Dustin and Leslie Waggoner describe their passion for helping veterans in Episode 277
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Today I am speaking with a couple from Florida who travels the country raising money in support of various veterans projects.
Dustin and Leslie Waggoner were high school sweethearts in the mid-1990s. They both worked for the U.S. Army. Dustin was in hospital administration and Leslie helped people transition into civilian careers.
When Dustin retired, he went to work for a corporate hospital, but discovered it was a much different environment that didn’t really suit him.
But, their daughter had two years of high school remaining, so Dustin and Leslie began the process of downsizing so they could pursue new options as full-time RVers. Although they moved 13 times during the 20 years they were with the Army, the Waggoners wanted to go back and spend more time in their favorite parts of the country.
Because they both have military experience, and Dustin was wounded in combat in 2005, he and Leslie have a real passion for serving veterans. In fact, they have given away more than $50,000 during the five years they have been on the road.
They like to find smaller organizations that are staffed primarily by volunteers and donate funds to those groups because they know the money goes a long way.
Since starting their RVing adventure, the couple also launched a YouTube channel to talk about places they visit and things they do. However, they close every video by paying tribute to a service member who was killed in the line of duty.
Not only do they pay tribute to the service member, but they often schedule the video’s release to coincide with the anniversary of the day that person made the ultimate sacrifice.
The Waggoners don’t often have a plan for the videos they produce. They simply turn on the camera and talk in an attempt to bring viewers along with them, whether they are visiting an interesting place, using specific equipment or just enjoying time together hiking or kayaking.
Leslie said, in their case, some of the videos are not really how-to videos, but rather how-not-to in that they talk about their shortcomings and mistakes they’ve made in hopes of educating others to avoid making the same errors.
To help make sure they don’t make mistakes when setting up and breaking down an RV site, they created a checklist and had it laminated so they can easily mark things off when the tasks are completed.
While many people travel with dogs and cats, the Waggoners travel with a two-foot long bearded dragon lizard, named Scout, which required special modifications to their RV.
Dustin and Leslie also competed in Season 2 of RV Unplugged, which premiers May 29th at 7 p.m. Eastern. The couple plans to attend the finale episode Aug. 5 to 8 at Camp Margaritaville in Auburn, Fla.
People can connect with Dustin and Leslie through their Wayward Waggs YouTube channel as well as through Facebook and Instagram.
Today’s episode is sponsored by Workamper News. If you have more questions than answers when it comes to the Workamping and RVing lifestyle, then don’t worry, Workamper News has your back.
Attend a free, monthly Workamping Q&A webinar to get your questions answered. Each month, the knowledgeable team behind Workamper.com hosts a free, live webinar where they answer questions submitted by folks, just like you, who are learning about the lifestyle, just getting started, or who have been Workamping for a while.
They cover topics like, what kind of Workamping jobs are available, what do those jobs pay, tips for writing a Workamper resume, questions to ask an employer, what type of RV is best, how to get your mail as an RVer, and much more.
In the description of each video, you’ll find the list of questions that were answered so you can quickly jump to the sections you want to hear. Register for the next live webinar at workamper.com/answers. Or listen to detailed answers now by watching the recordings of past Q&A webinars on the Workamper News YouTube Channel at youtube.com/workamper and click on the “Q&A on Workamping” playlist.
That’s all for this week’s show. Next time I will be speaking with a woman who is a certified laughter yoga instructor who helps people to experience unconditional joy and love to all through laughter. I’ll have that interview on the next episode of The Workamper Show. Thanks for listening!
