MINNEAPOLIS — Sometimes you just need to shake it up, and that’s exactly what Minnesota's Swee family did in the summer of 2020.
After living in the Twin Cities for 13 years John and Jodi wanted to give their girls an adventure that would take them out of their suburban Minneapolis comfort zone. The solution was to sell their house, buy a 43-foot 5th wheel camper, load up the kids and hit the road.
The family made it to the northeastern U.S. for the gorgeous fall colors, then cruised the entire eastern seaboard down to Florida before turning west for Texas. John is elated he can show his kids a bit of the culture and landscapes that this large country has to offer, “It is a gift because not everyone can just pick up and leave a job and have that flexibility to do this. “
The two parents continue to work from the road. Jodi is a life coach who talks with clients over Zoom, while John is a photographer. Their 9 and 10-year-old girls are learning like most kids these days (distance online) but John is quick to point out there’s a pretty sweet added perk, “We can adventure a little more and learn about natural history and U.S. history and things that they are excited about like science and nature.”
Jodi points to a specific example in San Antonio where the girls were able to live history rather than just read it off a page, “We all went to the Alamo and we took the time to learn what we could about the history right at the site.”
Wifi has kept them connected along their travels, and so far they haven’t found anywhere that has been completely without access. There have been moments where the signal has been less than ideal.
Life on the road coming with its shares of surprises, like being in Texas when record low temps, snow and ice enveloped the state. Jodi says even though the family was mobile they were not immune to hardships faced by others. “We went through all the stages. We were without heat, we were without electricity, we were without water. Thankfully none of them were at the same time.”
She said trying to restock the fridge was almost impossible. “The entire refrigerator and freezer section was empty. You couldn’t even get, like, the weird vegan milk.”
Two percent milk is back on the table now, and the Swee’s are once again a self-contained family unit rolling west towards New Mexico. They plan to take in the culture of the Southwest.
A return to the Twin Cities? Unlikely, but their final destination is unknown.