2017 and What’s Ahead
Wow…2017 already. Who would’ve thunk? I know the passage of time is a logical and steady thing, but somehow the years just seem to fly by as we get older. I know everyone says this, but sometimes I truly wonder if we’re not living in some relative universe zooming by at a faster-than-normal rate against the backdrop of regular life. It’s a strange and geeky thought, I know 🙂
I’ve been really slow getting back into blogging, and to be honest it’s been partly because I wasn’t feeling it. I think I burnt myself out last year. In fact we BOTH burnt ourselves out. Between the rapid (for us) travel pace and the constant challenges, by the time we got to Florida I was done with writing and all we physically wanted to do was disconnect, rest and stay STILL. We’re still feeling that way and have a powerful urge to just slow it down both on the blog-front and the travel, at least for a while.
No, we’re not thinking about buying a house a settling down. We’re not even close to that decision, and our 2 weeks in a rented place in Miami only confirmed that (Lisa, you guessed totally right). Going back to a stix and brix is not something that tempts us, at least not right now. But changes are likely coming (we feel it and we’ve talked about it extensively) and we just don’t know exactly what that means yet. Change our mode of travel? Travel other places? Switch up the blog? Change the format of how we share (online, video, etc.)? It’s all really murky right now.
Since we really have no clue where all this is headed, for the time being we’ve just decided to keep it simple. Our short-term goal is to get back to places we feel will reconnect us with RV travel and everything we love about it.
RV travel-wise, this means that we’re heading back out WEST!
Deep in our hearts we are Western folks, not because the Midwest and East doesn’t have spectacular scenery and amazing places to visit (2016 certainly proved that for us), but simply because my soul feels at peace when I stand in the wide-open western landscape and my eyes reach to the horizon. It’s a mental thing, as well as a physical phenomenon, and after a year of upheaval we just want to get back to the familiar and re-connect. Right now, we need this.
Then again, we may change our minds at any time…
The beauty of RVing is that you can chose to travel any which way you want. We have friends who routinely rack up 20-25,000 miles per year in their rigs, a pace that would literally kill us but which suits them perfectly fine. We have other friends who go back to the exact same places EVERY single year and have done so for 15 years in a row. That’s not our style either, but I certainly understand the draw. There is NO one right way to RV. The road is what you make of it.
In our case we had a “big” year in 2016 both in terms of travel, personal issues and budget so we’re looking to recover and take it down a notch in 2017 while we gear up for whatever change is coming next. In addition, my sister is getting married this year and I’ve been given the honor of Principal Bridesmaid (Maid of Honor), so sometime mid-July I’m going to be jetting off to England to have that adventure. Not only am I going to give my sister the best damn Hen Night ever, but I may even {{shock}} wear a dress to her wedding. Those who know me well will understand what a monumental event that is going to be….:)
So in out nutshell, our very jello 2017 plans are to just hang West and see where it takes us. We will stay here in Fort Lauderdale, FL until end of this month, then we’re hightailing it westward. We’ll stop at a few key spots along the way, spend a bit of time boondocking in the desert, then we’ll hang out in San Diego for a few months. Once early summer hits our plans are to take a nice, easy drive up the coast to our beloved Oregon/Washington. From there we may volunteer for a while or we may hop around for a while. We really don’t know.
The western route will be the same one we’ve many times before, but we’ll intermix the familiar with the unknown by hitting some new-to-us spots along the way. There is always something we haven’t seen, and there are always spots we never tire of. It’s so nice to have a blend of the two. In addition, we’re deliberately going to leave things more jello than ever. 2016 sent us a powerful sign that changes are a-coming (almost nothing went “to plan” last year), so we’ve taken that message to heart and will plan waaaay less this year. We’ll just outline a general route and try to stay flexible and open to whatever the Universe has in store for us.
As for Christmas and New Years, we had an awesome family vacation in our rented place down in Miami. I’ve got a 2-part post coming both on getting around/staying in Miami and the top attractions we visited while we were there. Although I’ve been to Miami many, many times before (Paul and I will have been together 20 years(!!!) this month, after all) we’ve never really played “tourist” as much as we did while my family was here. So we got to explore areas of Miami I’ve literally never seen before. It was a ton of fun!!
