This year marks the second time I attended the RV Entrepreneur Summit, a 4-day conference for RVers who are making (or trying to make) a living from the road. And it marks my first campground repeat. Lucky for me, it’s an awesome campground.

In fact, I am the reason the Summit was held at Lake Guntersville State Park. The Oliver Travel Trailer Rally was held at the campground last May. And when Heath and Alyssa of the RVE Summit asked the Facebook group for ideas for the 3rd Summit, I suggested the northern Alabama State Park. I knew it was large enough to accommodate the 350 attendees plus it has cabins as well as a hotel for those not yet in rigs.

Lake with a campground on one shore.
A view of Lake Guntersville and the campground, taken from the balcony of Lake Guntersville Lodge on top of a hill.

It turned out to be a pretty perfect location and so many people said they had no idea that such a gem would be found in Alabama.

The Summit

The theme of the summit was Create Your Own Rules. It was broken up into different types of session:

  • Main Stage and Key Note Speakers
  • Workshops
  • Attendee-Led Meet Ups
  • Pre-Summit and Other
Man and woman on stage giving a presentation.
Keep Your Daydream keynote speakers.

Main Stage speakers are often the RV entrepreneurs who’ve reached a certain level of status, whether that’s income, followers, etc. They generously offer advice and inspiration on a larger, more global scale. At the closing evening we heard from the Key Note speakers (Marc and Tricia of Keep Your Daydream who have 150,000 followers on their YouTube channel) before the closing dinner.

The Workshops offer more practical action-based assistance. For example, I loved the workshops on SEO, Pinterest and Systems & Processes. And I left those with a “to do” list to help me with my goal of helping readers find this blog in a sea of other RVing blogs.

Group of 30 people in a room.
Solo travelers meetup group. We shared ideas for caravaning, safety and much more.

The Attendee-Led Meet Ups are a more informal casual version of the workshop and generally included more audience participation. There was one for solo travelers that I especially liked and it was also a favorite of mine last year.

Flight of four beers.
After a little education, these are the four beers we started with during the Craft Beer Meet Up.

Even though the summit is officially four days long, with pre-summit activities most of us planned on eight days. Sunday to Sunday. Pre-summit is about connection with the co-working space, impromptu campfires, group dinner at a nearby restaurant, more attendee-led meet ups and a sponsored cocktail party. I wanted to attend the laughter yoga meet up to find out what that’s about but it coincided with a vet appointment.

Group at a picnic table tasting different craft beers.
The beer tasting begins. Several were a little too much for me. I poured the beer I couldn’t drink into the guy’s glass who sat across from me. He didn’t mind.

One pre-summit meet-up had limited space so I set a timer to make sure I got in. So glad I did. I loved the Craft Beer meet up and talk and tasting. I knew nothing about beer. Now I can tell you that every beer falls into one of two broad categories. It’s either an ale or a lager. I’m not a big beer drinker so I didn’t like many of them, but I wanted to be open so I tasted every one offered. 

There were also things like disc golf lessons from two professional disc golfers who were also Main Stage speakers, hikes led by the naturalist at the State Park and a day where Jeep-enthusiasts went off-roading.

Group sitting on benches while listening to a man standing in front.
Those who learned about disc golf from professional disc golfers.

In other words, if you are interested in RV life and entrepreneurship and connecting to a great group of people, this summit has something for you. Even if you don’t attend every session.

And did I mention Hammock Village for chilling out?

Kids in hammocks hung from trees.
Hammock Village was a place to take a break from all the activities. As you can see, the kids pretty much took over Hammock Village.

But enough of me telling you about it. Let me show you the conference in photos. A huge thanks to my friend Joe Hendricks who was the conference photographer again this year. I was super lucky to also nab a seat in his photography workshop. Except for the two beer photos, the rest are his.

