GLAD YOU'Re HERE

Travel Stats

We're always on the move. We figured it would be nice to keep track of the important details of our travels.

908

DAYS ON THE ROAD

76567

MILES TRAVELED

37

STATES VISITED

339

TACOS CONSUMED

Hi friends! I compiled all the Q’s and all the A’s from last weeks #BFNQANDA and made a blog post out of it so that they would live in a place so they can be revisited or shared if need be. Link in the bio. Like I said, I’d like to keep doing these periodically so if you got the questions, do t ever hesitate to send em our way 🤙🏼
On a unrelated note: Thank you all so much for all the birthday love over the weekend. You all certainly know how to make a lady feel special. We had an amazing time enjoying the first day of sun we’ve had in nearly 3 weeks! 😘

Today is my birthday. I could say something insightful about being another year older, but instead I’m just going to say that it was one hell of a year and I’m hungry for more 🤙🏼

Q: What is y’alls strategy for finding good/safe camping spots on a day to day basis?
A: This is something that we tend to keep close to the vest and I’ll tell you why. We take a lot of time to find the places we camp at every night. It’s taken us a long time to perfect the craft. Learning this skill overtime has made us appreciate the places we stay that much more because we work so hard to find them. We believe that others should put in the work so they too can experience the joy of rolling a killer spot for the night. Also, more and more we show up to camp spots and they’re TRASHED! All too often people stay, then leave behind unbelievable amounts of trash and because of that we really struggle with the idea of putting spots on blast like that. I know that this won’t be a popular answer but honesty is my middle name, and this is how I feel about it. What I can tell you is that we mostly stay in public lands and other “green spaces” where dispersed camping is permitted. We’ve also gotten very good at identifying spots via google earth and when we’re just driving along. Walmarts, rest stops, and large truck stops are great for in transit camping but we only use them when we have to. Signs will mark weather or not overnight parking is aloud in all of those places. I feel that this is a good time to stress the importance of taking care of the places you camp at, paid or not. Public lands belong to all of us and it’s our responsibility to take care of them. If we aren’t on public lands, then we’re a guest and we like to treat it accordingly. If you see trash left behind by others, take out what you can so you can leave it cleaner than you found it. People are less likely to leave an area trashed if it isn’t already littered. Thanks for understanding our reason for discretion in regards to camping, it’s really something that is very important to us.

Day 5 of 5 Q&A:
Before I get into today’s Qs, I want to thank you all for sending so many great Q’s over for us. It’s been an absolute pleasure answering them for you because I love helping people find their way into their own adventures. I didn’t get to all of the q’s this week so I might start doing a Q&A day once a week going forward providing I q’s to answer. So if you got em. You know where to find us. Now, back to the show.
Q: Do you miss your Vanagon?
A: Everyday. I think about that van (Stanley) seriously every. Single. Day. I’m a firm believer that the Westy platform is the perfect living space for full-time life on the road, but we just couldn’t deal with the inconsistency from a mechanical standpoint. We loved living in that van, the world look so good through the windshield, & it brought so many wonderful people into our lives. That’s the great thing about a VW, people just come up to you and start telling you their VW memories. Sadly, what did us in was that eventually nearly every dollar we made was going into keeping our van running (after the many $10’s of thousands of $ we put in before the road) Stanley nearly bleed us dry of all of our money on more than one occasion, and weren’t ok with that. Our symbol of freedom was the one thing that was holding us back, and we knew that something had to change. Even after purchasing Amelia we thought long and hard about keeping our van because we really loved him that much, but it just wasn’t practical to have that much money tied up in a vehicle that weren’t using. Also, Stanley was built to be on the road and it would be cruel to put him in storage.
Q: Since living in tacoma don’t you ever feel like sitting up inside on your bed while say it’s raining or too cold outside?
A: No, not really. That’s probably because we don’t spend very much time in the back. We’re only in there if we’re winding down for bed or watching a movie. If we’re hanging out when the weather is bad we tend to stay sitting in the cab. If the weather is good we’re outside. Once we get in the truck bed we’re ready to be in there & it’s super cozy. We’re also not the largest people out there so we can sit up, it’s just a hunched sit.

