Many people have asked me how we stay in touch with family or get our mail while we are traveling. Just like many of you who aren’t on the road, we have cell phones for calls and a laptop computer for correspondence or shopping online. However, there are a few things that are harder when you are in an RV. To help us with that, we’ve found three new ways to help us stay connected on the road.
Getting Our Mail with Escapees:
One of our first concerns when planning to live full time in our motorhome was how we would get our mail. Nowadays you can pay many of your bills online and correspond with people via email, but there are still items that must come through the mail. We researched various options and found Escapees RV Club: a total network support for all RVers. They have many services to offer including:
–Mail Service: personal mailbox with forwarding, sorting, and online access options
–Parking: campground locations, discounts, and route planning
–Education: magazines, forums, and classes to help you learn about everything RV
–Events: regional chapters, social groups, and events throughout the year
–Roadside Assistance: just like cars, RVs need mechanical assistance on the road
–Xscapers: a club for working-aged Rvers who still work at least part time on the road
As new RVers, we found much to take advantage of with Escapees. Our main use, though, has been the mail service—they are licensed by the US Postal Service to receive our mail and to forward it to us. When we sold our house, we changed our address of record to our Escapees address in Livingston, Texas. Having this as our domicile address allows us to vote, register vehicles, pay taxes and other things you need an address for when you don’t really live in one place.
Please click on the picture to learn more about how Escapees services can help you.
While traveling we can call Escapees to check on any mail received—they will tell you what’s there, or you can see it online if you choose that option. Then we can decide to have it forwarded to wherever we are staying. Many campgrounds will let you forward mail to their location, or if we are staying near family then we can use their address. We have found Escapees mail service to be an easy solution to all our mail needs on the road.
Sending cards with TouchNote:
When we first started traveling, I would buy a postcard at each destination to send to our grown children so they could follow our journeys. It was a fun idea and they liked getting some “real mail,” rather than just bills and advertisements. Sometimes, it could be a challenge to find a good card, write on it, get a stamp and then find the post office… all in an unfamiliar place. I had the same issue for birthday and anniversary cards.
I was so excited when a friend told me about TouchNote, a service for sending postcards, greeting cards, and other photo products online. They have a mobile app that can be used from smartphones or tablets, or you can use their website. Within minutes, I can compose a card and send it without ever leaving my motorhome! Of course, you could send cards from a house too and skip the shopping and mailing hassle. I love being able to use my own photos to make the cards personal and unique. TouchNote has really helped me to stay in touch more regularly and our family has loved receiving these high-quality products.
I was surprised to learn that the cost per card is less than I usually spend in the store and it includes the postage! There are several ways to buy cards on TouchNote. You can purchase individual cards, buy a credit pack for multiple cards, or you can get a membership. There are 4 levels of premium memberships: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Each level offers different perks such as:
–free cards every month
–stunning photo filters
–fun stickers to personalize your cards
–adding location to your cards
–personalized stamps
–bonus cards throughout the year
I love that you can input your addresses on the app and have them at the ready for sending cards. You can also get reminders for birthdays and anniversaries, so you never miss an important occasion. You can try TouchNote for 2 weeks without any commitment plus you get two free cards. It’s fun to brighten the day of a loved one with a special, personalized card made just for them.
Special Offer!
Get $10 off your first year with my code ROBIEKXV.
You can download the app here: https://touchnote.onelink.me/F720/f161c927
Displaying photos with Nixplay:
Photos are a wonderful way to capture our memories and help us feel closer to our family. Even if you aren’t traveling like we are, it’s likely that you have family and friends in a different city or state. One thing that I really miss is having framed photos around the house and being able to look at all of my photo albums (I know I am dating myself here!). Living in a motorhome, we don’t have much room to display or hang very many pictures. I do have a lot of photos on my phone, but with over 12,000 pictures, it’s cumbersome to scroll through them all on a rather small screen.
