EASTON, Pa. — They bought an RV. They sold their house.
Now, the Stocker family travels the country educating others about living with Type 1 diabetes. End of story.
Well, not quite.
- The Stocker family sold their house and hit the road in an RV
- They are seeing the country and educating others about type 1 diabetes
- The family hopes to inspire others living with medical conditions
“It took us a little over a year of the whole planning process of researching RVs, researching how we're going to do this, researching a lot of stuff,” said Chris Stocker, who originally is from Easton.
“It wasn't like it was an overnight decision. It really took us almost a full year to plan and figure out the whole thing."Chris Stocker
“It wasn't like it was an overnight decision. It really took us almost a full year to plan and figure out the whole thing," Stocker said.
'Try to educate people'
As with so many other people, the coronavirus pandemic gave the Stocker family a new perspective on life.
Chris Stocker woke up at 2 a.m. one night in 2020 and shared with his wife, Amanda, his dream to travel the country in an RV.
Amanda Stocker said her first thought was how could a family of four, with two members living with Type 1 diabetes, trade their townhouse for the road?
Then, she said, a few more questions came to mind.
"How are we going to manage our life on the road when we're in a different location every few days or a few weeks? And how are we going to get supplies? How are we going to get prescriptions? How are we going to simple-ize?"
Amanda Stocker said she had been supporting her husband with his diagnosis since they met, but had just gotten the hang of helping her daughter, now 8, with her diagnosis just before this idea came up.
“We did research and we found other families that were already full-time RV-ing and we're like, ‘OK, all right, so OK, this is like a thing. Other families can do this,'" she recalled.
"I didn't get diabetes because I was fat. My child did not get diabetes because we fed her too much sugar as a child. So, we try to educate people."Chris Stocker, Type1 Detour
The Stockers and their two children now have been on what they call the Type1 Detour for almost two years now.
The name of their adventure is a play on Chris Stocker and his daughter’s Type 1 diabetes diagnosis.
“We're able to kind of use the name or social media name to start conversations with people and we just try to educate people and just to get rid of myths,” said Chris, who wrote a popular diabetes blog for years prior to his daughter’s diagnosis.
"I didn't get diabetes because I was fat. My child did not get diabetes because we fed her too much sugar as a child. So, we try to educate people," he said.
'Try to educate people'
The Stockers also help others figure out how to travel, even when a medical condition may have constraints.
Stocker has taken a remote job to support his family and their school-aged daughter is enrolled in cyber school. They couple said they map out ahead of time where they need to stop for pharmaceutical needs or living necessities.
"It isn't such a drastic change from being in a house," Amanda Stocker said. "I just research where the closest grocery store is. We always have the juice on hand or I'll plan ahead.”
They also said they have family pick up and ship items they may not be able to get on the road.
“It's not all unicorns and rainbows. There's definitely times where I've called the doctor's office and have, not an argument, just a spirited debate with the office about prescriptions and one of the hardest things is visits.”Chris Stocker
Chris Stocker said they plan their trips around when they will get supplies, but the process is not always smooth sailing.
“It's not all unicorns and rainbows," he said. "There's definitely times where I've called the doctor's office and have, not an argument, just a spirited debate with the office about prescriptions and one of the hardest things is visits.”
Fresh off a trip to Mount Rushmore, the family now is parked in the Lehigh Valley to catch up on yearly doctor's appointments.
"It really wasn't as scary as I initially thought when he brought up the question," Amanda Stocker said when discussing selling her house and consolidating her life down to a tiny house on four wheels.
Both she and her husband said overall the experience has been worth the risk and they hope to inspire others take a chance.
“Don't follow this path that you feel like you have to follow because that's what you've been told as a kid," Chris Stocker said.
"Just get out there and just create your detour of where you want to go and what you want to do with your life."
The family documents its journey online for those who want to follow. They said they try to keep their children’s identity private for security and privacy reasons.
