This is how we do it!
We regularly write blogs about the beautiful nature we stay in and the nice people we meet. But how are we doing? Do we still enjoy traveling for long periods of time? Do we miss our family? Do we travel every day? Is it a lot of work to move around? Are we running into unexpected things? How are we doing with the RV? In this blog, we enjoy giving you a glimpse into our way of life.
How are we doing?
We are doing well! Since several years we have learned to let go of what we have no control over, to dream out loud and then manifest, to consciously enjoy and above all: to be very grateful every day. Grateful for each other, for our children and their partners, and grateful for our choices.
We always get up around 6:30 a.m. and we love to start the day with Wim Hof breathing and/or meditation. We feel healthy and energetic. RV life is simple, relaxed and uncluttered - even in terms of maintenance. Among other things, we enjoy hiking in nature, yoga, reading, being creative and doing nothing. We have no television. We feel that this prevents a lot of negativity from entering our minds and we have plenty of time to spare!
Is taking longer trips fun?
For us it is! For us it doesn't feel like traveling, it feels like a way of life. Right now we find the variety of the beautiful nature we see and the many people we meet so special to experience. When Carmen & Lorenzo traveled with us, we knew in advance where we would go. We don't plan far ahead ourselves and this flexibility gives our lives a tremendous sense of freedom.
Do we miss our family?
Yes and no.
Yes, because we love them so much! The 6 of us like to brainstorm, have fun conversations, share our dreams and enjoy hugging each other. The latter is unfortunately not remotely possible. It is also nice to be able to share everything we experience here in person. No matter how beautiful photos and films you take, the feeling you experience cannot be shared digitally. That is why it felt very empty in the camper when we left Carmen & Lorenzo at the airport.
No, because we often speak to each other via Facetime and all four children (in law) are very busy shaping their own lives. Loving is also letting go, we realize that very well. Once we, after Carmen & Lorenzo's departure, set off again for new destinations, our tears were dried by their goodbyes. Everyone travels to the next destination in his/her life and we are sure that in the future we will see our common dreams fulfilled.
Do we travel every single day?
It depends on where we are and where we want to go. The distances between national-provincial-state parks and also cities are huge in Canada and America. There are whole stretches of land, where there is nothing! In that case, we book a Boondocker or camping spot for one night and drive on the next day. If we are somewhere we like/love or enjoy, we stay until we feel it is time to move on again.
Is it a lot of work to move?
Our camper is not crammed with stuff, everything has its own place. Therefore, we are quickly on the road again. When we leave we usually do the following:
Exterior
- Waste water dumping (if necessary)
- Empty toilet (urinary section)
- Fill fresh water (if necessary)
- Retracting hydraulic levelers
- Cleaning front window (does Robert often)
- Getting Starlink off roof
Inside
- Closing all cabinets
- Putting water filter jug in the sink
- Turning chairs back around
- Vacuuming the camper
- Beds up and bedding folded, allowing everything to ventilate along the way
We hit the road clean and arrive clean at the next place! If we want to run errands and need to fill up with gas, we always look for an opportunity to do so on the route.
Do we run into unexpected things?
Yes, every day! You never know who you will meet, where you will end up, what the weather will be, what animals we will see, etc.
A few examples......
The meetings
We have been to some unexpectedly nice places through travel tips from Boondockers hosts and people we meet along the way.
In Denver, we were next to a retired couple whom we spoke to for only 15 minutes and invited us to travel to Mexico with them and other couples.
We were at a campground, when a woman (Dru) heard that we did not yet have an overnight spot in Albuquerque and she offered us a spot at her 91-year-old mother's house out front.
We are still in touch with Les, who lives with his wife Darlene in the nicest village with the nice neighbor Warren. We are also still in touch with Yoka whom we met through Facebook and later in person (see Niagara falls).
At a campsite in Elephant Butte Lake State Park, we ran into a couple we met earlier at Peggy Sue's diner, also so funny!
In Canada we also met so many nice people whom we carry in our hearts, from whom we also received so many nice travel tips. The experiences are too many to write them all down here.
Every day we are approached several times by people who are enthusiastic about our Dutch camper. Most of them really like the model and all the features. That's nice to hear!
The spots
We are always surprised by the beautiful nature and the places where we can camp, real treasures.
In California, we have driven to campgrounds in (lesser known) National parks/forests in high season, where there were zero other guests, where it was already dark during the day because of the tall trees and where there was no cell phone and Starlink coverage. That was in a period with many forest fires, then we prefer to drive a little further.
Weather
Summer temperatures are short-lived in many areas. Our camper can be fine in the snow, but we prefer the summer outdoors.
So far we have been surprised once by the weather. We have stayed at two campgrounds in Mount Shasta, where it was unlikely beforehand that this area would be hit by Hurricane Hilary, but where we still had to evacuate twice.
Animals
Spotting wildlife cannot be planned, it always happens unexpectedly and is really great when you can see them from a safe RV!
The mosquito and black flies season in Eastern Canada was an unexpected and unpleasant surprise for us. The insects constantly attack you and get on your eye fluids and in your nose and ears. We found this so unfortunate because the parks are really great. The advantage of flexible travel is being able to turn unexpected events into new plans. We drove to the beautiful west and that was great too. As Johan Cruijff always puts it, "every downside has an upside" and so it is!
When you drive through national parks and forests, you know there is a chance of seeing wildlife. Unexpected was seeing the black bear at Potwisha Campground in Sequoia National Park. The bear walked up to our screen door to get a peek inside the RV.
It was also unexpected to learn while showering at the Elephant Butte Lake State Park campground, that there was a venomous rattlesnake in front of the entrance door of the shower building. It was very dark outside and no fun walking on the way back to the RV.
How's the RV doing?
It is wonderful to travel through these huge countries with our trusted motorhome. Not only the favorable diesel consumption, but also the solar panels, the composting toilet and power of the engine, among other things, are important components for our camper pleasure. The camper does have to work hard. We drive through mountains with high peaks/deep valleys and also on very bad highways full of large potholes and uneven road surfaces. We have done the following maintenance so far:
- 2 new front tires
- Compost toilet button no longer worked: solved with contact spray
- Koelkast en vriezer werkten niet meer: tot nu toe een nieuwe zekering zonder succes…..We hebben een nieuwe thermostaat besteld. Update: Alles werkt weer met de nieuwe thermostaat!
- De centrale deurvergrendeling van de woondeur was voor ons vertrek al defect, daar is nu een gesprongen veer bijgekomen: de veer hebben we besteld en ontvangen, we gaan de deur eruit halen en proberen alles in een keer op te lossen. Update: Robert heeft alles kunnen maken!
- We horen een metaalachtig geluid als we langzaam rijden. Twee garagebedrijven hebben niets kunnen vinden, alles is veilig zeggen ze. Een derde partij zegt ook dat alles ok is en dat het wordt veroorzaakt door het geluid van de handrem kabel. Update: het geluid is weg!
- Het glas van de mistlamp aan de voorkant is waarschijnlijk door een steentje kapot gegaan. Fiat is compatible met RAM, we hebben het onderdeel gevonden, maar ze vragen er ?250 voor. Op Amazon voor $60 te koop, we bestellen het daar of in Nederland. Update: Amazon onderdeel past niet, we bestellen het in Nederland
We saw so much more.......
Over the next few days we will continue to share photos and videos of all the fun things we did with Carmen & Lorenzo. We are currently driving from New Mexico to southern Texas. We think it would be fun to spend a long time by the sea there.
Are you curious about what you need to arrange to travel around North America with your own motorhome?
Then read this blog.