JD and Brittany Lott- American Family Road Trip

[PopRox]

Instagram: americanfamilyroadtrip

They've been mentioned elsewhere on FJ, but I couldn't find a topic dedicated just to them.

The Lott family live and travel full- time in a converted bus (it was either originally a military transport bus or a school bus-- they've changed their story about it, but I'm thinking it was the former). They have 8 children and "road school," and every day they post some kind of staged video of the kids dancing around and the parents looking smug as HELL. Frequent topics include how many kids they have, how attracted the parents are to each other and that's *why* they have so many kids, and the fact that they live on the road.

There's a lot of concern for the kids about privacy and what kind of education they are receiving. A few months ago Brittany gave birth to number 8... on the bus... with no medical attention. They weighed the baby at the freaking UPS store. Their followers and snarkers alike noticed that there was clearly something off about the baby-- eyes not focusing, listless, clenching his fists all the time.

They finally got CPS called on them in Florida. Despite the fact that they never post their location in real time "for safety," they immediately jumped to the conclusion that "an anti- Christian group" on Reddit reported them. 🙄 🙄 Sure, Jan! People are pushing back in the comments, thankfully.

I hope that the CPS call lit a fire under their ass to get that baby the help he needs, but I'm not really holding my breath with these clowns. 😕 I would love to be proven wrong!

Hope it's okay to make this post-- just wanted a place to discuss their continuing WTFery.

Edited July 25 by PopRox
Adding the insta handle

[FiveAcres]

Other stuff:

JD Lott (the father) is either a sovereign citizen or is adjacent to that philosophy. He apparently is the beneficiary of a small trust fund and is all in on bitcoin and other techno scams. While pregnant with child #8, the whole family took an extended vacation in Brazil. There were speculations that child #8 was supposed to be a anchor baby in Brazil: a way for the whole family to track fast Brazilian citizenship. Something apparently did not go according to their wacky plan, and the family traveled back to the US. 

JD travels a lot on "business." (He may be a free-lance insurance claims adjuster, but doesn't seem to spend a lot of time doing it.) During one his business trips, Brittney recounted a story of driving the rest of the family in a vehicle that had a broken door, and one child was tasked with holding the door shut. She apparently thought that this was an amusing tale and makes the family relatable.   

[JermajestyDuggar]

I think JD is supposed to be related to George Lott. Maybe an uncle? Unsure. Someone else can probably give more specific info on how they are related:

 

https://murderpedia.org/male.L/l1/lott-george-douglas.htm

[Giraffe]

I started following reddit on them them on shortly after Boone was born. They're both sketchy af!

[BensAllergies]

This is a positive spin on their story, but also pretty detailed. It’s from two years ago. Copy/paste in the spoiler, but here’s the link.

Spoiler

JD and Britney Lott felt God calling them to hit the road. So, in 2018, they did. The Lotts converted an old Air Force bus into livable space, ran their gymnastics business remotely, and started heeding the Lord’s direction on where to serve His purposes best.

The result has been four years of raising their seven children, now ages 4 months through 11 years, in a 200-square-foot bus. They’ve traveled throughout the U.S., spending significant time in 41 states while homeschooling, ministering to others, and sharing their insights about family discipleship.

They have also become a hit on Instagram with videos and photos of their family and adventures. Their account, @americanfamilyroadtrip, has grown to over 100,000 followers and 2 million views per week as they share the joy of close-quarters family living, growing in relationships, and serving the Lord.

The family’s goal is to heed the Lord’s leading as a way to encourage other families to follow God’s calling for them.

Traveling lifestyle: The Lotts aren’t on an extended vacation. This is their life.

JD wrote on the family blog at JDandBritney.com:

We started from square one, recreating our entire life. We removed all of the distractions, we took away everything we didn’t need, and we were open to live the way God led us without any excuses. I eventually finished building the bus, with God’s clear and abundant help, we sold or gave away everything we had, and we moved full-time into the bus, living on the road. 

“We travel where the Lord is leading us,” Britney says. “I can tell you about some amazing places in the middle of America, for instance, because, when God leads us somewhere, it might be in the middle of nowhere as opposed to a ‘destination’ place.”

JD Lott holds on to newborn Aquila while other Lott children handle chores in their 200-square-foot bus/home. (YouTube screenshot)

In July, the Lotts were in the Black Hills of South Dakota, visiting one set of friends before heading for a different part of South Dakota to help another family set up a home church. JD was also tending to some repairs on the bus’s water tank.

