Here’s the thing. Everyone is looking for ways to stay energized right now. With COVID-19 well underway, we’re all looking for ways to stay productive and engaged while social distancing from others. Much like my recent work from home tips, these are not anything crazy, but rather just a few ideas to keep your mind and body energized during these crazy times
Journal, Plan, Dream
Have a business idea you’ve been wanting to hash out? Need to get more in touch with some of your thoughts and feelings? Just want to vent but don’t want to harsh anyone’s vibe? It’s a great time to start a journaling habit. Take the time that you would be commuting to work to write in a journal. Maybe it’s creating a life plan for once we’re past the germ apocalypse, maybe it’s writing down a daily list of some of the things you’re thankful for, or maybe even it’s writing down that bucket list you’ve always been dreaming up in your mind. Take some time to be with your thoughts.
Workout
Right now, you’re either thinking nope, this blog post is not for me or you’re thinking now, we’re talking. Either way, it’s a great time to get active. You don’t have to feel like you’re working out to be working out. Just move your body! Just because you can’t be with people doesn’t mean you can’t get your body moving. There are so many virtual workouts out there to take advantage of and many of them are free or at least offer a free trial. Check out the Peloton app for anything ranging from bodyweight exercises to yoga to meditation and if you do have a treadmill or bike, you can run or ride with them as well. But, let’s not forget about the free tool called YouTube that has so many workouts you could never finish them all.
Organize
We could all do with a little extra organization, especially since we’re spending more time at home. So pick a different room each day and tackle it. Organize it, remove the clutter, donate the things you can, and throw out the rest. You don’t have to be a minimalist to realize we all need less stuff, less clutter, less junk. Time to clean house and settle in to this new normal for a while!
Learn something new
With in-person events being halted for a while, there are so many opportunities for free online learning. Many companies are hosting webinars, virtual events, and digital social hours to encourage learning and collaboration. Look at social distancing as an opportunity to learn something new and add even more value to yourself.
Cook or Bake something
Before all this got real serious, I had a feeling I needed to stockpile the pantry so now, it’s time to try out some new recipes. Cooking and baking are great ways to be productive and try something new. It doesn’t have to be crazy creative, it just needs to be something simple to get your mind off things for a bit. Look at it as an arts and crafts project and if it doesn’t turn out, it’s okay, just try again!
Host Virtual Gatherings
Have Game Night – pick one person to be the host and play Monopoly, Life, or another board game via FaceTime
Family Dinner – don’t forget to hang out with family even when you have to keep your distance. Have family members make dinner and be ready to join each other at a specified time. That interaction can make a huge difference during this time of self-quarantine
Sure, you were never expecting to be a work from home employee, but thanks to Coronavirus, here you are! Truth be told, even after the Coronavirus pandemic, these remote work tips will still be applicable for lots of folks. And, hey – I’m always trying to find the positives in things so maybe remote work will become even more common for some people after this health crisis is over because so many companies are going to realize their employees are just as, if not more, productive working at home than they are in an office.
Here’s the thing. I KNEW working in an office was unhealthy for me both physically and mentally. I was getting sick all the time from the constant ebb and flow of germs – flu was going around this coworker’s child’s school and this person’s kid came home coughing and they swear they aren’t contagious (um, insert eye roll here because if your kid caught sick then you got sick then you can DEFINITELY get me sick, too). It was ALWAYS something and if a coworker or their kid had it or even thought about having it, I was catching it, too. Mentally speaking, raise your hand if you’ve gotten caught up in workplace gossip, politics, or drama before? Exactly. Enough said with that one.
The reality of working from home for me is: – I’m entirely more productive – I eat healthier – I have so much time given back to me not commuting to and from work – I’m happier – I mean you’d be happy too if your dog was in the same room with you all day while you worked too. 🙂
I’ve had this blog drafted for quite a while but with the whole Coronavirus ordeal, I’ve noticed so many people are being thrown into the work from home life and aren’t exactly sure how to tackle it. I figured what better time than now to share my tips.
Listen. These tips aren’t exactly rocket science. They’re truly nothing special, BUT when you combine them all, they lead to healthier work from home lifestyle choices and a more productive work day.
