For families with autism

Local groups, libraries, faith communities, volunteering, and kids' activities can help a traveling family connect with the people who live there.

What our own car actually costs a family of five in Central America, month to month, against flying in and renting or riding. Permits, repairs, and the rent it saved us.

We sat our daughter Eden down to ask what it's really like to have Hyrum as a brother. What we heard back was a lot harder, and a lot more hopeful, than we expected.

Hyrum fixated on a birthday two months away, and by Wednesday we knew we couldn't wait. So we baked a cake at midnight, buried the presents in a sand pile, and threw him a birthday that had nothing to do with his actual birthday.

We pulled into Gold Beach in late October, during the off-season, and stayed five weeks. It was one of the top places we researched before going full-time, and this stay left us thinking it could be home one day.

Years of therapy failed to reach him. A week by a river in northern Idaho did what nothing else could. This is what we've learned about why water regulates our son, and what other families can try.

Twelve months after leaving our dream home in Utah, we were wrong about almost everything we thought this life would look like. Somehow, being wrong led us exactly where we needed to be.

Thriving on the road isn't just about visiting places, it's about integrating into each community we land in. Five practical habits that have helped our family feel at home wherever we stop.

Flyers instead of panic calls, boundaries around social invitations, and knowing when to stop explaining. Three habits that have made traveling with our son safer and calmer for everyone.

This isn't the glossy RV life most people imagine. It's dirt on the floor and frogs in the fridge, and it grew out of necessity, not adventure, because it's what finally works for our son.

We came to Astoria for a family reunion and stayed inside Fort Stevens State Park, close enough to join in but quiet enough for Hyrum to stay regulated. We kept coming back, and two weeks later we still hadn't seen enough of it.

A full month in Seeley Lake taught us that home is built through service, shared meals, and people who make space for you. A small Montana town that gave us far more than we expected.

A quiet canyon campground along the river gave us the perfect base to slow-explore Glacier National Park, from the Going-to-the-Sun Road to a family float down the Flathead, without staying inside the busiest corridors.

Our son needs space, quiet, and water, the things a typical RV park doesn't offer. Here's what we look for instead, what boondocking actually costs us, and what it's given our family in return.

Our first stop outside Utah put us in a dispersed site along Cabin Creek, ten feet from the water, with the Sawtooths rising straight up behind us. It's the kind of quiet that met our family exactly where it needed to.

Hyrum was diagnosed just after his second birthday. Years of ABA, specialists, and a home that had to be locked down followed, until we found what actually helped. This is that story.

A storm turned Tom's Best Road into a sinkhole within minutes of arriving, and the week that followed became one of our favorite southern Utah stays, quiet camp nights split between Tropic and Bryce Canyon City.

A packed-campground scramble turned into our favorite kind of surprise: a quiet creekside boondocking spot in Virgin, twenty minutes from Zion, that gave our son room to settle and gave us three unhurried weeks in the park.

We picked Hurricane for a new RV resort with a water park built in. Sand Hollow and Grandpa's Pond delivered, but a resort that busy taught us something important about what our son actually needs.

We landed in St. George out of necessity more than adventure, and 3.5 months later it had quietly become the winter basecamp that helped us find our footing, our rhythm, and the courage for what came next.

We were an average family of five until one of our kids didn't fit the mold. This is the story of why we sold almost everything, bought an RV, and started writing it all down.