Until recently, full-time RVing with kids was uncharted territory for all but a handful of courageous families. But now for the first time ever there’s a comprehensive how-to book that can assist you in making this life changing decision.
Written by Full Time Families founder Kimberly Travaglino, “How to Hit the Road: Making Your Family’s Full Time RV Dreams a Reality,” explains how to start making your family’s RV dreams happen!
Get Your Family Full-Timing Faster
If you’re unsure about embarking on a full time RV adventure, fear not: How to Hit the Road takes you from the earliest stages of envisioning your ideal road tripping lifestyle with kids.
From sharing your RVing dreams with loved ones, to selecting the RV that works for your family, to finding ways to afford this unique lifestyle. Along the way you’ll read real-life testimonials from families who are creating unforgettable memories as they experience these joys together.
While some aspects of How to Hit the Road doesn’t dive deep enough into important topics like budgeting and choosing a domicile, it provides resources for learning more. Overall, How to Hit the Road is a perfect place to begin planning your family’s full time RV adventure.
Travalgino’s group, Full Time Families, is a support group for courageous parents who are living the full-timing dream. Check out FtF’s magazine, rallies and discussion forums for endless ways to make your dream happen.
Why wait? In our four years of traveling, we haven’t met one family who’s regretted their decision to fulfill their RV road trip dreams!
Meanwhile, Jim and I take measures to live as healthy a life as possible to keep our immune systems strong and able to fight off toxins exposure. We’re on the road to even healthier living thanks to a book I recently won, courtesy of The Good Human, the web’s best resource for keeping you and the planet healthy.
I like to think I’m knowledgeable about living healthy. We eat semi-vegan, don’t use Teflon pans, stay away from toxic health and beauty products and make homemade cleaning products.
But The Healthy Home book is helping me understand many other risks I hardly think about, such as:
EMF Exposure: Electro Magnetic Frequencies (EMFs) are bombarding us more than ever and studies prove they increase a person’s risk of developing cancer. From cell phones to WiFi networks, humans are being exposed to more EMFs than at any other time in history. Now that we are at the 20-year mark of this technological advancement, cancers are starting to take hold.
So how do you decrease your exposure? Keep your wireless devices out of the bedroom and away from your head and turn off your WiFi when you’re offline.
Toxic Air: The air in our homes is more toxic than the air outside, thanks to all of the chemicals (especially in RV materials) and the toxins used in our daily lives. Consider that oil you burned in the pan last night at dinner, your bathroom air freshener and your cleaning products: they all emit toxins. You can neutralize your home’s toxic air by keeping the windows open as much as you comfortably can to release these deadly fumes from your home.
Kitchen Risks: From the dangers of using plastic to cover your food in the microwave to cooking the minerals out of your vegetables,The Healthy Home presented lots of ways to make a healthy kitchen like mine even healthier. For example, I had no idea that over-chopping vegetables could lead to a huge loss of vitamins and minerals.
While I don’t plan on gnawing on uncut carrots for dinner, I’ll try to keep vegetables and fruits as whole as possible before eating.
These are just a few tips packed inside this well-written, quick read book. Although the authors presented some crazy scare tactics I disagreed with (like how CFL blubs are so mercury-laden we should opt for incandescent bulbs instead), overall The Healthy Home is a great way to examine all aspects of your home and health habits so you can live longer, healthier lives.
Last fall on our way to the West Coast we went over Wolf Creek Pass in Colorado.
As one of the most dangerous passes in the Rockies, this 10,857′ pass features grades up to 8 percent in places. It’s especially treacherous when traveling Westbound, and even worse when snow is on the ground.
This crazy pass is so steep that 70s country singer C. W. McCall (of “Convoy” fame) even wrote a song about it, called Wolf Creek Pass:
I looked at Earl and his eyes was wide.
His lip was curled, and his leg was fried.
And his hand was froze to the wheel like a tongue to a sled in the middle of a blizzard.
