah, branched out into, you know, a little State
Park in the middle of Indiana. Exactly.
Yeah, those are my favorite stories too, like places you
kind of end up with or like evenif you're broader in your
search. So like Wyoming is the state
that I really like to give example of because North West my
(15:37):
Wyoming gets all the glory, likeGrand Teton, Yellowstone and
southwest Wyoming is my favorite.
And I would even argue some of the hikes and the views down
there are better than the Grand Tetons.
And there's no crowds. The towns are very affordable.
They're not you're not paying like that travel tax of like
Jackson or these like very smalltowns outside of national parks
(15:58):
that kind of get that little extra in there.
And it's, yeah, that's a big state that I like to point out
because there's so much more to.And that's what happens
everywhere I have since. Everywhere.
So you're probably planning out your travels for the rest of the
year. And if you're heading out West,
I. Hope that Bryce.
Canyon is on your must see list.It's one of our family's
favorite national parks. I recommend staying at Bryce
(16:19):
Canyon RV Resort which is a short drive from the park
entrance has incredible. Views.
Full hookups and all the family friendly amenities you're
looking for. Bryce Canyon RV Resort is in our
Journey campground so you know it's going to be clean and safe.
Click the link in the show notesto book now and start your
journey with our Journey. You're also passionate about
(16:41):
introducing people to the world of RV travel through RV rentals,
which you've already brought up in this conversation.
I love it. How did you get into that?
I think. That for me the experience comes
from, like I mentioned before, like we kind of jumped into this
lifestyle and then it felt like,wait, like they we're missing
something. I feel like we, we're, I have
that feeling when we were building the bus and then once
(17:03):
we took off, I was like, we're missing something here, Like I'm
missing something. And that's when I really
discovered the world of like RV life.
I was like, wait, there's so many different types of RV's,
makes models, there's so many different types of ways to do RV
life. People doing a part time, full
time, you know, seasonally, all stuff.
And when we when I kind of discovered this world and at the
(17:23):
same time we were on the road and we had friends and family
like seeing where we were going,being like, wait, this is
incredible. Like I want to go there.
How do I go there? How do I get there?
And I started looking at the mapand sharing some locations with
friends and family. I was like, wait, these towns
are in the middle of nowhere, like it's a trek to get out
here, right. So it's like, how can you
actually make these locations accessible?
(17:45):
That's kind of how I ended up inthe world of our re rentals.
I had, we've had my parents fromBolivia come to the States and
we've gotten them RV's and taking them on road trips and
it's been the most incredible experience to share this
lifestyle. I think everybody is so like
excited about the road trip aspect, but then you have your
house. Once you start getting to taste
the RV life, as you probably know, it is so hard to like want
(18:08):
to travel differently when you have your whole house, your
accommodation, Like it just becomes a travel style that
makes so much sense for so many people, especially people that
are like trying to do the outdoor things like hiking and
experiencing national parks and getting out there and
disconnected. So through this world, I ended
up getting to RV Share. So that's an RV rental company.
(18:31):
It's a peer-to-peer marketplace.And I started there as an intern
just with this passion of getting more people to know this
lifestyle and try it out. And I had used the service
myself and I was just So I'm so passionate about this world and
getting people to experience it.And yeah, I've been with RV
Share for a few years trying to get more people to experience RV
rentals and. Looking back, I mean, we were
(18:53):
kind of like you. We didn't build our own rig from
the start, but my husband and I had no idea about RV our RV's
before. We just bought 1 and hit the
road and looking back and like why didn't we rent one for at
least like a week? Chill, you know, like you don't
have to go like spend 10s of thousands of dollars to buy 1.
(19:16):
You can ease yourself into it. And I wish we would have done
that. And now we know, and I try to
tell people that all the time that are interested in getting
into RV life that they should start with RV rentals.
Yeah, I think like everyone thatI've talked to that lives in an
RV, they're part time or full time, has that sentiment of
(19:37):
like, I wish I would have experienced it a little bit more
before I committed to something because really the end, Like
there's endless options of RV's,right?
Make models like fifth wheels, million different versions of
that. Like in every category, there's
so many different layouts and options and it's hard to know
what you actually are going to need and want when you're out
there camping. I think you can assume from like
(19:59):
your house life like, oh, I think I need a big bathroom.
But maybe it turns out that you rather have the bigger kitchen.
And you really won't know until you have those like life
experiences or user experiences.And that's why I think if you
are interested in any sort of version of Rd. life, whether
that's RV or building your own, the only thing you're going to
do with renting RV is benefitingyourself with that knowledge on
(20:20):
like how to make better decisions.
There's another. Side to RV rentals where people
that currently own RV's and rentthem out on a platform, RV share
is one of them that you currently work with.
Tell us about that. Like how much can people plan to
make from renting their RV? How does this work?
(20:44):
It's a great income if you do have an RV and you're just using
it like part time or seasonally instead of it having just sit
sitting in your driveway. The how much you make a year
varies greatly depending what area you're in, what your
nightly rate is going to be. But it's really a great income
for people who have RV's. We have RV share as a
marketplace in all 50 states. So we're everywhere.
(21:06):
And the demand for RV rentals has just exponentially grown,
especially since the pandemic. I think more people are aware of
this category of travel, more people want to experience this
category of travel and it's really open for everyone.
