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Checking in. . .one month on the road

Jul 172015



Not-All-Wander-Lost

I can hardly believe it’s been a month since we left Olympia, Washington for this trip of a lifetime. For this leap of faith. For this dream of ours.

I remember our first day on the road so clearly – how nervous I was as we left the comfortable, predictable house and moved into a shiny, tiny home with wheels. As we pulled that home over Snoqualmie mountain pass and set up camp for the first time the emotions shifted between excitement, fear, anxiety, excitement, fear, anxiety, exhaustion, excitement. . . .but we just kept on trucking and it’s gotten much easier as we go. The more we tow, the more we set up/take down the trailer, the more we see – the more comfortable it gets and the more confident we become. The emotions these days are mostly excitement and lots of joy. And for me especially, contentment.

Lake-Wenatchee-State-Park-Campground-spot

We’ve taken it slow – after only 30 days we were still only about 10 hours from where we started! But the beauty of this trip isn’t about the distance or the miles logged – it’s about the experiences we’re having along the way, the family and friends we’re seeing, and ultimately that we’re enjoying the view along the way.

The FAMILY part has been the highlight. Without the distractions of housework, yard work, a 9-5 job – we’re all present and participating in this adventure as a unit. I’d be lying if I said it’s been roses and rainbows every single second – we have had to adjust and adapt, but at the end of the day we’re a stronger, closer family – creating memories that will last a lifetime.

And the family we’ve seen along the way – how blessed we’ve been in just four weeks to spend time with – my grandma’s sister and husband (Clarkston, WA), my grandma (Coeur d’Alene, ID), my aunt and uncle (Post Falls, ID), my cousins and cousin’s kids (Post Falls) and my sister- and brother-in-law and their kids (Glacier National Park, MT). I had people ask us about missing family when we move – and we do miss our Puget Sound-area family very much – but we are getting the chance to see family and friends we haven’t seen in years during this journey!

Biggest challenges so far. . . 

  • Finding reliable wifi to be able to work along the road. We have a Verizon JetPack that allows us to use WiFi through our phone – but it’s expensive, so I’m always worried about using the data. Wifi in campgrounds just isn’t reliable – especially when the campgrounds are full.
  • Finding inexpensive campsites has been tricky, even state park campsites in Washington were costing us $35+ a night. Ideally we’d find a spot where we could get a weekly rate, but because it’s the busiest time of the year with summer travel – we’ve had limited options for places to stay longterm or inexpensively. I expect this to get easier as we head into fall.
  • Meal planning has been a learning process – without my pantry and stockpile at home it’s harder to be creative with last minute, easy meals. I’m getting better at finding recipes that work well on a grill or are easily whipped up in the trailer – and hope to share more about this as I get better at it.

Caverns-State-Park-Montana

A few thoughts on this past month . . .

  • I don’t miss anything we sold or gave away before starting this journey. Not a thing.
  • I’ve actually downsized even MORE since leaving Olympia, giving items to family/friends and donating them along the way. You really need so very little material things for day-to-day needs.
  • I love that it takes me 20 minutes to clean my entire house – including rooms organized, floors mopped, kitchen scrubbed, fridge organized and bathroom cleaned.
  • I don’t miss my dishwasher as much as I thought I would.
  • It’s nearly impossible to LOSE anything in this trailer. I spend a lot less time looking for things! 🙂
  • I drink a lot less coffee when we’re using a french press instead of using a 12-cup machine.
  • We spend an exponentially more time OUTSIDE than we ever did in our house. Even with a liberal covering of 70 SPF I’m dotted with freckles I haven’t seen since I was a kid playing for hours in the yard – and it feels good.
  • This country is a BEAUTIFUL place.
  • I LOVE that the view out my window changes often. That the birds and plants are new. That there is SO much to learn at every place we stop. It’s invigorating and exciting.
  • You can plan, research and prep until the cows come home. But it’s faith, bravery, patience that really MOVE you to action.
  • I’m braver than I ever imagined possible.

When we were planning this trip, I would share our plan carefully with people – always with a clause – just in case we hated it and ended up turning around. I don’t know why, but perhaps because I didn’t want to feel like a failure if our big dream turned out to be a bad choice.

