Today on the podcast, Sam interviews Mark and Shanae from Trail Mix & Chocolate. Mark is an agriculturalist and Shanae is a teacher and artist. They are currently in their third year of traveling full-time in an RV and enjoy getting out in nature whenever possible, especially at National Parks!
Their conversation about tiny living started back in college. Mark had an assignment to design his dream home and it was quite a bit smaller than his classmate’s designs. Then, while watching Tiny House Nation, Mark casually made the comment “We should be on that show”. Shanae is not the type to sit around and wait for a dream to come true, so she set about making it happen! They applied for the show and almost made it on! They dropped out of the interviews because it didn’t feel like quite the right fit for them.
They continued to dream of tiny living and how they could afford it now. When they discovered RV life, it seemed like the perfect fit! After their wedding, they moved into the RV and have been loving it ever since.
What we talk about in this episode:
- 1:00 – Heading to RV Entrepreneur Summit
- 3:00 – Meeting their “RV parents” and intro to RV community
- 9:30 – Thoughts on tiny living
- 12:30 – Becoming Trail Mix & Chocolate
- 18:00 – Favorite experiences
- 25:30 – Travel and Life Goals
- 30:00 – Combining travel and art
- 34:00 – Turning the interview around on Sam!
- 37:00 – National Parks
Advice on living a sweet life of adventure:
- What’s the worst that could happen? Mark asked this of himself and Shanae before they hit the road. Their answer was that they would have to come back home and get an apartment. They were already living that life, so it didn’t seem like a terrible worst case scenario. Mark says that when you define your nightmare, it isn’t so scary anymore.
- What’s your why? When times get tough, Shanae says it is so important to know your why. Why do you want to live this type of life? Whether you’re living on the road full-time, following a dream, or seeking the best life for you, you need to know your why and write it down!
- Don’t be afraid to shake things up. Life is like trail mix. Sometimes you gotta shake things up! Get outside your comfort zone and seek out the sweet parts of life.
