Wandering Thoughts of a Writer: #nomads

Showing posts with label #nomads. Show all posts

We sold the van last Friday.

It was a bittersweet day.

K wasn’t into van life at all and wanted to sell the van.

I didn’t want to, but I also wasn’t going to drive it because I didn’t feel comfortable behind the wheel. 😬

Once we both agreed to put it up for sale, we imagined who we’d want to buy it.

He or she would love the van and appreciate the build.

We visualized a hippie/boho type of person who wouldn’t have the funds to build a campervan on her/his own.

At first, we priced it at a fair rate and got a lot of interest in it, but then the coronavirus happened. ☹️

We still got calls, but nothing stuck.

We told ourselves the right person would come along and buy it.

We needed to trust in the process, just like we did when we thought our house wouldn’t sell in the middle of winter in North Dakota.

We decided to lower the price, knowing the next owner couldn’t afford what we currently had it at.

We took off $3,000.00.

Selling the van wasn’t about profit, it was about enriching someone else’s life, someone who would enjoy the van and take good care of it.

Not too long after that, we sold it to the cutest couple ever. 🥰

They were exactly how we envisioned the new owners to be – part of our tribe.

Everything flowed perfectly, and we enjoyed their company.

I told K that I’d probably get a campervan in the future - one that I could drive.

I love them.

I always have.

So where does that leave our Dare to Live YouTube channel?

To be honest, K lost interest in making videos.

Me, on the other hand, might continue with the channel on my own.

We live in a place where we’ll never run out of adventures.

I had asked our Dare to Live followers what I should do and they said to keep the channel and the Facebook Dare to Live Channel page. If anything, I could continue to post on there. https://www.facebook.com/daretolivechannel/?modal=admin_todo_tour

It's still kind of hard to believe we sold the van.

We had put so much of ourselves into it.

Pictures of my book covers are on the high-roof.

What a trip.

I hope the new owners are having fun and enjoying their new house on wheels.

I'm glad they have it.

I also hope the van will be good to them like it was to us.

Everything happens for a reason.

There are no regrets.

We are where we are now because we decided to dismantle our lives, step out of our comfort zone and build the life we want.

The van was part of that journey and I’ll forever be grateful for it. 😊

#campervan, #daretolive, #nomads, #tinyhouseonwheels, #van, #vanconversion, 0 Comments

As you guys know, we’ve been renovating our RV. We’d be totally done by now if the weather wasn’t so miserably hot and humid last summer.

Those of you who have been following me know that Kevin and I were going to start a YouTube Channel to document our journey.

. . . Well, Kevin started it, posted up some content, and today we filmed an About Us episode. We’re totally newbies, but hey, every pro was once a newbie.

Growth begins and magic happens when you step out of your comfort zone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLqF4ixPdDU&t=2s

#adventure, #books, #daretolive, #digitalnomads, #etsy, #exploring, #nomads, #ownyourlife, #RV, #RVrenovation, #website, #youtube, 0 Comments

A month ago we purchased this wood flooring, and I told Kevin to be prepared for it to be a pain in the ass to install.

I’m generally a positive person, however, when he had decided to replace the front seats, he thought it would be a piece of cake to install.

It wasn't.

It was a freaking nightmare!

-So, I didn’t want him to get his hopes up because it seems like every time we think something is going to be easy with the RV it never is.

. . . Well, guess what. I was wrong, and I’m glad I was.

We were totally surprised.

The flooring is easy to install, but he’s not finished yet. Almost.

Hopefully, next weekend he’ll be done. All that is left to do is the bathroom and cutting pieces to fit in awkward places.
(This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission if you use it, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I love.)

Here’s a before and after picture.

We’re loving it, and last night I ordered a couple of throw rugs to make our home on wheels even more homey. Here’s what I ordered if you wanna check it out.

https://amzn.to/2OPWS8k

https://amzn.to/2xAUqvw

Yesterday, we took a trip to South Dakota and went to Menards. I wanted a backsplash for behind the stove. I saw this retro style one and grabbed it.

What do you think?

I’m not sure what to think about it yet. I mean, I totally love the copper look, but the thing is it’s not real copper.

Will the heat from the stove melt it?

Kevin thinks it's going to be fine.

. . . Anyway, last night, Kevin and I had a couple of drinks in the RV. We hung out and listened to some 80s rock—powered by our solar.

I'm so excited! Solar rocks!

We had fun and are looking forward to living a nomadic lifestyle.

Our home on wheels is already feeling like home. The more we make it our own, the more we want to take off and live in it full-time.

. . . But we have to wait until everything falls into place and the time is right.

