• Purchase toilet paper. Whether you’re hitch-hiking, on a roadtrip of a lifetime or full-time RVing it, purchasing toilet paper, paper towels, etc. is completely unnecessary. Campgrounds, hotels, pretty much any accommodation you’ll come across will supply it for you.
• Mow the Lawn / Shovel the Driveway. I suppose you could possibly get yourself into a shoveling situation, if you’re the adventurous, stick around the North for the winter kind of adventurer. But otherwise, lack of owning either a yard or driveway while living on the road virtually ensures you never needing to perform these actions. Unless you want to as a supplement to making a living on the road, ie mowing lawns for gas money.
• Pay Property or School Taxes.
• Live the Same Day Twice. Wake up, brush teeth, run errands, clean kitchen, make lunch, brush teeth, exercise, make dinner, wash face, Seinfeld reruns, Conan, bed, sleep. Or more like, wake up, brush teeth, watch sunrise, visit Ghost Town, hike trail, meet new friend, picnic on cliffside, rafting, stand in four states at once, cookout, RV, pass out ready to do something completely different tomorrow?

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When your bedroom is a conversion van, sunrise tends to act like an alarm clock, roostering visually through the thin blinds to set another day in motion. Perpetual motion.

Unlike the beeping droning warning of another day’s worth of impending doom that tends to be the tone set by most alarm clocks, however, the sunrise does not scream “Wake up! It’s time to work!” The sun simply makes its daylight point and continues about its business. There is no snooze on the sun, but in this traveling life there is no regret for the day of the week it is, either. Weekends blur into weekdays, the only real difference I suppose is a self-imposed schedule to generally work away my Monday through Friday mornings in an effort to stay generally in line with the rest of the workaday world boxed up in their cubicles and expecting everyone else to do the same.

I watch the air fill into my Lady’s lungs and back out again, her chest rising and falling, a tide of peaceful morning. Her skin is violet cast, she turns her body over, her version of snoozing the sun. A ten month old boy is sleeping in his small cot next to our bed. In a few hours this small bedroom which mom, dad and baby share will be transformed into a working vehicle, the bed put up into a couch, baby’s cot folded up and tucked away, the engine perhaps purring with another day’s adventure into the Black Hills or off to Mt. Rushmore or further down the line to a new state, a new place to call home and explore and meet locals and hope to avoid anything resembling a chain store or strip mall along the way.

Pants pulled up, shirt re-situated, I slink out the side door of the van and make the several steps walk to the door to our Airstream. We’d spent the spring renovating it, which primarily consisted of adapting its contents to our particular family of six’s needs. I can already here the stirs of our middle child, a two and a half year old ball of yarn in a whirlwind. As I open the door and step inside, he’s pushing aside the curtain which leads from the tiny bedroom he shares with his much older brother, freeing himself from the bondages of another night’s sleep and set free into the lounge.

Nanny, the boys’ grandmother, my Lady’s mom, already has a pot of water boiling. She dumps the contents into a French Press and the two year old and myself watch as the liquid steams over the coffee grinds, changing from clear to dark, dark brown. A thin, khaki foam builds up on the surface. She pours one cup, then two. I hand her some milk from the refrigerator and we each add a splash.

She takes her coffee outside for a morning smoke, a few minutes of first thing in the a.m. peace and quiet before the full rambunctiousness of three boys in the open air of South Dakota’s wilds is fully awakened. I unfold a table from its resting place, hiding built in to the wall, and the toddler climbs up for a simple breakfast of strawberries and dry Cheerios. The water is boiling again, this time a few eggs for myself and my oldest son, when he decides to stroll out of bed.

By noon I will have worked enough hours to feel good about our finances and my contributions to society, I suppose. The eldest child will have spent an hour on a laptop studying this, that or whatever other thing he’s interested in learning about this month. The two youngest boys will have played, perhaps bickered a bit, inside and out.

When the clock strikes one we’ll head off on some adventure, which almost always involves a scenic drive to a nice long hike. We walk cities, climb mountains, float rivers, go to zoos and aquariums, science museums, explore National Parks, live in State Parks. We get to know the ladies at the local diner and the gentleman behind the counter at the corner store. We take photographs and sometimes we don’t take photographs for the sake of fully experiencing everything.

Sure, some days we just have to wash clothes or clean the Airstream. Some days I’m required to work well into the afternoon and others I need to spend an entire day trying to figure out why the van won’t start or the electric jack won’t raise and lower.

We still bicker from time to time, we are all humans after all and living in a small space, nearly 24/7 access to one another. But our life feels like a 70′s soul love song, climbing the highest mountains, crossing the widest rivers, the deepest valleys. It’s absolutely frighteningly beautiful to, whenever the fancy strikes, call just over the horizon your next home.

The sun begins to fall back down out of the sky. The toddler and my oldest boy gather sticks and a paper bag for me, I light a fire. The sound of a beer cracking open breaks the silence and they begin talking about their day, about the fire, one star breaks through the night sky, then two, then a trillion.

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Ghost Towns, Sunset Deserts & the Mexican Border

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While preparing for February’s Issue, which will be largely focused on one of my top places in all of the United States, West Texas, I ran across Steven Leggett’s work on Flickr. While it isn’t being used in the issue itself, I thought it would be a great warmer-upper to pass the time this month before 007 comes out.

Enjoy!

Steven “Legdog” Leggett on Flickr.

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Okay so you’ve got yourself an RV or campervan or something right? You pop into the shower the morning after your first night on the road…only to realize that that 5 – 15 gallon hot water tank you’ve got onboard only lasts about 2 minutes before you’re all cold water.

We just built one for our new Airstream and I thought I’d share exactly how that was done and why you might want to do this. Hint, it’s to save water!

What You’ll Need

Everything on the list can be purchased from your local hardware store, or an Ace or Home Depot.

1. Low Flow Shower Head, preferably at 1 gallon per minute (gpm).
2. 4 to 5′ of hose or shower hose. I used some nice steel hose that was originally intended for a washing machine, and then purchased adapters to get the 3/4″ hose to fit on the smaller pipe size of showers and shower heads. I went this route because a) I couldn’t find any hose shorter than 8′ that was intended for this purpose and b) I really liked the look of the washing machine hose I purchased.
3. Optionally, a 6″ or so piece of chrome pipe, preferably bent at about a 45 degree angle.
4. Some plumber’s tape.

Let’s Build It!

1. Wrap the nozzle of your shower’s faucet in plumbers tape. One go around should do the trick. Then screw your hose onto the nozzle, right over the plumber’s tape. This will ensure that you don’t have any leaks. Considering our entire goal here is to make the most of a small hot water tank, this is an essential step.
2. The low flow shower head I purchased was essentially just the head, no handle or anything, which is why I bought my own 6″ angled chrome pipe: to serve as the handle. Again, wrapping the pipe at both ends with plumber’s tape, attach it to your hose.
3. Go ahead and attach your shower head to the pipe (or if yours already had a handle and your forewent the pipe, directly to the hose.

Reasoning Behind it All

Now, you’ve got a shower head that will only use 1 to 1.5 gallons per minute. If you’ve got a 5 gallon hot water tank, that means you will essentially get around 7 – 14 minutes of shower time (since you won’t be using 100% hot water, assuming your hot water tank heats the water up nice and hot).

One Step Further

I actually had one more piece which I used, an on / off switch which attaches between the hose and the handle of your shower head. It’s a simple little device that simply closes off the water to the shower head’s opening, but unlike turning the water off completely, you won’t have to wait for it to warm back up or get a shot or two of cold water as you turn it back on. Why would this matter?

Because even 14 minutes isn’t all that much time to shower, and even if it is, wouldn’t it be great if you could split that 14 minutes across two people? When showering in an RV or boat, you can actually make 14 minutes of water time work out into half an hour or more worth of water. Simply fire up your shower and get yourself wet. Flip the switch to prevent the water from coming out of the shower head, and soap up. When you’re ready to rinse off, flip the switch back and hose yourself down. Since you’re using a flexible shower head, you can hit all of the soapy spots a lot more quickly and thus spread those valuable minutes of hot water out over more than just your own personal (greedy!) shower.

Amaze your friends, impress your girlfriend, clean all of your children in one day!

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We’ve got top 40 charts, top places to live, top tips for topping off your tippy toes and ten top ways to turn your stomach into a photoshop file in this country. We’ve got fast food and strip malls, scandals and celebrities famous for nothing more than being famous. With all of the “fake” that seems to be prevalent in the good ol’ United States of North America these days, I thought I’d drop a quick two-hand count of some of the most amazing things to ever truly come out of this country.

10. Apple Products

While no longer made in America, they’re still designed here and this was their birthplace. You may not love Apple or you may hate people who like Apple or you may think that some flavor of Linux built into a USB key with no graphical interface other than a binary clock attached are the only computers worth talking about, but there’s no doubt that everything from the Apple IIe to iPhone have changed the world drastically.

9. A Cross Country Roadtrip in a Mustang

Seriously, I think it’s a prerequisite to running for President.

Photograph by Steve Arnold

8. Airstream Travel Trailers

We recently upgraded from our Made in Germany way back in the ’70s Volkswagen Bus as our primary means of transport to an American made Airstream. They’re big, shiny beacons of ingenuity. Their creator, Wally Byam, was a man of true genius and creative spirit. There are other RVs made in this country, sure. But no other manufacturer has been around as long and has innovated as much as these pre-Depression Era icons of the roads.

Photo by Shannon Kokoska

7. Indian Motorcycles

While an Airstream will allow you to take your home on the road, experiencing the freedom of location independence, riding a motorcycle is immediately bad ass and much closer to what I would consider true freedom: living simply, solo and without much of a safety net to slow you down.

And unlike their successor, Harley Davidson, who was founded two years after Indian but has managed to last decades longer, they were never relegated to the mid-life crisis gone retirement hobby that Harleys have seen this century.

Photo by Skunkworks

6. US Route 66

It just wanted to be the Mother Road, but the Government killed it…only that it should live on as a ghost martyr for all time.

5. Huck Finn and the Great American Novel

Hemingway, Kerouac, Salinger, Twain, et al. Love you guys, especially Mark Twain in TNG (should’ve made the list).

4. Freighthopping

Hobos, Bob Dylan and that guy from Into the Wild surely can’t be wrong.

3. National Parks

They say Yellowstone was the first national park ever. Way to be, Ulysses S. Grant.

Photograph by Trey Ratcliff

2. The Internet

I mean, seriously, this World Wide Web things is pretty amazing. About as close to magic as humanity has come since maybe flying and fireworks.

1. Mt. Rushmore

What could be more amazing than the Internet (after all, it’s pretty much everything and all knowledge known to man all at once)? The idea that we would be a people so stereotypically proud of ourselves and the accomplishments of our forefathers that we would carve massive busts of them into a sacred Indian mountain? Way to set the bar, USA.

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We have a few resolutions around here this year.

1. Purchase, renovate and move into an Airstream.
2. Spend more time giving away. Volunteering, donating, spending time with family.
3. Help five people / couples / families who want to get on the road do so.
4. Learn a respectable amount of Spanish.

What are your traveling New Year’s resolutions? Tell us on Facebook.

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The moment you first found love. Not the type resonant from birth in your mother or brother or aunt, but that single moment where it was apparent that you cared about someone else outside of your bloodline so deeply that nothing else in this world could matter.

When, for me it was a woman named Renée, you realize that without her, no matter what you accomplish, no matter how great the feat, you will never be able to say you’ve achieved perfection having come short of her claim.

You will aspire to a greatness beyond what you previously would have been capable. While desiring her, you will work so hard at fulfilling that emptiness nothing that your other achievements will soar. You will, however, be broken, perpetually in pain.

And so I was.

Until she, after years of ambiguity, told me not only where she lived but similarly provided her desire for my visitation.

It was hard work convincing her to hop into a 1978 Volkswagen Bus with my then 9 year old son and I. To belay the enchantment of living so simply, so truly free and outside of society like that, is no easy task. But for the woman you love, there is is no task too difficult.

And so we drove down redwood canyons along far west ocean tides, butted up against the sharpest needle heat the deserts could produce and made 500 miles of Texas on only three cylinders. We froze on mountaintops and lost our wallets on manatee river banks. We saw the sun rise over Florida as we saw it set on Washington. Time was fleeting and endless.

The reality of living your dream is so much more obtainable than anyone of us tend to think. We get so hung up in the daily routines that we forget that we’re the ones who established them in the first place. Driving across the country from coast to coast is no more difficult or unobtainable than going to work. Both involve a commitment of decisions and while one seems like the outcome will result in providing a paycheck for living…well, what is that paycheck worth if living is just surviving.

I was once a candidate for normalcy. I had an office, the 9-5, I was frustrated with the ridiculousness of company policy and 0.3% yearly pay raises. And then a few good souls came along and helped me realize that no lifestyle is out of reach. I was a graphic designer at an obscure television station in nowhere, Pennsylvania. I had a child, a mortgage. I firmly believed I was stuck. Then Renee showed up, again, and recounted a tale of backpacking through Europe. I was astounded by
her beauty only second to her adventurous spirit.

I would never be the same. I transferred the skills I had into mobile ones, ie, web design, and decided to determine my own fate. I became successful at what I did because I was passionate about what it could provide me. I began to actually live my dream. Just writing that sounds a bit cheesy, but there’s really no other way to put it.

The focal point here is that I had desires, and I made specific decisions about how my life would be lead so that I could obtain those desires. Make them my own reality. Whether it was travel or love, whether the seemingly insurmountable was raising a child or seeking the attentions of a particular woman or discovering how to earn a paycheck sans solitary location, each and every one of those was but a series of processes away from being overcome.

And it has not been all harmony and downhill rose petaled walkways. Times are tough on the road just as they are in any life. Relationships strain, there are finances to worry about, it rains on your parade here and there. But you are free to your own devices. There is absolutely no one to blame in the world for your misfortunes other than yourself and Mother Nature. Nor anyone else to truly thank.

That is what Renee taught me, and what she continues to be for me throughout my life.

And I wish nothing but the same for anyone else who might have just such a New Year’s wish.

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It’s Christmas morning in Southern Arizona. A family slowly stirs as mom and dad, still tucked deep into their Airstream bedroom, wrestle with a desire to sleep just a few more minutes and the sound of young children beginning to stir in the front of the big silver trailer.

At twelve, nearly three and just over one years in ages, the three boys are in various stages of excitement. One is too young to understand the concept of Santa or Jesus or anything else. He’s simply excited that his older brothers are so anxious to get the day going. The next youngest wonders if jolly ol’ St. Nick got his letter clarifying where the family would be parked for Christmas Eve. You see, they’re a full-time traveling bunch and he was concerned something awful that the pot bellied Yuletimey benefactor might think they were still back in Las Cruces.

The oldest son is looking as forward to Christmas breakfast–scrambled eggs with red and green peppers, smothered in syrup; a combination do absurd his parents only allow it once a year–as he is to opening gifts. He’s been on the road for years and knows that there won’t be a ton of gifts, but what is underneath the tree this year will be well worth it.

Speaking of the tree, there perhaps isn’t one technically. At least not in the traditional Blue Spruce and star on top way. Having pulled in only a few days prior, the family on wheels set up camp at this little RV park in the middle of a forest of Saguaros, the big cacti with the outstretched, skyward pointing arms that everyone imagines cowboys sleeping against. They proceeded to string one nearest their Airstream with lights, the festive blue and green and red and purple ones that they’ve dubbed Mexican Fiesta Christmas lights. It now sits, warm in the desert morning sun, with seven packages underneath. One for each member of this family without a home except wherever they may roam.

Aside from the three boys and their parents, grandma is along for the ride. She and their chocolate lab of a dog sleep in the van, their tow vehicle.

After mom makes a pot of coffee and grandma and dad add a little Bailey’s to there cups, the whole crew heads outside to rally round the needle laden homage to a traditional Christmas. It’s early enough for the sky to still have some lingering sunrise color mixed in. The wind has taken the holiday off and aside from a chirping that could belong as easily to a bird as a cricket, silence is in the air.

The kids burst through the door. Grandma turns on Pandora, setting it to Bon Jovi holiday. It skips a little given the shoddy AT&T connection, but the general mood is set.

Mom lays out a blanket for all three boys and her to sit on. Dad takes hi place by the tree.

“Jam,” he calls the two-going-on-three year old by his family nickname, “can you help me pass out the gifts?”

Space is limited in an Airstream, in any truly mobile home in fact. So it is by necessity that the gifts are limited to one.

But an amazing thing happened when the family first realized this, in their earliest years on the road about a half-decade ago. The less gifts a child gets, the more he truly enjoys that gift. And the more sincere each gift is.

If you can only get one gift for someone, you’re forced to really think about what that one gift would be. Likewise, if a kid gets a Lego set and a video game and an iPod and a bunch of Matchbox cars and this, that an the other, he doesn’t seem to truly enjoy any of them. One by one they get tossed aside as he discovers what they were intended to do an then is eager to move on to the next.

But when a child receives one gift, they have the opportunity to truly indulge in that gift. To stretch their imagination to the possibilities of what can be done with that present. To master it.

Dad handed one grocery bag and hemp and ribbon wrapped gift to Jam after another.

“Okay that’s grandmas, so take it to her.” The desire to open it himself was gushing through his eyeballs, but instead he walked it to her. Then to his mom, then his brothers, and finally taking his own gift in hand.

He opened first. A ukulele. He’d been playing his dad’s guitar for nearly his whole life, too big for his britches of course. He beamed as he was able to lift the miniature strong device. A few strings plucked, he sung out his toddler tune as his little brother tore into his own package, a small box of handmade wooden blocks, each with a picture of something he like painted on one side.

The eldest boy was next. A real bow and arrow. There would be safety lessons, parental supervision required. But perhaps he would be a professional archer someday. The thought of syrupy eggs faded from his mind as he imagined some horsebacked future where he could shoot a penny off a bobbing roosters head.

Three books strung together for Grandma. A necklace for mom. A new pair of boots for dad.

Grandma disappears into the Airstream, the smell of omelets soon emanating through the screen door. Mom and baby stack blocks in the desert sand, incorporating colorful purple rocks and using desert flowers as the people living inside the castle / maintenance garage they’d schemed up. Dad shows Jam how to play a few chords on the uke. The little boy is a natural and the roles will be reversed before too many years can go by. The eldest puts his quiver together, tried on his arm guard.

By the afternoon, bellies still full of eggs, they’d spent all morning together. Finally Dad and the up and coming archer finish Safety 101 and head out for some target practice. The boy’s first shot misses wide. His second just inches from the bullseye.

There will be no piles of discarded plastic, no trips to any mall to return unwanted clothing or toys. No broken toy helicopters to cry over and no amassed debt to pay off next year. The younger boys run their evening out running around shooting imaginary arrows from equally imagined bows, emulating their big brother. Grandma reads by the fire into sunset. Dad does his best to play a few rounds of Christmas tunes, the family sings along what words they know as they fade in and out of varying interest in the matter. Night falls and the stars seem to one by one appear and twinkle into the night. Tomorrow there is a mountain to climb and maybe the next day a highway to follow, headed toward Lake Havasu and maybe a pontoon rental or a float down a river.

There will be no post-holiday lag. No buyer’s remorse. Just a late night before the New Year and a little more life on the road as usual.

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So if you’re the traveling type, and you dig actually finding cool stuff along the way, not just searching for it until you get bored and end up eating at Subway or sleeping at the Motel 6, and especially if you dig the more obscure, the off-the-beaten-path type of juice that can usually only be found by word of mouth, then you should already know about Roadtrippers.com.

Briefly, the website is an amped up Google Maps for, you guessed it, roadtripping. You plot the major points you want to stop along the way, say, your house in Minneapolis, Mt. Rushmore, Boulder, Colorado and on to San Diego. Then you tell Roadtrippers what you’re into—diners, pubs, shopping, farmers markets, golf, scenic points, whatever—and how far off of the beaten path you’re willing to travel to get to those locations, and voila, you’ve got options.

The best news of all? The folks at Roadtrippers contacted us to see if we’d like to participate in their Guides – tailored recommended routes and bucketlists (collections of things worth seeing and doing, you know, before you kick the bucket). We jumped right on board.

Wand’rly plans to create new routes on a regular basis, and begin to integrate them with each new issue as is relevant. You can check out our current Roadtrippers Guides at Roadtrippers.com/Wandrly. Here’s a little breakdown of what you’ll find over there.

These Western Desert Towns

From the Grand Canyon to San Antonio, we explore the old, nearly ghost, towns of Arizona mining country, state and national parks along the way, places like Tombstone, Arizona and the grave of Billy the Kid, on into West Texas with its larger than life sunsets (and everything else).

US Route 20, America’s Longest Road

From Boston, Massachusetts to Newport, Oregon, one of the few remaining transcontinental, original, two-lane US Highways, this epic route takes one across America and through time, from the Old North Church (think, “the British are coming!”) to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Coopersdale, NY, on along the Great Lakes and into the plains of Nebraska (be sure to detour for Carhenge!) and then on through Wyoming’s Yellowstone, Idaho, and right up against the Pacific Ocean.

Small City Big Town East

From Portland, Maine’s “Old Port” neighborhood to Burlington’s Church Street, Ithaca to Pittsburgh to Asheville, Charleston and Savannah on the coast and even Mobile, Alabama in the Deep South, discover the hippest cities back east with this Bucketlist.

And those only begin to scratch the surface. We cover our favorite National Parks, scenic drives and cities. Grab the new iPhone app and take your route with you. Or just kick back and read our interview with Roadtrippers.com founders Tatyana and James, but either way, check it out, get psyched, roadtrip!

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If you haven’t caught our recent article on the safety of hitchhiking, well by all means, give it a gander.

We’ve also put together the following list of resources and great reads for, on and about hitchhiking for those interested.

Hitchhiking, real life tales and advice on how to score a ride.

Bernd Wechner‘s plethora of information on hitching, from guides to research papers to well, just about everything.

An Informal History of Hitchhiking, for those of you who prefer paperbacks.

Speaking of which, of course Jack Kerouac’s On the Road is considered the epic premiere book on the subject, but I prefer Tom Robbins’ Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. Sissy Hankshaw is a hero.

Hitchhiking Translator, for quickly learning simple phrases in various languages useful to a hithhiker.

Wikitravel has a pretty great guide for hitchhiking various countries, including how popular it is, likelihood of getting a ride, tips, and whether you’re expected to pay or not. Hitchwiki also has a guide to which states in the US are legal to hitch in and more of that type of info.

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From Right of Passage to Way of Life

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Father Time kept showing up regularly every year, and by the time I’d made the commitment to go full-time, living in an RV with my family, and traveling the world, I was no longer a self-assumed rugged individualist, but now the primary caretaker of my oldest son, Tristan. He was eight, we lived in a 28′ RV, and times were good. That was in 2008, and since then, my family has doubled in size, not including the dog.

While familial travel is certainly a whole other ride than what solo travelers or couples with no children experience, I’m here to tell you, flat out, blatant and simply: it’s still a dream. Granted, one wrought with diapers, disorganized cupboards and not quite as many late nights at the bar, but a dream nonetheless.

The Harsh Realities

I won’t say it’s all babies coming home with handfuls of daisies and nights around the fire cooking s’mores. Though, it often is. Raising children on the road means both parents spending nearly the entirety of their days with the young ones. It’s making sure your excursions filter in returns to your RV for naps, it’s knowing that you’ll need to find restaurants, concerts and the plethora of other activities along your route which are kid-friendly. It is not a life for those who believe that children should be seen and not heard, but rather, the existence of the roving family is centered around coming together, experiencing the wide open world with your arms splayed open and your children’s eyes beaming with all of the experiences no single hometown could ever provide. It’s about learning together. As children, they’re getting an education with nearly every breath, gaining an intimacy with the differences this world has to offer with each new step. As parents, it’s about learning to be a teacher, not just a rule maker, about growing as a person even as you’re helping others to bloom into whomever they’ll one day be.

The Highlights Then?