So whether you have a drivable RV or if you have a big fifth
wheel RV share, for instance, has a service for owners where
(21:26):
they can deliver those kind of RV's like trailers or fifth
wheels so that you don't have to, you know, risk sending it
off with someone that maybe doesn't have the experience.
The whole process is really protecting both owners and
renters. So we do all sorts of trainings
with owners on, you know, how toget your listings up and your
pictures, how to maximize your profits, coaching you through
everything that's going to be starting a business.
(21:48):
A lot of owners have started on RV share with their own RV, and
I ended up buying two or three RV's to run a little side
business out of it, which is a great alternative for anybody
who's really interested in this lifestyle and wants to, you
know, encourage other people to join too.
You've already got my wheels spinning about.
Maybe we need to sunset this oneand put it as a rental.
(22:11):
And because we just went like a couple months ago, we went to
the Tampa RV show. Dude, RV shows are dangerous
because you just think you need the world after you see that.
But I have this one model in mind and I'm like, OK, true.
My husband, I told him if we're going to keep RV ING full time
for like a few more years, I think we should just rent out
(22:33):
our current 1 and go get that other fifth field that's out
there. Yeah.
I think also our needs change, right?
As travelers. I think you start doing this
full time and your needs start changing.
Like maybe you want more space, maybe you're OK with less space.
So also like it gives you that flexibility too.
Switching topics just a little bit here.
You have written that unpluggingand RV ING has changed your
(22:56):
life. Why do you think that RV ING is
better than other forms of travel?
Yeah, I love this question. So I've done a little bit of
every style of travel out there.So I'm backpacked, I've done
cruise around the world, I've done a little bit of everything.
But I think our game for me has become so my preferred way of
traveling because it is really incorporating the excitement of
(23:19):
travel with like the good feelings of having a home base
and your routine and access to food and cooking it the way you
want it to. So it really merged 2 important
worlds for me and I think it does for a lot of people.
It allows you to see different places and move while having
this like ability to have this routine and your things with you
(23:40):
and not having to do this exhausting game of like air port
and packing and unpacking and going somewhere else.
And it just, that became really exhausting for me, like as I
started doing it more. And it's RV solves that, right?
Like you can go to different places, have all your things
with you. And it allows you to also slow
down a little bit from like, I think regular travel.
(24:02):
You can spend a lot of time in one place and it's the same
whether you're moving or not. And it just gives you the
flexibility of however you want to travel.
Sometimes we move a lot, sometimes we stay in the same
place for a long time. And you can't really do that
with other forms of travel without extensive planning.
So even that it just opens up your your flexibility on how and
(24:23):
when you want to travel. I totally agree 100% and when
you were talking about taking your home with you and like
having your things the way you like them, the first thing that
came to my mind was our coffee setup.
Like every time we leave and, you know, decide to take like a
little vacation, even from our RV life, we pack up the
(24:44):
suitcase. I, I still pack up like the
little coffee powders and my whole setup that I like to have
for my coffee. And it's like such a, it's funny
because now traditional travel feels like such a hassle, even
though like our life is traveling full time, like you
(25:06):
just it, it's the perfect blend of the two worlds.
You have a home base that you travel with and you have all
your stuff and all your things how you like them, but you also
get to experience like the wholeworld if you want to, you know?
Absolutely. I agree with you.
Yeah, Especially nowadays with like air travel being so crazy,
like airports and every. It's just exhausting.
(25:27):
I feel like you come back from some of those vacations and
you're like, you know the sayinglike I need a vacation from my
vacation. Like I feel like traveling was
feeling like that for me. And RV travel has never felt
like that. Like I've never felt like, OK,
this is exhausting. I need to take a travel out of
this. Like, whereas other ones have
definitely gotten to that point.I am loving this conversation,
Fiorella. OK.
(25:47):
Go ahead and share with everyonewhere they can connect with you
online and then I will ask you my last couple questions.
Yeah, absolutely. So my adventures are online as
growing slow and wild. If you've been interested about
RV World and want to try rentals, you can find
rvshare@rvshare.com and in all socials at RV Share.
Oh, and I forgot to mention, yeah, growing slow and wild, you
(26:11):
and your husband run like a little art studio from the road.
Or is it just your husband that's the artist, but you kind
of like do the business together?
It was always supposed to be. It's kind of like got two things
in 1. So it's a passion project that
started for us on the road. So he's like an artist to like
graphic design or freehand designs.
So he does that in old vintage mediums or natural mediums and
(26:34):
all this stuff. And then I do the other half of
it, which is like vintage thriftstore antique finds.
So we do a little bit of both. We mix both mediums whenever we
can. So it's, yeah, it's one of those
things that was born down a dirtRd. when we were traveling.
And we had that freedom to be like, hey, let's start this,
this is fun. So how can we merge it?
And that's our little. Store.
(26:54):
I love that. So listeners, please go check it
out. Growing slow and wild is what
their brand is called. And if you're interested in RV
rentals, go check out RV Share and see what they've got going
on. OK, so Fiorella, this season of
the podcast, I have been ending my interviews with a couple
rounds of one in one questions where I ask a question and then
we both answer it. So I've got 2 for you today.
(27:17):
The first one is about food because, I mean, who doesn't
love a part of travel that is trying all the different foods,
right? Yeah.
So what is your favorite free dinner appetizer?
