REI Archives - Cruisin with the Colemans

How We Choose Brand Partners. Is It All About the Free Stuff?

Posted on February 2, 2025 by CruisinColemans

In a world where influencers can easily “get free stuff” from companies, we tend to be selective. There are many reasons for this, but two stand out. (1) We don’t need that much stuff as we continue to downsize. (2) We want to support companies whose products we believe in.

Long before we became “influencers,” we were just two people who traveled extensively! For a decade, we had been tent campers and international travelers who enjoyed hiking and backpacking. In 2017, we bought our first RV but had no intention of having a social media presence. We launched this blog in 2018 and started our YouTube channel in 2019. We had no idea what would come of our little Cruisin’ with the Colemans. It’s become more than we imagined, and we are thankful for that. We didn’t force it; it just continues to evolve.

At this point in our online journey, many companies have contacted us. We see that as a huge compliment—at least, we did until we remembered the impact of our decisions and what we chose to promote. Yes, we have made mistakes along the way. We have accepted free products and created a video or reel about them, only to later realize that wasn’t a wise choice. We are much more careful and selective now. I will never forget that awful drone we promoted for a short time. It wouldn’t harm anyone, but it was a terrible drone.

There is a significant difference between free products and a brand partnership. However, let me clarify: we have decided that if we either can’t or won’t use an item, we don’t want the free products at all. People can expect quality reviews of the brands and products we support. We might review a single item from a company without it being a brand partner; it will always be a product we believe we can use.

For instance, the company “Airplane Pockets” sent us two free samples of their pockets. We tried them out, enjoyed them, and created a reel about them. Since we liked them so much, we added them to our Amazon Storefront under “Travel Gear.” We avoid receiving gear that we wouldn’t use. While these Airplane Pockets aren’t something we’d use if we were only traveling with a backpack, we love using them when traveling with a suitcase. This is a perfect example of a company we will collaborate with that isn’t a brand partner.

An example of a brand partner is RecPro—we LOVE their products for our RV. We had been purchasing from RecPro long before we connected with them as a brand partner. We began remodeling our RV within the first six months of owning it. From removing the jackknife sofa and installing a backup camera to upgrading our blinds, RecPro has everything we need for our renovations. They became a brand partner in 2023 when we reached out to them. What we appreciate about this partnership is that we already knew we loved their products.

That’s the same reason we partnered with Coachmen Apex. We loved our rig even before we bought it. In fact, we purchased it sight unseen! We viewed similar models and many online tours, but we knew the Coachmen Apex 269RBKS was the right choice for us! We researched it while backpacking across Spain in 2017 and bought it within a week of returning home so we could explore and travel more

It wasn’t until 2023 that we partnered with Coachmen, and we signed the contract on Christmas Day. It was the best Christmas gift we could receive because we love Apex. We adore our rig, but most importantly, we appreciate the people who work for Apex. What they admire about us is who we are – people who love to travel and embrace the way they travel. They don’t ask us to change. And thank goodness, because we have no intention of being anyone other than who we have always been.

Another example of a brand partner is a husband and wife duo who founded Rivet Supply Co. They create “adventure boards” designed for your RV. We instantly fell in love with their board when we first spotted it on Instagram. They qualify as a brand partner because we continue to work with them as their company grows.

Our channel will continue to focus on us, covering RV travel, international travel, hiking, backpacking, beaches, and everyday life. The products and brands we connect with will simply be part of the story we tell. Perhaps discussing Coachmen will inspire you to consider RV life, even if you choose another brand; we love that you are getting outdoors. If we feature the products we use when renovating our house or RV, we make them accessible to you so you feel it’s something you can tackle when you are renovating.

What’s in it for us? If we do a product review, it’s just free product(s) to evaluate. Every brand we collaborate with is a little different. Sometimes, we receive free product(s) and also have a discount code to share with you. Other times, we get a discount code for you while also receiving a percentage back. Those partnerships help Cruisin’ with the Colemans feel more worthwhile when we are tired from our day jobs but have blogs to write or videos to create.

