Two Years on the road- a summary

On April 23rd, in Washington state on the verge of beginning our drive to Alaska, we celebrated two years on the road. At that point we hardly had any time to sit back and reflect, so here I am three months later, writing this summary.

This year we spent time in 12 states increasing our total states as full-timers to 29. The most exciting part had to be dipping our toes in what we call, worldschooling, when we spent two weeks in Japan, the kids' first experience in another country. The kids learned conversational Japanese and Hawaiian in addition to the Spanish that they've been learning with Daddy. One particularly proud moment this year happened when we were complemented by a Japanese man on our children's grasp and use of his language.

We completed our first workamping job- running the visitor center at Desert National Wildlife Refuge for four months in exchange for a campsite on property. Initially we felt this would be a great way to be near our friends while saving money on a campsite, but we came to really love working at the visitor center and enjoyed the people that we met there. One of those people had a huge impact on my life. Her name is Nicole and she is a birder. And now thanks to her, so am I. Once she opened my eyes to the fascinating birds around me, it has enriched my life, hikes and travels. But the impact didn't stop with me, Asher has a keen interest in birds and Journey, a slight one. All three of us now have Ebird accounts to track our birds. Being back in Vegas also allowed the kids to return to one of our favorite places, Horses4Heroes. This time they enjoyed their first day camp experience, five days of it! They had their best friends over for camping and sleepovers, while we enjoyed dinners and campfires with ours.

Here are the most memorable bits from this year in no particular order:

The kids experienced tent camping for the first time in the Sierras with friends, Justin and Rachel. That same weekend they taught me to fly-fish, something I've wanted to do for years.

The kids shot a real bow and arrow, rode their first ski lift up Schweitzer Mountain in Idaho, enjoyed their first indoor rock climbing experience, began letterboxing, and zumba classes at the Y. Asher rode his first wave on a boogie board, and we all had our first Japanese onsen experience.

We found a snake in our bedroom and mice in our stove. We witnessed a flash flood at the refuge and saw the damage left in its wake.

We lost my grandfather. As awful as it was not being there for the end, I was comforted by thinking back to my recent visits with him. Because of our lifestyle, I was able to spend 18 weeks with him in his final year. We said our goodbyes, though I had hoped it wasn't my last, I think we both knew.

We spent a few weeks traveling thru three different states with the "G Family", another Fulltime Family we'd met at our first rally. It's so much fun traveling with friends. It was also great to go "home" to visit our Vegas family.

While in Las Vegas we renewed our vows alongside my parents with Elvis officiating and our friends present. We spent much needed time catching up with old friends and managed to make a few new ones as well.

In Japan we visited castles, shrines and temples before hiking up a mountain to see snow monkeys bathing in hot springs.

We played at LEGOland, picked wild huckleberries, held a possum and pet a tiger!

We rode sleds on sand dunes at White Sands, and on snow at the refuge, threw our arms around the giant redwoods in Northern California, and attended our second Fulltime Families RV rally.

We hiked the gorgeous green mountains of Hawaii and gazed at amazing views of the brilliant blue water.

We visited 15 state parks, 8 National Wildlife Refuges, and 22 National Parks (+monuments).

We went to 15 museums and 4 zoos, (Btw- between our membership and homeschool days we only spent around $150 for everything, including our membership!)

We attended factory tours at a distillery in Oregon, a guitar factory, Jelly Belly (twice), a tiny home manufacturer and visited the Dole Plantation.

The kids discovered a love of crawfish and beignets in the French Quarter, ate grasshoppers, honeybee larva and roe in Japan and ate poi and pua'a in Hawaii.

Went to LEGOland, picked wild huckleberries, held a possum and pet a tiger!

We spent time kayaking, paddleboarding, tide pooling in San Diego. We swam in the Atlantic, Pacific, (JP)

And the biggest accomplishment, Asher learned to read!



For those who are as curious as I am about this: What did we spend on campgrounds?

We spent 186 nights in a campground, 4 of those tent camping, for a total of $4,572.50 (an average cost of $24.50 per night). We spent 5 nights in hotels while the RV was in the shop ($300). 125 nights at the refuge (free in exchange for volunteer hours). 8 nights boondocking in different locations (free). 11 nights with our friends Richmond and Robyn in Las Vegas. We spent 10 nights at the cabin in Hawaii ($300), 2 nights with our new friends, the Hunt family, and two weeks in five different hotels in Japan ($1,296). Our flights to both Hawaii and Japan were free thru the military, thank you very much! So we spent a total of $6,468.50, which still beats our old mortgage by a landslide!

* Just about anyone can live a nomadic life like we do. It's certainly a lifestyle change and requires giving up certain things for the ability to travel, but if it's in your heart, you can make it happen. The absolute best resource if you are considering fulltime RVing, is www.fulltimefamilies.com or find them on Facebook. Of course if you have questions, just ask.