Six months after A Beard Across America, I am back on the road. This time traveling from St. Petersburg to North Carolina stopping in Jacksonville and Atlanta with one of my best friend, Joel, his fiancé, Nicole and his daughter, Lily.

Joel’s family, “The Unmistakable Family” moved to North Carolina in 2013 to restore, convert and operate their family’s cabin as a Bed and Breakfast, called the We Blew Inn, for hikers stopping in town on their way through the Appalachian Trail. When travelers rent out their home, The Unmistakable Family spends that time on the road traveling in their 15-foot pull along camper. Their most recent trip was to Sarasota to attend a family members wedding.

On their way through St. Pete, I joined The Unmistakable Family on their way back to We Blew Inn, with a few destinations in-between.

Which brings me to sitting inside their camper in Jacksonville, Florida listening to a mixture of birds chirping and The Expandables radio station on Spotify. The 1960's camper is made up of a 2.5 by 6.5 foot bed for Lily, a 4.5 by 6.5 foot bed for Joel and Nicole, a sink, a stove, and a surprising amount of well-placed storage space.

Their guest house, and my home for the next week was a 6 ft tent. With more than plenty of room, I was excited to sleep closer to the stars than I ever have in my adult life.

Our first night consisted of a late night set up of the camper in the only RV park that would allow us to arrive at the hour we did. With Lily in bed shortly after our arrival, the most memorable part of the RV park was the amount of stray cats lurking around us as Joel, Nicole and I shared a few beers into the night.

The next morning began with efforts to find a new camp ground; a proper camp ground. We decided Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park, or just Hanna Park, would do the trick since they offered campsites within walking distance to a freshwater lake and the Atlantic Ocean. A quick stop at Panera for breakfast and we were on our way.

With the camper transformed into a home and my tent ready to be occupied, Joel and I were off to work while Nicole and Lily spent their day at the Jacksonville Zoo. Their fun, yet educational trip would serve as Lily’s Hackschool lesson for the day.

Our “office” for the day was a borrowed desk at Feature[23]’s office in Downtown Jacksonville, provided by our friend and owner of Feature[23], Jeremy Vaughan.

Top of the agenda for Joel and I was conversation surrounding a new company we are working on. Until this point, we were restricted to conversations on the phone and this was the first time we could have an in-depth conversation in-person on the topic.

Later, a conference call with a new client to talk about their project kick-off, collaboration tools, and communication expectations. Our call was followed by an Intuition Jon Boat, a local Jacksonville beer, and an open round table discussion with Jeremy and his crew.

That night, Nicole and Lily met Joel and I at Feature[23], along with Joel’s friend Alex who met us about a half hour before their arrival. The topic at hand, deciding on a local Jax restaurant for dinner. The final consensus landed us in a part of town called 5 Points at a Mexican restaurant called Moss Fire.

Jeremy met us there a little later, leaving the office early to go pick up his daughter across town. Alex went home to change from his work clothes. And The Unmistakable Family and I went straight to the restaurant to reserve a table. Alex’s girlfriend also surprised everyone by joining us when we thought she wasn’t going to be able to make it.

The menu had all the classic Mexican food favorites: enchiladas, burritos, tacos, nachos, etc. Leave it to me to be the only one who didn’t order any of it, but instead a chicken sandwich with french fries.. it was delicious.

After dinner we took a group picture in front of Moss Fire and said our goodbyes. Jeremy and his daughter back across town, Alex and Casey to their home about five minutes away, and The Unmistakable Family and I back to our campsite.

Before leaving Jacksonville, Joel and I had one last call at 10am with the same client as the day before. After an early rise and quick breakfast we held a 30-minute conference call. The only thing left to do was to convert home back into a camper, take down my tent, and prepare for departure.