So there you have it. I’ve told you all I can share at the moment. This year we’ll just let the road lead us and when we know where we’re going so will you 🙂
You guys did have a big year. And yeah for heading west. Hopefully we can connect with you guys somewhere in this vast west.
This could of been my words!!! “my soul feels at peace when I stand in the wide-open western landscape and my eyes reach to the horizon. It’s a mental thing, as well as a physical phenomenon.”
Will be happy to see you getting back to Boondocking. See ya at Borago Springs?
Could be, could be….not sure exactly where we’ll be boondocking but many of our “old favorites” are on the list. We’ll end up somewhere in the desert for sure.
Nina
You know what I think might be fun? A bunch of us doing a couple weeks at “THE SLABS” but it would take some convincing to get my wife to go along.
Cannot be this year though because we will not be back in the west until after July.
Rich
I do enjoy that quirky area, and Paul has yet to go. I think we’ll be looking for something more remote as we travel West, but you never know.
Nina
Mellow and jello sounds like a good plan! Have a lovely 2017 – can’t wait to hear more all about it. Much love.
With no offense to Easterners, we agree the West sure seems a better draw, so ‘welcome back’! We’ll again be eager to read your detailed and informative reviews, especially of new places you find!
Meanwhile we were interested in your “Change the format of how we share (online, video, etc.)?” comment. Personally we’d hate that – we much prefer your written blogs to read (and print out and save too, for those who don’t have wifi and streaming video available while on the road), but it begs the question – is there ‘pressure’ on you to change to videos? I see other sites on other subjects becoming this way, I guess it’s today’s lazy attitude where people prefer to veg in front of a moving picture instead of actually READING something? But it’s a shame. Hope you don’t give up on the conventional written blogs!
It’s a very good question. There’s definitely a move to video (in general) in the world and I see it happening. More and more content is getting shared that way, and the biggest growth is coming from that medium. So, if you want to stay “relevant” you’ve got to look at it. Unfortunately writing is becoming a more archaic medium and reaches less people. Our world moves so fast and less people have the patience to read, so it’s falling by the wayside. I lament the switch, just as you do.
In addition there’s the time/energy that I put into the blog which is (at times) overwhelming, especially when we travel at a faster pace. Part of it is that I’m very detail-oriented so I put too much pressure on myself (on the quality of my posts). That’s self-induced. Part of it is just that it’s a a big time-sink in general. I truly love writing and photographing, but I do think I need to find a better balance in how I share it all. It’s complicated HA!
Nina
I’d have to vote for written word over video, as well. We get 24 gig a month, and video is too data intensive/expensive for us. I have quit reading several blogs that went to video formats. Plus, I can read much faster than people can talk. Personally, and I know this is just me, I don’t understand the draw of video unless you’re showing people how to do something. Love your blog, and the paws. Have a great 2017.
I’m with you on the bandwidth thing. I never used to watch much video either mostly because of bandwidth limitations on the road, but also because I really love to read (I subscribe to around 50 blogs!). We started watching more this year after we were able to snag an Unlimited Verizon plan and I have to admit I understand the draw. Plus working with video does take me back to the days when I worked in live Theater, which I did love. If we end up doing video I think it’ll be more “how to” stuff rather than vlog (too much work IMO). Then again, we may just focus on something else entirely.
We’ll see. I still love the written word and nothing is set in stone.
Nina
We, too, have Verizon’s 24GB/month data plan, and I (DW) love reading your blog. Now that we’re traveling more, unhooking from cable Internet, I rarely get to watch RVing videos, except when we park for awhile and have nearby a McDs or Starbucks. My vote is your blog “as-is” because you create a high-quality site that’s friendly to limited data plans. Plus, it’s so easy to search when we want to boondocking where you recommend. Now that Verizon is shutting down hundreds of UDPs, this might affect videographers in the RVing world. Love what you do, as it is currently! Just wanted to add my 2 cents. 🙂
I guess I’m just an old dog wary of new tricks. The written word is much more powerful than video for me because it allows me to use my imagination to “see” what I want to see. Also if I missed something or didn’t understand something, it’s so easy to reread it. Also, not every one is cut out to be a “movie star”. We have a friend who produces and posts videos of her travels and some are painful to watch.
