We love camping. Travelling by camper van is the perfect marriage of workspace and vagabond lifestyle.

Explore this section for checklists, tips and a list of some of our favourite campgrounds (we’ll be adding to that list regularly).

Our stories and articles appear in Canadian magazines and online.

Spring and fall, we load the van – with everything from guitars to laptops – toss in a thick bundle of maps, several notebooks and roll down the road. We meet great people, gather wonderful story material and then write, write, write. Browse the links to some of our pieces in print:

BIG TRIP #1: ROOTS OF AMERICAN MUSIC: 9,000 km through the Southeast U.S.

• Road Tunes: A Six-Week Odyssey Following the Scenic Music Trails of the Southeast U.S., CAA Magazine. Road Tunes
• A Moment in Time, CAA website. A Moment in Time
• Great Music Trails of the American Southeast: The Journey Begins, Zoomer
• Travelling the Crooked Road Music Trail, Zoomer
• Walking, Strumming and Singing in the Footsteps of History, Zoomer
• New Orleans: Sensory Overload, Zoomer
• Great Music Trails: Bayou Cajun Country, Zoomer
• Great Music Trails: Louisiana’s Prairie, Zoomer
• Feeling the Blues in the Mississippi Delta, Zoomer
• Tennessee: Two Cities, Two Histories, Zoomer
• Kentucky: Where North and South Overlap, Zoomer
• Virginia’s Crooked Road is a journey through America’s musical roots, Canadian Traveller. Crooked Road
• Sunshine Bound, CAA website
• The Soundtrack to America, Canadian Traveller
• Soul Survivors, Doctor’s Review
• Music Cities, Dreamscapes  

BIG TRIP #2: TUNES, RUINS & STARS: 13,000 km across the American Southwest

• A Canadian’s Guide to Arizona, Canadian Traveller. 
• Flavours of the Southwest, Taste. Flavours of the Southwest
• A Grand Finale | Flagstaff, Arizona, CAA website. A Grand Finale | Flagstaff Arizona
• Where Ancient Cultures Thrive, Doctor’s Review
• The King Lives On, CAA website 
• The Mississippi Delta: Drawn by the Blues, Zoomer
• Elvis Was Here.PDF, Zoomer 
• Discovering Southern New Mexico, Zoomer
• Off the Beaten Path: Southeast Arizona, Zoomer
• True West: True Tucson, Zoomer 
• Eight Things You Didn’t Know About Phoenix, Zoomer
• Often Overlooked – Arizona’s Four Corners, Zoomer
• All About Albuquerque, Zoomer
• The Mystery of Chaco Canyon, Zoomer 
• Colorado Cliff Dwellings of Mesa Verde, Zoomer
• Exploring America’s Southwest, West of the City
• Food, Glorious US Food, Canadian Traveller
• Arizona – A Warm Welcome, A Canadian’s Guide to Arizona 
• Arizona – Hot in the City, A Canadian’s Guide to Arizona
• Arizona – Pick Your Own Desert, A Canadian’s Guide to Arizona
• Arizona – Living in the Lap of Luxury, A Canadian’s Guide to Arizona
• Centennial views, Doctor’s Review

BIG TRIP #3: HUGGING THE ATLANTIC COASTLINE; MUSIC INLAND: 7,064 km

• North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Zoomer
• Sunshine Bound, CAA website
• Outer Banks: Sky, Sea & Sand, Zoomer
• Pirates of the Carolinas, Doctor’s Review
• South Carolina’s Coastline Cities, Zoomer
• Beaufort and the Beautiful Sea Islands, Zoomer
• Strolling in Savannah, Zoomer
• The Soundtrack to America, Canadian Traveller
• Cumberland Island National Seashore, Zoomer
• Soul Survivors, Doctor’s Review
• Georgia on my mind: Athens, Macon & Augusta, Zoomer
• North Carolina’s Appalachia: Steeped in Music, Zoomer
• Our last loop: Virginia’s Crooked Road, Zoomer
• Eat Your Way to Florida, CAA  
• North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Canadian RVing