To write an entire book might be the proper endeavor for such an undertaking as describing the joys of raising young ones on the road. Long story short, though, I am not a particularly extroverted person, nor is my baby’s mama. Our children are an entirely different story altogether. My oldest son, Tristan David, has been traveling since birth, full-timing it since he was seven. He has learned how to make friends as quickly as it takes me to fill a gas tank. Now eleven, he bursts from the doors of our home on the road and finds the nearest playground in an RV park or gathering of children in a state park and mingles like chocolate syrup into a glass of milk. He’s learned to identify the signs of rejection, and how to play dodgeball with such attempts. His own heart and attitude have grown toward acceptance, he sees no race, very little age, and gender is completely useless to his pursuits. Coming originally from a predominantly white hometown, without this traveling he never would have had the immersion into the largely Latino and Native American crowds of children he’s come to know as friends as we travel the deserts every winter. Whether a child is five or fifteen, if they’re willing to play with him, there are no monkey bars, frisbees or games of tag that won’t admit the variety of ages. Little girls willing to stomp in the mud are as welcome as a group of older boys. It’s a tale of rounding out, becoming more than just a human, but instead becoming part of all of humanity.

For our middle child, Winter Erik, at less than two years old, he has had the opportunity to see the foliage of New England, the banks of the Great Lakes, the rainforests of Oregon’s Coast, the downtowns of countless big cities across the land. In these initial years when he’s first forming his personality, he’s had the fortune to watch elks in rut, feel pine cones with his own hands, and dig in the desert sand. His stimulation is varied, and his personality will no doubt benefit from that just as his older brother’s has and his baby brother, Wylder Reisen, will as well.

Tips, Tricks and Talents

We’ve discovered quite a few ways of navigating the sometimes rocky waters that are traveling with youth.

1. Naps are essential, for both the kids as well as the adults. We wake up early, adventure our hearts out, and then take some downtime in the afternoon regularly, if not always on a specific schedule, to make certain everyone has a chance to recharge their batteries. It may seem desirable to do it all, see it all as quickly as possible, but I’d rather listen to the sound of children laughing alongside the banks of a creek than accompany them screaming down the wide flow of the Mississippi.
2. Entertainment is key, particularly on longer stints down the highway. We do try and keep our traveling times down to one or two hours at a pop, but that is a very long time even for seasoned traveling children, particularly toddlers. We keep a few episodes of Fraggle Rock, a copy of The Labyrinth and some short Sesame Street songs on an iPad so that the kids can have something to keep their minds occupied. No matter how gorgeous it may be driving from Yellowstone to the Tetons, children are simply not interested in looking out the window at mountains all day. Give in to their desires during these “down times” and you’ll be rewarded for it all the more when they’re refreshed and ready to run full force into the next adventure.
3. Simplicity is beautiful. We carry backpacks, not duffle bags. Each child has a small box that they can keep a few toys in, which helps keep them both interested in the little they have (too many options typically equals disinterest in any of them) but also drives their desire to get out of the RV and explore all this nature around them. Learn to carry your children on your back, limit what you bring along on excursions, and things will be much smoother.
4. Shifts become essential, as regardless of how much you love your children, we all need a break, daily even. We do most things together in this life, but as parents we also take time off everyday. I have a beer while starting a fire every night, no children allowed until the flames are glowing high. I take them all on hikes in the early mornings, giving mom a break, some time to put her feet up and read a little. Even if these moments are short, knowing that there is always another one around the corner makes the pressures of parenting a bit less heavy.
5. Happy Hour. Once every day or so, after a solid afternoon outing, we typically find a sunny cafe porch that looks kid friendly and all sit down together, the tykes for a snack, us for a drink. We’ll sip on a beer and talk about what we’ve done, what we’d like to do, and the kids can color with crayons or play with Matchbox cars while they ingest whatever local fare is available.
6. Personal Space is as important when you’re living in an RV as it is at a home. Our kids are exceptional with sharing, but they still need to have some amount of space that is there’s, a place they know will be left to their own devices, their own belongings. This keeps child #1 from complaining that child #2 stole his whatchamacallit, but also makes the job of parents easier: you keep your stuff in your zone or it’s gone. Calming tensions between young ones while at the same time teaching your kids that you’re not their personal maid service.
7. Take it Slow. Rookie travelers typically want to see the world before the next full moon, understandable as when you begin this lifestyle it can seem too good to be true, you want to get it all in before it all comes crashing down. But as you realize that you can make it work for as long as you’d like, the idea of going more slowly, taking your time to really get to know a place, becomes more appealing. This provides the benefit of getting to know a culture, the local people, maybe make a few friends, discover a few secrets not on the tourism brochures. For children, it means less time in the car, more stability as they are given a chance to get their bearings before being whisked off again. But most importantly, having a mindset of “we can get to that tomorrow” will keep you from trying to rush through everything, ignoring the other tips above, and ending up with cranky kids at the bottom of some Grand Canyon. It is quite literally the difference between enjoying this whole thing and wishing it would all just be over.
8. Visit Relatives. Location-dependent families typically have a support network, grandparents, aunts, friends to rely on. Since this is less likely when you hit the road, engineer your route to include a trip back to your parents house or some other relatives every now and then. They’ll revel in the opportunity to see their progeny, and you’ll get some time for just you, to be a kid again yourself if you will.

The most important thing is your attitude. If you got into travel because you wanted more time with your family, you will receive that in abundance. Remember that stick house families have moments where they want to pull their hair out, too, and so you’re not experiencing anything unusual, you’re just getting to experience it all with the added benefit of seeing the world in between breakdowns and diaper changes.

Nathan Swartz has been traveling for twelve years, eight of those with small children. He is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to help fund his family’s online travel mag, Wand’rly Magazine. Discover how the US Highway System Works, the behind the scenes lives of buskers and traveling bands, and the least known, most interesting places to explore in the US via Wandrly.me/kickstarter.

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• Tony & Jennifer Miller, The Edventure Project
• Nykki Swartz, Coolest Sister Ever
• Jason Rehmus, Editor, Sweating Commas
• 
  Ty Liang
• Dave Pelland, Connecticut History in Granite and Bronze
• 
  Jason Ramsey
• Ben and Tiffany Fite, Fite Inertia
• The Busking Project
• Jason Rehmus, Editor, Sweating Commas
• Christopher “Dying to Live” McCabe
• 
  julie
• Gwenda LedBetter, Old Woman in the Basement
• Johannes Dultz
• Jorge Oliva
• Olivier Bouwman
• Johannes Dultz
• Ann Beardsley

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I’m immensely thankful.

Wand’rly is Thankful for Columbus, Pilgrims and Lewis & Clark is brought to you by Wand'rly.
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To the shy, the unable to exist comfortably at a party or in a crowded room, go and hitchhike. Stuck in a close space with a stranger, after a few times you’ll be the life of any party.

Racism and prejudice of all kinds. These are the desires of those who cannot appreciate the virtues of exploration, of seeing different sides to an argument, different motivations behind our actions. If you grow up in the city, you are rarely racist. You have played football and kickball and sat in desks alongside other races all your life.

Poverty. Travel removes you from the burdens of homeownership, of paying taxes to a local municipality. It provides the opportunity for new opportunity with each new around the bend.

To the lonely, those desperate to find their place in the world, you have to see the world to find your place. There are always others like you out there, seek them out.

Obesity. While one can certainly travel and still gain weight, in general the act of motion, whether it be via train or foot, up mountains or through cities, involves daily exercise.

Religious intolerance. How can you not question the incentives of your own religion, particularly when that religion extolls the reality of eternal death by fire for non-believers, when you visit China and India, with their nearly billions of people who find solace in another form of worship.

Death. A man on his deathbed who can look back satisfied with his accomplishments can see death as simply the next step into the unknown, rather than fear passing without having yet found satisfaction in his life’s work. Not everyone can be a Nobel Prize winner or rock star or President, some of us must suffer from a lack of less fortune. Travel is the one thing that nearly all of us can do which involves no lotteries, no chance, simply determination.

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The first thing you’ll see is your general info, feel free to ahead and fill in any additional info you’d like, in the months to come you’ll be able to participate more heavily in the site with a full profile.

Discounts

We’re still working on our discounts section, as we create new issues we’ll have more available.

Free MP3s

We’ve got four collections of MP3s already put together, you can download each album one at a time, and we’ve got handy links to iTunes and emusic if you’d like to get yourself some more of any one particular band or artist.

Vote!

Here’s your big chance to get in on what’s up and coming with Wand’rly. Tell us where you want us to write about, what you want us to write about. Choose from some of our ideas or let us know your own. We’re 100% here for our readers, so get in on the action!

What Else Do I Get with Membership?

Coming soon you’ll begin to receive early access to issues, and after our initial Kickstarter backers who hooked us up and the appropriate level get served, we’ll get you in on our upcoming social network. You can even get your own travel blog right now.

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We’re wrapping up our Kickstarter project here in about five hours and it has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride. I thought I share a few things I’ve learned on the way, the short version of the past month of our lives here at Wand’rly.

1. Know a TON of people before you get started.

It was a handful of friends who got us off the ground initially, and it was an even wider array of past contacts that helped bring things in as we neared the end. Everyone you’ve ever helped for free, past clients, people you’ve hired for freelance work, Facebook friends, everyone is fair game, but if you don’t have thousands of these people on hand, and if you don’t have them organized in some way (ie, a contacts list or a spreadsheet), you’re going to have a hard time advertising this stuff.

2. Contests are Bullshit.

I ran a “Like this on Facebook” contest. It was stupid, a ton of people ended up liking my project but I can’t see that any of them specifically lead anyone back to the Kickstarter site, nor did anyone who backed the project appear to be there because of a contest.

3. It’s a Lot of Work

You’re not really getting anything for free, because honestly I worked so much on pushing the information out there that I probably could have, were I just to have worked at my normal income sources twice as many hours, made the equivalent in cash. It’s not a get rich quick type of thing, you have to work for it, and the work you’re doing can be a bit soul sucking at times. Though you’re not asking for a handout, it sure can feel like that at times.

4. You Find out if Your Project is Worth It

The amount of interest that was stirred up around our project was the best part of it all, seeing hundreds of people share the project across the web, even if they didn’t all back it, was phenomenal. It made the entire magazine feel quite worth it in the end. It also put us in touch with writers, photographers, editors, and plenty of fellow travelers who will no doubt play a big part in the future of the magazine as a collective bunch.

5. It is Emotionally Draining

In the early stages, I watched as other projects soared and ours was pretty stagnant. As time went on we ended up getting some really great bumps, and things started looking up. Then another lull just a week before the deadline, and yes, it was an emotional rollercoaster. In fact, after it was all said and done and we’d reached our goal a couple of days early, I was so drained I spent an entire day lying around watch television, and unless I’m sick, I never do that…so yeah, it was kind of like I got hit with the flu.

Would I do it again?

That’s a tough question. There’s something kind of cool about knowing we’ve been successful with Kickstarter. But like I said above, for the amount of work it took, I could have earned that cash without the whole process (and therefore without the now on the table rewards!). However, the relationships that have begun to develop make it a tough call. Sure, I probably could have established those relationships even without Kickstarter, but the fact that there was a monetary transaction involved, the fact that there was a barrier between instant online friend and quick connection, well that makes those relationships all the more worthy. Not that someone needs to give me money for us to be friends, not at all, but when someone does throw $5, $25 or $125 your way, well that shows initiative on their part and can’t be ignored.

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Nathan was interviewed by Chris Christensen of Amateur Traveler Podcast about Smoky Mountain National Park, Asheville, NC and Western Carolina in general.

You can download the mp3 here (free of course!) or listen directly below!

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Wand’rly

Did you get into minimalism as a result of wanting to travel, or the other way around?

Colin

Definitely ended up discovering minimalism as a result of wanting to travel, and it was purely by accident.

I was living with a massive amount of stuff in a great big townhouse in Los Angeles. I got rid of some clothing I hadn’t worn in ages, and it felt great. Like, really great. I got rid of some more, then some more. Pretty soon I was culling everything I didn’t need, and the more I got rid of, the better I felt. I realized that good feeling was coming from no longer being responsible for guarding and maintaining and housing those things. I was freer and freer with every garbage bag taken to Goodwill.

The initial spark, though, was me wanting to reduce my load a bit for when I started traveling several months in the future. The unexpected consequence was that I ended up only owning a little over 60 things in the whole world, rather than owning just enough that I could store it in a small storage facility (as originally planned).

Wand’rly

It seems like slow travel is more than just important to you, it’s the foundation for your entire travel. Do you think you learn more from being immersed in three or four different countries a year than you would from moving around a bit more?

Colin

For me personally, yes, this style of travel is ideal.

When I’ve only got a few days, or even a few weeks in a new place, I don’t treat it like home, which is what I do when I know I’m in it for the long haul. I don’t invest as much time meeting people and putting down roots. I don’t establish habits or explore quite so much. When I know I’ve got the time to enjoy those friendships, though, and go back to the cool places I find around town, I make an extra effort. I build upon the foundations. On short trips, I seldom make it past the foundation stage, and things stay very surface.

Of course, this keeps me limited in the number of places I can visit in a year, but that’s preferable to me. I enjoy traveling quickly, and hitting many places in a short period of time, but I do that for a few weeks in between each longer stop. That allows me to take in the best of both worlds, and helps me gain a breadth and depth of knowledge.

Wand’rly

You’re a young guy living what appears to be a very exciting and certainly unusual lifestyle, and obviously you’re damn good at what you do. Do you get a lot of naysayers or people who blow off what you’re about in the name of “well you’re a kid, lucky for you” or “yeah but I’m too old to do something like that” and if so, what do you say to them?

Colin

Haha, not as much as I used to, though I do get a lot of casual brushoffs of the ‘yeah, it works for you, but you got lucky’ variety.

And it’s true, that my circumstances were pretty good segues into this kind of lifestyle, based on the skill sets I’d developed and interests I’ve always had. I made some choices that ended up being smart, but there’s a hell of a lot of luck with anything you do, and this was no different.

That being said, most of the naysayers these days are either from people who 1) haven’t read much of my stuff and assume that I’m trying to sell a lifestyle, which couldn’t be further from the truth (this is definitely not right for everyone, but I share what I learn in case it can be useful to others), or 2) love the idea but want to make it sound less appealing or possible so that they don’t have to pursue their dreams of doing something similar. If it’s impossible, they can’t be blamed for not taking the risks associated with it, and there are myriad risks. Can’t blame people for wanting to maintain a comfortable status quo.

I do get the periodic older person saying something along the lines of ‘yeah, I used to do something similar when I was your age,’ sometimes followed up with a phrase that, when boiled down to the essentials, reads ‘but you’ll grow out of it like I did.’ I appreciate this kind of comment as part brushoff, part compliment, as anyone who’s lived longer than I have comparing me to a younger version of themselves are admiring you for the same reasons they admired themselves, but also trying to instill some deeper knowledge they feel they’ve learned since then. I’ve no doubt they have a lot to teach me, so hearing these kinds of things keeps me aware that above all else, one must be humble on the road; always ready to take in new information, and never sealing off any fount of knowledge.

Wand’rly

When it comes to minimalism, I’ve seen you refer to it as an experiment. In that regard, is it something that you may abandon or put on hold in favor of other experiments, or has it proven itself worthwhile enough that you’ll likely embrace it for life?

Colin

At the moment, it certainly feels like something I’ll adhere to in some way, shape, or form long into the future. But I’m also aware that my only constant is change, and if something better comes along, I’ll change without a backward look (maintaining the lessons I learned, but also pursuing new lessons in whatever happened to replace it).

That doesn’t mean that I’m wishy-washy on the topic — I think minimalism is rad, and it’s one of the better philosophies I’ve come across and explored — but I don’t know what I don’t know, and that means there could be something out there that’s better for me now, or will be better for a future version of me with different hopes and dreams and priorities. Saying that I would embrace something for life while still in my 20′s wouldn’t be showing much respect for my ability to grow as a person!

Wand’rly

As a mobile worker and minimalist, how do you feel about technology? I think a lot of minimalists refrain from things like iPhones or getting too sucked into the online world, but if it’s the source of your livelihood, how does that balance out?

Colin

I’m not the kind of minimalist that shirks technology, though I understand why they do. Simplicity is the pursuit, and new tech tends to complicate as much as it simplifies. I love technology, though, in theory (for its potential) and its practice (for what it adds to my life). I don’t adhere to one brand over another, always replacing and trying new operating systems and solutions to things (at the moment I have an Apple laptop, an Android phone, a Kindle ebook reader, and a Canon camera, for example), but that’s really a ‘to each his own’ aspect of life. Someone without a fancy phone is no better than someone who has one, or vice-versa. Different strokes for different folks, as they say. I neither fetishize nor demonize technology.

Wand’rly

How do you feel about spending money on experiences? Is minimalism for you about not spending a lot of cash in general, in an attempt to work less and have more freetime, or do you have no qualms about consuming as long as it’s not necessarily buying “stuff”?

Colin

A little bit of both, actually. I focus my time, energy, and money on pursuing new knowledge and experiences over attaining more things, but I also like knowing that — if I want to — I can stop working for a while and still have sufficient funds to keep working or playing or sleeping in or whatever strikes my fancy at the moment.

I’ve done all these things, too. There was an 8 month period a few years back where I did absolutely no work. None. It was wonderful at the time, though I cringe a bit thinking about it sometimes, as I love my work, and wonder in retrospect what I could have gotten done had I continued moving forward professionally through that time!

That being said, I spent those 8 months learning more about myself and the world than I had in the previous 10 years combined, so it was a worthwhile venture. I like being able to take those kinds of opportunities: makes the risks and sacrifices one must make to achieve such a lifestyle very much worth it.

Wand’rly

There’s a photo on your site of you with about 20 items or so. Is that a picture of what you actually own? How do you decide if something’s worth having or not? Is there a big philosophy behind it all?

Colin

It could be! I have a few photos like that, and generally people think it’s fun to see me and all that I need to survive. It’s a heady feeling when you realize that you don’t need as much as you think you need, and seeing it all whittled down like that — especially for someone like me, who has to be able to survive in many different climates and social situations — tends to make people think.

Generally my method for reducing or adding things to my list of collection is purely practical. If I find I don’t have something that I need repeatedly, and it will fit in my bag, I’ll buy it until I find it’s either not worth the effort of carrying around, or not as necessary as I thought. I use a lot of things I don’t own, but I rent them — apartments, furniture in those apartments, flatware and mugs, sometimes cars or boats or bikes — buying something tends to be a big decisions, since I generally have to get rid of something in the tradeoff, to make room for it in my bag.

The philosophy is one of practicality. Being a full-time traveler as well as a minimalist makes deciding what to own an easy choice. The more I carry with me, the less I enjoy and can focus on my travels. That makes sure my priorities are front and center at all times.

Wand’rly

Where many minimalists tend to attempt to simplify everything in their lives, particularly work, you have your hands in many pots and seem to always be working on something new. How do you think that applies?

Colin

I think you take what you need from minimalism; it’s not a religion and doesn’t require dogmatism to be useful. I’m a curious guy, and I get bored easily, so I keep myself involved. Minimalism helps me remove the boring stuff or things I don’t need from my life so I can focus on moving ever-forward. That’s a huge factor in how I simplify my lifestyle, though of course other people have other priorities and therefore do it differently (which is just as legit…there’s no absolute right or wrong way to do things).

Wand’rly

Would you say you’re an evangelist of the minimalist traveling lifestyle? Apart from your online presence of course, do you find yourself spending a lot of time talking to people about your choices in life, even if they’re not in agreement with you?

Colin

I do! Though honestly, it’s been kind of by accident. I’m a huge proponent of finding your own answers, and I don’t think one ideology or way of life is right for everyone. We’re all different, seems silly to think my solutions would be totally right for anyone but me. But if someone asks, I’m always willing to talk about what I do and why, because they may be able to borrow an idea from me and fit it into their ideal lifestyle somehow (or vice-versa…just as often, I find myself borrowing an idea from other people I’m giving ‘advice’ to).

Unfortunately, the minimalism thing has become as much a trend as anything else, so there’s a whole lot of misunderstanding about what it is, and most of the mainstream versions of it I’ve been seeing look more like a religion than anything else, or focus purely on the experimentally-extreme aspects (like reducing down to the bare minimum possessions, or eschewing the use of technology, etc). I would advice that people not get caught up in the details and focus on the core message: minimalism is about getting rid of the things in your life that don’t add value so you can focus on the things that do. Beyond that, it’s a person-by-person set of rules.

Wand’rly

And finally, in your honest opinion, can anyone live a minimalist lifestyle? Do you think of it as a key that anyone can use to unlock happiness, or more of a personal choice that will probably only work for some people?

Colin

Oh sure, I think anyone can. Should everyone? Probably not. You really have to want it to make it work, because most of the messages we receive as a society tell us to consume, and it’s much easier to follow those instructions (instructions that perpetuate the consumerist economic system, by the way, so I guess if everyone went minimalist at the same time, we’d all be in big trouble!) and be contented than to drop everything and try to reboot your lifestyle.

Is it worth it? I think so, and I think most everyone could integrate some element of it and be happier as a result. It’s not really something that should be pushed on people, though, because then it seems like some kind of iron-clad set of laws or the like. It’s really just a practical way to reduce stress and clutter, both mental and physical. And I think the vast majority of people on earth could use a little reprieve from both sides of that coin from time to time.

Follow along with the fascinating life of Colin Wright via Exile Lifestyle, via @colinismyname on Twitter, or get in on his Words From the Road, Exiles.

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Wand’rly

Where were you born?

Nina Yau

I was born in Arlington Heights, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago.

Wand’rly

From there, how did you end up on a plane to the Republic of China at such a young age?

Nina Yau

My mom was living and working in Taiwan for a period of my childhood. In order to see her, my father took me to the airport and saw me off as I boarded the plane. I remember looking back at my dad as he waved good-bye to me just before I walked through the departure gate. I was six years old at the time.

Wand’rly

What was the catalyst for seeking the Truth?

Nina Yau

Gosh, so many things. Events. Experiences. People. I suppose a pretty big catalyst that started me off on a conscious truth-seeking journey (for aren’t we all on this journey in some shape or form, conscious or not?) was the feeling that there has got to be more to life on earth than to follow some rules in a book that was determined by someone else anyway. I wanted to know that I was spending each day without fear, shame or regret. In order to free myself of a perceived “good” life in the traditional sense (and “good” is subjective anyhow), I had to let go of falseness in my life and the things that weren’t working for me, which included jobs, relationships, lifestyle, habits, beliefs.

Wand’rly

How did minimalism find it’s way into your life?

Nina Yau

Several years ago after work one night, my boyfriend at the time showed me an article by Zen Habits. I read that article and a few more after that. Soon, I was hooked — to the idea, concept, philosophy and psychology of minimalism and simplicity. We discussed how we could both minimize our stuff and set off to it. It just so happened to be a period in my life where I really needed to let go of some things (not just the physical) in order to grow and evolve. The relationship has long since dissolved and so have many of my belongings, yet minimalism has remained a part of my life philosophy.

Wand’rly

Can yoga be boiled down to a form of minimalism?

Nina Yau

Yoga just is. It is different for each person. If one person wants to call it a form of minimalism, then that is what yoga is to her. If another person wants to call it something else, then that something else is what yoga is to her. I cannot say one way or another; I can only know yoga through my own body-mind-spirit. It will be a unique and ever-evolving experience for each individual.

Wand’rly

Is there a particular adventure or place you’ve gone that has opened your eyes to the values you write about on your “only post you’ll need to read” essay more than any other?

Nina Yau

When I wrote The Last Post You Will Ever Need to Read (A Letter to the Soul), I was traveling throughout Southeast Asia. I saw depravity in the air amongst people of all colors and nations, I felt loneliness in the empty hearts of many, I listened to broken tales of lives never fully lived, I experienced what it meant to live under heavy bondage of the physical and spiritual realm. I also felt joy in the hearts of many, deep, unquestionable love that carried through generations of hardship and wars, the indescribable beauty of human life, the astounding nature of the universe — its perfections and imperfections, balance and imbalance, the life-and-death cycle — that is in every sea, mountain, village, city, heart and soul of every creature on earth. I saw it all through my own two eyes and I felt it deep within my soul. I emerged from that particular travel last year a new person and I wanted to share with as many people the urgency that I felt, the absolute need to be one’s own truth, to truly live one’s life.

Wand’rly

Just for some general background, can you tell me where all you’ve traveled to? General areas are fine.