The Rigs

Because of the location, those without rigs stayed at the hotel. But walking the campground was awesome. So great to see so many different versions of RV life. That’s true at every place I stay. But at the summit, I tried to imagine what working in each rig would be like.

Man and woman in front of a banner that says Create Your Own Rules.
My friends Renetta and J Moore of Moore Adventure in Life. Renetta and I met at last year’s summit. Even though they have an RV, they decided to drive from their Texas home on a motorcycle and tent camp. I didn’t get a photo of their setup so here’s one of their happy beautiful faces.
Jeep with a roof tent.
And then there was this one. A Jeep with pop-up housing on the roof.
A Class C owned by two Texas vegans. The people are standing around because one of the options was to sign up for RV tours so they are waiting their chance to go inside.
5th wheel trailer parked at a campground.
A very big 5th wheel. The owners also signed up to show off their rig during the RV tours.
Custom RV that looks like a semi-truck parked in a campground.
I love that people make RVing exactly what they want like this heavy-duty built RV. Can you see, they are towing a flatbed big basket? Probably for toys.
Black 5th wheel parked in a campground.
This demo Dometic 5th wheel came loaded with new products and technology. As I understand it, many products weren’t even on the market yet. This was shown by appointment only. I wanted to see it, but the slots filled faster than the time it took me to get to the sign up sheet. Dometic manufactures RV components. In my Oliver I have a Dometic air conditioner, thermostat and refrigerator.

A Few Speaker Quotes

The first Main Stage speaker was Christina Gambino who had to leave the summit early for her third try at America Ninja Warrior. I love her tag line.
Workshop with two people presenting in front of a screen that says, "Full-time RV life isn't difficult but it is different."
So true. This is from workshop presenters Kerensa and Brandon Hatcher of RV to Freedom.
Quote on a screen that says, "Once you find what you're born to do...you'll never work so hard in your life."
This one gave me pause. It reminded me of the quote, “Do work you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” While kind of saying the exact opposite, it’s saying the exact same thing.

Other Summit Photos

Front view of a hotel with a circular drive.
Lake Guntersville Lodge where some attendees stayed and were all our sessions were held (except some of the meet up sessions).
First thing one morning we were instructed to meet a new person. Despite wet hair and clinging to coffee, I love this shot of me, of us. What I see when I look at is the wide range of RV entrepreneurs. Solo vs. Couple/Family. Young vs. No Longer a Spring Chicken (not yet ready to call myself old!) .
Wooden slats with a sign inside an RV outline that says, "RVE Summit."
The backdrop of the Main Stage.
Attendee-led meet up on the first day of the summit. This one was for self-defense. The woman in pink is April Pishna of Living a Stout Life (yes, she and her husband offered the Craft Beer Meet). And, April’s a new member in my Mastermind group (I wrote about my Mastermind group HERE after last year’s summit).
A group of photographers, half kneeling and half standing.
Another workshop that required signing up. I got the very last slot. I was so happy. This was about becoming a better photographer taught by summit photographer Joe Hendricks. It focused on the composition of a photo. He showed us that doing something as simple as kneeling down can make better photo or it crop out an unwanted power line. I’m standing up in the middle in the back, wearing all black including last year’s summit t-shirt with the theme, “Never Stand Still.”
Large group of people with a lake in the background.
Group shot on the Lodge balcony. I’m somewhere in the middle.

Final Thoughts

The summit is a great event that attracts amazing, generous and creative people. And, at this point, I plan on attending again next year. Dates and location won’t be announced until summer. Since Lake Guntersville was so perfect for our group I am fairly confident it will be held there again.

Since I’d already experienced local adventures last year, I wasn’t a tourist during my month-long stay. However, it doesn’t mean my time wasn’t without a certain amount of drama. The brief version is that I rescued six cats/kittens. It’s a longer and more dramatic story than you might expect. Even though I’m not in Lake Guntersville, the story is ongoing. When it wraps up, I will write a post all about Saving Six Cats.

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