Last fall I found an easy way to be able to look at all of our pictures every day! Nixplay, the number-one selling digital photo frame, let’s you view your photos in a beautiful framed display. Now I can see precious memories and loved ones throughout each day. Fun times we had forgotten about, friends we miss, and family we love are right there with us even though we are apart during our travels.
Nixplay is so easy to use– I can send pictures to the frame from an app on my phone or by email. Setting it up literally took just a few minutes and didn’t require any technical expertise—everything is all ready for you to start using your frame right away! As a non-digital native, this made me extremely happy. It would be a great way for parents and grandparents to keep up to date with family pictures since photos can be sent directly to their frame by relatives and friends using email or the free app.
Nixplay has a whole collection of high-definition digital frames that can display thousands of photos. They use cutting-edge Cloud Technology to securely show and store your pictures. You can also choose frames that display images from SD cards or flash drives, but I love the ease of sending wirelessly. Nixplay’s smart frame is now compatible with Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, and Google Photos! The company is awesome to deal with too. They have a 30-day refund policy, a 1 year manufacturer warranty, and excellent customer service.
There are good sales around many holidays like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Christmas just to name a few. Click on the link below to see discounts and current offers!
These three products have definitely made staying in touch with our family and friends much easier. Sending mail with TouchNote can be done from anywhere and I never forget an occasion. Nixplay lets me feel closer to loved ones by seeing all my photos everyday. You can use these whether you are traveling or staying at home. Escapees helps us to get our mail no matter where we travel. If you are an RVer, this company offers mail service and much more.
The products on this page are items that I use and find helpful. If you make a purchase using my links, I earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. I appreciate your support which helps me in maintaining this blog.
WOW who knew? I had no idea about these terrific services that are offered. This sure does make it easier for you out there on the road. I loved seeing the family pictures too in this post. Safe Travels my cousin 🙂
Thanks, Sandi. We do love how easy these services make things while we are on the road!
Thanks for the heads up on this service, Robin, it does offer a lot.
As fellow Rvers, we are happy to share these great services with others!
Great ideas! I didn’t know Escapees was a thing. That’s really convenient. I love digital frames. We got one for my parents.
Hi Stacey- thanks for visiting my blog! Escapees was so easy for us to do since we are already Texas residents, but anyone can use them. I’m thinking of getting a digital frame for my parents too–we love ours!
Sounds like an amazing service for mail. I love the digital frame idea. At one time we had one, I’ll have to find it. And I love the idea of TouchNote. SO cool! Great suggestions.
Hi Angie–thanks for visiting my blog! The mail service is the perfect solution to getting mail when we are traveling and sending cards with TouchNote is so fun and easy. These newer digital frames are so much more advanced than the older ones–we love ours.
Thank you so much!!!! My husband and I dream about being able to live and travel full time in an RV and these are things I hadn’t thought of!! Great tips and I will definitely save this for when we can finally do it! Our kids are a bit too young yet.
Hi Shea–thanks for checking out my blog! I’m happy to pass on things that we are learning as full-time Rvers. It’s different living on the road, but we are really loving all of our adventures. I hope you and your family will be able to enjoy traveling soon!
OH this is really good information thanks so much for sharing. I hope to one day be able to travel and live the RV life but I still have some time before I get there lol
Hi Kelly! I’m glad to share all of the things we are learning as full-time Rvers. We are loving our adventures on the road and hope that you will be able to get traveling soon too. Thanks for visiting my blog!
I love the cards you send us. We love seeing and reading about your travels and adventures and they help us feel a part of it and closer to you.
Thank you–I am glad you like the cards. TouchNote makes it easy for us to send cards and I love that we can personalize them with our pictures!
I always enjoy seeing how efficiently one can live as a migrator. No doubt, learning of the perks makes me envy your lifestyle. Thank you for sharing your experiences!
Hi Pam! It really took me by surprise when we started traveling and I learned how little we really needed. It made me think about all the “stuff” we used to have, spend money on, take up time maintaining, etc. I guess we are much more efficient now!