Today I feel differently.  It’s our dream. We’re chasing it. And we LOVE it. Whether it lasts 2 months, 12 months or longer – I know this was the right choice for us and there are no regrets. We’ve taken more leaps of faiths than some people do their whole lives. We’re stronger, braver people for that.

Who knows where this journey will take us. . .but I’m grateful for every day along the way.

Sunrise-Montana-Airstream

{ 16 Comments }

by Heather Filed Under: Heather

June 2015 Travel Budget – $1,731.77 {partial month}

Jul 132015



Monthly-Budget-full-time-travel

We hit the road full-time on June 15 and I thought I’d share with you the budget for those last two weeks of June.

As a reference, I had created a tentative budget back in May, of what I thought we might spend each month – and I plan to update that later this week based on what I’ve learned so far about our habits, needs and choices.

June 15 – 30, 2015 expenses

Camping/Resort fees – $457.91
Groceries – $322.39
Gas – $314.19
Vehicle/Trailer Insurance – $100
Dining out – $193.66
Cell and internet – $150
RV maintenance/supplies – $97.44
Entertainment/Museums – $53.39
Toiletries – $32.04
Laundry – $24.75
Showers – $11
Propane – $0 – we haven’t had to refill yet!

June costs TOTAL – $1,731.77
Estimated MONTHLY expenses – $3,462 (if doubled)

Here’s a bit more detail on June expenses:

Camping and resort fees was our biggest expense. Due to the extreme heat wave in Eastern Washington/Idaho we skipped our stay in Hells Gate State Park and headed north to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho a few days early. This meant spending three nights in a premium RV spot because it was the only spot available in town. The state park would have been much cheaper but we wanted to head north because there was a lot more shade, lots of family to hang out with, and more things to do inside – we are so glad we did this!

Groceries/Eating Out – We left town with an almost empty fridge. We were so busy getting the trailer ready that menu planning and having groceries in the fridge just didn’t work out. We also ended up eating out a bit more than we had planned – but primarily because it was SO hot that we didn’t feel like cooking in the trailer or grilling in the hot sun.

Diesel Gas – We drove about 900 – 1,000 miles during those two weeks. We are using a free app called Fuelly to track our miles per gallon and we seem to be averaging about 12.9 miles per gallon (as low as 11.4 towing through hills and as good as 14.8 not towing). On average we’re paying $2.98/gallon for diesel fuel.

Entertainment – We did a LOT of free activities in June. Geocaching, visitor’s centers, state park programs and playing outside. Our limited costs were movies in Walla Walla, the Fort Walla Walla Museum and a local theater program.

Cell phone and internet – This is going to be way more than we expected initially. I was hoping to use the FREE wifi in the campgrounds – but it’s essentially useless during the summer months when the campgrounds are full of families streaming videos. In order to keep working and running my business (I blog over at QueenBeeCoupons.com), I’ve had to rely a lot on cellular data. This gets EXPENSIVE fast. Walla Walla Blue Valley RV park was really the only place with good free WiFi so far. We’ll see how this shakes out.

Laundry – Many folks commented on my low laundry budget and I can see why now – we’ll probably have to double our laundry budget to be realistic.

I want to point out that this budget is for full-time TRAVEL. You can save a substantial amount of money if you stay in an RV park long-term . . .especially if you get weekly and or monthly rates (big savings here). You can also save a lot by having a Thousand Trails membership – but this limits where you can stay and we wouldn’t likely take advantage of their best promotion of buy three (3) weeks, get one FREE. You can also save a lot by boondocking – which means camping in free spots without hook-ups. We hope to try this more after our comfortable level increases.

Health insurance – We have health insurance covered through Jeremy’s work until the end of September – so this is not an expense now, but will be down the road. More on this later.

Bills we are NOT paying traveling full-time – We are no longer paying a mortgage/taxes ($1,500/month), garbage, water, electricity, cable, internet, alarm system, HOA dues, daycare/preschool, insurance on second car – and we are CONSUMING so much less because we don’t have the space to store clothing, toys, games, kitchen gadgets, etc.

We also do NOT have a trailer or truck payment – This was really important to us, so we purposely paid cash for the trailer and the tow vehicle. For families considering full-time travel, if you can avoid a monthly payment by saving up and paying cash I feel like it eliminates some of the pressure to earn on the road.