1) Designate a workspace for yourself Whether this is a temporary setup because you’re working from home because of the Coronavirus or it’s become a permanent thing for you, designating a workspace will help you mentally separate work from life. If you’re working from home permanently, good for you and welcome to the best working years of your life! You definitely need a separate desk space (hint hint, not just a desk or table in your bedroom!) to work from. You need a designated environment that your mind will recognize as “going to work.” If this is temporary because of the Coronavirus or any other illness floating around the office, your separate space might just be the dining room table and that’s ok too. Just make sure you can mentally designate that space as your office.
2) Take breaks I’m the worst at this! I need to take my own advice a bit when I tell you, you took breaks in the office chatting with people, stretching your legs, stepping outside to get some fresh air – you need to keep that up when you work from home too. It’s so easy to get caught up in the day when there aren’t so many things and people to distract you. I’ve found myself rarely standing up from my desk way too many times and now I have to deliberately make myself take breaks. Stand up and stretch, take 10 minutes to brew some new coffee and grab some fresh air. Whatever you need to do, your mind needs to take a few minutes off so you can recharge and refocus your energy.
3) Don’t forget to eat lunch One of the best and worst things about the office life was always going out for lunch. It was my mental break for the day and I went out to eat EVERY DAY. On one side, it was great because it forced myself to take a few minutes to get my mind off work, get some fresh air, listen to music on the drive to get food, and come back with a clean slate in my brain. On the other hand, the food was unhealthy and it’s super expensive to eat out every day like that. It’s so easy when you’re at home to not take that break. You can get so focused on the work since you’re likely at a more comfortable desk and environment than you are in an office that it’s easy to just slide on by and work through lunch. Don’t do it! Fuel your mind and your body, make some lunch, eat the food. Don’t neglect yourself just because you work from home.
4) Keep your time in check Most people think working from home is easy right? I think the biggest misconception about working from home is that it’s easy to multitask and do personal stuff during the day, but this really couldn’t be farther from the truth. I often find myself working more hours and more days of the week because of the convenience. While I’m great about taking a couple of breaks during the day to get some fresh air, to grab some coffee, or to stretch, I often find myself not even realizing how late I’m working. It’s actually easier to work more when you work from home. I find myself grabbing dinner and sitting back down to keep working all the time or during the weekends it can often be, just one email, let me respond to this. I’ve recently started setting more boundaries for myself and while I’ll never let anything urgent sit in my inbox, I do make sure to stop working at a decent hour and I restrict my weekend working activity to Sunday nights to get a jump start on the week.
5) Have a sign on the door that says Please Don’t Knock or Ring the Doorbell If you get a lot of deliveries (Amazon, am I right?) and you work from home, consider putting a sign like this on your front door – especially if you have a dog! The general rule for this is – the more important the conference call, the louder the dog will bark so use this as one way to eliminate as much of the barking as possible.
6) Get out of your pajamas Ok, so the first few days or weeks of working from home in your pajamas are GLORIOUS. Not going to lie, I probably stayed in my pajamas for at least the first year of working from home. It was unhealthy. It was less productive. I was sluggish. Then I kept reading about everyone saying you should get dressed each morning even when you work from home. I don’t mean office attire (unless you’re video chatting and it’s expected!) but I do mean, get up and put yoga pants on instead of flannel pajamas and a t-shirt instead of a sleep shirt. I know you’re probably thinking how different is it working in yoga pants versus your pajamas? It’s so different. It’s mental, I know. But, making the change from pajamas to real clothes, whether it’s just yoga pants and a t-shirt or yoga pants and a nice top since you have that important video call today will change your mental status from “lounging at home” to “working at home.” I had no idea how important this was for over a year after I started working from home. Now, I get dressed every day, ok *almost* every day and also pretty much never before 10:00am so all the calls I have that sometimes start at 7:00am – definitely still happen in pajamas.
7) Change your scenery Whether it’s stepping outside and working from your patio or porch for a few hours while the weather is nice or it’s going to your neighborhood coffee shop or library, sometimes a change of scenery is good for you. Think about it. When you’re in an office, you tend to find yourself bouncing from meeting room to desk to another conference room. Your mind doesn’t have time to get stale, but sitting at your same desk all day every day even on those conference calls will wear your mind down. Don’t be afraid to change up your routine a bit to mix up your view. It might be as simple as rearranging your desk to see if you like the new setup and it might be as big as sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch for an hour. I actually go as far as to have a second monitor outside so I can still work with two screens. I hate being trapped inside so when the weather is really great, I’ll take my office out to it. That’s my favorite perk of working from home!
