Double Digits Down: A 10-Month Report on the Ups & Downs of Camper Life

Posted on by
2

Howdy. It’s the 14th of the month and you know what that means…blog time!

As of today, it’s been 10 months of camper life. Lots of things are happening, and lots of other things are becoming clearer with more time on the road.

A while back, I went on a frenzy of following other full-time campers’ blogs and got obsessed with virtually relating to others living a similar lifestyle. But now it’s newsfeed overload to the point of making life on the road feel way too ordinary and uninteresting. Pretty much everyone says the same cliche things and comes to the same lame and nostalgic conclusions. My perspective feels different, and I can no longer relate. I haven’t exactly figured out why or how to put it in words. So for now, I’m another cog in the wheel. Let’s keep turning the wheel ’til I figure it out.

Places We Were: Month #9

Last month began by wrapping up our time in Santa Barbara, which has still been one of my very favorite places of the entire trip. I loved the size of the town…not overwhelming but still plenty of stuff to do. The weather rocked and the area offered so many of the things that I love to do on a regular basis: kayaking, hiking, biking, beach, museums, breweries, vineyards, etc. If it weren’t so damn expensive to live in a place like that, I could totally plop down in SB for a while. But maybe that’s not a deal breaker after all, so who knows.

Then we moved onto Lake Isabella, which started out as a total bust. We couldn’t access the Sequoia National Forest because of snowed in roads, which was basically the whole point of moving here. Kayaking was also a bust, and the tiny towns of a couple thousand people each offered little-to-nothing to do. But after wallowing in some self-pity, we made the most of it and embraced the dramatic scenery in full-force.

Finally, we moved to Oceano, California in the San Luis Obispo area. This stay is still in progress, and while the initial reaction was not so great, this area is really starting to grow on me. The campground itself is claustrophobic and overpriced. But we’re right next to the sand dunes with the ocean on the other side, there are fresh farm stands on non-trafficy roads, and lots of local theater stuff nearby.

Here’s a quick recap of this past month’s batch of “homes on the road”:

Santa Barbara, California: Home on the Road #37

  • Highlights: Santa Ynez breweries nearby, cute Danish town of Solvang, getting an Easter visit from our friend and her baby in Illinois, visiting an ostrich farm, self-guided mission tour, biking to the beach, chill breweries, quirky shops, uncrowded hikes, incredible flowers and succulents
  • Lowlights: Camping 30+ minutes away from town, weird lake regulations that prohibited SUPing, campground laundry facilities broken & useless, loud and annoying Easter campground crowds

And now…some photos to go with those words:

Lake Isabella, California: Home on the Road #38

  • Highlights: Amazing scenery in every form, fast and free campground WiFi, getting to use the snowshoes that we’ve been toting around in the RV, driving a BOAT, beating (barely) my husband in golf on our first game on an actual course, the surprisingly well-preserved Silver City ghost town in Bodfish
  • Lowlights: Didn’t get to see any sequoia trees, didn’t get to kayak, small towns didn’t have anything to do, realizing how badly out of biking shape I am on moderate hills, hikes that were ended abruptly due to impassable waters

Here are some of my favorite photos…

Oceana, California: Home on the Road #39 (in progress)

  • Highlights: Sand dunes right behind our campground to play on, SLEDDING IN SAND, lots of local theater stuff nearby, Bishop’s Peak hike, horseback riding on the beach (June was the most chill horse ever), wandering around San Luis Obsipo, our wedding anniversary is tomorrow!

  • Lowlights: Probably THE most claustrophobic campground we’ve ever stayed in + the most expensive one = worst combination EVER, 20+ mile winds every day

Realizations & Ramblings from Month #9

In no particular order, these are some random thoughts that came to me during the past month on the road.

  • I’m sick of other campers. I feel like puking every time I read another full-time RVers blog about how “fun” it is to meet other people on the road. This will likely be the thing that drives me away from this lifestyle. Or maybe my niche is how to travel/RV full-time with an introverted/anti-social personality. But who’d read that, right?! Everyone wants to romanticize this lifestyle, and that goes against the grain. Still, I stand firm on my belief that there are many other (and better) benefits to travel besides meeting people (how about. trying new things, learning about yourself, disconnecting from the bullshit, or figuring out the type of place you’d be happy in someday?) To me, these things are far more valuable than mindless and repetitive chit-chat with annoying strangers I’ll never see again. I’d welcome another scheduled meetup like we did in Yuma with Sara & Mike, but those positive encounters seem very few and far between. If it sounds like life on the road is making me jaded, that’s because it is. However, jaded is part of my natural state of mind wherever I’m at. Hmmm maybe I should buy a piece of jade jewelry. That’d be pretty.

  • On that note, we are semi-seriously talking about buying a piece of property “somewhere” that’s sorta kinda in the middle of nowhere to put the RV on it and get it all hooked up to water/electric/sewer. With a possible consideration of building our own house on it in the future. My husband is more gung-ho on this idea than I am because I get caught up in the logistics and commitment. But I’m still way interested in this idea over “giving up” and just getting a lame apartment in a suburb. The big question though is “where”?

  • I stumbled across a travel log that I wrote from a trip to Montana/Wyoming/South Dakota trip in April 2013. My writing was 100% better and more interesting. These days, I just rush through this blog to say I did it and to help myself remember things. It feels more like an obligation than a pleasure, which is sad and pathetic. I’m also so burnt out with writing 8-10 hours for work every day that I have nothing else interesting to say at the end of the day. Poor me, boo freaking hoo. Anyway, everything I read myself write these days is disappointing, and I should do better.
  • I’m learning about plants! I’m tired of going on hikes and not knowing what I’m looking at, so I bought a textbook. Plants are hard…but I’m trying.

  • Last month we killed a TON of bugs in the RV. It got to a point of keeping a personal tally to see who killed more at the end of the day. I remember getting up to 6 on one particularly crappy day.
  • It was really easy for me to get used to having less stuff in the beginning when we had a tiny pop-up camper. But these days, it’s been harder to resist buying more stuff since we have more room in the RV. Especially when Amazon delivers right to your RV park. RESIST THE STUFF…resist!
  • I don’t have popular goals like climbing Everest or hiking the PCT. Those are someone else’s goals, not mine. I should probably put more thought into what mine actually are though.
  • I made my first cupcakes in the tiny RV convection oven/microwave! After three batches and two semi-failed attempts, I found that the magic recipe was 350-degrees at 23 minutes.

  • Flavored whiskey is wonderful. Honey and apple…yum.
  • Longer days of sunlight are equally wonderful.
  • I have a hard time respecting full-time RVers with Amazon charity links and who regularly ask strangers for money to support their lifestyle. I built my own freelance writing business on my own from the ground up 4+ years ago. I didn’t get lucky. I figured it out and bust my ass every day. You should too.
  • I totally don’t understand the point of Instagram. I only care to comment on this because I’ve recently been hired to do “community management” for a client, which basically entails just liking and commenting on behalf of the brand on Instagram. I’ve used Facebook as my one and only social media outlet since the beginning of time because the format and features make sense to me. But I can’t wrap my head around why anyone would use Instagram. Can anyone shed some light on this for me? As a professional writer who values content and context, I can’t see any value in sterile and staged photos followed by generic comments with zero substance. I understand that the average person can’t manage to read more than a couple-word caption on a photo. But for me, a picture doesn’t equal 1,000 words. It equals a picture. And as someone who gets paid by the word, each and every one of them matters. Maybe I’m just outdated and one of those rare non-visual learners. Help a 33-year-old out?

Looking Ahead to Month #10

As month #10 continues, we’ll be in Oceano for a bit more and celebrating our two-year wedding anniversary here! We don’t put a whole lot of stock in that court-issued piece of paper, but we made a random pact to celebrate wedding anniversaries at the beach, so here we are. Certainly could we worse! Next, we’re headed up to Fresno and Gilroy to experience some of the lesser-famous parts of Cali.

Hopefully reading this month’s post wasn’t a total downer. There are still plenty of things that I enjoy about camper life, like the easy access to nature and having new places to explore. Yet other parts are wearing me down, and I’m sure that’s bleeding through in my monthly reports. I’m still searching for my voice in all of this to express how my RV experience differs from the “masses”. If it comes to me anytime soon, you’ll be the first to know.

9 Months Later…Yup, We’re Still on the Road!

Posted on by
Reply

Howdy, and thanks for keeping up with my journey over the last NINE MONTHS! Month #9 has been entirely spent in SoCal, and yes, there’s been plenty of sunshine and lovely weather.

I’ve been practicing driving our new RV because I’ll be damned if we’ll turn into that stereotypical old couple where the guy drives everywhere while his lady passively sits in the passenger seat. As a self-sufficient and stubborn feminist, I’m determined to learn every little thing about how this baby works.

Work has been going well – not overwhelmed, but certainly not underwhelmed either. Here’s a typical work day scene in the RV: back-to-back laptops in the dinette-turned-office, old college t-shirt, messy hair, cucumber & cheese snack plate.

During month #9, we wrapped up “home on the road #34” in San Diego. Before hitting the road again, we hit up a driving range…

…checked out Old Town San Diego with its historic park and festive nightlife scene…
…squeezed in some stand-up paddleboarding in Mission Bay in absolutely perfect wind/weather conditions……spent some time at the dog-friendly portion of the beach at Imperial Beach……and felt bummed to leave the San Diego area because it was pretty much ideal in every way.

