RV Travel Memoir Books: 15 True Stories about Life on the Road

This true story was made into a film, released in January 2018. The Robinas have shared a wonderful life for more than sixty years. Now in their eighties, Ella suffers from cancer and John has Alzheimer’s. Yearning for one last adventure, the self-proclaimed ‘down-on-their-luck geezers’ kidnap themselves from the adult children and doctors who seem to run their lives and steal away from their home in suburban Detroit on a forbidden vacation of rediscovery. With Ella as his vigilant copilot, John steers their ’78 Leisure Seeker RV along the forgotten roads of Route 66 toward Disneyland in search of a past they’re having a damned hard time remembering. Yet Ella is determined to prove that, when it comes to life, you can go back for seconds—even when everyone says you can’t.

Join a recovering psychologist on her blundering full-time road trip in a vintage Airstream motor home. You’ll laugh and learn from Dr. Flower’s mistakes in buying, maintaining, driving, and camping in an RV and you’ll gain some wisdom about life and travel.

David Rosenfelt’s Dogtripping is moving and funny account of a cross-country move from California to Maine, and the beginnings of a dog rescue foundation. When mystery writer David Rosenfelt and his family moved from Southern California to Maine, he thought he had prepared for everything. They had mapped the route, brought three GPSs for backup, as well as refrigerators full of food, and stoves and microwaves on which to cook them. But traveling with twenty-five dogs turned out to be a bigger ordeal than he anticipated, despite the RVs, the extra kibble, volunteers (including a few readers), and camping equipment. Rosenfelt recounts the adventure of moving his animal companions across the United States with humor and warmth, and tells the tale of how he and his wife became passionate foster parents for rescue dogs, culminating in the creation of the Tara Foundation and successfully placing several thousand dogs with loving families. An NPR Best Book of 2013.

In this fascinating book, the author hits the road to get to know the world of workampers – those who travel to campgrounds, RV resorts, farms, amusement parks, warehouses, and other locations to travel while living in the RV. She tells the tale of many who have taken on this life because of financial necessity rather than the pure joy of travel.

A pampered Long Island princess hits the road in a converted bus with her wilderness-loving husband, travels the country for one year, and brings it all hilariously to life in this offbeat and romantic memoir. Queen of the Road is Doreen’s offbeat and romantic tale about refusing to settle; about choosing the unconventional road with all the misadventures it brings (fire, flood, armed robbery, and finding themselves in a nudist RV park, to name just a few). The marvelous places they visit and delightful people they encounter have a life-changing effect on all the travelers, as Doreen grows to appreciate the simple life, Tim mellows, and even the pets pull together. Best of all, readers get to go along for the ride through forty-seven states in this often hilarious and always entertaining memoir, in which a boisterous marriage of polar opposites becomes stronger than ever.

When Miss Norma was diagnosed with uterine cancer, she was advised to undergo surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. But instead of confining herself to a hospital bed for what could be her last stay, Miss Norma—newly widowed after nearly seven decades of marriage—rose to her full height of five feet and told her doctor, ‘I’m ninety years old. I’m hitting the road.’ And so Miss Norma took off on an unforgettable around-the-country journey in a thirty-six-foot motor home with her retired son Tim, his wife Ramie, and their dog Ringo.

The Ride of Our Lives is the humorous yet deeply moving account of NBC journalist Mike Leonard’s cross-country odyssey with his eccentric parents, three grown children, and a daughter-in-law in a pair of rented RVs. Full of ups and downs, laughs and tears, the month-long journey becomes a much larger tale of hope, persistence, and valuable lessons learned along the way. A celebration of the ties between parents and children, as well as the unforgettable community of people one can meet across America, The Ride of Our Lives is an inspiring narrative of self-discovery and self-fulfillment–and how one unique family found blessings and simple pleasures on the road called life.

Ever wonder what it would be like piloting a 36’ motorhome cross country? The Virgin RV Chronicles takes you on the author’s maiden voyage step by step from persuading a skeptical spouse, to getting stuck in a Dallas parking garage, fending off a kidney stone attack in the Arizona desert, and crossing a Colorado mountain pass on a hope and a prayer. Along the journey the reader will experience the ups and downs of RV travel and meet a unique cast of characters. This “how-to” documentary is a must read for anyone who has ever dreamed of joining the rapidly growing family of mobile vacationers. All proceeds from this book go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Travels with Susie is an account of the comings and goings of the Author, his wife, Susie and their RV, ‘Fionna’, The book is a hilarious report of their experiences as they first went through the decision to retire and later, to travel the byways of North America. Part travelogue, part monologue, part History primer and part pieces of the author’s vivid imagination, the book is all entertainment. The stories found in these pages will appeal to not only RV’ers but to anyone who is looking for a laugh or an occasional bit of inspiration.

