Heartland Love: Fraser and Lauren Bayley

Fraser and Lauren Bayley are health and wellness entrepreneurs who specialize in plant-based nutrition and strength and fitness coaching. They purchased their 2018 Heartland Road Warrior 427 to be able to travel around the country booking speaking engagements and events, and they live full-time in their RV for several months out of the year. Here, they share with us why they decided to become RV owners, the importance of their RV kitchen, and what other factors drew them to a Road Warrior.

WHAT MADE YOU BUY AN RV TO BEGIN WITH?

Lauren:
So we decided to buy an RV because we work remotely and we wanted to have the ability to travel and see America while still bringing our pets with us and not have to rent Airbnbs and look for hotels. And we thought this was the perfect solution to do that, to travel, to see the beauty of this country and to bring our fairy family with us. When I brought it up to Fraser at first, he thought I was completely crazy, but now, he absolutely loves it.

Fraser:
I did not like the idea of RVing at first, I'm a creature of habit. I love my gym. I love familiarity. And I said to Lauren, "Okay, well, let's just try, then. If you're really convinced, you want to do this, let's just try it. We'll see what it's like." And we got one and we went out on the road and I completely fell in love with it.

And it's honestly changed my life. It's created a level of mental health improvements that I can't even explain, and allowed us to see our country and have incredible experiences with our daughter while she’s young. It's priceless. And I feel like the decision to get on the road and RV was one of the best decisions we've ever made in our life.A young mom and dad reading a book to a little girl in an RV bedroom.

HOW DID YOU CHOOSE YOUR HEARTLAND MODEL?

Lauren:
We chose our Heartland specifically because of the floor plan that it had. It was the only one that we found that was perfect for our lifestyle, with all of our pets. I was pregnant at the time, so to have a toddler running around and have an open floor plan for her and the porches for her and the dogs was so important.

Fraser:
We chose Heartland over other RV brands because we just fell in love with the Road Warrior when we saw it, at the side porch, the garage space, the big industrial fridge, everything about this rig spoke to us, it's exactly what we needed to get on the road to live the type of life that we wanted to. And it was the best thing we've ever done.Two images: A woman holding a small child taking a dog for a walk. And a woman and a man on a couch snuggling with two dogs.

WHAT SPECIFIC ELEMENTS WERE YOU LOOKING FOR IN AN RV?

Lauren:
When looking for an RV, we cared most about having the best setup for our pets. We needed an open floor plan for them. We needed the porches. It was a really great bonus because really, we were getting the RV to bring them all with us. Not only do we have our side porch, but we have our dropdown porch on the back. So our dogs can be out on the back porch while our daughter's out on the side porch. It's such a beautiful setup.

Another important thing was the RV kitchen, because our work is all about healthy lifestyles and we needed a great RV kitchen to be able to prepare healthy meals, and to do recipe videos and demonstrations for our clients. We wanted to have a really nice kitchen and a big refrigerator to do that. We love that this RV kitchen doesn’t have an island, like many RV floor plans. Our kitchen feels really roomy.

A mom holding a small girl, reaching into a full-size fridge in an RV.

HOW HAS OWNING AN RV IMPROVED YOUR TRAVEL EXPERIENCE?

Fraser:
It's made it so much nicer for us to travel as a family, because it allows us to all be together, and we don't have to worry about leaving our pets behind while we're away.

Lauren:
I think the best part of RV life is just feeling less stress because we live more simply. We’re able to work from beautiful locations, creating adventures for our daughter and showing her the country. Our opportunities aren’t limited due to location. So now we can go anywhere the opportunities are.A man pouring hot water into a woman's mug in an RV kitchen.

DO YOU EVER MISS FLYING AND STAYING IN HOTELS, THOUGH?

Fraser:
No. I feel like the beauty of having a Heartland is that you have your kitchen, you have your bedroom, you have your lounge, you have all your stuff, but you have these beautiful landscapes every time you look out your window. It's the same stuff coming with you, but you're in these diverse environments along the way. And that's such a cool thing. And I can't imagine not living like that anymore.

A young family eating orange slices on the back patio of an RV toy hauler.