How to Road Trek with Rebecca and Bob Hougher
Interview by Paul Strubell of Dirt Orcas – 9/19/16
The second interview in an ongoing series from Dirt Orcas – Rebecca Hougher and her husband Bob have logged over 100,000 miles in their rolling vacation home over the last 9 years. Overland Travel has been a way to both enrich the experiences of the places they wanted to visit, but to also increase the accessibility of those places. By managing your own creature comforts, you can broaden the scope for exploring new places.
Like most Overland Travelers, Rebecca and Bob have logged a lot of miles in their temporary nest. Their story is a great reminder that the only barriers to your next adventure are the ones you build up for yourself.
Year, Make, Model?
It’s a hybrid, which is funny when registering, sometimes the DMV thinks I’m trying to pull a “fast one”. It’s a 2006 DaimlerChrysler, which was serviced in the US by Dodge, but is now serviced by Mercedes, go figure. The RV conversion part is a 2007 Road Trek out of Canada, and our model is the SS Agile, the shorter wheel based Sprinter. We love the length, about the same as our Toyota Tundra, and can be parked anywhere!
Did you name your vehicle? What do you call it?
No name, but I put lots of anarchy, libertarian, secession, travel stickers on the back. Great conversation starter!
When and how did you get it?
Got it Feb 2007 in St Louis, paid cash, titled and registered in Montana and didn’t pay Missouri or Iowa sales tax.
It’s now titled and plated in Vermont which is cheap as it’s a diesel.
What other vehicles did you consider and what made you ultimately pull the trigger on the one you bought?
Love at first knowledge of the RV. Ours was the first SS Agile delivered in the US!
Have you made any upgrades or changes?
Nope.
What is your favorite part about it?
Love how convenient it is. Use few of the amenities but the best are:
- Ceiling fan and screened windows (we’ve never used the AC).
- The toilet, for obvious reasons, lol, I am a 68 yr old grandmother! We “dry camp” meaning we bring water in gallon jugs and flush with that rather than filling the water reserves, and then having to winterize the whole thing late fall.
- The burners to make coffee etc.
- The propane furnace to take the chill off when it’s sub 32 degrees.
- Bed!
- When we visit friends and family we are always self sufficient and only need shower privileges.
What is your least favorite part about it?
Have had some expensive repairs 🙁
How many miles have you put on it?
104,000 !!!
What is the best place you have taken it? Is there just one?
Go to Vermont every summer, Porcupine Freedom Festival in Lancaster, NH the last 4 years, Acadia National Park in Maine, Florida all over including Key West, Idaho, Cape Cod, many trips to Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Tuscon, Pheonix, and personal favorite Sedona, Az.
Favorite road you’ve driven it on?
Anywhere in Vermont.
If you could give a person one piece of advice when thinking about living out of a vehicle what would you tell them?
Stay small, for us the compact size is great, we get 20+ mpg and generally park at night outside big chains like Hampton Inn, no one has ever bothered us!
Can you describe your feelings about the Road Trek in one word?
One of the things I admire most about your choice of vehicle was that it seemed like you wanted to bring a sense of yourself on the road. They say that a persons vehicle is a representation of how they view themselves. What qualities do you think The Road Trek has that you and Bob embody?
Independent, spontaneous, frugal and fun 🙂 – The accessibility of turning the keys and heading out on an adventure resonate with who we are. By simplifying your other choices, all you need to do is choose the route and the destination.
Are you from Burlington, VT ? My cousin from PA moved there.
Hi Jimmy,
I am not I run. Both myself and the subjects of this interview (Rebecca and Bob) spend time in the summers near Burlington however.
We live the rest of the year in the Midwest.
Paul (Editor of Dirt Orcas)