We are also limited in our bandwith and tend to pass over most videos without watching them (unless of course they are about cats). i hope you stick with the written word. Please keep writing, we have gotten much enjoyment from your blog and have even followed in your footsteps in several instances.
We followed your radioactive kitty story with great interest as we had lost our kitty in July, 2016 to the same illness although she was 19 years old. Letting her go was one of the toughest things we ever had to do.
Good luck and safe travels,
Frank and EJ
So sorry for the loss of your kitty. 19 years is a wonderful age, but that doesn’t lessen the pain in any way. I dread the day we’re going to have to say goodbye to our pets. It’s not something I like to think about, but I’ve been through it before and I know its inevitable. Our pets give us so much, but stay for such a short time on earth. I do (personally) believe we reconnect in the afterlife, but it doesn’t make our remaining time down here any easier. We miss them always.
Nina
Boy, I sure can relate to a lot of this. Sometimes it’s nice to disconnect from social media and regroup. I think, we too will slow our travels down in 2017 and revisit some familiar places. There’s always new things to discover and favorite stops to return to. Happy New Year and cheers to good health (including the fur kids)
Social media is a tricky relationship. I love the community that we’ve found thro’ it, but I can’t deny that it can be overwhelming at times too. So many outlets, so much exposure, so much time spent. Balance is key for all of us IMHO.
Hope your travels are wonderful and relaxing this year.
Nina
Looking forward to reading your Miami notes. My wife & I are looking to go there pretty soon & really know nothing about it, i.e. Where to stay (non RVers) – parts of town, eat, drink, sight see, other activities, beaches, culture… we read and keep all of your blogs for reference.
Thanks for all you share.
Happy New Year,
Joe & Cyndi
Oh cool! My next posts will be PERFECT for you then. I’ll be starting them shortly….
Nina
Definitely you need to dry camp in BLM near Ajo. Check out Bayfield Bunch blog today. Gorgeous green lush desert. Silence and big skies. Love the Ajo area.
Ah yes, we have VERY fond memories of Ajo. We boondocked there a few years back and just fell in love with the area. It’s on our potential re-visit list!
Nina
I was just checking out your Instagram account earlier this morning wondering when the last time you posted was. Now I know why.
I’m with you in that 20,000+ miles a year would kill me. I did just under 4,000 in 2016 and that suited me just fine!
Yeah, I pretty much disconnected from ALL media in the last few weeks including Instagram. I’m going to pick it up again (slowly) and see how it goes.
Nina
Coming back to the west and slowing it down seems to be what the doctor ordered. The pace of life on the east is draining. The big sky country will recharge your spirits. Before we retired and went full-time, we flew back to the west whenever we could for our vacations. Our friends in Virginia never really understood why. I wouldn’t last 12 years living on the east coast if it wasn’t for the occasional recharges by the mountains and the big skies of the west.
I totally understand that need. I’m definitely looking forward to getting back out West and do think that just being there will soothe my soul and re-energize it. Sometimes a change of scenery is all we need, and thankfully RV life makes that an easy task.
Nina
Come spend your winters at SKP Saguaro!
SKP Saguaro is definitely on our re-visit list for our travel West. We love it there!
Nina
I’m always happy to read your posts! 2016 was quite the year for me – with trailer and truck repairs/maintenance and new rubber all the way around. I hope the coming year will be a little less costly. According to my odometer, I had 22,438 under my belt last year, but it wasn’t all towing Flo. I hope you keep posting like you have been. I never play videos, so I appreciate regular blogs. Happy trails! Here’s to good weather and dry roads!
Wow…more than 22,000 miles. You are rocking girl! Continued good travels to you!
