Meet Red & TJ | Content creators: YouTube, Loving Life Hitched Up!

We had the good fortune of connecting with Red & TJ and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Red & TJ, can you share the most important lesson you’ve learned over the course of your career?
That being a YouTube creator is not just about making videos. It is a lot more like the wizard of OZ as there is so much more going on behind the curtain than what the viewer sees. Neither of us came from any sort of media background or marketing etc. We did not know just how much goes into content creation, editing or brand creation and growth. We were not even active social media users so we were behind the 8 ball so to speak but we have found that the challenges of learning how to do this are rewarding and has helped keep us up to speed on an increasingly technological world.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Red is a school teacher in an urban school district and TJ is a school resource officer/retired police officer. We actually got to our YouTube channel by accident or rather the need to create it. We quickly learned the limitations of steaming video and sharing video using email was not practical. We wanted to create a living moment of our upcoming adventures and sharing this with the kids in school became our prompt. The kids in our school did not know what RVing or life in a travel trailer was like or what it even looked like to be honest, so we started there. Their experiences of life so far were far removed from the adventure of exploring America and we wanted to share that with them. Our kids come from life outside the US and this fact embraces that Red is a first generation American herself, her parents came here from Cuba in the 60s and spent her childhood years teaching and showing her the beauty and wonders of life in America. The early challenges were trying to learn and overcome our technological shortcomings, a battle that wages on to this day. Who knew you can’t livestream a “zoom meeting” of the wild horses of Assateague Island without quality internet, and thus the posting of videos on Loving Life Hitched Up began.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Our primary home is outside NYC and we don’t go there anymore so we would have them visit us in our “Future Home of record” Clearwater Beach FL, prior to our RV we would spend our summers in our condo there and that will be our only home soon. We have found this to be a wonderful location to have friends and family visit as it is surrounded by many amazing things to do. Day trips, beach, food and everyone can have a great time there, with so much to do a custom itinerary can be created for each visitor. (Reds specialty)

Day trips 1, Museums in St. Petersburg (under 1 hr drive) The Dali, The Chihuly museum, and end the day with the new and improved stop the the St. Pete pier. If your guest is a baseball fan like Red, it would be timed with a Ray’s Game or grab a Tampa Bay Rowdies soccer match with TJ.
Day Trip 2, Pass – a -grille a short drive to one of the many overlooked quiet beach towns “technically” part of St. Pete Beach will be a beach front day of small shops, and fun foods at Hurricanes one of the tallest buildings in Pass-a grille (4 stories is the max hight in town) we will watch a sunset over the gulf of mexico is a must do. The sunset is a tradition in Pass-a-grille with the ringing of the bell and people staking out spots well in advance of sunset.
Day trip 3 Dunedin FL this 10 minute drive will put us in one of the most quaint walkable towns in the area. A downtown strip of shops and restaurants (Casa Tina is our favorite authentic Mexican food) and plan ahead for the weekend to hit Eli’s a mouthwatering BBQ spot with long lines will reward your patience for sure. The Pinellas trail runs through the hart of Dunedin so a bike riding adventure will be part of this day. Which will bring on a powerful thirst and fortunately Dunedin has 9 breweries all within a short walking distance of each other, so a stop at one or more will be on the list Cuni with little doubt will be one as it is our favorite along the Pinellas Trail.
A must eat spot in Clearwater Beach is “The Columbia”, this Spanish/Cuban cuisine restaurant is to die for, their salad, yes I said salad the 1905 is a salad that will change your day to the “best day ever” fresh and flavorful to say the least. The made at your table sangria is as authentic as it gets. Pair that with any item on the menu and you will find yourself immersed in a culinary delight, I love the Picadillo and Red says get the Mahi Mahi Cayo Hueso (Key West) be sure to share your Cuban bread with us as a token of your appreciation, yes they have the best fresh Cuban bread this side of Cuba.
Our down time will be filled with walking the beautiful stretch of Clearwater Beach all 3 miles of sugar sand beauty. This stretch of beach is wide and white with sugar sand that is groomed each morning making for some picture perfect beach time. We can rent a set of chairs and relax under an umbrella or just sit in the warm cool waters of the Gulf of Mexico
But no vacation would be complete without a stop at one of the “4 Frenchies restaurants” for a Florida staple a grouper sandwich and a frozen “Rum Runner”
For our night time activities after sunset at pier 60 and the festival that takes place every evening we will head to “Shepards” for some live music and dancing on the outdoor deck overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, where we will dance till you cant dance no more.
Lastly a wonderful breakfast at “Clearsky” where you can grab a fantastic breakfast and if your up for a Sunday tradition stop by the “Bloody Mary Bar” to pile in all those wonderful fixings to create that perfect Bloody Mary, thats Red’s thing, I’ll pass and take a peach Bellini, as I am not a spicy food fan.
So you can see if your coming to visit us for vacation plan accordingly as “Red’s Breakneck Tours” leaves promptly and you are guaranteed not to be left bored to tears.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We would have to say long before our business/YouTube channel was even a thing we ran into an amazing couple in Key West FL, Bill and Elaine “Dutch Oven Cooking” on YT. They had the “original dream camper” an Alto Safari Condo, most people have never heard of this camper but I knew it back to front from every video I could see. When we saw it in the campground we basically stalked them to get a peek inside. Ultimately we did get a tour and though Red said “no way” as the dream camper, it led to a conversation with two helpful and insightful people that inspired us to go and get a camper and stop thinking we should wait to retirement to go after our dreams.

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