Roaming About

A Life Less Ordinary

Category: Ideas (page 16 of 21)

Birthday Weekend Abroad

March 13, 2019 / / 69 Comments

When you live together 24/7 in a small space, it’s incredibly difficult to surprise your spouse. How do you sneak out and make your way to a nondescript store without your absence being noticed? What do you answer when asked “Where have you been?” Or, how do you order a gift online without an address? When we were house sitting, there was an opportunity to intercept the mailman and hide the package, but now that we travel full-time in Zesty again, I was at a loss about what to get or do for Mark’s birthday on March 1st. Believe it or not, but it was stressing me out. It’s one of the few events we celebrate, so it has to be done in style, despite my husband saying he didn’t care.

Before – Dodge
After – Mercedes

Ever since we’ve owned our Mercedes Sprinter Westfalia camper van, Mark has wanted to change the Dodge grill with the Mercedes one. These two engines are exactly the same, but for some reason, the van was “branded” as a Dodge when imported from Germany in 2005. The little Dodge emblem on the hood was immediately replaced, only costing a few dollars. But the grill replacement was vetoed by me. $70 for something cosmetic? That money would be better spent elsewhere on the van. After 1.5 years in our possession, Zesty was still driving around as a half Dodge/half Mercedes. Mark was getting antsy. He found the Mercedes grill on sale, and I said: ”Great! That’ll be your birthday gift.” I have to agree, our van looks much better now.

Installing the new Mercedes grill

Yet, a car part doesn’t constitute a good birthday gift. Continue reading

The Desperate House Sitter

January 30, 2019 / / 54 Comments

July 2018, Newburyport, Massachusetts

“When I come back in six months, it will be winter again,” Mark says, as we pack up in order to take the Amtrak train back from Boston to Santa Fe, New Mexico.

“I’m not coming with you next time,” I reply, “I hate being here in the cold.”

“I don’t blame you,“ Mark responds. “We will make sure to get a house sit by then, so you can stay out west.”

November 2018, Ojai, California

“We really need to find a house sit for January soon. You have to book your plane tickets before they get too pricey,” I say to Mark. We’ve been keeping an eye on sits in Southern California and Arizona on Mind My House and House Sitters America, the two websites we are members of. Nothing decent showed up.

“As long as we don’t know where you and I will be the second week of January, I can’t book any flights,” he says. I know. We need to do something soon, or risk a decision about his departure city. For days I research alternatives. I could boondock in Zesty, but Mark doesn’t like the idea of me being alone in the middle of nowhere without services. Not having unlimited electricity and internet would make it impossible to accept translation projects and work on my book.

We consider a pay campground for twelve days or so. Incredible how expensive those are. I might as well fly back with Mark. It’s cheaper and I’m guaranteed hot showers, WiFi, and electricity. How about staying with friends? Not really an option for that long; we wouldn’t feel good about it. House sitting makes most sense. We reach out everywhere: bulletin boards in Ojai, Facebook groups and personal pages, friends… We even post an ad on Craig’s List. The two reactions we receive from that are “You guys are freeloaders, not wanting to pay for utilities,” and “You won’t find anything in Arizona, it’s the high season.” Continue reading

IWSG Writing Update January 2019 – Titles, Summaries, and Your Help

January 2, 2019 / / 81 Comments

Every first Wednesday of the month, the IWSG (Insecure Writer’s Support Group) engages writers to share their fears, thoughts, progress, struggles, excitement, encouragement, or anything really, about their writing.

This amazing, supportive group of writers was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Today, the co-hosts are Patricia Lynne, Lisa Buie-Collard, Kim Lajevardi, and Fundy Blue. Feel free to swing by their sites and see what they’re up to.

Happy New Year to all of you! May 2019 bring you good health, a generous portion of happiness, and fun adventures on the road, by rail, on the water, in the sky, and with your writing endeavors.

Some of you have been following my book writing process for a couple of years. Yes, that’s how long I have been reporting on this sailing memoir. I actually started even before that. While life, our business, and other projects got in the way during these years, I am now determined and motivated to get this long-term task checked off my mental list. Yes, after being relatively vague and sharing the occasional excerpt, it is time to take action; time for practicalities. And, with that, I could use your help.

