RV Living

Top: Sarah Roggless’ RV in Monaghan State Park. Middle: RV in Moab, Utah. Bottom: Campsite near Mackinaw Ialand.

By Katie Roiger | Submitted photos “It was go, go, go, all the time,” said Sarah Roggless of Mankato. “We were growing tired of the routine.” During the past few years, life for the Roggless family had sped up like a spinning hamster wheel. Sarah, her husband, and her two children found themselves busier than ever and, while they enjoyed their work and their home, Roggless said that she felt as though time was racing past with few meaningful memories to show for it.

“We decided to look at options for doing life differently!” Roggless said. In the spring of 2019, she and her husband began discussing options for being more intentional about appreciating their loved ones and creating shared experiences. Both loved to travel and almost without realizing it, they found themselves researching recreational vehicles.

A 39-foot used Keystone Sprinter, complete with a bunk house for the kids and a separate bedroom that could double as an office, opened brand-new possibilities. As the vice president of a software development company’s public sector division, Roggless could work from any location that had sufficient Internet. Her husband quit his job and spent some time preparing to homeschool their children. By September of 2019, they were on the road.

While traveling around the United States for nearly a year, the Roggless clan visited 27 states, 14 national parks, 54 campgrounds, and racked up countless precious experiences including white water rafting and seeing Harry Potter on Broadway.

“It [the trip] taught us to live in the moment,” Roggless said. “Experiences as a family are much more important than material things.”

Roggless and her family aren’t the only people looking to make life portable. A movement known as #VanLife is sweeping the globe, driven (pardon the pun) by individuals and families who choose to live in converted vehicles or traditional campers either part-time or full-time.

“You have a sense of independence,” said Mankato’s Keepers RV Center owner Lisa May about the mobile lifestyle. “You can control where you go and have a little more freedom to stop when you want to stop.”

Even those who don’t have the opportunity or inclination for extended journeying have discovered the RV’s potential for quick, relaxing getaways or social staycations. Unlike many other forms of business, the RV trade saw a moderate upswing in business during the coronavirus crisis of 2020.

“The RV industry has always been growing, but on top of that, when you coop people up, they look for ways to get outdoors and do stuff with family and friends where they don’t have to feel nervous,” said Kimberly Kroubetz, owner of Lakeside Campers in Lake Crystal. “Camping and boating and fishing and kayaking - all of those things allow people to be around family and friends while being safe and distanced.”

While COVID-19 didn’t necessarily cause the recent enthusiasm for #VanLife, it certainly fueled interest in a mobile homes and campers, especially among younger buyers. Kroubetz said that the RV industry is currently seeing a significant increase in purchases made by millennials. For many years, aby boomers were the primary camper buyers, but younger people are showing growing interest in the simplicity and mobility.

“Unlike people my age, they’re more minimalist,” said Kroubetz regarding her millennial customers. “They love the outdoors and they seem to really want quality.”

One thing both baby boomers and millennials appear to share is appreciation for today’s RV’s automated features. Using the manually-cranked awnings and sitting in the un-airconditioned interiors of the camper models would have been “roughing it” according to modern standards. Nowadays, it would be difficult to find an RV without an air conditioning unit, let alone satellite and Wi-Fi.

“So many things are automatic and made to be easier for the user, like electric jacks and slide-outs,” May said. “Solar panels are getting to be a big thing, because then it’s a little bit easier to boondock, where you can go to a more primitive campground or camp in your uncle’s farmyard –that kind of thing.”

When getting to know first-time customers, Kroubetz said that the first question she asks is always about the kind of car they drive.

“If you’re not going to buy a new vehicle, let’s find out what your vehicle can tow,” she said. “That’s going to narrow it down a bunch.”

Recreational vehicles come in a wide range of sizes and styles, from the traditional tent campers, to 5thwheel toy haulers that have space for motorcycles and four-wheelers, to horse trailers with living quarters, to large motorized units. What people choose depends not only on what their car can pull, but the size of their families and their purpose for buying. Among her customers, Kroubetz has had a tattoo artist purchase a toy hauler as a traveling office, a professional diver and competition barbecue chefs who found their recreational vehicles handy for living on the road, and a nurse who purchased and renovated a toy hauler to house her husband’s kidney dialysis equipment.

Mankato residents Dan and Jo Peterson first bonded over a shared

From left to right: Will, Lisa, Emily, Bruce of Keepers RV.

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love of travel. They talked about a mobile lifestyle on their first date, bought a 34-foot travel trailer shortly after, and were married on the road a month later. Around two years afterward, they upgraded to a 40-foot 5th wheel that had slightly roomier living quarters – a big plus, since the couple spends most of the year on the road.

“We’ve gone through all except 15 states, but they’re all on our radar,” David said. The couple treasures their travel memories, including one unforgettable journey to Alaska. Besides breathtaking views and oncein-a-lifetime adventures, they credit their Alaska trip with introducing them to some wonderful people.

“We parked at a free campground and there were 3 or 4 other campers there,” said David. “A couple of them were guitar players, and they came around and knocked on our door and said, ‘If you want to join us in a few minutes, just grab a beverage!’ They sang for us and we just had a great time that evening.”

The Roggless clan still keeps in touch with some of their fellow travelers.

“We met a great family in Texas and actually met up with them in Arizona, Montana, and Utah,” Roggless said. Now that they are home in Mankato, Facebook and social media helps them stay up to date with their RV friends.

Far from being a solitary adventure, Kroubetz says that most owners of recreational vehicles seem to want to travel together to heighten the experience.

“We get a lot of families where one of their friends has a huge field out in the country and they go out there and have a weekend,” she said. “It’s just good, old-fashioned family time. Everyone works so much and they’re so busy that it’s just a very cool, unplugged time.”

While some RV owners enjoy roaming the United States in search of bucket list destinations, but just as many choose to stay local during their vacation travels. Blue Earth County alone offers six parks and three campgrounds for daily use or overnight stays.

If you’re looking for a new adventure, hoping to rediscover your family’s love for the outdoors, or simply enjoy a social-distanced weekend activity with loved ones, #VanLife – or RV life – might be just right for you. Just ask those who’ve already given it a try!

“We learned so much about each other since we were together 24/7,” Roggless said. “We learned to be flexible and enjoy where the day takes you.”

Kroubetz Staff