Clear Source Water Filter is a brand partner and a product we’ve used for many years prior to partnering with them.

This is a labor of love—we enjoy sharing our adventures with you. We hope our grandchild(ren) will read about and watch our travels to learn more about who we were when we were younger. We certainly aren’t getting rich from being influencers, and that’s completely fine with us! But our travels now have another layer, and that’s pretty cool!

How do we generate revenue? A few brand partners provide a small percentage of compensation for items purchased, but it’s not substantial. We also earn a bit from our Amazon Storefront. When you buy products through our affiliate link, we receive a small commission. It doesn’t cost you more to use our link, but it helps us. Our accountant appreciates it when we earn some money because it shows the distinction between this being a hobby and a business.

Our Amazon Storefront is filled with all the products we use and love!

If you watch our YouTube videos, we earn a small income. So please watch those ads—we appreciate it! Brian creates our videos, and I manage the blog and social media. These roles help us determine what needs to be done and who should do it. We like to call Cruisin’ with the Colemans our 5-9 job, meaning we work on it after our 9-5 jobs that pay the real bills. Haha! But, as I mentioned earlier, it gives our travels more purpose, and that’s a huge win!

Thank you for reading this blog. If you have any questions about the products we use or the companies we partner with, please comment. We appreciate you following our adventures, and we hope they inspire you to take an adventure with us.

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Camping & Hiking Glacier National Park

Posted on September 25, 2019 by Cruisin Michelle

In 2016, we hiked and camped at Glacier National Park. This was a part of our two month trip out west, we affectionally called it the #GoWestColemans trip. 2016 was the year hashtags became trendy and since we name every trip, it was a great way to embrace the trend, haha. You can see the complete trip map, by clicking here.

We were apprehensive about camping and hiking Glacier National Park; the park is home to majestic wildlife and we had a lot to learn how about to share space with the animals. With a bit of research, asking questions of those who have gone before us, and a lot of preparation, we were ready. In this blog, I am going to share what we saw, how we prepared, our favorite hikes, and where we camped.

Below are photos of the wildlife we witnessed at Glacier National Park. We were lucky enough to hear about a family of moose eating in a lake very close to the Many Glacier Campground Store so we wandered off to see them. I had about 50+ photos on my phone similar to what you see below. We watched the moose graze in the lake for hours and it was the most fascinating scene we have ever witnessed.

We spent a day hiking the Highline Trail and we heard that if you don’t see wildlife, you are doing something wrong. We saw the mountain goat in the lower-left photo within the first 5 minutes and the only other animal we saw the entire day was the marmot in the lower right photo. The bighorn sheep (top right) posed for their photo-op in the parking lot at the end of our day. I am sure a lot of animals had human sightings but they really are not interested in being noticed.

The only time we saw a grizzly bear was when we were driving, the photo in the lower middle. We were prepared with our bear bells and bear spray…most of the time. You should have a bear bell and spray on you at all times when you are in Glacier National Park because you never want to surprise a grizzly bear. We made a mistake. We walked from the campground to the hotel for an afternoon break. This is a 1/2 mile walk and honestly, we weren’t hiking so we didn’t think about our bear bells or spray. Once we arrived at the hotel we saw several park police where we had just walked. A grizzly bear was sighted on our trail. We were lucky he wasn’t interested in us and we didn’t startle him, we didn’t even see him. However, I sang loudly to Brian the entire walk back. My rendition of 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall had me laughing, but Brian may have been just shaking his head at me. The moral to the story: always carry a bear bell and spray in Glacier National Park.

