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EAGLE MOUNTAIN — The road through life can be winding, taking unexpected twists and turns, leading the traveler to surprising destinations.
No family’s story, though, may be more winding and unexpected than that of Michael and Marisa Johnson. They traveled for one year, from coast to coast, with their four children, sharing the journey together in a fifth-wheel trailer.
“We didn’t rough it a whole lot,” Michael Johnson quipped, standing inside the trailer that spans 42 feet.
The couple rattled off in tandem a long list of states they visited during their year away from home – from Arkansas to Washington and most places in between.
“It was more just for the freedom to travel,” Marisa Johnson said. “We were videoing and vlogging and posting it to YouTube.”
The family of six said they got their system down as they roamed across America.
“We got good at it,” Marisa Johnson said. “Everyone had their jobs, and we had orders and checklists and walkie-talkies.”
Why?
The Johnsons said they decided to uproot from their successful and comfortable life in Utah after reading the book “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life,” authored by Donald Miller.
Marisa Johnson said the book gave the couple the idea to live a life they wanted and that others would be interested in following.
“(Miller) talks about this concept — that you get to write the story of your life,” she said.
“Don’t let life write your story for you — make some decisions, do some things outside the box,” Michael Johnson added.
The family’s journey wasn’t without sacrifice.
Michael Johnson quit his job, and the family sold many of their possessions and rented out their house before embarking on their year-long trip.
Though the fifth-wheel trailer was relatively spacious, the Johnsons acknowledged headphones became a popular escape.
Still, they maintained that proximity was the point.
“If we weren’t going to bond together as a family, I guess that would be against the whole purpose of it,” Marisa Johnson said.
On the road again
Back home in Eagle Mountain for only five months, the family is again packing up and liquidating their things.
Their next journey is taking them somewhere their trailer cannot go: to an undisclosed nation in South America as they volunteer with Operation Underground Railroad, whose mission is to rescue children from sex trafficking.
“We had no clue that stuff like that was even happening,” Marisa Johnson said.
“They’re going through things that people can’t even imagine,” the couple’s 16-year-old son, Reece, added.
The Johnsons said they would be helping to provide aftercare for the children who had been extracted.
“We want to help inspire them, let them know that there’s hope for them,” Marisa Johnson said. “We want to give them the best chance at a healthy life.”
The couple already visited their destination for a week to survey where the family would be living.
“It’s beautiful and green and lush,” Marisa Johnson said.
The Johnsons said their second journey is focused on others, rather than themselves.
“I think we’re being called to help other people,” Michael Johnson said.
The family said they hoped their story would help inspire others.
“You have control,” Marisa Johnson said. “You can make choices and you can dream big, and you can make it happen.”