Pre-RV: Before hitting the road, the Lotts were “living the standard American lifestyle” in a house in Lubbock, Texas, and ran a Little Gym franchise there. But, JD says, they realized they weren’t living like Jesus was Lord of their lives.

“‘Lord’ means one exercising complete authority and leadership,” JD says. “We were doing just enough to feel or convince ourselves that we were being Christian enough as opposed to letting God fully have control over our lives.

“We went through this really powerful period of spiritual growth. God captured our lives completely. One thing led to another, and this is the path that we generally feel is God’s plan for our lives. We can see it manifested time and time again by how He gives us opportunities to minister to other people and be ministered to. He’s constantly active in our lives. It’s a really beautiful place to be.”

Once they started traveling, the Lotts managed their Little Gym franchise remotely until this past January, when they sold it. The proceeds from that sale now support their family as they also pursue other business opportunities.

Modding the bus: Once the decision had been made to travel, the Lotts bought the Air Force bus and began modifying it for their family. They had five children at the time, so JD built a six-bunk bunkhouse in the vehicle’s rear. They raised the 8-foot ceiling to 10 feet to accommodate bunk beds and storage.

The Lotts’ bus also has a full bathroom, kitchen, and laundry nook. The living room doubles as the master bedroom at night when a queen-size bed is dropped from the ceiling. There’s also storage under the living compartment.

“It’s got everything that you need,” JD says.

Britney’s pretty happy about that.

“You don’t want it to be camping full time,” she says. “You want it to be a home.”

A key point in the process was when JD needed vocal cord surgery and couldn’t speak for three months. Since he couldn’t work at their business, he was able to work on the bus full time.

Full house: The bus has been the only home that three of the Lott children have ever known. The other four young Lotts had some experience of house-living, even though they may not remember much of it now.

“This has been a big part of our kids’ lives,” JD says. “They love it.”

That’s apparent from the videos the Lotts post to their Instagram account. The kids love to take part in the videos and otherwise seem perfectly at home. Watch the YouTube videos JD and Britney have just started making, and you’ll see children either watching from the RV’s front window or going in and out of the bus.

 

JD and Britney Lott record a YouTube video. (YouTube screenshot)

“Our followers love the encouragement,” Britney says. “They tell us that it’s fun to see a positive, authentic family doing life together.”

The Instagram account was started as a type of journal, but Britney began to focus on encouraging followers.

Longer videos on their profile address the practical parts of their lifestyle. Shorter posts often feature one, some, or all of the Lotts hamming it up and having fun.

Personal growth: JD and Britney say that they’ve grown as individuals, a couple, and a family in the years they’ve lived in the bus.

“There are a lot of things you don’t have to deal with in your relationship with your spouse when you live in a normal-size home,” JD says. “We had to grow in that regard. We’ve worked through a lot of our issues, and we continue to work through our issues. God equips us to do so.

“Also, in an RV, especially with more kiddos, you have to have a lot of flexibility. We’ve really grown close together as a family, and that takes time and effort. Meaningful things take time to develop, working through challenges and issues in a healthy way.”

Britney says she has found, counterintuitively, that smaller is better with more children when it comes to keeping things orderly.

“Living space gets cluttered faster, so we teach our children to put things up when they’re done using it,” she says.

“Roadschooling”: The Lotts must also be resourceful in homeschooling their children.

“I have less curriculum, so we don’t waste much,” Britney says. “We have to be resourceful. There are little libraries all over the country. We borrow and donate back.”

They also have the advantage of simply reading about a place one week and being there at the same time or soon after. “It’s so much more tangible and real,” Britney says.

The children also meet more people on the road than they otherwise would.

“They really love that,” JD says. “We call it ‘roadschooling.’ It’s been a really beautiful thing for us to grow together as a family.”

The schooling is simply a part of their overall family life, which is about relationships.

“We believe that relationship is the currency of life,” JD says. “We are working through the various challenges that come with living close. We’re working through our hard issues on a regular basis, so I think that’s a really beautiful thing. We’re taking time to develop our children’s hearts and characters.”

Living the faith: Not having a church to attend regularly requires the Lotts to sometimes organize their own worship. As a result, JD has gained enough experience to write a template for family worship. The actual “typical time of family worship” is only one page of essential, familiar points, but most of the document, available through JDandBritney.com, offers JD’s insights on structure and also encourages parents.