As we transitioned from San Diego to our next destination, Banning, we also embarked on our first DIY project for the new RV. Now that I have my sewing machine with me in the RV, I’ve been dying to start a new craft project. I kinda missed doing projects since hitting the road, but with all this newfound space and storage, I figured that now’s the time to get back into it.

The curtains aren’t gorgeous by any means, and certainly not perfect. But they’re homemade and a hell of a lot easier to operate than those cheap and impossible blinds.

Read all about it: Our First DIY RV Project: Homemade Curtains

Places We Were in Month #8

After San Diego, we relocated to Banning, California. We originally tried (very hard) to stay at a campground in Palm Springs and found it impossible due to high nightly rates, pit bull bans, 55+ restrictions, and lack of internet reception. There really is nothing to do in Banning, but it provided a somewhat conveniently home base for the places we wanted to visit in the region: Joshua Tree National Park, Palm Springs, Salton Sea, Slab City, Idyllwild, etc.

Then came the Los Angeles area. We stayed near Simi Valley and hit up everywhere from Burbank to Malibu, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and so on. Most recently, we’ve plopped down in Santa Barbara and are just getting settled into this new area.

Here’s a quick recap of this past month’s batch of “homes on the road”:

Banning, California: Home on the Road #35

  • Highlights: Chill campground, cable TV hookup that allowed us to binge on Forensic Files, local brewery called Brew Revolution with lightning fast Wi-Fi, hiking a tiny part of the PCT, seeing gnomes in Idyllwild, amazing wildflowers, hiking through an oasis, epic found art at Slab City, hitting up a local bouldering gym
  • Lowlights: Abysmal service at Gastronome (a gnome-themed restaurant in Idyllwild), crazy high winds like all the time, being discouraged by the Palm Springs visitors center that there is “nothing” to do in town with a dog

And now…a slew of photos to go with those words! I was lucky enough to access some lightning-fast Wi-Fi at a couple breweries and cafes, so photos are aplenty in this blog post.

Los Angeles Area (Tapo Canyon) California: Home on the Road #36

  • Highlights: My parents flying out to visit us for a long weekend, doing all the Hollywood touristy stuff for the first time, archery at our campground, meeting up with my longest client of 4+ years and founder of Inside Philanthropy in the hippie mountain town of Topanga.
  • Lowlights: Not much to do outdoors or otherwise near the tiny Tapo Canyon Regional Park, crazy flying insects started coming in our camper and continue to do so – I have no idea what they are

Cue the mass of Los Angeles photos! Tapo Canyon felt like a million miles away from Los Angeles, but it’s only actually about 45.

I loved giving my parents the “grand tour” of our new home. Anyone want to book a tour in advance with me – spots are (not actually at all) filling up fast.I’m learning all about movie sets and whatnot on the Warner Brothers film studio tour here.Oh Rodeo Drive…how I cannot afford thee! Archery randomly happened at our campground Saturday morning…why not?! It’s pretty fun actually, and I’d love to pick up a bow more often. Paramount Ranch was a pretty cool place to walk around to see where some western movies and shows were filmed. I’ve gotten more into westerns after living in the west. There was a wedding happening here the day we stopped by. Malibu was gorgeous, as expected. We took a tour of the Adamson House and saw the most intricate and beautiful tile decor all throughout the historic home…totally worth the $7.Here’s a panoramic scene of the goings-on at Venice Beach on a Sunday afternoon.
Hollywood was essential to visit, but alas, it was time to move on. But not before Monkey posed with her favorite Walk of Fame star. She has no idea who The Monkees are, but neither do any of the other young whipper-snappers walking by. So, she gets a pass.

I’m actually going to save Home on the Road #37 for next month since we’ve only been here a couple days and haven’t experience enough of the area to really write about it yet. So far, our regional park campground is pretty sweet and we’ve got lots of fun things planned around work for the next week and a half.

Realizations & Ramblings from Month #8

In no particular order, these are some random thoughts that came to me over the course of month #8 on the road.

  • Less wasted time walking back and forth to the bathroom and to do dishes has meant less time to listen to podcasts. I’ve had to find other times of day to satisfy my podcast obsession, like while doing push-ups and squats in the RV. I plowed through all the episodes of S-Town last month.
  • I love working outside. Bright sunshine makes my laptop die at times, but I will continue forcing it out into the outdoors whenever possible.

Trying to navigate super-sharp shells and dead fish parts to take a dip in Salton Sea. OUCH!

  • We’re still working on training strategies to get Monkey not to pull so badly on the leash. It really makes hiking miserable, and we’ve tried all sorts of leashes and tactics. We’re trying a Halti harness/easy-walk type thing right now. Lately, we’ve been using tiny pieces of cheese as training treats and walking in front of her to stop her from passing us. Anyone else have an obsessive leash puller on their hands?
  • Camping with (what we at least think is) a pit bull in California continues to be a huge challenge. This state has a stereotype of being full of liberal and inclusive hippies, but clearly that mindset doesn’t apply to dogs. My latest strategy for campground booking is to answer the question “What breed of dog are you bringing?” is “She’s a rescue dog, so a mix.” After all, we don’t honestly know what she is besides a “mix”, and everyone loves rescue dogs, right? This strategy has worked a couple times for me already actually for upcoming stays.

  • Staying in a small town with not much to do (like Banning) really takes the pressure off of daily travel planning. Sometimes it’s nice not having so many options so that you can just be lazy instead of feeling obligated to see and do everything you’re “supposed” to.
  • It’s totally possible to feel stuck in a rut even when you’re moving to a new place every two weeks. Finding joy in the little things is a challenge no matter where you are or what you’re living in.

  • Sweetwater Regional Park campground outside of San Diego was one of my all-time favorite campgrounds so far. I love the onsite trails for running, the green space between sites, and the chill atmosphere. Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara is right up there too, especially since it has disc golf and a place to kayak.
  • I am STILL struggling with how to dress myself in the west/in the desert. When I go out for the day, I always end up either sweating through my shirt with pit stains or shivering cold and miserable. To remedy this, I’ve started packing a tote bag with multiple outfit changes anytime I leave the RV. It’s overkill, but I’m determined to understand how people in this part of the world dress themselves.

Looking Ahead to Month #9

As the next month on the road begins, we’ll be in Santa Barbara for a little while longer. So I’ll have more updates about SB next month. After this, we’re heading to Kernville and then to San Luis Obispo – staying on the outskirts of both towns to explore the regions. Our pace has settled into at least two weeks per place, which seems to be working well right now.

Life feels comfortable, which is something that’s easy to take for granted but I keep reminding myself not to. Being able to get to know the various personalities of California continues to be fascinating, and we’ve barely scratched the surface of this massive state. Thanks for following along 🙂

Catch up with the journey:

Our First DIY RV Project: Homemade Curtains

Posted on by
2

It’s been almost a year since I pulled out my trusty sewing machine and settled down with a new project. While living in the pop-up camper for 7+ months, there was never any consideration of bringing it along for the ride. Space used to be so limited, but not anymore with our new RV!

On our recent side trip from Yuma to Atlanta, we eliminated our storage unit and brought back with us a few key things. This stash included skis, a snowboard, snowshoes, kitchenware, and yes, my sewing machine.

But the first order of business wasn’t a new skirt or handbag. It was something much more practical: curtains.

You might wonder why a brand-new RV would need any sort of upgrade so soon, but the window coverings have been pissing us off since day one. You’re probably familiar with the type of blinds I’m complaining about here…the cheap roller shades that look like this.

But that malfunction with every use and only go up about this far (if you’re lucky) after a dozen attempts.
One of my favorite things about the new RV is how many windows there are and how much natural light comes in. Every morning when I wake up, I love to open the blinds and look out at the view for a few moments before getting up to start the daily routine of yoga/breakfast/work. Mornings would be even more pleasant if those impossible blinds were replaced by user-friendly curtains that added some character to our new home as well.

While sewing is “my thing,” creating patterns is not. My spatial skills are subpar, and I have an incredibly difficult time figuring out how to come up with a pattern from scratch. The husband, on the other hand, excels at these sorts of things and never fails to remind me about it. He has also finally accepted the fact that I don’t do “sewing speak” and prefer terms like “loopy bits” and “holdy bits” over stuffy technical terms.

Here are the patterns he came up with to design curtains for our office and living room.
The next step was to shop for materials. Convenient fabric stores were very limited in the area we were camped in while attempting this project, so we had to make the best of what we found.

I wasn’t terribly excited about this fabric (plain, light blue, cotton blend), but it was the best option available without making a big hassle over it. Besides, who knew if the curtains’ first attempt would even turn out? It was also a challenge to find something that wouldn’t clash with the overhanging interior fabric that came with the RV.
The next step was to make the curtain rod. We picked up a cheap wooded stick at Home Depot and sawed it off to size. This was one of the husband’s part of the project. He also bought a fancy new drill to drill the hardware into the rod to hang it in the window frame. There’s no such thing as a workbench while living on the road, so he made do with a picnic table.
After measuring out the fabric, it was cutting time. Again, large tables are in short supply in camper life. The largest clean space in the RV was the bed. So we placed an X-ACTO mat that we’d also retrieved from the storage unit onto the comforter and started whacking away.
Fortunately, I’d also remembered to grab the fancy iron that my mom gifted me with last Christmas from the storage unit to bring along on our journey. Initially, I used a fleece blanket between the curtain fabric and the X-ACTO mat. But that was a stupid choice because the fleece got stuck to the iron when it touched the edges and had to be scraped off after cooling.