Working from home is not something to take advantage of; it’s a privilege. So whether your work from home situation is temporary or permanent, make sure you take care of yourself and your employer – be a good human – do good work – enjoy the work from home life!
PS. If you enjoyed the blog or think others might find something useful in here, use the image below to pin on Pinterest.
3 years ago, I took a leap of faith. I left the comfort of a job I had been in for 5 years in the nonprofit world at an organization I loved, Wounded Warrior Project. What started as a search for change and adventure turned into a blessing.
Here’s the thing. When you’re blessed with exceptional leaders, you strive to be better at everything you do. While I was at Disney, Glenn Green blessed me with his vast experience and knowledge of all the things that were part of the Disney way. He set the standard for me for what an excellent leader looks like. When I left Disney, I was in search of MORE. I wanted to do something that made a difference and even more of a blessing than working for Disney, I found myself at Wounded Warrior Project. There is no work more important than giving back to our veterans who selflessly defend our freedoms, but selfishly, I was again blessed with not just a leader who taught me the importance of teamwork but someone who became one of my closest friends as well, Ayla Tezel.
When I left that job, it was TERRIFYING. I left my comfort zone, but I was searching for something more for my life. I wasn’t 100% certain where it would take me or how long I would be there, but I found myself here at Syniti – an industry I came into knowing nothing about, but they trusted my knowledge of social media and took a leap of faith when they hired me. Now 3 years later, I found myself yet again surrounded by an excellent leadership team: Stephen Drowne, Tracy Accettullo, Zarina Stanford, Kevin Campbell, Rex Ahlstrom, and so many others.
I guess what I’m trying to say is THANK YOU to each and every one of the leaders who has helped shape me into the person I am today. I was shocked and awed this week to be recognized as the one of the Synizens of the Year. I’ve been floating on Cloud 9 since I found out. I haven’t had many words to say because I’ve just been so shocked, but the words I keep finding myself saying are thank you. Thank you to the leaders I’ve worked for, the leaders I haven’t worked for but I’ve watched lead other teams, the leaders from school, college, and grad school – I’m just so thankful for each and every one of you.
The moral of this is: surround yourself with people who make you want to be a better person – both in real life and the digital world.
There are 2 categories of gift-givers during the holiday season.
You’re either a pre-Thanksgiving (and maybe Black Friday)
shopper or a Christmas Eve shopper. The rest of the weeks between those are
simply made for sipping hot chocolate by the fire while watching Christmas
movies, attending Christmas parties, and building gingerbread houses – am I
right? 😉
So with the Christmas season upon us, everyone is talking
about what to get the people in their lives for Christmas. I’m here to tell you
my go-to gift this year!
I’m talking about the gift of portable power! You heard that
right, I’m here to tell you my top 5 types of people who would LOVE to receive
a gift of portable, renewable power for Christmas – or any other holiday for
that matter!
Let me introduce you to AIMTOM,
a company committed to clean, renewable power being made available anywhere,
anytime. As a digital nomad, this is a huge deal. I need to be able to work
from anywhere and have a constant, reliable source of power. No power means no
work so I always need not only a portable source of power, but also something
reliable enough to get me through power outages at campgrounds.
I personally have the AIMTOM SPS-500 (also known as
the PowerPal Raptor) which is their most powerful model. This baby has a 540Wh
capacity and weighs only 11 pounds. This lithium battery power station is 20%
lighter than other power stations with a similar battery capacity. Since every
pound matters when your home is on wheels, this is a big deal for us! Here’s
the thing though, it doesn’t just power up 1 or 2 items, it comes with 9
outputs – that means, I can charge my phone, iPad, and laptop – all while
running my coffee maker. Which by the way, is a true story… I am so thankful to
have this AIMTOM because we’ve lost power several times this year and it always
seems to happen in the early hours of the morning when I won’t be able to make
my coffee to start the day.
With all of that being said, here are my top 5 types of people I think would love to receive an AIMTOM from Santa this Christmas!
Adventurers
Sure most of our readers are RVers, but I didn’t want to just say this gift was awesome for those who travel via RV because listen, there are plenty of other adventurers out there who would an AIMTOM. I’m talking tent campers, RVers who love campgrounds, RVers who hate campgrounds (here’s looking at you Boondockers – hats off to you as always!), hikers, boaters, and explorers of any kind. While I’m featuring the largest of the AIMTOM portable power stations because it’s the right one for me, they make plenty of smaller options to stay even more lightweight for things like hiking days. And, maybe you don’t need this much power to tent camp because you only need to keep your cell phone charged, that’s cool too!