We know this, so in the meantime, we’ll continue with this renovation, minimizing our lives, getting our house ready to sell, and me working on my books and freelance writing.

In the end . . . it’s all good.

#floor, #homeonwheels, #lifestyle, #nightmare #rugs, #nomads, #RV, #RV #renovation #installation, #RVrenovation, #solar, #surprise, 0 Comments

If you had the chance, would you backpack around the world?

I was telling Kevin I want to backpack across Southeast Asia, and I’ve done some research on it. It’s totally doable, and the cost would be relatively low.

To my delight, he was open to my suggestion, and then we talked about doing the same thing across Europe. I would continue with my freelance writing and writing books as well as creating a documentary of our journey and sharing it with the world.

. . . But, I will not leave this guy behind. So those plans are on hold for now.

I’m cool with that because currently we’re in the process of becoming minimalist and preparing ourselves to travel the US as digital nomads.

That’s a huge undertaking that one shouldn’t do on a whim.

Don’tcha agree?

-So we’re taking our time and going with the flow.

I have to be honest here . . . since we’ve decided we want to live an alternative lifestyle as minimalist to where we’ll be living in the now, discovering self and no longer just existing, I've had a strong feeling of liberation and a happiness I’ve never experienced before.

-However, my happiness is not wrapped up in the RV (Aesop) or the idea of all the adventures Kevin and I are going to have or us backpacking across Southeast Asia.

My happiness derives from answering this simple question last August 2017:

Who was I before society told me who I should be?

After honestly answering that question and realizing I don’t need all the stuff I have, I got busy changing my life and returning back to who I truly am. I’m still working on it, btw. Fortunately, Kevin is on the same page as me, and he’s doing his own work beside me.

I’ve learned, though from past experiences that I’m the only one that’s going to make me happy, not another person, and not material objects.

Happiness is a choice.

. . . But this post isn’t about happiness. I already wrote an article about that topic. Hereà https://medium.com/@authorrebekkahford/fifteen-things-you-can-do-to-make-yourself-happy-27612f0f9027

Anyway, I know this path we’re going to embark on will be a challenging one and there will be sacrifices, but I also know for me personally, if I were to continue on with the life I have now, I'd be just existing instead of living. Ten years from now, I’d be living the same life.

I don’t want that.

Yes, I’ll be totally stepping out of my comfort zone, but that’s okay. Growth happens when you step out of your comfort zone and you open yourself up for new opportunities that would normally not happen if you didn’t step out of your protective bubble.

Backpacking across a country or even your own, would be an experience of a lifetime and totally stepping out of your comfort zone.

-However, it’s not for everyone, which is fine.

I have no judgment here.

Do what makes YOU happy and live your life the way you want to.

. . . But, if I ever have the opportunity to backpack across Southeast Asia or Europe, I will, and I’ll share the experience with you. For sure. :)

#alternative, #backpacking, #change, #comfortzone #opportunities, #countries, #documentary, #happiness, #life, #minimalist, #nomads, #risk, #society, #world, 0 Comments

Over the weekend, Kevin installed this ladder on the back of our RV.

Yes, I know it’s a boring ladder, but I thought I’d show you anyway.

I have it on video, btw.

There was a big gap between the steps after Kevin installed it, but thankfully, his coworker showed up and fixed the problem.

Yay!

Speaking of video. Omg, we watched the video last night and had a good laugh.

I’m Getting Personal For A Moment

Honestly, after watching myself on video, I was having second thoughts about videotaping myself and forgetting about the whole YouTube thing we plan on doing the day we embark on our nomadic lifestyle.

. . . But I think I just have to get over it.

I’m very critical about my looks, and if you read the article I wrote about verbal bullying (see last post), you’ll know why.

I thought I appeared fat in the video, and I didn’t like the way I looked.

It’s something I’m struggling with, but I think my desire to share with the world our journey and inspire people will probably outweigh my insecurities about my looks.

I hope.

Back To The RV Renovation

We weren’t able to install the solar panels today due to the weather being unpredictable, so we did this instead:

Here’s a picture of the distressed cabinet by itself.

I’m going for the gypsy/boho/vintage look inside our RV, and we love how this turned out.

Last weekend we watched a bunch of YouTube tutorials on how to distress your furniture to give it that vintage chip look.

Well, it paid off.

The rest of the cabinets and walls will be a cream color.

We might do one wall a light gray. I don’t know, but we’re excited to see what it’s all going to look like after we’re done.

I’ll show you pictures as we continue to renovate Aesop.

. . . So, if it doesn’t rain tomorrow, we’ll be installing the solar panels.