I'm a big like if we're anywherethat has nachos, I'm a big like
nachos person. I'm picky about them, but I am
(27:38):
in a tour of nachos around the United States seeing who has the
best 1. So I think that one is the one
that comes to mind first. OK, well you have to tell us
what have been the best nachos and why are you picky about
them. Oh, because it's a science of
like balance of how much like toppings and, and what kind of
chip it comes in. You know, it's, it's a balancing
act. I think some of the best ones
(27:59):
we've had is have been in Arizona, which you know some of
the best Mexican food in the country I would say is in
Arizona. When nachos have like a queso
cheese? Or do you like it when they melt
shredded cheese? That's a great question.
I am OK with either as long as Iget like I'm very picky about
the balance of it. Like it can't be too many too
much melted cheese and then likeall of your chips are dripping.
(28:21):
Like I don't, I don't love that.It needs to be a good balance.
Like I need to be able to like still taste the chip.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, so true. We don't want any soggy chips.
It's got to still retain its crunch.
Yeah, to be able to be the carrier method.
So true, man. I went I went deep on the the
Nacho topic because I'm apparently also passionate about
(28:42):
it. But I was going to say my
favorite appetizer. If I'm in like a totally
splurgey dinner mode, I will order the spinach artichoke dip.
But I'm the same as you. I'm picky about it.
I don't want giant pieces of artichoke.
Nobody wants that. And I don't want giant pieces of
spinach, OK? It's like everything chopped up
(29:03):
super duper fine. A lot of parmesan, a lot of
garlic. I love.
It. I love it.
That's a great one actually. I feel like that's up there on
my list as well. OK.
Last question for you. You've seen over 35 national
parks. We kind of touched on this
question a little bit at the beginning.
Which National Park would you say is your favorite, kind of
(29:23):
like hidden gem that you've seen?
And also because I know you likegoing outside the box, if you
have a non National Park that you want to talk about, that's
OK too. I do have a National Park that
we discovered last year that's Great Basin National Park and
that's in Nevada. It's a corner of Nevada that's
very unexplored, like the northeast side of it.
(29:44):
And that National Park has incredible, like Alpine lakes in
Nevada, which is crazy. And then caves.
It's so diverse. And that's probably one of my
favorite national parks in general, just because I do love
the like it's a hidden, it's truly feels like a hidden gem
out there. And the location is great.
And yeah, that's that's a big one that's up there in my.
List. OK, I like it.
(30:06):
I would say the little hidden gem National Park that I like
the most is Bryce Canyon. It's we saw it when we were
going through southern Utah. And I mean, there's so much to
see in southern Utah. And we almost didn't stop at
Bryce Canyon because it was likewe were going to go see Zion and
(30:28):
Grand Canyon and we had just come from Salt Lake City.
And then I mean, there's like somuch to see around there.
I'm so glad we stopped at Bryce Canyon because it's first of all
the there's camping like right outside the National Park.
It doesn't take like 45 minutes or an hour to get into the park.
You, you can just like bam, you're right there and see the
(30:49):
Canyon. And then also it doesn't have a
bunch of like big annoying touristy stuff built up around
it. It's like it feels cozy and
quaint and it's a beautiful area.
The Canyon is amazing. It has great hikes but it
doesn't feel overwhelming I. Know that's one of my favorite
(31:10):
parks ever too. That's up there.
That's an incredible park. So I agree with everything.
You said good stuff, I'm glad you like it cuz if you did.
No, it's one of my favorites. I love it.
It does get, I feel like like hidden behind like Zion and
Grand Canyon. It's like sandwiched between two
big ones. But that one.
'S a great one. I know there's so much to see in
that area. You could just spend months and
(31:31):
months. Oh, yeah.
One state. Yeah, that's so true.
All righty. Well, that is a wrap.
Thank you for being on the show today, Fiorella.
I really enjoy this conversationand even just getting to know
you. No, thank you for having me.
I loved it. I loved every read it of it so
I'm excited it. Was my pleasure.
All righty, I will see you on the road.
Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode and for being
(31:53):
part of the RV Queens community.Remember to hit subscribe on
whatever platform you're listening on.
And guess what? You can have conversations like
I had on this episode. With your fellow RV.
Women who are living intentionally and making money
on the road head to rvqueenspodcast.com/community to
join RV Queen circles today. It's a totally unique online
(32:17):
space with a shared prosperity model that's all about community
over competition. I'd love to have.
You be a part. All right, guys.
I'll see you next. Week or hopefully I will see you
on the road till.
RV sure is a marketplace in all 50 states.
So we're everywhere. And the demand for RV rentals
has just exponentially grown, especially since the pandemic.
I think more people are aware ofthis category of travel, more
people want to experience this category of travel, and it's
really open for everyone. Hello my friends, and welcome
back to another episode of the RV Queens Podcast where we delve
(00:22):
into the lives of women making money and living life on the
road. I'm your host, Kate White, and
today we are diving into a topicthat I know so many of you are
curious about. I know I am building out your
own rig and making the most of this travel lifestyle without
breaking the bank. Our guest today is Fiorella Erie
(00:43):
Berry, who has been living a nomadic lifestyle for five years
now and has seen a lot. Over 40 States and 35 national
parks, not to mention a bunch ofinternational travel.
But what makes her journey extraunique is that she and her
husband didn't just buy an RV and hit the road like so many of
(01:04):
us did. No, they built out their own rig
twice. First, a shuttle bus and 2nd
which they live in now, a converted search and rescue
truck. Yes, you heard that right.
OK, as with anything, hindsight is 2020 and Fiorella shares why
she actually wishes she would have started by renting out an
(01:26):
RV 1st instead of going crazy and building their own.