Southerners in Hurricane Zones
This is a nod to all my Jacksonville folk and everyone else in a hurricane zone. Get this gift for your Dad or your husband! He’ll totally feel all-powerful having this, but when the hurricanes come and knock out your power for a bit, you’ll be able to charge your cell phone and iPad. It’s a gift for him, it’s a gift to yourself – no one will ever know the difference.
Digital Nomads
Remote workers – seriously, this is a must-have. Obviously, we love to travel, but having the AIMTOM has completely let me have more freedom with traveling. I’ve always said I can work from anywhere I have cell phone service, but truthfully, that was always limited to however long my laptop battery would last. Now, I never have to worry about heading back home when my laptop starts to blinking low battery warnings because I always have my AIMTOM.
Tailgaters
Tailgating has come a long way. It isn’t just about the grill anymore people! Listen, you have to have power now for things like crockpots and griddles to cook, speakers for music, TVs to watch the games that come on before your game. You need all the power or your tailgate is going to be a total dud. No offense, but no one likes a lame tailgate.
Climate Activists
If you have a climate activist in your life, this is definitely the gift for them. Have I mentioned there’s a solar option you can add on to this? Yep, you can recharge this with the AIMTOM solar panels that actually fold up for easy travel. You can generate your own power from the blessing of the sun and be the most green, eco-friendly gift giver around.
That’s a diverse crew, isn’t it?
Here’s the thing. If you’re a living, breathing, human who
uses electricity like a modern civilized human, you’ll like the AIMTOM. It’s
never convenient when the electricity goes out. Your phone always seems to be
at 5% battery life when you lose power, right? Or, you aren’t able to finish
blow drying your hair to get to work because the transformer down the street
blew and your whole neighborhood lost power. All of these things can be
remedied with a portable power station.
So what are you waiting for? Go and get you and everyone you
know and love one for Christmas because our discount code is only good THIS
WEEK THROUGH THANKSGIVING! Enter RAPTOR540 at checkout to receive 20% off here
at this Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YHDH319.
Remember, this code is only valid this week until November 28, 2019 at 11:59pm
(PST). So, go go go!
Have you ever had that moment while camping where you feel
like Tom Hanks in Castaway? No, not where you’re starving because there’s no
food, but the moment when you make a campfire and you realize, “I have made
fire!” “I. HAVE. MADE. FIRE.”
I feel that way right now because we have found the ultimate of ultimate campfire must-haves. Pull Start Fire is the fool proof, easy way to start fire. Half the battle at the campground is getting the fire started and keeping it going, but Pull Start Fire lets you literally pull a string to start your fire.
Here’s how it works.
After you open your package, you start stacking up your logs in the firepit. The Pull Start Fire package shows 3 logs stacked flat in your pit, so that’s what we did. On one of the logs, you wrap the green string around the log, then continue stacking your tower of firewood. Once you’re ready, you yank the red string and BOOM, you’ve made fire. When you’re attaching the green string to a log, make sure you’re stack of logs is pretty solid. The first time we pulled the red string, we pulled the whole Pull Start Fire firestarter off – operator error! – we simply hadn’t secured it well enough. We made sure to lodge the logs in the fire pit a little more so they couldn’t move when we pulled the string.
Once we got our fire started, it lasted for well over an hour – plenty of time to make say 20 marshmallows or so. 😉 Ok, we didn’t make quite that many, but it was pretty close!
And speaking of roasting marshmallows and cooking food over that open flame, Pull Start Fire is made from recyclable material and is non-toxic so it’s totally safe to cook over! Since we love cooking over campfire, we’re so excited to have Pull Start Fire to get our fires started a bit quicker when we’re ready to eat!
Pull Start Fire claims it will last 30 minutes and will
start wet logs, withstand rain, and can stay lit in winds of over 200 miles per
hour. We haven’t had a chance to test it in rain or wind yet, but we sure plan
to! (Keep an eye out on our Instagram for wind and rain tests soon!)
We’re totally loving this product and we became instant fans
the moment we pulled the string to light the fire! If you’re interested in
purchasing your own, be sure to visit their website. You can purchase online
and in some KOA campgrounds and also some REI locations across the country. You
can purchase as a pack of 3 so you get a few fires out of each purchase!