The next time around, I just put down a bath towel as makeshift protection. It’s not ideal and any real seamstress would just die seeing this, but I got a couple hard creases out didn’t start any fires!
Next came the pinning stage to create hems around the curtains. I flipped on the bedroom television for some pinning entertainment and tuned into dramatic soap opera on the one Spanish channel that was coming in through the antennae.
Now here’s where the real fun began. None of the table/chair surfaces in the RV are very conducive to sitting down with a sewing machine, so I decided to stand. I used the little table between the driver and passenger seats as my base and hunched over to make it work. Fortunately, my back hasn’t yet suffered the effects of aging. But this may be the thing that takes it over the edge!
Of course, the sewing machine jammed a few times and I had to use a seam ripper to fix my mistakes. Sewing is never easy, and it’s even more challenging when you’re out of practice.

In addition to sewing the big rectangles, there were also the loopy bits that go around the curtain rod, the hangy bits that tie the curtains back, the Velcro to make that stay, and the border at the bottom.
Although the color and style of these curtains is not the least bit exciting, my favorite part of these curtains was the bottom trim. I picked out this owl border because it matched and because creatures are fun. My mom used to collect owls, so I think she’ll get a kick out of seeing this when she visits us soon.
Ultimately, we decided that loopy bits around a curtain rod were not ideal because they wouldn’t scoot across well. So instead, we picked up key chain rings at a craft store and attached them with grommets. This gave the curtains a shower curtain-feel, but none of that actually shows up anyway the top. And besides, the grommet/ring strategy meant easier scooting and less sewing for me!

The process of making new curtains took several hours on a few different days, which was longer than I ever expected it all to take. In the end, the curtains certainly aren’t perfect (somehow the living room curtains ended up too short?) but they are DONE, and they are thick enough to block the sun and deter peeping toms. That’s really the whole point, right? Thankfully, I’m no perfectionist.
The office curtains ended up being just the right length though. Here’s a shot of them pulled back with the Velcro ties.
After all this work, I’m in no rush to tackle the bedroom windows. But maybe someday.

Even with all the hassles and headaches of working on arts and crafts, these types of projects take my mind away from the routines of work and travel planning. Crafting doesn’t come naturally to me, and it’s always an uphill battle. But after the projects are done, I can appreciate the way they make my brain work and laugh about the finished project, while feeling a little bit accomplished at the same time.

With my sewing machine now back by my side, I also feel a bit more grounded…like I’m living a “normal” life instead of a transient one on the road. There’s a balance there that touches on pursuing hobbies without standing still. I never seriously considered putting much DIY work into our old pop-up camper. I loved it, but it always felt a bit temporary. Meanwhile, this new place of ours feels like home.

I’m not sure what my next DIY RV project or craft idea will be, but you’d better bet it’ll be moderately crappy, terribly frustrating, and absolutely awesome.

Camper Life Month #8 in Dragoon-A-Saurus Rex de la Mantequilla

Posted on by
Reply

Well month #8 kicked off with a bang because this is when we traded in our old pop-up for a 33-foot RV. As I wrote in my “upgrade post,” this one decision turned our February upside down, for the better and worse.

Related: We Upgraded! How Our New RV is Making Life More Awesome…and Complicated

Before I get started with my monthly recap, I suppose I should explain the title a bit. We’ve been trying to come up with a name for our new RV, which is no easy task. You see, it has to be incredibly random, relevant, and packed with inside jokes…all at the same time. For instance, my Jeep’s name is Chief Surfs with Manatees.

Well, at least for now, we’ve settled on a name: Dragoon-A-Saurus Rex de la Mantequilla. It roughly translates to “a large mounted infantry that has been threatened and coerced into the mountains to be named the king of butter.” He/she will go by “Dragoon” for short.

Anyway…

Places We’ve Been: Month #8

Month #8 can largely be summed up by one phrase: “Stuck in Yuma.” It’s funny, because we never actually intended to go to Yuma, Arizona at all. We actually had a campground booked in the Palm Springs area of California back in mid-January but were scared away by excessive rain and flooding. Yuma was a backup plan, and we stayed there in one way or another for over a month and a half.

We stayed at two different campgrounds in Yuma, and then decided to take a trip to Mexico for a week of pure vacation. While in Mexico, we settled on the idea of upgrading our camper and bought a new one in Yuma. This decision sent us on a side trip all the way back to Atlanta, Georgia to take care of a slew of logistical nightmares. I couldn’t stand to go back to our old Yuma campground with the new RV, so we switched to another one. Then after a long-cross country drive back to Yuma, we finally got unstuck and made our way to San Diego.

Here’s a quick recap of this past month’s batch of “homes on the road”:

Yuma, Arizona: Home on the Road #31

  • Highlights: Switched campgrounds for one with more space and fewer annoying people, first few days in our new RV!

For less than 24 hours, all of our worldly possessions were in one place at the same time: RV, Jeep, 5×8 U-Haul

  • Lowlights: We are STILL in Yuma?!, new campground is out in the middle of lemon fields – kinda nice but so far to get to anything

Yuma to Atlanta Side Trip

  • Highlights: Seeing my best friend and meeting her one-month-old baby girl, drinking bubble tea, an awesome AirBnB in Chamblee, GA, donating lots of lots of stuff to Goodwill, squeezing in a hike at Rockhound State Park in Deming, New Mexico on our last day of driving

Best AirBnB (studio apartment) I’ve ever stayed at

10+ donation loads later…

Nice to see mountains and cacti again after a trip back east…missed New Mexico.

  • Lowlights: Driving 30 or so hours each way, having to leave our new camper behind because it’s a gas-guzzler and doesn’t make financial sense for a quick cross-country trip, dozens of logistical nightmares, DMV license and registration issues for the RV and Jeep, cleaning out and totally eliminating a 10’x12′ storage unit, being exhausted all the time and never sleeping, getting bug bites from cheap motels

San Diego, California: Home on the Road #34

  • Highlights: Amazing campground (Sweetwater Summit Regional Park), successfully towing our Jeep here with no issues, incredible weather, trails for running, greenery and wildflowers everywhere you look outside, pedaling the Bayshore Bikeway, kayaking in the fog from the Chula Vista Marina, cute “island” town of Coronado, Gaslamp Quarter outing in downtown SD, surprisingly no traffic anywhere, sitting outside in the sunshine to work

Yep, Monkey’s in the trailer!

  • Lowlights: No Wi-Fi but not a big deal, lots of bunnies outside that drive Monkey (and therefore, us) crazy

Yep, Monkey’s in that kayak with me too. Nice to have the boats back with us again. She’s an old pro at boating.

Realizations & Ramblings: Month #8

In no particular order, these are some random thoughts that came to me over the course of month #8 on the road.

  • During month #8, I started to understand why people DON’T full-time travel and just plop down in a house instead with occasional trips here and there. The logistics of making this work really get to you and can make the whole thing feel totally not worth it at times. Society is not designed for people like us and seems to just wait for us to fail and fall in line. I felt like this a lot in month #8. However, I know that if I just gave up and plopped down somewhere, I’d have nothing but regrets.
  • We upgraded to the new RV at the absolute perfect time. We were both getting a bit burnt out on the lifestyle for various reasons, and this new home on wheels has totally recharged us and reminded us why we’re doing this.

Only in Texas.

  • My anxiety levels were at an all-time high in month #8 due to all the hassles of trying to beat the system for the sake of keeping the lifestyle going.
  • But in the last week, things have slowed down and we have more time to relax because of simple time-sucks that aren’t an issue anymore (walking across a campground to use the bathroom, do dishes, etc.). With the extra time, I’ve found myself starting to play guitar again, organizing drawers, and catching up on shows (recently added Big Love to my mix).
  • Exercise-wise, I’ve finally worked up to doing 100 push-ups, squats, and various ab crunches per day. We retrieved some resistance bands from storage, so I’m looking to add these to the mix in Month #9.
  • Dealing with the sewage system in the RV isn’t as bad as I expected it to be.

My go-to road trip fare: egg, avocado & veggies on flatbread.

  • Camping with a pit bull mix has been getting increasingly difficult. We have run into blanket dog breed bans the most in Grand Junction, CO and Palm Springs, CA. Some campground owners are idiots and flat-out tell you that your dog is unsafe and unwelcome there just because of who it was born to. Other owners are apologetic and make excuses about their insurance policies and safety clauses, but it doesn’t make it much easier to accept. And it’s not just pit bulls either…doberman pinschers, rottweilers, and others are being discriminated against as well. Everyone who meets Monkey loves her. She is obsessed with people, getting petted, and rolling over to get better petting angles. If these assholes would simply meet her and give her a chance, they could have had our business. Pit bulls and pit bull mixes have enough trouble getting adopted from shelters as it is. If people knew about these types of hassles caused by faulty perceptions, it might be even harder. It all just makes me really sad and angry.
  • Totally unrelated to all that, we’ve also been trying to train Monkey to not pull on the leash. It really makes walking and hiking miserable, and it’s gone on for too long. The current strategy is using cheese as a non-pulling bribe, AKA “cheese therapy.” We’ve tried other things in the past, but we’ll see how this goes.

