We Sold The Van



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. 😊
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Van Life Brought A Wonderful Surprise


Those of you who have been following me here and maybe, hopefully, on our Exploring Rabbit Holes website, know that in August of 2017, we decided to completely dismantle our lives and be true to who we really are. 

Who were you before society told you who you should be?


Have you ever thought about that?

I did that night and then made a life-changing decision.

Thankfully, my bestie felt the same way and was onboard.

You can follow our journey on our Dare to Live YouTube channel.

In January of 2020, we sold our house and moved into our homemade camper van in the middle of winter in the Dakotas. 🥶


We took off and got as far away from the bitter cold and snow as fast as we could.

The first day went well, but after that things got rough. 😬

I already wrote a post about it on our website.

You can check it out here. http://exploringrabbitholes.com/van-life-was-cut-short-this-is-why/

Honestly, I think we have a cool van and I slept really well in it.

Our cat Church even likes it and claimed it as his van.


However, I felt unproductive while we traveled and our WiFi was sketchy. 

I need to be productive and have reliable WiFi to do my work.

Other issues we had was where to park for a few days, not having enough water or room for our needs, and Kevin hated driving the van.

Van life wasn’t his thing . . .

. . . But we kept going with full intentions to travel parts of the US and videotape our journey for our YouTube channel.

When we reached the Pacific Coast, we got a wonderful surprise. 😊

By complete accident, we came across a small coastal town and ended up camping 100 yards from the beach for eight days.




It was wonderful. 🥰

We explored part of the area and loved it.

Kevin and I looked at each other and said, “I can totally live here.”

So, we decided to see if we could find a place to rent for at least a year to see if this was where we wanted to be for the rest of our lives.

According to the residents here, it’s hard to find a place to rent.

The way we live our life is if we’re on the right path things will flow. If not, they won’t and we continue to move on.

We found two places to rent within 24 hours. 😁

No shit.

Everything flowed flawlessly.

We picked a place that’s half a mile from the ocean (you can see the ocean from our street), the Rogue River, and we’re surrounded by forested mountains. 😍

Oh, and for an added bonus there’s a 2-story bookstore with a kickass coffee shop a block from where we live.

The coldest it gets here is 40 degrees and the hottest is 75.

We totally scored.

This place is fucking amazing!

We’re within walking distance to just about everything.

And the food here is awesome. 

We can’t believe we found this place.

It’s perfect for our wandering and creative spirits.

We plan to explore the Pacific Coast and already started.



Here we can live instead of just exist.

If we never would have tried van life and being nomads, we’d never be where we are now.

Van life brought a wonderful surprise.

Back in August 2017, we decided to change our lives, despite the disapproval of others.

We made a plan, became minimalist and stepped out of our comfort zone.

We not only dramatically made outward changes, but we also worked on our inner self through meditation, reading, studying, lectures, writing, and being each other’s support system.

And we’re not done. 😜

We’ll never be done.

None of us will.

We’re all in the process of becoming.

But I’ll tell ya what . . .

. . . Kevin and I have grown so much since we decided to allow our true selves to take the helm instead of allowing society, culture-conditioning and the ego-mind continue to lead us on a path that was littered with anxiety, frustration, monotony, enslavement, and overall, a false life.

Now we’re working on getting settled into our new life here in a small coastal town.


Once we’re settled, I’m going to get back to doing what I love – write books and other writing projects as well. 😉

I do have the second book to my Legends of Deceit series written; it just needs to go to my editor and through the publishing process.

I’ll keep you up to date on that and other things as well.

Stay tuned!






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The Key To A Great Marriage (Hint: You Already Know It)



Kevin and I have been married for almost 25 years. 🥰

It seems crazy to us.

25 years!

Wow!

I remember when he moved in with me I told myself to enjoy the “honeymoon” stage while I can because it wasn’t going to last.

I was wrong though because we knew what the key to a great marriage was and so do you.

Can you guess what it is?

I won’t hold you in suspense any longer.

Marry your BFF.

BAM!!!!

The way Kevin and I act towards each other to this day is the same as it was when he moved in with me in 1994.

But marrying your best friend forever is not a guarantee you’ll live in harmonious matrimony your entire life here. It does, however, give you a great advantage over those who marry for other reasons.

When you marry your bestie, you not only laugh and have a blast together, you can also be vulnerable and completely honest with each other.

Kevin and I have been through some dark times, but we got through them because of our friendship.

The key to a great marriage is marrying your best friend, but there is more to it than that.

Just because you hooked up with your BFF doesn’t mean you’re golden and you’re going to live happily ever after.

It’s not that simple.

All relationships take work.

A lot of work.

People tend to lose sight of the other key factors they need in order to have a healthy, loving, and solid relationship.

Here they are:

Being each other’s number one fan 

>>>> You support your partner’s goal(s).

>>>> You allow your partner to vent to you when he or she needs to.

>>>> You help your partner through problems.

Appreciation

>>>> You show appreciation for each other every day, even if it’s minor things like doing the dishes or making dinner.

                  “Thank you for making dinner. It was yummy.”

                  “I appreciate you doing the dishes.”

                 “You’re awesome!”

Be considerate

>>>> Call when you’re going to be late.

>>>> Leave a note telling the other person where you’re going.

>>>> Pick up after yourself.

