Do YOU Have The Restless Gene? And More Guano….

In my element…waaay out there at White Sands NM

A few weeks ago a family member sent me the following article from National Geographic:

Restless Genes
The compulsion to see what lies beyond that far ridge or that ocean—or this planet—is a defining part of human identity and success. Link HERE.

It’s a fascinating view of why we (as humans) are the only mammals known to move far and wide across the earth and further, why some of us may be more prone to travel & explore than others. Is it possibly genetic? All wrapped up in the DRD4-7R gene variant? Could this be the very gene that all nomads, and by extention all fulltime RVers share?

The road to our kind of place….Red Canyon, UT

Of course it’s not as simple as a single gene, but I found the article compelling nonetheless. I’ve always (personally) had the urge to explore. In fact it’s so ingrained in my bones that I’ll go off the beaten path even if I’m just out for a regular hike. Some how, some way I just have to see what’s over that next ridge. Even when I was in a regular (“fixed”) job, I thrived best in a changing environment where either my job position or location changed every few years, and the more unique (and unusual) the change, the more I liked it. Create a brand new position in a new country that’s never been done before…oh, I am SO all over that! I also believe it’s the very reason I felt so completely “at home” the first time I moved into an RV. From the start I knew this lifestyle was meant for me. So, DRD4-7R…I’d say you and I are definitely good ‘ol friends.

I wonder if “the beast” has the DRD4-7R gene?

As for the next few days I’m afraid my restless gene will have to wait. There’s yet another big winter storm forecast today so we’ve ditched our boondocking plans (too bad…we had a great spot picked out) and extended our stay at the SKP Co-Op until Monday. Then we’ll mosey on down to Bisbee for our next adventure. The rest of March we’ll be jockeying around Bisbee & Patagonia area, hopefully doing a fair amount of boondocking and finishing up with a re-stock stop in Pheonix before we head towards Utah in April.

Oh, and for those of you avidly following the guano discussion a few days ago, Grant did a bit of inventive googling and found these “Guano Happens” T-shirts in up to 9 different colors on this website. You can even buy the shirt for your dog! Just goes to show that good ideas can’t be stopped and I’m not the only genius out there So sadly I won’t be making millions on guano euphemisms, but I can now buy the T-shirt and still giggle myself silly with my own humor. And that’s the kind of guano that makes life worth living

So what about you? Do you have the restless gene? What are your thoughts on all this? Share below…

2013 Travel Map Up & Running

Since we’re already {{gasp}} one month and 12 blog posts into 2013 I figured it was high time to launch our 2013 travel map. As usual I’m using Google maps where each and every stop is marked, including our travel route plus a link to every blog post done in that spot. The map is always active in our “Journey” section which (quite handily) is the same place we keep records of our past 3 years of travel. So, should you find yourself wistful and longing of our whereabouts, that’s where you can go

Our new 2013 travel map

POST UPDATE -> How to Create Your Own Google Map

Several of you expressed interest in how I actually create these Google Maps so I’m adding a quick tutorial for everyone:

1. Create a Google Account - You need to have a Google Account in order to be able to save and update maps. You can do this either by signing up to a free gmail account, or Google+ or just sign-up directly here: https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount

2. Log-Into Google – Once you have your account just log into Goggle on their main page

Once you’re signed in click on “My Places”

Then Click on Create Map

Click on the little “interactive tutorial” link to learn more

3. Go To Maps Section, then “My Places” – Once you’ve logged into Google click on “Maps” and then click on “My Places“. This is where you’ll create and store all your personal maps.

4. Create Your Map! Click on the “Create Map” button to get your map started. At this point I suggest you take the interactive tutorial provided by Google. They do a much better job than I can of taking you through the steps (as well as all the customization you can do). You should see a link to “interactive tutorial” right underneath the “My Places” button on the left-hand side of the page

5. SAVE Your Map – Once you’ve added/changed whatever you want to your map, make sure to save it. Next time you want to update your map simply log-into Google, click on “My Places” and you should see it right there.

Year 3 FullTime RVing – 2,700 Miles & A Western Adventure

Boondocking in the Alabama Hills, CA

It’s the last day of the year, a day that always inspires me to reflect upon the 12 months that have passed before. It’s hard to believe that this is the end of our 3rd year RVing. When we started this adventure we had no particular time limit or goals. Simply to jump in and see where the journey took us, and each year has been a revelation and an adventure. 2012 was our 3rd year fulltime RVing and it was completely different from the previous two.