On a positive note, Monkey is starting to take to our new RV and loves staring out her very own window 🙂

  • We are literally spending hours looking for campgrounds that meet our needs lately. And honestly, our needs aren’t that unreasonable: internet and phone service in one way or another, campers under 55 allowed, pit bull mixes allowed. So much time wasted by the inefficiency of this industry’s searching and booking systems. I’ve heard about some tech-savvy people trying to improve this process and bring it up to 2017, but an industry disruption needs to happen sooner than later.
  • We downsized our storage unit in Atlanta (10’x12′ for $200/month) to a much smaller unit in Yuma (5’x5′ for $41/month). Not only is this helping us become more minimalist and cut the waste, but it’ll also make RV loan payments easier, keep the adventure going for longer, and save our extra things on the side of the country we’ll likely plop down on someday!
  • The San Diego area seems pretty ideal as a potential plopping spot, but damn it’s pricey.

  • We are now “those people” you love to hate on the highway…RVers with a really long towing set-up cruising at 66 max. On our last full day in Yuma, we got a tow bar installed on the Jeep. Five hours and $1,300 later, we are totally “those people.”
  • We have a checklist of probably 50+ items that are part of our new RV take-down process. This includes everything from draining the sewage to locking the outside storage cabinets and raising the jacks. I’m learning a lot, and it’s actually not as intimidating as I thought it might be. It involves less manual labor than the old pop-up did, but perhaps more brain power. Of course, it’ll all get quicker and easier each time we do it.

Looking Ahead to Month #9

We finally made it to California, nearly two months late, so we’re planning to stay here for a while. We’ve only been here a bit so far, but we’re already VERY familiar with all the issues of camping in California:

  • Private campgrounds are freaking expensive
  • Limited internet and phone reception in state/regional parks – an issue for full-time work
  • Discriminatory bans against pit bulls and other dog breeds
  • Silly 55+ age restrictions

However, we’ve gotten our next couple places lined up in the Banning, Burbank, and Santa Barbara areas of California. In fact, I’ve arranged for my parents to come out to Burbank to meet us for a long weekend! They’ve never been to SoCal before, so we’re planning to do some Hollywood/L.A. touristy stuff, and I think they’ll get a kick out of seeing our new RV.

If anyone reading this that I know is in these areas and interested in possibly meeting up or sharing some must-see tips, comment here or email me please! We’ll make the best out of you yet, California. It took 8 months to get here, and there’s no turning back now.

—

Catch up with the journey:

We Upgraded! How Our New RV is Making Life More Awesome…and Complicated

Posted on by
Reply

This is the major announcement that I alluded to in my last blog post!

Ten days ago, we went from living in this 2002 Starcraft pop-up camper for the past 7 months…To this 2017 Fleetwood Flair Class A motorhome! Talk about an upgrade, right?!

At noon on a Thursday, we packed everything into our little pop-up and headed over to RV World in Yuma, where we finally decided to “go big or go home.”
It wasn’t an easy decision to make, and I lost a ton of sleep getting to this point. But now, I couldn’t be more excited for my new home. Although camper life just got a whole lot more awesome, it’s also gotten way more complicated.

I’ll touch on some of the reasons why in between a series of photos to share some views of my new home!

Why it was time for an upgrade:

  • Canvas walls and a recently busted heater/AC made it hard to travel places with less-than-pleasant weather
  • Tired of walking across a campground in the middle of night to go to the bathroom after having one too many beers
  • Doing dishes was a huge hassle
  • Doing well financially
  • Enjoying the lifestyle, but getting fed-up with little logistics
  • Next to nothing for storage
  • Craving a little more personal space between the 3 of us
  • Yuma is a snowbird mecca with a good selection of RVs to choose from
  • If we didn’t do it now, we probably wouldn’t for a very long time, if ever

Favorite features of the new camper:

  • Toilet and shower
  • Cupboard and drawer space
  • TV and chairs to swivel back to watch it
  • Lots of windows to let natural light inside
  • Comfy bed
  • Enough room for 2-person yoga inside
  • Separation between work space and chill-out space
  • Leather sofa
  • Bunk beds so Monkey can have her own space and one for storage

What I’ll miss about the old camper:

  • All the memories made in it during the last 7 months on the road and shorter trips before that
  • How the whole thing shook when it was windy
  • A bed that was surprisingly comfy
  • How easy it was get around with
  • How cheap it was to buy and maintain

Why life just got more complicated:

  • Had to drive to Georgia (still our “official” state of residence) – the exact opposite of where we are trying to go – to take care of licensing/registration and a slew of other issues
  • The new RV is a gas-guzzler and didn’t make financial sense to quickly drive across the country and back when you do the math. So we had to leave it behind out west in storage, all alone and confused, until we took care of multiple logistical nightmares.
  • Decided to clean out and eliminate the Georgia storage unit once and for all – trying to sell and donate most things and keep a few to take back
  • Selling stuff via Craigslist/Facebook groups/Nextdoor is a nightmare. I’ve had 3 sale days so far…2 good and one terrible. It’s exhausting, and people are flaky idiots. I’m currently sitting on a storage unit hallway floor, taking a packing break and waiting on buyers as I finish this post – which was originally supposed to have a way more positive tone than it’s turning out. But we have an RV – yay!
  • An insane number of trip to Goodwill to drop off donations
  • Those “few” things to take back won’t fit solely in the Jeep to get back so we have to rent a small Uhaul to tow behind it back to Arizona.
  • My Jeep’s registration expires and August and I’m sure as hell not coming back to Georgia to take care of it. You can do it by mail, but you have to have a Georgia emissions test done first. I can do that now and still have it valid for August by-mail renewal; however, the Jeep has a check-engine light on due to an ongoing sensor problem so it won’t pass emissions. See the web I’m tangled in? That’s in the process of getting fixed now.
  • Oh and the Jeep needs and oil change before it goes back across the country too.
  • We also need to get a tow bar installed on the Jeep to hook it up to the RV
  • Other things I’m too scatterbrained to think of at the moment

Monkey’s take on all of this:

  • Little Monkey isn’t sure what to make of all this change yet and she hasn’t taken to our camper quite like we have yet. She seems to be very thrown off by all the space that she now has and by the fact that her new home “moves” from time to time. And now we’re moving from place to place all across the country, so it may take her extra time to adjust. But she’s a resilient pup and a true adventurer, so I’m not too worried 🙂

Since we’ve only gotten to spend three whole days in our new home, we’ve still got a lot of things to figure out about it. First and foremost, how to handle the sewage system. Yuck.

Where we plan to take the new camper next:

  • Eventually we WILL get out of Yuma…EVENTUALLY. It’s become our accidental second home that we are looking forward to leaving. I actually have some ideas for a short story about being stuck in Yuma, based on true events but much more dramatic.
  • From Yuma, the plan is still to head to Southern California and slowly, but surely, work our way up the west coast. I am so physically and mentally exhausted with the logistical nightmares and can’t wait for this next chapter to begin.

Here are a few more photos, just because I uploaded them and ran out of topics. Below is the only moment when our two campers met each other. We had to move everything out of one and into the other one in the RV dealership’s parking lot before the sun went down.
Fuel costs are a serious concern. But alas, this is a camper for short drives and long stays, not long drives and short stays.
Stashing stuff away in cupboards and drawers felt stupidly exciting to me. Life just feels more manageable when things are organized and not creating clutter that echoes the clutter in your mind.
Although I’m hard-core missing our new home right now while we’re all the way across the country without it, it’s ours and will be forever…until plans may take another sharp turn WAY down the road.

With the good and the bad, I welcome the next phase of life on the road. Despite all the hassles it has sparked, I’m totally ready for whatever happens next. I just keep trying to remind myself about how awesome it’ll be when we’re reunited with our camper again and back to our new-normal lifestyle. West Coast, here we come (well, soon anyway)!

A Day of Love, Hallmark Cards & Our 7 Month Camper-aversary

Posted on by
Reply

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
7 months on the road,
Yep, it’s really true.

Happy camper-aversary to us, and happy Valentine’s Day to everyone else!

Places We’ve Been: Month #7

Month #7 kicked off by leaving the crowded Vegas campground and opting something totally different – boondocking in Mojave National Preserve. Our original plan was to head to Palm Springs, California after that, but persistent and heavy rains scared us away and drove us to Yuma, Arizona instead. We stayed in Yuma quite a while trying to get everything lined up for a trip to Mexico. Then we crossed the border into Baja California for a true non-working vacation (finally!) and back to Yuma to finish off the month.