And for current RV years, she shares how thousands of people
are turning their parked RV's into a profitable rental
business. She is also brilliant at
planning budget friendly travel and gives great advice on how to
stretch your dollar on the road.You guys, this is a must listen
(01:49):
if you want to travel more, earnmore and stress less when it
comes to RV. So grab your coffee and let's
roll Fiorella, welcome to the Army Queens podcast.
Where in the world are you this week?
Thank you for having me, this isvery exciting to be here with
(02:09):
you today. But I am right outside of Yuma,
AZ so like southwest corner of the state.
Oh beautiful. Are you there for the season,
the winter season, or are you just passing through?
In this particular like area kind of passing through, we're
making our way to California, but we we are very much
snowbirds. So we spend most of our winter
down here either in Southwest Arizona or New Mexico.
(02:32):
California's kind of moving around that area.
Love it. Oh I like that area.
It's so pretty it. Is so pretty and this is like
the season the flowers are starting to come out and like
the cactuses, it's just spring is around the corner and I love
it here at this time. I know, isn't it funny?
Like the rest of the United States is still getting
Blizzards and you're like, I'm enjoying Spring A. 100% I just
(02:53):
saw. I was checking my husband's
family's from Ohio. I was looking at the weather and
I was like, oh, that doesn't look nice and I'm out here.
Yeah, exactly. You said like looking at
flowers. I'm like flowers.
That's why we like this lifestyle.
That's 100% OK. I'm especially excited to chat
with you today because you're a van lifer.
(03:13):
Sort of like what do you refer to yourself as?
Because you you have your own custom build situation going on.
I know it's kind of weird. It's like I don't really know
what to call it. We sometimes call ourselves Van
Lifers, sometimes our viewers, you know, we're just nomads, a
little bit of everything. But yeah, we have a very
specific truck situation that's very rare and unique, so it's
(03:33):
very hard to fit one one of the groups.
Yeah. And we will get into your rig.
Let's just call it a rig for now.
We'll get into that in a little bit.
But OK. So I've only had a few people
like you that, you know, createdyour own rig to travel in.
(03:54):
And I want to start off by asking, going back before your
travel days, describe for us what your life was like before
you traveled full time and what led you to just like completely
bucking the system and hitting the road?
Yeah, I love those questions. So I was born and raised in
Bolivia, so my whole family's inSouth America, and I immigrated
(04:15):
to the US for college. So I did my four years of
college and my senior year met my husband and I've always had
the trouble bug. Like I come from a family that
always prioritized travel. So it was always like, instead
of Christmas gifts or, you know,extravagant Christmas presents
and stuff, we did a family trip.So I've always grown up really
appreciating the sense of traveland adventure and just the
(04:39):
experiences that you gain from doing it.
So after meeting my husband and graduating college, we were just
traveling, you know, anytime we could, like, how can we maximize
long weekends and travel here and there?
And we were, we had the travel bug that we just kept looking
for ways that we could do it full time.
And that's kind of how we stumbled into the RV life and
(04:59):
just all of it. And it was a very foreign
concept for me. Our views are not a thing in
South America. So it took me a little bit to
get around to like, wait, how dowe do this?
Like how does this work? We quickly just like we're like,
you know what, like why not? We're young and we could always
come back and get the job back if it doesn't work out.
But why not try? And so fresh out of college,
(05:20):
like 2 years out of college. And just like with this deep
craving to just keep doing it asmuch as we could, we have
traveled a little bit already. So we're like, let's just keep
going and see how far we can go before, like, our luck runs out
and we're here five years later and just loving every minute of
it and with no plans to stop. Oh, I love that.
I always look back. I've been married like 13 years
(05:41):
now, almost 14, and I wish we would have been as brave and
adventurous as you guys are. So I love seeing newlyweds that
are just out there on the adventure.
And you and your husband, Zach, started in a bus and then you
converted a search and rescue truck, which is like totally
(06:03):
wild. And you made it extremely cute.
Like you're sitting in a right now.
If anyone's watching on YouTube,look at this cute coziness back
here. It's amazing.
I'm always amazed at people who built their own rig instead of
us yuppies. You know that.
Just buy one from the RV dealer.So I have to ask, how did you
know what you were doing when you built out your rig?
(06:25):
And do you recommend doing your own build to other people?
We kind of just jumped right in.So we kind of did it more
because at that time the RV likeprice tag was too much for us.
So we had started seeing on YouTube just a bunch of people
converting school buses. So we're like, hey, the must,
this might be an alternative forus.
(06:46):
So we ended up purchasing a shuttle bus and we just took our
time building it. It was kind of like our way of
like slowly building to the RV. So that's kind of what we
stumbled on it. We had no experience, no
building experience, really no camping experience either.
Like I said, not coming in Bolivia where I'm from and my
husband didn't grow up from a family that was outdoorsy of any
(07:07):
kind. So it was really just a lot of
YouTube videos and like kind of asking ourselves like, what do
we need? OK, we need a bathroom.
Where can we put that like a bag, like essentials and just
kind of figuring it out little by little.
I definitely don't recommend doing that.
We like the part of the reason we did a second build was
because quickly after getting onthe road, we realized like, OK,
(07:29):
we made a lot of mistakes. This is not going to work out.
So that that was a learning experience.
I wish we would have like rentedan RV before or like experienced
the lifestyle a little bit, tried the different like, you
know, RV tices and I feel like and just styles and layouts and
all all that world that exists before we started converting.
