Deliberate Living

Bravery, Stupidity, and Tough Decisions

October 15, 2019 |

I feel it very important, in an internet filled with artistic pictures of smiling people in beautiful places, prose about the wonders of traveling where and when you want, and video clips of idyllic drives and expansive views, to keep it real on my blog by also talking about the bad days on the road.…

The Benefits of a Dramatic Change

June 10, 2019 |

For anyone who missed the memo, I’m back traveling in my teardrop in the US again! But I still have some catching up to do from Costa Rica, so here’s another travelogue from my time there. Living at Wild Sun Rescue Center is like living in a bubble. It feels like a completely different reality…

Focusing on the Journey

December 20, 2018 |

Today, I’d like to tell you all a little story. In this story, a wannabe full-timer learns of an RV that sounds right for them. They think, ‘this is it, this could be The One’. They get excited at the prospect of having found their dream RV, but at the same time, they also start…

What to Expect at an Xscapers Convergence (Thoughts on Tribes)

August 29, 2018 |

Ahh, another Xscapers convergence down in the books, this one in Redmond, OR. For newer readers, Xscapers is a lifestyle group of Escapees RV Club, a long-running club whose mission is to serve all RVers. The Xscapers branch was originally targeted towards working-aged full-timers. To be more inclusive, today it’s billed as being a more…

Rules and Respect

July 18, 2018 |

I was talking with two fellow solo women full-timers recently and the conversation turned to how we all got started RVing, and one of the gals brought up a point that really stuck with me. She said she had been struggling with downsizing out of her house, and how overwhelmed she was feeling at the…

Saying Yes! to Challenges

June 22, 2018 |

Going full-time RVing. It’s a scary goal, paved with a lot of hard work and uncertainty. Deciding what RV to buy (and then actually buying it), downsizing out of a house, getting the logistics of mail, banking, and insurance sorted, not to mention the question of how to earn a living on the road, it…

For Those Who Can’t Travel Full-time Yet

June 5, 2018 |

I get a lot of wistful comments and e-mails from people who would love to do what I do, but there are very solid reasons why they can’t at this point in their life. These reasons aren’t just excuses because they don’t want to put in the effort. I get plenty of answers like that…

Reduce Your Mental Burden

February 8, 2018 |

Okay, so I’ve talked before on IO about the mental load that you carry from having a lot of material possessions, and that after downsizing, as painful as the process might be, everyone agrees that they feel freer and lighter. It turns out, this principle applies to more ephemeral burdens too. We carry a lot…

Dancing Alone

January 15, 2018 |

Dec 29, Friday Saddle Mountain BLM near Tonopah, AZ continues to treat me well. Despite the crowds that flock to southern AZ during the winter to escape the cold, this boondocking area remains relatively empty. It helps that it’s a large area, with multiple spur roads. The one I’m on is just west of mile…

A Call for Change

January 3, 2018 |

I hope everyone’s having a great start to the new year. I’m in the midst of planning out setting intentions for 2018, as a part of my Annual Review process. You can read that article for the full details on what an annual review is and how to conduct one yourself, but today I wanted…

The “D” Word

December 22, 2017 |

Well here we are. Yesterday was the shortest day of the year, winter has officially started. When I was a kid, I loved winter. I grew up in Wisconsin and winter was ice skating, sledding down the hill behind our house, and hoping every time a snowstorm was predicted that school would be canceled. I…

Happiness Per Dollar

December 14, 2017 |

When I was preparing to hit the road I made a list of the necessities for RVing, both things I thought of, and what other people said were must-haves. The list became so big that not only was it not affordable, it wouldn’t all fit in the Casita. There was an important lesson here: not…