Welcome to Henley’s Happy Trails!
A Full-Time RVing Adventure!
Welcome!
This website is our way of showing our friends, family, and the world what kind of trouble we can get ourselves into and out of. We hope to share our:
- Adventures
- Workamping Experiences (how we afford to travel)
- RV Tips (from Maintenance to Pet Care on the Road)
- Must See Places
- Photos
- and Much More!!!
Hope you find our site informative and entertaining. We’d like to hear from you too!
Who are we?
We are Levi and Natalie Henley, a couple in our 30s (one now entering 40s) who had a house and for the most part stable jobs in Las Vegas, NV. Unsatisfied with the “normal life,” we decided to take a chance, so we bought a 26-foot motorhome, sold the house, and started full-time RVing. Where are we headed? Everywhere! We want to see it all!
Levi is Mr. Jack-of-All-Trades and has made a living in the fields of entertainment (acting, performing magic and comedy), graphic and web design, retail/sales, videography, photography, scuba diving (instructor and commercial), animal care, computer repair/troubleshooting, and general home repair.
Natalie has spent over a decade working in the fields of child care and education (with students ranging from ages 3 to 12, diagnosed with special needs). She also co-owned a small pet sitting business with Levi.
Any kids?
We started our adventures about 6 years ago with 4 children, all very hairy. We lost our very shy, but very loving lab-mix, Brewy, and our handsome cat, Sammy, a year ago. Laya and Lilly (our two cats) continue on the journey with us.
Why are we full-time RVing?
Why exactly are we choosing to go full-time RVing when we could just move somewhere else? In truth, we don’t know where somewhere else should be. We came to the conclusion that we have to see different places to decide which ones are for us. Natalie has written a full article on why we chose the full-time RVing lifestyle; you can read that HERE.
Our Roadship (RIG)
Every journey requires transportation. We have chosen a 2011 Winnebago Itasca Sunstar 26P as our ship to sail the roadways of our full-time RVing adventure. Every good ship needs a name. We have chosen the name Starbuck. A custom-made carrier for our scooter sits on the back of Starbuck, along with a tow dolly hauling our Yaris. UPDATE: As of June 2016, we are scooter-less, having sold it in Michigan. We hardly used it after Las Vegas, but it sure was a reliable alternative to getting around! We still have the carrier.
Why Starbuck?
First off, Natalie is addicted to Starbucks chai tea lattes, making sure to stop by the drive thru every chance we get.
We both enjoy our science fiction too. Natalie has her favorite Syfy shows and I have mine, but we cross over in a lot of our fandoms. I am a full blown geek for Doctor Who and Star Trek. We both loved the Battlestar Galactica series. One of our favorite characters on that show was Kara “Starbuck” Thrace.
We also love the X-Files. Dana Scully’s father nicknamed her Starbuck after the character in Moby-Dick. If you are really into books that are way too long and overly descriptive, you know that Starbuck is Captain Ahab’s first mate. Now that the background info has been established, here is the strange story that named our RV:
We were on our way to Johnnie Walker RV Superstore to do the final walk-through before we drove away with our new home. We were throwing names back and forth. Starbuck was among the possibilities. During the walk-through, the technician pointed to the driver seat and said, “So which one is Captain Ahab?” We looked at each other sideways for a moment. He had no idea that Starbuck was among the possible names we had picked out. I responded by saying, “We are both captains.” Our rig was christened Starbuck.