Book Progress

As I started going through my memoir again last month, eager to incorporate the suggestions of my beta readers, I stopped cold after a few chapters. It wasn’t because I couldn’t handle it or grew demotivated. On the contrary. I can’t wait to continue this process. But… I came to the realization that, instead of finishing this round of editing and then writing a non-fiction book proposal and then waiting for news from a potential agent, I might as well get the book proposal over with first and receive rejections while I complete the edits. Think about the time saved with that approach! Continue reading

2018 at a Glance – Our Roaming Highlights

December 26, 2018 / / 56 Comments

When I started following my travel passion over two decades ago, my friends were curious about how I could pull it off financially. The answer: all my allowances (as a teenager and college kid) and later my wages were saved up in order to explore the world. As I (unintentionally) became a full-time nomad in 2003, peers and strangers were still apprehensive; some of them even a bit jealous.

Then, as I kept documenting my lifestyle, first through email reports in Dutch, then in Dutch and English, and eventually via my blogs It’s Irie and Roaming About, comprehension set in. I’ve always written about the good and the bad of this lifestyle and offer a glimpse into our monthly expenses. More people “get it” now, and their “I wish I could do what you’re doing” has turned into “It’s awesome how you are living, but I couldn’t do it.” There’s the family, the routines, the job satisfaction, the comfort of home, the different priorities. I get it too.

Whether you are an armchair traveler or a fellow nomad, I hope you are still interested in the content and photos on Roaming About – A Life Less Ordinary and that you continue to follow along as Mark and I set out towards new horizons in the new year. Thank you so much for being here, for reading, commenting or offering us mental support and comfort to keep living the life less ordinary. Without further ado: here are the highlights of our last year in the United States and beyond. I’ve added links to previous posts where applicable. My 2017 overview post can be found here.

January 2018

The year didn’t start too well with my mother-in-law requiring a second brain surgery and her hard road to recovery. Mark and I flew back to Massachusetts from California to help out, after finding a replacement house sitter for those two weeks. Six months later, she was back to her old self. Amazing at 82!

Flying from Southern California to Massachusetts was a shock.
Ice on the river in Newburyport
Carol receiving “get well” cards
The road to recovery was hard
Mark and I are glad we could help out
Winter sun above Boston

Continue reading

A Flood of Memories – Emotions and Closure

July 26, 2018 / / 61 Comments

“My parents are selling their house and moving to a one-bedroom flat. They’re kicking me out,” I whined to Mark a few months ago.

“Your mom and dad aren’t kicking you out,” he responded. “Besides, be happy you managed to stay there and use their address as your Belgian residency all those years. I don’t know any other 42-year-old who still lives with her parents…”

Of course, I don’t really live with my parents in Belgium anymore, but my childhood home has been a safe, familiar, and reliable haven during the last 15 years of my travels. I grew up here, made friends, played volleyball as a teenager, enjoyed long walks in nature a couple of blocks away, and happily returned a few weeks of almost every year. While never a vacation, I did soak up the attention and care I received from friends and family, eager to see me, and ready to spoil me with home-cooked meals, a car to use, and laundry services.

Goodbye, childhood home!

Continue reading

Guest Post on Retirementally Challenged – Grateful… for Others, and Ourselves

July 5, 2018 / / 8 Comments

When Janis at Retirementally Challenged (don’t you love the name of her blog?) asked her most loyal readers to participate in her GratiTuesday series, I initially was going to decline. But, when I gave the idea a bit more thought, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to reflect on the things in life I am grateful for. If you’re curious what they are, check out my guest post on her site, and feel free to leave a comment there. The main photo is quite popular. 🙂

Thank you for hosting me, Janis, and have a wonderful summer everyone!

Read the full post here.

Does the Rock Church Rock?

March 14, 2018 / / 46 Comments

Almost every day, Mark and I walked Elvis and Frida to and around Liberty Station for an hour-long outing. When we returned via Trader Joe’s to pick up a few groceries, we passed signs for “Rock Church”, and observed a building named “The School of Rock”. Once, our little getaway took place on a Sunday morning. Crowds of people – rows and rows of them on the sidewalks – made their way to the church. Traffic control was in place and notices in the supermarkets’ parking lots warned against stationing your car there to attend Sunday service. Our curiosity was peaked! Especially when someone mentioned that the “rock” had nothing to do with the building material, but with a rock concert.

