Roaming About

A Life Less Ordinary

Category: Travel (page 25 of 28)

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

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Monthly Expenses – November 2018

December 5, 2018 / / 16 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. 🙂 Since July 2018, Mark and I have lived and traveled full-time in our camper van Zesty, which has affected our expenditure, compared to our previous house and pet sitting lifestyle. This last month was a combination of van life and house sitting.

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.

Driving through the redwoods
And along the California coast
Glass Beach in Fort Bragg
We stopped here, because my best friend Rosie LOVES sea glass.

November was an interesting month. Half of it was spent in Zesty, as we drove south in California and spent a week in Monterey, working, and the last couple of weeks, we were settled at a house sit in Ojai. We REALLY tried hard to spend less money, but with my birthday and our Christmas shopping, the gift category went up. We kept ourselves from buying more alcohol, except for that one cheap bottle of white wine, and postponed filling up our diesel tank again until December. 

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IWSG Writing Update December 2018 – Monterey Moments

December 5, 2018 / / 54 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 December, the question is: “What are five objects we’d find in your writing space?”

This amazing, supportive group of writers was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Today, the co-hosts are  J.H. Moncrieff, Tonja Drecker, Patsy Collins, and Chrys Fey. Feel free to swing by their sites and see what they’re up to.

Answer to the question (“What are five objects we’d find in your writing space?”)

Probably the same items you find in other writers’ writing space – a laptop, a mouse, a glass of water (or cup of tea), a strong light, and a desk – with the major difference that everything but the laptop and the mouse changes whenever we move houses to take care of people’s animals.

My trusted computer goes everywhere with me

Book Progress

What was I thinking when Mark and I moved into our camper van Zesty indefinitely, at the end of July? That I’d be able to combine daily errands, sightseeing, driving, hiking, and translation jobs with writing/editing my memoir? Ha! And, it’s not that I didn’t know better, after running our own business from a sailboat in the middle of nowhere and from a couple of campers for years. Combining work, life and leisure on the road (or the water) is tough, leading to the insane and the impossible! Yes, Mark and I are good at making a challenging lifestyle just a tad more challenging.

Enough about my wishful thinking, my naivety despite experience, and my conviction that “it might work out this time.” It didn’t. I can’t concentrate hours on end to work on my book when: 1) my laptop’s battery only lasts three hours, 2) we have limited data on our cell phone acting as a hotspot; the same cell phone Mark uses for navigation when he goes on bike rides, 3) two people occupy the same 10 square feet and one stowable table simultaneously, 4) a paid job pops up each time I attempt to pick up that memoir again, and 5) we stay in all these amazing places full of discovery and adventure.

My office at our current house sit in Ojai, CA – Can you spot two of the three dogs?
Yay! Time to work on my book again.

So, Mark and I are house sitting again for the time being. Continue reading

Our Oregon Trail

November 23, 2018 / / 46 Comments

When Mark and I crossed the border into Oregon mid-October, we were welcomed with blue skies and friendly smiles. A tad different from the Olympic Peninsula. An Indian summer had arrived and the outdoors was calling. Before heading into nature again, Mark and I stopped in Portland. We met up with a dear friend we had last seen in Luperon, Dominican Republic, ten years ago. It was another reunion that will make it into a separate blog. As a matter of fact, we reconnected with three sets of friends in this state. I ought to dedicate my next post to all the beautiful friendships we experienced while on the road these last four months.

Portland

The biggest, most vibrant city in Oregon is not its capital. That honor belongs to Salem, which we would visit with friends later on. In Portland, we succumbed to urban camping. We had read about a 24-hour parking lot in the funky Alberta neighborhood, NE of the city center, where one could “settle” for $1.50 a day. This small piece of land, the size of a parking spot, became our home for a couple of days.

Our home base for a couple of days

We explored the popular bar and restaurant scene of Alberta on foot.

