I Knew I was A TrailBlazer The Day Family

I knEw i wAs A

trailBlazer In this issue of the magazine, Trailblazer would like to introduce you to Lis and Jason Day, two longtime FEATURinG ThE DAy FAMily campers who decided to take their love of camping on the road and go fulltime as a family of six in 2018.

TB: how lonG hAvE yoU BEEn cAMpinG AnD RvinG? who inTRoDUcED yoU To iT? TEll Us how iT All BEGAn!

LD: My (Lis) grandparents own a campground in upstate New York, so my family has been camping since we were babies. It started as tent camping and evolved into RVing. When Jason and I got married, we started tent camping in the mountains of Utah but after adding half a dozen kids to our family, an RV made life much easier. Any chance we got, we would pack up the dirt bikes and the kids and hit the road.

TB: how DiD yoU FiRsT hEAR ABoUT ThoUsAnD TRAils?

LD: In 2018, when we decided to travel fulltime and live in our RV, we looked for options to make that possible. I believe it was an article I read. Having a network of parks throughout the U.S. made it feel a little less uncomfortable to make this lifestyle change.

TB: whAT is onE oF yoUR FonDEsT cAMpinG MEMoRiEs? how ABoUT onE oF yoUR FonDEsT TT MEMoRiEs?

LD: Every Memorial Day as a kid, my family would get together; some in RVs, others in tents. We would spend the long weekend together and play games, sing along to the radio, and break bread. Jason’s fondest memory camping is when we had our class C, and took the kids to Idaho and rode our toys all day.

Our fondest memories of TT surround the people we have met. Ugly sweater Christmas parties, New Year’s Eve parties, Friendsgiving, celebrating birthdays, enjoying the Florida Keys together. For us, the people are what make TT.

TB: Any FUnny cAMpinG/RvinG sToRiEs?

LD: When our 14-year-old was a baby, we went to the sand dunes in Utah. Jason, being a little immature and a lot pyromaniac, decided to find the device that made the biggest boom. No explosion or fire really, but a loud boom sound. As a friend and I were putting down our babies to sleep, they were lighting off these booms right outside of our rig. Mama bear came out that night and I’m pretty sure I scared a few of his friends. They also dug a 6-foot-deep hole in the sand to hide their friend’s 4-wheeler in. Just the flag was sticking up. It was hours of digging for a couple minutes of laughs and it was worth it.

TB: whAT TypE oF cAMpER ARE yoU/whAT EqUipMEnT Do yoU UsE? whAT Do yoU pREFER AnD why? (Ex: FiFTh whEEl, Rv, TEnT, cABins, ETc.)

LD: Since we fulltime, a rig is essential for our

family. We are in a Grand Design Momentum Toy Hauler right now. We converted the toy hauler space to our kids’ bedroom and living room. As our kids get older we hope to do more backpacking and overnight camping in places we can’t bring the RV.

TB: whERE hAvE yoU GonE ThAT yoU woUlDn’T hAvE oThERwisE, iF iT hADn’T BEEn FoR yoUR ThoUsAnD TRAils MEMBERship?

LD: One of the things we actually really like about TT is it brings us to places we wouldn’t have gone without it. There was a park right outside of Atlanta that we stayed in. It was in South Carolina and it was like the perfect summer camp.

TB: whAT is yoUR FAvoRiTE pART ABoUT ThE oUTDooR liFEsTylE?

LD: Getting away from screens! Media consumes the world right now. We don’t want that for ourselves or our kids. We want to experience and explore this world.

TB: This is ThE qUEsTion wE will BE FinishinG ThE FEATURE wiTh EvERy MonTh. wE wAnT To know whEn yoU knEw yoU wERE ThE consUMMATE cAMpER, A TRUE TRAilBlAzER. cAn yoU Finish This sEnTEncE? I knEw I wAs A TRAilBlAzER whEn...

LD: Every chance we got, we spent it outdoors. ■