Nina Yau

Over the course of my life thus far, I’ve traveled extensively in North and South America, the UK, and East and Southeast Asia. I’ve lived for longer periods of time in several Asian countries, India being the most recent.

Wand’rly

How did you end up in Chicago?

Nina Yau

Chicago, up to now, has always been a home base. I’ve family here, I went to school here, I lived in many parts of the city and suburbs for the better part of my life. I don’t believe it will stay my home base all my life but for now, I’ve found reasons to work and live in the city.

Wand’rly

Do you believe possessions are the primary force behind so much unhappiness, particularly in an America where we have it so good but are still so unfulfilled?

Nina Yau

I don’t think possessions themselves are the primary force behind much of the negativity and sorrow we experience. That would mean we’re externalizing fault in things, laying blame in something outside of ourselves, when it’s really the attitude and mentality we have of possessions that hurt us the most. When attachment becomes excessive (of anything and anyone), that is when we become imbalanced and disturbances shall arise. Everything we should ever need or want, we already have. Things, like money, are not the cause of happiness but they certainly can be facilitators. Likewise, things (and money) are not the cause of unhappiness but they certainly can be facilitators.

Wand’rly

And finally, is the truth universal?

Nina Yau

Ah, isn’t that a profound question to ask ourselves time and time again? Moreover, the question I ponder quite often is, What is Truth? If the universe is me and you and billions of molecules and atoms and cells and water all coalescing in space and time, essentially, we are all interconnected, are we not? If we are all connected, and this is our reality, then does that mean we all believe one truth? Or that each person’s truth is the same as everyone else’s? What one person believes to be truth may be lies and absolute evil to another. We all have different answers to the same question. And we all believe our answers to be true.

Long answer short, I’ve no idea. And that is the truth!

Learn more from and about Nina at Castles in the Air and follow her on Twitter @ninayau.

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Wand’rly

You talk a lot on your site about formerly making big bucks and working very, very long hours. Did Ryan and you work together in your previous six figure positions? Were one or the other of you the impetus for diving into minimalism at the same time and how do you think that made it easier, if it did, to make the transition?

JFM

I worked at the same corporation for 12 years, working my way up the corporate ladder to supposedly prestigious positions such as Director of Operations and Regional Manager. I’ve know Ryan for more than 20 years—since we were fat little fifth graders—and when I got my first big promotion at age 22, I hired Ryan to come work for me (to share the misery, as it were). Like me, Ryan worked his way up the corporate ladder, and discontent filled our lives as we worked more and lost sight of what was important in our lives. Then as my twenties twilighted, my mother died, my marriage ended, and I felt as if I wasn’t doing anything meaningful with my life. Everything that was supposed to bring me happiness wasn’t making me happy at all. In fact, the opposite happened: I was overwhelmed and stressed and depressed. Basically, I was looking for answers when I stumbled across this thing called minimalism (via a guy named Colin Wright). I spent the next eight months simplifying my life, and as I did Ryan noticed how happy I was and so I showed him what I’d been doing to simplify. It didn’t take much convincing for him to get on board; he too was looking to find a more meaningful life.

Wand’rly

When you talk about finding happiness within yourself and not through the attempt to acquire possessions to fill the void so many of us experience in life, do you think that it’s possible to find happiness in life without necessarily foregoing the culture of consumption? How exactly do you see minimalism helping a person to discover their own happiness?

JFM

I think you can get rid of all your material possessions and still be miserable. Getting rid of the stuff is just the initial step. I found that once I got rid of everything in my way, it was much easier to focus on what was important in my life: health, relationships, pursuing my passion, personal growth, and contributing beyond myself.

Wand’rly

How difficult is it to live this lifestyle when the rest of America is so very focused on consumerism? Even our liberal President constantly touts the need for America to grow, to produce more, to get people to buy more stuff. Is it a constant struggle to lead a minimalist lifestyle or do you find that it just comes naturally after awhile?

JFM

Economic stimulus seems rather occult to me. It seems to me as if we’re attempting to fix the problem with the problem. That said, it’s pretty easy to live this lifestyle. I tout the benefits of minimalism, not the details. When people see the benefits—when the see how happy I am—they tend not to question it. Or they want to know how I do it. I’ve never been happier and it shows.

Wand’rly

In that vein, do you think the world would still work if everyone began living simply and we ditched the entire concept of a consumerist, capitalist society?

JFM

The world would still work, albeit differently. What you’re talking about, however, is the terminus of minimalism (i.e., if everyone were to embrace it), and I’m not attempting to get everyone to embrace minimalism; just the people who are looking for something more meaningful. If someone’s happy working their 9-to-5 florescent-lit-cubical job and buying stuff they don’t need, then who am I to tell them to stop? If you’re not happy though, then maybe minimalism is worth a shot.

Wand’rly

Your site is a bit of a rarity in that in a short time you’ve exploded in terms of readership. What do you think is the biggest contributor to this…minimalism itself as a subject, the fact that you’re published authors, something else?

JFM

Two words: adding value. We go way out of our way to add value to other people’s lives. I don’t know about you, but when I find value in something, I tend to share it. When our readers find value in one of our essays, then tend to email it to a friend or share it on social media. If you add value, people will want to read more.

Wand’rly

Can you tell us about the actual process you went through from deciding you wanted to live a minimalist lifestyle to getting to the point where you thought, “Okay, I’ve achieved it, I am a minimalist.”

JFM

My mother’s death was the impetus of my journey. Once I started questioning everything in my life, the stuff was the first to go. I had to get rid of the clutter so I could find out what was important. I had honestly gotten to a point in my life where all I did was work and I didn’t know what was important. There wasn’t a point where I said, “OK, I’m a minimalist,” but there was a point when I realized I could be happy without the stuff.

Wand’rly

Is it an ongoing process? Are you always figuring out new ways to do more with less or are you kind of just “there” now?

JFM

It’s an ongoing process in terms of questioning my stuff. That is, I’m constantly questioning my material possessions, making sure I’m not giving too much meaning to my things. There’s nothing wrong with owning a couch or a toaster or a nice car, but when I give too much meaning to those things, then they get to run the show, and I don’t want my possessions to be the boss of me.

Wand’rly

How do you feel when you see a commercial? I realize you don’t have a TV and probably don’t watch much TV in general anyway, but it’s hard to go to a bar or listen to the radio in a car without hearing or seeing a commercial. When you watch a company trying to put an emotional bond to a product, what does that make you think?

JFM

It’s funny, whenever I see a TV commercial now, I’m sucked in instantly. Commercials do such a slick job of captivating us. We don’t notice when we’re watching them every day, but when you step back for a while and then see one, it’s pretty amazing. There’s a reason advertising agencies pay scholars of demography hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to create their advertisements. They are paid to manipulate us. It’s that simple. Advertising no longer serves our needs; it works hard to manufacture the need.

Wand’rly

Can you give us an idea of your bills? If you’re not comfortable discussing dollar amounts, that’s completely fine, I’m more curious about what kinds of bills you had before transitioning to minimalism, and what you have today? What did you consider okay to spend money on and how did you come to the decision that the other stuff had to go?

JFM

I spent two years paying off the vast majority of my debt: credit card debt, student loans, medical bills, and the like. Then I paid off my car and sold my large house and moved into a small, $500 per month minimalist apartment. Then, over time, I gradually got rid of nearly all my bills. No more internet at home: Instead, I now find more productive things to do with my time, focusing on my health and my relationships and the more important things in life. When I need to use the internet, I go to the library or a coffee shop and I use it deliberately, no longer wasting hours of my life “surfing the web.” Living my dream doesn’t allow time for such pillory. No more TV: Instead, I read or write or go to a concert or a movie with a friend, creating meaningful, lasting experiences instead of channel surfing my life away. Living my dream doesn’t allow time for such passive nonsense. No more expensive gym membership: Now, I walk more than ever, and I exercise 18 minutes each day at home or in the park. And at age 31, I’m in the best shape of my life. No more extra bills: No new, expensive cars. No more satellite radio. No more expensive cellphone plan. No more Netflix. No more magazine subscriptions. Living my dream makes these ephemeral pleasures pale in comparison. And now my only bills at this point are rent, utilities, and insurance. Everything else had to go. I decided that pursuing my dream was worth it.

Wand’rly

You sold your house in exchange for renting as part of this entire process. How do you see renting vs. home ownership, from a minimalist perspective?

JFM

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with owning a house. I, however, didn’t need one—especially not the massive house I owned. Similarly, there’s nothing wrong with not owning a house, especially if you value mobility and freedom. Taking care of a house is hard work; as a former homeowner, I speak from authoritative first-hand experience. It seems to me that we’ve been told that home ownership is part of this so-called American Dream. That Dream seems broken to me.

Wand’rly

Can you tell us how your mind works when the time does come to exchange cash for goods? How do you avoid impulse purchases? What goes through your head when you need a new pair of shoes or when some new gadget like the iPad (or whatever applies to you) comes out that you might think “man, I’d like to have that”?

JFM

I went a year without purchasing material possessions. That year completely changed my thought process around purchasing. I no longer have that impulse. Now when I buy something, I do so deliberately, I make sure it adds value to my life, and I always ask myself one question: Is this worth $XX.XX of my freedom?

Wand’rly

Is there something you can say minimalism has done for you more than anything else?

JFM

In a word, Awareness. For years I stalked the halls of corporate America like a ghost, unaware of my surroundings, unaware of what was making me so discontent, unaware of what was important. Minimalism allowed me to get back that awareness so that I could live more intentionally.

Wand’rly

Outside of your books and website, do you “push” minimalism in everyday relationships and conversations?

JFM

The biggest way I “push” minimalism is by showing its benefits. People constantly ask me why I’m so damn happy, why I’m smiling so much, why I’m so calm. I tell them I haven’t always been this happy; I had to simplify my life before I could discover what makes me grin.

Wand’rly

Do minimalists forego eating out at restaurants or going to bars or coffee shops? Does owning less stuff translate to purchasing less in general, in your opinion?

JFM

I ate at the local burrito place today. I spend my money more cautiously now, but often eat at restaurants. I’m less concerned about the money, and more concerned about what I’m eating: Is it healthy? Does it add value to my life?

Wand’rly

I ate at the local burrito place today. I spend my money more cautiously now, but often eat at restaurants. I’m less concerned about the money, and more concerned about what I’m eating: Is it healthy? Does it add value to my life?

JFM

No, I don’t think there are any rules. Ryan and I have joked about publishing a 500-page Minimalist Rulebook wherein all 500 pages are blank. The bottom line is that my minimalism might look different than your minimalism. And that’s alright. Some of my favorite minimalists own homes and have children, and thus their lives look appreciable different than mine. If a sports car adds value to your life, have at it. But if you want one because you think it’s more meaningful than, say, your relationships, then you should think again. How long will you have to work to buy that sports car? Is it worth giving up that much of your freedom?

Wand’rly

I’m originally from Pittsburgh, and I think Dayton and other cities in Ohio, Western NY and Michigan share a lot in common with my own former city. Namely, that most people think they’re run down, past their prime places that aren’t exactly on people’s bucket lists. You talk about loving Dayton on your site. If you were the official Dayton tourism advocate for a day, what would you stress as some of the city’s shining points?

JFM

Dayton, Ohio—like many of the rustbelt cities you mentioned—is blue-collar and unpretentious. It’s a normal place, and I find that it’s hard to cultivate normalcy. Not to mention, I’ve been to 40 states during our book tour, and the best coffeehouse in the country (Press Coffee Bar) is a few blocks from my apartment, as is the best Thai food I’ve ever eaten (Thai 9).

Wand’rly

How did you go from wanting to be in the music industry when you were a teenager to wanting to be a writer? Could you have become the successful writer you have today without embracing minimalism?

JFM

I don’t know that I’ve ever admitted this publicly, but I was really into hip-hop music during the 90′s (my teenage years). I always liked the wordplay. I graduated high school early and went to audio-recording school where I learned how to record all kinds of music, from hip-hop artists to acoustic singer-songwriters. I started to fall in love with the words of singer-songwriter music shortly thereafter. I could never sing, so I decided that I might be able to write prose instead. I wrote literary fiction throughout most of my twenties, but I never published anything (I have a stack of rejection letters to prove it). After writing haphazardly for roughly seven years, minimalism allowed me to reclaim my time so I could focus more time on writing fiction. After embracing minimalism and simplifying my life, I’ve published two bestselling literary fiction books. I wouldn’t have had the time to put that much effort into those books without first embracing minimalism.

Wand’rly

I know you’ve said that you aren’t particularly drawn to traveling, but when you do travel, such as during your recent multi-leg tour, how does minimalism apply to being on the road, finding a place to stay, exploring a city, etc.?

JFM

We were pulled over on I-70 in Kansas for going seven—yes, seven!—miles over the speed limit. The officer asked to search are car (I don’t blame him; Ryan is a suspecious-looking fellow), and when he saw our trunk he said, “I thought you boys said you were traveling for three weeks—how come you only have two small bags?” True story. I don’t particularly like traveling, although I’ve traveled more in the last year than the previous 30 years combined. I’ve learned that a weekend bag with a pair of shorts, a bunch of underwear, and a handful of teeshirts can last for weeks (as long as I can find a washing machine). I’ve also learned to stop packing just in-case items. If you forget something it’s not the end of the world—virtually anything you need can be replaced for less than $20 in less than 20 minutes from where you are. When I travel, I focus on the people. We’ve had 1,900 people attend our 33-city tour, and I have enjoyed their perspective. Minimalism has allowed me to live in the moment and better enjoy my interactions with others, be it on the road or back in Ohio.

Wand’rly

Who are some of your favorite minimalists? Who did you look to for inspiration?

JFM

I first discovered minimalism through Colin Wright, who travels to a new country every four months based on his readers’ votes. Colin exposed me to the writings of Leo Babauta and Joshua Becker, two family men with completely different stories than Colin. Those two guys made me realize that there’s a different flavor of minimalism for everyone—travelers and homebodies alike. I also like what Courtney Carver is doing with Project 333. I approached all four of these writers as a fan, and since then I’ve been lucky to develop a friendship with each of them. I’ve even started a publishing community with Colin called Asymmetrical that I’d invite you to visit if you’re a writer or creative type looking for some direction. I’ve learned a lot over the last couple years and I’d love to add value to your life if you’re interested.

JOSHUA FIELDS MILLBURN left his corporate career at age 30 to become a full-time author and writing instructor. His essays at TheMinimalists.com have garnered an audience of more than 100,000 monthly readers. Millburn is the bestselling author of two fiction and two nonfiction books and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, NPR Radio, NBC, FOX, and Zen Habits. He was born in 1981 and currently lives in Dayton, Ohio.

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Wand’rly

I read on your site that you got into minimalism after spending a long day cleaning out your garage and having a neighbor mention the word to you. From first hearing that there was an actual name for ditching your stuff and living simply, what did you do next? What was the transition period like, emotionally and literally?

Joshua

The first step was to get my wife’s opinion on the matter. I sought her out immediately after the conversation (she was spring-cleaning the inside of the home). I told her about the conversation and asked what she thought. She was immediately intrigued as well. From there, I ran a simple Google search on the minimalist lifestyle. I was surprised to find an entire community of people online living this “minimalist life.” And I was hooked… this whole time frame took roughly 15-20 minutes. The transition to desire the life was a quick one… within minutes. The actual process of downsizing our possessions and house took much longer. The initial sweep took us 5-6 months. The more difficult rooms (basement storage, garage) ended up taking a few years. And it wasn’t until 3 years later that we actually moved into a smaller house.

Wand’rly

How much do you actually own now? Did you end up getting rid of your house for something smaller? What kinds of real changes can you tell us about that were made in an effort to achieve this lifestyle?

Joshua

I have no active measurement of how much we actually own now. There are some minimalists who count their items and list them or photograph them, but we’ve never cared enough to count. Also, we tend to describe our minimalism as a bit more moderate than others. We make it work for us, rather than force ourselves into some self-imposed boundaries. Though we never kept track officially, we removed roughly 60-70% of our personal belongings. These would represent belongings of all sorts: clothes, toys, furniture, dishware, books, sentimental belongings, technology, etc. We did move into a smaller home after we had minimized our possessions. We didn’t need the room of a larger house and hated the extra expenses that accompanied it. We’ve made countless changes in our lives over the years because of minimalism. But all of those changes were precipitated by one change: we started getting rid of everything we no longer used or loved. It took time and effort. But it paved the way for increased intentionality in our life.

Wand’rly

When it comes to material possessions that you already own, I think a lot of people would associate things like cars and houses with ongoing costs, but if you already own two sets of fine china, for example, they don’t cost you anything to continue owning, right? In your experience, can you tell us how getting rid of things that you’ve already bought and paid for have had an impact on your life?

Joshua

It has a profound impact on our lives. And I think you’ve hit on one of the biggest fallacies about the owning of possessions in America (and other industrial societies). Namely, that they don’t cost us anything once they are already in our possession. But they greatly affect our lives. We’ve just become so accustomed to things being in our possession, we don’t realize how much of an impact they bring.

Consider this, every possession we own – whether it be a car, a t-shirt, or an extra set of China – takes up space in our lives. This can most easily be seen in a physical sense. They take up physical space. As a result, we build shelves to store them, we move them around, we sort them, we organize them, we clean them. Additionally, and what we don’t typically notice, is that each of these possessions also take up mental space. They own a little piece of real estate in our mind just like they require physical real estate in our homes. Our minds won’t let us forget them, they can’t. They are, after all, our responsibility to care for… and everything that we own has to be dealt with someday by somebody. Our minds remind us often of this responsibility. Now, I should add, if we are only talking about one extra set of China, this spatial and mental burden is pretty minimal. But the problem is, nobody owns just one extra material possession. Our closets are full of things we don’t need. Our cupboards are full, Our drawers are over-flowing. Our attics are full of boxes of “things we already own with no ongoing costs.” Sometimes, our garage and storage units are filled as well. There is a very good reason why people who embrace a minimalist lifestyle speak of a new-found freedom in life. Not only has physical real estate been cleared of clutter, but mental real estate has also been cleared.

Wand’rly

Did going minimalist also come with a career change?

Joshua

No. Minimalism did not bring with it a career change… but it did bring an opportunity to pursue my career on different terms. By that, I mean, I do work in the same industry (non-profit) as I did before our decision. But because of our decision to live a minimalist life, we have had more freedom in where/what we do. I had a friend of mine call me 6 years ago about moving to a new part of the country to work alongside him in a new organization. But I had to decline because it wasn’t going to pay enough to support my family and our lifestyle. 3 years later, we were introduced into minimalism. We soon discovered we could enjoy life on a much smaller budget than we previously thought. And as a result, when he called again last year with the same offer, we were in the right position to say yes. Same industry, significant pay-cut, but more enjoyment.

Wand’rly

How does having two school age kids who are probably bringing home tons of artwork, A+ type papers, and the various other plethora of disposable stuff work with minimalism? Or grandparents who want to “spoil” their grandchildren or kids getting allowance and wanting to buy GI Joes, etc.?

Joshua

Good question. On some levels it makes it more difficult… much more difficult actually. As you mentioned, it’s unbelievable the amount of stuff that kids bring home from school, church, parties, even just an afternoon at a friend’s house. To be honest, I never realized how much stuff until we started embracing minimalism. Interestingly enough, this question actually gets to a tougher issue of minimalism as a family. Namely, the difference in opinion among the family members about “how minimalist” we should become. I usually say, “If I was 80% in, my wife was 60% in.” As a result, getting rid of the first 60% was easy. The difficulty came when we reached 61%… I wanted to keep going, but my wife was ready to be content. For a little while, it caused some strife in our marriage. One day, I thought to myself, “What am I doing here? Removing our possessions was supposed to bring us closer, not push us apart.” And I made an important decision: I could define my personal brand of minimalism wherever I wanted to draw the line, but I couldn’t draw the line for my wife. So I removed 80% of my possessions, allowed my wife to remain at 60%, and decided to stop being the “minimalist police” around my house.

Back to the question of the children: As they have grown older and their personalities have begun to emerge more and more, I have once again had to stop being the “minimalist police” and allow them to discover their own personal brand of minimalism at their unique stage of life. To accomplish this, we set limits for our children which forces them to identify values. For example, my daughter has a collection of dolls and dress-up clothes and art supplies. And she’s able to keep what she wants (and ask for what she wants) as long as it remains inside a certain parameter (currently, the shelving in her closet). My son is less concerned with toys and as a result, has a smaller area within which he houses his toys and books. Similarly, we have two boxes (again, I allowed my wife to pick the size) where we store their paper stuff from school. Once it is full, we sort out the papers that are no longer meaningful to create space for the things they really want to keep. And as I mentioned before, we do the same with toys and gifts. I have never asked their grandparents to stop sending gifts… it is how they desire to express their love to their grandkids. But I have made some requests (quality over quantity, need over want, and smaller over bigger). And if after the holidays, the toys no longer fit on the shelves, we remove some of the old, unused ones.

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Wand’rly

You state that you managed to cut your debt by some $60,000 by simplifying your bills, ditching your car and following minimalist principles. That’s really impressive. Was there one big thing that you cut that contributed the most to that?

Rachel

We cut a lot of small things that added up to a lot of savings but our biggest help in paying off debt was simply not buying things. I had been purchasing baby clothes and popping into stores if there was a sale. No more. I also shopped with a list and stuck to it. This really cut down on impulse purchases.

Wand’rly

At the same time (or perhaps shortly thereafter?) you moved from Vancouver, Canada to the Isle of Man. I think most people would see a move across a continent and an ocean as pretty expensive. Did minimalism help you keep your costs down during that transition?

Rachel

We sold all of our furniture and got rid of even more of our possessions before the move so it wasn’t that expensive. The 14 boxes we shipped overseas cost under $1000 to go by freight. Of course, the biggest savings was the my husband’s new employer paid for our move!

Wand’rly

How do you deal with extended family, particularly with a young child and another on the way, who want to shower their grandchildren, nephews, etc. with tons of toys on a regular basis?

Rachel

Our family has been really supportive of our choice to live with less. They ask if there is anything that we need or that our son is interested in so their gifts are usually well loved and used. We also don’t buy our son much because we know his grandma’s gift him great toys and clothes for his birthday and holidays.

The other thing we do is donate or return anything we don’t use. That way another family can put some use to the gift instead of it sitting around our home collecting dust.

Wand’rly

When you decided to go minimalist, was it difficult to convince your husband to do so as well? How about friends and family, what did they think of your new pursuit?

Rachel

My husband was taken a back when I started radically decluttering. But he soon saw all the benefits of it and has been really supportive. Our bank account, our tidy home and our increased contentment is proof enough for him.

Our family has been supportive but sometimes skeptical. Particularly when we got rid of our car. Our style of minimalism isn’t for everyone but I think they see that we’re quite happy and it’s working for us.

Wand’rly

Do you think you’re instilling minimalist values in your young son? Do you think two parents input stands much of a chance against an entire world of TV commercials, shopping malls and cereal box promises?

Rachel

Well we don’t have cable television, we live in a town that doesn’t have shopping malls and we don’t have cereal in our home. So I think we have a good chance of instilling some traditional, non-consumer based, values in our son. Of course he will be influenced by his peers and I expect as he gets older we’ll have more discussions about why we don’t have a car, watch much television and have a lot less toys than the average family. I’m excited for those talks and ready for the challenge.

Wand’rly

Have you found it any easier to live this lifestyle in the British Isles than it was in Canada (or vice versa)?

Rachel

It’s been easier since our move overseas because we live in a small town on an island. There aren’t any shopping malls and choices are limited. There are fewer options for activities and entertainment. The attitude here is different: people work less and have more vacation time than in North America. It’s been a great move for us and we really like this slower pace of life here.

Wand’rly

Is blogging an important part of your journey? Is it therapeutic or do you do it to keep yourself in check…or just for fun?

Rachel

Blogging is therapeutic, keeps me in check and it’s fun. All three. I really like the community I find at my blog and the discussions. I’m always learning something new about simplifying from other bloggers and readers.

Wand’rly

Do you foresee any difficulties as your son enters school and sees kids with iPods and PSPs and then laptops and cell phones, and might begin to want those things for himself?

