Below is a collection of e-mail that we received after the NHK broadcast of the RVing Lifestyle documentary.  Most are from the March 9, 2002 Japan broadcast.  Our story of the filming can be seen on http://www.roadschool1.com/nhk.htm

We really enjoyed receiving and reading all the e-mail.  Since the filming we have seen Kenshi (interviewer and American correspondent), and have meet up with Greg and Jenn twice.  Greg, Jenn and their three kids are the other family in the documentary. They quit work, sold their house and were just leaving for day one of their adventure.  We just saw them in February, 2002 in the town of Camp Verde, Arizona.

We have also passed on these "thanks yous" to the film crew that did a wonderful job producing this documentary and especially Hidi, the producer, who had the idea and interest in the American RVing lifestyle.

Hello Mitch,
I watched you and your family through the TV program recetly broadcast
in all over Japan. I was almost breathless when you were struggling at
the cliff in Death Valley national Park. Yes, you are already famous in
our country.
And I am sure that many people including myself envy your lifestyle and
expecting you will have much unique experiences in the coming on-road
education.
For Japanese it seems very difficult to jump into the same world as
yours, but if I have an opportunity to come across somewhere in the
world, let me say hello again.
Sincerely,
Takaya

mitamura

Dear Cheryl, Ed, Mitch and Max,

Greetings from Tokyo!  It's Saturday evening in Japan now.

Hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) of Japanese TV viewers including
myself and my wife have just watched, on the NHK documentary program, how
your family has been living and learning on the road in the past few years.
I just wish you all my best regards, and hope you are still enjoying, and
learning from, the "RV Travel" life style as much as before.

The 45-minute program was very well researched, and nicely edited, focusing
on three families, each at different life stage and from different
background.  Many Japanese viewers must have been very much impressed by
your courageous decision to start the raod-school (nice name) life, leaving
the established profession and life style in Seattle behind.

Now that I have found your family web site, I will be able to keep tracking
down your moves from now on!  I look forward to reading the existing and
future web contents to share your experiences throughout the U.S.

Wishing you a continuing, safe and fruitful journey.

With warmest regards,

Yasushi
 

I am now watching a TV program about your family and some others enjoying  RV, and moved very much in Japan.
As I found your home page in the program, I tryed to access it.
I hope all of you will coninue to enjoy your happy mobile life.
Have a safe driving !

Danny Shirakawa, from Tokyo

I put a bookmark on  your site. Happy traveling!!

I watched the TV program on NHK in Japan which was broadcasting about
your family with other families cases. I was especially so impressed
with your family because I could see the good old american family which
I have seen in many old movies. I think Mich and Max have a really
wonderful and powerful father. When Mich could not back from the rock
mountain, Father did not scold Mich but teach him a lot by telling him
the way we should do on the mountain. People usually ask that how about
the school but I think that it would be the time when two of the kids
want to go to the school. Until then, I think it is very important that
the father and mother could really teach their children by themselves.

In Japan, we also would ask the same question when we encounter your
family but I think ordinary thing could not be the best thing. Children
must learn many things throughout the journey.

To study in the school is not the only way to learn the many things I
think.

In the future, I and my wife (we do not have kids however) want to do
journey by camping car in America. I think it would be very difficult to
do in Japan because Japan is rather small compared to USA and there are
not so many camping sights which could have such a big camping car.

I wonder if there are any system that after we buy the camping car in
USA and when we do not use the car, any company could manage or
administrate it while we are in Japan so that we can travel to USA
sometime. This system is a kind of Vacation rental in the real estate
business. Many Japanese have houses in USA which would be used vacation
rental while they are not in USA. When we buy the house in USA, we
usually ask some real estate company to administrate their vacant
houses. So I just wonder if there are any above system in USA. I think
we could afford to buy the camping car instead of the real house.

Anyway, I hope your family is well and you can continue nice travel.