Fall in Portland
Funky stores
Food trucks are popular
There are many of them, throughout the neighborhood
Art is a part of this area as well.
We loved the colors and the vibe of this neighborhood

We rode our bikes across the Willamette River into the city center to soak up the vibe along the waterfront park (with its many homeless people), downtown and in Washington park.

This bridge is my favorite and the one we took with our bikes. There is a separate lane for bikers and pedestrians.
Downtown Portland
Old and new coexist
Pioneer Courthouse Square
Mark and I spotted and used an all gender restroom for the first time. It was a bit more complicated, but oh-so making sense to have all the facilities in one room.
One of the statues dispersed throughout downtown
Quite a few bridges cross the Willamette River into downtown Portland.
Time for another lunch with a view
Taking the bikes into Washington Park and its famous rose garden
Happy Halloween!
Of course, we had to check out world-renowned Powell’s book store.
Floors and floors of books (an entire city block) are overwhelming, to say the least.

And then, we had three days left, before we would meet good friends in Monmouth, near Salem. The city life (and its noise) wasn’t very accommodating to our wallets and ears, so east we headed in our camper van, towards the town of Hood River.

The Columbia River Delta

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The Olympic Peninsula, Washington

November 15, 2018 / / 39 Comments

When Mark and I were “done” with Vancouver Island in Canada, the beginning of October, we faced a dilemma: taking the ferry through the San Juan Islands and visit Seattle, or hop on the older alternative and discover the Olympic Peninsula. Since you read the title of this blog post, you know what we decided.

The Olympic Peninsula is a relatively large, remote and “forgotten” appendix in the Northwest of the state Washington. It’s well-known for its rain, rainforest, lush surroundings, and more rain. So, we knew what to expect, when we took Zesty for a spin through this fertile and moss-covered region. The highlight of the area is Olympic National Park, for which our annual national park pass came in handy again. There is a big circular route around this huge wilderness playground, but since we were heading south, we had to choose between the east or the west side. The western road offered more access roads into the park, but the eastern route offered a detour to Port Townsend, a town we’d heard nice things about. We doubted ever coming back this way, so found a solution.

Sail loft
Marina – this town is very boat-oriented
Waterfront
“Skyline” of Port Townsend
Lots of historic buildings in town
Stroll through town…
Buildings from a bygone era
Old tobacco advertisement on the wall
… and along the waterfront. Whidbey Island lies across the channel.
Historic downtown

Port Townsend

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IWSG Writing Update November 2018 – No Progress

November 7, 2018 / / 52 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 November, the question is: “How has your creativity in life evolved since you began writing?”

This amazing, supportive group of writers was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Today, the co-hosts are  Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor JQ Rose Ann V. Friend and Elizabeth Seckman. Feel free to swing by their sites and see what they’re up to.

My answer to the question (How has your creativity in life evolved since you began writing?)

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Monthly Expenses – October 2018

November 4, 2018 / / 12 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. 🙂 Since July 2018, Mark and I have lived and traveled full-time in our camper van Zesty, which has affected our expenditure, compared to our previous house and pet sitting lifestyle.

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.

Approaching the Olympic Peninsula, Washington by ferry from Vancouver Island, Canada.
Mark prefers to remain indoors during the 1.5-hour ferry ride.

October was more expensive than other months, mainly because we bought flexible solar panels for Zesty, drove a LOT, and took a ferry from Vancouver Island back to the US. Before we left Oregon, we stocked up on wine from Trader Joe's, as this state does not charge sales tax. It's also the reason we had the solar panels shipped to a friend's house here. Savings in the long run. 🙂

Mark installs the wiring for our new solar panels.
We found a nifty way to store these efficient, slim panels. We have yet to use them!

A new category has been added to our expense report: phone charges. In the past, our business took care of that amount. Mark and I still buy the same 5GB T-Mobile data plan (with free streaming) for $30 a month. Because he's always on the lookout for better deals, we usually manage to find discounts and pay around $25 for this "skimpy" plan. We manage to deal with all our internet-related tasks by adding visits to libraries, information centers or McDonald parking lots with free WiFi for extensive research and blog commitments (posting, reading and commenting). Our cell data limit is enough for daily life on the road and communications. If we pick up a signal...