Rachel

School and more awareness (my son is just three) will bring new challenges for us. I’ve already seen how older children have cell phones, GameBoys and what not. Perhaps I’m naive but I think we can curb a lot of that by being firm about what electronics my son can use and have. I didn’t have an iPod until I was in my 20′s – I think my son can survive until his teens without one.

Follow Rachel on Twitter for what she deems “moderate minimalism” @racheljonat.

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We’re in the middle of a Kickstarter campaign and with 19 days to go we’ve still got a long way toward reaching our goal.

Please, if you enjoy what we’re doing here, back the project at $5, $25, $75, whatever you can do. Your support doesn’t go unrewarded, by backing the project, you get:

1. A free one year membership at $5 or more, and a lifetime membership by backing the project at just $25 or more!
2. Membership with Wand’rly gives you access to free mp3s from local bands at every place we write about.
3. You also get access to some exclusive discounts in those locations.
4. Plus we provide a free blogging platform for travelers, and you’ll get early access to our two latest endeavors: an RSS reader/calendar/Twitter client + our upcoming social network where those looking to get on the road full-time can ask questions, arrange caravans, sleeping arrangements and generally just hang ten with their fellow wanderers!
5. There are also a ton of other cool rewards over there, like a minimalist wallet, a Wand’rly t-shirt and even huge discounts on web designs. Go check it out!

But most importantly, by backing the project, you ensure that Wand’rly will keep the monthly issues flowing. Since we launched in April, we’ve now done five issues, everywhere from Asheville, North Carolina to the Oregon Coast, Bisbee, Arizona to Ithaca New York and our most recent Pittsburgh, PA edition. That also means we can keep putting the time and effort into creating indepth guides like How the US Highway System Works and How to Make a Living on the Road.

If only 300 of our 40,000 some monthly readers would back the project at $35, we’d make our goal and you could rest assured that Wand’rly would be putting out a new issue every month for the next few years.

Think of us as public radio, you do your little part, and everyone benefits from article after article of beautiful photos, witty reparte and insider secrets on the traveling life. So head on over to Kickstarter and drop some coin!

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Affordable housing, engulfed in parks and trees, and three rivers running through it all.

Pittsburgh, PA is brought to you by Wand'rly.
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We’d like to say a special word of thanks to Formula 412 for throwing a track our way (and in turn, yours, too!) via our article on the music scene in Pittsburgh.

Formula 412

I knew their guitar player, Byron “Nasty” Nash (be sure to check out our interview with him below), from way back in the day when he was a bartender at my favorite local haunt, Harris Grill in Shadyside, and through him was turned onto their hip hop meets rock chords sound. I could go on, but check out the video below which can do them more justice than my own words, and if you want more, grab their albums on iTunes.

Free MP3s on Wand’rly

With each issue, we try and grab great tracks from local bands who are willing to provide an mp3 of a song we dig, and think you’ll be into as well. If you’re a member (only $5 / year!) of the magazine, you can simply login to your account and click on the appropriate tab to knab all of the tracks. Otherwise, check out the various tracks we have available from previous issues:

• Asheville
• The Oregon Coast
• and of course, Pittsburgh.

Interview with Formula 412

We spoke with Byron Nash of the band, about their new video, touring plans and where 412 is headed next.

Wand’rly:

Can you tell us how Formula412 came to be?

Nash:

Formula412 came together based off of an idea or desire to fuse Hip-Hop and live instrumentation. Masai Turner (emcee) and Akil Esoon (keys/producer) put their collective minds together to find musicians who could not only play well, but could share in the vision, goals, brand, and collective creative process that in time became Formula412.

Get the free mp3, and find more from Formula412 at say412.com and on Twitter @Formula412.

Formula 412, One of the Many Great Bands in Pittsburgh that Contributed to the Magazine is brought to you by Wand'rly.
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So if you haven’t heard by now, we’re running a Kickstarter campaign. And we need your help!

So as a little incentive, we’re doing a giveaway to help give people that little extra umph they sometimes need to help a project out.

What are we giving away?

One of our backers was kind enough to donate this item, if we get fully funded by October 31st, the project’s cut off date. Remember, Kickstarter is all or nothing: we don’t get any funding if the project doesn’t get fully backed by then!

How do I participate?

To apply you need to do one of the following. Each time you do one of these things, your name gets thrown into the hat that many times.

1. Back the Project! While you don’t have to back the project to enter, every cent that you contribute to the project counts toward 1 entry. So if you back the project at $15, you’ve just been entered 1500 times! Back us at $150 and you’ll be entered 15,000 times. This is the best way to rank up your chances here, folks!
2. Share the Project on Twitter. Share http://wandrly.me/kickstarter and mention @wandrlymagazine on Twitter to be entered. You’ll be entered once for your own tweet and once again for anyone who Retweets your post. We’ve even made it easy, just click this link.
3. Like or Share the Project on Facebook. Head over to our Kickstarter page and click the Like button just below the video (sometimes it takes a minute for that button to load). You’ll be entered once for doing so. Alternatively, Share the post on Facebook (you need to do this manually) and you’ll be entered 10 times for every time you share the post!

Who can enter?

Anyone in the whole wide world!

What if I have already backed the project or shared this on Facebook or Twitter?

You’ll be entered, too! You still get whatever reward you chose as a backer, and any likes, shares or tweets from the past will be counted toward the future!

When will you choose a winner?

The winner will be chosen after our project is successfully funded, so no later than November 1st, 2012! We’ll also cover shipping, handling, etc. to get you your new iPad, though only if you live in the US. International folks will simply have to pay whatever applicable shipping applies.

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In the past few days we’ve been hard at work just trying to push our Kickstarter campaign out to all of our friends, family and fellow travelers. We’re off to a bit of a slow start but I’m confident we’ll gain some ground here as the work week starts to descend and people get a bit more time to look into it. We could of course, always use your help promoting it.

1. If you haven’t yet, head over to the Kickstarter campaign and back us at whatever level you can.
2. Then, tell your friends about it. You can click here to send a quick Tweet, or hit the Like button below to spread the word on Facebook.

I also had some time this morning to draw up some preliminary ideas for the t-shirt prize ($75 backing level plus you get a lifetime subscription to the mag, early access to our new invitation-only social network for travelers and more!). Check out the t-shirts and let us know what you think over on the Kickstarter Comments Page.

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So tonight, only a few hours after we launched our Kickstarter Campaign, we received our first backer!

I first met Olivier years ago on the road, I was in Bisbee, Arizona (coincidence? We just did our issue on Bisbee yesterday, too!) and he was traveling through in his blue 1979 Volkswagen Bus. It was he, actually, who while showing me the inside of his little home on the go and everything he’d done to customize it, had me fall in love with the idea of living in a Bus (which we did for years). Olivier has a great backstory…if my memory serves me correctly on all of this…he’s from the Netherlands, a former IT guy who saved up his cash, quit his job, and caught a plane to the US. He toured around a bit, and along with some friends fixed up this old VW to pristine condition, and then toured around some more. He fell in love, lost, and kept on going. He’s the epitome of travel: digging in, getting your boots dirty, and keeping it going.

While I believe Olivier has settled down in Seattle, I also believe his Bus is still full on up and running, so who knows how long he’ll sit still for. You can read about his old Bus adventures over at Breezy the Bus, or follow his more recent stuff at @olivierbowman.

Thanks again Olivier!

PS. Want to get in on cool rewards like access to our behind the scenes blog next year, a replacement for Google Reader for travelers, our up and coming social network just for roamers, Wand’rly t-shirts and more? Head over to Kickstarter and back us.

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Debauchery, history & the Wild West.

+ Traveling Bands Hymn for Her and Shovels & Rope

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We currently have three vehicles parked here in our temporary driveway in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Before owning any of these, eight years ago when I sold my Dodge Neon in favor of living nearly full-time on a bicycle in the city of Pittsburgh, I never imagined I’d own another car again, let alone an SUV and two vans (though to be fair, one of those “vans” is a 78 VW Bus).

As I sit here in these, our last four days at this particular address we’ve called home for this pregnancy, the sun casts its particular shade of violet over the Black Mountains of Western Caroline the same hues I’ve porched through for months. It’s strange to have been in one location for so long, but as much as I’d like to ramble on about our lack of movement for the longest period since I began traveling, alas this is a tale of three vehicles…

The Pathfinder, an SUV we purchased before our move to these mountains when we had heard tales of deep snow and knew our ideal rental would be high an steep up a mountain road. It wears Oregon plates (which sport the numbers in front of Mt Hood, Ranier and the mighty Douglas Fir), smokes like a banshee after a long days drive but has been from the Pacific Northwest to Florida to Pennsylvania and never once gave us trouble, even while towing a Uhaul trailer at one point. We’ll bid adieu to her in the coming months and with her sleek black exterior, satellite radio and ramrod on the front, she’ll likely spend her remaining days with some soccer mom gangster wanna be toting kids to after-school activities and having her ashtray overrun with cigarettes on the way home from date nights the bar. At least, that’s how we used her.

The newest addition to the lot is a 1995 Chevy Van which we’ll use to tow a vintage Airstream when we get back on the road next spring. It’s pimp leather, a cassette player and VCR of course, and is the definition of ugly with its seafoam green paint job. Still, it’s my
latest toy and a testament to the last days of American engineering that don’t involve a pile of junk wrapped in plastic. The North Carolina plate it dawns is less then any of the others, a red and white thing depicting the first flight which ever took place&emdash;as we
all remember from high school&emdash;in Kitty Hawk, NC. As glorious as humans in flight might be, neither North Carolina nor its license plate stands up to the magesty of the Oregon Coast or Colorado’s Rocky Mountain range.

Which leads me to Bus, a native Colorodoan with the green mountain plates to prove it. Bringing the van home, with all the excitement a
newer home-on-the-road provides, was bittersweet. We realized we’d never really live in the Bus again. It has been with us, as a family, ever since we could call ourselves that. In the years since I bought that beloved old bucket of bolts, we’ve been from Colorado to the California redwoods, all of Arizona’s saguaro magic to Austin. We’ve seen a dog come and go and another one come. We’ve traversed the shores of Florida, of New England, and all of the Great Lakes save Erie. Our oldest son spent two years in it, our baby Winter was conceived in its belly and spent the summer of his first year roaming the Adirondacks and Green Mountains and Michigan’s UP. It is the only possession I own that I actually love, as ridiculous as that may sound. I tinkered with the idea of selling her to help finance future travels, but no one in the family would hear of it. We’ll store it, I suppose indefinitely. Hopefully one of the boys will take it on camping trips or even live in it during some gap year I envision them all enjoying. When the youngest is 18, and I force him out the door, I’ll be 51. Perhaps then the Lady and I will enjoy our golden years on the road, finally the two of us again and alone together at last.

Three license plates, three boys, three days left in a house in a town we have called home for three season. Life comes, it goes and it becomes something new again.

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While we’re not a part of the documentary, nor do we even really know the folks who are making it, various good friends of ours have nothing but wonderful things to say about Drew and Christine Gilbert, digital nomads and filmmakers currently running a Kickstarter campaign to get their documentary, The Wireless Generation, off the ground.

Do me a favor, and head over to their Kickstarter campaign, watch their video, and pledge something to the project. $1, $5, or $100, it all helps. They’re less than $3000 away from success, and I’d love to know that some of us Wanderers helped them get the rest of the way there!

If you’re not familiar with Kickstarter, it’s a way for people to raise money to get their next project off the ground. It could be a small business or an art project. People can ask for $1500 or $100,000. It’s not charity, you’re not “donating” to the project. You’re pledging an amount of money to see something you can benefit come to life. In the case of the Wireless Generation, you could walk away with a copy of the documentary once it’s produced, tickets to one of their live premiers, a t-shirt or your name in the credits, depending on how much you pledge. But more importantly, we’ll all have a chance to see what promises to be an amazing piece of film.

The thing is though, if they don’t meet their goal of $35,000 in the next 40 hours, they get nothing. None of it. Nada. It’s not a scheme, it’s not a game, it’s the way Kickstarter ensures that projects that aren’t fully funded won’t end up being only partially funded, leaving the creators short on the necessary funds and the backers possibly empty handed as well.

What are you waiting for? Make it happen!

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I’m a big fan of mouthwash. Not just any mouthwash, but specifically Listerine, the green color.

Now, I’m also a proponent of organic and natural stuff: we use Tom’s toothpaste (though it took my tastebuds more than a moment to get used to the change of taste), environmentally friendly detergents, try and shop locally as much as possible; all of that happy hippy crap.

However, since I was a young kid I’ve had issues with my mouth. I occasionally get white, circular sores inside of my cheeks, on my gums and tongue. I call them ulcers, some dentists have told me they’re called canker sores. Dentists and doctors alike have said they’re caused by stress. I get them often when times are tough, but also occasionally when everything seems good. I’ve been told that gargling with salt water would help. I’ve been pointed towards soothing remedies like Orajel. I’ve tried natural and organic and alcohol free mouthwash to get rid of them. All of the professionals tell me that it’s a virus and this particular, non-contagious but painful—and more importantly, annoying as hell—virus cannot be killed by these methods, or any others, though.

Except green Listerine. Why am I discussing this on a website that’s all about travel?

Well, it’s not that Listerine alone gets rid of them. On its own, it does nothing. Penniless drunks drink it, but you can’t get drunk from it; that is, it’s not exactly a massive dose of alcohol. It’s power doesn’t lie in its natural state. In order for Listerine to work, to clean my mouth of all the cumulative grime from a day’s worth of eating, drinking and smoking, it needs something else.

Movement. Once you begin to gargle Listerine, it changes from a nasty tasting green liquid into a badass killer of all things foul. Like a guitar string, like a freight train, like a bullet, it is powerless without movement. But once set in motion, it has the ability to overcome what decades worth of doctors, dentists and old wives’ tales couldn’t.

I believe this translates to so many aspects of our lives. Keep moving, you won’t get fat. A car can’t just sit for years and be expected to start right up, you need to keep the parts moving or they rust and warp. Dogs need to be walked. Children need playtime. A baseball needs to be thrown. When we make a motion out of ourselves, we become more than human, more than what our mere flesh and blood entails. We become alive, truly and fully in this world and whether we ever make it onto television or win awards or find recognition, we become a piece of history, a change in the world.

Listerine is not sold as a store brand. It doesn’t need to hide behind a perception of affordability or “just average”. It simply waits patiently for its moment to shine, and then burns like a forest fire come the time. Put a little motion in your life and watch the transformation that dominoes from it all.

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Photograph by Don Shall

While patiently awaiting the birth of our latest son (exactly a month from today if all goes according to schedule…) we’ve been renting a house in Black Mountain, North Carolina, a small town 17 miles east of Asheville, NC. This has given me a little insight into the cost of fixed-location living vs. full-time travel expenses, and I thought I’d share a little of that with you as for many folks looking to hit the road, the question of “how do I make a living?” is usually followed by something like “well how much does it cost?”

Living on the road can easily be quite a bit cheaper than living in a fixed location.

Firstly, let me say that traveling can obviously be very expensive. But there’s a huge difference between renting a $1500 (or easily much, much more) house for a week on your yearly vacation vs. making a life for yourself on the open road. Let’s look at some of the most common expenses in life and how they compare one way or the other. For the purposes of this post, we’re talking about full-time living on the road as it pertains to owning an RV or campervan vs. those folks who tend to rent other types of accommodations (like couchsurfers, hostelers or those who rent short-term housing while traveling).

Rent

Obviously the cost of a home, whether you’re renting or you own, can vary widely. I’ll use the average of real world examples from the past six houses I’ve owned or rented (between the years 2004 – 2007 and a couple of shorter stints since then) so that we’re looking at real numbers. Obviously your costs will vary, but this can give you a great idea of how to take your own expenses and compare them then to various average costs for campgrounds on the road.

$680

3BR, 1.5BA Home (owned) in Pittsburgh, PA, 2004

$625

2BR, 1BA Apartment (rented) in Pittsburgh, PA, 2005

$850

2BR, 1BA Townhouse (rented) in Pittsburgh, PA, 2006

$650

2BR, 1BA Apartment (rented) in Manzanita, OR, 2010

$950

3BR, 2BA House (rented) in Nehalem, OR, 2011

$1200

3BR, 2.5BA House (rented) in Black Mountain, NC, 2012

Average Cost of Living in a Stick House: $825 / month

Now let’s look at some real world examples of campground costs. There are multiple scenarios for campgrounds (mostly pertaining to RV Parks vs. state parks), and we’ll look at as many as possible to give us some variety and see how flexible location independence can be.

Monthly RV Park Costs

This is by far the cheapest way to live that doesn’t involve being out in the middle of the desert and relying on a generator and the size of your various water tanks (though we’ll cover that in a moment). These are just various examples of actual places and their costs, as well as generally what comes with each one.

$300

One month’s rent for an RV park in Marathon, Texas. Includes full hookups (water, electric, sewage and even TV and Internet in this case) in a small town in the middle of a beautiful nowhere. Basically you’re living in the Old West.

$320

One month’s rent in Pecan Grove RV Park, Austin, Texas. You’re in the heart of one of the greatest cities in America, full hookups included but no free Internet. Big city living at 1/10th of the cost of renting an apartment in Austin.

$800

One month at the Queen Mine RV Park in Bisbee, Arizona. A short walk from a gorgeous, vibrant small tourist town that’s truly an experience, includes Internet, television and full hookups. People pay big bucks to visit this little tourist town and stay in the hotels, it’s kind of like a scene out of Tombstone (which is about an hour north).

$627

A month just outside of Loveland, Colorado, minutes from a cute small city and half an hour from Rocky Mountain National Park. Includes full hookups and Internet. You live at the foot of the Colorado Rockies, among elk and some of the best fishing you could ask for.

$930

A month on the shores of Lake Champlain, fifteen minutes north of the beautiful, green city of Burlington, Vermont. Includes water and electricity plus Internet. Hippy living on a gorgeous lake and minutes from downtown.

Average Cost of Living in an RV Park: $595 / month

Exceptions: Weekly, Nightly & Boondocking

Of course, not everyone who’s traveling, particularly in the beginning when you’re first exploring this new lifestyle, wants to spend a month in one place.

Weekly rates for RV parks are typically closer to $200 / week. This is the general average I’ve found across the country, and of course rates vary as much for weekly spots as they do for the above monthly options. So for weekly movers and shakers, rent is closer to $800 / month.

As for nightly stays, such as doing a weekend here or an overnight there on your way to somewhere else, you can expect to pay $30 average. There are $5 / night spots in the middle of New Mexico and there are $65 / night resort parks, but in general most places run around $30 / night. Discount clubs like Passport America and Good Sam can get you a few bucks off of some of these, but in general if you stay in a different park every night or two, you’d be looking at $900 / month.

Boondocking is when you don’t pay a dime to stay anywhere, because you find a spot where you can (often legally) stay for free. This could be anywhere from a county park in Texas to a Wal-Mart parking lot to a national forest. Of course, for the price you get absolutely nothing but a spot to call home. No electrical hookups (well, almost never anyway), no water or sewage hookups, usually no Internet (unless you can find an open signal nearby). Your particular rig must be able to accommodate any needs you might have (ie, backup batteries powered by solar panels, big ol’ water tanks for drinking, dishes, etc. or a generator to provide power, where acceptable). Boondocking isn’t all that possible on a monthly basis, unless you’re really rugged or very ingenuitive, but if you could, your rent becomes practically $0. More likely though, boondocking is a way to supplement more expensive means of overnighting (such as occasional expensive parks near tourist destinations) with free living to help balance your budget.

Using our own particular traveling style as an example, then, what is the final comparison of rent vs. campground fees:

Monthly Stays:

50% @ $595/mo

Weekly Stays:

35% @ $800/mo

Nightly Stays:

10% @ $900/mo

Boondocking:

5% @ $0/mo

Average Monthly Campground Fees:

$667/mo

Average Monthly Rent/Mortgage: $825/mo

On rent alone, it’s over $150 / month cheaper to live in an RV, plus you get to see the world.

Car and RV/Home Owner’s Insurance Comparison

This is another area where it can be massively cheaper to travel than to live in one place, though again there are a variety of situations:

RV + Toad

A toad is a car you pull behind your RV (where an RV is a Class A or Class C, meaning it’s both the living space and the vehicle all in one). In this case you have two insurance payments: one for the RV (which is typically incredibly cheap) and one for the car you’re towing (ie, the toad). In this situation:

• You pay almost nothing for RV insurance because insurance companies assume it will be driven infrequently. I’ve paid as little as $400 / year for excellent coverage through Geico which also included $1500 of additional insurance to over hotel stays and damage to personal belongings in the event of an accident where we couldn’t live in the vehicle for some amount of time.
• Car insurance on the toad will be close to whatever it would have been if you lived in a stick house, though since you can choose which state is your permanent residence, you can take advantage of cheaper rates in certain states. For example, Vermont has an average car insurance rate that’s about 1/2 of what the rest of America pays.
• Though you’ll now be paying for both car & RV insurance, in all fairness you have to consider the cost of home owner’s insurance, which is currently on average around $850 / year (not to mention taxes, which I don’t discuss in this post at all, and various other expenses as listed below). Renter’s insurance might be a factor for you, though we’ve never purchased it in the houses we’ve rented.

In this scenario you pay $450 / year less when you consider your car insurance (stays the same) and the cost of RV insurance ($400 / year) vs. home owner’s insurance ($850 / year).

Towing Vehicle + trailer

Most of the above stipulations for RV + Toad apply to a towing vehicle and a trailer (ie, you’ve got a big truck or van that carries a fifth wheel or Airstream or something similar behind it). What you’ll pay more for insurance on a big ol’ truck like the one you’ll need to tow your trailer, you’ll hopefully be able to make up for in the lower cost of a trailer that doesn’t have an engine, though typically this cost won’t be enough to balance out the higher insurance for a truck that’s being driven more, so this route will be a bit more expensive.

In my experience, and this isn’t my own personal experience but rather that of what I’ve seen on the road, people are usually in this setup. They’ve got their big Ford F350 and a trailer.

Just an RV

This is your best scenario cost-wise, since you could get your insurance down to a few hundred dollars per year. The reality of this is a bit more harsh though, as you’ll be limited to where you can go and how you can get there. For example, most cities don’t have RV parks right in the middle or public transportation that can get you from an RV park to town, so you’ll need to learn to love a bicycle or just not visit certain places that would involve miles and miles of walking to get into town. Or, you pick up the RV and drive it to the grocery store every few days…

In this scenario you pay significantly less. I’ve had car insurance which ranged from over $200 / month on a newer sedan to around $150 / month on a decade old truck, both scenarios included full coverage. So even if you figure your costs would be at the lower end, $150 / month, all in all you save $2250 / year going this route. In my experience though, most people don’t travel this way, and it’s harder to do this full-time than any of the other methods mentioned above. So in all fairness, we’ll just use the RV + Toad scenario above. Of course, if you think you’ve got what it takes to ride bicycles, stock up on food, and live without a car, you could save thousands / year this way.

On insurance, you could expect to save $450 / year, or $38 / month.

That puts our total on-the-road-savings at $188 / month thus far.

Utilities

As stated above, most RV parks include all of the utilities you need—water, sewage and electric—plus plenty of your wants, such as television and cable. Looking at some averages for these utilities while living in rental houses or owning a home:

Water & Sewer

We’ve paid around $80 / month for this in a stick house.

Electric

When also used for heat and AC, this averages out to about $115 / month.

Television

For the basic cable you could get in your house that’s comparable to what’s available in most RV parks, you’re looking at $30 / month.

Internet

To be fair, RV Park connectivity is not the quality of what you would expect from your own line via Comcast or a similar cable company’s home service, so we’ll compare it to cheaper DSL, which is around $20 / month

Average Cost of Utilities in a House: $245 / month

In theory, that’s all straight profit as you rarely have to pay any utlities at RV parks. In all reality, though, you’re probably going to need some type of AirCard or tethering plan with your cell phone so that you can get online even when RV Parks (or when you’re boondocking, etc.) don’t offer WiFi (which is rarer these days). So let’s be fair and factor in the $60 / month for one of these plans that you’ll need if you work online.

On utilities, you could expect to save $185 / year, or $38 / month.

That puts our total on-the-road-savings at $373 / month thus far.

