Roaming About

A Life Less Ordinary

Category: RVing (page 23 of 25)

The Best Laid Plans – Start of Our RV Adventure

September 11, 2018 / / 61 Comments

Well, my blogging break has finished. It was a nice change to abandon mine and other people’s websites for the last month, and focus on internet-unrelated pursuits, the things I’d like to call “real life”. ????

Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado

It took weeks to wind down, if I ever got there. Mark and I still had and have business-related obligations, being without internet at our fingertips felt weirdly unfamiliar and, whenever I planned a day off from sightseeing to relax for a day, a translation project would pop up. When it comes to making some money or making no money at all, that choice is a relatively easy one. Unless, of course, there was no internet to even see the assignment.

While I screamed off the roofs before that I would use our limited data towards planning our itinerary and camper-related chores, I had no idea that big parts of Colorado and Wyoming don’t have T-Mobile cell coverage. No worries here about running out of our monthly 5Gb data allowance. We managed to check emails at McDonalds, visitor centers and libraries.

Bright flags to cross the road more safely
Pagosa Springs is popular for tubing and hot springs
Hot spring in town
The hot water felt good on this rainy summer day

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Monthly Expenses – August 2018

September 8, 2018 / / 18 Comments

Expenses - image

Every month, I post a report of our expenses to show that it is possible to live a comfortable, exciting and adventurous life without breaking the bank. The less money you spend, the less you need to make. 🙂 That being said, Mark and I seem to manage one big expense a month for some reason, whether it is camper, plane, travel or computer-related.

This report includes ALL of our expenses, in US$, for the two of us. Under groceries we incorporate all the food, produce and non-alcoholic drinks predominantly bought in supermarkets. Toiletries belong in that category as well. Dining out means eating at a restaurant/event or purchasing take-out food. The health category covers non-prescription medicines and Mark's vitamins and supplements; medical contains prescription drugs and doctor's visits. Health insurance and costs are related to my health care as a permanent resident in the US. Mark is still eligible for free health care in the state of Massachusetts as of today. If a non-emergency were to happen outside of that state, it will be expensive! For check-ups, we both return to the East Coast. I still pay a small quarterly fee in Belgium for health care (required to retain citizenship), which I mention in my year report.

August was different from all previous months, because it was the first full month we've lived in our camper van Zesty.  We have been on the road full-time since the end of July and are slowly adjusting to a lifestyle switch from house and pet sitting to van living.

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IWSG Writing Update September 2018 – Beta Reader Feedback

September 5, 2018 / / 59 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. A different question is posed each month, as a writing prompt for IWSG members. Answering it is optional. For September, the question is: “What publishing path are you considering/did you take, and why?”

This amazing, supportive group of writers was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Today, the co-hosts are  Toi Thomas,T. Powell Coltrin, M.J. Fifield, and Tara Tyler. Feel free to swing by their sites and see what they’re up to.

My answer to the question (What publishing path are you considering/did you take, and why?)

While I realize you can never plan too far ahead when it comes to the writing path, thinking about publishing my memoir while I haven’t touched the manuscript in months feels a bit presumptuous.  That being said, I have read about the pros and cons about traditional publishing and self-publishing. Author Jane Friedman has a ton of valuable articles about this topic on her website, with this blog post being all-encompassing.

In general, the indie way seems to offer most benefits in regards to publishing quickly, being able to print on demand (which is also cost-effective), and more freedom with the title, content and cover art. Yet, there is that one big (mis)belief about a higher success and accomplishment rate when an author manages to snatch a (renowned) publishing house. Going the traditional route, however, means creating a non-fiction book proposal, which is an entire project in itself. While the verdict is still out, I ought to start with rewriting parts of my memoir!

My book progress and why there has been none…

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Blogging Break & On the Road

August 5, 2018 / / 53 Comments

Hello everyone,

For the first time in eleven years of blogging (eight years on my sailing blog It’s Irie and almost three years on Roaming About), I am taking a break from all things blogging, until September 5th, 2018, when another IWSG writing update is due.

The first half of 2018 was tough, hectic and tiring for Mark and me, what with a string of bad luck, business intricacies, house sitting, camper projects, health provider problems, writing my memoir, translation work, travels by trains, cars, and planes, and relatively draining visits to both of our families. When we returned to our camper, rats had chewed up some parts under the hood of our vehicle. We are pretty exhausted, to say the least.