I says, “Earl, I’m not the type to complain
But the time has come for me to explain
That if you don’t apply some brake real soon, they’re gonna have to pick us up with a stick and a spoon…”
This is the second time we’ve headed westbound over the pass on our way to Pagosa Springs, just east of Durango. In the past, as RVing greenhorns we would’ve smelled our brakes heating up the whole way. But now, Trucker Jim is experienced enough to keep those babies nice and cool, and we smelled nothing when we got to the bottom.
One thing that really helps is knowing where the twists and turns might get you into trouble. The Mountain Directory West for Truckers, RV, and Motorhome Drivers is one of the most useful books we’ve acquired since hitting the road. It tells you where you might find trouble, and what roads are best avoided when hauling a heavy load.
We’ll be putting it to good use on Saturday, when we hit the road again.
When you live the hobo lifestyle, many people will mistakenly assume that you’re either a trustafarian or you’ve won the lotto. We’ve had many people comment “oh you must be rich” when we tell them how we live.
Rich in spirit, mind, body and soul maybe, but financially, we are not (yet! hah!).
Most people don’t believe it, but you really don’t need to be rich to take an extended travel sabbatical and see the sights you’ve always wanted to see. All it takes is the determination to work out the details and finance the trip.
No More Excuses!
If you’re thinking of hitting the road but your finances, job, family, pet or health situation is keeping you from doing it, stop right now and pick up a copy of “Answers to the Common Excuses Not to Travel Full-Time.”
Our NuRVer friends Chris and Cherie recently published a useful 78-page e-book that addresses 15 different excuses that people make for not living the travel lifestyle they’ve always dreamed of. From figuring out how to get rid of your stuff, to planning for health care and making a living, “Answers to the Common Excuses” will motivate you to put your dream in motion.
Going through seven Western states in less than two weeks is faster than we usually travel.
But we’re on a schedule and meeting up with West Coast Tripawds between Washington and San Francisco over the next two weeks, all before Thanksgiving.
Despite boondocking in parking lots and making do with just water and electric in other places, I’m doing my best not to abandon the healthy, semi-vegan eating habits I adopted back at Jerry’s Acres, after NuRVer Sara introduced me to the “How It All Vegan cookbook.
Adopting a vegan diet has always been something I wanted to do, because I’ve never felt completely at ease about eating fish and dairy products. But I’ve continued to eat these things to keep the peace between Carnivore Jim and I in the kitchen.
However, once one of us (who shall remain nameless) was told he had high cholesterol and potential pre-diabetes, I knew it was time to get serious about cutting the animal products and processed crap out of our diet.
Vegans have always been a side-show curiosity to me. My initial impression of them was that they always seemed to be the hippy dippy ones in the health food store who are sniffling and malnourished looking. I wondered how anyone could get by without eating some kind of animal fats and cheese.
But now I know my impressions were wrong. This awesome little cookbook has shown me that with some simple food item replacements (i.e., use apple sauce instead of eggs in baking), adopting a vegan eating habit is easier than it seems. It’s not all about tofu and flax oil either. And so far, neither Jim nor I have been sick since starting this diet. Jim’s also dropped some serious weight too. Upsides to the vegan diet while living in an RV:
I’ve got tons more room in the fridge and freezer, because it’s not filled with dairy products.
Our food bill is less now that I’m not buying $4 blocks of cheese every week.
Most meals are so easy to prepare, making cooking and cleanups while boondocking a snap.
Jim isn’t thrilled with everything I’ve made out of the cookbook, but he’s being a good sport as always, and eating what gets served when I’m in the kitchen. I know he won’t admit it, but even he feels better now that his arteries aren’t weighed down with the fatty foods. On the special occasions when we do have sweet stuff laden with sugar, it tastes twice as nice.