There is something majestic and romantic at Glacier National Park. You are surrounded by mountains, glaciers, lakes, and waterfalls. Everything around you feels massive and perfect. We were certainly caught in the magic of the park. I wish we would have allowed more time here. The park is enormous and you need to spend time on one side of the park and then move to the other side. We camped at Many Glacier Campground but I wish we would have also camped at Fish Creek Campground so we could have spent time on that end of the park. We came into the park from the south so we were able to drive much of it and visit the Apgar Visitor Center; however, we spent most of our time in the Logan Pass Visitor Center and Many Glacier Hotel/Campground area. Just to give you an idea of how large the park is, it took us about 75 minutes to drive from our campground to the Logan Pass Visitor Center.

I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the ever-changing glaciers. There was an exhibition at Many Glacier Hotel where they showed photos of what the glaciers looked like and recreated the same photos with how the glaciers look now. You can read about the Repeat Photography Project by clicking here. Climate change becomes extremely real when you see the glaciers in person. Fortunately, there is a lot we can do if we are willing to be a part of the change. You can read about how the glaciers are changing by clicking here.

Our two favorite hikes were the Grinnell Glacier hike and the Highline Trail hike. The photos above are from both hikes. You can only access Grinnell Glacier by boat out of the Many Glacier Hotel, pictured below. The Grinnell Glacier hike includes a lake, waterfalls on your trail, mountains all around you, and glaciers that you can walk on (in 2016). We saw bighorn sheep on the trail, one even led the hike for a bit (with a good distance between us).

The Highline Trail is fantastic because you are high above the Going to the Sun Road but you can still see the tiny cars below. You can make this a one-way day hike if you park your car at The Loop on Going to the Sun Road, take the shuttle to the Logan Pass Visitor Center, hike the Highline Trail, take a break at the Granite Park Chalet, and then walk back down to your car. Be warned, this is a much tougher hike than it may seem. It looks relatively flat but there are some elevation challenges, there is an option to hike a seemingly innocent out and back to Hidden Lake which is very steep, and the walk down from the chalet is no joke! It is a lot of steep down and hard on your knees. However, the hike is worth it, you just need to be prepared.

If you can even spend one night or one afternoon at the Many Glacier Hotel, we highly recommend it. The hotel has the charm of days gone by, but plenty of amenities. The sunset (above right) is one not to miss! We stayed at the campground. If you want a reservation at this campground, be ready to make it the day the 6-month window opens. This campground sells out quick in the summer. The walk-up campsites had a wait of about 10+ vehicles by 5 a.m. every day while we were there. That is not how we wanted to spend our time, but many people made it work.

In 2016, we were still tent camping. We camped in luxury though, in the REI Kingdom 8. We had the added garage which we used for bike storage and when it rained we could put our chairs in there and relax (see photo below). We lived in this tent for 2 months that summer so a bit of luxury was nice. We slept on an air mattress on a cot and it was extremely comfortable, you can get one by clicking here. We also had a heated mattress pad on it for those higher elevation campgrounds, which you can find by clicking here. Finally, our clothes were all tucked under our bed in under the bed storage tubs. We had four tubs total, one each for clothes, one for shoes, and one for hiking gear. The tubs stacked neatly in the back of our Honda Pilot. We also had a tub for camping gear (see above).

When you’re camping in a place like Glacier National Park it is imperative that all of your “smellies” are kept in your car. This included our shower house stuff (shampoo, deodorant, etc.), our cooking gear, food, and our cooler. The tent was a smelly-free zone as to not attract the animals, big or small.

Hiking and camping at Glacier National Park is an absolute must and we look forward to going back to this park because there is so much more to see and do there. It is not hard to prepare and stay safe at this park, just to remember the basics:

Be bear aware: Always have a bear bell on you, carry bear spray, never hike or even walk alone, and make plenty of noise.
Keep smellies secure, in containers in your car.
Carry food, Gatorade, and more water than you think you need, no matter how short your hike.
Bring layers when you hike, the weather can change quickly.
Practice the habits of Leave No Trace, even an apple core is not appropriate to leave on the trail.

If you have been to Glacier, tell us what you loved! What else can we tell you about Glacier? If this blog helped you, give us a thumbs up. Heck, if you made it this far, give us a thumbs up. 🙂

Happy hiking, until next time!