The Lotts keep their faith base with their home church, Freeway Bible Chapel, in Lubbock, Texas, near where they sometimes stay during winter months.

“We’re really close with our church’s elders,” JD says.

The Lotts have participated in church plants and occasionally speak at congregations. They’re also working on business opportunities.

“Much of our time spent ministering is to people we meet, both online and in person during the course of the day, primarily encouraging Christians to find provision, fullness of life, grace, and joy in submission to God’s will,” JD says.

Michael Miller is editor of the Samaritan Ministries newsletter.

 

[Xan]

I feel about the Lotts the way I felt about the Rodrigues family when they lived on the road.  A lot of what they spout is pure BS.  The children say they love their life because that's what they've been taught to say.  The parents act as if this is a wonderful opportunity.  It would be if it was short-term -- maybe just for a summer.

If you live in a 200 square foot bus all the time you have no privacy.  You never feel that anything is yours or that you are special.  You aren't able to have real friends or go to a real school.  We don't know if they get decent medical care.  How much would those kids love having a decent bed?  How often to they wish they could get away from all the noise?  And you just know that JD and Britney are out there always looking for "business opportunities".  They're not fooling anyone.  They just didn't want the responsibilities of a regular life.  The realized, like the Rods, that you can get away with not educating your children or providing them with basic needs if you just keep moving.  No lawn to mow.  No PTA.  No board to make for a science fair.  No pesky annual physicals and shots to pay for.  They just like to wander.

[Becky]

Not familiar with this family, and sorry if I offend any other Christians here, but how, exactly, does one know it is God telling you to live in a bus and keep having kids besides? Personally I think if someone is hearing voices telling them to do crazy things, they just might be crazy. 

[justpassingthru]

I'm just gonna say that the health speculation of Boone didn't start until after their supposed CPS visit. 

People were outraged at the chiropractor visit and the sheep rug but health wise, it wasn't until after that.

That video of JD straightening out his leg and the baby responding in a cry was atrocious as well. 

This screenshot is the first time he looked seriously unwell and it was May 6. 

https://imgur.com/a/kbyTrtW

 

Here's a reddit link to an interview from a few years ago

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/FundieSnarkUncensored/s/cdCOo7ao9r

[theotherelise]

I think what Reddit is doing regarding this family is harassment. The rules they used to have over there have gone completely out the window. The CPS call was in late April when only Reddit was talking about it. The arm-chair diagnosing is absurd. People are out here watching her videos the moment they go up and screenshotting the frames they think prove their diagnosis. They've said everything from jaundice to sun burn (he looked a little red one time, but it was a couple seconds of one video) to cerebral palsy to blindness to deafness. They post screenshots constantly. 

Anyone who dares not to follow the changing wills of the mods - some of whom came over from the original fundiesnark subreddit which went up in flames - will get permabanned. 

The family is definitely not great. He's a weird crypto bro. They post their kids constantly on instagram. The children should have more space, especially with the baby now. They do veer into sovereign citizen stuff. I am sure I would not like to spend any time with them. But I have zero doubts that people from Reddit called CPS on them. That subreddit has become unhinged.

ETA: the blind/deaf CP accusations didn't start by April 30, but "jaundiced, lethargic, and sunburnt" absolutely was on reddit by April 30.

Edited July 25 by theotherelise

[justpassingthru]

5 minutes ago, theotherelise said:

Anyone who dares not to follow the changing wills of the mods

It's funny this is mentioned. I got banned for something and now others are doing the same thing and still not banned 🙃

[theotherelise]

Here are threads from before the CPS call:

https://www.reddit.com/r/FundieSnarkUncensored/comments/1cnelvk/a_quick_jaundice_psa_for_any_fundie_mothers/

https://www.reddit.com/r/FundieSnarkUncensored/comments/1cnblbp/tan_infant_taking_fundie_beige_to_the_next_level/

https://www.reddit.com/r/FundieSnarkUncensored/comments/1cmwzq5/she_deleted_comments_about_how_bad_the_baby_looks/

https://www.reddit.com/r/FundieSnarkUncensored/comments/1cnki0c/im_pretty_new_to_motherbus_but_wow_she_really_is/

https://www.reddit.com/r/FundieSnarkUncensored/comments/1clm31c/let_me_hold_my_newborn_as_awkwardly_as_possible/

https://www.reddit.com/r/FundieSnarkUncensored/comments/1ced771/child_neglect/

https://www.reddit.com/r/FundieSnarkUncensored/comments/1cngx4g/im_surprised_these_havent_been_deleted_yet/

 

[JermajestyDuggar]

The best thing for this family to do now is just stop their social media presences. They are exploiting their children daily for money. And now they claim they are being harassed. Reddit will stop talking about them if they stop posting their children every single day. Reddit has a short attention span. Look at Mika Stauffer. I bet she hasn’t been mentioned in ages. Because she stopped posting on social media. It’s like all the fundies we talk about on FJ. Once they stop posting, no one talks about them anymore. 