Here’s a quick recap of this past month’s batch of “homes on the road”:

Mojave National Preserve, California: Home on the Road #30

  • Highlights: Boondocking next to a canyon far from civilization, amazing Hole in the Wall canyon right behind our camper, pleasantly disconnected from technology, the stars at night, seeing Monkey overcome a really challenging climb

  • Lowlights: No heat on 30-degree nights with canvas walls

Yuma, Arizona: Home on the Road #31

  • Highlights: Decent weekly rate, sunny and warm, met fellow (young!) long-term RVers Sara and Mike (check out Sara’s blog), Imperial Sand Dunes, yoga at the Yuma prison guard tower (every Monday evening at 5:30), date festival and Mardi Gras festival downtown, 80-degree weather

  • Lowlights: Very crowded campsites, way too many overly-friendly snowbirds in a constant need of chatting, high winds, not enough hiking/biking trails

Baja California (Ensenada & San Felipe): Home on the Road #32 and #33

I wrote an entire post devoted to our six days in Mexico. Check it out here: Road Tripping to Mexico in the Age of Trump…with a Dog

  • Highlights: Easy border crossing, incredible ocean and mountain views, perfect 70-degree weather, the beaches, cheap food and beer, the vineyard region, taking an actual vacation and not working for a few days

  • Lowlights: Lots of planning & logistics to get down there, loose dogs everywhere, potholes on roads, pushy sales vendors, everyone wants a tip, expensive gas and tolls

Thoughts & Ramblings: Month #7

In no particular order, these are some random thoughts that came to me over the course of month #7 on the road.

  • We started doing circuits of push-ups, squats, and crunches around Christmas and increasing the number of each by 5 every 3rd day. We’ve actually been keeping up with this INSIDE the camper on cold days, which is an amusing sight to see.
  • It’s really hard to find campgrounds in the Yuma area for people under 55 years old, that allow dogs over 20 pounds, and that don’t require you to be self-contained (have your own bathroom). What’s up with the snowbirds and all their rules?
  • We celebrated Monkey’s 3rd birthday in the camper! I can’t believe she’s only been with us a year. I can’t imagine this camper life without her.

  • We don’t fit in with or particularity enjoy the prevailing camping culture or demographic. I’d love to go off-the-grid like so many other vanlifers, but we haven’t made the big investment in solar panels, generators, etc. yet. However, I can’t stand traditional RV parks much longer, so something’s gotta give.

Sometimes I feel like we don’t allow room for enough spontaneity in our busy camper life schedule. But an example of something awesome we stumbled across was a wood craft festival in Yuma. Made me really miss crafting, and my husband even found his mom a birthday gift here.

 

Although the southwest has been MUCH less rainy than the east coast, rain is still brutal when your camper sinks into a mud pit.

  • On a whim, I joined a Facebook group called Make Money and RV. We actually met up with a couple living a similar lifestyle to us on the road in Yuma and it was really fun to swap stories and tips.
  • I have been considering taking virtual guitar lessons via Skype from another couple I met through a Facebook group called Make Money and RV. I’m stuck in a practice rut and totally plateaued in terms of getting any better. I haven’t pulled the trigger on committing to lessons yet because I’m worried that my internet situation changes every week or two and often sucks.
  • Dates are a big deal around Yuma. We went to a date farm and a date festival. I thought I hated dates after being force-fed raisins as a child.
  • Good craft beer is hard to find in Arizona liquor stores. However, liquor is plentiful and cheap. One day, I bought a bottle of Three Olives s’mores vodka for $2.99. However, it was disgusting…lesson learned.
  • I’ve been wanting to read a textbook-style book on how to identify plants while hiking. I’ve found some paperbacks on Amazon, but no good Kindle options. Suggestions welcome if you have any recommendations.
  • However, I have been neglecting reading books in general and watching too much TV. I’ve started getting back into the whole reading thing with some short stories on Kindle, like The Fluted Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi and The Plagiarist by Hugh Howey.
  • Mexico made me feel pretty ignorant with my sub-par bilingual skills.
  • I’m at an age where I feel age-blind. People who are anywhere between 20 and into their 40’s all feel like they’re my age.
  • Here are some photos with captions!

Date farm!

Abandoned mine shacks in the Mojave desert.

Most interesting yoga destination in a long time: historic prison guard tower in Yuma.

Muggins Mountains: destination for a rugged BLM hike

Looking Ahead to Month #8

It wasn’t until we had a few days off to really disconnect from routine in Mexico that we started seriously considering our next phase in this camper journey. I’m not going to say any more just yet, but I will be sharing a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT very soon to kick off month #8!

Catch up with the journey:

Road Tripping to Mexico in the Age of Trump…with a Dog

Posted on by
4

You’re going to Mexico?! But why? That can’t be safe. Have you even been watching the news lately? What if the wall is built while you’re down there?

A lot of eyebrows are raised and questions come up these days when you say you’re planning to take a road trip to Mexico…especially with a non-white husband and a black pit bull in tow. Mexican travel has become synonymous with “not safe,” and of course, there is some truth behind that. But really, how safe is America right now? Should we all hole up in our houses and hide until the world magically becomes free of violence, prejudice, and bigotry? That’s not how I want to live my life.

Mexico is a large and diverse place, and it’s ignorant to casually lump it all into the category of “unsafe” and “just don’t go there.” Sure, the current political situation we’re in could change things in the future, but for now my advice is to do your research, don’t be an idiot, and you’ll be fine.

For example, we decided to leave our camper back in the U.S. at our current campground for safety and ease of driving/parking, opting for an AirBnB and motel in Baja California instead. In retrospect, we probably should have taken our camper because there were lots of great places to camp, like vineyards and beaches. Next time!

Prior to leaving for Mexico, we’d been camped out in Yuma, Arizona for a couple weeks near the U.S./Mexico border. Being THISCLOSE to Mexico, it seemed silly to not take out travels south of the border…as long as we did our research and could get all of our ducks in a row. And my, how many ducks there were.

We’ve been switching locations from city to city and state to state for over six months. And by now, it pretty much comes as second nature. We typically plan our route a few days before moving locations, but not much before that. You’d drive yourself crazy doing this type of trip if you planned out every little itinerary detail way in advance. But with international travel, things are a bit different.

As a chronic list-maker, I jotted down a list of we’d need to take care of before making the trip. But it was all really contingent upon one thing: an international travel certificate for Monkey. Basically, this is a dog passport, and we’ve heard that you need one if you hope to cross the border and get back in to the U.S. again later. Sure, we could board her and just go ourselves. But where’s the fun in that, and how many dogs get to be international travelers after all?

We looked into getting a “dog passport” back in Vegas when we updated Monkey on her shots. But then learned that you have to get the certificate within 10 days of travel, and we weren’t ready to leave just yet. Waiting actually turned out to be a good thing because our camper route diverted from rainy Southern California to sunny and windy Yuma, Arizona. Since this is a border town, the vets here are more than familiar with what international travel certificates are and are certified to give them.

We combined our health certificate visit to a Yuma vet with a dental cleaning and a heartworm test. The cost of the certificate was $40, which I’ve read is pretty standard for these things. It’s just a silly half-sheet of pink paper with a few pieces of information like her breed, weight, which shots she’s had, and a doctor signature. It took a lot of hassle and research to get this one little piece of paper, but we finally had it. And that meant that our other plans could go into motion.

In addition to the “dog passport,” these were the other things on my pre-Mexico to-do list:

  • Research places to visit (settled on Ensenada and San Felipe in Baja California)
  • Research border crossing wait times (chose Algodones)
  • Find camper storage (safer to leave it behind to avoid theft and damage from crappy roads)
  • Find dog-friendly places to stay (doing one AirBnB and planned on campground cabin, which ultimately failed so we found a motel instead)
  • Get Mexican car insurance (went with ABA Seguros)
  • Get visas for us (got at the border, we parked and agent took us inside a building to fill out forms)
  • Figure out if cell phones/internet will work (AT&T worked amazingly, better LTE than in parts of Arizona)
  • Stock up on drinking water (got a big jug for the jeep and filled up all our Camelbacks and water bottles)
  • Get cash and currency exchange (took out a couple hundred bucks in cash and used ATMs in Mexico)
  • Inform bank and credit card companies about travel dates (super easy to do online)
  • Print out copies of passports, driver’s license and car insurance (our campground office let us use their printer)

So lately, I’ve only been writing camper life updates once per month, but I thought the jaunt to Mexico deserved a post all its own.

  1. Because it’s the first time we’ve gone international on this trip
  2. Because there are way too many misconceptions about traveling to Mexico
  3. Because there were a lot of logistics to figure out that may help someone else to do this

So here’s a rundown of how this mini vacation to Baja California played out. I jotted down a few notes throughout each day. It actually felt like a vacation too because we fully took days off work like normal people do when they travel!

Day 1 (Ensenada)

  • Monkey woke us up early as usual, which was good today so we could get an early start on the border crossing.
  • Drove to the Andrade Port of Entry and the border town of Los Algodones. There were literally only two cars ahead of us in line. The agent asked if we had our international permits yet and we didn’t. So he showed us where to park and led us to a tiny building to fill out the paperwork. It was free for seven days of travel but would have been $25 for up to six months. The agents didn’t care about Monkey at all or even ask to see her paperwork. All they were interested in was the addresses we were staying at in Mexico.