Nina
We’re seasonal travellers, spending four of the last six winters in the Southwest, and our current trip has started out a bit like your 2016 turned out. It started off with a one-month delayed departure due to a broken arm (my husband’s) and it seems everything we’ve planned since has been rerouted for one reason or another. But it’s been perfect. We’ve stayed in new spots, explored new things and are having a ball. We’re currently camped at the Ogilby Road BLM, a new location for us, and loving it. For this one we have you to thank, for your rave reviews of the place.
Thank you for sharing your journey and experiences. We’ve looked to your blog more than once for recommendations and they are always spot-on. Wishing you happy trails wherever they may take you in 2017!
So glad the year worked out for you, and you’ve managed to explore lots of great new spots. Enjoy the peace at Ogilby Rd and continued good travels to you!
Nina
If you cross the border on plan 2, get in touch, we’ll give you a tour of Banff, AB and the Bow Valley. The Calgary stampede is July 7-16th
If we make it up that way we’ll definitely connect to you. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Banff and Paul has never seen the area. We were so excited to go last year, but alas it just didn’t happen. We’ll make it eventually!
Nina
Weddings can be great fun with the opportunity to catch up with past acquaintances and family. I am glad you found a dermatologist recently also. We are loving Az as i know you do.
Just spent our 5th night back in southern Arizona…..at the Saguaro SKP park….after a long 9 month absence from the desert. This east Tennessee mountain woman also craves the flat vistas and craggy mountains that heal my inner self.
There’s something about the western desert. Not everyone likes it but if it grabs you, you will long for it forever thereafter.
Nina
I also prefer to read. I seldom watch anything that requires turning on the sound. I will miss you if you go only video. But, I am not your target market so I understand if you decide to go that way. Personally, I think making videos is harder than writing because you have all that taping in addition to writing the script and you can’t do the taping in your pajamas. 🙂
As to the Maid of Honor dress, I think the last time I wore a dress was to our daughter’s wedding in the 1990s. And that was actually a 2-piece so I could wear the top later with slacks. There are some beautiful, dressy jumpsuits out there now. 🙂
Our niece did something you and your sister might like. She let her attendants pick out their own dresses then had them all dyed the same color.
I’m definitely considering some kind of 2-piece as opposed to a “regular” dress. Perhaps a skirt and top? My sister is thankfully very relaxed about the whole thing. She’s got a general color theme, but is going to leave it up to the bridesmaids to chose our individual outfits.
Nina
No matter what you decide to do, I want you to know how helpful the information you have posted so far has been to us newbies. We have repeatedly used the information from your blog.
One other thing which may boost your faith is human kind. The pins in your car may have fallen out on their own. We are on our first trip ever and pulling my Nissan Frontier. When I went to unhook at our destination, one of the snap ring pins was undone and almost out of the tow bar pin. After reading your blog, we check the pins after every stop. Apparently they can come loose, but I have no idea how. We will be buying locking pins before we move on.
Thank you so much for all the work you have put into this blog.
Thank you for the lovely comment, and the thoughts about our pins. Yeah that was a “big” incident for us last year and I can’t deny it took the wind out of our sails a bit. We’ve got locking pins now so hopefully it will never happen again. Onward and forwards we go 🙂
Nina
Congratulations on going back west. We will be going full time in only 24 more weeks (). It’s 12 weeks sooner than we originally planned so we’re having to readjust our decision where to go. I’m so glad I started following your blog a year ago so I can make jello plans & not have a complete come-apart. Also understand seeing you in a dress (we said the reason so many people came to our daughter’s wedding was to see her in a dress also). Congratulations to the happy couple & safe travels out west. We also are very excited about seeing the west.
Congrats on the upcoming adventure! Very exciting stuff. It’ll all seem rather overwhelming at first, but before long you’ll be an old pro. Wish you all the best in your transition and travels!
Nina
Oh, do I know that Western draw. Love it so in the desert. So many people don’t understand. “It’s all brown”. Hahahaha. Your blog is exquisite. Both the writing and the photography. Would miss it but completely, but understand the commitment it takes. Maybe do fewer?