Groceries

I’m not going to specifically quantify groceries, because this is largely a personal issue. If you’re the type of person who purchases in bulk from Costco or Sam’s Club, that’s a lot harder to do with an RV. I suppose you could have a giant plastic bin or two and keep dry goods in it, but for anything that needs frozen or refrigerated, you simply don’t have that kind of space, unless you’re in a rock star Class A tour bus, in which case you might. Personally, we shop once a day or every two or three days, just getting what we need for those meals. This means we have more fresh produce and less preservative laden stuff, but that’s our preference. It doesn’t cost us any more to do our grocery shopping on the road, in fact it probably costs us less, but that’s because when we live in a certain location for a period of time, we find the local/organic type stores and when we’re on the road we tend to eat out more as we want to experience the places we visit.

Seeing the World

This is where things can get more expensive…it’s hard not to visit museums, amusement parks, eat out at as many restaurants as possible and go on kayaking or zip lining or hiking into national parks type things when you’re on the road. So yes, this aspect of travel, the part where you are experiencing the world and having a damn good time doing it, can be much more expensive. On the other hand, you’ve now got $373 / month extra to do that kind of stuff. Oh, and don’t forget to factor in the savings that come naturally with living in a confined space: when you don’t have a garage to fill with every power tool imaginable or a walk in closet to house your weekly shopping sprees, you save tons of cash there as well.

Personally, I’d rather have the extra $4,476 a year to blow on enjoying time with my family and seeing the world than my old tool collection or another night spent with Jay Leno and the folks from Jersey Shore.

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At the request of a few readers, today we’ll get out the camera and do a little Cribs: VW Bus Edition. What follows is a tour through our home on wheels, a 1978 Champagne Edition Volkswagen Bus Riviera Campwagen. Yeah, it’s a mouthful. We just call her the Bus.

Welcome to our two story home. The Bus is standing tall at the edge of a dirt hillside, top “popped” and under what shade the trees of this Georgian state park can afford.

You’re welcome to peak inside, everyone does. This is our fully functional kitchen. The stove is powered by a tiny 2.5 gallon propane tank that lives underneath the Bus. We cook some meals on it, but mostly use it to boil water to make coffee or clean the baby’s bottles. Behind it is our cabinetry, which houses a single cupboard, a pantry, a “junk drawer”, our mini-fridge and the sink (which can be powered via plugging directly into city water or from our small water tank which is stored underneath the closet).

Welcome inside. Everything we have is very simple. No complicated automatic drip coffee makers, that would only serve one purpose. Instead we have a tiny French Press and mugs that can be used for everything from coffee to wine to soup. It’s ultra-important that we keep our possessions to a minimum, and in that vein we try and have multiple uses for each and every thing we own.

Here is the heart of our home, the couch. It folds down into Renée and I’s bed. This is where our oldest son, Tristan, looks through stacks of Yugioh cards or watches the world go by as we travel. The Lady and I have spent more hours here than I can conceive to imagine counting. It’s been covered in sand, soot and dog fur. What you’re seeing isn’t the original upholstery, and it’s not even the current one…the couch gets alot of wear and tear, so we have to redo it just about every six months. It’s on its last leg as far as the mechanical parts that allow it to transform into our bed, but reupholstering it always ends up leaving behind some of the best memories we’ve had.

Of course, the couch is rarely as clean as in the previous photo. Here’s our latest version of the decor and a view that gives you an idea of how close the couch is to the kitchen counter. We don’t mind the tight spaces so much, though. We’ve got the entire world as our backyard and we kind of love one another, so being skin to skin ends up working out.

Before we head upstairs, lets take a quick peak into the cockpit. It’s actually very roomy up here, more so than any recently made car or mini-van. Renée and I take occasional mornings to sip coffee and plan our days out as loosely as possible, or have a few late night drinks over the atlas considering what course might prove us fruitful in seeking the next adventure. I often sit in the driver’s seat and write with an actual pen and paper, a sort of personal journal of our travels. Of course, it’s very close to the back two beds where the kids sleep, but it still feels removed enough to leave you feeling like you’ve got a little space to breathe.

Welcome to the upstairs, also known as Tristan’s bedroom / storage when we’re parked. Be careful on your way up, it’s a little tricky navigating the couch to the counter to get up here. The sides all zip down to reveal screens to keep the air flowing and the bugs out. The adults have slept up here more than once, but more often than not this is where Tristan calls it a night.

Let’s head back downstairs and check out the dining room.

Here we are, the dining room. Most of our meals aren’t cooked on the campstove, but over a fire. It’s incredibly satisfying to get good at making a fire in any weather, and even more so learning to cook over one. Think lots of tin foil and olive oil. We take advantage of any picnic tables we can find, too. In fact, we spend most of our time “at home” around the closest picnic table when we’re all hanging out as a family.

Of course, there’s not always a picnic table handy. Luckily, the Lady can build a front porch in about twenty seconds.

This is our ultra-light tent. Before this life, it was my one person on the go home when I went on bike tours like the one I did in 2007 down US 101. Since Renée and I have gotten together we’ve frozen our asses off in it atop the Saguaro mountains and have tried to get Tristan to call it his second bedroom, to no avail. These days we mostly use it for storage. On this particular occasion I had my guitar and a few of our other “valuables” stashed in there while we drove the Bus into Burlington, Vermont. Anyone could have gotten into it and stole our stuff, but to be honest, I don’t worry about that. Most people are more honest than the nightly news gives them credit, and when it comes down to it, our possessions just don’t matter that much. Sure, I’d be bummed if someone snatched my guitar, but would it be the end of the world?

Living in a little Bus like this is not for everyone, and we’re actually researching upgrade options (though I don’t consider anything an “upgrade” from a VW Bus). With our third son on the way, we’ve simply outgrown it. I’ll be utterly sad to see her go, she’s the one possession in this world I don’t think I will ever want to part with…but alas, the journey must go on.

Check out this website for more information on what it’s like to live in a Volkswagen Bus.

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I’ve been reading along with the American Nomad Laura Martone’s recent posts on her favorite picks for best small towns in America. While I don’t agree with all of her choices, and I have a different opinion of small towns than most (think 3,000 or less vs. 30,000 or less), I’ve thoroughly enjoyed her posts and thought I’d do a little reply here myself.

Thusly, without further syllabic compilation, here are my picks for the top 5 small towns in the US.

5. Bandon, OR

The wind screams off of the Pacific so relentlessly that even a midsummer’s day often requires a hoodie here in Bandon, Oregon. Fishing boats line the liquid side of town, floating endlessly in the Coquille River just before it spills out into the ocean. Tourists walk the small few blocks of downtown, shuffling in and out of the local cafe where I’m sipping a coffee and watching a mother talk with a friend, ignoring the warnings that children will be given an espresso and a free puppy if left unattended as her child skips up and down the hallway that leads to the back entrance.

The redwoods are alive and well only a few miles south of town, the California border only two hours away. Stacks creep out of the ocean like sea monsters waiting their triumphant return to take back the land.

A fisherman, recreational, not commercial, transfers his pole, tackle box and a cooler from his small sedan into the bed of a friends pickup and they head off to laze away the morning in a canoe. Some young hitchhiker kids, dressed in tattered all blacks and browns, with mohawks and dreadlocks, roll cigarettes on a bench a few blocks down. A street performer begins to set up his tip jar and tune his guitar.

Later tonight, lovers will gather in the top floor of a local bar and restaurant and gaze out the window at the passersby. Time will pass slowly, particularly over the winter when the thousands who descend upon the place for vacations disappear and leave only the rain and the 3066 or so people who actually live here.

4. Lyons, CO

Oscar Blue’s, home of Dale’s Pale Ale, is stuffed with locals drinking pints of great beer brewed on the spot. The arcade downstairs is full of tweens playing old school video games while their parents listen to a lineup of several bands each playing one Rolling Stones cover.

Next door another arcade stands defiant of time, chock-full of strictly pinball machines. The sushi bar down the street is throwing a kids only karaoke night, and under 10s are singing off pitch but a helluva lot cuter than their drunken adult counterparts that might be frequenting various other bars around town.

Just west of town the Rockies explode from the earth to tower over the coffee shops and natural food grocers at the edge of this chain store free paradise that’s only a fifteen minute drive to the big college town of Boulder. This is as “best of both worlds” as small towns in America come, quaint, quiet and simple but only a stone’s throw from all the amenities of a much more heavily populated area.

When we think of settling down, someday, we nearly always think Lyons.

3. Fayetteville, WV

Young families and heavy drinkers alike are piling into a pizza shop and brewpub near the south end of downtown Fayetteville. After a long day of hiking the New River Gorge or rafting through the Gauly River, who doesn’t want to pile on a few carbs and let the intoxicating beverages work their magic?

A pack of motorcycles pull into one of the two blocks that comprise downtown. A too tall man has to duck while following his wife into the Hobbit Hole, a sort of thrift shop and roadside curiosity all in one. A former church has been converted into a coffee shop where the light pouring through the stained glass windows reflects in the conversations between sips of hot caffeine.

No one is renting a house here. Everyone is truly a local, or in from out of town for vacation. The diner on the corner of town is packing full of both types. Lazy slow days are not a concept here, they’re a way of life.

2. Terlingua, TX

Old men have been drunk since noon and sitting in the same spots as just about every other day on the front porch of the general store in Terlingua. They say the sun sets twice here, once over the western horizon and then again in brilliant reflection of all the violet hues mother nature can produce as they bounce back off of the Chisos Mountains before allowing night, and the infinite stars that can only be seen in a place 80 miles from the nearest city, which is actually small enough to be considered a small town by even the most strictest standards.

The Rio Grande is the only thing separating town from Mexico. Big Bend National Park is a fifteen minute drive east. Fiddlers begin to congregate as the sun weighs heavy in the sky and the jam will continue into the night while locals and packs of tourists alike gather at the Starlight restaurant.

At a population of 267, which includes the nearby town of Study Butte and all of the remote ranches in the area, this is by far the smallest town we’ve ever fallen in love with, probably one of the smallest in the country. Small does not mean lifeless though, as this little stretch of desert is as full of joy and mystery and intrigue as any place in the world.

A school bus surrounded by tents, an out of place volley ball course and a bar called the Boathouse make up the local hostel. Visitors and some locals cook their food in the outside kitchen. Stray dogs run free and the people here don’t seem to mind at all. Other dogs don’t seem to have owners, or even particular names, but instead move from one hand that feeds to the next, going by whatever name comes lately.

1. Old Bisbee, AZ

A Western Movie is being played out daily in the antique town of Old Bisbee, Arizona. A man in full cowboy regalia sits on a bench waiting for out-of-towners to approach him, and upon such a queue begins to relate his tales of the city, of his old friend Gram Parsons, of the gunfight mining history of this town tucked into the side of the Mule Mountains.

A thousand stairs, at least, weave up and down the banks of those mountains, between the houses, sometimes leading off into small trails that cut through people’s yards. A trail leads to the peak of one of the mountains where a former local, after his child had died, carried the makings of cement all the way up to create a shrine in their honor. Over the years locals and tourists alike have added to it. From the cliffside there you can look down on the town, which seems like a toy model below you, the voices of people below can still be heard even at this height.

Local bars will be packed with over the top partiers tonight. For today though, the antique shops and art galleries and cafes are abuzz with the smiling faces of people who were smart enough to keep traveling after they reached nearby Tombstone to find a truly authentic western village.

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The following is the complete text from our interview with Chris Dunphy & Cherie Ve Ard of Technomadia, as featured in our How to Make a Living on the Road article.

Wand’rly:

The basics, for our dear readers. Can you give me your names and ages?

Technomadia:

We are Cherie, age 38 and Chris, age 39.

Wand’rly:

It sounds like you were both pretty set with your jobs before you became full timers, and I think I can get most of the info I need to set things up in the article from your various sites, so lets start somewhere around the months just before you got on the road, Chris, though this applies to you as well Cherie. How much preplanning did you do from your initial “I want to live and work on the road” notion to actually clocking your first mile?

Technomadia:

Our stories here are different.

Chris:

I’ve always dreamed of living nomadically, especially after I encountered the idea of technomadism (you can take it with you!) when I stumbled across Steve Roberts (the original Technomad– see www.microship.com) in the mid-90′s. But the time was never right – I had a string of jobs that were just too good to leave. And though I was able to travel the world for work – the whirlwind there-and-back-again pace of business travel just isn’t the same.

When PalmSource began to implode and my projects were canceled, I found myself making plans to hit the road full-time but procrastinating about actually making it happen. I jumpstarted the process by calling my landlord and giving him two months notice. That deadline lit a fire under me – I had to quickly find and buy a trailer, track down a tow vehicle, and pair down my years of accumulated belongings to cast off and hit the road.

Fortunately, I was debt free, had a nice severance package, and ample savings accumulated – so I was able to concentrate on getting on the road, trusting that I’d be able to figure out the “generate an income” thing later. I’ve been on the road now since April 1st, 2006 – with no end in sight.

Cherie:

I had worked from home since 1994, and was already integrating in remote work days with personal travel as early as 2002. So for me, the work part of hitting the road full time wasn’t that big of a leap – I was already used to working from a laptop using a tethered smartphone for internet access. After meeting Chris and realizing we were destined to be life mates, we both moved into my Florida home to figure out a plan of action.. including taking several extended road trips to test out the living space for two. It was around mid March 2007 that we decided to give an extended several month road trip together a try, so I set to gearing up my entire life to go mobile and sold most of my stuff. Meanwhile Chris started making modifications to the solar powered trailer to accommodate two power hungry laptops. It was May 10, 2007 that we pulled out of my driveway in Florida and didn’t return for 7 months.

Wand’rly:

What would each of you say was the biggest obstacle, the one thing that you feared the most about leaving behind your stick houses and becoming nomads?

Cherie:

I didn’t fear leaving behind a house, however I do miss my hot tub tremendously. I did fear leaving behind my support network of friends and family – I was quite used to having a continuity of community. The ebb and flow of in person community is still an aspect of nomadic life I struggle to find balance in.

Chris:

I don’t remember any particular fears, only excitement. Going nomadic isn’t an irrevocable life decision – so what is there to be afraid of? If something isn’t working, just change course. And you can always return to a fixed-place existence – perhaps even in a new city. The one important thing to always remember is that changing course isn’t a sign of failure – that sort of flexibility is a core point of the journey. If you keep that in mind, the fears just fall away.

Though it wasn’t a fear – as a single guy setting off alone, one thing that I thought I would be putting on hold when I hit the road was my dating life. The last thing I expected out of my first year on the road was finding a woman who wanted to sell her house and join me – especially considering I was living in a tiny 16′ trailer lacking even the most basic plumbing at the time! But in the end, what a perfect test of compatibility!

Wand’rly:

Thinking of the transition period, the first couple of months working from the road, what were some of the biggest changes you experienced in your daily routine from what you’d been doing when you were stationary?

Cherie:

Our first year on the road we lived primarily off-grid in a super tiny teardrop travel trailer powered by solar. We hardly ever stayed in campgrounds with hook-ups, as we just didn’t need them. We had no bathroom, no air conditioner and no refrigeration. So it was a huge shake-up in a daily routine – from having to carefully watch our battery monitors to make sure we could compute through the evening, always looking for a cellular signal for our internet connection and even where to take a bathroom break.

We also had to convert our bed to a table if we wanted to work on anything resembling a desk – we soon learned that wasn’t sustainable, especially given our slightly offset natural sleep rhythms. There was one evening Chris needed to work through the night on a project, and I ended up sleeping curled up on a cushion on the floor at his feet. That was biggest factor that drove us to having our second trailer, a 17′ fiberglass ‘egg’ by Oliver Travel Trailers, custom constructed for us – so we could always have a bed and a separate table. We traveled in the Oliver for another 3 years, and then subletted a cottage on the US Virgin Island of St. John for a winter. When we returned, we bought a 35′ vintage bus that provides us ample space!

Chris:

I’ve never been fond of daily “routines” – and even when I had a silicon valley job I’d intentionally seek out ways to break up the routine as much as possible. For example, I’d take different routes home from work, intentionally get lost, take pubic transit (4 different trains!) – etc. These games could easily double my commute (to as much as 2hrs each way!), but they made it into an adventure and that kept me sane. On the road, every day has elements of newness and adventure, and I love that.

Wand’rly:

How do you get your Internet access, and how does it compare to when you lived in a traditional house? Has the way you get Internet evolved over the years you’ve been traveling?

Cherie:

When we hit the road in 2006/2007, what we know today as 3G was just starting to roll out. In most of the places we traveled, we were lucky to get 1xRT speeds (dubbed 2G these days). After coming from a cable based internet in our previous homes, it was like taking a step back into the last century in terms of connectivity – back to when a 56000 baud modem was revolutionary. On days where we could barely get a whiff of 1xRT even with an external antenna, it felt very much like roughing it. And on days we could get some solid 3G – it was something to rejoice over.

Nowadays, 3G is in far more places and we’re witnessing the next evolution. The rollout of 4G/LTE is about at the same place that 3G was back then – available mostly in just more major cities. With our normal bar set at 3G, anything faster is simply amazing. But an even bigger change has been the increased prevalence of data caps, which really do limit the nomad who relies on internet connectivity to stay productive. 5GB of data just isn’t that much. So we seek other solutions, such as buying our bandwidth from resellers like Millenicom.com, where can go contract free and get caps that are actually usable.

In addition to our Verizon based Millenicom.com air card (hooked into a booster antenna system), we also utilize a WiFiRanger that can bring a distant open WiFi signal into our bus. A nice change has been more and more RV Parks offering WiFi, and it works more of the time these days than it did back then. We can also tether from our iPhones on AT&T when Verizon fails us (which they do). And if all else fails, we carry a satellite dish on a tripod that we can deploy and re-activate – we’re finding we really only need that option if we’re boondocking out west.

Chris:

I’ve actually been playing with mobile connectivity since 1996, when I was one of the first people using a Ricochet Modem (which provided wireless Internet in San Francisco and a handful of other cities). I actually canceled my home phone and internet service – for a while relying only on the Ricochet and my cell phone. Living on often unpredictable and unreliable mobile connections teaches you to really optimize your mobile usage – using tabs to load pages in the background, batching up big downloads for when you have bandwidth, and so on.

Wand’rly:

When you left, and even today, do you hold onto a large nest egg “just in case”, or did you just assume you’d be okay?

Cherie:

One of the many things that attracted us to each other was our similar approaches to personal finance. We were both in our early 30s, but unlike many of our peers we had both avoided consumer debt and built up some savings. Not needing to worry about making debt payments gives you so much more flexibility!

We don’t consider our savings and investments to be a nest egg for ‘what if’, but rather for funding whatever the future brings us. But it’s also nice to know that if we really wanted to and went into a similar minimalist/frugal mode like our first year of travel, we could actually go many years without worrying about an income source. That gives us a tremendous sense of freedom, and allows us to be very picky about the work we take on.

We do try to fund our daily living expenses entirely from earned income, and not dipping into our savings. But it is nice to have the option.

Chris:

If we ever need to replenish our bankroll and regular work is lacking, we know that we can always take temporary jobs too. There are lots of seasonal jobs and workamping jobs to be had for full-time travelers who come equipped with their own place to live. You might not make a lot, but it doesn’t take a lot to live a great life.

Wand’rly:

Do you feel more or less secure with the income you make now, as opposed to when you were working for someone else solely or living in one place?

Cherie:

Living on the road gives you tremendously more agility to choose your income levels and expenses. Don’t have work coming in this month? Unlike having a mortgage or rent payment that you must make, you can choose to stay still and find a cheap/free camping opportunity, house-sitting, workamping or other opportunities. Fuel costs going through a temporary blip in increased price? Unlike commuting for a job where you must still fill the tank without any increased compensation, you can choose to just not drive as many miles.

Chris:

I don’t feel particularly different. I’ve seen enough layoffs to know that traditional jobs are never as secure as they appear, and I there is a lot of freedom that comes from being able to control your expenses and even locale.

Wand’rly:

Do you consider your expenses to be higher or lower than before you went nomadic? Are the basics, food, shelter, etc. cheaper? Do you think you spend more while traveling simply because you’re more likely to try out a new restaurant or museum, etc?

Cherie:

The basics really aren’t all that different than they were before – we eat out/eat in about the same proportion as to when we were stationary. We have things like full-timers RV insurance (similar to a combined auto & homeowners policy), health insurance, auto insurance, vet bills for our cat, buying new technology (it’s our life blood), etc. Connectivity costs are a bit more expensive, but really not all that much more – afterall, we used to have a cable bill, phone bills, etc. We do discretionary things – like attend festivals, go to movies, run in organized races, visit attractions, go to the theatre – but these were all things we did before too. We probably do pay a bit more sometimes, as we’re often not able to access cheaper pre-registration prices as we hardly ever plan our travels more than a couple weeks out.

For us, our living expenses otherwise are significantly cheaper – combing our fuels costs and camping fees, they’re still less than what either of us paid individually to maintain our stationary lives (which we both also traveled a lot on top of.) All and all, living on the road is probably about 1/2 the cost of previous stationary lives. But keep in mind, Chris came from a downtown San Francisco penthouse apartment, and Cherie from a beachside home in Florida.

Cherie, you’ve mentioned online that you run a business that was initially started by your parents. Are they still involved in the business? How did they feel about this transition?

Cherie:

My father is a software pioneer, having started the business back in the late 70s. I took it over in the mid 90s, and my parents have always remained integral partners and teammates. However, we are at the moment going through a major transition to get my parents into their well earned retirement – which should be completed this fall.

As to how my transition to full time nomadism affected them – well, I had already been doing some personal travel and continuing to work remotely. So they were comfortable with the distinction between vacation time and travel (I actually started by simply not telling them I was ‘on travel’ until I got back – and once they noticed no difference, it became easier). So when Chris came into my life and I announced I was going to try living on the road full time, they were at first a bit skeptical. But over the years, they’ve seen it work really well. So much so, that my parents have become part-time digital nomads themselves – integrating in personal road trips, carrying a laptop and cellular aircard to work from the road. We enjoy rendezvousing with them in locations all over.

Aside from continuing to run that business with my parents, Chris and I have started our own projects up too – including launching a line of travel related iPhone/iPad apps, custom developing apps for clients and occasional technical writing and consulting gigs.

Wand’rly:

How have your careers changed over the years? Are any changes by necessity, or by choice?

Cherie:

My career has always been in flux as I’ve explored many paths. When I first entered my parent’s business, I was hired on to be a technical writer… which then morphed into me becoming a programmer, project manager and business analyst. I’ve pretty much abandoned coding myself, and concentrating more on the design and management side of things. But I’ve also explored going to back to medical school, being a personal organizer consultant and other income streams. I think the biggest change that being nomadic has had for me is not keeping set business hours. Even though I had worked from home, I always had it in my mind that I had to be at my desk from 8a – 5p. These days, I work when I need to and just make sure I’m accessible to my clients during their work hours. I’ve gotten far more comfortable being out and about during the day, instead of sitting in front of my computer waiting for an e-mail to come in – my iPad plays a big role in that.

Chris:

I’ve never followed a traditional straightforward career path – I’ve been a Programmer, Sys Admin, Tech Journalist, Radio Personality, Spy, Developer Relations Manger, Evangelist, Apologist, Marketing Guy, and all-around Geek… I started off with computer science and computer engineering degrees, only to leave engineering behind to head to San Francisco to become one of the founding editors of ‘boot Magazine’ (still on newsstands – now called ‘Maximum PC’). I left journalism to lead a developer evangelism group for a 3D graphics company, and then after a few other interesting jobs I ended up at Palm/PalmSource focused on mobile technology. I am enjoying working for myself now – and lately have been spending a lot of time getting proficient at iOS programming.

Wand’rly:

What were some of the most useful resources to you when you were first looking at how to transition from running a business in one location to doing so on the road?

Cherie:

I can’t really say I consulted any resources about how to transition, as I was already working from home for many many years, and already used to working remotely while on travel. For sure, I didn’t have any examples of others doing what we were looking to do, and it wasn’t until we were on the road for over a year that we even encountered a similar mobile professional.