[justpassingthru]

2 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

The best thing for this family to do now is just stop their social media presences. They are exploiting their children daily for money. And now they claim they are being harassed. Reddit will stop talking about them if they stop posting their children every single day. Reddit has a short attention span. Look at Mika Stauffer. I bet she hasn’t been mentioned in ages. Because she stopped posting on social media. It’s like all the fundies we talk about on FJ. Once they stop posting, no one talks about them anymore. 

But they have every right to exploit their children as that's their income! - their followers 🙄

[JermajestyDuggar]

2 minutes ago, justpassingthru said:

But they have every right to exploit their children as that's their income! - their followers 🙄

There’s the crux of it all. Their followers are their income and their harassers. 

[justpassingthru]

I was trying to quote a couple comments I've seen, but you're right. Their followers are a double edged sword

[justpassingthru]

This made me chuckle, ngl

[KWLand]

I don’t think reddit made the CPS call that led to the investigation.  Well never know because CPS can’t release that information and the Lotts also don’t know because CPS can’t release that i formation.  Possible the investigator has no idea who called.  

CPS knew what campground they were at, the bus information, and was able to get the campground to provide them JDs phone number.   As well as something that allowed them to threaten (either bluffing or reality) being reported to other authorities.   It’d take a lot more than an anonymous call from a stranger for that stuff to be known/threatened.

The Chiropractor would have been a mandated reporter.   The call and report doesn’t seem to have changed anything.  They continued to travel and post what they want to share.  

[FilleMondaine]

1 hour ago, justpassingthru said:

But they have every right to exploit their children as that's their income! - their followers 🙄

JD did say in that article that “relationships are the currency of life” so…

[NachosFlandersStyle]

I do think that reddit in particular is like a dog with a bone when it gets to some of the influencers they discuss -- for a long time I didn't pay it a lot of attention because every post was some bitch-eating-crackers complaint about Bethany Beal, who I just don't find very interesting. On the other hand, we now have plenty of proof just how damaging these "family influencers" are to their kids and how much abuse goes on behind the scenes. If you decide to make your living putting your children into extreme situations and forcing them to perform for the camera, you should get an unfriendly reception. That shouldn't be a no-pushback career option that you get to choose without repercussions.

[Alisamer]

1 hour ago, theotherelise said:

I think what Reddit is doing regarding this family is harassment. The rules they used to have over there have gone completely out the window. The CPS call was in late April when only Reddit was talking about it. The arm-chair diagnosing is absurd. People are out here watching her videos the moment they go up and screenshotting the frames they think prove their diagnosis. They've said everything from jaundice to sun burn (he looked a little red one time, but it was a couple seconds of one video) to cerebral palsy to blindness to deafness. They post screenshots constantly. 

Anyone who dares not to follow the changing wills of the mods - some of whom came over from the original fundiesnark subreddit which went up in flames - will get permabanned. 

The family is definitely not great. He's a weird crypto bro. They post their kids constantly on instagram. The children should have more space, especially with the baby now. They do veer into sovereign citizen stuff. I am sure I would not like to spend any time with them. But I have zero doubts that people from Reddit called CPS on them. That subreddit has become unhinged.

ETA: the blind/deaf CP accusations didn't start by April 30, but "jaundiced, lethargic, and sunburnt" absolutely was on reddit by April 30.

I really don't think Reddit had anything to do with the CPS call, at all. It just doesn't work like that. CPS needs real, firsthand. actual information from a person who has interacted with them, and the ability to find the family in question, and enough evidence to make it worth checking up on them.