(07:50):
So that's why our second conversion was so important for
us because then after a year anda half on the road and a bus
that was not serving us in a layout that wasn't serving us,
we were really eager to do it again.
Now with the understanding of like, OK, what size do we want
to be in? What can we do?
What is comfortable, what is notcomfortable?
And we, one of the big things for us was being able to
(08:10):
boondock or dry camp as much as we can and, you know, go as far
down like dirt roads as we can. So that's why we started looking
for different vehicles that would get us out there because
not every vehicle can get you out there, not like every RV,
not every bus. So that's how we stumbled on,
yeah, an old search and rescue fire truck.
And we were like, why not? You know, it's a cool vehicle.
(08:32):
It's very unique. It is very masculine in the
outside and like, look, we haven't painted it yet, so it
looks very official too. But our goal with the inside
was, first of all, like answering these solutions or
giving solutions to these problems that we had in our
first build and that we have learned along the way.
And then second of all, yeah, making it very homey and as soft
(08:52):
and feminine as possible in the insides to like balance the
outside. So that's what we ended up with.
And I love your honesty. OK, so I've had several people
that have renovated a bus or something like that on the
podcast or like even, I don't know if if you're familiar with
BB in the RV, that's their handle on Instagram and stuff,
(09:14):
but they came from like not knowing anything about RV's and
now they're like luxury renovators.
And I'm like, how did you guys learn this?
I asked almost everyone this andI think people are just so handy
naturally that they just, you'reout.
But you're the first person to say, like, yeah, I don't
(09:35):
recommend it if you don't know what you're doing.
No, I mean, our first boss was like, we were like trying to
learn from YouTube. And granted, this was a time
before like the boom of like conversions and van life.
So there was a lot less resources than there is right
now. We were building cabinets.
First of all, you've never builtthe cabinet and we're out here
trying to build cabinets. And for instance, like the
(09:55):
example I like to use a lot, it's like we used to nails when
we were building a cabinet. We were like, I don't know,
nails. Cabinets hold wood together.
That makes sense. And we quickly realized you
don't want to use nails because like with the friction and the
movement, our cabinets were likefalling apart.
So we spent the better half of our first year on the road just
like fixing our mistakes constantly.
(10:16):
And that's not what you want to do when your house is so small
and you depend on every inch of it.
It just, it adds a lot of stress, especially if you're
trying this lifestyle, you're new to all, you're learning so
many things, you're outside of the comfort zone and adding that
huge level of like upkeep so early on.
And it's such intense upkeep. Definitely don't recommend.
So if you don't have experience,maybe just like try RV's, like
(10:39):
slow down the process or really just buy an RV and renovate it.
Like I really think that if it would have been possible for us,
that would have been like the smartest choice.
And if I would go back, I would definitely choose that route of
like buying something, renovating it, experience it for
a little bit and then maybe building it.
Smart. Oh my gosh, thank you for your
for your vulnerability and your honesty.
(10:59):
I love it so much. So at this point you guys have
travelled to over 40 States and something I know you love to do
is to help people plan budget friendly Rd. trips.
So what are your top like three to four tips for how not to go
broke on the road? I love this.
I love this question. Yeah, I'm a big budget traveler
(11:21):
just because I feel like we havethis conception about traveling,
you know, that you have to spendall your life savings and all
your PTO when really traveling can be such a simple budget
friendly thing that we can incorporate in our day-to-day
lives. So one of my top tips is like
consider like where you're trying to go and why.
Like I feel like really slowing down.
(11:42):
Like if you're trying to go, forinstance, to the Grand Canyon,
like are you trying to go to theGrand Canyon because that's like
a bucket list location or you want to maybe just experience
the desert? If it's a bucket list location,
then consider like different types of accommodations.
So example, like RV rentals, like an RV rental can be your
car rental and your hotel rentalall in one, especially if you're
(12:03):
flying in the Grand Canyon or a lot of our national parks are in
very remote locations. So they're all gonna really take
a car rental, a hotel, a flight,you know, like those kind of
things really start adding up. So trying to like look at your
expenses, where can you join expenses or split expenses?
That's RV rentals are like my favorite way to get friends and
(12:24):
family out here and to share with other people because they
do combine those big the bigger cost, right, the rental and the
lodging. And then if you're trying to
experience certain areas of the country and it's more because
you want to, you know, make it out to the Pacific Northwest and
you're willing to experience different parts of it, check out
like national forests, state parks.
(12:45):
I think a lot of our national parks get all the glory, but
some of my favorite places and the most incredible places I've
been to are more these hidden gems of like state parks,
national forests. A lot of them will also allow
you to camp there for free or for a very low cost.
They're also allow you to do trips.
They're like less than ahead. It's a lot of national parks.
(13:06):
Their campgrounds will be booked, you know, months in
advance and they're much more expensive than a State Park
where you can kind of plan a last minute trip and spent
$20.00 in a campground. So just really looking outside
of that specific like thing thatthe Internet maybe told you to
go and like trying to plan outside of that scope, trying to
plan locally too. I feel like we don't realize in
(13:28):
the States, there's beautiful areas just two to three hours
away from us. Anywhere in the country takes a
little bit more looking up. But if you're willing to take
that little extra step of preparation, you can save a lot
of money. Travel more just like what I
think a lot of people are tryingto do and just experience like
think different things. And I again, like, I think some
of my favorite locations for sure are like the ones where
(13:51):
there's not this big hype aroundit.
