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 and what factors drew them to the 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 furry family with us. When I brought it up with 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 improvement 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.
How did you choose your heartland model?
Lauren
We chose our Heartland specifically because 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 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 things we've ever done.
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 kitchen, because our work is all about healthy lifestyles and we needed a kitchen to be able to prepare healthy meals, and 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 the kitchen doesn't have an island, like many RV floorplans. Our kitchen feels really roomy.
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.
Do you ever miss flying and staying in a hotel, though?
The full-size fridge is crucial when you live a plant-based lifestyle. Fruits and veggies take up a lot of space!
We love the layout and design of the kitchen. All the appliances are really nice and the look of the space is so modern.