Who – Who is the Hutchinson family a.k.a. “Team Hutch?” Two 43 year-olds, Jessica and John (or “Hutch”), twin 9 year-old girls and their 8 year-old little sister.

  • Yes, it does seem like we have triplets sometimes.
  • Yes, we do have our hands full, and our work cut out for us.
  • Yes, as the only male in the family I’m a little afraid of the hormonal imbalance looming a few years out.

Other than that we are obviously all in love with life, up for adventure, and everyone is really comfortable expressing themselves in this family. That’s what happens when two extroverts have offspring. It can get pretty noisy wherever Team Hutch ends up.

What – What we are referring to by “Hutch Adventures?” Right now we’re talking about is a 10-12 month road trip around the US in a 40′ Diesel Pusher. Click here to check out our rig. Also, Hutch Adventures may continue to evolve as we do.

Why – “Why not” is more like it. Actually, long ago my wife and I discussed going around the USA in an RV “with our kids” before we even had kids. We even were so specific to say that the ideal time would be when our oldest kid was going into 4th grade. Careful what you put out into the universe, right?

The dream didn’t die, but life just kept getting busier and busier, and we eventually just stopped talking about it. Around Thanksgiving of 2015 I floated the idea back by Jess thinking she might not be into it anymore. Boy, was I wrong. She lit up at the prospect, and we both got really excited over that holiday weekend speculating about what could be. Hope was alive again.

We couldn’t fully commit on the spot because we needed to clear it by some key people. First of all, my business partner would need to support me working remotely, and only flying back a handful of times. Also, we needed to run it by our kids’ principal to make sure they could all get back into their amazing school without missing a beat. Needless to say, everything worked out on all fronts, so it was all systems go!

Honestly the main reason why is simply because life has been moving too darned fast, and time is just flying by. You take out the trash on Thursday and keep running through the rat maze. Next thing you know the trash man is back and It’s Thursday again. I remember someone telling me when the girls were babies, “Hutch, don’t blink.” These kids are growing up right before our eyes, and we decided that it’s time to grab our time back, and slow things down. When you’re driving a 40’ RV, everything seems to take a little longer and move a little slower. We’re definitely looking forward to it for the next 10 months!

When – We’re leaving July 30th, 2016 until at least June 1, 2017. We’ve toyed with the idea of going up the West Coast throughout the summer of 2017, even as far as Alaska possibly. We’ll see how it goes. First thing’s first.

Where – Around a lot of the US. From previous road trips that we have taken the last 2 summers, my kids have actually already been to every state in the West except for Colorado and New Mexico. We plan to hit those two throughout the trip.

Long story short, here’s our tentative itinerary:

  • We’re going coast to coast in the first 5 weeks via Arches, Rocky Mountain National Park, Mt. Rushmore, Badlands, Whistling Straights golf complex, Chicago, Cleveland, Niagra Falls, Vermont, New Hampshire, and eventually Maine
  • Enjoying Maine and Acadia National Park for much of September
  • Hanging around the Northeast throughout Fall Foliage
  • Halloween with our friends in New York
  • Zig-Zagging slowly south between the Appalachians and the Atlantic as the weather dictates during Nov-Dec
  • Jan and Feb all around Florida
  • Crawl back up into the South during March
  • Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado in April-May
  • Maybe continuing up and down the California-Oregon Coast in June and July
  • Kids go back to school in August all the wiser.

How – Many have asked us how we’re able to do this logistically with our careers. Well, Jessica is a 4th grade teacher by trade. So it’s actually perfect the fact that we have twins going into 4th grade. We’ll lose the income and benefits that her job contributes, but this experience will be invaluable.

I am fortunate to be part owner in a company where we show people how to build their own banks using overfunded life-insurance. The motto of www.BankingTruths.com is “Don’t do what banks say, do what they do” because the two biggest banks in America have invested over 30 Billion Dollars of their Tier-1 Capital into overfunded life insurance policies. Thankfully, we already work with clients remotely all over the country using GotoMeeting. Being the freedom junkie that I am, we’ve already been making a big push with technology to automate our systems. In preparation for this trip, I’ve also created a collection of online video and blog content that people can digest at their leisure, reducing the need for my direct involvement until my expertise for plan personalization is desired. I have my business partner manning our brick and mortar office in San Clemente, and I can always patch in via GotoMeeting on the road. I also plan to rent office space by the day wherever I may be when I need to hunker down and focus.

There’s a good chance I may grow my business while on the road by meeting people I wouldn’t have otherwise met, but that’s not the purpose of this trip. As stated before, we’re looking to slow down the tempo of life, meet new people, and explore our great country. The experiences we’ll create as a family will be cherished for life

-Hutch