THE FAMILY AFFAIR

Meet Shawn Hill and his wife, Bree, of Indianapolis—formerly, that is. Today they’re in their RV full-time, and rolling somewhere near Zion National Park, in southwestern Utah. Asked his kids’ ages, Shawn rattles off, “14, 9, 9, 8, 6, 5, 3, and then there’s the baby, 9 months.” Four of their children are adopted.

A recipe for chaos, right? Shawn, 31, and Bree, 30, are very organized. “We’ve established a routine, but we’re not super strict. Our kids are responsible for their own morning routines, getting dressed, cleaning up their own messes. It doesn’t really take that long for one kid to manage for him- or herself.”

Bree is in charge of the home-schooling and most meals, while Shawn does the dishes, tutors his kids when math rears its ugly

hi>`] >n` ÃiÀÛià >à }ÀĶll m>ÃÌiÀ° ÕÌ hi½Ã noÌ jÕÃÌ miÃÃĶn} ÜĶÌh Ãomi

charcoal briquettes. Shawn supports all this rolling fun with his small

m>ÀkiÌĶn} wÀm «lÕÃ «ÀoVii`Ã vÀom hĶÃ ÜiLÃĶÌi thegrillingdad.com.

He’s also launched a travel site, learningrv.com.

The Hills got their start tent camping with their eldest boy, which led to a pop-up camper, which led to a 15-passenger van towing a Keystone Hideout with a master bedroom, stacked bunk beds for all the kids plus a three-burner propane stove and an overworked toilet and shower.

“It’s not like we spend all our time in the trailer,” Shawn points

oÕÌ° º7hin Üi >ÀÀĶÛi >Ì oÕÀ `iÃÌĶn>ÌĶon] Üi lĶÛi oÕÌÃĶ`i° 7i jÕÃÌ

chase the good weather.”

They launched this lifestyle at the beginning of 2020, when the rest of us were crawling under a sanitized rock. They already had sold their house near Indianapolis (for reasons unrelated to COVID-19), but then their kids’ schools shifted to remote learning. Mom and Dad discussed the possibilities, then called a family meeting to present

ÌhiĶÀ VÀ>âÞ Ķ`i>\ 7h>Ì Ķv Üi jÕÃÌ hĶÌ

the road until all this is over? A cheer went up.

Now they drive to their dream locations—national parks, Lake

Michigan beaches—when they’re