Looking forward. . .I can tell you already that July is shaping up to be a ridiculously expensive month. It just is. State and national park campgrounds are full, private RV parks are charging a premium and we spent 10 days in Coeur d’Alene at an expensive RV park because of it’s prime location to family and activities. I expect our summer expenses to be higher than the winter – but we will have to see how that all shakes out.

What do you think about this RV budget? Is it less or more than you’d expect? How does it compare to your expenses in a regular or typical housing situation? 

{ 13 Comments }

by Heather Filed Under: Budget

Celebrating the 4th of July – Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

Jul 122015



Happy-4th-July-CDA_Airstream

The 4th of July – it symbolizes FREEDOM. And this year, the holiday had extra special meaning for me.

This crazy journey that we’re on – it is all about FREEDOM for us. Freedom from the 9-5. Freedom from a house full of stuff we didn’t need. Freedom from debt. Freedom to live a lifestyle that isn’t the status quo. Freedom to explore. I am so grateful for this country and the many forms of freedom that we enjoy! 

We spent the 4th of July with my family in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. My grandma, my aunt and uncle, and my cousin and her family. We have so much fun together – I’m so grateful to spend this time with them.  On the afternoon of the 4th we had a big picnic down by the Coeur d’Alene river. Thanks to a lot of hot weather in the area, the river was nice and warm and the kids spent hours swimming, splashing and even kayaking!

That night of the 4th, we headed to downtown Coeur d’Alene, for the huge 4th of July festival and fireworks show!  We had purchased glow necklaces at Target ahead of time and packed some snacks. We got there early and found the perfect spot on the grass by the lake.

Around 10 p.m. the firework show started. These photos need no captions, but of course looked a million times more spectacular in person.  . .

CDA_fireworks-show-july-4-2015

4th-of-July-CDA_Fireworks-whit

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{ 3 Comments }

by Heather Filed Under: Destinations, Idaho

Ravenwood RV Resort – near Silverwood Theme Park {Idaho}

Jul 82015



Ravenwood-RV-Resort

I recently shared about our awesome trip to Silverwood Theme Park – what fun we had!  If you’re planning a similar trip, and you’re looking for an RV park near Silverwood, I highly recommend Ravenwood RV Resort!

RV-Park-Near-Silverwood

Located just off Bunco road, a mile south of Silverwood Theme Park, this place was so conveniently located – saving us a long drive to/from an RV park in the Spokane or Coeur d’Alene area. (Silverwood also has an RV park, but it books out way in advance).

[Read more…]

{ 6 Comments }

by Heather Filed Under: Destinations, Idaho, RV Park Reviews

Silverwood Theme Park {Idaho} – Enter for a chance to win 4 tickets ($188 value)

Jul 72015



Silverwood-Theme-Park-Review

One of our favorite things to do when we come to Northern Idaho is a day at Silverwood Theme Park!  Just 17 miles north of Coeur d’Alene, Silverwood Theme Park is both an amusement park and a water park (Boulder Beach) – and admission gets you all day access to BOTH parks!

Silverwood-MapReviewing the map before the park opens, picking our first stop!

We usually get to the park about 30 minutes before it opens. Parking is $5 for the day and is an easy walk into the park. Getting to the park a few minutes early allows us to get our tickets (if you do Will Call) and allows us time to get into the park and get into line. We apply sunblock while we wait to get into the park and we fill up our empty water bottles at nearby water fountains.

As soon as the park opens – the toughest thing will be to choose what to do first! Because temperatures would reach in the mid-90s the day of our visit, we opted to do the theme park rides first and then head over to the water park during the heat of the day.

Cork-Screw-Silverwood

We went straight for the roller coasters!  If you’re a thrill seeker, Silverwood has some amazing roller coasters and thrill rides to choose from. My 7-year-old loves these types of rides as much as I do – so we spent lots of time in this area. We loved the Cork Screw!

Tilt-A-Swirl-Ride-SmilesOn the Tilt-A-Whirl ride. It was one of my favorites (the kids loved it too!)

In addition to roller coasters, they have other Fun-For-All Rides such as the Ferris Wheel, Paratrooper, Scrambler, Tilt-A-Whirl, Carousel and more.

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by Heather Filed Under: Destinations, Giveaways, Idaho, Theme Parks

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