>>>> Be quiet when your better half is trying to sleep.

TIP: If your mate upset you for some reason, talk about it. If you don’t, resent will start to breed within you and you’ll involuntarily find other things that’ll bug you about your partner. Eventually, it’ll manifest into your lives in an unhealthy manner that’ll test your commitment to one another.

Allow your other half to do his or her own thing . . .

. . . Just because you’re in a relationship doesn’t mean you have to be joined at the hip.

That’s not healthy.

See your relationship as a basecamp.

You two should go off and do your own thing at times, and then meet up at your basecamp.

It’s healthy to have different interests and to have some alone time away from your other half.

I’m not going to lie; I do enjoy my time alone.

Kevin and I share a lot of the same interests, but we have some that the other doesn’t care about. And that's okay.

He’s into playing guitar and flint knapping, whereas I’m into writing novels and paranormal stuff . . .

. . . But, 90% of our interests are the same.

I discovered through experience and research that it does help to be in a relationship with someone who shares the same interests in music, ideologies, and beliefs.

Best friends usually do. 😉

Also, BFFs can be brutally honest with one another. 

Say you’ve reached a point where you find yourself losing interest in the relationship because it’s seriously lacking something, but yet you don’t want to end it. You know you can have a serious conversation about your problem without the fear of the other party getting angry or butt-hurt.

Besties do that.

Best friends also kick each other in the ass—figuratively speaking—when needed.

For example, say you thought you weren’t good enough to be treated with respect by a family member.

That family member always talked down to you and never acknowledged your accomplishments or supported your dreams.

So, you had anxiety every time you had to deal with that person, yet in a weird kind of way, you loved and wanted his or her approval.

Your bestie put the smackdown on you because he knew you were kicking your own ass.

You don’t need validation from anyone but yourself.

You don’t need to be treated like a lesser person.

You’re an accomplished person, and you don’t need to take crap from a narcissistic ass-monkey who only wants to talk about his or herself – even if it is a relative.

So, the key to a perfect marriage is to marry your best friend and as long as you keep being BFFs, you two will be able to work on the dynamics of your relationship a lot easier than those who don’t have the same advantage as you.

Cheers! 🥂

  
 






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Hello, 2020



I remember this time last year on Facebook I said that 2019 was going to explode with me and Kevin’s art, us collaborating on projects and transitioning from a conventional lifestyle to a nonconventional one.

So, did it happen?

Hell, yeah it did. 😁

Here's what happened in 2019 . . .

I launched our Exploring Rabbit Holes website. http://exploringrabbitholes.com/




It's a hub showcasing our work, so everything is in one place for our readers and followers. 😊 

In February I told Kevin I wanted to travel in a van instead of an RV. I was nervous to tell him because we had spent a lot of money on our RV and he had put in a lot of work into renovating it . . . 

. . . But I stated my case on why I thought traveling in a van would be far better than an RV.

We created a video about it and us getting the van if you want to check it out. Here’s the link to it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv3FzUcvAIU

We got the van (2003 Ford E-250) in March and then a friend of mine who is a professional welder made the high-roof for us so we could stand up inside the van. 


Using our creativity, we then converted the van (White Rabbit) into a camper that can go off-grid with solar power and a composting toilet. 


We were able to fit the composting toilet we bought for the RV into the van. 


It does take up a lot of room, but I’ll sacrifice room for more freedom.

Also, it doesn't smell. If anything it smells like dirt when you lift the lid.

The van was white. 


Was is the keyword here.

Kevin is an artist, so he’s using the van as his canvas to paint and draw whatever he wants. 



It’s cool and as we travel, when we run into other artists, we’ll let them paint on the van as well. Then each painting and drawing will have a story attached to it.

We put a picture of most of my book covers on the high-roof, to advertise them as we travel from place to place. We also have our Dare to Live logo on the side of the van and our Exploring Rabbit Holes website logo as well.

Kevin also created some paintings on canvas that we’re going to eventually have prints made and sell.

He’s been doing a lot of journaling and blog post writing as well.

I finished writing the second book to my Legends of Deceit series.

I wrote articles and blog posts throughout 2019, and I became a Gotham Ghostwriter! 

The nerd in me loves that name “Gotham” and loves saying it. 😂

So, 2019 has definitely been a year where our creativity exploded.

It also has been a year of doing a lot of shadow work, growing internally, rewriting our lives (no pun intended), self-discovery, changing the way we eat, minimizing our lives, and learning.

We’ve learned a lot this year.

A lot.

We also put our house up for sale and currently, it’s pending sale.

If everything goes well, we’ll be full-time digital nomads before spring. 🚐

What a way to start 2020.

2019 was a great year.

Yeah, there were some tough times, but we got through them.

As I’m writing this, I can’t believe 2020 is banging at our door.

2020!!!! 😲

It’s here!

A brand-new decade! 😮

It’s fitting that Kevin and I are totally flipping our lives at the beginning of a new decade.

Actually, to be honest, we’ve been working on this for a little over 2 years, but it took us that long to get to where we are right now – mentally and physically.

We have a lot of plans for 2020.

Instead of calling it a resolution, I’m calling it intentions.

We intend to do a lot this year, so stay tuned! 😉

Have a wonderful new year and be safe!

Cheers, my friends! 🥂
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