Btw I called myself “the Best Woman”. Men have/are “Best Men” so why are we not Best women ; )?
I’m totally with you! And yes Best Woman…why not. I like it!
Nina
I am also in the midst of changing my life. The first thing I have done is give myself permission to not publish a blog entry unless I want to. Absolutely no blog deadlines allowed. That alone took a lot of self induced stupid stress (SISS) out of my life. Since I am so simple minded I can only do one at a time, so the next item is to quit trying to plan travels more than a very few days ahead. Choose target areas but not details.
When fulltiming becomes stressful, I know I am doing it wrong. Good luck on working out your next “life”. I am certain it will be a great adventure.
Good on you for making those changes. Sometimes we just need to switch things up a bit to get back on track, and it doesn’t always need to be a big change. I think that’s what we need too.
Continued stress-free travel to you!
Nina
We can totally relate to your feeling too busy. We experienced that our selves when we drove too much as full timers. We are now in a stick house and only travel a total of 3 to 4 months a year, but we still feel the need to go to a place and sit rather than be constantly on the go. We especially love boondocking and desert sitting with the wide open spaces. Have safe travels and come home to the wide-open western horizons.
Part-time travel is definitely in our future somewhere. I don’t think it’ll happen this year, but I do think we will seek that need sometime in the future.
Nina
Nice post, and good for you two to take it easier this year. I really like your blog and campground videos and hope to camp more in the future. Right now we usually fly everywhere and I feel that we miss so much of the USA by doing that, not to mention what a pain in the butt flying is these days…..
Safe travels as you head west.
I have to admit I don’t miss flying, especially given how crazy airports and airport security has become these days. Much prefer driving around with our home everywhere. Thanks for following along on our travels!
Nina
Sounds like a plan LOL! it was 3 degrees here this morning and if it wasn’t for the mountains in our way we would head South to Arizona! Have you been to Big Bend Park in Texas? An amazing and lonely feeling place. the full hookup sites by the Rio Grande was just a big deteriorating cement lot but the other sites were lovely.
Where ever it takes you-have fun. Congrats to your sister!
We have not been to Big Bend. We were scheduled to go there in 2011, but then Polly got sick and we were forced to stay in Central Texas for a while as she recovered. By then it was too late to do the long drive down. One day we’ll make it.
Nina
After two years of full-timing it throughout the US (with day-trips to Canada and Mexico via the “toad”), we finally settled down in our favorite place – like you – back in the West. Marriage is a synonym for “compromise,” and while I would’ve liked to keep going, my wife needed her nest again. We still have our coach, but our outings in the future will be measured by weeks and months, not years.
We found a great 5-acre mini-farm between Sequim and Port Angeles, WA. It has the Strait of Juan De Fuca on the north (186 feet of high-bank waterfront), and a panoramic view of the Olympics on the south. We had 50-amp service installed in the barn that protects our coach (inside and out), so if you ever need a place to hang for a few days, drop me an email. I’m pretty sure we were both in Albuquerque at the Balloon Fiesta in 2015, but we didn’t stumble upon you guys.
Happy 2017, and welcome home to the West!
Oh what a SWEET spot! You bet we’ll look you up if we come that way. We’ve talked about heading back to that area this year, so you never know.
Nina
Happy New Year to you both. We look forward to seeing where this year takes you. Hope our paths cross sometime in 2017.
Hope we cross paths too. Can’t see where this year takes you Lu…last year was super-exciting.
Nina
I read something with me years ago that has stuck with me – as we age, each year is a smaller percentage of your life, so it DOES feel like time goes by faster. When you’re 5, a year is 20% of your life! By 20, it’s only 5% of your life. At 50, just 2%! Makes a lot of sense to me.
Indeed. Makes total sense!
Nina
We hope that Plan #1 + Plan #2 = We’ll See You More.
You are part of our secret Plan #3 bwahahahahaha….
Nina
May see you somewhere along the Oregon/Washington coast this summer. Where is your favorite place to be??