  • Algodones is packed with medical, dental, and optometry clinics. This is where all the snowbirds walk over to get their cheap healthcare.
  • Drove through farms and pretty decent roads, but people love to pass you and trucks get over in the shoulder lane to be passed.
  • Gas is expensive and so are tolls. Some tolls are about $4USD which is worse than Chicago.
  • Very mountainous and lovely views before passing the vineyard region on the way. We’ll be back!

  • We totally could have camped in Ensenada because there are RV parks, some right by the ocean. Maybe next time.
  • Walked around the marina area and got Mexican seafood lunch in the touristy area because it was a no-brainer and were offered free beer.

  • Our AirBnB is up in the hills, and my, these hills are steep. I kept calling and messaging our host because we couldn’t find his house and he wasn’t responding. Was starting to worry I’d been scammed but then we got out and walked and found a picture on the listing that looked like a house we were by so I just yelled in if anyone was home. Finally got in and it’s a nice little house with a fenced-in back yard and our own bedroom and bathroom inside.

  • Walked around downtown to see the touristy shops and ignored all the vendors relentlessly beckoning us inside. Overall, the people seem nice though and the streets are clean. Walked along the waterfront again.

  • Stopped by San Miguel beach, which is a surfing beach. Walked along the shore and watched the surfers, totaling wanting to try it but feeling particularly lame and uncoordinated.

  • On our AirBnB host’s recommendation, we hit up Agua Mala Brewery for happy hour. How can you go wrong with $1.50USD craft beers? We had my ideal setup at this place: outside table to watch the sunset over the ocean, decent cheap beer, dog-friendly, corner spot where Monkey could chill out, unique and delicious appetizers, big table to play cards. The parking guy was insistent on a tip, which was awkward. But we got six beers and three appetizers for $25USD, which would be a steal in the U.S.
  • We’d been told by other campers that there are so many stray dogs in Mexico as a blanket statement. I’ve only seen a few strays, but leash laws nonexistent so owners just let their dogs out and about. Monkey is so high-energy around other dogs that this is insanely stressful. People here seem to think about their dogs differently than I do. Most of them seem to live outside in the front yard and serve as guards rather than household pets. Monkey doesn’t bark, but the barking and lunging from these front-yard dogs when we go for walks is intense. Other than that, the streets around where we are staying feel very safe and quiet.

 

Day 2 (Ensenada)

  • Slept in a bit and had some leftover granola bars for breakfast
  • Drove to El Salto to hike to the waterfalls – about 30 minutes away – paid a guy 60 pesos to get in – 4 loose dogs made getting out of the Jeep super stressful
  • Easy dirt trail for a while then very rocky about a mile in. I heard and saw waterfalls in the distance but steep drop-offs. Apparently, this is a big rappelling area, but we have no rappelling equipment and a dog that probably wouldn’t enjoy rappelling too much. So we crossed the river at the shallowest part for better views, snapped some pics, and did our sets of push-ups, crunches, and squats – the daily circuits we’ve been keeping up since Christmas.

  • Drove to La Bufadora and unnecessarily paid $5USD for parking. Parking attendants in orange vests flag you in and make it seem like you have to park here but don’t. If you parked back up the road a bit, you could have avoided the fee and the hard sell. These are the kind of things that you just can’t know until you’ve been here or have been told by someone who has.
  • Lots of shops lining the street with tons of vendors selling purses, blankets, shirts, and trinkets. Didn’t buy anything but 2 overpriced beers.

  • La Bufadora is kind of like a geyser, but not exactly. Waves crash up on the rocks and enter up the middle of them to make a big splash on the top. We got splashed a couple times, but each time the waves hit with a different level of intensity.
  • The roads here are riddled with potholes but paved pretty much everywhere. The shops and vendor carts on one street totally reminded me of the street I lived on for 6+ years in Chicago, Western Avenue. Here’s an example of one of the crappier roads. They are NOT all like this. Still, it’s good to have a Jeep.

  • Found a chill lounging beach just off the side of the road – free parking area and a couple nasty port-a-potties. Not exactly bikini weather but felt great in leggings and a long-sleeved shirt. Not crowded, but still plenty of loose dogs running around and up to Monkey to cause chaos. Watched the waves, wrote in my journal, meditated for a bit.

  • Got a nagging headache which was weird because I never get non-hangover headaches, so we chilled out back at our AirBnB for a bit before heading out to dinner.
  • Got brews and dinner at Wendlandt Brewery in downtown Ensenada – standard types of beer and pretty much like Aqua Mala. But dogs are welcome at tables inside, dimly lit, got busy around 7pm, veggie pizza was awesome.

 

Day 3 (Ensenada)

  • Found a better street to walk Monkey in the mornings without so many barking dogs – fancy houses up here in the hills

  • Spent the morning catching up with this blog post, downloading photos on the AirBnB’s Wi-Fi, and researching dog-friendly wineries in Ensenada’s vineyard region.
  • Tried to take a shower and discovered the house had no water.
  • Encountered an electric company guy at the house who told us, in a totally unrelated matter, he was shutting off the electricity because the owner didn’t pay the bill.
  • Freaked out over the last 2 bullet points for a while and finally got in touch with our host who vowed to fix the situation of no electricity and no water
  • Headed out to the Ruta del Vino, about 30 minutes outside of Ensenada to check out some wineries.
  • Winery #1: Corona de Valle – very attentive waiter who described the wines and the history of winemaking in the region, beautiful outside seating area, dog-friendly, walked among the vineyard rows with Monkey but could have rented bikes too, best wines of the day & bought a bottle to take home, had lunch here.

  • Winery #2: Xecue Vineyard – older owner guy was very friendly and told us about how his wife and he started the place, showed us a magazine they were featured on, wines pretty good and also did a tasting here, lovely outside space overlooking the hills, dog-friendly.

  • Winery #3: Sol y Barro – This was a backup stop since the place we originally tried to go to was closed for the day. It was about 4:45 and a slow day in the region so places seemed to be closing early. This place doesn’t grow their own grapes, but it does make their own wine. Tasting was in a dark adobe building, felt rushed for them to close, no nice outside seating area to chill out at, pretty unique wines though.

  • All 3 were incredibly chill places where we were the only people there for at least part of the time. I hope they get business at other times for their own sake. But it was super peaceful to have these beautiful spaces all to ourselves and personalized attention.
  • Came home to find working electricity…yay!
  • Water? Not so much.

 

Day 4 (Ensenada)

  • Squeezed in a quick morning shower with a little hot water that was trickling in…yay!
  • Took a local breakfast recommendation from our host, Birrieria la Guadalajara, only to discover it was disappointingly meat-heavy. Still, it was a nice local spot and reasonably priced.
  • Tried to visit several museums and failed at all of them because they were closed on Saturday, not open until later, or under construction.
  • Went for a hike at Canon de Dona Petra instead, an old park that wasn’t too maintained but had some peaceful trails with a cross at the top of a series of hills to climb.

  • Discovered the most amazing business model EVER: Baja Brews. It had multiple local craft breweries setting up stands alongside restaurants on a cliff side with views of the crashing waves. Definitely hung out here for a few hours.
  • Just a few days off work really helped me keep up with my personal writing, photos, reading, journaling, etc. I really need to do this more often, not just for international travel, for my mental wellbeing. 
  • Left Monkey behind at the AirBnB for a bit to enjoy a nice seafood dinner at Mahi Mahi – tons of kids and it felt like Chuck E. Cheese – decent seafood but nearly U.S. prices
  • Watched a random semi-truck parade for Carnival on the sidewalk after we finished up with dinner
  • Returned to our AirBnB to find Monkey safe and sound but a rave going on – fortunately, the music died down before 10pm so we didn’t have to get ugly

Day 5 (San Felipe)

  • Why does this dog wake us up before 5am – doesn’t she know it’s vacation?!
  • Drove to San Felipe – no one on the roads – very mountainous and rural – lots of potholes – one security checkpoint that we had to open the back of the Jeep for inspection
  • Discovered that La Palapa RV camp actually does NOT have cabins to stay in overnight even though it was confirmed to me via Facebook message beforehand – clearly a language mishap
  • Walked into El Capitan, a nearby motel, instead and found a clean room a block from the beach – our first option would have been 400 pesos and this was 630 pesos but no problemo
  • Walked around Malecon (the boardwalk) in San Felipe and climbed the stairs to the top of a shrine for views of the lighthouse and beach
  • Opened up the bottle of wine we bought at the Ensenada vineyards and thoroughly enjoyed it at the beach – no silly rules about booze and dogs here!
  • Watched Mexican music videos about farm animals
  • We don’t really care about football but still watched our most recent hometown, Atlanta, lose to the Patriots at Agave bar – womp womp
  • Had chile relleno, my long-time favorite Mexican dish for dinner at BajaMar

Day 6 (San Felipe)

  • Started the day with yoga at the beach – a bit chilly but peaceful AF

  • Did a couple hours of work in the motel and had the best shower I’ve had in like a month – had to come to Mexico to get it
  • Grabbed our last Mexican seafood lunch on the boardwalk and spent the afternoon at the beach relaxing, reading, and trying not to inhale the nasty smells of dead fish washed up on shore
  • Thought we were being thrifty by spending the very last of our pesos and dollars but then panicked when we realized we didn’t have any toll money. We hit tolls on some drives, but coincidentally not this one after all. In retrospect, traveling with no money of any currency was irresponsible. We finally found an ATM in Mexicali and I wasted about $25USD for no reason on the endeavor. But, lesson learned.
  • Ultimately, it was 4 or so hours to Los Algodones border crossing, which was a total non-event. We returned out travel permit to a little office at the border and the line to get through never stopped moving. We weren’t hassled about anything, and the agent didn’t even acknowledge that there was a dog in the car let alone view her international travel certificate that we’d worked so hard to get.

