HoneyTrek
After meeting through a volleyball league in New York City and dating for five years, Mike and Anne Howard got married and decided to quit their jobs, sell their belongings and take a one-year honeymoon around the world. Lovers of travel, they knew they couldn’t achieve all of their dreams in a series of week-long vacations and didn’t want to wait until their retirement years to have these life-changing experiences. That one-year honeymoon turned into 5.5 years traveling around the world full-time, across 50+ countries.
In 2017, they decided to dive deep into their home continent, so they bought “Buddy”, a 21-foot 1985 Toyota Sunrader, and started what they thought was going to be a one-year road trip around North America. All the while they have been blogging on HoneyTrek.com, to chronicle their journey and inspire more people to follow their travel dreams. To further that goal, Mike and Anne offer Trip Coach courses to help people become long-term travelers and also create content for various travel brands, and write books, including National Geographic’s Ultimate Journeys for Two, and the first book on glamping in North America, Comfortably Wild.
January 2022 will mark ten years since Mike and Anne began their HoneyTrek and they don’t have any plans to stop their nomadic lifestyle. Remarkably, since the day Anne and Mike purchased their camper in 2017, they have not run a generator for a single hour, nor have they plugged into the grid a single time - all thanks to their solar plus energy storage system. However, they grew tired of the headaches associated with unreliable lead-acid batteries and recently upgraded to a longer-lasting RELiON lithium battery so that they could better focus on their travels, work, and adventures.
Mike & Anne’s power system includes:
One long-lasting RELiON RB300-LT 12V lithium battery, a 300W WindyNation solar array, a VertaMax inverter, and a WindyNation charge controller power the lighting, water pump, multiple fans, and all outlets, including a drone and laptop charging station.
Why Mike and Anne switched to lithium:
“We previously used an unreliable 200 Amp-hour lead-acid battery, and it was the biggest stress of our trip because it constantly interrupted both our online business as well as our relaxation and travel time. We always had to be extremely cautious about how much energy we used, especially if it was an overcast winter day. We would have to leave the most beautiful places just to charge our laptops because our battery would be out of juice after only a few hours of use. After installing our RB300-LT battery, we have literally not seen the battery level below 95%. Our minds were blown. It still brings us a spark of joy every time we hit the control panel and see the battery 100% charged, even after hours of use.”
Why Mike and Anne chose RELiON:
“We were looking for a lithium battery company that cares about the Earth, so we started searching online and came across RELiON. From Limitless Blue to RELiON’s One Percent for the Planet pledge, we love that RELiON puts its money - and energy - where its mouth is. We have greater peace of mind knowing that our off-grid adventures are as sustainable as possible.
Additionally, we receive three times the usable energy from our smaller footprint, 33-pound lighter, RELiON battery compared to our old lead-acid battery. Our RELiON battery is also maintenance-free and has three times the life expectancy of the lead-acid battery. Since selecting RELiON, we have saved a ton of time. We no longer wake up to a low battery, so we don’t have to race off to libraries, coffee shops, and other mundane places to charge. Instead, now we start our day with a full battery and can basecamp in far-flung places as long as we please. We could not be happier with this switch!”
How Mike and Anne’s lithium system helped them challenge their limits:
“Our RELiON battery powers our house on wheels and our online business - all without any worries! Now that we no longer have to closely monitor the battery capacity, we can focus on being more productive at work and spending more time enjoying the outdoors.”
What is your favorite part about your lifestyle?
“Our nomadic lifestyle allows us to experience new places and different cultures, all while having big adventures and learning a ton along the way. By simplifying our lives, we’re more nimble and appreciative of what we have. We love waking up in a new location every day; earning our breakfast with a hike; working from our lakeside, beachfront, or deep-forest office du jour; kayaking at sunset, and finding a local brew-pub to toast the day. We’ve found a balance of living simply while living life to the fullest.”
Do you have a favorite travel story?
“We have so many! Narrowing it down to even nine was tough, but here we go:
- Wild camping the length of Baja, Mexico
- A cheetah jumping on our car in the Maasai Mara
- Hitchhiking on a Jordanian party bus
- Glamping amongst Coastal Brown Bears in Alaska
- WWOOFing on a veggie farm in Japan
- 10-day trek to Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal
- Teaching English in a Red Dzao tribal village in Vietnam
- Champagne toasting our 7th continent from a glacier on the Antarctic Peninsula
- Putting our camper to the test with a road trip to the Arctic Circle"
Hear more about our favorite travel memories in-depth!
What advice has resonated with you the most?
“In many ways, this quote by Randy Komisar inspired us to start our HoneyTrek: ‘And then there is the most dangerous risk of all -- the risk of spending your life not doing what you want, on the bet that you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.’”
Learn more about Mike and Anne’s camper remodel, their favorite aspects of RV Life, and tricks to making the most of the road and check out their adventures on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.
Learn more about how RELiON is powering Mike and Anne's never-ending honeymoon HERE