One of our less attractive library visits in Northern California.

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Van Life on Van Island – Part II: The Sunny Spell

October 30, 2018 / / 55 Comments

Mark and I have been exploring and living in our camper van Zesty full-time since the end of July 2018. Last week, I wrote a blog (with tons of photos) about arriving in Canada, early September, and our first ten or so days on Vancouver Island. The rain was omnipresent, but we managed to have a wonderful time. When the sky cleared, Mark and I left Campbell River (see my Bears vs. Salmon post for one of our highlights in Canada) to explore a more remote and cooler part of the island – the north – before tracing the East Coast all the way to its southern point.

To read the photo captions, hover your mouse over the images, tap them once, or click to make them larger.

Sayward

Few travelers venture north of Campbell River, where island communities are smaller and hardier. It’s colder and wetter up there, so we tried to take advantage of the few sunny days in the forecast. We stopped at the town of Sayward, anticipating to spend the night there at a free campground. Upon discovering that our resource, iOverlander, was wrong – there is a fee to dry camp in town – we checked out the inviting waterfront and moved on to spend the night elsewhere.

City Park in Sayward
Sayward Harbor
Beautiful view across the Discovery Channel
Logging is big business on the island
The logs are sorted and organized with this tiny boat

The logging industry is huge on Vancouver Island. Continue reading

Van Life on Van Island – Part I: The Rainy Spell

October 24, 2018 / / 49 Comments

Whistler Moments

From the moment we entered Canada, it started raining. Well, not quite. Before the deluge, we managed to fit a trip to Whistler in with our friend Rachel, whom we met in the South Pacific sailing. Her sister generously offered the three of us a night in her time-share there, so we didn’t have to be in a hurry. Talk about a luxury experience for us. The room was more than adequate, comfortable and modern; Whistler itself was a fun resort town to walk through, eat and window shop. The highlight to me, as always, was nature and what it had to offer. That “last” sunny day provided us with beautiful waterfalls, enjoyable hiking trails and good company!

Shannon Falls
Picnic lunch with Rachel on the way to Whistler
Mark and I on the suspension bridge on the Train Wreck Trail
Rachel on the suspension bridge on the Train Wreck Trail
Brandywine Falls – one of my all-time favorites
A train derailed close to this spot. Some of the cars were moved deeper in the forest, where they became art exhibits.
All the cars found here now sport graffiti.
Zombies in the train wreck!
The Winter Olympics took place in Whistler in 2010.
Town center of Whistler
The Olympic rings in town
Viewpoint along the way back to Vancouver

Vancouver in the Rain

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North Cascades National Park, Washington

October 11, 2018 / / 53 Comments

After our whirlwind visit to Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Mark and I wished to explore Glacier National Park in Montana. My intention was to then continue our trip into Canada: Waterton Lakes NP, Banff and Jasper NPs, and saying a quick “hello” to our friends Sue and Dave in Calgary, before heading west to Vancouver and Vancouver Island.  I write “my intention”, because we never plan much in advance, and this whole itinerary might have been a tad ambitious, as summer was already ending this far north. Why was that a surprise to me?

Upon doing research online about Glacier National Park, we discovered that massive forest fires raged on the western edge of the park. This was the preferred side for us to enter, because it offered spectacular views, contained free camping, the distance was doable, and it made most sense for our route north. But, the western entrance was closed. We decided to skip this park altogether and drove westwards within the United States, choosing North Cascades National Park as our new destination in Washington state.

Liberty Bell Mountain, seen from Washington Pass overlook
View into the valley we just drove through
Approaching the main part of North Cascades National Park
Diablo Lake from above
Diablo Lake viewpoint, along WA-20

The Logistics

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