LANSING, Mich. — Some people dream of just packing up their lives and traveling, and one Lansing family is doing just that.
The Halls are taking on a 50-state challenge while teaching their kids all about different cultures.
They quit their jobs, sold their house in Lansing last year and have be documenting their journey as they travel across the country.
"We're all the way on state 18, and we're in Utah," Morgan Hall said.
The first state they ended up in was Tennessee.
"And then, we went to Georgia, to Florida, to Alabama, to Mississippi, to Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and then Nevada, California," Chris Hall said.
They drove up the whole West Coast.
"And then yeah, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, and we're back just for a quick stay in Utah before we head over to Wyoming," Morgan said.
They planned to head to Wyoming next week.
"We were going to head to Yellowstone, and we're on our way en route, and we got notification that everything was closed because of the flooding. And we quickly changed switched up gears and we decided to go down to Idaho because we hadn't been there yet," Morgan said.
Chris is from England and Morgan is from Lansing. As an international couple, they have always valued travel.
"It's been a major part of our relationship, and we loved the different perspectives that we would gain when we went to new places and learned about new cultures," Morgan said.
They got a reminder of just how precious life is when Chris had a health scare and saw an opportunity when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
"A lot of our work became online work, that we could give that gift for our children and really open their eyes to the beauty in the world and all the diverse opportunities that are out there," Morgan said.
So, they ran with a dream.
"We didn't own an RV before, we had knew absolutely nothing about camping, and we bought one and renovated it. And with very little practice, we drove all the way into the mountains of Tennessee, and figured it out on the go," Morgan said.
They've been working remotely and have been traveling with their sons Jude and Jonah. They say they've been able to give their boys opportunities that open their hearts and minds and help them learn stuff that's not in a textbook.
"When we were in Arizona, we actually connected with a Navajo family, and they agreed to swap tiny homes with us, they live on a reservation. And it was so cool, because they got to see the different way of life," Morgan said.
During the tiny home swap, the Halls were treated to a Navajo lunch.
"We talked about Navajo tacos, which are like our new all of our new thing. And we were able to see the hard work that they put into living in the reservation, and the kids really appreciate things now like having a bathroom in our RV, you know, we had to walk quite a long way to their outhouse," Morgan said.
But life on the road hasn't been all peaches and cream. At one point, they were stranded in Texas and had to get a truck.
"All the way to Texas, and then our truck broke down," Morgan said. "We actually bought another truck for another truck because that's all we could sell our truck for pretty much for parts at that point. And I don't know how we did it, but we found one and we were able to pick up where we left off."
They even had their RV's window smashed, and they have had to deal with the rising gas prices like the rest of us.
"Our biggest cost is definitely the fuel," Chris said. "We took off in a diesel truck, and I remember diesel was about $3.15, when we left, which was the, you know, that's a good price for diesel. And now we're in a gas truck because we had to get a new truck. And I think just yesterday, I paid $5.29 for a liter."
They have been positive about their journey and have been staying in budget friendly places, getting creative and just going with the flow.
As they make their way back to this side of the country, they plan to make Michigan state number 25.
They are hoping to visit all 50 states by the new year.
"I would love people just to know that it's possible where we have a very tight budget, and we're still able to do it," Morgan said. "I just think where there's a will, there's a way we've learned so much on YouTube about how to fix up our RV, every little problem that comes along and there's just ways to do it. And it's such a big world out there that it's just so such a great gift for our children at least to be able to explore it."
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