You know, it's like kind of likeyou stumble upon it and it's
just less people, more budget friendly and it just feels like
you get to have this more intimate experience with the
location. I love it.
So it sounds like number one, try to figure out how to combine
a couple of the big expenses if you can.
(14:11):
I think that's brilliant If you can combine your hotel and your
car rental into one by renting an RV very smart.
And then look outside the big, you know, bucket listy touristy
locations and see what other natural beauty is in that area.
I love it. My husband and I were talking
(14:31):
earlier today about this State Park in Indiana, which is like,
honestly not my favorite state. I don't know many people love
Indiana in particular, but there's a State Park called
Turkey Run. And we only spent one.
We were like passing through like just spent one night there
and it completely shocked us because there's like this
(14:52):
little, there's a lot of hiking trails through these caverns and
it's like a very cheap, unassuming campground, like
maybe full hookups every like ina small section of the
campground. It's not glamorous at all, but
the heights around there are mind blowing.
And I would never have expected that.
(15:13):
I would have never known that about this area if we wouldn't
have like, yeah, branched out into, you know, a little State
Park in the middle of Indiana. Exactly.
Yeah, those are my favorite stories too, like places you
kind of end up with or like evenif you're broader in your
search. So like Wyoming is the state
that I really like to give example of because North West my
(15:37):
Wyoming gets all the glory, likeGrand Teton, Yellowstone and
southwest Wyoming is my favorite.
And I would even argue some of the hikes and the views down
there are better than the Grand Tetons.
And there's no crowds. The towns are very affordable.
They're not you're not paying like that travel tax of like
Jackson or these like very smalltowns outside of national parks
(15:58):
that kind of get that little extra in there.
And it's, yeah, that's a big state that I like to point out
because there's so much more to.And that's what happens
everywhere I have since. Everywhere.
So you're probably planning out your travels for the rest of the
year. And if you're heading out West,
I. Hope that Bryce.
Canyon is on your must see list.It's one of our family's
favorite national parks. I recommend staying at Bryce
(16:19):
Canyon RV Resort which is a short drive from the park
entrance has incredible. Views.
Full hookups and all the family friendly amenities you're
looking for. Bryce Canyon RV Resort is in our
Journey campground so you know it's going to be clean and safe.
Click the link in the show notesto book now and start your
journey with our Journey. You're also passionate about
(16:41):
introducing people to the world of RV travel through RV rentals,
which you've already brought up in this conversation.
I love it. How did you get into that?
I think. That for me the experience comes
from, like I mentioned before, like we kind of jumped into this
lifestyle and then it felt like,wait, like they we're missing
something. I feel like we, we're, I have
that feeling when we were building the bus and then once
(17:03):
we took off, I was like, we're missing something here, Like I'm
missing something. And that's when I really
discovered the world of like RV life.
I was like, wait, there's so many different types of RV's,
makes models, there's so many different types of ways to do RV
life. People doing a part time, full
time, you know, seasonally, all stuff.
And when we when I kind of discovered this world and at the
(17:23):
same time we were on the road and we had friends and family
like seeing where we were going,being like, wait, this is
incredible. Like I want to go there.
How do I go there? How do I get there?
And I started looking at the mapand sharing some locations with
friends and family. I was like, wait, these towns
are in the middle of nowhere, like it's a trek to get out
here, right. So it's like, how can you
actually make these locations accessible?
(17:45):
That's kind of how I ended up inthe world of our re rentals.
I had, we've had my parents fromBolivia come to the States and
we've gotten them RV's and taking them on road trips and
it's been the most incredible experience to share this
lifestyle. I think everybody is so like
excited about the road trip aspect, but then you have your
house. Once you start getting to taste
the RV life, as you probably know, it is so hard to like want
(18:08):
to travel differently when you have your whole house, your
accommodation, Like it just becomes a travel style that
makes so much sense for so many people, especially people that
are like trying to do the outdoor things like hiking and
experiencing national parks and getting out there and
disconnected. So through this world, I ended
up getting to RV Share. So that's an RV rental company.
(18:31):
It's a peer-to-peer marketplace.And I started there as an intern
just with this passion of getting more people to know this
lifestyle and try it out. And I had used the service
myself and I was just So I'm so passionate about this world and
getting people to experience it.And yeah, I've been with RV
Share for a few years trying to get more people to experience RV
rentals and. Looking back, I mean, we were
(18:53):
kind of like you. We didn't build our own rig from
the start, but my husband and I had no idea about RV our RV's
before. We just bought 1 and hit the
road and looking back and like why didn't we rent one for at
least like a week? Chill, you know, like you don't
have to go like spend 10s of thousands of dollars to buy 1.
(19:16):
You can ease yourself into it. And I wish we would have done
that. And now we know, and I try to
tell people that all the time that are interested in getting
into RV life that they should start with RV rentals.
Yeah, I think like everyone thatI've talked to that lives in an
RV, they're part time or full time, has that sentiment of
(19:37):
like, I wish I would have experienced it a little bit more
before I committed to something because really the end, Like
there's endless options of RV's,right?
Make models like fifth wheels, million different versions of
that. Like in every category, there's
so many different layouts and options and it's hard to know
what you actually are going to need and want when you're out
there camping. I think you can assume from like
(19:59):
your house life like, oh, I think I need a big bathroom.
But maybe it turns out that you rather have the bigger kitchen.
