Local couple commits to nomadic lifestyle in RV

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A local couple has committed to a nomadic lifestyle traveling in a Winnebago Vista they named Wanda — short for Wanderlust.

Kevin Quiambao, 35, an East Meadow native, and Ashley Hall Quiambao, 31, an Oceanside native, met as servers at Ruby Tuesday in Westbury roughly 11 years ago. “Our biggest passion is traveling,” said Ashley. “We were always counting down to the next big trip.”

After what Ashley called a “bucket list” road trip through New Zealand, the two saw first-hand what nomadic lifestyle was like. “It made us take a minute and think about changing the path we were following to have more freedom and explore,” she said.

When asked what enticed them about traveling, Kevin said, “It’s kind of like a rush. It’s not really like an adrenaline rush . . . You don’t know where anything is and you don’t know the culture. But you learn to love the place. It humbles you.”

“I like to step out of my own comfort zone,” added his wife Ashley. “It makes me realize what’s important.”

The couple made the decision to spend their life on wheels after realizing that it would save them over $3,000 in monthly expenses. In Lindenhurst, he said, the spent around $7,000 each month, but on the road they intend to spend $3,200.

Kevin and Ashley spoke to the Herald from Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland, where they arrived on Nov. 2 following a five-day stay at a RV park in Jackson, New Jersey. This was the first time the couple traveled with their pets and a Jeep towed behind them for easier on-site travel.

They began their trek in Wanda with a “test trip” to Taconic State Park in the Finger Lakes of New York for a friends wedding in early October. They plan to move quicker in the future, but Ashley said, “it was a lot of adjusting for everybody so we wanted to just stay put for a few days and have a lot of quiet time.”

The couple bought a house in Lindenhurst six years ago for $230,000 and, after completely renovating it, sold it for $460,000. They bought a used Winnebago vista on Craig’s List for $25,00 and put another $20,000 into it.

“We’re really into all things DIY, so we gutted it ourselves and made it look more like a house,” Kevin said. Now, he added, “We’re comfortable with our job situation with less bills, less overhead and us doing well with selling the house.”

Ashley is an attorney for Patricia Rooney PC, for which she will be working remotely while on the road. “I’m actually very lucky because my boss is allowing me to stay part time,” she said.

Kevin quit his job at a health services company in September to work full-time on renovating the RV. He also owns an online company that he now has the time to revamp, he said, and will also be working on expanding the couple’s brand online and on social media. “It’s still very new, so I’ll be looking for a supplemental income on the road.”

They both added that their families were supportive and not surprised when they heard of their decision to spend life on the road. “It was very sad to leave them, but everybody is so excited to share the experience with us,” Ashley said.

When asked if they will miss the sense of community their Long Island neighborhoods offered them, Kevin said that RV living offers its own community. “In RV life, you get that sense of community by common interest,” Kevin added. “You meet all these people in the same parking lot. People could relate to who you are and why you’re here.”

While they have no definite plan, the couple intends on traveling southbound, then west and toward California. But they said that they are open to suggestions from the people they met on the road and their followers on social media. They could be found at their website Sidetracked by Adventure at www.sidetrackedbyadventure.com.