21 years of marriage, a strong family connection, Lexor owners, Lisa and Anthony Petrarcas took on the road together in 2019, and haven’t looked back. Read how this couple is living their travel dreams, one adventure at a time.
Can you tell me a bit about yourself?
We’re Anthony and Lisa Petrarca. We’ve been married for 21 years, and we met on a Pop Warner football field. We each have 3 kids. Anthony has 1 daughter and 2 sons, and I have 3 boys. Our kids are all the same ages so we’re basically the “Brady Bunch” family. After our youngest son left for college, we received an email about a young 12-year-old boy in need of a family. We prayed about it a lot and he became our foster son. We adopted him when he was 15 years old. So after raising our 7th child, we decided it was finally time for us!
What sparked your interest in RV travel?
We’ve always loved to travel. I grew up camping and hiking and Anthony has always surfed. Anthony definitely had to get used to camping, but now, if it was up to him, we’d be on the road full time. We have 11 grandkids now and help with babysitting so we hit the road as much as possible. We even started taking our 5-year-old granddaughter camping and hiking, gotta train them young!
I think with the pandemic, there’s no better time than now for RV traveling. The safety factor of traveling and being able to be safe in your own “home” without being stuck in a traditional house, is a huge factor. When you’re out in nature, you truly feel like you’re living and not just existing. You have the comforts of home wherever you go.
Why did you chose a Class B RV?
Buying a Class B had been a dream of ours forever. We’re very outdoorsy and love to camp and hike. We had a pop-up trailer for several years and decided we needed to upgrade. We wanted to just pull up, without all the setup and say, “We’re here!”
We watched tons of YouTube comparison videos, and everything we heard about Pleasure-Way was exactly what we were looking for. Great reviews!
There aren’t too many vans with a large refrigerator/freezer, which is a huge factor for us to stay off-grid longer. I also wanted a large bed in the back (fling open the doors to amazing views from our bedroom.) We also loved the fact the windows open up awning style, you can leave them open in the rain and still get fresh air. The bathroom with a shower was another must-have on our list.
Pleasure-Way just literally checked off every item we were looking for, and let me tell you, we looked at a lot of Class B’s.
Where on the map have you travelled to?
When the pandemic hit, everything in California closed down. My boss moved up to Southern Utah and told us it was open there. So we spent all our free time camping and hiking on isolated, free BLM (public land) in the Zion area. Once things calmed down a bit, we headed to Reno, NV, Central California Coast, Sedona, AZ, and Oregon.
Who is Petra?
Petra – “The Venture Van” or Petra for short. Named after a part of our last name. Petra also means “Rock” and she sure has been as we’ve seamlessly navigated throughout our many travels!
Where is one place that you’d love to visit again?
Definitely would have to say Oregon. It’s been on our adventure list for a long time. We stayed at a beautiful campground just above a scenic beach. We hiked to the Natural Bridges in the Samuel H. Boardman Corridor and I was able to conquer my severe fear of heights, scaling the mountain for an up-close, front row view of waves crashing through arches. We also visited a life-size dinosaur park in a rain forest and got some fun pictures.
What has RV travel taught you about yourself?
Less is more. Life is short and we need to live it to its fullest. It’s taught us to go with the flow, enjoy life along the way and don’t stress the small stuff. A big step for me is, “I can do this afraid!” My fear of heights, combined with hiking doesn’t mix, but there are so many amazing places I want to see and explore. I don’t want fear to stop me. Every time I push myself, I feel so accomplished, not to mention the incredible scenery I get to see and people we meet along the way.
Travel has really brought us closer as a couple. Just two best friends, who happen to be married, out here living our dream, traveling and adventuring together.
Any tips you’d like to share regarding your Pleasure-Way motorhome?
When we purchased our Pleasure-Way Lexor, we’d never owned a Class B motorhome. During the walk-through, they explained everything. I decided to videotape it to refer back to. It really came in handy the first few trips, whenever we had questions, the answers were right at our fingertips. Another tip would be, if you need more sleeping space for a guest, be sure to buy the front seat air mattress.
If you could travel to any place in the world right now, where would it be?
We’ve been wanting to go to Costa Rica for quite some time. Now that we have Petra, a Pan-American Highway road trip sounds much more exciting than flying. So hopefully soon!
What is the one piece of advice you would give to a new RVer?
If you’ve been dreaming of an RV adventure, take a leap of faith, you won’t regret it. I think everyone should experience travel like this. It’s the best!
Learn more about our top-of-the-line motorhomes, and read about the best-in-class features that come standard in each Pleasure-Way Class motorhome here.
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