And you really won't know until you have those like life
experiences or user experiences.And that's why I think if you
are interested in any sort of version of Rd. life, whether
that's RV or building your own, the only thing you're going to
do with renting RV is benefitingyourself with that knowledge on
(20:20):
like how to make better decisions.
There's another. Side to RV rentals where people
that currently own RV's and rentthem out on a platform, RV share
is one of them that you currently work with.
Tell us about that. Like how much can people plan to
make from renting their RV? How does this work?
(20:44):
It's a great income if you do have an RV and you're just using
it like part time or seasonally instead of it having just sit
sitting in your driveway. The how much you make a year
varies greatly depending what area you're in, what your
nightly rate is going to be. But it's really a great income
for people who have RV's. We have RV share as a
marketplace in all 50 states. So we're everywhere.
(21:06):
And the demand for RV rentals has just exponentially grown,
especially since the pandemic. I think more people are aware of
this category of travel, more people want to experience this
category of travel and it's really open for everyone.
So whether you have a drivable RV or if you have a big fifth
wheel RV share, for instance, has a service for owners where
(21:26):
they can deliver those kind of RV's like trailers or fifth
wheels so that you don't have to, you know, risk sending it
off with someone that maybe doesn't have the experience.
The whole process is really protecting both owners and
renters. So we do all sorts of trainings
with owners on, you know, how toget your listings up and your
pictures, how to maximize your profits, coaching you through
everything that's going to be starting a business.
(21:48):
A lot of owners have started on RV share with their own RV, and
I ended up buying two or three RV's to run a little side
business out of it, which is a great alternative for anybody
who's really interested in this lifestyle and wants to, you
know, encourage other people to join too.
You've already got my wheels spinning about.
Maybe we need to sunset this oneand put it as a rental.
(22:11):
And because we just went like a couple months ago, we went to
the Tampa RV show. Dude, RV shows are dangerous
because you just think you need the world after you see that.
But I have this one model in mind and I'm like, OK, true.
My husband, I told him if we're going to keep RV ING full time
for like a few more years, I think we should just rent out
(22:33):
our current 1 and go get that other fifth field that's out
there. Yeah.
I think also our needs change, right?
As travelers. I think you start doing this
full time and your needs start changing.
Like maybe you want more space, maybe you're OK with less space.
So also like it gives you that flexibility too.
Switching topics just a little bit here.
You have written that unpluggingand RV ING has changed your
(22:56):
life. Why do you think that RV ING is
better than other forms of travel?
Yeah, I love this question. So I've done a little bit of
every style of travel out there.So I'm backpacked, I've done
cruise around the world, I've done a little bit of everything.
But I think our game for me has become so my preferred way of
traveling because it is really incorporating the excitement of
(23:19):
travel with like the good feelings of having a home base
and your routine and access to food and cooking it the way you
want it to. So it really merged 2 important
worlds for me and I think it does for a lot of people.
It allows you to see different places and move while having
this like ability to have this routine and your things with you
(23:40):
and not having to do this exhausting game of like air port
and packing and unpacking and going somewhere else.
And it just, that became really exhausting for me, like as I
started doing it more. And it's RV solves that, right?
Like you can go to different places, have all your things
with you. And it allows you to also slow
down a little bit from like, I think regular travel.
(24:02):
You can spend a lot of time in one place and it's the same
whether you're moving or not. And it just gives you the
flexibility of however you want to travel.
Sometimes we move a lot, sometimes we stay in the same
place for a long time. And you can't really do that
with other forms of travel without extensive planning.
So even that it just opens up your your flexibility on how and
(24:23):
when you want to travel. I totally agree 100% and when
you were talking about taking your home with you and like
having your things the way you like them, the first thing that
came to my mind was our coffee setup.
Like every time we leave and, you know, decide to take like a
little vacation, even from our RV life, we pack up the
(24:44):
suitcase. I, I still pack up like the
little coffee powders and my whole setup that I like to have
for my coffee. And it's like such a, it's funny
because now traditional travel feels like such a hassle, even
though like our life is traveling full time, like you
(25:06):
just it, it's the perfect blend of the two worlds.
You have a home base that you travel with and you have all
your stuff and all your things how you like them, but you also
get to experience like the wholeworld if you want to, you know?
Absolutely. I agree with you.
Yeah, Especially nowadays with like air travel being so crazy,
like airports and every. It's just exhausting.
(25:27):
I feel like you come back from some of those vacations and
you're like, you know the sayinglike I need a vacation from my
vacation. Like I feel like traveling was
feeling like that for me. And RV travel has never felt
like that. Like I've never felt like, OK,
this is exhausting. I need to take a travel out of
this. Like, whereas other ones have
definitely gotten to that point.I am loving this conversation,
Fiorella. OK.
(25:47):
Go ahead and share with everyonewhere they can connect with you
online and then I will ask you my last couple questions.
Yeah, absolutely. So my adventures are online as
growing slow and wild. If you've been interested about
RV World and want to try rentals, you can find
rvshare@rvshare.com and in all socials at RV Share.
Oh, and I forgot to mention, yeah, growing slow and wild, you
(26:11):
and your husband run like a little art studio from the road.
Or is it just your husband that's the artist, but you kind
of like do the business together?
It was always supposed to be. It's kind of like got two things
in 1. So it's a passion project that
started for us on the road. So he's like an artist to like
graphic design or freehand designs.