Wish us luck!

#article, #boho, #cabinets, #distressed, #gypsy, #nomadiclifestyle #insecure, #nomads, #paint, #renovation, #RV, #verbalbullying, #vintage, #youtube, 0 Comments

Last weekend was the first nice day we’ve had in six months. The snow was just about gone from our yard, the sun was shining, and the temp was perfect. With excitement in our hearts to finally be able to work on Aesop (RV) and start filming for our future YouTube channel, we set out to accomplish what we’d been longing to do during the six months of grueling winter.

But first a little backstory.

Last August when we decided to get an RV (I’ll tell ya more about that story another time), and eventually explore the U.S. as digital nomads, we went hunting for one on the internet. Kevin found a class A motorhome and showed it to me. I wasn’t too sure about it. In fact, I wanted to keep looking. I’m an indecisive person to the point of sometimes being a pain in the ass. So I kept searching and came across one and showed Kevin. Well, it was the same one he showed me earlier which was weird.

I’m an indecisive person to the point of sometimes being a pain in the ass.

I decided to go run some errands. While I was out I had this gut feeling to go to the convenience store and pick up an Auto Trader. I did, thinking there might be motorhomes in there for sale. When I got home, I thumbed through it and found a class A. I showed Kevin, and we discovered it was the same one he showed me earlier

I had this gut feeling to go to the convenience store and pick up an Auto Trader.

The same class A motorhome kept showing up, so Kevin went online and learned that it was now up for auction. He placed a bid. The amount he entered was too low. He placed another bid, and it stuck. He ended up winning so we drove to Detroit Lakes, MN and picked it up. To our delight, the RV was in great shape, except we did have to replace a solenoid and put a new battery in it before trekking back home. Kevin said driving it was a dream.

The same class A motorhome kept showing up.

My friend Ronnie offered for us to park our RV in his huge shop for the winter. It was a generous and kind offer. Knowing that North Dakota’s winters could be brutal, we were going to take him up on his offer.

Were.

One day Kevin went to go start our RV so we could take it to Ronnie’s shop, and the ignition switch didn’t work. At all. When Kevin turned the key, it went all the way around.

What the hell?

The weather was already getting chilly and nipping at us, so instead of fixing the ignition switch, Kevin decided to leave our RV in our backyard. Besides, we loved looking out our kitchen window and seeing our motorhome. It was an affirmation to us that we had a plan instead of being part of someone else's plan and this was what we were working our butts off to accomplish—a nomadic lifestyle, to live instead of just exist.

We had a plan instead of being part of someone else’s plan.

Fast forward to February.

Ronnie’s shop burned down. If our RV was in there, it would have been ashes or close to it.

He lost everything.

No one was hurt, though. What he lost was just stuff. He got lucky.

Now rewind back to the beginning of this post when last Saturday we were pumped up to work on our RV and get it started. Our mechanic friend Curt came over to help Kevin. We had just come back from Carquest, where Kevin bought two batteries—even though the one in the RV was the one we bought in Minnesota—and hooked them up. We told Curt we had to go back to Carquest, but we wouldn’t be too long.

When we came back home this is what happened:

Curt: “She’s running.”

Kevin and I: “What?”

Curt: “She’s running.”

Kevin: “How can she be running? The ignition switch wasn’t working. I tried it several times and the key went all the way around.”

Curt: “I don’t know, man, but she’s running.”

Our jaws dropped.

No kidding.

Kevin and I: “Turn it on! Turn it on! Turn it on!”

He turned it on, and the sound was music to our ears. She was running beautifully, and we couldn’t help but laugh and smile because the realization had hit us at the same time that if she would have run back in October when we were going to store her in Ronnie’s shop for the winter, she would have burned down.

Wow.

Obviously, this is the RV we’re supposed to have because #1 at the beginning when we decided to be digital nomads, she kept showing up. #2 she was meant not to burn down.

Was this the hand of Fate?

I don’t know, but it sure seems like it.

Since we've been together, Kevin and I have always followed signs, and they've never failed us. I could write more blog posts on the subject, but this one will suffice for now. If everything flows together, it’s meant to be. Don’t force anything, just go with it. So we’re surfing this wave to see where it takes us.

If everything flows together, it’s meant to be.

We have no worries.

It’s all good.

Right now, Aesop is at Kevin’s work, waiting to get serviced and gone through by mechanics. Like I said early, I started filming clips of the beginning of our awesome journey, however, I wish I could have captured our jaws dropping when Curt told us our RV was running.

Oh, well.

No biggie.

I’m going to go with the flow and see where Fate takes us.