Q: What do you do for health insurance while on the road and traveling in and out of Canada?
A: I’ll be fully honest & say that I don’t know a whole lot on the esubject, but I’m glad this was asked because it made me realize that our insurance policies are not accepted anywhere outside the US. There is Travelers insurance of which I purchased once for a trip to Mexico. There are various providers of travelers insurance & the great thing is that you can purchase it just for the length of your stay in whatever country you are traveling to. Full transparency, we don’t buy travelers insurance unless it’s required on a group trip or something. It’s out there, & you should probably be more responsible than we are & get it especially if you’re traveling for a sport (ie. climbing, surfing, or underwater hockey)
Q: Are you both “good” sleepers? I love camping & outdoor adventures, but I’m not a good sleeper, which is frustrating. Have you ever had this struggle on the road, how did you overcome it?
A: Owen could sleep through ANYTHING, and always has been that way. He is the type of person that falls asleep half way through a sentence. I on the other hand, used to be light sleeper and often would have a hard time falling asleep. Living on the road has actually made me a FAR better sleeper. The first few weeks of being on the road I was crazy paranoid & would wake to every little sound. It just took some time to get used to. I now sleep harder consistently than I ever did before going on the road. I think that the constant change & seeing new things takes it out of you more than you may realize until it’s time to go to sleep. I also think might light sleeping has changed to more of “aware sleeping” which is hard to describe. For instance if we leave a window open for air flow and it starts to drizzle, I’ll wake up immediately to close it. If we’re asleep at a truck stop I’ll not wake up to a diesel truck rolling by the car. Weird, I know. It’s just how things have come to be. I’ve also found that if I have a hard time sleeping, having a @amazonkindle near (great because I don’t have to turn on lights to read) I’ll read a page or two & be out before I know it!

Day 4 of 5 Q&A:
Q:How do you get snail mail?
A: We have all of our physical mail go to our business manager (aka Mom, but really she is also our business manager). We actually get paid via check so it’s good to have someone who has access to our business accounts receiving our mail so they can be deposited ASAP. When there is a pile of mail that we need in person we have her send us packages either general delivery USPS or @UPS to another UPS location. General delivery is a great tool on the road because we can send packages to a post office we know we will be going past in the coming week or two! Visit the USPS website for info on how to address general delivery packages. For those who don’t have a person to send their mail to, we’ve heard that there are services out there that can do something similar, but we’re not experts on them. Side note: I want to publicly thank my mom (@kroghnest) for being the best business manager anywhere

Q: Do you plan on upgrading Lando or are you guys looking to go back towards van life after your Lando? Do you miss the extra “inside” living space ever?
A: Settle in, I have a lot to say on the subject! Lando was always intended to be temporary. The decision to sell Amelia (Sunrader) was made on the side of the road in North Carolina. I pulled over unable to drive another ft without confessing what had been on my mind for weeks. I looked at Owen tears already streaming down my face. Owen speaking before I could said he knew what I was going to say. Turns out we both had the sneaking suspicion that Amelia wasn’t going to workout for us. Vocalizing those thoughts as we sat in our dream home that we’d just spent 8 months building was gut wrenching. In that moment, our priorities shifted. It no longer mattered what our home looked like to the outside world, priority #1 was to get back on the road so we could get our life back, we were willing to go in absolutely any mode of transportation necessary. With the decision made we went to camp called our parents who worked along side us and took care of us through the build and our dear friends @liveworkwander to make sure we weren’t crazy. The next time we started driving it was to pick up Lando. We needed something simple & fast to help us fall back in love with being on the road. We needed to take some time to reflect on Amelia, why she didn’t work for us, & what we wanted our life to look like going forward. As fast as that decision was made it was the right call to make because I can honestly say that he’s been able to do that for us. Our time in Lando has brought a world of clarity to our long term goals & what home on wheels that is right for us. Owen & I’ve put a down payment on our new rig and should be in it by the end of the year. We’re still sorting out a few of the details so we’re not 100% ready to share what we’re moving towards. What I can say is that it’s not a van. We’re also not doing the build build ourselves because we learned the value of our time when building Amelia and we want to travel until the day our new rig is ready...Continued in comment blow.

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