Explore Canada with the Canadian Rubber Tramps

A family of adventurers exploring Canada on epic road trips through RV travel - the Canadian Rubber Tramps are sharing their adventure stories. 

Who are the Canadian Rubber Tramps? 

The Canadian Rubber Tramps, are a family who are passionate about authentic Canadian experiences, through RV travel. You can follow along with our journey on Instagram -  a family of 4, plus our dog, on an epic adventure to explore Canada, while experiencing tiny living in our travel trailer. We are hitting a milestone of FIVE years on the road in April 2026!

If you're following the world of full-time RV living, you know there are a lot of families who are embracing this lifestyle as an alternative to a traditional path. We have met other families living full-time in their RVs traveling for work, education, lifestyle, or just for fun. The consensus always seems to be - everyone just wants more time with the ones they love the most, and living full-time in an RV is a path to that goal. That aligns exactly with our ideologies about life; more time indulging ourselves in the things we love with the people we love, making living life a priority over making a living wage. That doesn't mean not properly preparing ourselves for the future - it just means not consuming ourselves with it. This ideology is what set us out on our journey. 

In preparation for this massive lifestyle change, we spent about two years researching, planning, and saving money before finally moving into our trailer full-time. In 2021, we made the big leap! We rented out our house, put all of our belongings in storage (where they still are today), and hit the open road in our travel trailer. 

We spent the first 18 months traveling between Ontario and British Columbia. This journey was exceptional to say the least, jumping full speed ahead into new experiences and adventures. We explored local communities and learned a lot more about Canada (and ourselves), all while diving deep into new career opportunities and taking on the precious task of homeschooling our children. The first 18-months were such a significant time in our lives, immersing ourselves into each other's life experiences, and watching the growth that occurred in all of us through this journey was truly spectacular. 

The first ever article I wrote about budgeting for life on the road can be found at Go RVing Canada. 

Today, we are still living our nomadic lifestyle. Shifting the way we have traveled over the years; embracing a range of unique stays from tent camping to short-terms rentals and hotels - to our most recent addition to the travel family, a truck camper! We are forever super excited about what opportunities are ahead.  

Where our Story Begins

What inspired the Canadian Rubber Tramps to start traveling?

In 2018, we bought our first Coleman pop-up tent trailer. A purchase from the Facebook Marketplace for $1000. It was the launching pad for our family camping adventures. 

As a family, we renovated the trailer. Completely gutting it, painting cupboards, sewing new covers for the all the cushions, and installing new flooring, a sound system, and solar power. It was a dream and we loved it! 

Some of our most memorable experiences with the camper were adventures at our family cottage in Kinmount, Ontario, Santa's Village in Bracebridge, Ontario, and Cavendish Beach Music Festival in Cavendish, P.E.I. 

When we bought the camper, I started researching how to renovate it on YouTube. That introduced me to a world of people who live full-time in their RVs, traveling across Canada and America. I was wholly intrigued by this lifestyle and started to bring it up in daily conversation with my family, friends, and colleagues. Who, admittedly, all thought it was a crazy idea!

To everyone's surprise, including our own, we decided to go for it! Once we made the decision, we started looking for the right RV and vehicle. 

The Perfect Home on Wheels

What RV & truck combo did the Canadian Rubber Tramps hit the road with? 

We call our home on wheels - Wildflower. She is a 2013 Salem by Forest River, 31 ft tow trailer, double bunkhouse, with 3 slides. We haul it with Debbie the Diesel, a 2016 Dodge Ram 2500 truck. 

The bunkhouse on the trailer is what we initially fell in love with. It offers a ton of space for our growing family and enough storage for all of the kids' stuff. 

The primary bedroom is a decent size for tiny living. The best feature being a walkout on either side of the bed. We don't have to crawl over each other to get out of bed which we did not initially think about, but has come to be a favorable feature that we will always look for when considering another tiny home in the future. 

The living area is, of course, open concept. We removed the couch from the sitting area and turned it into a work station. We also changed up the dinette area by removing the wrap around bench and putting in a larger dinning table. Honestly, this space is a constant work in progress as we continuously make small changes to accommodate our growing family.  

The kitchen and bathroom are standard. We have all the appliances we need. There is quite a bit of pantry space. The bathroom has a little tub, which was great when the kids were smaller, but not as necessary now that they have grown so much over the last five years. 

We bought the trailer before we even had a vehicle to tow it home with. Luckily, the person we bought it from was able to store it until we found a truck. We bought the trailer off the Facebook Marketplace for $16,500. It has been a great investment and is well loved today. 

The truck was also purchased off FB - $40,000 with 130,000km on it. The truck is still holding strong today and has traveled back and forth across Canada more times than I can count. It has a true explorer's spirit and we love the big old gal! Albeit over the years she has cost us a small fortune from time to time when she needs some love - a big shout out goes to our loving family members who bail us out of some of our financial hardships to keep the big girl running (we thank you!). 