Oh gosh the Oregon COAST is definitely our fav place…anywhere on the coast. We love Portland too, but it can get hot later in summer. Plus northern WA (Port Townsend, Sequim etc.) and the San Juan Islands are lovely too. So much natural beauty around there!
Nina
This is our first time staying in San Diego. We are spending a month in Mission Bay. I love Florida and especially Miami,but not for RVing. We spent dozens of vacations in Florida, and now the West is where we want to be.
We love San Diego, even though the weather hasn’t really cooperated.
Sounds like you guys are getting ready to settle down just a little. Having a tough year with unexpected events does get tiring. A good stint in San Diego will help recharge your batteries.
It’s been a wet, wet winter out there so far. We’re hoping it eases up by the time we get there. Mission Bay is our target!
Nina
You’re right, Nina, blogging takes a lot of time to do it well—it truly is a labor of love. But as I look back over our blog, I’m really happy to have it. It’s a wonderful record of our travels and adventures, and each entry gives me an opportunity to reflect on our experience as I write it. Thank you for the effort and energy you’ve put into your blog over the years. I, too, hope that you’ll continue with your writing and gorgeous photography, and not switch to videos. Wishing you a peaceful year!
Thanks Laurel. Our thoughts and hearts are with you as you weather Eric’s rehab . It’s certainly been an incredibly tough start to the year for you both, but I hope it’s all in the rear mirror and the rest of 2017 goes smoothly.
Nina
Thank you, Nina. Here’s hoping 2017 will be much brighter for all of us! oxoxo L & E
I see you may stay in Benson. We just got back from 10 days at Kartchner Caverns. We still pursue the 8-5/ M-F routine, but we do get the time around Christmas and New Years off. We really like Kartchner for that time. We are from Colorado so the weather there is a nice break, though this year we had a white Christmas! For a few hours anyway. Some nights we felt almost alone with the campground hosts.
Look forward to hearing about the next year. Happy travels!
What a great place to spend the holidays! We love the area around there…lots of open views, good hiking. We had friends who volunteered at the caverns for many years and liked it so much they kept going back. It’s a neat place.
Nina
I’ll be interested to hear about your “rental” house experience over the holidays. We loved our PS experience with Jesse and Erin, but I have to admit it was so good to get back to our little Beluga.
We, too, enjoy revisiting our trusted old friends, knowing where everything is, where the good restaurants, hikes, grocery stores, etc. but equally enjoy finding new spots. I guess the bottom line is, we enjoy traveling with our house on our backs!
Look forward to seeing you this year.
The house experience was nice. We got an awesome place in a really good, central location. But I can’t deny we missed the RV. I’ll be posting some pics of the house in my next blog.
Nina
ooooh, ooooh, I forgot to say how much we’ve always enjoyed reading your blogs and agree with Laurel, I hope you won’t switch to videos… Perhaps you could just say a few words to us about where you are and what you’re doing, thinking. While we love the informative side of your blog I’m sure we’d all enjoy just snippets as long as you don’t leave us all together!
Cheers for the lovely compliment. I’ve thought about trying to shorten things down. It’s tough when you’re detailed-oriented and slightly OCD like I am LOL. I think for the time being I’m just going to try experimenting with less posts and see how that goes. This past year I was working on the blog for many hours almost every single day, so a little slow down may be all I need. We’ll see.
Nina
Sounds like a perfect non-plan. Your route looks very similar to ours as we are also looking forward to returning to the west.
Hmm I can’t wait to see you wearing a dress 🙂
I can relate about blogging, i felt free when I took a holiday break these past two months.
Sure hope that the challenges you faced last year are now on your rearview mirror.
Me too! And if I wear a dress I’ll be sure to take a pic. It’ll be a lifetime event 🙂
Nina
Our plans are the complete opposite. We are now in Yuma and will head east to Florida up the Eastern Coast over and down. We will most likely check out some of the places you went to this year.
Beautiful day, A beautiful sunset, a bit windy. Love this area
Dropped Pin
https://goo.gl/maps/3W6V5zukDXv
Excellent! Enjoy your trip. The drive up the East Coast is beautiful.