Chris:

Having worked at Palm/PalmSource, I was at the epicenter of mobile technology – so in one sense I was the resource. I’d actually speak at conferences and to the press about how to use technology and work on the road. As I mentioned above – a personal inspiration was the amazing technomadic adventures of Steve Roberts, as chronicled in his book ‘Computing Across America’. But Steve’s example was inspiring – but lacking in practical advice. Not everyone can integrate near infinite amounts of completely custom advanced technology into computerized bicycle…

Wand’rly:

How many hours do you typically work a week?

Cherie:

As far as how many hours a week we work … there’s really no typical. It can be a few hours a week to nearly a 100. All just depends on the project. We prefer working in intense bursts for a few weeks, and then having time where we don’t worry all that much about work.

Wand’rly:

How many hours do you typically work a week?
Can you describe a typical work day to us?

Cherie:

Again, we don’t really have a typical in our lives.

If we’re on a development project – it’s wake up, sit at the computer, try to remember to take a break to eat, take a walk together to brainstorm, more time at the computer, break to find something close by and cool, back at the computer, go to bed perhaps before the sun comes up. It’s not unusual for us to work 12-20 hr days when we’re deep on a project.

When we’re not on a project, most of our clients are on ‘maintenance and support mode’ – we concentrate then more on time with friends & family, exploring a new place, working on our own projects, writing for the blog, networking and being on call for our clients.

Wand’rly:

How many hours do you typically work a week?
Do you have difficulty staying focused on projects while you’re traveling? What do you do to stay on task when you’ve got a new and exciting place just outside the bus’ door?

Cherie:

After a while on the road, the concept of ‘new and exciting’ places diminishes greatly. Our travels are much more based around geographic flexibility to be around people and to attend events. Even when we’re on an intense project pulling long hours, we still have off time – just like anyone else. But instead of when I was stationary getting into weekly routines (ie. Wednesday morning yoga, Thursday evening belly dance, Friday evening dinner with local friends, etc.) – we have a new locale to explore. We’ve long ago gotten out of feeling like tourists in a new location and feeling we have to rush to see every spot quickly. We’re just simply not on vacation, this is a lifestyle. We like to travel a bit slow, being in locations measured by several days or weeks, so that there’s time to have work hours and explore/social hours in our schedule. It’s really all about balance.

Chris:

Being nomadic with no scheduled end in sight, there is no rush to see everything in a new place. We can always see it next time. It takes away the pressure to do all the touristy things, but sometimes that means that there is a cool and exciting place right outside our door that we actually end up missing!

Wand’rly:

How many hours do you typically work a week?
How do your clients feel about you traveling? Do you make it a point to tell them that you travel, do they ever even ask?

Cherie:

When I first decided to hit the road, I told all of my clients what I was up to. Reminding them that I had always answered their calls and e-mails from wherever I was at anyway. Most of my clients I’ve worked with for over a decade, so there’s a long history of trust… and they had all been in my home-based office before, or had me to their offices and seen that I still supported my other clients while there. So they were already comfortable with our remote work strategy. My clients have always been like family to me. Most of the time when I pick up the phone, they excitedly ask where I’m at today and what the weather is like. And if we’re coming anywhere near them, I always reach out and offer a courtesy visit – that face-to-face time is invaluable.

And we’ve caught some of them bragging about our cool lifestyle and workstyle, and how we’ve made an art out of working remotely. I’d say by and large, most our clients have a bit of envy.

Chris:

I’ve known other nomads who keep it secret, at least for a while. But what is the point in that? Trying to deceive your clients is always a bad idea. If they aren’t fond of working with a nomad, they aren’t going to be good fit long term.

Wand’rly:

How many hours do you typically work a week?
How do you find new work?

Cherie:

It finds us.

Not once have we ever sought out work, and nor do we advertise. We keep present, attend conferences and keep our work life as part of our conversation. Generally work opportunities come to us via word of mouth – either from existing clients, or via people we’ve talked to about what we do. We turn down a good number of opportunities simply because it’s just not a good fit, and we like being in the position of not needing to seek out gigs or take whatever comes our way.

And of course, we not only work for clients – we also create our own products. Having a line of apps gives us a residual income as well, which is always nice. So when we don’t have work lined up, we have an unending list of ideas that we’ll work on and get launched. And even if the apps didn’t bring in much revenue, they give us solid working examples of our development work to show potential clients. We’ve gotten a couple of client leads from customers of our apps who contact us.

When you live from an attitude of abundance, instead of scarcity, it’s amazing to realize just how many opportunities are out there if you’re open to them.

Wand’rly:

How many hours do you typically work a week?
I read that you also occasionally do various other odd jobs such as working for Amazon, volunteering for the original Obama campaign and organizing parties. Can you tell us about those experiences and why you do them? I would think that packing boxes and volunteering for future Presidents doesn’t pay nearly what software development does, so why do you do it?

Cherie:

We do it because we are variety-o-philes. We love keeping it interesting and growing both in our careers and experiences. We also love a challenge of figuring out something new that we’ve never done before. And it’s downright exhilarating to take on an intense gig for a short time. We thrive on stretching our minds and capabilities – and you don’t do that if you always stick to doing the same thing.

For instance with the Obama campaign, we were both inspired to contribute. We called up the nearest swing state’s headquarters and told them we were RVers with high tech skills, and could dedicate the entire month before the election to the campaign. They directed us to the regional headquarters in Nevada, which would have more opportunities for parking an RV. We showed up in Carson City, went through about 2-days of training in their campaign office – and then were deployed to establish and run a field campaign office in the very conservative Fallon, NV. Neither of us had participated in campaigns before, and our political involvement up until that time was reading the news and voting. We went in expecting to be knocking on doors or working as data entry geeks. Instead, they recognized our skillsets as a team and had us establishing and running our own office. It’s still mindboggling to think about. It was a month of intense 12-15 hr days, and we gained a lot of confidence that we really are quite capable of doing anything we put our minds towards. It’s a contribution we’re very proud of.

After we came off the Obama campaign, we encountered a community member who was launching a new iPhone app and wanted a spectacular splash at Macworld. He was working with self-funded start-up money and could only cover our expenses of staying in San Francisco for the couple months we had to ramp up this new campaign. We managed the launch of the app into the App Store, getting media attention and then our big splash at Macworld – organzing a double decker bus with a DJd dance party on top around the convention center that gave attendees rides to their after parties while showing them demos of the app. It was a blast, and taught us a lot about the new world of social media, gave us insight into the app market (which we utilized to launch our own apps) – and dude… weeklong DJd bus party with a keg of beer!!

With Amazon, it’s just something we had heard a lot of fellow RVers doing – and we found ourselves with an open month and a facility right along our route. There was no cost to try it out – they paid our camping, and paid a decent wage for our hours. So we went in during the peak season. It was fascinating to be inside the machine and deconstruct it, and literally have our pulse on the consumer index. The work was grueling physically, which put us both in much better shape – we looked at the experience as being paid to go to a fitness bootcamp. And heck, for a month – we can make just about anything be fun. We ended up making enough to pay for the truck we just had to buy to replace our tow vehicle. So new fun experience and a new truck. Not a bad deal.

Chris:

I’ve always found that ranking opportunities based upon how much they pay is probably the worst way to decide what to pursue. As long as your basic living expenses are being met (which can be made very low), then focus on the job that will be the most personally inspiring, or which you can learn the most from.

Wand’rly:

How many hours do you typically work a week?
Finally Chris, what do you mean when you say you’re “an industry spy for Palm?”

Chris:

*laugh* — My official title was “Director of Competitive Analysis”, but unofficially I was Palm/PalmSource’s Chief Spy. My job involved traveling the world buying exotic gadgets, and attending every tech conference, developer event, and trade show – trying to figure out where the mobile industry and Palm’s competitors were heading next. Often this involved using my journalism skills to ask sometimes inebriated people just the right leading questions to get them to spill all their beans to me.

It was a fun job, and I was extremely good at it.

After the article had gone live, Chris had a few additional details he wanted to share with us. It was too late to incorporate them into the piece itself, but we wanted to share them here for posterity!

Chris:

[speaking to some confusion on my part as to when his career began] *laugh* — Indeed, my time at ‘boot’ was ’96 & ’97. And as I’m sure you know all too well, journalism and “hefty salaries” never go together. Taking the job to come to SF and write for boot was actually my lowest paying offer (by far!) out of college – it was going to pay barely more than I made as a part-time student employee, yet was in an area with a vastly higher cost of living.

Of course I said yes.

After ‘boot’ I gambled on a 3D graphics startup that offered a slightly better than journalism wage, but also stock options. Those options were worthless for most of my time there, but ended up eventually being worth a lot after Micron bought the company moments before it dove into bankruptcy. But I didn’t want to work for big dull corporate Micron, so I actually walked away from 3 years of easy very very lucrative vesting (they wanted me to move to Boise!) to join another startup – this one was conceived at the height of the tech-boom mania and very quickly ended up being completely worthless.

Anyway – it was a roller coaster, but fun. And I was always pursuing the most interesting jobs, never the most profitable (or secure). I eventually ended up at Palm/PalmSource in 2000. There I indeed eventually worked my way up to having a moderately hefty salary, but my stock options were issued at the top of the bubble so they were so far negative that it was laughable. But I was frugal enough to stash enough away that years later I indeed had a good amount of savings when I decided to hit the road.

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Photograph thumbnail by Ben Willmore

I first met Ben in 2002 or so. I was a practically fresh out of college graphic designer working for a PBS station in Erie, PA, he was already a master of Photoshop doing a seminar out of a small auditorium in the city. The day my boss came in and told me, “Hey, instead of coming into work, I want you to spend the next three days learning more about Photoshop,” I was ecstatic. I mean, I absolutely loved my job. Out of high school I’d worked as a janitor, a gas station attendant, a maintenance man. During my years at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh I’d delivered pizzas by bicycle and pushed coffee in the city’s subway stops. So creating graphics and animations for a television station was a dream job for me, but hey, who doesn’t love to ditch the office in exchange for sitting around and playing on their computer for a few hours?

I learned more from Ben in those three days than my instructors managed to teach me in over two years at AIP. Honestly, he’s that good. The term “ninja” is thrown around all too frequently on the web these days, so let me make this clear: Ben is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle of Photoshop.

That alone, however, probably wouldn’t make him a good candidate to show up here on Meanderings, though. I was watching a video about full-time RVers a few months back and noticed a familiar face during one of the interviews: Ben had taken his life to the road. And why not? He’s a digital worker, an entrepreneur, and he travels the country doing seminars. Sounds like a perfect fit for the full-time lifestyle.

I had originally wanted to include Ben on our How to Make a Living on the Road article, but due to some snafus with how Facebook alerts you to fan page messages and the fact that he was spending a stint in Iceland teaching people how to take gorgeous photos of one of the world’s most spectacular nations, he wasn’t able to get his answers back to me in time. Still, I am now proud to present to you, if a little late, my complete interview with Ben Willmore.

Wand’rly:

First, the basics: can we get your name & age? Do you travel solo or with a family?

Ben:

Ben Willmore, 45, travel with my fiancé.

Wand’rly:

Can you tell us a little about how you make your living on the road?

Ben:

I present seminars, write ebooks, create training DVDs, etc. all related to digital imaging for photographers.

Wand’rly:

You began traveling in 2006 but have been doing your Photoshop workshops for quite a while longer than that. How did the transformation from having a fixed address to being mobile change your business? Is it actually easier to do workshops around the country now? Are there any new challenges?

Ben:

My business hasn’t really changed at all from the transition to being mobile. I always fly to the events I teach at, so it doesn’t matter where I’m based. It can be a pain to have to decide which airport to fly out of since I have to make the decision 14 days in advance and I often don’t know where I’m going tomorrow, so planning that far ahead can be a pain. The biggest challenge is 1) mobile internet speeds, 2) educating people so they don’t expect me to be available from 8-5 to return phone calls, etc since I’ll be out exploring instead of sitting at a desk.

Wand’rly:

What types of preplanning did you need to do in order to get the business ready for your new mobile lifestyle?

Ben:

Mainly figuring out how to make sure the bills get paid and dealing with any mail. I have someone who does just that in Colorado. That and scanning all our paper documents so we no longer need to store the originals.

Wand’rly:

During your first few months of living in your RV, were there any big hiccups that you hadn’t foreseen? Did anything prove easier than you expected?

Ben:

It’s hard for me to remember the first few months since that was so long ago. I did ruin a brand new tire before I learned how to properly adjust my mirrors. Bringing all my breakable glasses, plates and other household items was a mistake. We now only use unbreakable kitchenware. Not securing a laser printer caused a problem after having to make a quick sharp corner. It took me a good year to get away from thinking I should be working for eight hours a day. I now work when I have to and explore the rest of the time.

Wand’rly:

I attended one of your workshops way back in 2002 (I believe) and have to say, I learned more from those three days than I’d learned in all of my two years in art school, so I can personally attest to exactly how much value your courses hold. Aside from keeping up with new versions of Adobe CS, have they changed much over the years? Has traveling allowed you to do anything different there than before?

Ben:

I used to use stock photography in my books and seminars. I now shoot enough to be able to use 100% of my own photography. I’ve also gotten away from teaching subjects relating to graphic design and concentrate purely on photography-related topics, which is where I’m most passionate. I also now teach in the field photography workshops in exotic locations like Africa and Iceland. I wasn’t very well known as a photographer until I started living a mobile lifestyle.

Wand’rly:

How have your expenses, business or otherwise, changed since being on the road? Less, more, just different?

Ben:

Just different… or possibly a little less. We move around a lot. Two years ago, we explored 30 states and that means that we spend a lot of fuel. We don’t have property taxes, state income taxes or many of the other regular expenses that are associated with home ownership. Every five years seems to be an expensive one where you need new tires, batteries and other stuff that can really add up.

Wand’rly:

When making the transition to becoming a full-time wanderer, what were some of your favorite resources to get more information?

Ben:

Mainly various web sites… I don’t really remember which ones since that was seven years ago. I’ve also really enjoyed Tim Ferriss’ book The 4-hour Work Week.

Wand’rly:

I can appreciate that along with the lifestyle comes the dissolving of a “typical work week”, but can you tell us about how many hours you work per week?

Ben:

It varies widely, but in an average week I might do real work for about 15 hours. I try to work as little as I can so we can experience life more. That’s one of the largest changes I’ve had since going mobile.

Wand’rly:

Do you ever have difficulty staying focused with the world as your playground?

Ben:

Very much so. It can be difficult to concentrate when you’re always in a new location and I also have the problem of taking too many photographs and not spending the time to process and turn them into finished images. It’s more fun to be out shooting than to be inside processing images.

Wand’rly:

How do clients feel? Do you tell them? Do they ask?

Ben:

They know about my lifestyle and seem to deal with it just fine. The main thing is when international clients want me to book flights over a month in advance. I have no idea where I’ll be located and once I pick a place to fly out of, then I’m stuck going there instead of being free to wander anywhere.

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For anyone who’s been a longtime follower of the personal blog I’ve been writing since 2004, it’s no secret that I’m not exactly a Wal-Mart advocate. While reading a great ebook on how blogger and entrepreneur Corbett Barr built a successful online business in 18 months, much of which spent roadtripping around the US and living in Mexico, I was particularly struck by this passage which I believe sums up the larger issue with Wal-Mart and the actual effect it has on our society:

Let’s take Wal-Mart as an example (because they’re easy to pick on). WalMart employs something like 2,000,000 employees. The wealth that has been created by the Wal-Mart dynasty has placed four of the Walton family members among the top 10 richest Americans. We’re talking about a combined wealth approaching $100 billion dollars in the hands of just 4 people.
Now, imagine a world where Wal-Mart didn’t exist, and where no other retail giant took it’s place. Imagine if those two million employees worked for 200,000 small independent companies that sold everything from clothing to bikes to electronics to groceries and whatever else Wal-Mart sells. That would be an average of 10 people in each of those companies. Of those 200,000 small companies, let’s say each is owned by one person.
Let’s also imagine that the total wealth held by Wal-Mart family members and executives and shareholders (roughly $200 billion dollars) was distributed among those 200,000 owners and their families. That would equal one million dollars in wealth per owner.

It’s no secret to anyone who’s ever lived in a small town where Wal-Mart swooped in, residents were enticed by cheaper prices, and then surprised when the local small businesses in town disappeared and they all ended up working minimum wage at the only store left in town: Wal-Mart. Corbett’s way of putting it simply made me think about it in a more “everyone wins when not only one person wins” kind of way.

If you enjoyed our How to Make a Living on the Road article, I highly recommend Corbett’s 18 Months, 2 Blogs, Six Figures guide.

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Admittedly, I was once one of those hiker type camping people who looked at RVers and thought, “you’re not camping. Camping involves a tent, or less.”

As my traveling days have significantly racked up their miles though, after countless nights in tents, nearly as many sleeping directly under the stars, and having called RVs, cars, hotels, motels, hostels and a Volkswagen Bus home for various amounts of time, I’ve come to a key realization.

There is no right way to travel. What makes you comfortable is the only thing you in particular should concern yourself with. I still firmly believe in one small suitcase and a laptop bag for all of my
journeying, but if a companion feels like an extra duffle bag or a hair dryer is a necessity, so be it. Hell, I might even be convinced to carry it for them if they’re several months pregnant with my child.

The same holds true for full-timing. I’ve met folks who are on the road, literally moving from place to place daily. I’ve also spoken with plenty of people who call living somewhere new every six months or so full-timing.

I try not to judge anyone else’s particular travel preferences. Unless of course they’re eating at an Applebee’s in Asheville or staying at the Hilton on a tropical island. Then I politely thumb my nose, return to my local cafe near my tiki hut, and continue on with minding my own particular bees’ wax. The point is though, whatever it takes you specifically to have a good time while seeing the world and opening your mind a little, well so be it. Enjoy yourself, travel at
your own pace, your own way. Just whatever you do, travel now! It’s only getting later in the day of your life…

Photo by Natasha Mileshina

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I have to admit, we get lost in our iPhones from time to time over here at Wand’rly. I’ve found myself feeling more guilty at times than I’d like to at staring into this little pocket computer for long enough periods to strain my eyes.

I know I’m certainly not the only person with this affliction. For such small screens, they’re as addictive as gravity. The Lady of my life, who had barely ever owned a flip phone let alone a computer prior to inheriting a friend’s iPhone, has been known to glow like the reflection of a blog in her big green and blue eyes.

That said, you have to admit that they’re useful little items, particularly for those looking to lead a lifestyle—or at least their pockets’ worth of an afternoon walk—as free of items as possible. They’re the Swiss Army knife of this century. Instead of a knife, a scissors and a toothbrush we have a maps app to find us a market, a camera to text a photo of our ripped pants to a friend who’ll hopefully have a spare we can borrow, and Safari to help us Google whether or not strawberries can actually be used as toothpaste.

I enjoy chronicling my life, taking pictures of places we’ve walked, texting people to meet up on a whim in the middle of the day rather than needing to make plans hours in advance, and getting my news without a piece of bark’s worth of tree having to lose it’s place in the forest. In my days before these communication candy bars roamed our fingers, I would carry around a notebook full of sketches and thoughts, a point and shoot camera and a flip phone. That pretty much involved a backpack for what I can now fit into the fifth pocket of my jeans.

Getting things done? I can now literally work from just about anywhere. Everyone’s seen photos of people sitting at the beach in their shorts working from a laptop, but in all reality, who wants to take your expensive laptop to
an outlet-free sand trap and let that lithium ion battery burn a hole in your speedo? Working from the beach is kind of a mobile worker rumor, more Corona commercial than real life practicality. I mean honestly, if I am at a beach, I’ll probably figure out how to not be working pretty quickly. Still, it’s nice being able to keep up with email during random downtimes en route rather than sitting around popping open a laptop to figure out if that important document came through or your client managed to make payment yet.

Still, I think it’s best to have rules in place save we find our electronics becoming our next fast food: a convenience gone horribly epidemic. I stand by the rule that I never look at my phone when hanging out with friends, particularly not while sitting at the table with them. Never in a restaurant. The bus is fine, but not while walking through a beautiful park. Unless it’s for a photo, and then all bets are off, of course.

I’m always aware though that it’s easier to do something easy too much rather than do it too little, so I’d love to hear your thoughts on where iPhones draw the line between powerful tool and just another screenful of distractions. Tell us on Facebook.

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The following is an interview with long time full-timers Jim Nelson and René Agredano, who we featured in our How to Make a Living on the Road article. Be sure to visit their site at liveworkdream.com for a plethora of additional information on how they have been living the full-time RV lifestyle for several years now!

Wand’rly:

Let’s start with the basics, names & ages?

LWD:

Jim Nelson, 45
Rene Agredano, 42

Wand’rly:

I understand that this all began as a one year trip which turned into a lifestyle. Can you tell us a little about the preplanning you did, and what originally made you want to hit the road full time?

LWD:

You’re correct. We had always wanted to take an extended road trip, but just never knew how to get started. Plus, our design and printing business was keeping us super and profitable, so taking time off just seemed impossible. Before we knew it, ten years had gone by and were in our late 30s, wondering “What happened?”

Around that time, we also became friends with adventure travel writer and motorcycle traveler, Ted Simon, author of “Jupiter’s Travels.” His amazing life of travel, writing, and just having a damn good time, stirred something within us. We wanted to live this lifestyle so bad, but it just didn’t seem possible. Being so freespirited was for slacker hippies, not responsible business people like us….right? Instead, we kept working, and making small steps toward selling our business, which was always or goal, anyways.

Then, our dog Jerry, the love of our life and center of our universe, was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer. When doctors told us he had just months to live, and the only way to give him a good quality of life during that time, was to amputate his leg, we were stunned. Suddenly, working so hard just for more money didn’t seem like it was worth the stress if it meant that we wouldn’t get to spend the last few precious months with Jerry.

That’s when we sped up our business sale process, and put our home on the market too. We researched this kind of lifestyle mostly through books, since not too many RVers were blogging back then (in 2006). So books like ‘Live Your Road Trip Dream” by Carol White, and “Six Months Off” a sabbatical planning book, really got our gears turning. Another TV show called “Radical Sabbatical” really got us thinking, and we also kept meeting other RVers here and there, and grilling them about the lifestyle. We learned how to budget and what kind of expenses to expect. In addition, we went to several RV shows with a criteria list of what we were looking for in a rig, and talked to lots of folks about different types of RVs.

And all along, we kept our plans top secret from our friends and neighbors. Finally, seven stressful and worrisome months after Jerry was diagnosed, we closed the sale on our home and business, bought our RV and hit the road. Jerry was still kicking’ butt and defying expectations (he was only supposed to live four months!).

Wand’rly:

I believe I’ve read that you guys had some money saved up for your first year. How long did that last? At what point did you start looking for alternative means of income?

LWD:

We took the sale proceeds from our house and business, and divided it up into a chunk for retirement, a chunk for a future home and business, and another chunk to live on for a year. We over-budgeted a LOT for that year on the road, so when we got to about 7 months out into our trip, we realized we could make that ‘year-off fund’ last twice as long if we were even more frugal, and started workamping.

Wand’rly:

What was the moment that you decided this wasn’t going to be a one year thing, but you’d keep doing it indefinitely? Where were you in your careers at that point and how did it change your outlook on earning money?

LWD:

Seven months out, when we were spending time on the east coast, we realized that a year wasn’t nearly enough time to see the country and find our “perfect” place to settle down. Jerry was still doing great, and we wanted to spend as much time together as possible. After meeting a few people who were workamping and living the full-timing lifestyle, we attended a Workamper conference and decided that if we were going to spend more time on the road, we would spend that time researching our future ideal place to live, and what kind of business we would start. Our goal was to do workamping for types of businesses that we thought we might want to do ourselves someday (an animal rescue sanctuary, an organic farm, resorts, etc.).

We honestly did think that eventually, we would buy a home, start another business, take on debt to grow our business, and get back to “reality” once we were comfortable we had weighed all of our options while being out there exploring the country. While we knew that we didn’t want to go back to the type of work we did before (design, printing and marketing consulting), it never occurred to us that there was another way to live, and work — from anywhere!

Our outlook on earning money had also changed a lot by then. It took Jerry’s illness to help us realize that life wasn’t only about constantly reaching for the almighty dollar, stashing it away, and hoarding it for “someday”…it was about living our dream NOW, because you just don’t know what tomorrow will bring. So if that meant that we wouldn’t make as much money as we used to, so be it, at least we would be having a damn good time!