Full parking lots and driveways near the stores
Traffic control
Front of the Rock Church at Liberty Station on Point Loma, San Diego
Church hall

Continue reading

House Sitting: A Healthy Mix of Comfort and Discovery – Guest Post on Retirement Reflections

March 4, 2018 / / 2 Comments

This weekend, I am a guest of Donna at Retirement Reflections, where I explain a bit more about the house sitting process and lifestyle. Would it be something you consider?

Thank you, Donna, for inviting me back to the stage of Retirement Reflections. I enjoyed my performance last time, and today is no different.

Far from retired

My husband, Mark, and I are not settled and not retired. And, we never will be. At least not in the conventional way of owning a house debt-free, concluding a 40+ year career, having a home full of stuff, and receiving a reliable social security check. Why? Well, for starters, we are ‘only’ in our forties. Also, we don’t have a house, haven’t held a ‘normal’ job for 15 years (me) and 13 years (Mark), have no rooms, closets, attics or basements to store anything, and, even though we file taxes in the US (Mark and I) and Belgium (me), we barely make more than minimum wage. We do put some money aside for the future, but expect we will have to keep generating an income, creatively, for many years to come.

Sailing adventure with Darwin and Kali in Annapolis, MD

Part of the retirement environment

All that being said, we have found ourselves surrounded by 60-plussers everywhere we roamed, no matter the lifestyle we adopted this past decade. Retirees are becoming more adventurous. They enjoy being mobile and switching up their surroundings. Some full-time, once the house is sold or rented out, others in stints. We met many matured RVers when we lived in a truck camper and traveled throughout North and Central America, made plenty of retired friends during our eight years of cruising aboard Irie, our 35’catamaran, in the Caribbean and South Pacific, and are in touch with retirees who house and pet sit just like us. The only difference between them and us is that we differentiate between workdays and weekends.

Liesbet and Mark San Blas Islands, Panama

Ever considered house sitting?

While my first two examples might be a tad too adventurous and risky of a lifestyle for many, the idea of house and pet sitting does have a lot of sensible merits. Continue reading here…

(If you would like to leave a comment, please do so at Donna’s site. Thank you!)

Blogging Awards: Thanks or No, Thanks?

February 21, 2018 / / 54 Comments

Blogging awards are a controversial topic among bloggers. Some are ecstatic to receive them, others rather pass, claiming their blog is award-free. I have mixed feelings about the distribution of these virtual awards. They are an arbitrary thing, yet, they are also a symbol of recognition by a fellow blogger. When you receive any of these awards, like the “Liebster Award”, the “Versatile Blogger Award”, or the “Entertainer Blogger Award” (there are more, I’m sure, but these are the ones I have heard of and received), it doesn’t mean that you have been chosen or voted for by a group of people. Nor have you won a competition or a prize for outstanding work, decided by a jury. Is it a link-up? Is it a token of appreciation? Both?  Continue reading

The Best Thing about Blogging – New Friendships

November 17, 2017 / / 52 Comments

In 2007, my husband Mark and I bought a 35ft catamaran in Annapolis, Maryland, called it Irie, and sailed into the sunset. We had no idea how long the adventure would last or where we’d end up. Our first destination was the Bahamas and we planned to live this cruising lifestyle until “we ran out of money”, or “it wasn’t fun anymore”. To document our journey and experiences, and as an alternative to writing group emails, which I had done my whole (traveling) life, I started my first blog. I called the website It’s Irie. Comments were rare; the availability of internet defined when I posted and whether I could upload photos. The blog continued as long as our sailing trip; eight years.

Irie blog

When we sold Irie in Tahiti, French Polynesia, and moved to the US for the time being, I wanted to start a new blog. It took me forever to find a suitable name, that was still available as a domain name and that would be fitting and timeless. Roaming About was born in October 2015, the same time we started a new, boat-less, lifestyle of house and pet sitting. I entered an era where blogging had become more popular and serious. My sailing friend Lisa of One Ocean at a Time suggested a few of her favorite blogs to me. “When you read these blogs and leave a comment, their wonderful authors will return the favor,” she wrote in an email. That’s how my social interactions with fellow bloggers began. Continue reading

Older posts Newer posts

© 2025 Roaming About

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