Hiking our beloved Sierra Nevada Mountains

In the glow of a glorious Cape Blanco, OR sunset

In some ways it was our most extreme year. We slowed waaaay down completing a mere 2,700 miles of total travel yet managing to fit in our longest EVER drive on one day (400 miles) as well as our shortest (28 miles). Early in the year we spent a longer-than-usual winter in San Diego for personal reasons that turned into heart-break (perhaps my darkest time RVing), but followed it with a summer in Oregon that was one of our best ever (a true highlight). Paul suffered a back injury that stopped our travels short, but opened up an unexpected opportunity to stay longer in a city we came to deeply love.

Perfection of natural beauty at the Salton Sea, CA

In other ways it was our simplest year. We stayed completely West indulging ourselves in longer stays at our most favorite places:

Cool metal art in Borrego Springs, CA

The stunning sea stacks in Bandon, OR

Paul poses by the old schoolhouse in the ghost town of Bodie, CA

Yours truly in the Alabama Hills, CA

End of the year at San Diego, CA

• We spent early winter in Borrego Springs (enjoying monster art and desert stories) and San Diego (the perfect snowbird spot with glorious dog beaches,  historical missions, wacky Ocean Beach, huge regional parks, wonderful urban parks, ghost stories, and the beginning of CA history)

• We passed spring in N.CA and Southern Oregon soaking in the spirit of Shasta and discovering one of our best RV sites ever.

• We revelled in a cool summer on the Oregon Coast, falling in love with the giant sand dunes, the beach moods, the lighthouses, the stunning sea stacks, wild Cape Blanco and the cute town of Bandon

• We abandoned ourselves to the glory of fall in SW Oregon and CA spending a few weeks at stunning Crater Lake followed by our favorite drive of ALL TIME on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountains (Hwy 395) with our buddies Lu & Terry. Here we checked out ghost towns, explored June Lake, discovered the oldest living things on earth, caught some awesome hikes and did a bit of boondocking.

• And finally we ended winter in Desert Hot Springs (where we spa’d luxuriously and had adventures with my sister), Borrego Springs (yet again for some glorious boondocking) & San Diego.

Welcome to the deep blue! Crater Lake, OR

The volunteer couple in the lighthouse tower

And in yet other ways it was our most social year. For the first time ever, we picked up workamping jobs as Lighthouse Hosts on the Oregon Coast (a month at Coquille River and another at Cape Blanco) that we enjoyed so much we signed up again for 2013, plus we made and met endless friends and bloggers along the way.

As usual I’ve kept a log of all our travels and blog posts at each spot in the “Journey” section of the blog so you can click and enjoy them all there. Or just click the following:

Our 2012 Travel Map

And what’s going to happen in 2013? Every year is an open book for us. As long as our investing holds true and the budget follows we continue to follow our RV dreams. So far our plans have held so we’ll enter our 4th year of RVing with open minds and the certainty of many new adventures. I’m not the type to make resolutions as such. I try to live my life daily to the fullest and follow the doggie-kittie approach to happiness as much as I can (an inner furry goal, if you will), so with that in mind I wish you a wonderful end to 2012 and a fabulous start to New Year!

Simply….A Day

Our lone sunset on the beach

A Day

A brief moment
A mere blink of time
I sense the passing of images
Blinded by rushing light
Blurred with a touch of emotion
The light caress of a day gone by

A lifetime
The eternity of being
I dwell in the myriad of images
Swim in endless tides of light
Sway with the winds of emotion
Embrace sweet scars of a day gone by

Flowers in the forest

A passing of time
Merged together in marriage
Bonded by the imprints of life
Bathed in woven threads of light
Overcome with emotion
A sunrise, a pause, a sunset
Timeless infinity
Simply…a day

Nina Fussing
Aug 2012

Low clouds over the pacific

Somehow my day yesterday just inspired poetry. We bathed in the most beautiful sunshine, walked the most gorgeous paths and finished the day alone on our own private beach with the most spectacular sunset. It seemed like a brief moment, yet took a delicious eternity to pass. In truth, everyday is like this but we don’t always see it. Here’s hoping your day today is felt just as deeply as mine

P.S. Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post. It’s so great to see links and inspiration to and from others. Love the interaction!