Best regards,
Mitsuru

from techan
japan
44 years old

I watched your nice life on TV, NHK/Japan on Mar '02.
We live in Kamakura, Japan, have 3 daughters (years/ 5years/4years) in
house.

My eldest daughter is Michiko, called Mitch, so we are interested in your
Life.
In Japan few family have small RV, and I've never head RV in whole life.
But I'm interested in such life style, if possible we would like to have RV
in our
silver age.

We hope your traveling and learning goes to your goal.

Sincerely yours,
Jun Sugimoto

*I searched your Home Page in Internet. TV didn't show your URL.

michiko

I am now seeing you on Japanese TV on NHK !!

I am envying you all travelling all around the United States as a
family.

I am living in Tsukuba Science City, Ibaraki Prefecture of Japan.
I know you will find out where I am living over the net.

I visit the States frequently over the business trip(as Ed did
during his business days -- leaving family at home... :(

I hope someday, when you're in Silicon Valley, we can shake hands
or when you visit Japan doing so.

Take care for all and have a safety drive(not a trip, that I know).

Regards, Yoshio Murata(mr.)

My name is Osamu Nagai from Tokyo Japan and It is nice to know your life on
TV tonight. Your life style was televised all over Japan. RV life is not
popular in Japan because the land is too small compared to the States.

Your family tie and life style with your kids are very interesting and I can
see the bottom line of life through the TV program. I have two boys who are
little bit older than yours.

Anyway, right after the program, I just wanted to say hello to you and I
will look at your homepage from tme to time. Please take care of yourselves
and best regards

Osamu Nagai

lisa

I am inpressed your way of thinking. Ofcourse, It is not always fun, but
children must come to appreciate to you ten years later.

I might see youon the road last year. I used to lived in Hawaii and come
back to Japan after 911emegency.before leaving hawaii I drove all over the
states.

I just wanted to say that you are great and tell children your parents are
greatest in the world. Thank you so much.

best regards

Akihiro Kashihara

I am Mr. Akira Wakabayashi. I'm a Japanese. I watched your family on TV
tonight. Your family is wonderful. My wife and I think "How we envy your
family!".
 

Have a safe drive and adventure !!  How about driving  to Japan
????(joke)

Masashi Kawaguchi

 I thank you for your readding my lettre.

                    see you!       Kouji Utumi , Fukuoka,Japan.
                                                                                   2002 march 9

It's wonderful.

Of course, your web page was seen happily.
It is waiting also for the mail which tells a situation to pleasure.

I watched the program and it was impressed very much.
I am 35-year-old single's man.

I have traveled from LOS ANGELS to NEW YORK alone seven years ago.
 A car, a bicycle, on foot, a camp, etc.
DEATH VALLEY also went. I wanted to take a trip alone then.
But I thought that it would travel together with [ in the future ]
my wife and a child.

This program was truly impressed as it was catching
its future sight.When realizing, I want to meet you and to carry out
gratitude very much.

Probably, Mitch and Max have grown up.
Look forward to the day which can meet me.(^^)

I am praying continuing a safe and pleasant trip.
And it dreams of the day which can meet in the future.
It was able to meet the wonderful family.
It is thankful to you.

akio.

Sorry I suddenly send a mail.
I'm a TV viewer in Japan.
Just now, I've seen  you and your family's RV life on TV program  in Japan
(March 2).
and really  inspired by your life.
So I visited your web site.
When I was a boy, really didn't like  so-called compulsory education.
But now I grow up to be a man :-).

Anyway, have a nice adventure life.
Bye!

TAKAHARA,

Nice to meet you !

 I am sorry about sending e-mail not meeting you yet. However, I do not
think I have ever met you. Because I saw you on TV program at NHK(Japanese
TV) tonight.

I am 33 year old Japanese and have 3 year old boy, 1 year old girl, and
lovely wife.
I am very moved about your life and hope having life same as you with my
wife.

I have lived in Grand Junction,Colorado 10 years ago. Have you ever been
there? It have great canyon named Colorado National Monument. You can see
wonderful view from there like Grand Canyon. You should visit there if you
have not ever been.