He Said What? She Said What?

Posted on March 20, 2019 by Cruisin Michelle

Questions answered from both Brian and Michelle

As we travel and talk with people, we often get many of the same questions. This week we decided to answer some of those questions in a “she said, he said” format because as you all know men are from Venus and women are from Mars. Ok, maybe, maybe not, but we don’t always agree or have the same stories. So here’s what he had to say…and what she had to say too.

How did you get into RVing?

Brian: We have loved to travel and spent many years as tent campers. We got to a point where we wanted to be able to be gone longer and go further, but the tent was a little limiting due to weather and other conditions so the decision to upgrade to an RV was an easy one.

Michelle: This is a funny story actually and I can’t believe Brian didn’t tell you first! As you have probably read in our blog posts we hiked across Spain on the Camino de Santiago in 2017. When we laied in bed in the evenings, resting our bodies, we talked about how much we loved being outside and seeing the world and we didn’t want the adventure to end. However, we talked about how challenging it was to only camp in a tent because of weather and determining if it was worth gathering all of our gear up “just to go out for the weekend.” We lived in a condo with very little space so our gear always had to be tucked away in our basement. We also didn’t have the the space to spread out our gear to let it dry out (and something always needed to be dried out!). So I started watching a lot of YouTube videos about RV’s and researching how much they cost. Then one day on the trail I said to Brian, “what would you think about buying an RV?” He said what I knew he would say, because this is his standard answer, “Absolutely!” We continued researching for the perfect RV, in our budget, over the summer, made our list of “must haves,” and the day we got off the plane from Spain we started shopping. Within a week we found the perfect RV, bought it, and have already put on over 8,000 miles. Best decision ever!

Our REI Kingdom 8 tent was the perfect fit for many years.

Brian: Michelle forgot to mention that CC (Casa del Camino) is not even our first RV. We actually left the lot with a smaller RV initially and immediately regretted the decision. After a stressful weekend in that camper, we bought our F-150 and upgraded to our Apex 269RBKS.

Michelle: Ugh, Brian. I wasn’t going to tell them that story! Geez, have some dignity. Hahahaha

Our first RV was not the right fit and lasted only a week.
Casa del Camino, our forever RV… for now.

What was your biggest RV newbie mistake?

Brian: Last Christmas on our way home from Florida we were really struggling with when would be the best time to winterize. In Tennessee, the weather forecast said that the overnights temps would drop down to about 30 and we knew that we would be OK. The temperature actually dropped down to the mid-twenties for most of the night. The next morning, I couldn’t get the valves open to drain the tanks because they froze. Even with a space heater and blow dryer, I had no luck. We decided to drive knowing that things would warm up as the morning progressed. When we stopped for lunch, there was a giant icicle hanging off the dump valve. I was terrified that it was a poop-cicle. It turned out to be from the gray tank, but it was still a pretty expensive mistake!

Michelle: Yeah, that possible poop-cicle was quite a scary moment and a costly mistake but at least it was only gray water. But that was not our biggest mistake by far! Learning about x-chocks and tire blocks and a million other things it seems like you need to know so your RV doesn’t move while it’s parked was quite overwhelming. We knew very little before we bought an RV since our outdoor home had always been a tent (and a really nice one I might add). I assumed that all RV spots were pretty level since we had always found pretty level tent sites. The problem is that even “pretty level” with an RV means you better make sure the rig doesn’t move. <insert facepalm> as I prepare to relive this story.

We were camping at Winton Woods campground in Cincinnati. We had an absolutely beautiful campsite on the lake. The site seemed pretty level but we needed a couple of leveling blocks on one side, then we put our x-chocks in and lowered the tongue jack. Brian unhooked his chains from the truck and I was about to unhook mine when the entire RV rolled backwards! Yes, our rig was headed for that beautiful lake we had to camp next to, I can’t believe it but we almost lost our rig into the lake. Fortunately, I had not taken off my chain and the truck saved us. The problem? I will take some of the blame. I didn’t tighten down the x-chocks enough. But from now on we always us x-chocks and we put chocks behind and in front of the tires. The sad part is, that isn’t the only time the rig has moved. Don’t even mess around with your set up, always make sure the rig is 100% secured before you unhook it from your truck. Live and learn, thank goodness we still have our CC.

