Joe and Rachel Stauffer describe supporting their RV travels with YouTube channels on Episode 266

Today I am interviewing a couple from Florida who, although not full-time RVers, have been doing enough frequent, shorter trips that they have amassed quite a following on their YouTube channels.



Joe and Rachel Stauffer are an amazing couple who, together, lost 290 pounds by following a keto-based diet. The transformation attracted so much attention from their friends and family that they started a YouTube channel to teach others what they did.



There was a lot of demand for that kind of information because the couple has 66,400 subscribers on that channel alone who can watch 1,800 different videos pertaining to a healthy lifestyle. Producing all those videos became a full-time job.



So, in 2020, the couple bought an RV to force themselves to go outdoors and leave the demands of producing content. Yet, they loved the RV experience so much, they developed another YouTube channel to teach people about the RV lifestyle. That channel features more than 100 videos being enjoyed by 28,500 subscribers.



This year, Joe and Rachel are contestants on Season Two of RV Unplugged, a competition in which 10 couples compete as teams to win a $25,000 grand prize by demonstrating their boondocking skills while engaging in the types of fun people often have when using their RVs.



The couple is enthusiastic about everything they do from losing hundreds of pounds to promoting RVing as a healthy and active lifestyle.



They started out in a tent, but soon discovered that didn’t work well in Florida’s rainy seasons. So, they acquired a pop-up camper, which they discovered wasn’t much better because the canvass never really dried out.



Eventually, the couple settled on a 30-foot Grand Design travel trailer, which they nicknamed Eleanor, and described their RV as the ideal camper for a couple.



After losing so much weight, Joe and Rachel had much more energy and a stronger desire to embrace life. So, they started using their RV three to four days at a time every couple of weeks. They are technically Workampers because they continue to produce video content for their YouTube channels and meet with their followers wherever they travel.



As the couple used their RV more often, they found themselves upgrading the unit to do more boondocking. They added a solar system for less than $6,000 which included 1,600 watts of roof-mounted solar panels, a 3,000-watt inverter, and more than 15,000-watt-hours of batteries. That allows them to run their air conditioners for three days without a problem.



In fact, they boondocked for five days at the Florida RV Supershow this year where it rained every day, but the batteries were still at 80 percent capacity when they returned home. In one of their YouTube videos, Joe demonstrates how easy it was to install the system.



Because Joe and Rachel are self-employed, they have flexibility to go camping in the middle of the week when parks and campgrounds are not nearly as busy. They love being able to use their RV for short trips, but they are planning to take some much longer trips starting this summer.



In August, the couple will be back at Camp Margaritaville in Auburndale, Fla., for the RV Unplugged rally at which time the final episode will be aired. They encourage other RVers and people interested in exploring the RV lifestyle to take part in the rally to meet up with the contestants, most of whom are very experienced and knowledgeable RVers.



To connect with Joe and Rachel, check out their YouTube channels at 2KrazyKampers and 2KrazyKetos or visit 2krazyketos.com.