Here’s one of my favorite recipes from the How It All Vegan cookbook. See how simple eating vegan is? Try it while you’re on the road, it doesn’t get much easier or tastier than this.
gomashio (garnish made with ground up sesame seeds, salt & kelp)
In a medium pot, boil the noodles in water on high heat. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, saute the squash in the oil on high heat for about 5 minutes, then add the tofu, pepper and salt. Continue cooking until the squash can be easily pierced with a fork. Add the onions, cover and set aside. When the noodles have finished cooking, rinse in hot water then place back into the pot and toss with the flax oil to prevent sticking. Place them into a bowl or on a plate and top with the squash mixture, then garnish with Braggs and gomashio. Makes 2-4 servings.
We all know the truth, yet how many of us avoid seeing it?
Our lives go by too fast, and one day we’re left wondering, “what happened?” All those cool things we dreamed of when we were younger got put on the “someday” list while we we were being “responsible” workers or entrepreneurs, attempting to carve out a reputation (hopefully good), keep our heads above water and stash some money away for that “someday” when we were going to get to do what we really wanted to do.
The trouble with that scenario, as many of you know, is that someday usually arrives when we’re far too old and decrepit, or dead, to enjoy it.
I’m not knocking those pursuits. Hey, if you want to be the fat man in the BMW, that’s your prerogative. But Jim and I always wanted so much more than a status symbol with a balance due.
From 2001 to 2006, a series of events led Jim and I to chuck it all and say “screw it” to the conventional life we were leading. Those events, though tragic and hopeless at the time, turned out to be blessings in disguise.
Because although we thought we had carved out a life that was adventurous, when we finally added up how much time we spent at our desks, versus living life with Jerry doing cool stuff in the woods, work always won.
Even as entrepreneurs, we were robbing ourselves of the very freedom that being self-employed was supposed to bring to us!
Once Jerry got sick, we knew time was of the essence. It was our chance to spend the last of our days together, living a life without routines or obligations or bills. With dogged pursuit and prayers to the universe, we made it happen. It was probably the first time we realized that all things truly are possible, if you truly want it bad enough.
Live Your Dreams, Work Less
Which leads me to the whole point of this post; right now we are listening to a life-changing book by Tim Ferris, called “The 4-Hour Workweek.”
If you have ever considered shedding your current lifestyle for one that you know will bring you true spiritual happiness, this book is for you.
If you’re in dire need of a real income, you can’t afford not to get this book.
If you have ever wanted to live an adventurous life instead of toiling away in your cubicle, this book is for you.
If you want to know how to keep your life on track without letting things like Facebook, television and the pursuit of money suck the life out of you, you must read this book.
I”m not getting paid to write this, Tim Ferris never even sent me a review copy. I was told about this book by fellow adventure traveler, Sam, who urged Jim and I to check it out. I had always heard about it but the title put me off; it sounded like a cheesy get-rich-quick self-help book. But Sam’s a smart guy, and he’s got a good life with Kim, on the road and at their rancho in New Mexico, so I decided to get the download, and now I can’t stop thinking about it. Thanks Sam!
“Whether you’re an overworked employee or an entrepreneur trapped in your own business, The 4-Hour Workweek is the compass for a new and revolutionary world.
Forget the old concept of retirement and the rest of the deferred-life plan—there is no need to wait and every reason not to.
Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, high-end world travel, monthly five-figure income with zero management, or just living more and working less, this book is the blueprint.”
We are only into the first hour, but already we’re digging it. Everything Ferris says, we can relate to; we’ve already made the move to live a life that brings us real inner happiness, so we nod in agreement with everything he says, laughing and raising our fists going “Yeah!”
Where we are finding The 4-Hour Workweek more applicable to our lives is in how Ferris demonstrates how to be more efficient at making money, while pursuing the adventures that we want. That’s where Jim and I need the help (especially when it comes to making money!).
Stop shouldding all over yourself. Soon you’ll be dead, or close to it. Will you be able to look at your life and feel content, knowing that your dreams were fulfilled to your heart’s desire?
Or will you have spent the best part of your years as the fat man in the BMW, sitting in traffic, wishing you could be somewhere else?
Boozing, gambling, war, trucking and three legged dogs. Does pleasure reading get any better than this?