Wand’rly:

You’ve done all types of random jobs, can you tell us a little bit about those experiences, which ones you enjoy the most, which are the most lucrative, which ones you would rather never participate in again?

LWD:

As I mentioned before, we started workamping at businesses that would give us insight on whether or not we were cut out to do that kind of work. Since we had always had a dream of running an animal sanctuary, we volunteered at one in New Bern, North Carolina. That’s when we learned that animal rescue is a noble cause, but we’re too wimpy for the day-to-day aspect. Animal rescue is hard, thankless work and it takes a very special person to do it on a full-time basis. We really admire the folks who can do this.

Later, we worked on an organic farm during a winter in Vero Beach Florida, since buying a small farm was another one of our brilliant ideas. Rene always loved gardening, and thought this would be ideal for us. But we learned that farmers are tied to their land and a ton of farm animals 24/7, 365 days a year, we knew it wasn’t something we wanted to endure. We had a blast working with the farm, but the traveling bug had already bitten us, and we knew we didn’t want to be so tied to one place.

One of the seasonal jobs that we enjoyed the most was when we took a summer gig at an historic dude ranch in Western Colorado. The job required the hardest amount of work, but they pay was good and the people were terrific. Even today, we still workamp for this family each summer, and enjoy the work as much as ever. It’s still incredibly physically demanding and the days are long, but knowing that we only have to maintain this pace for 3 months and we’ll be well-compensated is what keeps us sane.

Our most recent work that we’ve added to our repertoire is perfect for this lifestyle. We have become marketing and advertising representatives for an international health and wellness company. Our job is to spread the word, and each time a customer commits to shopping with this company, we earn a commission. We’re currently building a team of remote marketing executives to work with us, which people can read more about at bit.ly/incomeanywhere.

Wand’rly:

Can you tell us how workamping works? Do you typically just get a free spot to park your RV, or is there financial compensation involved as well?

LWD:

Workamping jobs can vary from tasks as simple as picking up trash in a campground, to running a front office at a resort. Generally the jobs are in the service industry and while some will pay an hourly wage, most of the time you usually work a designated amount of hours for free, in exchange for a campsite.

Some larger organizations, like national park concessionaires, will pay a wage but then charge you for rent, so in the end you’re not really earning anything.

Oftentimes taking on a workamping job isn’t possible for the non-retired, working-age fulltimer. Some employers just ask for far too many hours in exchange for a free site, which prevents us working-age people from earning a living. We try to avoid gigs like this, or only take on assignments at places that require less than 10 hours of work between us.

Occasionally a paid, lucrative workamping job comes up, but there’s always a catch! Our dude ranch gig pays well but in exchange, the work kicks our ass for 50 hours a week (we work 6 days straight and get one day off). When we work at this dude ranch gig, we have very little time for our other income generating methods. But since it’s only seasonal, we don’t mind.

One of the best ways to learn about workamping is by joining the Workamper organization. They not only have the largest collection of workamping job advertisements, but they also put on a conference twice a year to teach people about the lifestyle.

Another good organization to check out is Caretaker Gazette. This group publishes job assignments generally in the areas of house sitting and property caretaking, for employers around the world. Property caretaking usually doesn’t pay anything but oftentimes requires less work than a traditional workamping assignment. For example, we took on one caretaking job that involved parking our rig at a vacant ranch in southern Arizona. All we had to do was maintain a presence to keep drug runners, border jumpers and vandals away. We didn’t get paid, but we had an awesome place to stay for a winter, and got a lot of our own work done. And saw no crime whatsoever!

You certainly don’t get materially rich living this lifestyle, but you are far wealthier in so many other ways than your cubicle-dwelling corporate counterparts!

Wand’rly:

How do your expenses look now compared to when you lived in a stick house? Have you learned any tricks to limit expenses while traveling?

LWD:

We’ve found that it’s much, much cheaper to live on the road than it is to be a stick dweller. For instance, our food bill is less, because our fridge and kitchen won’t hold as much food. Even our fuel bill isn’t as expensive on an average, monthly basis because there are often several months out of the year where we do very little driving.

After being on the road for 5 years, we’ve learned a ton of tricks to save money and keep our expenses down, but our biggest lessons that we’ve learned are:

1) Don’t stay in RV parks. And if you do, join Passport America that allows you to save 50% off at designated campgrounds, which are usually pretty decent but in less well-known destinations.

2) Get a solar system, and learn how to boondock on free public lands. During winter we head to the free spots around the west and rarely pay more than $200 in campground fees between November and April.

3) Join Escapees. SKPs are full of great advice, without ever being condescending to full-timing newbies. We love this group. Escapees also publishes the “Days End Directory” which is a publication of thousands of free or cheap campgrounds around the continent, and is available only to SKP members.

4) Stay out of debt! If you’re acquiring debt, you’re living beyond your means. Debt drags you down, and forces you to work for someone else’s terms. And in this lifestyle, which often requires us to keep our expenses trimmed to the bone, debt can be a disaster. For folks who aren’t debt-free, they need to be before hitting the road. Check out Dave Ramsey’s teachings for information on how to get out of debt, and stay out.

Wand’rly:

How did purchasing your property in Colorado change things?

LWD:

For us, it was a sense of accomplishment. We had reached a goal of having a long-term investment, and we attained it. Both of us had always wanted to own acreage in a mountain setting where our dog Jerry could run free, and that’s what this property, which we named “Jerry’s Acres” represents.

But the thing is, it really didn’t change our lifestyle at all, because we hit the road almost as soon as we bought it. And while it’s nice to have a place to go back to when we want to, we love being on the road too much to stop.

Wand’rly:

Overall, how does what you’re doing now (to make a living) compare to what you were both doing before you began traveling?

LWD:

We don’t make nearly as much money as we used to, but now we measure our success in terms of quality of life, not the size of our paycheck or the possessions we own. Our overhead is much lower, our life is simpler and it’s far less expensive to have a good life now.

Wand’rly:

How many hours on average do you both put in? Is the amount of time you spend working a conscious decision, that is, do you get to pick how much you want to work, or is it all just dependent on what’s coming in?

LWD:

We do make a conscious effort to limit the amount of hours we work, but with multiple revenue streams, some days end up being longer than others. When we are workamping on top of our regular endeavors the days are extra long, but knowing that it’s seasonal keeps us sane.

Wand’rly:

Can you give us an idea of what a “normal” work week might look like?

LWD:

A normal week depends on whether we’re workamping at the time or not. See this blog post for details.

Wand’rly:

Do you ever have difficulty staying focused, particularly when the
world’s your playground?

LWD:

Yes and no. When we are somewhere incredibly spectacular or hanging out with friends, we tend to work less hours, but we know that we’ll eventually make up for it.

But what ultimately keeps us focused is this philosophy of debt-free guru Dave Ramsey, who says “The only difference between a dream and a goal is a plan.”

What this philosophy means to us is, when it comes to succeeding in being self-employed, those who wander are indeed lost. If we don’t focus on keeping our revenue streams coming in, our lifestyle is over and it’s back to a J.O.B. Who want’s that?

This alone is enough motivation to keep us from slacking off.

Wand’rly:

What can you tell us about Tripawds? How it evolved, is it a profitable venture, would you recommend others attempting to do something similar?

LWD:

Tripawds was created in 2006 when Jerry lost his leg. It started out as a simple blog to relay his progress and health status to friends and family, while learning to cope with the fact that he had terminal illness. Eventually, other pet parents who were going through the same thing started to find his blog, and they began asking us questions. When we realized we couldn’t answer everything, we added discussion forums in 2007, and that’s when the community grew exponentially. Today we have over 3000 members, and over 1000 Tripawds “dog blogs” where people tell their own story.

Tripawds is a WordPress Multi-Site community that provides a place for people to turn to when they receive the shocking news that their dog must lose a leg to preserve quality of life. Our emphasis is on providing education, resources and a platform for open discussion about life on three legs.

We like to call Tripawds our “labor of love” because we truly love being there for folks at a very dark time in their lives. And while the site does generate revenue through ad and product sales, our click through income isn’t enough to pay the hosting and maintenance costs of the community, or give us a salary to live on. It’s one small part of our overall revenue stream that combined, helps us make a living.

Tripawds is our biggest passion in life, and even though it doesn’t make a ton of money, being able to be there for people brings a huge sense of gratification into our lives. This experience has taught us that it’s so important to find something that you’re passionate about in life, then run with it.

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A hobo wanders and works, a tramp wanders and dreams, and a bum neither wanders nor works.

…though perhaps they do still dream.

From an Angelfire site dedicated to hobo terminology.

Want to work while you wander? We attempt to explain how it can be done.

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The following is an interview with intentionally homeless Austinite Brice Hopkins. Check out his website where he talks about living gratefully and living as a couchsurfer at Fruitiny.com.

Wand’rly:

First, the basics. Name and age please?

Brice:

Brice Hopkins, 25.

Wand’rly:

From your blog I gather that you’re not an RVer or vandweller, but you get around with your own two feet. You state that you’re “intentionally homeless”, a term I very much love. Can you tell us about your decision to live as you do?

Brice:

I lived in an RV previously for a year, and had the original intention of moving back into it. I hit a point where I realized I didn’t want to physically move it — it seemed to big for just me (it’s 23′ … small compared to most standards, haha). That was a signal to me that I should take a different path. I had talked with a couple friends, and the offered for me to stay with them temporarily. I sat on that, and thought that staying with different people I know would be a great way to save money, cultivate community, and live more minimally. I wrote up a letter describing my process at coming to the decision, and what I hoped to gain from the experience. I sent it to my friends in the area, and within 24 hours I had my first month of housing covered. Definite sign that I was on the right path.

Wand’rly:

I’ve read that you’re trying to start a housesitting business. Can you tell us a little bit about that and any other ventures you’re involved/have been involved in to make money for your travels?

Brice:

I wouldn’t say it’s a housesitting business — really a way to share resources among community I have here. I’ve dabbled in online routes to make money, though quickly realized that my primary skill set (in healthcare) is quite dependent on going to the same physical location every day. Right now, I have opportunities opening up for short work gigs here and there just to get by, and I trust that whatever I need will make it’s way to me — I just have to be open and ask around. After I decided to make this leap, it gave me the courage to quit my 9-5 job for now. Not paying rent has it’s advantages, for sure!

Wand’rly:

What can you tell us about the transition from having a traditional place to live to your current roaming lifestyle?

Brice:

It was a surprisingly fun process. I’ve moved a lot in my adult life, and find that every time I do it gives me an opportunity to evaluate what ‘stuff’ I have and whether I really want or need it. Through this transition to intentional homelessness, I paired down my possessions to a 5×5 storage unit, and a couple bags on my back. I’m able to maintain my autonomy that way, and not be a burden on friends who’ve offered up space for me. The first couple weeks I spent really figuring out what I needed to carry with me, lots of shuffling and rearranging to find the set-up that will work for me for a while.

Wand’rly:

Where and what for are you going to school?

Brice:

I’m going to Western Governor’s University, for Health Informatics — a degree that’s really going to help support my work experience in healthcare administration and electronic health records. The school I’m attending is completely online and self-paced, which works really well with my current situation.

Wand’rly:

It sounds like you’re still in a state of great transition. What types of struggles and obstacles have you encountered with designing this new life for yourself?

Brice:

The first big struggle was really getting over my own fear. This idea seemed really beautiful, but also scary at the same time. I had to think through different scenarios and how I’d handle them, to give me a sense of how to be most prepared. For example, having plans to stay at one place and they fall through — and knowing what to have in place to make sure I have a roof over my head. It was pretty funny — but my first week in this adventure I had a few issues with my car — really the only large possession I have left. Navigating that and being fluid in taking care of what needs to be taken care of — a great reminder.

Wand’rly:

Are you actively traveling or mostly hanging around one area? What are your future travel plans?

Brice:

Right now I’m staying around the Austin area, though that may change, and I’m open to it. I have a trip to San Francisco planned for August, and after that — who knows? Before I settle back down, I want to pick up a 6 week Amtrak rail pass and criss-cross the country couch surfing with friends. I’ve got most stops planned out, just a matter of when the stars align and I know it’s the time to go!

Wand’rly:

Do you have some sort of savings or nest egg, or is it all fly by night?

Brice:

I have a small amount of savings from my last job, and a bit of student loans to help keep me afloat for now. I’m taking a risk, for sure, but the key has been trusting in myself and knowing that I’ll get what I need. Giving me a whole different perspective on money, and being creative to save where I can. I’m re-reading “Your Money or your Life” — great book for gaining perspective on that piece.

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The following is our complete interview with Jessica Mans of Life Remotely who is about halfway through a trip from Seattle, Washington to Antarctica via South America. She and her crew were featured in our How to Make a Living on the Road article.

Wand’rly:

First, can you give us the basics – name and ages of people in your family?

Jessica:

Jessica Mans, 30; Kobus Mans, 34; Jared McCaffree, 31 Just to put this together for you. Kobus and Jessica are married. Jessica and Jared are brother and sister.

W:

How do you make a living while traveling?

Jessica:

Jared is a software engineer. Kobus is a web design/developer. He does freelance work, but most of his income is from teaching. He works part time for Lake Washington Institute of Technology teaching web design and programming classes.

I am a freelance graphic designer, specializing in PowerPoint design. I have several clients back in the Seattle area that contact me for small projects and I have one client where I work as a contract designer with their in house team. I am essentially the overflow designer. Where there is too much work for the team to handle, they push the extra to me.

W:

Is that what you did before you began traveling, or did your career change when you began?

Jessica:

For all of us, this is what we did before we started traveling, although we had to change the type of projects we could take on and the amount of work we could accept.

For example, more than half of my business used to be working backstage at business conferences operating the graphics. I no longer have the ability (or the desire rather), to travel to large events. And furthermore, most of my clients don’t want to pay the extra cost of flying me
internationally.

W:

Before you began traveling, what kind of preplanning did you do to get
ready to make income on the road?

Jessica:

Budgeting: We did tons of budgeting, mostly to estimate the cost of our trip to drive from Seattle to Argentina. After we need the cost of the
trip we divided by the number of months we intended to take and then set a goal for how much we needed to earn to offset the costs.

Internet and phones: Because all of our jobs require internet at least a few times a week, we researched all the options for staying connected.
From USB modems, to internet cafes, to satellite connections.

Told our clients and bosses: There was quite a long nervous period while we all broke the news to our clients and bosses. Most of them were excited and even jealous, but not without some doubts and lots of questions. It was a big part of getting ready to go, organizing the work and downsizing our business.

W:

With regards to your work, what can you tell us about the transition period, the first few months after you hit the road?

Jessica:

It was rough, but not unbearable. The issues that arose were more between us as a travel team than for our bosses and clients. We struggled with finding a balance between working and traveling. Eventually we set designated “work days” which helped us to keep things on schedule. Also,
we set strict limits about the number of hours each person could work. Putting the entire trip on hold because one person over committed to a
project was messing up our travel style.

The working part though, was easy. Our research on phones and internet connections paid off and we were easily able to get stuff done on time and
keep the people back home happy. It did take a little while for my freelance projects to wind down. I should have started cutting my hours
earlier than the week before we left. It took a few weeks to get my clients to understand that I’m now on a 15 hour work week.

W:

Did you hit the road with a nest egg or a safety net of some type, or did you just trust you’d figure it out as you went?

Jessica:

Because we had time before our trip started, we were able to save almost enough money to do the trip without working. At the time we were all working full time, and sharing a house we had signed a lease on. We didn’t want to break the lease, and the timing for reaching Patagonia worked out better if we started the trip about 18 months from when we decided to go. We lived super cheap and saved everything we could. The extra time alsoallowed us to do most of our vehicle mods ourselves and shop around for the right gear (on sale) and not pay premiums.

We consider the work we are doing now the savings for our next trip.

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The following is our complete interview with Sara Janssen who, along with her family, was featured in our How to Make a Living on the Road article.

Wand’rly:

First the basics please, can you give me you & your family’s names & ages?

Sara:

Matt (34)
Sara (35)
Bella (8)
Lucy (3)
Emma (2 mo)

Wand’rly:

I understand you’ve settled down in Longmont, Colorado. How long were you on the road for before making that decision?

Sara:

We were on the road for approximately 4 years, with a stop in the middle when I was pregnant with Lucy.

Wand’rly:

What was it about Longmont that made you want to call it home?

Sara:

We had a job opportunity that was too good to pass up, and we also had a lot of friends and family in this area. Longmont is a very family friendly and affordable city…close to the mountains, Denver, and other recreation. We love it!

Wand’rly:

Can you tell me what kind of work the two of you did while traveling?

Sara:

The first year of traveling our job was the Live Lightly Tour (website currently in transition / not up). We spoke at colleges, coops, and festivals and did demonstrations of the veggie oil system and gave tours of the inside of our “green” remodeled RV. I also did a lot of photo shoots for families and couples and Matt did remodeling work.

After the first year, I resumed working for my parent’s company…doing ordering, design, and marketing. I continued doing photography and Matt did veggie oil conversions and contract construction work.

Wand’rly:

Thinking of before you set off on your RV adventure, what kinds of and how much preplanning did you do?

Sara:

Here is the story of events that led up to us going on the road:

In the Summer of 2005, we were staying in a hotel for 4 weeks for business. We had a small suite that had a bedroom and a little kitchen. We realized while we were there that we were EXTREMELY HAPPY living in a smaller space. We liked knowing where Bella was at all times without searching. We liked that cleaning up only took a few minutes instead of an entire afternoon. It just clicked.

We talked about that for a long time and when we returned from our trip, we decided to sell our house (that we had just purchased a few months before)…and downsize everything. We spent entire weekends cleaning out our basement, selling things on eBay and Craigslist. Slowly, we came out from under our self-imposed weight of possessions.

In that time, we also had a strict budget and paid off all of our consumer debt (credit cards, cars, etc). It took one year…but by the end of that year, we had paid the debt, sold our house, and moved into a smaller apartment.

We were also reading a book called “Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical” by Shane Claiborne. In it, he talks about what life would look like if Christians actually lived out what Jesus taught. Shane and others live in a community called “The Simple Way”…and they “attempt to live like Christ and the earliest converts to Christianity, ignoring social status and unencumbered by material comforts”. This book was a major catalyst in our desire to make a change…

It was during that time that we discovered the Compact and also many blogs that were discussing simpler/greener living. We loved the freedom we felt in giving things away, helping others, and feeling the wonderful “light” feeling that comes with getting rid of things that you don’t need. The group of friends we had in Des Moines were also instrumental in our journey…so many wonderful, thoughtful families, encouraging each other to make slow changes.

The jobs that we had during that time were great for the pocketbook, but not so great for keeping our sanity. We made the hard decision to resign, move to Bozeman, MT and seek out a slower pace of life. It was a great time of reflection, rejuvenation, and searching out what God had for our lives.

Before we sold our house, we had purchased a gorgeous VW Westy and we had planned on traveling the country in it. We ended up selling it before we moved to Bozeman…but the traveling lifestyle was still calling to us. We were always talking about how we wished that we would have “just done it”.

We decided to follow our hearts. What is the worst that could happen by pursuing our dreams? Failure? No big deal…at least we can say we tried! And in the end, we’ll have no regrets.

Wand’rly:

Were there resources in particular that you found useful when preparing to live and work on the road?

Sara:

When we were first considering this lifestyle, there weren’t that many families out there doing the same thing. There weren’t a lot of blogs or message boards that we could read for inspiration and instruction. There were a few other tours out there at the time and we looked at their busses, etc…but that was it. The biggest help for us was usingDave Ramsey’s system to pay off all of our debt before going on the road.

Wand’rly:

What was the transition period, maybe the first few months or so, of traveling like? How did working from the road live up to your expectations?

Sara:

Like any life change, there was definitely a transition period. We had to figure out how to SLOW DOWN. We were not accustomed to the extreme freedom that comes with a life on the road. Once we let ourselves settle into a new rhythm and routine…life was great! However, it was a time of faith-building like no other. That first year, we did not have a steady income and our savings ran out quickly. We relied on God to provide our next paycheck and He never let us down! We always had just enough.

Wand’rly:

When you first set off, did you have a “just in case” type of nest egg, or did you just have faith that you’d be able to continue making a living while traveling?

Sara:

We did have a little savings…but compared to what I’ve seen others set out with, it was very minimal and in their eyes…RISKY Like I said, it was a major faith builder and honestly, I might not do it that way again! I would probably have a bit more in savings. Now that we more experience, we know that RV’s are notorious for breaking down and needing to be repaired, even the brand new models. Having a repair budget is essential if you don’t want to go into debt.

Wand’rly:

Now that you’re back to having an address, have your careers changed again? Are you still doing what you were in the RV?

Sara:

I am still working for my family’s company and doing photography. Matt owns a property maintenance and lawn care business in Boulder, CO…so it’s quite similar to what he was doing on the road.

Wand’rly:

About how many hours a week did you both work when you were on the road? I know that travelers can have a wildly different work week from one to the next, but if you would say “on average”?

Sara:

I averaged between 20-35 hours a week. It’s hard to say for Matt, but when he was doing contract work it was 40 hours/week.

Wand’rly:

Did you ever have trouble staying focused on work when the world was basically your playground and there was always something new and exciting out your doors?

Sara:

Absolutely! I did a lot of my work at night when the kids were asleep. This allowed us to explore the fun stuff during the day. There were times when we were parked in one spot for months at a time and it was a bit easier to focus and get on a schedule during those times. But when we were moving every 3-4 days, it’s definitely hard to want to work!

Wand’rly:

How did the two of you find new work?

Sara:

Matt’s job and consequent purchase of his company came from a family connection. My work has remained the same.

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The following is our interview with Nora Dunn, the Professional Hobo. Read more about her in How to Make a Living on the Road article.

Wand’rly:

First, can you give us the basics – your name and age?

Nora:

Nora Dunn – aka The Professional Hobo – age 35

W:

Do you travel full or part time?

Nora:

I’ve been traveling full time since 2007.

W:

How do you make a living while traveling?

Nora:

I make a living as a travel blogger and freelance writer on the topics of travel, personal finance, and lifestyle design.

W:

Is that what you did before you began traveling, or did your career change when you began?

Nora:

Nope! Well, mostly not. Before I started traveling, I ran a financial planning practice in Canada. When I decided to sell everything to travel the world, I ended up parlaying my financial expertise into the travel realm, and my lifelong knack and passion for writing was a great medium for it all.

W:

Before you began traveling, what kind of preplanning did you do to get ready to make income on the road?

Nora:

Despite “planning” being an integral part of my personality, when I sold everything to travel I had no idea where I would go, what I would do, or how I would make money on the road. All I knew was that I had to travel (it was quite a leap of faith for me). It wasn’t until I was poking around the internet that it dawned on me that I could make a living as a writer with little more than a laptop and an internet connection from anywhere in the world.

This was back in 2006, when location independent careers weren’t the norm, and blogging wasn’t a recognized industry. I think it’s still very much evolving and developing, and it has been exciting to be on the leading edge of it all.

W:

With regards to your work, what can you tell us about the transition period, the first few months after you hit the road?

Nora:

It was in the first few months of hitting the road that I had the above epiphany(!), and it took (almost) two years of (almost) full-time work and (almost) no income to build a proper portfolio and a following for my website and generate enough income to truly financially sustain my travels. Luckily I had an income from the sale of my business in Canada that acted as a buffer during this time.

W:

Did you hit the road with a nest egg or a safety net of some type, or did you just trust you’d figure it out as you went?

Nora:

I had a nest egg from my previous years of saving while running my business, along with some retirement savings socked away for a day when I won’t be able or willing to work. But I haven’t had to dip into either. Here’s a post that explains all the logistics of how I became The Professional Hobo.

W:

How do your expenses while on the road compare to when you had a fixed address?

Nora:

I’ve maintained for a while now that full-time travel can easily be cheaper than living at a fixed address. And as you can see with my detailed posts of my cost of full-time travel in 2010 and in 2011, I even spend less than I earn! I wrote a huge article for Wise Bread about how to travel full-time for 17,000 or less, which shares my secrets to keeping full-time travel inexpensive.

W:

Has your career changed over the years you’ve been on the road? If so, what was behind those changes?