Where is your favorite RV location or adventure?

Brian: So far I would have to say that some of the campgrounds we found in Michigan have been my favorites. I really loved the Munising Tourist Park Campground in the UP of Michigan. Our site was about 100 feet from the water and we had beautiful views of Lake Superior. I also really love camping at Traverse City State Park. The sites are a bit tight (click on the link to read a previous blog about these sites) but you are across the street from Lake Michigan and right on a bike path that will take you just about anywhere in Traverse City. I have also really enjoyed the Zion River Resort in Virgin, Utah. We have only tent camped there in the past but it is definitely on our list for our next trip to Zion National Park.

The view from the Munising Tourist Campground

Michelle: We always like to say that our favorite adventure is the one we are on right now. We try to live in the moment but we are always thinking about what’s next. We leave in a few days for Gatlinburg, and oh, how we love going down there to camp and hike. The best part is now that we have an RV we can spend more time there since we are not paying for a hotel. We can camp over our Thanksgiving break and Spring Break in our rig when normally those are times we would have to find a hotel. On this trip to Gatlinburg we are camping only 5 miles from the downtown strip and on the trolley route. I love trying out new campgrounds while we are there. The next thing I am looking forward to in our Summer 2020 out West trip. We have traveled out west 3 times but only going by hotel or in our tent. It is very exciting to think about taking our rig, our cats, all of our gear, and seeing the countryside. We hope to boondock and stay at Harvest Hosts. Which means our next RV upgrade is going to have to be a generator. Oh the money you spend when you are an RV’er.

Cosby KOA, near Great Smoky Mountain National Park

What is your best RV upgrade?

Brian: This probably sounds funny coming from a guy, but I love the new curtains that we just put in. The wooden window boxes that hid the top of the blinds were so bulky and made the RV seem very impersonal. Our new curtains soften the interior and make the room feel so much bigger and bring more of our personality into Casa del Camino, our home on wheels.

Michelle: If you are not a cat owner, this may sound utterly ridiculous but my favorite upgrade is what we have done for our cats. When you travel with two cats and they are not happy, they will let you know immediately. The first big change we made was converting our outdoor kitchen into a litter box and storage area and adding access through a cat door in the bathroom. This space is completely theirs when we are parked and there is plenty of room for our outdoor grill and cooking tools while we are traveling. This keeps the litter out of our rig and it’s easy to clean because we do it all from the outside. The second change we made was adding a cat tower. Fortunately, we have room for one in our rig and the cats love running from one end of the rig to the end with a bonus run up the tower. We have leashes for them and we get them out when there are opportunities but the tower really helps when they are cooped up in the rig for several days in a row.

The cat tower is an important place to watch what is going on in the RV.

Do you plan to go full-time?

Brian: We would both quit our jobs and go full time tomorrow if we could. Unfortunately, there are bills to pay and we do both really love our jobs! I like to say that we live like we’re retired on weekends and any break that we get from school, which is why we spend as much time as possible on the road.

Michelle: Absolutely! There are a lot of decisions to make before we can go full-time, mainly those decisions revolve around finances. We both have been teaching for more than 20 years and are well-vested in our retirement plans. Therefore, quitting our jobs and going full-time is something that will happen but not for a bit. The best part is that for a couple of months a year we get to live like full-timers since we are both off in the summer.

With Half Dome in the background, we are always looking forward to the next adventure.

We want to bring you more “He said/She said” segments. Let us know what you want to hear by leaving a comment or question below. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and Facebook to see gorgeous photos of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Gatlinburg, Tennessee.