When I first heard about how author Richard Ide logged over a million miles as a long haul trucker while perfecting the fine art of writing, I knew I had to read his book, “3 Aces,” which resulted from those travels.
I guessed that anyone who’s led the life of a trucker, dealt cards in Atlantic City and sold stocks on Wall Street, must have a good story to share. And I was right. Don’t let the vague title or cover art fool you: like a cold Shiner on a hot summer day, 3 Aces is good for the soul.
3 Aces is a road trip story based on the life of Abner, a struggling, lonely trucker suffering from Vietnam-era post traumatic stress disorder, who meets Dawn, a younger, divorced alcoholic leading a dead end life while a young daughter waits back at home. When Dawn and Abner team up as long haul truckers and a three legged dog named Pip hops along for the ride, a captivating story unfolds as they travel the highways and byways of America.
Much like a classic country love song, 3 Aces doesn’t pose as highbrow literature. But like a big haired waitress in a Texas diner, 3 Aces serves up a hearty plate of love, politics, forgiveness, redemption and adventure. There’s a side of politics too, as Ide educates readers about global trade and the economic impact it has on the grueling life of truckers who keep the shelves stocked at your nearest Mega-Lo Mart.
Ide’s story is an easy read, and is escapism at it’s finest. He manages to keep a complex story line going with multi-dimensional characters that never run out of gas. He has a knack for character development and conversation details, and describing the highway scenes of America in such vivid detail you’d swear you traveled down that same road. You’ll especially love how he weaves the colorful language of truckers into the story, sharing colloquialisms like “chicken coop” and “plain blue wrappers” with the uneducated public.
3 Aces is a great road tripping book, and it breaks my heart that few people know about it. That’s because of the fearful state of the publishing industry, which wouldn’t give Ide a deal for his story. So Ide went the self publishing route with 3 Aces. The problem with self publishing however, is that unless you’re a marketing guru and can get the story into the public, it’s very difficult to sell copies. Ide has made every effort to get 3 Aces out there, and can still use all he help he can get in moving it.
When we met Kelly and Al last winter in New Mexico, I couldn’t believe we had been on the road almost two years and didn’t know about the Escapees Day’s End Directory. We were on our way to Texas to join Escapees because we knew about all of their perks, but we didn’t know about this one until Al and Kelly (aka The Bayfield Bunch) told us about it.
The Day’s End Directory is a comprehensive collection of practically every low cost and free boondocking spot in North America, compiled by the folks who know best, Escapees members. For just $5, you can join this private Escapees group, the Day’s End Yahoo Group, and gain access to the directory. It has literally thousands of locations of free and cheap campsites, and members update the information regularly.
The only downside to the Day’s End Directory is that it’s created in oldschool format. The book is available as a CD or .rtf file only, and you need to rifle through about 500 pages to find locations by state and city. It’s laborious and time consuming, and cost-prohibitive to print. To get around that, I created a PDF of the Western states we are visiting this year, and sent the file to Kinkos for printing. It cost me $12 to print CA, AZ, NM and TX.
I hope some day the Escapees powers that be will pay a young geek to take over the project and convert the listings to some kind of searchable database like our friend’s Jenn and Johnny’s FreeCampsites.net.
But until then, this behemoth book is still the best money you’ll spend if you like to get out into the wild, or just need an approved, safe place to crash for the night.
Jim likes to tell people “Stop shoulding all over yourself!” Shouldding is unproductive and creates misery. Shouldding keeps you from doing what you really want to do.
It’s not easy to eliminate it from your vocabulary. We’re conditioned to take on obligations that “should” lead to happiness (I should go to school. . . should make lots of money. . . should start a family. . . should buy a house). Meanwhile, all this shouldding all over ourselves creates huge demands on our time, and brings our youthful dreams to a screeching halt. Then one day we wake up and realize we are trapped in the “Someday Syndrome.”
We can all use some help finding our way back to our dreams, and Alex Fayle’s new book, “Someday I’ll Get Around To It” is the perfect place to start.