After losing his wife of almost fifty-three years to cancer, David Gross adopts Charlize, a German shepherd rescue dog, buys a camping trailer, and the two begin their travels. They explore the West, visiting parks and vistas, rain forests and deserts, family, old friends and new. Accidents, adventures, sadness, joy, problems, and peace populate their journey of discovery.

After selling their Minnesota home, Travis and Wendy plan an elaborate departure from the United States before repatriating themselves to the UK. Buying a second-hand RV, visiting states unknown, and selling the campervan after reaching Florida seems like the perfect exit. So they pack their lives and blind Shih Tzu into a once-luxurious thirty-one-foot RV and hit the open road. As they roll through the Midwest, heading for the Deep South, they soon discover ‘RV’ doesn’t mean ‘Reliable Vehicle.’ Historical sites give way to repair shops and the excitement of the once-in-a-lifetime trip turns into apprehension of what lurks around the next corner. With the wheels literally coming off the wagon, temperatures rising inside the RV and under the hood, sleeping in junkyards, and being laughed at by the Mississippi police, the once-happy couple just want the nightmare to end so they can return to England. But the Minnesota Department of Motor Vehicles has the final say as to when they can leave. Of course it’s a true story. You couldn’t make it up.

What do you get when you cram a disabled vet, a burned-out wife, two dogs and a cat into a 350 square foot house on wheels? A last-ditch attempt to save our dying marriage. PTSD from my three years in combat was destroying our marriage, we couldn’t work hard enough to break free from living paycheck-to-paycheck and banks wouldn’t even consider granting us a home loan. We were working opposite shifts, so we never saw each other, and we just fought when we did. We may as well have been roommates with rings as we were ships passing in the night. That wasn’t the life we dreamed of having together. So, rather than becoming another divorce statistic, we decided on a plan that was quite-possibly the most INSANE thing we could have come up with. Sell everything, buy an RV, quit our jobs and try a nomadic life on the road. What’s the worst that could happen?

What would you do if you had no fear? The author had always dreamed of traveling, and in 2001 began her courageous new life in a Winnebago motorhome. This is a story of facing fears, fulfilling dreams, and claiming God’s gift of freedom that abides in the human spirit. And it’s the story of adventure, excitement, and discovery – and triumph over fear – as told in the closing chapter of Malia’s own life.

‘I never did get the hang of coin-operated public showers, but nailed sneaking shots of vodka from the freezer while my husband filled up the gas tank.’ Does your marital bucket list include an extended road trip across America? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sell everything and start fresh someplace new? Are you looking for a road trip resource that will share the reality of all that togetherness, rather than an edited narrative full of sunshine? If so, this book is for you. In January of 2012, Sonja Millings took an early retirement from the fast-paced corporate world of publishing, and reluctantly accompanied her new husband on his lifelong dream of traveling across the country in a small RV with their Golden Retriever. Prior to the trip, they had never spent more than two consecutive weeks together. What could possibly go wrong? After selling almost everything they owned and renting out their house for a year, they set off on what would become the ultimate test of their new marriage. Endless months on the road provided the perfect opportunity for Sonja to look back on her life and brutally examine her role in past relationships, fully grieve the loss of family members, and challenge lifelong destructive patterns of behavior. It only took 14 months and 38,000 miles. Soul searching across America became an unexpected gift after turning off the noise, getting rid of the clutter, and clearing away the distractions of a busy life.

When Bloomberg journalist Mark Pittman suddenly died, his widow spent four summers driving 31,152 miles searching for answers. In her fearless memoir, The Pink Steering Wheel Chronicles: A Love Story, author Laura Fahrenthold presents a moving portrait of marriage, motherhood and mourning as she captains a 1993 RV sprinkling her husband’s ashes with their two young daughters and a stray dog in an epic quest for healing and understanding. Filled with insight and wit from a career in journalism, the story captures the family’s adventures and misadventures, her deeply-layered love story, and her hilarious slice-of-life dispatches where the pink steering wheel becomes her spiritual GPS.