*We’d
like to extend a huge thanks to Pull Start Fire for
sponsoring this blog post and sending us some samples of their Firestarter. You
can find 3 packs of Pull Start Fire online here and individual firestarters
in store at some KOA campgrounds and some REI stores across the country. While
this is a sponsored post, the opinions are 100% our own and are not impacted by
the receiving of the product.*
One of our most frequently
asked questions about being on the road full-time in an RV is how do we plan
our budget and how different is it from when we lived in a stick ‘n bricks
house.
I recently did a video for Campers Inn RV to get you started on this topic, but I’ve included even more details about each item I discuss in the video (and more) below.
To start, when we decided to
hit the road, we had 3 cars, one for each of us. We sold the two vehicles that
we didn’t need, one of which was completely paid off and the other which was
not. So we immediately went down to just the truck payment there. We do have a monthly
payment for our RV as well, but we essentially replaced the mortgage payment on
the house after we sold it with an RV payment that was about 1/3 the cost of
our monthly mortgage payment.
When looking at budgets, you
need to decide if you’ll be paying for RV sites or if you’ll be boondocking.
This is a huge part of your monthly budget and a big thing to consider when deciding
to go full-time.
RV site fees are different
that a house because we don’t have to pay electric and water. If you stay at
long-term rates (monthly, seasonal, etc.), you do typically have to pay
electric so keep that in mind when looking at options. The campgrounds will
meter your electric and you pay for what you use. Obviously with boondocking,
your fees are much different. Campground fees go away, but depending on how you
get electricity, you have different costs associated with things like running a
generator. I’m not an expert on boondocking since we arent’ boondockers;
however, it is significantly less expensive if you’re able to take advantage of
that lifestyle. Our jobs require constant connectivity to electricity,
internet, and cell phone service so boondocking would be really difficult for us.
Something to keep in mind when you’re budgeting for campground is travel
memberships. We’re members of quite a few RV club because they offer discounted
site rates. See if any of them are right for you. Depending on how often you
plan to move around, some of the clubs may work better for you and some may not
work at all. Evaluate the costs vs the savings and you’ll be surprised how much
you can save with RV clubs for shorter term stays. Keep in mind, these discounts
don’t apply for monthly or long-term rates since those are usually already so
deeply discounted.
One high dollar item for us is gas for the truck. Diesel is expensive and our truck sucks up a lot of gas, especially on travel days. With a heavy fifth wheel like ours, we get down to about 5-7 miles per gallon while we’re towing. On a normal day when we arent’ towing, we still only get about 15 miles per gallon. To put this in perspective, when we winter in Gila Bend, Arizona, the grocery store is about 45 miles away so roundtrip costs in gas just to get groceries is about $20. When planning our travels, I use RV Trip Wizard to help me estimate the total cost of gas for each leg of our trip. It tells me not only how far it will be from campground to campground but how much it will cost in gas for each leg of the trip and the trip as a whole. I’ve plugged in our average miles per gallon while we’re towing and it takes that into account and estimates our total gas costs for us. This has been a huge help when we’re deciding whether certain adventures are worth it or not. If we go out of our way for a few days, we know exactly how much it will cost in gas so we can evaluate the value of the trip.
Our grocery shopping is a bit
different from when we lived in a sticks ‘n bricks house as well. We don’t eat
out nearly as much as we did when we lived in a home. We cook a lot more and I
think that is mostly attributed to the healthier lifestyle we’re living – and I’ve
been learning to cook and LOVE it. Certain towns we’re in don’t have many
options for eating out which makes it easier to cook and eat in – I mentioned
our winter location of Gila Bend and there’s a couple restaurants and a couple
of gas stations that make up the town and that’s about it. We like the
restaurants, but we eat at them maybe twice a month. This makes our grocery
bill significantly higher – especially with the healthier, fresher foods we buy
– but it also means our eating out bill is way lower as well. We end up on the
positive side of this cost even with the healthier, more expensive grocery
choices.
One major thing to be aware of when budgeting is RV insurance. This is one of the most important things when you’re living full-time in an RV. Even if it is more expensive, you need to make sure your insurance covers full-time RVing. If it doesn’t, then your insurance company likely won’t cover your belongings inside the RV if something happens. If you haven’t looked into whether or not your RV insurance covers full-time RVing, stop everything you’re doing and call your insurance company. If you want more information on various types of RV insurance, be sure to check out this guide by Consumer Advocate. They analyze several different types of RV insurance companies and do some of the hard research for you.
