Living A Life Of Historic And Daring Adventures featuring Bill Kunkle

And she turned her kayak around and she said that, “we’re going to go home, we’re going to sell our house, and we’re going full-time RV’ing.” And I said, “You’re crazy!” And then about 30 seconds later I said to her, “You know what, that’s not such a bad idea…”

He’s an explorer, adventurer, retired schoolteacher and our featured guest on episode 3 of the Ones Who Wander Podcast–Bill Kunkle has lived quite the interesting and excitement-packed life. From retracing the journey of Louis and Clark to selling everything and spending four years traveling the country in a RV, when it comes to living, Bill does it. 

During our interview, Bill details some of the incredible experiences he’s had during his travels and shares stories of some of the people he met along the way. Along with these stories, Bill also tells a bit of Lewis & Clark history including some of the oddities from the expedition that are rarely talked about.

Be sure to watch the full episode and subscribe to our YouTube channel! 

Photo: ©Bill Kunkle

2004 Lewis & Clark Historic Trail Trip

The idea to travel the entire Lewis & Clark Historic Trail came to Bill when he was thinking about his retirement. Brainstorming ways to supplement his income after he would finish teaching in 2009, Bill figured that creating a program he could talk about in elementary and middle schools would be good plan to put in place for the future. 

With 2004 marking the 200th anniversary of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, the pieces all came together for an amazing and educational adventure to embark upon. It would be the best way to explore the outdoors and learn about American history along the way.

In order to prepare for the journey, Bill read about 8 books including his favorite, Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose which is a biography of Meriwether Lewis. He also collected various gazetteers from the states he would be traveling through.

Bill contacted many visitors centers, state parks, and land management agencies to gather more information before his trip. It’s also important to note that during this time that he had very limited GPS capabilities and no cellphone.

One very important item Bill took along was a bike as some of the roads were very remote and he needed another form of transportation incase his car broke down. Later on, he also picked up a bow saw and an axe as he would be traveling on some forest service roads that could be impassible if a tree fell down.

A highlight of Bill’s trip was that he did the entire adventure with his dad. While originally planning to do it alone, when his dad offered to come along, he welcomed the opportunity. 

Along his journey, Bill took many pictures and his dad recorded every photo he took. This was still during the days of film photography where each picture didn’t have the metadata of our digital era.  

Photo: © Bill Kunkle

Stories Picked Up From The Trip

As Bill pursued his trip on the Lewis & Clark Historic Trail, he had the privilege of meeting and talking to so many people along the way. The stories he listened too on his journey was definitely one of the most memorable parts of the entire adventure. 

The first story he shared was his meeting with Tom Hecker in Brownsville, Nebraska, a 70 year old man who was taking his Lewis & Clark journey a step further by following the exact route of the expedition. By the time Bill meet up with him Tom was on his third boat that he was using to traverse up the treacherous Missouri River.

Tom told Bill the story of his stop in Brownsville where the entire town came out to celebrate his arrival with a big picnic. Another great story from the road was Bill’s meeting with Lonnie Bighead at a visitors center in South Dakota while he was taking landscape photos. 

It was early evening and Bill noticed a nervous looking man coming up behind him carrying an army knapsack. The man asked if he could sit down and the two began talking.

Lonnie introduced himself and shared with Bill how he had just returned from the Iraq War where, had it not been for his sergeant’s leadership, he would have been killed. What Lonnie experienced during the war changed him and he was a different man because of it. 

He told Bill that he was en route to reunite with one of his friends from the army in Washington state. Lonnie then asked Bill if he knew a way to cross the river in front of them. 

Bill quickly found out that Lonnie’s nervousness wasn’t about meeting up with his army buddy but rather from his encounter with a mountain lion a few miles back. With Lonnie sleeping outside during his trek, he wanted to make sure there were no unexpected wildlife interactions while he was trying to get a little shut eye. 

Photo: © Bill Kunkle

Full-Time RV Journey

When Bill retired from teaching in 2009, he was looking to do a retirement trip out west. As some who’s always loved camping, he figured taking his camper out for a couple of weeks to spend some time in the national parks would be a great way to enjoy the beginning of his retirement. 

Bill’s wife also joined him after taking 3 weeks off from her job, a job she was growing quite tired of. It gave her a little time to think and be away from work.

While kayaking on the Oxbow Bend of the Snake River, Bill’s wife turned her kayak towards him and said that she was done working, they were going to sell their house, and they were going to RV full-time. At first, Bill dismissed the idea, but after thinking it over for 30 seconds, he was totally onboard. 

So for the next 4 years, Bill and his wife lived their dream of RV’ing full-time and exploring the country. They figured out the logistics of their endeavor which included the money aspect, healthcare, and where they would be camping every night.

Bill gives some advice for those interested in the lifestyle. One tip is to not jump into something like this if you’ve never RV’d before.

This is a tip that was also given in Episode 2 of our podcast by prospective van lifers Chris and Tali. If you’ve never done an activity or recreation, you should work your way into it rather than go full steam ahead and end up having a miserable time. 

Another very important tip Bill gives is in regards to the place you stay when you’re RV’ing. It’s cheaper to stay at one place for a length of time that it is to stay at multiple places.

If you stay somewhere for a month, it’ll cost significantly less than moving to a new every spot every couple of days. There are also small areas of public land that you can camp at for free for usually up to 14 days but most of these are out west. 

Photo: © Bill Kunkle

Stories From The Road

Throughout Bill’s 4 years of full-time RV’ing, he did quite a few things and met a lot of interesting people along the way. One of the people he met was Paul Mason.

Paul was around 89 at the time and had an amazing background. As a bomber pilot in World War II, he flew the last mission over Tokyo and would tell Bill and his wife many of the historic events he experienced during the war. 

They met quite a few awesome couples during their adventures that would go on to become great friends. Interestingly enough, Bill also reconnected with a couple who’s son had played baseball with his son but the parents had never been in contact despite only living 5 miles away from each other. 

Bill’s Siberian husky also helped him and his wife met a lot of people who wanted to pet and take pictures with him. His dog also served as a great hiking companion and hiked every trail dogs were allow to be on. 

A highlight of his time on the road was kayaking past alligators in Florida. It was during this he learned that alligators aren’t very active during the winter so he could kayak fairly close to them without any incidents. 

Photo: © Bill Kunkle

Inspiration For Potential Adventurers

When asked about what he would tell people who want to take on these kinds of adventures but just need a little push to do it, Bill replied with the Nike slogan, “Just Do It.” It’s a three letter phrase that encompasses the spirit of adventure. 

Sometimes, people need to silence all the doubts and negativity they impose on themselves and just take the leap. There are always reason not to do something and the timing with never be perfect.

A way to make this easier is to calculate your needs and expenses ahead of time so if things don’t go exactly as planned you have a bit of a safety net to fall back on. Bill also shares that it you can start small and build up to the big adventure so you’ll gain a some experience beforehand. 

Reading up about the places you plan to go like Bill did for his Lewis & Clark trip is a great way to understand more about the history and significants of an area you plan to visit. Also be sure to read about what is at the site now and increase your knowledge along the way. 

Having a good life to be able to look back on is essential to your happiness and well-being. Take the leap into the unknown, even if it seems a little scary, because your future self will thank you.