Lezlie here – Former RVer Job Exchange Director.
My partner Andy and I have been full-time RVers since July of 2017 and Xscapers since shortly after that.
As I write this, we just finished a 1,300-mile, 3-day trek from Indianapolis, IN to Pagosa Springs, CO.
And let me tell you, hauling a 33-foot 5th wheel across that many miles in so few days (including Wolf Creek Pass on Day 3) is stressful!
So why did we do it?
Community. Friends. Our people.
They were 1,300 miles away, we were done with all the obligations that had taken us so far away from them in the first place, and we wanted to get back to them as quickly as possible.
That’s how much they mean to us. And we met them all through Xscapers.
Andy & I say all the time that we have so many more friends as nomads than we ever had when we were stationary. And it’s true.
When you rent or buy a place to live, you very rarely get to pick the people who live around you. But when you RV, you get to choose who you live by and change that up whenever you want!
That’s the beauty of full-time RVing.
But the beauty of Xscapers is even deeper than that.
What Is Xscapers?
So what is Xscapers, really?
The short answer is that Xscapers is a community within Escapees RV Club created for working-aged RVers.
And since the Escapees mission has always been to be a total support network for all RVers, it’s safe to say Xscapers strives to be a total support network for all working aged-RVers.
Escapees RV Club offers education, online groups and a social media page, an RVer-specific job board with helpful job search resources, and so much more as benefits of being an Escapees member (which all Xscapers are).
And while all of that is awesome for a full-time RVer like me, it’s not what makes Xscapers truly special. It’s not the heart of what Xscapers is.
The Heart of Xscapers: Community and Convergences
The heart of Xscapers is its people and the events where they gather, called Convergences.
Somehow Xscapers has cultivated this impressive community of genuinely good people.
There must be a bit of magic to it.
Xscapers members, more than any group I’ve seen, are always willing to help.
Some examples:
- When a group of us gathers in an area, we always leave it better and cleaner than we found it.
- When Xscapers organizes a Convergence event down in Mexico, they include community service as an optional activity, and nearly everyone shows up.
- When you have rig / truck / car trouble around a group of Xscapers, at least 2-3 people (and often more) are going to offer to help you troubleshoot the issue, drive you to the auto parts store, or even help you do the work of getting it fixed.
- We cook meals for each other when someone gets sick and offer to pick up something from the store for each other (because it’s 45 miles to the nearest town).
- We support each other through losses, encourage each other through hard times, and pick each other up when we’re down.
- As a community, Xscapers has cultivated a culture of helping and supporting and doing for one another.
And I, for one, am hugely grateful to be a part of it.
But you don’t have to take just my word for it.
Below are stories from several more Xscapers sharing what they love about this community.
What Xscapers Means to Members
Hannah
- @the.curly.nomad
- Full-time RVer since: July 2016
When I first joined Xscapers, I actually wasn’t looking to join. I had been on the road solo for a year and a half and really didn’t think I wanted or needed any sort of club.
BUT then I met up with some people I had connected with on Instagram, who were going to Part 2 of the Annual Bash at American Girl Mine in January 2018. And I had planned on not participating. But then I saw the energy of the group, met some of the people, and just had to join.
There is something about finding a group of people who are “like-minded” on a very core level. It takes a very committed set of values to hit the road – the drive for independence, the drive for designing your own life, the drive to experience new things and to be open-minded.
That’s what Xscapers is to me – a group with very similar core values by default, because we all chose to travel in this way, and it’s a big decision that takes a lot of commitment to follow through on. And it’s really, really hard to find large groups of that “type” of person out in the “real world” which is what makes Xscapers a bit magical.
The group has gotten big enough now that I find I get along with some circles better than others, but that’s another great thing about it. There are pockets of people with certain interests and mindsets throughout the whole group.
And certain Xscapers have become like family to me – like the ones I spent the entire pandemic with. On top of that, every time I go to an event, I “collect” one or two new people that I just really, really hit it off with, and who enhance my life even when I’m not with the group.