They are constantly in public. She gave birth unassisted on a bus in a campground... just about anybody anywhere near the bus could have noticed suddenly they have a newborn without having ever gone anywhere. The chiropractor who saw the baby could have called. A family member of theirs could have called. Someone at the freaking UPS store could have called. They say the baby got a clean bill of health from a doctor - if they had a follow up checkup scheduled and missed it, they might have called. And if CPS got a couple different calls about the same family, then looked them up online and saw the videos they post constantly, that might have been enough to trigger them to check in.

I do think people go overboard a lot over on Reddit, but I don't really think it's likely that Reddit has anything to do with CPS being involved with them, unless maybe it's someone who saw them in person and was concerned enough to google them and then stumbled upon Reddit.

Also I need to put the Helpmeet hat on for a second and make sure we remember there's a rule against diagnosing children. Even when everything the family has chosen to put out makes it look like there might be an issue that should be checked out just in case.

The most ludicrous part of the whole thing for me is that they are insisting they're being attacked because they are Christians. As if nothing would have been said to them if they were atheists or Wiccan or Hindu or Buddhist or Muslim or anything else, all other things being the same.

[justpassingthru]

8 minutes ago, Alisamer said:

The most ludicrous part of the whole thing for me is that they are insisting they're being attacked because they are Christians. 

Exactly. No where has it ever been stated that it's because they are Christian. 

People will express concern for children regardless of religion. They haven't even been that vocal about their faith in a long time and suddenly they are. That was mentioned several times "are they even fundie?"

It's just convenient now because they can't align with liberals or anyone like that

[JermajestyDuggar]

Karissa is big mad too 🙄

[justpassingthru]

Ma'am, lots of Christian groups get away with doing terrible things because they don't agree with others lifestyle.

Karissa, you get away with doing terrible things and expect others to conform to your lifestyle.

JFC. 

I would say it's the pot calling the kettle black, but it's more like the pot calling the kettle extremely filtered and/or whitewashed

[FunFunFundie]

I have been following this family for a couple of years, not through here directly but because they follow Karissa, who I also am fascinated by.

I don’t have as much animosity about them as some other people do. Maybe because if my (only three) kids didn’t really need stability, and get a ton of growth from their sports and friends, I would LOVE to live like them. Last summer, the kids and I lived out of my van for seven weeks and it was the best thing I’ve ever done. We will never be able to replicate it - my oldest is in high school now, and her legit commitments are important to her.

We travel a LOT more than the average family, and I watch the Lotts because they sometimes have good tips on campgrounds or routes.

That said, it must be like 90% bullshit. Her whole thing is that they *intentionally build their relationships* and so they are *so happy* is just crap. She always says “we are content creators, not content consumers,” and I think her kids don’t have much screen time BUT I see her name all over Instagram liking other people’s shit. She is for sure a content consumer. There is an oft-repeated story about how they had a 7,000 foot home but gave it up to live simply, but travel like they do it is NOT cheap. I try to do some of the experience things they do while we travel, like animal spotting tours or whatever, or just even eating out for dinner, and with four of us it’s way more than it would be to stay at home. And we don’t have a bus. So their entire brand is predicated on having a lot of money.

She’s cagey about the money when people ask. “We have multiple streams of income,” “we are entrepreneurs,” but I gather he’s in crypto and she does MLMs. They also are both veterans, so there’s that. But I think their income is a mix of a lot of things, much of which is a house of cards, unless he has a trust fund (which she has said before that he does). Which, great! But their brand is all “we decided to simplify!”

I guess I’d like a place to discuss them that isn’t Reddit, because I don’t despise them like I do the Rods. I do think they are trying to raise their kids to be thoughtful and curious, although their beliefs are run-of-the-mill fundie (but she doesn’t preach about it much). They are making money off their kids, which is gross. They are insular, which is gross. But, in my opinion, compared to the Rods, Karissa  or the Andersons, they’d be the ones I’d most be able to sit next to on an airplane.

There seems to be a Lott (see what I did there) more to the story than what is shown - like when their trip to Brazil (which I was SEETHING jealous of) ended abruptly.

They also have a million boys and one girl, which will be an interesting dynamic over time.

 

 

[justpassingthru]

13 minutes ago, FunFunFundie said:

We will never be able to replicate it - my oldest is in high school now, and her legit commitments are important to her.

See, you treat your daughter as an individual human and not as an extension of yourself. You realize that raising your daughter is about your daughter not necessarily just about your growth as a parent. 

That's a big difference from the Lotts. 

I'm sure their kids would thrive having true friends instead of being each other's besties which isn't guaranteed into adulthood like they seem to think.