One thing we didn’t have when
we lived in a house was a storage unit. We’ve down-sized it several times since
we left, but when we first hit the road, we didn’t know how permanent this
would be for us. We sold most of our furniture when we left, but there were
some more expensive things that we didn’t want to part with in the beginning.
Once we realized we were in this for the long-haul, we decided to purge our
things again and moved to a smaller unit. Then we purged again and now we’re in
the smallest unit they offer with just some family heirloom type items like the
bookcase my Papa built for me and mom’s piano she played growing up. Beyond
that, all that’s left is our photo albums and sentimental items that we just
can’t part with. Storage units range in cost quite a bit and we likely pay more
for this than we should be since it’s in a higher income area, but it’s too
difficult to move to a different location at this point so we’ve come to terms
with the monthly cost of this one.
RV Maintenance is something
else to take into account when setting your budget. Any mishaps you may run
into along the way will be unexpected – your house is on wheels, something will
always go wrong when you least expect it. Our convection oven went out 2 days
after its warranty ended and we’re still working on trying to get a new one.
We’re hopeful, we’ll be able to get it covered under warranty still, but
there’s no guarantee even when things are still covered. I recommend opening a
separate savings account of money that you just don’t touch and it’s there for
when something goes wrong with your RV – whether you use that to pay for a
couple of nights in a hotel while you’re getting repairs or you have a tire
blow out and you need to replace them – having that money set aside will be a
huge relief when these mishaps happen.
My final recommendation is to splurge on AAA for your tow vehicle. Whether you’re towing a trailer or fifth wheel or you’re towing a vehicle behind an A or C class, always have AAA for when you’re out and about. I recommend the upgraded plan (AAA PREMIER) rather than the basic because often times in this lifestyle you might be driving your tow vehicle and be nowhere near your RV or an auto repair shop when something happens to your vehicle. The upgraded Premier plan is the highest level, but the only level of AAA that also provides some coverage for your RV as well. The upgraded plan covers towing at a further distance than the Basic and Plus plans which really helped us out while we were in the Florida Keys. In the 2 years we’ve been on the road, we’ve had to replace tires on the RV, replace tires on the truck, replace a truck battery, and have our truck jumped. This lifestyle puts a lot of strain and pressure on your vehicle so just be prepared
And last but certainly not least, the tool I use for budgeting is the free version of Dave Ramsey’s EveryDollar budget tool. It is online and has an app for your phone as well. It’s super easy to use and best of all it’s free. They do have a paid version if you’re interested in syncing your bank accounts to the app, but I don’t use that.
If you have any questions
about budgeting for the full-time RV lifestyle, just let me know! Happy to
answer any questions you may have!
There’s always a downside to even the best things. While living the full-time RV life is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, sometimes it’s tough. Right now, I’m sitting on a plane flying back to my RV home for the winter, a place I love. But even going back to a place you love doesn’t satisfy your need to be feel close to the people you love. I flew home for almost 2 weeks and while in some ways, it feels like I was there a long time, in other ways, it feels like I could use just a few more days. It always feels just a few days short.
I don’t miss the city life. I miss my people.
I love being on the road, being a mostly free spirit. Sure, life is still very structured with a 9-5 job, but I can do that job from anywhere. I like the simplicity of life on the road, but sometimes, actually every time, I go home, it’s tough to leave. People I love are there. People I used to see all the time, but now I never know when the next time I’ll get to see them is. Sure planes and trains and RVs can take you wherever you want to go, but I hate the feeling of missing people. It makes you feel hollow inside knowing that nothing you can do will bring them any closer.
So I sit on this plane thankful for the time I got with everyone back home, but still listening to sad music because sometimes, that’s just what feel good inside.
(Image quote created by me, song “Wherever You Will Go” by the Calling)
We get the question a lot about how we handle Cash’s vet situation living on the road full-time. It was really difficult with while he was a puppy because he had to go in for vaccinations every few weeks and each time he needed vaccinations, we were in a new location. We did a lot of research before deciding to get a puppy because we were very concerned about this aspect of having a dog on the road.
After all our research, we decided to use Banfield Pet Hospital as our Veterinarians of choice. Our main reason for this is their use of digital medical records. We’re simply able to make an appointment at whatever location we’ll be near and they’ll have his records already. We never have to worry about calling and having them transferred to a new Vet. We never have to give all our information to a new Vet. All we have to do is make the appointment and show up.