Ultimately, the biggest stresses on this trip weren’t drug violence, theft, or getting back into the country. It wasn’t the language barrier with our sub-par Spanglish, gas shortages, or animosity towards Americans.

Instead, the only things that stressed me out was managing loose dogs with Monkey in tow and being hassled by vendors to buy things and tip everyone. That’s it. Those two things are mildly annoying to me, but totally manageable in the scheme of things.

Things are a mess in America right now, so I encourage you to get out of it and not be afraid. Do your research, don’t be an idiot, and get out while the gettin’s good.

El fin.

Half a Year on the Road! A Six-Month Camper Life Update

Posted on by
2

It’s a new year in a new state, but the journey continues in 2017!

img_2838

Month #6 has been a weird month. It was holiday month, which means that everything was thrown off a bit – but in a good way. It’s also been the longest we’ve stayed put in one place so far.

Places We’ve Been: Month #6

Month #6 started finished up our stay in Tuscon and then we moved up to Phoenix. A while back, we had booked flights to travel from Phoenix to Champaign, Illinois to visit my family for Christmas. So everything leading up to this moment had to work around the flight schedule.

img_9233

Since Monkey’s too big to fly, we had to board her, but did so at the best pet resort we could find in Phoenix called Tailwinds. For Christmas, we spent a few days in my hometown or Arthur, seeing family and friends and doing little-to no work. We had a Monkey to get back to in Phoenix, but our flight was cancelled due to FOG of all things. We’d packed extra food for Monkey in case of emergency, but were still anxious to collect her. So my parents graciously drove us the complete opposite direction to Indianapolis to catch the next flight out in the morning.

The Indy flight went as planned and we made it back to Phoenix, then drove to Las Vegas the same day. So in a 24-hour period, we lived in four time zones: Central, Eastern, Mountain, and Pacific. Totally exhausting, but we got Monkey back and got rave reviews about her behavior (and even a report card!).

Here’s a quick recap of this past month’s batch of “homes on the road”:

Phoenix, Arizona: Home on the Road #27

  • Highlights: Having dinner with my old co-worker, Maria, for her husband’s birthday bash, hot tub at the fanciest Motel 6 I’ve ever seen, short hikes around town

img_2536

  • Lowlights: Getting a traffic cone stuck under the Jeep and nearly starting a fire on the highway because of it, having to leave Monkey behind at a “pet resort” while we got on a plane

img_2585

Arthur, Illinois : Home on the Road #28

  • Highlights: Hanging out with my parents, grandma & extended family, seeing a couple of my favorite people from high school, meeting our mutual friends’ new baby, seeing “Moana” with my parents, eating at a really good Mexican restaurant that popped up in my hometown since I left, impromptu trip to Indianapolis

img_2623

  • Lowlights: Having our flight out of Champaign cancelled at the last minute, having to ask my parents to drive us to Indianapolis

img_2603

Las Vegas, Nevada: Home on the Road #29

  • Highlights: Fun pre-NYE day on The Strip, Cirque Du Soleil show that was impressive but made me feel fat and lazy, first NYE celebration with Monkey in the camper to ring in 2017, Valley of Fire State Park hiking

img_2834

  • Lowlights: Flat camper tire and cracked windshield on the drive to Vegas, Homeless people lurking around our campground and the staff doesn’t care, dental visit, crowded parking lot-style campground, no Wi-Fi

Random Ramblings: Month #6

In no particular order, these are some random thoughts that came to me over the course of month #6 on the road.

  • I’m obsessed with podcasts. I listen to them while walking the dog, doing dishes, washing up in the bathroom, etc. They really get me through the day. Ones I’ve been listening to lately: This American Life, Snap Judgement, Undone, Stranglers, The RV Entrepreneur with Heath Padgett, Lore, The Moth, Radio Lab, Hidden Brain. New podcast suggestions welcome…hit me up!
  • Motel stays make me feel really appreciative of the little things in life. Like not having to walk across a campground to pee in the middle of the night when I’ve had 3+ beers. They’re even better when they have a hot tub, especially after a long day of hiking. Campgrounds with hot tubs are awesome too.

img_2910

  • I really have no desire to live in a place with frigid winter temperatures ever again. These snowbirds have the right idea, but stealing the idea shouldn’t require Medicare eligibility.
  • I’m super appreciative of my parents. Understandably, they were skeptical about this whole camper life thing at first. But I’ve never really been a daughter to follow all the rules. Them driving us to Indy on Christmas day night was a lifesaver. I’m seriously lucky to have them. Too bad it too me so long to realize it.
  • I can’t stand being around other campers. The second I walk outside to use the bathroom in the morning, there are people all around me. I’m feeling claustrophobic by the close proximity of campers and drained by the constant sight of human beings. (1) Old retirees with nothing better to do than chat, (2) families with kids that have no regard for anyone but themselves, and (3) homeless riff-raff lurking around campgrounds when the staff doesn’t care are really getting to me. Friends always ask me about cool people I’ve met on the trip. The honest answer is none. Admittedly, I’m in an introverted phase of life and not putting myself out there. But honestly, that’s not what travel is about for me right now and I have no regrets.

img_3042

  • This month was a BIG time for repairs. The camper needed a new tire, the Jeep needed a sensor repair and a new windshield, the husband needed hardcore dental surgery, and the dog needed yearly shots at the vet, and I needed a routine dental cleaning. Somehow this all snuck up on us at once. But it just goes to show that you don’t need to be grounded in a place to get all the practical things in life taken care of.
  • Cities are making me feel claustrophobic. Most strangers seem like an entirely different species, I’m becoming a worse driver, and stupid things make me anxious. I’m hoping to find some quiet coastal towns in California.
  • Vegas is the longest we’ve stayed anywhere so far on this trip – 19 days! Not because we are in love with Vegas, but due to so many appointments and practical things piling up all at once. At least there were plenty of distractions to take our minds off them at the end of the day.

img_2751

  • I don’t like the format of these blog posts I’ve been doing, but I can’t think of a better way to structure them.
  • We looked into upgrading the camper and would seriously love to, but I don’t think it’s going to work right now. Mostly because a two-door jeep has embarrassingly low towing capacity, so a camper upgrade would mean a vehicle upgrade too. Looked at A-Liners, which were nice (especially ones with an in-camper toilet and solid walls!), but they’re not enough of an upgrade to justify the investment right now.
    img_2494
  • This is my dream house.
  • It was nice to be able to take holiday time off like the rest of the traditional working world this year. This is always an awkward time as a freelancer, but things finally slowed down for me and I finally got some much-needed chill time.
  • Also as a freelancer, I have to keep track of every invoice and pay quarterly taxes, which is a huge pain in the ass. However, I made more this year than ever in life. So many full time travelers hate on freelance writing as a way to make money but clearly they aren’t doing it right. This is something I feel really proud of since 2017 is my 4th year of freelancing!
  • I am obsessed with self-serve frozen yogurt.

img_2858

  • The best reason that has come up so far for calling it quits on camper life is international travel. I feel like I’ve seen so much (but obviously not all) of this country, but so little of the rest of the world. Simply flying to Illinois for Christmas taught us how difficult the logistics are of finding a dog sitter, Jeep parking, camper parking, transportation, etc. After six months, I’m feeling the itch for international travel. This makes me amendable to finding a place to rent (somewhere) for a year so we can plop down and get slightly established so we can catch a flight to bust of America soon. This will likely be the one thing that makes me call it quits on camper life, at least for a while.
  • Valley of Fire State Park renewed my faith in Nevada hiking trails after several disappointments…what an incredible place with something different to see on every trail!img_3014
  • Everywhere I turn these days, I seem to come across a #vanlife post or some other young couple’s Instagram-perfect photos of full-time travel. I am mildly obsessed with creepily stalking other full-time campers to see what they’re up to and judging myself against my better judgment. It feels like this movement is gaining momentum, but perhaps I’m just seeking it out. But unlike so many of these other couples essentially doing what we’re doing, I’m not into going full publicity over it or trying to make money from it. That’s not my style, and I’m already stretched too thin. Also, my husband is a private person and I respect his wishes to not include his photo or name on my blog. I also have no desire to reinvent the wheel here or project an image that everything about this lifestyle is perfect. It’s not, and it pisses me off from time to time just like any lifestyle would. I’m being me, being real, and sharing my experiences as creative outlet rather than a means of self-promotion. Thanks for being along for the ride.

Looking Ahead to Month #7

TOMORROW, we’re celebrating our 6th month “full-time camper life anniversary” by crossing over the California state line and dry camping in Mojave National Preserve. This means no reservations, no electric, no internet, and only backup tank water…but hopefully some amazing scenery and hikes.

