Destination Unknown

Tag: 2021

  • 5 benefits of traveling with your family in an RV

    5 benefits of traveling with your family in an RV

    Why you should travel with your family in an RV

    5 benefits of traveling with your family in an RV

    We have discovered so much about us as a family since starting our journey. Here are our 5 benefits of traveling with your family in an RV.

    1. We have all we need as a family & in the RV
    2. We have strengthened our family ties
    3. We discover new interests together
    4. We learn when we need to be apart
    5. We save money

    We are the Hildebrand Family (“HildeFam” for short) and we moved our family of five into our dream tiny home on wheels in May 2021 to travel across North America. We spent 7 months converting an old retired school bus and turning her in the HildeBus we know and love today.

    At the time that we moved into our Skoolie, our children were 4 years old (Landon), 3 (Finley) and 1 (Madeleine). Our family of five consists of mom (Ingrid), dad (Eric), & our kiddos.

    We have all we need as a family & in the RV

    We have all we need as a family & in the RV. We live with less stuff on purpose but have a whole lot more family time.

    With everyone pitching in it’s easier to get everything done on the road. No one feels left out when they are not sitting behind a steering wheel or pushing buttons, instead we all interact together with what we have.

    We have strengthened our family ties

    Traveling with your family in an RV is a great way to build strong family bonds. When you are on the road together, spending long hours in the car or touring museums there isn’t much room for any one person to feel bored or left out.

    We spend 99.9% of our days together.

    We get to see our children develop, explore and grow every minute of the day. Before we hit the road, we would be lucky to see our kids more than 4 hours a day because we would drop them off to day care in the morning so we could go to work.

    We discover new interests together

    Traveling in an RV has allowed us to discover a lot of different interests. We spend our time outdoors when the weather is nice and, when it’s not, we stay inside learning about each other, drawing on coloring books, reading stories and baking cakes.

    Our son, Landon, loves to draw. He could draw for hours and hours and hours. Our daughter, Finley, loves learning and showing off her academic prowess. Madeleine loves to dance all the time. Would we have noticed these little things as much when we were living in a bigger space?

    We learn when we need time apart from each other

    Let’s be real! Life isn’t always “instagrammable.”

    Sometimes, it can be hard for everyone to get along all the time and it is good to have some personal space from your loved ones every once in awhile- even if you are still traveling with them at the end of the day!

    Whether that means dad takes the kids for a long walk so mom can repaint her nails, or mom takes the kids grocery shopping so dad can do yoga without interruption, we all need personal space. Even the little ones!

    Scheduling personal time didn’t work for us since we often lost track of time on the road. When we felt too much stress building up, we would just tell each other and then figure out a time that worked best for all parties, sooner rather than later. This scheduling worked best for us.

    Could you ever move your family into a tiny home on wheels for an extended period of time? Have you done it before? Let us know.

    We save money

    Traveling in an RV is cheaper than traveling by plane or train and we don’t have to worry about the time difference.

    RV living costs less than renting a house so your vacation becomes more affordable when you live on the road.

    It also allows us to save thousands of dollars by not having expenses for:

    • mortgage
    • utilities
    • daycare
    • car insurance (we are not towing a vehicle)
    • eating out as frequently

    Thanks for following our journey. – Ingrid & the HildeFam

  • It’s a Skoolie Wrap with Media 1

    It’s a Skoolie Wrap with Media 1

    In mid-June 2021, we spent 3 days in the Orlando area with Media 1 Wrap This as they wrapped our skoolie, lovingly called the “Hildebus,” with the most epic wrap.

    Earlier in April, Eric reconnected with Rick Ream, one of the owners of Media 1, at a skydiver reunion in Zephyrhills. It was at that reunion that the idea of wrapping our school bus became a reality. 

    Don’t tempt skydivers with a good time!

    After some back and forth with Jason, their in-house marketing guru, we settled on a large-scale design that spans both sides of our bus with some real estate on the front and back. 

    Truly, these guys knocked this wrap out of the park.

    Watch the Vlog!

    The Before

    We document the wrap going onto the bus and a tour of their facility in this vlog.

    In addition to showing our on-going bus wrap, I also show a supercar they were working on and the sign fabrication area, where they make signs for businesses, varying in size from small to large to massive.

    It really is fascinating to see what they do.

    Do we love the wrap?

    Yes! Driving a school bus is a conversation starter in and of itself; driving a school bus WITH a beautiful wrap makes us approachable, which we enjoy. 

    We have so many positive interactions with people when they see our skoolie go by. We meet a lot of people that are genuinely interested in our goal of traveling the United States for a year AND that Eric built the interior of the himself, in large part to YouTube videos. This interaction is made even better because we can stay in touch with people that we meet easily through our YouTube channel, referenced on the bus.

    The goal of the wrap is foremost to push people to our YouTube channel, where we certainly have increased our subscriber base since its installation.

    Will it last?

    Based on conversations with Dale Salamacha, the founder at Media 1, this product can go for many years without issue. 

    Media 1 definitely knows this product best since they are one of the leading users of 3M products in the southeast – they wrap over 70 vehicles a month: super cars, buses, trucks, etc. During the wrap, they gave us a tour of the facility and it really is astounding what they can create with the wrap materials.

    The wrap is a 3M product with HP print technology & a laminated finish, so it is durable in all weather situations we will encounter on the road. The finish quality is outstanding – crisp, bright and long-lasting.

    Contact Media 1

    If you want to reach Media 1 for your own wrap or sign design, installation, fabrication, etc, their information is linked below:

    • Email: sales@media1signs.com
    • Phone: 407-331-6161
    • Website: https://media1signs.com
    • Address: 501 Cornwall Road Sanford, FL 32773