So he does that in old vintage mediums or natural mediums and
(26:34):
all this stuff. And then I do the other half of
it, which is like vintage thriftstore antique finds.
So we do a little bit of both. We mix both mediums whenever we
can. So it's, yeah, it's one of those
things that was born down a dirtRd. when we were traveling.
And we had that freedom to be like, hey, let's start this,
this is fun. So how can we merge it?
And that's our little. Store.
(26:54):
I love that. So listeners, please go check it
out. Growing slow and wild is what
their brand is called. And if you're interested in RV
rentals, go check out RV Share and see what they've got going
on. OK, so Fiorella, this season of
the podcast, I have been ending my interviews with a couple
rounds of one in one questions where I ask a question and then
we both answer it. So I've got 2 for you today.
(27:17):
The first one is about food because, I mean, who doesn't
love a part of travel that is trying all the different foods,
right? Yeah.
So what is your favorite free dinner appetizer?
I'm a big like if we're anywherethat has nachos, I'm a big like
nachos person. I'm picky about them, but I am
(27:38):
in a tour of nachos around the United States seeing who has the
best 1. So I think that one is the one
that comes to mind first. OK, well you have to tell us
what have been the best nachos and why are you picky about
them. Oh, because it's a science of
like balance of how much like toppings and, and what kind of
chip it comes in. You know, it's, it's a balancing
act. I think some of the best ones
(27:59):
we've had is have been in Arizona, which you know some of
the best Mexican food in the country I would say is in
Arizona. When nachos have like a queso
cheese? Or do you like it when they melt
shredded cheese? That's a great question.
I am OK with either as long as Iget like I'm very picky about
the balance of it. Like it can't be too many too
much melted cheese and then likeall of your chips are dripping.
(28:21):
Like I don't, I don't love that.It needs to be a good balance.
Like I need to be able to like still taste the chip.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, so true. We don't want any soggy chips.
It's got to still retain its crunch.
Yeah, to be able to be the carrier method.
So true, man. I went I went deep on the the
Nacho topic because I'm apparently also passionate about
(28:42):
it. But I was going to say my
favorite appetizer. If I'm in like a totally
splurgey dinner mode, I will order the spinach artichoke dip.
But I'm the same as you. I'm picky about it.
I don't want giant pieces of artichoke.
Nobody wants that. And I don't want giant pieces of
spinach, OK? It's like everything chopped up
(29:03):
super duper fine. A lot of parmesan, a lot of
garlic. I love.
It. I love it.
That's a great one actually. I feel like that's up there on
my list as well. OK.
Last question for you. You've seen over 35 national
parks. We kind of touched on this
question a little bit at the beginning.
Which National Park would you say is your favorite, kind of
(29:23):
like hidden gem that you've seen?
And also because I know you likegoing outside the box, if you
have a non National Park that you want to talk about, that's
OK too. I do have a National Park that
we discovered last year that's Great Basin National Park and
that's in Nevada. It's a corner of Nevada that's
very unexplored, like the northeast side of it.
(29:44):
And that National Park has incredible, like Alpine lakes in
Nevada, which is crazy. And then caves.
It's so diverse. And that's probably one of my
favorite national parks in general, just because I do love
the like it's a hidden, it's truly feels like a hidden gem
out there. And the location is great.
And yeah, that's that's a big one that's up there in my.
List. OK, I like it.
(30:06):
I would say the little hidden gem National Park that I like
the most is Bryce Canyon. It's we saw it when we were
going through southern Utah. And I mean, there's so much to
see in southern Utah. And we almost didn't stop at
Bryce Canyon because it was likewe were going to go see Zion and
(30:28):
Grand Canyon and we had just come from Salt Lake City.
And then I mean, there's like somuch to see around there.
I'm so glad we stopped at Bryce Canyon because it's first of all
the there's camping like right outside the National Park.
It doesn't take like 45 minutes or an hour to get into the park.
You, you can just like bam, you're right there and see the
(30:49):
Canyon. And then also it doesn't have a
bunch of like big annoying touristy stuff built up around
it. It's like it feels cozy and
quaint and it's a beautiful area.
The Canyon is amazing. It has great hikes but it
doesn't feel overwhelming I. Know that's one of my favorite
(31:10):
parks ever too. That's up there.
That's an incredible park. So I agree with everything.
You said good stuff, I'm glad you like it cuz if you did.
No, it's one of my favorites. I love it.
It does get, I feel like like hidden behind like Zion and
Grand Canyon. It's like sandwiched between two
big ones. But that one.
'S a great one. I know there's so much to see in
that area. You could just spend months and
(31:31):
months. Oh, yeah.
One state. Yeah, that's so true.
All righty. Well, that is a wrap.
Thank you for being on the show today, Fiorella.
I really enjoy this conversationand even just getting to know
you. No, thank you for having me.
I loved it. I loved every read it of it so
I'm excited it. Was my pleasure.
All righty, I will see you on the road.
Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode and for being
(31:53):
part of the RV Queens community.Remember to hit subscribe on
whatever platform you're listening on.
And guess what? You can have conversations like
I had on this episode. With your fellow RV.
Women who are living intentionally and making money
on the road head to rvqueenspodcast.com/community to
join RV Queen circles today. It's a totally unique online
(32:17):
space with a shared prosperity model that's all about community
over competition. I'd love to have.
You be a part. All right, guys.
I'll see you next. Week or hopefully I will see you
on the road till.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Cardiac Cowboys
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.