As of July 26th, we have moved into our camper van Zesty for the foreseeable future. We plan to intersperse camping with house sitting when we see fit. The rest of this summer is devoted to visiting national forests in Colorado, national parks like Grand Teton, Yellowstone and Glacier NP, and an extended stay on Vancouver Island, if we don’t run out of warm weather by then. I’m looking forward to gaze at rushing rivers, smell pine trees, marvel at sunsets, and watch chipmunks chase each other. We plan to hike, sight see, photograph, and fully explore our upcoming destinations.

For the next month, our limited data and internet time will go to researching free campsites and attractive places. I might post a few photos on Facebook, but my focus will be on our travels, reading, meeting friends, and hopefully some memoir progress.

See you in September and have a lovely rest of the summer,

Liesbet xox

Sunset over Antero Reservoir, Colorado last week

PS: Our current location will be updated in the right column, as always.

Monthly Expenses – July 2018

August 4, 2018 / / 14 Comments

Expenses - image

Every month, I post a report of our expenses to show that it is possible to live a comfortable, exciting and relatively adventurous life without breaking the bank. The less money you spend, the less you need to make. 🙂 That being said, Mark and I seem to manage one big expense a month for some reason, whether it is camper, plane, travel or computer-related. Luckily, we live totally rent-free, wherever we end up.

This report includes ALL of our expenses, in US$, for the two of us. Under groceries we incorporate all the food, produce and non-alcoholic drinks predominantly bought in supermarkets. Toiletries belong in that category as well. Dining out means eating at a restaurant/event or purchasing take-out food. The health category covers non-prescription medicines and Mark's vitamins and supplements; medical contains prescription drugs and doctor's visits. Health insurance and costs are related to my health care as a permanent resident in the US. Mark is still eligible for free health care in the state of Massachusetts as of today. If a non-emergency were to happen outside of that state, it will be expensive! For check-ups, we both return to the East Coast. I still pay a small quarterly fee in Belgium for health care (required to retain citizenship), which I mention in my year report.

Most of our July was spent in the company of friends and family, in Belgium and in Massachusetts. There were a lot of social events and life-time celebrations, where gifts and taking family members out to lunch and dinner made up a big chunk of our expenses. Other than that, the usual grocery shopping and fuel for two cars (our Zesty back in New Mexico and Mark's parents' car in New England) played a role. We had a flat tire, and dealt with damage caused by rats.

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Monthly Expenses – June 2018

July 12, 2018 / / 38 Comments

Expenses - image

Every month, I post a report of our expenses to show that it is possible to live a comfortable, exciting and relatively adventurous life without breaking the bank. The less money you spend, the less you need to make. 🙂 That being said, Mark and I seem to manage one big expense a month for some reason, whether it is camper, plane, travel or computer-related. Luckily, we live totally rent-free, wherever we end up.

This report includes ALL of our expenses, in US$, for the two of us. Under groceries we incorporate all the food, produce and non-alcoholic drinks predominantly bought in supermarkets. Toiletries belong in that category as well. Dining out means eating at a restaurant/event or purchasing take-out food. The health category covers non-prescription medicines and Mark's vitamins and supplements; medical contains prescription drugs and doctor's visits. Health insurance and costs are related to my health care as a permanent resident in the US. Mark is still eligible for free health care in the state of Massachusetts as of today. If a non-emergency were to happen outside of that state, it will be expensive! For check-ups, we both return to the East Coast. I still pay a small quarterly fee in Belgium for health care (required to retain citizenship), which I mention in my year report.

On the Amtrak train from Santa Fe, NM to Boston, MA

June was a bit of a different month, compared to others.

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Two-week RV Trip, Part 3 – Boondocking/Free Camping

June 28, 2018 / / 45 Comments

To most of you, it probably doesn’t come as a surprise that Mark and I are frugal people. It’s not that we don’t have any money, or that we don’t make any money; we choose to only spend what is needed to live comfortably and eat healthy. This allows us to work jobs we enjoy (generally speaking), where the wages are inferior to our flexibility and satisfaction. The less money you spend, the less you have to make, and therefore work. ????

Our past house-sitting lifestyle guaranteed we never paid for rent or utilities. Our biggest expenses this year involved our camper van Zesty. Setting him up to live off the grid (we still have to work more towards that) and travel full-time will provide savings in the future. We prefer boondocking (“dry” camping for free, usually without facilities and preferably in nature) to RV parks and official campgrounds. I compare it to anchoring on our sailboat, as opposed to staying in marinas, which we rarely did, for similar reasons. We prefer privacy, natural surroundings, and spending no money on camping (or mooring). In the year we have owned Zesty, we have paid twice for a “bare bones” campground without hook-ups, but with toilets, trash receptacles and a dump station. Once in Zion National Park last October, and once on this two-week RV trip.