Last sunset over the horizon

Intricate webs of weeds

Late afternoon glow

Light on the forest floor

The RV Journey -> Three Twists I Never Expected When We Started Out

Five years ago I never even knew what an RV was…

I was thinking about the journey of life today….and by extension the journey of RVing. I’m not sure if it was the fog or the long, still walk we had on the beach but thoughts turned inwards and I marvelled at the twists and turns of life. Five years ago I’d never even heard of an RV, and although I’ve always travelled I’d never have imagined being fulltime in a big ‘ol 40-foot beast on the road. This journey has been amazing, enlightening, sad and joyful all at the same time (kinda like life really), but it’s also taken surprising positive twists that I never expected. It’s those very twists I what to share with you today. Here’s three turns in the road I never expected when we started out:

1/ RVing Is So Darn Social!!

Friends on the road. Polly poses with RV buddies Tally Ho’s pooches on a hike in Eugene, OR

I’m a natural-born nomad so travelling and being a happy (albeit very outgoing) loner is in my blood. When we embarked on this journey I totally expected it to be a fun, but undoubtedly very solitary experience. The reality was so very different from what I expected. In the short 3 years we’ve been on the road I can honestly say we’ve met more people and made more friends than we ever did living in an apartment. Interestingly enough the folks over at Tin Teepee blogged today with a quote that exactly mirrored my thoughts “when you buy a house, making friends in a new neighborhood is hard, when you roll into a RV park everyone is your friend.” Not only has this been our experience, but many of these folks become firm buddies, and we’ve managed to stay in touch and even meet on the road again.

On a hike with our caravan buddies Alex & Ellen in Lone Pine, CA

Last year we met a lovely couple in Eugene and ended up caravaning with them (another thing I thought I’d never do). This past winter we joined up with a group of young RVers in San Diego and reconnected with folks we’d met boondocking in the desert, and next month (Sept) we’ve made plans to re-meet with some RVing pals we met last year. And that’s just a small selection of the many interesting people who we’ve met and interacted with along the way. This is all without ever having joined a RV rally or been to a group meeting. Who’d have thought?

2/ Blogging Can Be Inspirational

Soon-to-be fulltimers Lisa & Hans over for a glass at Cape Blanco, OR (they bought the wine too!)

When I started this blog I had a dream that one day, in some way it might serve as inspiration to others seeking this lifestyle. Deep down, however, I didn’t really expect that to happen. As the blog has grown however, it’s managed to touch a few folks and it tickles me no end of joy when I find out that’s true. Just these past 2 days we’ve had visits from 2 sets of RVers whos’ fulltime journey was somehow, in some small way, helped along by my little blog ->; Trent & Barbara who just started fulltime RVing a few months ago and came by to meet us at the lighthouse, and Hans & Lisa who we met earlier this year in San Diego, have just sold their house and are planning to go fulltime in a few months. We may not have been the bridge, but we were a stepping stone along the way of their own journeys and THAT is so very cool!

3/ There Are Many Ways Of RVing

Who’d have ever thought we’d end up spending 2 months on the OR coast?

I guess when I first started RVing I didn’t really think about how exactly we would do it. Our first year we were so very excited about travelling that we just wheeled out like crazed chickens across the US spending little more than a few days at each location. Exciting! Our second year we settled down to a more relaxing pace extending stays to a week or more but still did alot of miles. Cool! This year we slowed it totally down, taking it really easy by spending several months in one spot (something I never expected when we started) and happily escaping the entire USA inland heat with a lovely cool summer on the coast. Perfect!

Choose your own path & your own pace….

The point is there is really no “right” way to RV. You’ll find folks that love moving, snowbirds that only drive in winter, summerbirds that only move in summer, workampers that stay in fixed locations for many months, couples that only do luxury resorts or people who boondock 100% of their time. All are RVers and all are valid variations of how to enjoy this lifestyle. As we progress we see ourselves continuing this slow pace. We’ve already decided to spend this winter knocking around the SW desert and next summer we’ve already decided to come back as lighthouse hosts in Oregon. Who knows what we might decide to do after that?

Three things I never expected, yet all three were positive and fun surprises. I guess the moral of the story is the same as life -> there ain’t no roadmap, but as long as you’re open to possibilities and the journey is fun, wheel on…