Happy New Year! As we begin our 9th year (8th in partnership with RV.net) it’s a perfect time to reflect upon the past, while also looking forward to the future.
These years have witnessed the creation of a library of fun RV content – more than 200 HD videos, 1000 pages of writing, tens of thousands of photos, hundreds of informative travelogues, essays, product reviews, gear previews & spotlights, and “Deal of the Day” finds.
We have been a partner with RV.net since the very first day of the blog. What a long long trip it's been!
The vast majority of our content is free to the viewer. The most notable exceptions are the e-books, which are still cheaper than a cup of fancy coffee. (How to Buy an Airstream is usually camped out in the Amazon Travel Top 10.) Oh, and don’t forget the Loloho shirts.
The wonderful thing about the Internet is that we can all easily choose what we want to see. No one is ever forced to click a link, read an article, or watch a video. It’s all about choice. If you like it, you click it. If you don’t like it, well… there are a zillion other options available for you to enjoy. Of course, that’s also a challenge for content creators.
Thankfully, many of you have chosen to enjoy our free content, click our links, subscribe to our YouTube Channel, and read our website. And for that support, we are grateful. 2014 was our best year yet!
Over these years we’ve generated more than 4 million video views on our YouTube Channel, published a couple of #1 bestselling books, and met thousands of people (some in person, some online) around the country. We’ve visited 49 states with our RV. We’ve seen some amazing places.
But you want to know what’s most amazing about RV camping?
It’s the people.
THE TRUTH ABOUT RV CAMPERS
Here’s where we unveil the truth about RV campers: as a general rule, RV campers are really, really great people. The best. They are happy, they are friendly, and they are upbeat. Most have a friendly “live and let live” philosophy.
RV campgrounds are some of the happiest places on earth. That’s one reason we wanted a smile incorporated into our gear-oriented “Loloho” brand.
We added a smile to "Loloho" because RV campers are such a happy bunch.
Over the years, most of our interactions with other RV campers – both in person and online – have been encouraging and positive.
“But there are a lot of mean-spirited people in the world. Haven’t there been ‘negative nellies’?” you may ask. “Don’t you meet trolls, both in the real world and on the Internet? People who thrive on conflict and drama?”
Well, of course — there is always one in every crowd. Looking back over nine years, we’ve endured a couple of negative experiences with other campers. The first happened in a campground; the second happened on the Internet.
As for the campground, there was one lady next to us at a campsite in Bar Harbor, Maine. She thought our propane heat furnace was too loud, even though the heat furnace sounds like literally every other heat furnace ever put inside an RV! She repeatedly harassed us about the sound of the furnace. She was a bully, and probably mentally unstable. We ended up pushing back to the bully, and she eventually moved on to other targets (like her poor husband – haha). But for the most part, we’ve had little trouble in campgrounds.
“What about the Internet?” you may ask. “Aren’t there all sorts of negative people on the Internet?”
Well, yes, there are trolls out there. We’ve had one serious negative encounter on the Internet. One person liked to start arguments online, stir up controversy and conflict. One day he turned his hateful energy towards us. He became something of a stalker and threatened to damage our business. In the end, we alerted the authorities and legal got involved. Eventually, the guilty party realized his potential legal liability, and the problem was rectified. (Harming someone else’s business is no joke; verbal harassment over the Internet can sometimes come back to haunt the harasser.)
So yes, we’ve had a couple of negative experiences. Haters gonna hate. But these two instances are so notable because they have been so rare. We’ve met thousands of people, generated millions of page hits and video views, and exchanged a lot of positive energy. Life is too short to live it any other way.
VIDEO: TYPICAL RV CAMPERS IN ACTION
THE ROAD AHEAD
As has been the case for the past nine years, things will be pretty quiet in the first couple of months of 2015. But before you know it, we’ll be breaking our RVs out of storage and hitting the road. As always, we look forward to meeting as many of you as possible as we travel throughout the country and world.
A wise man once said, “Don’t pray to be blessed; pray to be a blessing.” You all have been a blessing to us for many years.
RV campers, as a general rule, tend to be happy people. Perhaps this is because RV camping is a fun activity that puts people in a good mood. Perhaps it’s because RV camping attracts a “down to earth” crowd. Perhaps we’ve just been fortunate.
But it seems that RV campers are just about the friendliest bunch of folks around. We couldn’t have chosen a better lifestyle to explore and dedicate so much time, energy, and effort to evangelizing.
Yes, the past eight years have been generally wonderful.
We THANK YOU for being a part of it, and wish you much happiness in the days to come.
May 2015 bring you a surplus of love, good health, and camping enjoyment.
Happy New Year!