BIG TRIP #4: ROCK & ROLL: 10,950 km exploring western U.S. National Parks

• South Dakota’s Badlands Aren’t Bad At All, Zoomer
• The Enduring Legacy of Black Hills National Forest, Zoomer
• The Western Flair of Northern Wyoming, Zoomer
• The Hillsides and Grasslands of Yellowstone National Park, Zoomer
• Yellowstone & Grand Teton: Visiting Two Beautiful National Parks, Zoomer
• 3 Reasons Why Utah is a Road Tripper’s Dream, Zoomer
• The Scenic Soaks and Wildlife of Colorado, Zoomer
• A World of Rocks at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Zoomer
• A Holiday Trip to Seneca Falls, NY, CAA
• Colorado – Dreamscapes 2017, Dreamscapes
• Finding America’s Musical Roots in the Midwest, Zoomer

 MISCELLANEOUS

• Dairy queens, Doctor’s Review
• Vermont Cheese Trail, Taste
• Rediscover Freedom In an RV, 2015 Travel Guide to Canada
• Cozy Up To Canada’s Natural Side, 2015 Travel Guide to Canada
• Rediscover Freedom in an RV, Dreamscapes
• Road Tripping the Blues Across Mississippi, Canadian RVing
• The Natural Beauty of the Thousand Islands, Canadian RVing
• Campsites We Love, Southbound

• Exploring The Small-Town Charms of New Brunswick’s Bay of Fundy, Zoomer

• One Perfect Week in PEI, Canadian RVing
• U.S. Civil Rights Trail , Canadian RVing
• Prince Edward Island: A Community Built Around Food, Zoomer
• Nibbling Along the Vermont Cheese Trail, Canadian RVing
• Florida wild landscapes, Canadian RVing

How to get started.

How to get moving.

How to keep “the wheels on the cart” while you’re travelling.

We’ve got advice on health insurance, filling the gas tank and staying connected while you’re away.

Also check out GoRVing.ca for lots of RV 101 information including a trip planning section, how to choose the right RV for your lifestyle and the basics of camping.

We travel. We write. We publish.

Travels With Rigby is for web surfers who are looking for practical information on frugal RV travel, travelling with your dog (our pooch is Rigby), finding irresistible eats and sussing out music destinations. We’ve clocked the miles and visited the sights and these are the best from our travels: the who/what/when/where/why highlights for those that love music, food and the camping life.

You’ll find tips and info on:

• Best ways to travel with your dog.
• Foods we found irresistible.
• Practical ways to travel by small RV.
• Campsites and parks we’ve loved.
• Planning realistically for gas costs, cell phone coverage, etc.

About us . . .

Travel writers. Foodies. Music lovers. Can’t go anywhere without our dog. Josephine Matyas works full-time as a freelance writer, specializing in travel and food. Craig Jones has got street cred: lots of miles on the road crisscrossing Canada as a professional musician, followed by just as many years tapping away at a computer keyboard.

We’re book authors – our award-winning book on the roots of the blues is Chasing the Blues: A Traveler’s Guide to America’s Music. Find it online or order from your favourite bookstore. For a modest shipping amount, we can also send you a signed copy – just reach out through our contact form.

We write for websites, newspapers and magazines. We also blog on this site when we are on the road. Yes, we are “old school” if that means research, writing and paying attention to grammar, quality and fact checking. But as for the platform – print and digital both. 

It’s been an experiment: Taking her expertise (travel writing) and his experience (on the bandstand, teacher and writer), stirring it together and seeing what happens. Add a camper van (a 2007 Roadtrek 210 for those who need the specs), an easy going dog, a file full of maps and a GPS/wireless backup camera nicknamed “Hal” that sometimes toys with us (we prefer the maps).

Several times a year we pack up High Cotton (the Class B RV), take the dog for her trim, top up the gas tank and hit the road for a month or two at a time. We post links to articles we’ve published (see Words) and blog short bits and pieces while we are away from Home Base (Ontario, Canada).

LISTEN TO JO’S CBC RADIO INTERVIEW ON TRAVEL IN CANADA!