Alex is a “Someday-busting Coach.” He helps people dust off their dreams, sort them out, and create a plan for obtaining the life they really want. His new e-book, “Someday I’ll Get Around To It” shares his strategies for someday-busting.
In this 100-page workbook style format, we learn how to make conscious choices to create happier lives that more closely reflect our dreams. Alex walks us through ways to overcome inertia and understand our limitations and obstacles. We learn how letting go of control will free up time and enable us to achieve our goals. And finally, his useful worksheets in the back of the book will help us draft simple, doable plans to help achieve our dreams in step-by-step increments.
Life is short. Live your dreams. And remember, you can’t justify putting your dreams on hold, by listing all of your obligations.
Because like Alex says, “In not pursuing your dreams, recognize that you are choosing not to pursue your dreams.”
Here’s a book review that is long overdue. We originally requested a review copy of American Nomads by Richard Grant, but to make a long story short, we got to review God’s Middle Finger instead. And I’m glad we did.
René read it first. She’s a much faster reader than I am, and suggested I write the review – hence the delay. Perhaps she knows a bit too much about my sordid high school daze. Or that I would just love any book filled with drug references that starts off with a thrilling scene straight out of Scarface. Nevertheless, I did. Love the book that is.
But even more than learning the meaning of perico, I enjoyed discovering the truth about just how safe it is to travel through the Sierra Madre, not. The books subtitle gives it a way – “Into the Lawless Heart of the Sierra Madre.” But it doesn’t quite begin to describe the crazy deadly adventure Grant dragged himself on, deeper and deeper into Mexico’s mountainous region known mostly for marijuana plantations and cocaine production.
Any history buff interested in Pancho Villa will enjoy reading God’s Middle Finger; because in it, Grant follows the trail of the legendary bandido. At points, a bit too far.
This book is also a must-read for any RVer considering one of those caravans through Copper Canyon. Yes, it is definitely better to travel in numbers. And yes, the dangers have been much worse in the past. But if Grant’s tale about the Copper canyon train being held up by narcos pissed off at regional authorities is any indication, I won’t be going anytime soon. I’d much rather just read about it.
“In the unlikely event of a train robbery, be calm, quiet and cooperative. In other words, don’t argue; just hand over the loot.”
The book does serve as a good guide for anyone who dares to travel off the beaten path south of the border. It offers much advice similar to the above that just might save your life. Like … be sure to speak Spanish, don’t look anyone in the eye, and never turn them down if they offer you a drink. And if they do, prepare to get muy intoxicado before saying goodnight.
I also like any book that talks about places we’ve been. And after reading this one, I’m glad we didn’t walk much further than we did away from the Plaza in Agua Prieta on our five dollar Mexican vacation last year. Or places I would love to see, and this one does a wonderful job vividly illustrating the beautiful terrain of the Sierra Madre and the drunken religious rituals of the Tarahumara Indians.
Once discovering how the opening scene winds up at the end of Grant’s book, one can’t help but wonder why he traveled so compulsively on such an uncertain path. He answers this question quite succinctly early in chapter three …
“I felt a rush of excitement, a sensation of being fully alive and immersed in the present moment.”
This too, is is the driving force behind my wanderlust.
Grant’s adventures might make a great movie. But without being the first hand documentary that this book is, it would most certainly end up being one of those “You should’ve read the book first” flicks. I’ll gladly settle for this Amazon video which sheds some light on the reasoning behind Grant’s chosen title for God’s Middle Finger:
PS: For anyone who might be wondering how I embedded this video from Amazon.com, when Amazon’s media Share link does not include object embed code, never underestimate the power of your browser’s “View Page Source” function!
How to Hit the Road addresses everything your family should consider before you roll away. As a fellow Dave Ramsey follower, we love her advice to eliminate all debt prior to leaving.
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(garnish)
René read it first. She’s a much faster reader than I am, and suggested I write the review – hence the delay. Perhaps she knows a bit too much about my sordid high school daze. Or that I would just love any book filled with drug references that starts off with a thrilling scene straight out of Scarface. Nevertheless, I did. Love the book that is.
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