RICHMOND, Va. — A Richmond couple whotravels and lives full-time in their Winnebago has amassed an online following and will soon appear on a reality show.
Katelyn and Howard Newstate are the Newstate Nomads. They have traveled more than 80,000 miles across North America since trading brick-and-mortar for a home on wheels.
They’ve visited and stayed in Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, Mexico and all but four U.S. states in their RV with their three dogs.
Howard said the idea to live mobile in a 200-square-foot RV was his fault, he joked during a Zoom call from Colorado.
“The stars kind of aligned and we were both able to work remotely. So, we decided in 2018 just hit the road and 80,000 miles later, we still have no plans of stopping,” Howard recalled.
The Newstates said their families didn’t believe they would last long on the road.
“Now it's just become the norm, like, it is just our lifestyle,” Katelyn said. “I think that our family and friends do like it in the sense that when people are scattered all over the place, it's easier for us to just drive our house to them.”
The couple said they miss their community and friends the most, while Katelyn added she wished her RV had a washer and dryer.
She previously worked as a reporter and anchor for WRIC Channel 8 and was the Director of Communications for King’s Dominion.
Howard was employed in cinematic photography and shot video for movies, music videos and television shows.
The couple posted on theirFacebook page last week that they’re competing on the first season of RV Unplugged. The show is an off-grid RV camping show airing on YouTube in the spring where the winner can walk away with $10,000.
“RV and travel in general is about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. With all of these challenges and just the experience — having blind faith that this was something that was going to be an enjoyable experience. It was pushing us out of our comfort zone,” Katelyn said.