After that, we’re heading to the Palm Springs area of California, which will be totally new to me. But I will say though that California campgrounds are looking pretty expensive so far. I’m a newbie at pretty much all things Southern California, so I’m definitely excited to spend a good amount of time here. Please send any SoCal recommendations my way!

Cheers!

Catch Up on the Journey:

Alyssavnature named in Top Southwest Adventure Blogs of 2016!

Posted on by
Reply

Happy 2017 and cheers to a brand new year of adventures!

Ain't no party like a camper party.

Ain’t no party like a camper party.

Traveling in the southwest has been an amazing adventure so far. And clearly, my growing obsession for the region must shine through in my writing.

Alyssavnature just made the list for Top Southwest Adventure Blogs of 2016!

southwestadventureblog-badge-recipient

So while it’s not yet the 14th of the month for my usual update, I wanted to thank Southwest Discoveries for the mention and share some of the other great writing happening over here. The folks behind these other 49 blogs are also sharing their experiences and posting photos about enjoying the outdoors in the Southwest. And they’re great resources for anyone looking to get outside for an adventure of your own.

On a quick personal note, we’ve hunkered down in Vegas for a little while to catch up on all the practical things in life that catch up with you while traveling and celebrating the holidays. This means balancing out the fun and debauchery of Vegas with a series of mundane visits to the dentist, optometrist, veterinarian, and multiple auto repair shops. But we’re camped out in the middle of the city, so that’s all pretty accessible and convenient. And we’re still managing to escape here and there to explore the outdoorsy side of Vegas too. It’s out there, if only you can maneuver the street trash, skip the cocktails, and see past the glitz and glamour.

Until next time…

5 Months on the Road: Wait No More, Your Full-Time Camper Life Update Is Here

Posted on by
Reply

December greetings from warm and sunny Tucson, Arizona!

img_2309

Month #5 has been a continuation of our journey in the West and Southwest, and I’m definitely still loving the region. We finished up our stay in Salt Lake City, spent a couple weeks in Moab, and a couple days at the Grand Canyon before showing up here.

img_8689

We had to adjust our plans a bit due to cold and single-digit temperatures. Being in Tucson right now wasn’t the original plan, but I’m loving the 70-80-degrees and sunshine, so the switch-up was a success. These “snowbirds” really know how to live life right.

img_8558

Another interesting development is that we bought a GoPro as a holiday gift to ourselves. So we’ve been experimenting with the different mounts and putting it on our heads, chests, windshield, and even the dog to capture videos of our adventures. I even wore it on a horse!

img_8439

Places We’ve Been: Month #5

Here’s a quick rundown of how those places played out.

Moab, Utah: Home on the Road #24

  • Highlights: The otherworldly arches at Arches National Park and canyons at Canyonlands, horseback riding on Sassy (and she was!), mountain biking on the Bar M trails, slacklining festival on Thanksgiving, great campground Wi-Fi and scenery, nice community rec center in town to lift weights and swim laps, scenic winery next to a western film museum, Corona Arch as an uncrowded alternative to Delicate Arch, small-town Christmas festival

img_8166

  • Lowlights: Restaurants are way too busy, and un-fun, mediocre local brewery, consistently cold nights in the 20s, hilly bike trails too hard to bike with Monkey’s trailer, getting a flat jeep tire on the side of the road

Grand Canyon, Arizona: Home on the Road #25

  • Highlights: Dog-friendly hiking trails around the rim, shopping for family Christmas gifts and finally finding some, a weekend that didn’t up feeling as cold as we expected, beautiful art gallery at Kolb Studio

img_8656

  • Lowlights: Very icy sidewalks and trails that made hiking with Monkey really hard, being underwhelmed by the Grand Canyon (who’da thought that was possible?!) because of all the other amazing canyons we’ve been seeing

Tucson, Arizona: Home on the Road #26

  • Highlights: The amazing Saguaro cactus(!!!), Arizona Sonora Desert Museum that we could have spent several days at, private campground bathrooms (no sharing!), salsa dancing class for a different kind of Friday night out even though it was HARD, great bike trail right behind our campground, bringing home a little cactus to decorate the camper, discovering Govinda’s Vegetarian Restaurant, days warm enough to do yoga and work outside (or until my laptop overheats and powers down)

img_2330

  • Lowlights: Many parks (including Saguaro National Park) not being dog-friendly for hikes, crowded campground with sketchy WiFi, Monkey getting cacti stuck in her paws on trails

Random Ramblings: Month #5

In no particular order, these are some random thoughts that came to me over the course of month #5 on the road.

  • Moab was the first place that really made me question why we keep moving on and don’t just stay put for a while. It’s an outdoor lover’s paradise in every sense of the word, and we would have been perfectly happy there for a while. In the end, the only reason we left after two weeks was because of the cold temperatures rolling in that would have made outdoor activities pretty miserable going forward.

img_8569

  • I have a t-shirt that’s probably a decade old with Grover from Sesame Street on it that says, “Anywhere I am is here. Anywhere I’m not is there. I still wear this shirt occasionally and it reminds me of the old saying that wherever you go, there you are. No matter how what city or state we’re in or how long we’ve traveled, the same things still make me happy, annoyed, anxious, excited, frustrated, etc. Many years ago, I saw a shrink (hey, Tony Soprano did it, so why can’t I?). At that time in my life, all I wanted to do was move far away and start over. I wanted to get out of my rut, leave everything behind, and find out if the grass was greener somewhere else. I remember said shrink telling me some version of “wherever you go, there you are.” He suggested that I’d still have the same personality/issues when I woke up to different scenery. It all sounds pretty obvious when I think of it now, but it was a novel idea that had never occurred to me back then. And it still rings true today.

img_2115

  • Division of labor makes camper chores manageable, and yes there are camper chores! Fortunately, we are both reasonable people who understand what sharing responsibilities means. For example, I take care of putting together (i.e. not cooking) breakfast and lunch, while my husband cooks dinner. He does the grocery shopping, and I do the laundry. And we take turns with doing dishes and dog walks. This goes for travel research too. He’s better at big-picture planning, and I’m better at figuring out daily details. So we tend to stick to what we’re each good at to avoid duplicating efforts and getting at each other’s throats. Been working pretty well for 5 months!

img_1854

  • Constantly looking for things to do is exhausting, but it does keep us on our toes. Ultimately, I keep coming down to the same research topics no matter where we are, which reiterates the point that wherever you go, there you are. Here are some of the things on that never-ending research list: hiking trails, yoga, comedy shows, local theater, bar trivia, breweries/wineries/distilleries, community rec center, dance classes, festivals, dog parks, cafes to work at, driving range, bike trails, fun neighborhoods, concerts.

img_8580

  • I really thought I’d have more free time while traveling like this but I really don’t. Between 50+ hour work weeks and squeezing in time to explore new places, there’s really nothing left. At the end of the day, I’m exhausted and just want to zone out watch The Sopranos in bed. Times that I draw in my sketchbook, do personal writing (like this) that’s not for money, and play guitar are few and far between. I thought I’d be trying to learn more new songs on guitar by now, but I’m stuck on the same old ones and not getting any better.

img_2119

  • I prefer non-standard holidays to tradition. We celebrated Thanksgiving by going to a slacklining festival across a canyon in Moab. Admittedly, it would have been nice to see my parents and grandma back in Illinois. But doing the same thing every year out of nostalgia or sentimentality doesn’t appeal to me, and unfortunately, that’s what traditional holidays are all about for most people.

img_8251

img_8538

  • Monkey did great in a totally free-range, open-play environment the last time we “practice boarded” her in Moab. I think she’ll do great at the pet resort in Phoenix while we’re back in Illinois for Christmas. It’ll be weird without her, but I’m feeling much more confident about leaving her for five days.

img_8599

  • We’ve run into a few more campgrounds with breed restrictions. I’m looking at you, Las Vegas. I won’t get on a soapbox for very long, but these pit bull bans are absolutely ridiculous and unfounded. I wouldn’t want to give my money to these types of discriminatory business owners even if they’d take it.
  • The dry weather of the west makes my hair so much more manageable and easy to take care of. No more Midwest/East Coast-style frizzy tangles!

img_8750

  • I had to repair a button on a shirt the other day and it made me how much I miss sewing and crafting in general. My sewing machine is sadly sitting in a storage unit in Atlanta collecting dust 🙁
  • I also realized I miss swimming laps. I’m not a great swimmer by any means, but it’s great exercise and really helps relax my muscles and clear my head. I found community rec centers in both Salt Lake City and Moab with public lap swim hours and only a $6-7 daily fee. Also a great way to lift weights and work these noodle arms. I’ll be looking for cheap rec centers like this in future places we go too.

img_2157

Looking Ahead to Month #6

Month #6 will be an interesting one because it’s smack dab in the middle of holiday season. This will be a nice taste of what’s it’s like to be traveling full-time during a very busy and traditional time of year.

We’ll be relocating to Phoenix soon for a short stay before flying out to Central Illinois to celebrate Christmas with my family. The plan for New Year’s Eve is Las Vegas, so that should be a fun way to kick off 2017. And after that, on to California!

If you made it this far, congrats and thanks for reading! Although I’ve still only been getting around to it once a month, it’s still nice for me to take a moment to reflect upon where we’ve been and where I’m at personally in relation to that. Cheers!

img_2364

Related: