About Route Unwritten
We started with a tent and a dream of owning a pop-up.
Somewhere along the way, that dream turned into a 33-foot Class A, a Jeep being towed behind us, three kids, two dogs, and a growing list of roads we haven't driven yet.
We Started Much Closer to the Ground
We're Joe and Kelsey. We've been doing things a little differently together for a long time. We were married on 10/11/12 — in a hot-air balloon floating over Central Florida.
Our family camping story started with tent camping and a pretty simple goal: someday we'd own a pop-up camper.
Eventually, instead of buying the pop-up, we started renting RVs.
Then we heard about Anchor Down RV Resort in Tennessee.
We rented a 30-foot Class C, loaded everybody up and drove from Florida to Tennessee and back. We had an absolute blast.
When COVID changed the world, we found our way back to Anchor Down. This time we flew into Tennessee, rented an RV there and spent a week escaping everything while “remote work” was just becoming part of everyday life.
In July 2024, we made our third RV rental trip.
Apparently, three rentals were enough.
As soon as we got home, we went “shopping” and found our first RV of our own — a 2024 Jayco Alante 29F, a 33-foot Class A. We named him Alan.
So much for the pop-up.
Five of Us. Two Dogs. One Jeep.
Since buying the Alante, we've taken almost every opportunity we can to get on the road. Sometimes that's a campground close to home for the weekend. Other times it's a multi-week road trip.
Shianne
Our oldest is a high-school senior. She may occasionally come along reluctantly, but mention a spooky destination or a movie filming location and suddenly she's interested.
Joey, 11
Loves the adventure — hiking, swimming, exploring new places and seeing what's around the next corner.
Maddie, 9
Loves the adventure — hiking, swimming, exploring new places and seeing what's around the next corner.
Then there are the dogs.
Sky
Our four-year-old American Pit Bull has been part of the family since she was eight weeks old.
Buddy
Our two-year-old Australian Kelpie joined Route Unwritten in a way nobody planned. During a January trip to Asheville, we stopped at Blue Ridge Animal Hospital to have stitches removed following Sky's ACL surgery. It was around 10 degrees outside when a woman who had been jogging came in with a dog that had started following her. The veterinary staff tried to find somewhere for him to go, but it was New Year's and nobody could take him. We could. Buddy rode home with us.
“Turns out some of the best things you bring home from a trip were never on the itinerary.”
And Then There's the Jeep
We tow our Jeep Wrangler behind the motorhome because arriving at the campground is usually just the beginning.
Wherever we travel, we like finding backroads, mountain roads and 4x4 trails. The Jeep lets us get away from the campground and explore places our 33-foot motorhome definitely isn't going.
The Jeep has now been towed more than 20,000 miles behind us.
So far: one flat tire and one blowout.
We'll take that batting average.
Turns Out, They Don't Stay Little
When you start traveling with kids, it's easy to focus on the destinations.
Where should we take them? What should they see? What will they remember?
Then enough years go by and you realize the destinations were only part of it.
They've grown up around campfires, long drives, campground bike rides, hiking trails, beaches, roadside attractions, museums, national parks, visitor centers and plenty of days when absolutely nothing went according to plan.
We recently completed our longest RV adventure yet: 21 nights on the road.
That trip meant a little more to us because it was our last summer vacation with all three kids before Shianne heads off to college.
Apparently, while we were busy planning the next trip, they were busy growing up.
Why Route Unwritten?
Because that's how we travel.
We often plan late. Sometimes we know where we're headed but have no idea what we'll find along the way. Other times, even the destination is still up for debate.
The route might be on a map, but so much of the trip is unwritten.
The small town we decide to stop in. The restaurant we didn't know existed. A backroad instead of the interstate. A national park. A 4x4 trail. The people we meet. The campground we'd never heard of. Even a stray dog following a jogger through Asheville on a freezing January day.
Those unexpected pieces often become the parts we remember most.
That's also why we like taking the backroads. There's an awful lot of America between Point A and Point B.
Write Your Own Road isn't about ignoring the map.
It's about leaving enough room for the trip to become your own.
Where We're Headed
With Shianne heading toward college and Joey and Maddie still loving every opportunity to explore, we're planning to expand our travels significantly beginning in 2027 and beyond.
Eventually we'd love to travel full-time — seeing more states, more national parks, more small towns and more of the country on our own terms.
One of our favorite parts of traveling is watching the kids learn without realizing they're “doing school” — walking through visitor centers, exploring national parks and actually standing in the places where history happened.
There's a whole country out there to show them.
Why We Share It
We've learned an enormous amount from other travelers.
Which campgrounds are worth the money. Which sites work for a bigger rig. What there's actually to do with kids. Where the photos don't quite tell the whole story. What gear works. What doesn't. And which places are worth changing your route for.
We think we can return the favor.
Everything on Route Unwritten comes from places we've actually traveled, campgrounds we've actually stayed at and experiences we've actually had.
We'll share what we loved, what we didn't, what we'd do differently and what we'd absolutely do again.
Hopefully something here helps another family plan their own adventure.
The route ahead is still unwritten.
Write Your Own Road.
Follow Along
Follow the road with us. We share the places we find, family adventures, road trips, campground stays, unexpected detours, and whatever else ends up becoming part of the story. Follow Route Unwritten on Facebook and Instagram, and catch our longer adventures on YouTube.
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