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Two-week RV Trip, Part 2 – Indian Pueblos and Culture

June 21, 2018 / / 57 Comments

After less than one week on the road in Zesty, Mark and I returned to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in case an urgent health matter had us drive back to the East Coast in our van. Juan, the “window guy” at Extreme Twist, added an extra layer of silicone to the inside of our windshield, in the hopes it would finally be fixed. We couldn’t water test it until later. Mark’s health scare proved less urgent than we thought, but it kept weighing on us the rest of our time in the van. Today, I’m happy to report that it was false alarm.

Instead of retracing our steps yet again, back to Arizona, Zesty took us north, to Chaco Canyon. The idea was to spend the afternoon in Chaco Culture National Historical Park and see some of the most spectacular ruins of the Chaco Indians. But, by the time we reached the area after a 4-hour drive, and conquered the 14-mile long washboard gravel road to get to the park (which took another 2 hours instead of ½ hour because we are heavy and extremely careful), it was too late and hot in the day to stick to plan. We decided to camp for the night at the only (pay) campground in the park and split the excursion over two days.

Bonito Pueblo

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Two-week RV Trip, Part 1 – Rocks and Petrified Wood

June 13, 2018 / / 69 Comments

After Mark and I finished our two-month house sit in Santa Fe, the end of May, we had no other assignments lined up. Partly because the 2.5-week gap before our train journey east was tight to find a “perfect” house sit; partly because we wanted to give full-time RV living a chance. We planned to make a loop from Santa Fe west into Arizona, north to the Four Corners region, east through Southern Colorado, and then back south into New Mexico. Memorial Day weekend would offer us a little break away from the computer, and since our business partner was on holiday for ten days early June, Mark’s job would be more relaxed then as well.  During those once-a-year periods, he only deals with customers over email, and postpones phone calls until “vacation time” is over.

The southern part of Petrified Forest National Park

Our trip was off to a rocky start, since our windshield was still leaking. We’d come back earlier, after two weeks, and deal with it then. First stop: El Malpais National Monument, where we’d briefly stopped for a free night of camping after picking Zesty up in Arkansas, almost a year ago.

El Malpais National Monument

Already on day one, our bikes came in handy. We explored the eastern part of the park at our own pace, and photographed rocky outcrops, peddled through Indian Reservations, and discovered a natural arch.

Zesty and the bikes in the Joe Skeen campground of El Malpais
The black patches are lava rock
Sandstone Bluffs
La Ventana natural arch

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Monthly Expenses – May 2018

June 5, 2018 / / 38 Comments

Expenses - image

Every month, I post a report of our expenses to show that it is possible to live a comfortable, exciting and relatively adventurous life without breaking the bank. The less money you spend, the less you need to make. 🙂 That being said, Mark and I seem to manage one big expense a month for some reason, whether it is camper, plane, travel or computer-related. Luckily, we live totally rent-free, wherever we end up.

This report includes ALL of our expenses, in US$, for the two of us. Under groceries we incorporate all the food, produce and non-alcoholic drinks predominantly bought in supermarkets. Toiletries belong in that category as well. Dining out means eating at a restaurant/event or purchasing take-out food. The health category covers non-prescription medicines and Mark's vitamins and supplements; medical contains prescription drugs and doctor's visits. Health insurance and costs are related to my health care as a permanent resident in the US. Mark is still eligible for free health care in the state of Massachusetts as of today. If a non-emergency were to happen outside of that state, it will be expensive! For check-ups, we both return to the East Coast. I still pay a small quarterly fee in Belgium for health care (required to retain citizenship), which I mention in my year report.

May was an extremely expensive month for Mark and I. We expected the big, annual camper insurance bill of almost $1000, and attempted to keep other expenses low by doing what we always do: keep eating out and drinking out to a minimum, and only buy the things needed to eat healthy and get our camper ready for the road.

We bought bikes, then, we needed to get a rack, and a swing out hitch. Next, a bag for protection. With this contraption, our lights and license plate weren't visible anymore for traffic behind us, so Mark fabricated an extension, we moved the license plate (still waiting on an extra one), and purchased extra lights.

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