We are road trip lovers, camping lovers and wannabe “#vanlifers” based in south central Minnesota!

But as much as we’ve tried to find a van that is comfortable, tall and roomy enough for two “big” people and two large puppy fur babies, we haven’t had much luck so far, at least not yet. JK is 6’3″ and finding a bed and van ceiling height to fit has been a challenge.

We have been camping since we first dated in the 2000’s, starting off in the California Sierra Mountains with a tent and basic old school gear stuffed into the back of JK’s vintage K-5 Blazer! The quest for comfortable and affordable sleeping cots for tent camping led us down a crazy and pricey rabbit hole into RV life!

We have owned three different campers so far – A 19-foot Salem towable travel trailer, a 27-foot Four Winds Class C camper and now our mini–Class A Thor Industries Vegas 24.1 named Elvis. We enjoy the room, twin beds and ceiling height in Elvis, but then we start to think about downsizing rigs…and dream of being a part of the fulltime RVing and #vanlife movement.

Nowadays, Kim is a busy and successful REALTOR® following her 30-plus year career in radio broadcasting. JK is semi-retired, which means he’s down from three professional careers to just one. He hung up his apron as a longtime professional chef a couple years ago and just recently retired from more than a decade in radio. As a matter of fact, this husband-and-wife team had a very popular morning radio show together (called JK and Kim in the Morning, go figure!) for over five years on a 100,000-watt FM station in southern Minnesota before calling it quits. JK now focuses on his first love and longest career path, as a photographer and freelance writer to help pay some of the bills.

So, until that “perfect” van comes into our lives we will continue to have fun and explore in our “just slightly bigger than a van” camper. We even came up with a hashtag for what we’re doing! – #vanlifeforbigpeople!

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