Transitioning into the trailer from our house was definitely a challenge and an emotional roller coaster to say the least. I don't think any of the videos we watched about other families living this lifestyle really prepared us for the reality of actually doing it ourselves. A lot of tears were shed and doubts started sinking in, but we had a plan and we went with it anyways.

Once we started driving, we encountered every problem imaginable; popped tires, blown wheel bearings on the trailer, a snapped u-joint on the truck, snow storms that trapped us for days, a melted surge protector, running out of propane and freezing in the middle of the night - the list goes on. 

We have experienced so many trials and errors over the years that it would be understandable for us to return home with our tails between our legs. However, instead of admitting defeat, we continuously call on our family and friends to vent. With their support and guidance we are still able to continue with this lifestyle today (we love you!). 

Check out my photo gallery showing all of the unique (and misfortunate - wait until you see the snow!) places we traveled non-stop in the span of just 18 incredible months with our Salem by Forest River tow trailer.

Work-Life Balance on the Road

How do you work while traveling? 

When Charles and I decided to enter into the world of full-time RV living, we needed to adjust our idea of what working meant. Were we solely working just to earn a living? Did we enjoy the work we spent most of our time doing? What type of work is even possible if you want to travel full-time? These are some of the questions we had to ask ourselves. 

Charles had been working steadily in the construction industry. I was a Legal Secretary. We both had solid careers that we had invested more than a decade of our time in. We had to make an incredibly hard choice - continue working to pay for a house that we hardly spent any time in, while our children head off to school to grow up with total strangers, or challenge the status quo and do our own thing. But what was "our own thing" and how could we make money doing it?

Countless hours of research brought me to hundreds of different options for digital nomads - the possibilities are truly endless. I relied heavily on a podcast - The RV Entrepreneur. It helped open my eyes to a ton of different possibilities. 

For me, I landed on teaching English as a second language (ESL). I thought it would coincide well with my plan to homeschool. I started teaching in 2020. I was still working full-time for a law firm. I took online classes to get my TEFL and TESOL certificates and I started teaching part-time in the mornings before I went to work. I was able to build a solid base of students before we hit the road. I was also able to re-work my position with the law firm  and landed a remote position. I have also been known to clean short-term rentals units for some extra cash. 

For Charles, we explored the opportunity of work-camping. Work-camping or 'workamping' is a fairly simple program between a person or a couple who live in their RV - and a campground, RV resort, or a national/provincial/state park. You can tailor this program how it best suits your situation. Typically the program is exchanging part-time or full-time work for a full service RV site, including utilities, and/or a salary. The work itself mostly consists of general maintenance, landscaping, housekeeping, and office administration. 

Throughout the years, our travels have brought us different job opportunities and we have fully invested ourselves into the idea that work can flow with your lifestyle, your life does not have to be centered around what you do for work. This has allowed us to explore different paths for work in the last 5 years. 

Currently, we are living and working at the Columbia River Wetlands RV Park in Golden, British Columbia from mid-April to mid-October. We have been working with the park for 4 years (seasons). In 2023, we invested into the RV park establishing a seasonal home for ourselves and a longer work-camping commitment. Putting some roots down in a community we love, while still having the opportunity to live a nomadic lifestyle feels like the best of both worlds. 

Life on the Road with Kids and a Dog

How do you travel with kids and a dog? 

We have two children and a dog packed into our tiny home and I could not imagine a better dream! We have more time to spend together and a smaller place to watch them grow and fully immerse ourselves in their learning and development. It is a wonderful privilege that we have to experience this unique lifestyle but also a result of hard work and determination to mold our lives the way we see fit. 

Don't get me wrong, of course the every day stressors of being a parent and a partner still seep into our daily lives - we are not immune to triggers. However, this life has given us a broader perspective into what truly matters and how we envision our lives to be - circling back to the notion that more time together is truly valuable. 

In the last five years, we have immersed ourselves into our children's' lives jumping wholeheartedly into the experience of homeschooling, something I did not envision for myself before we started traveling. It has been one of my greatest journeys in life and I am so thankful to this lifestyle for allowing me this once in a lifetime experience. 

The homeschool experience for me has been amplified through the inclusion of community. Diving deep into the areas we travel by joining homeschool co-ops, enrolling in forest schools and extra-curricular activities has allowed us to really experience the uniqueness of the places we are visiting and make quality friendships along the way. 

Over the years, it has been absolutely incredible to see ourselves, our children, and our dog explore this country.  We are extremely grateful for this opportunity. I think we have experienced a number of playgrounds, hiking trails, and parks that could fill a lifetime of experiences. 

Here is a photo gallery of our favorite pup - Tyson - exploring the world around him and some of our favorite family photos taken on the road. 

Celebrating Five Years on the Road

The Canadian Rubber Tramps - a family of 4, plus their dog on an epic adventure to explore Canada. 

 @canadian.rubber.tramps