Anyway, I am sorry that poor English.  I foregut English because 10 years
long from leaving The US.

Finally, I cheer you up far from Japan. So, please do not forget there is a
person that care you live near Mt. Fuji in Japan.

Take care yourself !!

Shinji?@Inagaki

I am Japanese, and have just watched a program on TV about your family.  I
was very interested in your life style driving whole country in the states.
I really like to send my regards and hope you have a nice life from now on
and please take care of your nice two sons and wife and yourself too.
Are you reading my e-mail in your RV car?
Good luck!

B. Regards,
Greetings from Japan

Yasuhiro Kuroda

Your idea and lifestyle brought my brain a nice fresh breeze.
Recently I have been thinking about our
future that if we should have a child, our own house etc....

But I realized that the most important  thing is to decide "How we want to
live"
first, not thinking about what other people do or have.
If we know it very well, we have only to try our best to live our own way,
don't we?

Surely we have to live as well as we could since our life spending the
precious time of our own.

We are very lucky that we could
watch your program.
So we want to say thank you all, and NHK.

Hope all of you keep having a good life.

*** Mo ***

Hi! Dear Nodlands!
My name is Hiroshi, Japanese guy, aged 54. I wached your family life on
T.V. tonight and was very impressed. I admire your life style so much. I
wish I could live with my family like that. But it's impossible in Japan.
Japan is too small to travel so long. We will have no place to go after one
year travel. And we have no
facililty for RVers exept parking lots for camp which is open only in summer
season.
Do you find foreign RVers in US?  I want to travel North America by RV
someday, if it's possible.
Until that day, I will travel with you through your home page.
I wish you good luck!

Sincerely Yours,

I'm a Japanese guy living in Japan.
I've watched TV program and that was about people who
lives and traveling with RV house around U.S.A.
After that program, I've found your web-site and now I'm
typing e-mail to you all.

I was so excited about the way you think and the way you
living!
On the way your travel, lots of people was asking that
"Are kids going to school?"
Well, the answer is clear!
"Travel and Learnig  Come Together!"right?

I've been to U.S.A. (Denver) only once.
Now, I feel like to go there again!

Well, good luck to you all, and thank you for reading my
e-mail.

Rio Iwafuji

from Japan

Today I watched the TV program about you and your family. So I tryed to
access your homepage.

 I am not good at English. But pictures of your adventures are very
interesting and make me happy.  I hope I travel all U.S.A. like you ! (Japan
is too small to travel by the RV).

I am going to access your homepage again.
Have a nice journey!
 
 

Ayako Yamaguchi

Tonight I happened to watch a NHK TV program, which showed your family. I
got touched with your ways of living. So right after watching it, I found
your web sight, by the key words 'ed, mitch, nhk'.

By your story with NHK staffs on the web, I knew the incident, in which your
kid got stuck on the halfway cliff, was real, not just made for the TV
program.

I remained your kid's harmonica playing in the car in my mind. The TV showed
very well your kids growing with you, parents.

I am a father of two little kids, and an eager English learner.

Are you still traveling in the car anywhere now?
Thank your for your interesting American family introduction to us.
Have safe and nice travel on!
(Keiko Suzuki)

How do you do, it is the Japanese who says Keiichi Kamide.
Your family was seen on television (NHK).

A person must live with my thought. A person wants to live
happily as long as he is living. Therefore a person  must
succeed. It is education to make the judgment to find that
way by oneself that it can do it.

In addition, to be more important is to tell that it
should be the human being who is good for the person for
the society for the country for the world .
                     Thank you .

I watched a documentary program of your family's
road trip on NHK-TV Saturday night. I searched Road School
homepage and the Road Trip with NHK page simultaneously.
http://www.roadschool1.com/nhk.htm
It strongly impressed me.The reverse coverage which
is not in TV program was very interesting.
Thank you very much for giving a dream.