Nina
We enjoy your posts so much ! We live north of Weat Palm Beach (in Hobe Sound) but I grew up out West so I’ll be loving your posts of your “jello” travel plans. I loved living in CA, OR and WA, and my dream is to someday take a walkabout to all those places again. Thank you for your insights and honest writing. May 2017 be blessed with health, and happy memories.
We all know whatever route you decide to go–we will all benefit from your input! Safe travels friends and I hope our paths cross this winter/summer!
Thanks Janna. Very sweet of you to say 🙂
Nina
What a year for you! Whatever change you choose will be good for both of you I’m sure. I hope we are one of the “key spots” you stop at on the way West.
We’ll definitely be swinging by Camp Lopez if we go that way. Couldn’t miss seeing our favorite Island folk. Miss you guys already!
Nina
Don’t forget about Alaska if you really want to get away from it all and experience true wilderness…you should have our contact information 🙂
Ah yes Alaska. We’ve been before with a backpack, but never with “the beast”. We’d love to go one day. Cheers very much for the offer to look you up. You bet we will if we head that way!
Nina
Hi guys. Ever year we sit a theme for our trips. That keeps us motivated in our research and our destinations. Last fall was our “Pacific Northwest Rivers Trip”. That kept us focused on our travels from here in the Mojave Desert. We are usually out about 6 weeks three or more times a year. Sometimes though we need to hear from other travelers who may have hit a “writers block” so to speak. As long as you have each other and friends, family and fun you will be just fine.
Papa
Themes are always nice. We’ve had “lighthouses” as a theme for many years since they’re one of our many passions, but there’s so many others you can choose -> history themes, archeological themes, geological themes. It’s fun to learn as you travel.
Nina
You have had quite a year so we can understand your need for slowing down. After 8 years we are feeling ready to do something different. Just haven’t figured out what that is yet!
Hope 2017 is a good one!
We’re just starting our 8th year too, so I think we’re feeling similar things. Then again, we may just need a rest year to re-energize. Traveling to UK for my sisters wedding this year is something I’m really looking forward to. I think it’ll help clear the perspective on whatever is coming next.
Nina
Hi Nina, Paul and four legged kids- I want to thank you for sharing your experience and insight into Fulltime RVing. My hubby and I and dogs plan to travel in our Rv for as long as we want (no specific end date except for Intermittent job requirements, starting early summer.
We stumbled onto your blog a couple months ago and have read many of your posts. They’ve been both enjoyable and informative. We plan to upgrade our rig from 28′ to 40′. So it’s a plus to learn how you deal with such a large Rv. My hubby is already wanting to emulate your solar set up. 😉
Meanwhile, I understand your blog burnout. I still have a photography blog and have not touched it for nearly 2 years after a series of family tragedies. Video is simply easier to create and can be casual. Writing requires way more time and professionalism.
I hope our paths will cross at some point.
Anywho (sic) I wish you good soul healing. And thank you again for a wonderful blog.
Cheers.
Yup I think you know exactly what I’m going through. So sorry you’ve had to weather family issues. Sadly I also know that path and it does change you. Life is an ever-moving thing, and sometimes we have to switch it up to give ourselves new challenges and keep ourselves engaged. Glad you were able to find your medium.
Nina
Thanks for the update. Always look forward to hearing another perspective on things and you seem to have a great one. Your words regarding the west are very eloquent and, like many of your posts, help motivate even more to get all things done and wrapped up so that we can chase our dream as well: start to full time at the end of this year.
As always, great job!!!!
PS: is there another preferred way to contact you to ask a quick question? I don’t want to clutter this thread.
On your way West and you are in LA see the region around Layfayette, the Cajun and Zydeco is fantastic. Check out the Zydeco breakfast at Breux Bridges (get there early or you won’t get in!) Also after San Antonio TX stop at Luckenbach to see the music and atmosphere there. ( You can boondock for at least one or two nights in their parking lot) At the same time you can visit Fredricksburg nearby. We are in Casa Grande until the end of Feb and then will head to the “boonies” in the desert somewhere! Maybe we will finally run into you.
