July 22, 2026

Meet Ron and Barbara Abler: Proof That RVing Has No Age Limit

Meet Ron and Barbara Abler: Proof That RVing Has No Age Limit

Ron is 87. Barbara is 82. And right now, they're probably somewhere on the road, planning the next trip.

In this episode, Mike Wendland sits down with longtime friends of the RV Lifestyle community, Ron and Barbara Abler, to talk about what it actually takes to keep RVing in your 80s. Ron retired three times, from Penn State University in 1995, the Association of American Geographers in 2002, and the International Geographical Union in 2016. Barbara spent her career as a professor of geography at the University of North Carolina before retiring from the federal government in 2005. They bought their first RV, a Roadtrek Clas B, in 2018, and haven't slowed down since, traveling this past year from their home in Sheboygan, Wisconsin all the way to California, with stops at RV Lifestyle rallies in Fredericksburg, Texas, St. Augustine, Florida, and Empire, Michigan.

They talk candidly about the health scares and mechanical breakdowns that come with life on the road, how their travel style has changed since 2018, and what they'd tell any retiree who thinks they might be getting too old for another adventure.

Jennifer is off this week recovering from knee replacement surgery, we hope to have her back at the mic soon.

Also in this episode: Mike shares the new RV Maintenance Tracker app, plus listener questions on flat towing versus tow dollies and choosing between solar and a generator for boondocking.

Got a question for a future episode? Send it through the CONTACT link at https://RVPodcast.com.

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Check out the RV Maintenance Tracker: https://RVLifestyle.com/maintenance

 

 

 

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