Thak you again

              K
              Takatsuki, Osaka, Japan

Tokyo Japan
Tsutomu Hayashi

Yesterday I knew your family through a TV program of NHK in Japan.I liked the way you live and impressed your power and the US culture which enable your RV to go on. Also, that program made me think, what'is the meaning of a family, society, relations with those, etc.

I'm a 27 year-old graduate student.I cannot live like you but I'd like to see many people and learn a lot from your site with you.
Now, you're in Alaska? spring isnt coming there yet?
How are Mitch and Max doing? You're growing day by day, much more than those whom I watched on TV, are you?
Well, please take care and I'm looking forward to your updating sites from Japan!
Yurika

Cheers!
Yuko

I'm Japanese and watched your life on TV program yesterday, recorded by
NHK. On TV, they didn't introduce your URL, but I rememer on the screen
there is the words; road school. I searched it through www.yahoo.com with
the keyworkds: "road", "school", "mitch" and "max". That is very impressed
and you have extraordinary lifestyle, and I like it very much. You will
learn and study touching cultures, natures etc.

I work in Airline Industries. I was surprised that Ed used to work for
Boeing when I had a look into your family page on the website. I'm in
import-export department (we call it sales dept.) and contacting
manufactures, vendors in USA, Canada and European countries, and manage
aircraft parts for purchases and repairs. Mostly I do take care of repairs.
If you know some, that's Boeing, Airbus, Rolls Royce, GE, SAAB etc.

Hi Mitch and Max,

How are you? I read an article, written about Mardi Gras. I was in New
Orleans for Mardi Gras, 2001 too. Actually I was there for one month to
study English at Tulane University. They have classes for foreigners. It's
called ESL (English as Second Language). There is no Americans, that's
international classes, students are all over the world whom mother tongue
is not English, and my roommate was Argentina. The one month became my
treasure in my heart, I leant English, felt Latin cultures, spending with
my roommate, tasted cajun food and Mardi Gras season. I went to many
parades every day after school with international friends and Americans I
met at Tulane. I might see you, but I didn't hear your horn sounds... I was
calling to clue on floats, like "PLEASE!!" "HERE I AM!!" to get beads. That
was very fun for me.
Reading your article will be my English practice.

Take care,
Yoichi Higashida

 By the way, my husband's dream, after retirement, is to travel over the US
by a car.
 So we have to gather useful informations after now.  I think many Japaneses
want to  do that,too.  It is difficult for us to do same thing here in Japan because
of many reasons.

 Soon we will have the beautiful season of cherry blossoms here.
 I hope you will be able to come to Japan in this season someday.

 Thank you for reading my message in poor English.
 I want to write more and more, but it is hard for me to write a letter in
English.
 Just I want to say hello and  to tell our impressions .

 A RI GA TO and SA YO NA RA ( thank you and good bye)

 Kaoru Iwaki

I watched your program last night and found your Web site by a search engine.  I also found the backgroud of this program through "Road Trip with NHK".

My name is Kenji Watanabe in my 50s.  NHK introduced you by saying "he quited his job in the personell department in a biggest airplane company in Seattle area."  There is only the Boeing.

Actually I stayed in Lynnwood for 4 months to design a flap driving mechanism for the 767 in the Everette plant in 1979.  I worked for Kawasaki Heavy Industries at that time.  As you worked for 20 year for the Boeing, there is a possibility that we met there if you started to work from 1978.

Your life style to hopping around by an RV is one of my options I will follow after my retirement at 60.

Thank you for your informative life style.  I will try to continuously read your reports from now on.  I look forward to the one to Alaska and on what behaviour your son Mitch will take when he gets older and want to be independent.

Best regards,

Kenji Watanabe living near Kobe

I think what you are doing is great.  I wish I had that kind of fun when I was young, because, you see, experience is the best teacher.  I am happy to know that your children will learn, and you documented it so others can learn as well.

thank you,

shauno