Great plans… hope there is a photo of u in a dress in our future sorry we are not in Benson to welcome you but hope our paths can cross this spring or summer.
I get this. I hightailed it out of the Northeast with the strongest desire being warm weather and have no set plans whatsoever. It’s a lot of fun to follow your bliss. My only “plan” for now is to be in warm weather because I love it so much and feel so good in it! That feeling of sunlight on my skin is amazing and I feel alive and happy and that’s really all I care about right now. My mode of travel is different, too with more time in one place and my recent first experience with multiple nights at one campground. We have feeedom to play and experiment with what we like and feels best. I look forward to follow whatever you choose!
Hi Nina, I can only imagine the work that goes into maintaining the quality of blog that you do. I know I couldn’t do it! But I so love your blog and specifically your style – the thought and effort you put into it does shine through. However, when it becomes more a burden than a pleasure, it is definitely time to reassess. If your goal is to grow your followers then I suppose you need to consider video, since that’s the trend. But regardless, a creative outlet can be reached in many forms, so go with your heart. Maybe a combo? Sometimes it’s nice to pour your heart out in the written form, and carefully construct what you want to convey – it moves us as readers too. So maybe save it up and do less quantity (might be more cathartic). And then start to explore video more, especially since you mentioned a past in theatre. Could be fun!
We are PNWers ourselves and are new to full-timing. Our path through summer is very much similar to yours this year! We’re in the desert now, and headed to San Diego next, then up along the coast and over to Bend, PDX and Long Beach WA, where we have a house on an acre with a private path to the beach. It’s a vacation rental, so we’re going to put in an RV pad for our motorhome, so we can hang there for periods of time and still keep it rented out if we want. Just thought I’d mention that as food for thought, in terms of ideas for changing it up and slowing down. 🙂
Hope to see you when you are in SD! I am heading to the desert next week to clear my head too & re-evaluate 2017 & figure out what to focus on. Checking your site for boondocking spots. Hope to get you out on the SUP when you are in SD and have some fun! Thank you for all that you do! Safe travels and cheers to a healthy & happy 2017. 2016 sucked for all of us!
Put me down as one who prefers the written word as to the videos. The videos won’t do your photos justice.
I can relate to getting burned out since on the football material I put in more hours in than you put in for the blog and it is generally crammed into 16 weeks or so.
Thank you for your beautiful, well organized, and well written blog. We are about to retire from the military (early forties), buy our first RV, and pack the kids and dogs and head across the U.S., eastbound San Diego to Virginia. Hoping to travel in some of your “tire tracks”, can’t tell you how nice it is to have some good recommendations for beautiful, pet-friendly places to stay.
P.S. Sitting in a house with unlimited, fast internet and still prefer the written word :).
What ever you do, don’t miss the total solar eclipse in August!
LS
Hi Nina!
I’m wondering why staying in the house in Miami validated your NOT wanting to live in stix and brix?
PS we are t-minus 7 days and counting to full time RVing! We followed yours and many others cue to have no storage and that’s what we’ve done. We are super excited about our adventure and will be using your old maps this year.
– Emily
Well mostly it just didn’t feel right. We liked the house, but we were SO happy to get back home to the RV, and we didn’t feel any longing at all for a permanent place. I guess the root of the matter is that we’re just not ready to settle down, and staying in the house confirmed that for us. All very wishy, washy I know…but that’s the gist of it.
Wish you ALL the best in your new adventures!
Nina
Nope, I get it.
Looks like you will be basically heading across I-10. We are currently in Orlando and are leaving Tues to head out the same route. We are Canadian and have to be back in April. We have done this route before but want to try spending more time in Texas this year for a a change. If you have never stayed at Bucaneer State Park in Mississippi, you may want to check it out. It is near Waveland. The sites are a good size and the park is not busy usually at this time of year. Across the road from the beach and lots of room to roam with the dog. I know you usually like state parks. It’s 24.00 a night or 168.00 for a week with full hookups and it’s not far from New Orleans.
Safe travels and maybe we will see you on the road.