This has been a huge life saver for us. Cash has been to the Vet in San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas, Palm Coast, Jacksonville, and Phoenix already in his first year and a half of life. Puppies need so many vaccinations to keep them healthy and Banfield has taken care of us every step of the way.
Plus, they’re located in most PetSmart locations so we know we’ll always be able to find them just about anywhere in the country we may end up. This is so reassuring for us to almost always know we’ll have a vet wherever we are. Not to mention, Cash enjoys running around the store to find new toys and treats before his appointments, too! 🙂
Have questions about living in an RV with your pet? Be sure to send them our way. We’re happy to share our pros and cons about life on the road with a pup!
Everyone knows I love a good Podcast or a good book or a good Netflix binge or really anything that I can relate to or anything that makes me happy – I like.
But, today we’re talking about Favorite Things (which will hopefully become more a of regular series on the blog). And when it comes to favorite things, The Minimalists Podcast is one of my ultimate favorites. I was first introduced to Joshua and Ryan thanks to stumbling across their documentary on Netflix one day back when we were still living in a house with a ton of stuff we didn’t need and I was feeling overwhelmed by all the STUFF. Stuff we didn’t need. Stuff that was just filling corners. Stuff that was just there because the space was there. At the time of watching the documentary, we were an RV family on the weekends, I was working my office job, and I had purchased a house at 25 years old (which at the time felt like an accomplishment). Then it all started weighing me down. We started talking about full-time RVing, but we weren’t sure what we would do with all our stuff. I watched The Minimalists documentary on Netflix and started getting rid of everything I just didn’t need. I started purging. I sold over 15 trash bags of clothes, close to 50 pairs of shoes, and so much other stuff that was just unnecessary. Now when I think about how much I got rid of, it makes my head hurt to even imagine having that much stuff and that’s really just the clothes. I now have a closet with about 40 hangers and even that still seems like too much.
The Minimalists Podcast continuously brings all of the stuff into perspective. Joshua and Ryan have soothing voices and rational thinking behind why all the stuff is just stuff and methods for sorting through and getting rid of everything. I know you’re probably thinking, “Why do I need a Podcast to help me get rid of stuff?” and I get it. It sounds so easy to get rid of all the things you don’t need, but when it comes down to it, it’s easier said and thought about than done. Each time I listen to their Podcast, I come away thinking of something I can get rid of to simplify my life.
The best part is, they started this Podcast years ago so I’m still catching up. I hate starting a Podcast and having to wait for new episodes. With The Minimalists, I started from the beginning and just continued along. They have hundreds of episodes so I’m no where near being caught up. Anytime I need a little boost as to why we’re living so simply or I’m thinking about not having something that I want, I take a listen and most of the time realize I don’t need what I want. If I’m still thinking about the item I’m wanting in a few days, I start to evaluate if I need it or if a purchase would be just a quick, fleeting gratification.
This Podcast is great for anyone who feels overwhelmed by all their stuff, anyone trying to simplify their life, or anyone thinking about the RV lifestyle. While they didn’t create it for RVers, it really exemplifies what RV living is all about.
We’ve officially been on the road for 1 year as of June 18, 2018. While we started living in our RV a few months before we started traveling the RV, we’re calling this date our anniversary. This is the date we chose to quit just thinking about doing what we wanted to do and we actually did it. We haven’t had a city to call home in over a year and that’s quite thrilling. We’ve had temporary homes, but no permanent homes. At this point, we barely even consider Jacksonville our “home base.” Sure, it’s still where we go to doctor appointments, receive our mail, and have a storage unit that keeps getting smaller and smaller, but we have no physical presence there anymore.
In the last year, we’ve:
visited 25 different states
upgraded to a new camper
had a puppy join our family
met hundreds of nice fellow RVers
checked about a million things off our bucket list
The number one question we’re asked is: Where is your favorite place you’ve been? And, without any hesitation, all 3 of us will always answer South Dakota. We loved Custer State Park and Badlands National Park so much and those locations were some of our very first stops – only about 2 weeks into our adventure.
This is just a shout out to anyone out there even thinking about taking a risk and doing something crazy. Whether that’s making the decision to go full-time RVing or anything else life may be throwing your way, kudos to you for even thinking about making a move and doing something crazy. And for all of you thinking about starting the full-time RV journey, reach out to us if there’s anything we can do to help ease your nerves. We’re huge advocates of the lifestyle and would love to help give you that push to start the journey like we did. You definitely won’t regret it!
Freeway Gypsy 