I came into this club as a much younger, much less experienced, much more naive version of myself and have made connections that have supported me, helped me grow, provided new insights and learning experiences and shared wisdom, the list goes on.
Art & Michelle
- @WeAreRoamingRoyals
- Full-time RVers since: December 2020
We made our decision to become full-time nomads in our motorhome on a whim… on a week-long road trip from Colorado to Florida. We were in our car with our two dogs, passing RVs along the way. “How do you feel about getting an RV and traveling?”
Sure, what can go wrong?
Neither of us had ever set foot in an RV before. A month later, we had purchased our motorhome, sold our Denver home and hit the road! Fast forward almost 2 years and if we won the lottery, we wouldn’t change a thing.
As part of our due diligence, we joined the Xscapers division of the Escapees. Our understanding was that it was a group of amazing, like-minded folks living primarily full-time in an RV but without the luxury of retirement. Since we are working on the road, they sounded like our kind of people.
For our first year on the road, we were touring up and down the east coast of the US, so we were not able to attend any of the Xscapers events. In January of 2021, however, we were finally in a place where we could attend the Xscapers Annual Bash, and wow… what an event it was!
Immediately, we both knew that we had found our tribe!
Sure, we have met other campers along our journey, but we didn’t get that “family” feeling that we did with the wonderful people we met at the Bash. On top of the warm fuzzy feelings we had, one experience was all it took to confirm our membership.
Our motorhome came with 2 solar panels, and we had already upgraded our batteries to lithium. We hadn’t boondocked for an extended period, so 3 days in at Bash, we woke up to cold, snuggly dogs and even colder noses and toes. We discovered that our batteries had depleted to the point that we couldn’t run our furnace, even with the beautiful, sunny days that should have been fueling our solar panels.
We posted a message describing our problem in the Xscapers Facebook group in the wee morning hour of about 7:30 am. Within 30 minutes, two solar-knowledgeable Xscapers showed up at our rig, helping to evaluate the issue.
Who does that?!? Xscapers do!
We all agreed on the plan of action and Art proceeded to remove the batteries, and with our new Xscapers friends popping by to check in, we made some tweaks and changes that got us back on the right track.
At the very first Xscaper event we attended, we instantly formed long-term friendships and have been able to meet up with our friends along the way as we now tour the west coast. We are so excited to be attending more events and will even be signing up for the Winter Home Base event in Mexico!
Erik, Jeanne & Hershey Pup
- Erik is on Facebook
- Full-time RVers since: Summer 2020
The Xscapers community has helped Jeanne and I have a very successful first two years on the road traveling fulltime. When we first launched into our life-transforming journey in the Summer of 2020 (yes, at the height of the global pandemic!), we were mainly anxious about two things:
- How well could we keep this up financially after giving up two well-paying careers; could we, total RVing newbies, deal with the logistics of remote work?
- Would we be able to regain some sense of alternate community in the wake of giving up the established community we had in our old sticks ‘n’ bricks lifestyle?
With the discovery of Xscapers as part of our Escapees membership, not only have we successfully achieved our two-year “nomadiversary”, but we are thriving in ways we never imagined!
The Xscapers community has provided us with exactly that…a fantastic community of passionate, engaged, resourceful, and helpful fellow RVers! We have been made to feel welcomed by Xscapers and Escapees everywhere across the country, while also benefiting greatly from the knowledge and encouragement of Xscapers who are veterans of working remotely while traveling fulltime.
Fellow members have really boosted our confidence since those first days when we didn’t know how, or if, we would assimilate to our new life on the road.
We now know that no matter where we roam in our home-on-wheels, we can find support and encouragement, as well as tons of fun, from Xscapers everywhere! Jeanne and I feel blessed and grateful for this amazing lifestyle and the Xscapers and Escapees who have helped us make it our reality!
Author
Lezlie Garr
Lezlie is the former Director of the RVer Job Exchange.
With 10+ years’ experience in job search and careers, she began as a college career services counselor and moved into a successful entrepreneurial business as a multi-Certified Resume Writer and Career Coach.
She has also been a full-time RVer since July 2017, traveling the U.S. with her partner Andy and their travel dog Jax.
