Alaska couple places a high priority on exploring new places.
By John Johnston, Associate Editor
September 2016
Ah, retirement. One of its great rewards, eagerly anticipated by many, is the freedom to travel. Sounds nice, but Ben and Rebecca Pazdernik, F458300, aren’t waiting around. Instead, they reconfigured their lives so they can travel now, while they’re young and — dare we say it? — restless.
Rebecca, 35, is a Kansas native who was raised mainly in California. She has resided overseas and on a Caribbean island, and has set foot in more than 40 countries. “Wanderlust is kind of in my blood,” she said.
Ben, meanwhile, has a history of adrenaline-laced adventures, such as romping around California’s Glamis Sand Dunes in a dune buggy, boating on the Colorado River, and making road trips to Mexico. Now 40, he has visited more than 20 countries.
“We really want the freedom to travel and go where we want, when we want. So we spent years working and getting to the point where we can do that,” Rebecca said.
They took a few detours along the way.
Shortly after they married in 2006, Ben earned a U.S. Coast Guard captain’s license and became an Alaska fishing guide. Meanwhile, Rebecca finished up a graduate degree in health sciences on the way to becoming a physician assistant. They then settled in the scenic seaport of Seward, Alaska, tucked between the Kenai mountains and the waters of Kenai Fjords National Park, about 130 miles south of Anchorage.
“We thought we might be there for a couple of years for a fun adventure,” Rebecca said. “That was in 2008; as it turned out, Alaska stole our hearts.”
It soon became obvious that their ability to travel would be hampered by occupations that required one of them to be on a fishing boat and the other to be in a clinic or hospital. As Rebecca put it: “What were we thinking?”
So, six years ago they partnered with a company that markets health and wellness products. Now, all they need is a phone and the internet to sell to customers and to assist others in building similar businesses.
Their business often requires travel within Alaska, in particular to Anchorage. Rather than pay hotel bills, they opted to buy a Type A motorhome, a 1999 Tiffin Allegro. “We also recognized the freedom it offered to go and play,” Rebecca said. And, they could take their two dogs along.
In their first four years as motorhome owners, the Pazderniks limited their RV travels to Alaska (although they also flew to a number of international destinations). Their excursions have included driving the Denali Highway on an annual hunting trip, clam digging at Deep Creek, and dip netting (a type of fishing open only to Alaska residents) at Chitina.
“We are hunters and gatherers!” Ben said. “We try to live off the land at home, because as Alaska residents we’re allowed certain fishing and hunting privileges, so we can harvest enough fish and red meat to feed us for the year.”
Their motorhome — named Nellie, after Nellie Neal Lawing, a colorful Alaska pioneer known as “Alaska Nellie” — is not made for four-season traveling. But, “As long as the roads are dry and don’t have a layer of ice, we will go out,” Ben said.
For several years, the couple talked of wintering outside of Alaska. In 2015, after a friend agreed to house sit, plans took shape for a seven-month motorhome excursion they dubbed the North American Road Trip. Always ready for fun, the couple hitched a trailer to their motorhome to haul their four-wheel all-terrain vehicle, kayaks, and bikes.
The trip began inauspiciously on September 25, 2015, when the Pazderniks got stuck in an Alaska snowstorm. Said Ben: “You hear this in our videos a lot: ‘If that’s the worst thing that happens, we’re doing all right.’”
The same can be said for a March 2016 incident. While they were camping in Cloverdale, California, a storm blew a large tree onto the front portion of the motorhome. Nellie was badly dented, but the Pazderniks were not hurt. Repairs were made and the journey continued.
Over the course of the trip, Ben and Rebecca produced and posted more than 100 travel vlogs on their YouTube channel. “We thought it would add an element of fun to the trip and be a new way to interact with the world,” Rebecca said.
You can watch them kayaking past alligators in Florida; dining on lobster in Maine; scuba diving the Blue Hole of Santa Rosa, New Mexico; riding their all-terrain vehicle over Oregon’s coastal dunes; exploring the UFO Museum in Roswell, New Mexico; touring the monuments and memorials of Washington, D.C.; and much more.
They returned home at the beginning of May this year. The experience, Rebecca said, was “life-changing in the sense that it confirms you can go out and live your wild dreams.” They were reminded just how important that is when a middle-aged family member died while they were traveling.
“That just reinforced that it can happen to anybody at any time,” Ben said. “We want to try to go to the grave with as few regrets as possible.”
For now, though, their dreams don’t include becoming full-time motorhomers. “We love Alaska so much,” Rebecca said. “And there are certain elements of being part of the (Seward) community that really appeal to us.”
They’re closely connected to neighbors and friends who are quick to help cope with loss or to celebrate a birth. The Pazderniks love hosting potluck gatherings around the holidays. “Friends become family in our community,” Rebecca said.
Still, their insatiable desire to travel ensures the couple will never be homebodies. Whether the next odyssey is by motorhome or other mode of travel, this much is clear: “Sitting around staring at each other next winter will not cut it,” Ben said.
You can follow the Pazderniks on their website, His & Hers Alaska (www.his-hers-alaska.com); Facebook; YouTube (www.youtube.com/c/HisHersAlaska); Twitter (@His_Hers_Alaska); and Instagram (his_hers_alaska).
Suggestions Welcome
If you know FMCA members whose stories beg to be told — and yes, you can nominate yourself — let us know and we’ll consider featuring them. Tell us a little about them and send contact information (email address and/or phone number) to Associate Editor John Johnston, jjohnston@fmca.com. Or write him at Family Motor Coach Association, 8291 Clough Pike, Cincinnati, OH 45244.
Ah, retirement. One of its great rewards, eagerly anticipated by many, is the freedom to travel. Sounds nice, but Ben and Rebecca Pazdernik, F458300, aren’t waiting around. Instead, they reconfigured their lives so they can travel now, while they’re young and — dare we say it? — restless.