About the Authors

We are Pete and Ellen Mattson, and travel full time in our motor home. We are Christians, married in 1974, lived for 29 years in the house we built and raised four boys and two girls in Atascadero, California. All of our children are still in California.

Pete: A computer programmer/analyst for 45 years (04-2012), computer accounting and inventory software business owner for 35 years, church elder for 5 years, worship leader for 8 years, high school basketball coach for 14 years and school computer teacher for 3 years.

Ellen: A Proverbs 31 wife, Ellen nurtured and cared for our six children. She home-schooled our children for 8 years, taught Sunday School for 5 years, loves to play volleyball and coached high school volleyball. When our youngest was a junior in high school, Ellen returned to school and became a paralegal. She worked for two years at the law library and two more years for a criminal attorney.

RV Experience: Our 30 day honeymoon was in a truck camper with a motorcycle. Later we motorcycle camped for a 14 day trip and over the years, rented two motorhomes. In 1996 we purchased an older 5th wheel and used it for 5 years, the longest trip being 24 days before it caught on fire!

Fulltiming: In 2005 we began to plan our new lifestyle. We researched for several hundred hours on the Internet. We visited dozens of dealers. We choose five manufacturers and in four days began test driving 14 models. In December 2006 we ordered a 40' 2006 Monaco Diplomat. We lived in it for 4 months in our driveway to prepare for fulltiming. We sold our possessions, rented our house, dropped our youngest daughter off at college on Aug 15th, 2006 and headed out.