Nora:

My career has evolved over the years, as has my travel style, writing style, and frankly – my interests too. There wasn’t anything in particular instigating the changes; I believe it has simply been an evolution reflecting the personal growth and lessons I’ve learned along the way. This is a process that never stops, regardless of lifestyle choices I think.

W:

I know that the traveling lifestyle can mean there is no “typical” work week, but could you give us an estimate of about how many hours you work per week?

Nora:

I tend to work an average of 20-30 hours per week. Some days I don’t work at all (which usually means I still nab an hour at the computer if I can find an internet connection), and some days I’m at it for 10 hours. It varies dramatically depending on where I am and what I’m doing. Juggling travel, work-life balance, and time management is a constant struggle.

W:

Do you ever have difficulty staying focused on work when there’s always something new and exciting out your window?

Nora:

Yes and no. My biggest challenge that I constantly face is the feeling of guilt that I harbour for working (which usually means sequestering myself in a room somewhere) and not getting out there and discovering all those exciting things outside my window. But then again work is work regardless of where I am in the world. When work is done for the day I close my laptop, look up, and realize I’m in a completely different place in the world. That’s when the fun begins.

This is also why I’m a proponent of slow travel; it gives me a chance to discover a destination slowly and organically (while also staying on top of work), instead of tearing through as a tourist then collapsing somewhere from exhaustion and needing time to recover and catch up. I think it’s all about balance.

W:

How do you find new work?

Nora:

After a few years of blood, sweat, and tears in building up my writing portfolio, I’m pleased to say I don’t pound the pavement for new work any more; in fact new work tends to find me! The last few columns I landed came out of the blue (through referrals or simply reputation).

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The following is our complete interview with Akila and Patrick of The Road Forks who were featured in our How to Make a Living on the Road article.

Wand’rly:

First, can you give us the basics – name and ages of people in your family?

Akila:

Akila – 33. Patrick – 33

Wand’rly:

Do you travel full or part time?

Akila:

Full time

Wand’rly:

How do you make a living while traveling?

Akila:

I work as a writer and legal consultant, Patrick works as a software architect, and we make some side money and get sponsorships through our blogs.

Wand’rly:

How does working from other countries differ from doing so in the US? Are most of your clients still US-based?

Akila:

All of our clients are US based.

Wand’rly:

Is that what you did before you began traveling, or did your career change when you began?

Akila:

We kind of made a career change. I was a lawyer before I started traveling and Patrick is continuing to work for the same company he worked for before we left the U.S.

Wand’rly:

Before you began traveling, what kind of preplanning did you do to get ready to make income on the road?

Akila:

None. We didn’t really think that we would be able to make an income while traveling — we have been pleasantly surprised that people like our work enough that they keep wanting to hire us while we travel.

Wand’rly:

Did you hit the road with a nest egg or a safety net of some type, or did you just trust you’d figure it out as you went?

Akila:

A huge nest egg, though a good chunk of that was in a CD that we don’t plan to touch until we go back to the U.S. to buy a house.

Wand’rly:

How do your expenses while on the road compare to when you had a fixed address?

Akila:

We spend about the same on the road as we did when living in the U.S. full-time, though we aren’t gaining any equity because when we lived in the U.S., we had a house that we put our mortgage money toward. Now, we rent as we travel. We could travel much cheaper by staying in Southeast Asia or South America and we try to balance expensive countries with cheaper countries (for example, in the last six months, we spent 1 month in Croatia, 1 month in Bulgaria, and 2 months in Turkey to offset 5 earlier months in England, Spain, France, and Italy.)

Wand’rly:

Has your career changed over the years you’ve been on the road? If so, what was behi

Akila:

We keep getting more and more work, meaning that we find that we need more time to sit down and work and fast Internet has become one of our highest necessities. When we don’t have fast Internet for a few days, we start to get very nervous.

Wand’rly:

I know that the traveling lifestyle can mean there is no “typical” work week, but could you give us an estimate of about how many hours you work per week?

Akila:

About 30 hours per week, on average. During busy periods, we’ll spend closer to 60 hours/week working or we might take an entire week off from traveling and sightseeing just to work. When we have friends or family staying with us or we have limited time in a particularly expensive location (for example, we spent one week in Cappadocia), we end up working less than 10 hours/week.

Wand’rly:

Do you ever have difficulty staying focused on work when there’s always something new and exciting out your window?

Akila:

Never. After three years of doing this, we know that there’s always going to be something exciting out the window and we can’t see and do everything, no matter how hard we try. We always create a list of priority attractions when we first reach a new destination and spend our time seeing those. Normally, we split up our days so that we sightsee in the morning and work in the afternoons and evenings with a break for dinner.

Wand’rly:

How do you find new work?

Akila:

We have steady companies we work with and we get in touch with them when we’re running short on work. They always have more things for us to do!

Wand’rly:

How do you travel, an RV, a bus, your own two feet…?

Akila:

Patrick and I initially traveled mostly by plane, bus, and car, but in this last year, we are traveling with our two dogs, so we shipped our SUV from the United States and are roadtripping through Europe with them in our own car.

Wand’rly:

Is there anything else you’d like to tell us or our readers about your experiences with making a living to support your travels?

Akila:

If you want to make a living while traveling, make sure that you do exceptional work every single time you get a contracting gig. That’s the only way to survive as a freelancer.

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The Oregon Coast is a haven for bicycling, surfboarding, kiteboarding and various other grand ol’ “extreme sports”. Here’s a list of some key spots in Tillamook and Clackamas Counties where you can rent some gear for yourself.

• Manzanita Bike & Boards. Fun cycle, bicycle and surfboard rentals, plus you can buy boogie boards, skim boards, kites, and the like.
• Mike’s Bikes Cannon Beach. Fun cycles, mountain bikes, beach cruisers and street bikes for rent.
• Wheel Fun Seaside. Surreys, fun cycles, kids bikes, beach cruisers, tandem bikes, kids scooters, trail-a-bikes, electric cars, motorcycles and scooters – they’ve even got an “electric Hummer!”
• Seaside Surf Shop. Surfboards and everything that you need for surfing.
• Bikes & Beyond Astoria. Bikes and beach cruisers for rent.

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Peter Pan’s Neverland lives on in the Pacific Northwest

Endless sunsets, mountains battling crashing waves and trees all the green the rainbow could afford to spare.

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This is a simple to use app that lists each and every one of the fifty states. Click a state to get more info. The app provides basic info about each state, such as average sales tax, information on state laws with regards to alcohol sales, leash laws, speed limits, motorcycle helmet laws, RV and other licensing laws, smoking bans and bottle return policies. It’s just basic information but it’s the kind of info you want to know when you’re headed to a new state and uncertain as to how the essentials work. We particularly like being able to know whether we’ll be able to get beers in grocery stores or not.

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Most travelers, especially solo travelers, have run into the following situation along their particular trail: you see and experience grand old things but have no one to share them with.

Foursquare wraps that up nicely for you, giving you a social networking experience that’s all about where you’ve been. Make friends, see what they’re doing, and even who’s near you, so you can occasionally find a fellow wandering soul to hang out with, whether you’re downing an appetizer in the city or climbing a desert mountain, check in, claim your points, maybe even earn a badge or two.

Where social networks like Facebook and Twitter appeal more to us here at Wand’rly for their communication and potential promotional value for our website, Foursquare is just plain fun. It takes all of twenty seconds to check in. If friends—who you can find via connecting to Facebook or by allowing Foursquare to scan your phone’s contact list—are nearby or have previously left tips, the app alerts you to such goings on.

Basically, it’s a way to brag about where you’ve been to whomever you care to share with, and the addition of earning badges ends up leaving you heavily addicted to checking into places. While the majority of check-ins from friends, I’ve noticed, tend to be centered around bars and restaurants, the real fun lies in checking into more exotic locales, be they National Parks, hidden museums or even out on a boat at sea. Those are the places that’ll earn you badges, which are sort of your way of proving exactly how well traveled you are. Not to mention that occasionally you’ll run into a business which participates in Foursquare by providing some type of discount. We’ve gotten 10% off or better for clicking three buttons, not too shabby for playing an online game.

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Coverage? is developed by fellow full-time travelers Technomadia and falls into the “does one thing, well” category. For anyone who’s ever relied on their cell phone connection for Internet connectivity, you know what a game of chance it can be trying to get online in any particular spot, especially those which aren’t within a few miles of a major metropolitan area.

Coverage has basically one screen, which is a map of the United States (the only country it serves), with options to toggle which of the big four carriers (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint & T-Mobile) the map displays, as well as which version of the network (2G, 3G, etc.), a search feature to find specific locations and a button to locate your current position on the map.

Note that these are hand drawn maps, the developers have actually gone in and created them themselves. The only complaint I have, which I guess is more with AT&T than the maps themselves, is that I usually can’t get service at all in “Roaming” areas, so that particular feature for AT&T users is a bust, but overall it gives you a pretty good indication of whether or not you’ll be able to get onto Twitface or get any www.work done in any particular location.

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When the iPhone was first released, AT&T agreed to unlimited data plans for $20. They apparently had no idea what they were in for, as the wave of mobile phoners who became iPhone users was so overwhelming it slowed even their 3G network to a hault. Thusly, AT&T began limiting the amount of data any particular user could suck down over the air, to one of two incredibly limiting plans: 250MB or 2GB, depending on how much you wanted to spend. Additionally, they found a way to force the old, grandfathered in customers, into paying an additional $10 / month for their unlimited plans.

More recently, AT&T opened up the possibilities for their customers to pay an additional fee to allow them to use their iPhones Internet connection for their laptops and other various devices as well. For those users who still have the unlimited plan, this makes sense: it’s much easier to rack up huge amounts of data when using multiple devices pulling from AT&T’s network or, due to the way the web currently seems to work, even by using one laptop instead of your phone itself. However, for those of you who are on a finite amount of data via your particular connection, really, why should it matter how you consume that data? If you go over, you’ll be expected to pay more, so in theory, if it’s all about the money, AT&T should be glad to have you risking the possibility of seriously going over your limits.

Anyway, that case placed as in point as a knife stuck into an old wooden bench, we visit MyWi, a device only accessible if you’re willing to go through the very simple process of jailbreaking your phone (which contrary to popular belief, is not “illegal”, however it will void your warranty with Apple and possibly violate your terms of service with your service provider). Once you’ve installed MyWi, you can use it relatively reliably to create a WiFi hotspot (allowing multiple other devices to connect to your cellular signals downstream), or share with one device via Bluetooth or USB. While even 4G speeds aren’t comparable to what you might be used to over a more traditional WiFi connection (ie, via a cable provider or FiOS), it is more than adequate to get by (we’ve streamed movies over a 3G connection) for most people’s needs. From a very trusted source’s experience, you can apparently hit over 30GB in one month with your unlimited connections before AT&T beings texting you, warning that if you don’t start limiting your usage on your own, they’ll do it for you.

Either way, with relatively no setup (other than jailbreaking), good reliability and exemplary ease of use, MyWi is the very best tethering tool for iPhones.

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While reading through one of many fulltime RVer blogs I keep up with, I was clued in to what I thought was a great idea for playing a little game on the road, particularly if you have a handful of kids traveling with you. It’s called Campsite Bingo and, to my knowledge, it was invented by the Zavocki’s. Here’s a quick rundown:

1. Draw a 5×5 grid such as shown here, make one for each player.
2. When you get an RV spot at a campground, they almost always have a number associated with that particular spot. If a player has that number on their board, they can cross it off.
3. First player to get five in a row, horizontally, vertically or diagonally, wins!

Whatever the prize is for winning is completely up to you. The Zavocki’s give the winner a “Daddy-Daughter” date, but of course there’s no official Campsite Bingo World Officiators, so you maybe the winner gets out of doing chores for a week, gets to pick what’s for dinner, or maybe even where the family heads to next. It’s a long term game (it took them eight months to get a winner!) but it doesn’t take long and is a way to add a little consistency from place to place. When someone wins, the other players can keep their existing boards, making it more likely that everyone will get a shot at the gold some day.

Long gone are the days of smoky old fire halls full of grandmas trying to win a nickel or two, here’s to making bingo a game for youths again! Oh and don’t forget to check out the Zavocki’s site, if they can come up with Campsite Bingo, who knows what great ideas they’ll roll out with next!

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Virginia hasn’t caught on that it’s summertime just yet as the evening air is chilling my arms into breezy stand up straight fields of black hairs. A bench in front of an overpriced Comfort Inn off of I-81 plays office for the moment as I tap these words out on my phone. It’s been 80 mph almost non-stop these past few days, our usual travel plans of slow days spent on two lanes and stopping wherever might seem fitting interrupted by a need to be specific places at particular times for weddings, birthdays and airplane terminals. 

I forget why I loathe freeways so much, until I’m on them, the barreling urgency of every loose cannon rig driver and hot shot minivan weekend amateur vying for the foot or two they can squeeze out between one another on their fast lane to becoming the next highway casualty, all while the guard rails can’t be bothered to let in any scenery short of what billboards touting the next fast food chain hotel exit awaits. Interstate is a euphemism for a dying America, where the dream of freedom, exploration and making is constantly being replaced by ownership, security and consumption. I vow to, after this last stint, never take the freeway again. Like I’ve always done before, like I’ll do again the next time I forget to leave earlier or spread plans further apart. 

Some teenage girls are playing “up all night” in the stairwell, the slam of the door as they giggle in and out of the hallway nearly waking my sleeping family in this mauve replica of every other hotel room just off any given exit. 

I saw signs for US 60 today, the only divisible-by-ten US Highway I’ve yet to explore. A quick glance at the map tells me I could follow it all the way to Arizona, or to the Pacific if it were forty years ago. US 11 signage looked promising, and an exit touting access to the Blue Ridge Parkway reminded me that if we’d only taken one extra day we could have been wheels deep in gorgeous mountain expanses all this way. Instead, we’ll likely find ourselves drinking McDonalds coffee and pumping the breaks all day tomorrow to avoid permanently joining our front bumper with one of several road ragers who think that by squeezing into the four seconds between me and the guy ahead, who’s also just waiting for the next guy, and so on, they’ll somehow slip by the tractor trailer and Kia that are doing 55 neck and neck from here through Maryland. 

The girls in the hallway slam the door again. The hotel has no bar. I fall asleep dreaming of a convertible in some 1950s version of the open road. 

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The path of man has been one of motion. Evolutionarily, we came up out of Africa and didn’t stop until we found every last corner of the planet to call home. And then we began leaving the planet. Mongolian tribes, the Vikings, Native Americans, all nomads, wanderers, wayfarers. It is the great bane of the modern era that so many of us would be stricken with wanderlust, yet are required an almost constant location due to the type of work that has been prevalent for the past couple of centuries.

We all know someone who says they hate to travel. They’re afraid to fly, they don’t like the freeway, it’s too expensive. There are certainly people who grow up in and want nothing more than to live their lives, raise their families, and die in the same small town. However, that is not most of us. The proof is in the two week vacation. When your coworkers disappear on holiday, do they just lounge around their house? Or are they always coming back from somewhere with a tan?

We want to experience new things. The more quickly we begin these experiences in life, the easier traveling becomes. The longer you set yourself in ways, becoming comfortable with a specific brand of fast food, liking your eggs cooked a certain way, always buying coffee from the same coffee shop, the more difficult it is to accept the surprises, eccentric behaviors from strangers and generally differences the world is able to throw at you, just given the exiting of our comfort zones.

Mark Twain put it perfectly:

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.

When we stick around our own little slice of the world, we begin to think “This is the way things are.” But that’s only how it is where you are, and 7 billion other people on this planet would beg to differ that you are the shining example of what all humanity should be. Sure, having everyone around you speak a different language can be disconcerting, frightening. “Nobody understands me,” couldn’t be more true in those moments. Finding yourself ten miles deep into the mountains with nothing but your pack, a map and a good pair of boots can leave you feeling very vulnerable, there’s no doubt. “I am so alone,” is exactly right in those moments. But the greater sum of the experience is that—aside from having seen the beauty of a foreign country or hiking trail, aside from having accomplished what relatively few others have—you have added to your own being. You’ve begun to perfect who you are. You are, in fact, improving yourself, and what begins to happen is that as you open up to the rest of the world, the rest of the world begins to want to open up to you.

The more we do with our lives, the more “gourmet” we become. The more experiences we take in, the more premium the ingredients that make up our personalities. If you only use the ingredients you have in your kitchen, the ones your parents gave you by bringing you into this world, you can only make so many dishes. And eventually, as those dishes are made over and over again, you run out of the will to eat. We all become microwaved hot dogs if we don’t take the time to go out and find new ingredients, new recipes, new ways to add flavor to this never ending in and out breathing we do as the world spins on whether we choose to really inhale those breaths or not.

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While drastically different than our typical style of full time traveling, I came across the website for the World today. It’s a cruise ship, but no one onboard has just picked up tickets for a week worth of traveling around the Bahamas. The World is inhabited by residents who purchase anything from a $600,000 studio to an over $13M suite, many of whom live full time on the ship as it slowly makes its way around, and around and around, the world.

Not a shabby way to live if you aren’t prone to seasickness, though I’d prefer to stay in places longer than the 2 to 5 day average dock time the World provides.

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Okay so you’re thinking of becoming a road warrior, living around the every next bend and breathing in highway exits? You’ve decided on how you’ll travel, but now you need to figure out what you’re going to do with all of this stuff that’s accumulated in your closets, under the bed, and coming out of your ears.

No problem, it’s not as hard as it seems. Firstly, realize that you probably don’t have more random stuff than anyone else. Something about the nature of a human’s mind tells us we don’t want to get rid of things, don’t just “throw it away”. It might be useful someday!

The problem is, it rarely ever is. It’s too easy to fill up a junk drawer, then another one, etc. and so on. But worry not, for it’s just about as easy to get rid of everything as well. We’ll tackle this problem in five steps or less.

1. What will I Need?

Okay you’re definitely going to need several trash and recycling bags, a box about the size of a large Microwave and maybe a few of those larger plastic bins, or similarly sized boxes. Don’t buy new ones, though! Just use the ones you’ve already got. If they’re already full of stuff, that’s probably a great place to start then.

Let’s move on to the first phase of actually clearing house.

2. What do you actually use?

This is the largest but simplest task, because it has a clear and cut set of objectives. Tackle your house one spot in a room at a time, such as a bathroom closet or the things underneath your bed. Get your garbage bags, Microwave box and a bin. Now, pull everything out of the area you’re working on, and you only have two decisions to make.

1. Have I used it in the past week or two? If you haven’t, that means it’s not essential to your life. Throw away anything that’s garbage, recycle what you can, and toss anything else that’s still good into the plastic bin. Anything you’ve used in the past couple of weeks can stay, but be honest with yourself. If you used a spatula once in two weeks, because you have three others, it probably isn’t a necessity. Your goal here is to eliminate as much as possible.
2. Wait, but is it sentimental? The hardest things to get rid of are those we deem meaningful to us for some reason, even though we don’t use them. We’ll cover how to get rid of this stuff as well later, but for now, anything that you find to be sentimental, put it in the Microwave box.

This first step will take the longest, but I recommend trying to do it all in a long weekend or at least doing an entire floor of your house. Once you get yourself in the mindset of putting more in the trash and the bin than the Microwave box, you’ll want to ride that wave.

3. Take out all of that Trash

You may be tempted to pile up the trash and recycling in the garage or on the porch or somewhere, but don’t, once you’ve finished your entire house, or an entire floor if you’re doing it one floor at a time, get that trash to the dump and the recycling to it’s appropriate location. Having that lying around your house means you still have it, but now it’s all so ugly because it’s out in the open. Getting rid of it all will bring an immense feeling of satisfaction when you finally return to your now much less cluttered home, which at this point should only have two types of things left in it:

1. The things you have used very recently.
2. The things that you don’t want to give up because they are sentimental.

3. Eliminate Duplicates

The next step is to eliminate duplicates. If you’re moving into an RV, even a big A Class, you will almost certainly have much less room than you do now. It’s a blessing, believe me. It’s time to figure out what you have that serves a dual purpose and what you have that is simply a duplicate of something else. Anything that can be used as two things, for example a mug that is large enough to also be a bowl, or a good Swiss Army knife, those items should get first priority. Then line up your cappuccino machine, coffee maker and tea pot. These things all serve a similar function, making hot morning beverages. Do you want to lose half your counter space to a machine dedicated to making small shots of espresso? When you’re boondocking (that is, your RV is not plugged in somewhere), will your rig allow you to even power the thing? Or would a tea pot and a small French Press give you similarly gourmet coffee even if you have to heat the water over an open flame?

When packing up dishes and silverware, remember that you’re probably not going to have a dishwasher you can just stuff dishes in and leave them all day, you only really need what is essential for a single meal. I don’t know about you, but I can eat both my burger and fries from one plate. I rarely need a saucer for my tea cup, and I can drink all eight glasses of water in a day out of the same receptacle that I have my morning coffee in and my evening beer. When you turn a complete set of fine China into one place setting per person, you put practicality before possessions, and believe me, the less possessions you have, the more time is left to live. Want an example? If you only have a pot, a pan, and enough dishes to exactly feed your family, that’s significantly less dishes for four people, including plates, forks, and glasses, when compared to our family’s average of twenty or so dishes used to create and present meals at home. Less dishes equal less dish washing, which in turn leaves more time to hang out around the fire later in the evening.

Start placing the things you’ll be keeping into the Microwave box. Very soon you’ll come to a realization…

4. I am too Sentimental

At some point, that “large” Microwave box won’t seem to large anymore, as you begin piling in all of your favorite gear on top of old pictures of great grandma, knick knacks, and everyone of little Timmy’s drawings. It’s time to come to the hardest decision of all, which is “does this lava lamp my first girlfriend give me help me remember her, or is it just lingering around like a cockroach filling up space between my walls?”

By far, the majority of things that I found to be sentimental were photographs and little trinkets. Take an afternoon and digitize all of your photographs. This takes a little time, but you can practically do it with an iPhone these days, or if you have a scanner use that before dumping that scanner into the big plastic bins. There, photographs are taken care of, maybe even reward yourself by going out and making a small purchase of one of those digital frames. Now you can actually look at those memories instead of having them holed up in some shoebox beneath the other six shoeboxes of photos you forgot you even had.

Next up, trinkets. Sure, your grandmother gave you this bird statue before she passed away, and you could never part with it, but did you even like it when she gave it to you? And if you did, was it the sculpted glass eagle that you liked, or the idea that your grandmother gave it to you? It’s more than likely the latter, and you know what your grandma gave you that’s even better? Your mom, who then in turn created you. You’re carrying grandma, mom and dad and everyone else in your bloodline along with you every day, and if you want to be free and clear to travel and explore, you’ll have a much easier time of it without that Michael Jordan cardboard cut out that your older brother didn’t want and so you pretend like he gave it to you before he moved to Alaska.

Besides, there will be plenty of cool trinkets you can keep, like a keychain which can easily keep your keys close by, or a wallet, things with practical value and sentimental value. Things that serve two purposes! It’s a simple fact that you’re likely only going to be left with a dresser drawer’s worth of what you can consider “extra space” in your new home on the road, so I personally think about what items I will use every single day but can still hold sentimental value. Things that you can wear are great. Things that just sit on a shelf have little use, and therefore, never make the cut on my list.

Some other ideas? Take some of your kids’ artwork, and only some, and frame it. Bolt it onto the wall in your RV and you’ve now added a little personality to what is more than likely a seafoam and gold wallpaper combination that only the 1990s recreational vehicle industry could have dreamed up. Make an “ornament” out of a few random things you’ve been keeping around, tie it all up with some ribbon or hemp or whatever type of string a person such as yourself enjoys, and hang it from the rear view mirror (you won’t be needing that in an RV anyway). Now you can see it every day as you drive, but it doesn’t take up any space that could be used for something better (unless you consider fuzzy dice and a lucky rabbit’s foot as good as it gets).

5. Post to Craigslist, Throw a Yard Sale, Go to Goodwill

A yard sale is great because you can literally have people move your big ticket items for you. Couch for sale, $20, just go in and grab it. Yeah, you can have the bed for $50, but you have to tear it down and get it out of here yourself. The sheets? Sure, take them with you!

So now you’ve got the Microwave box full of what you’re actually going to keep, and probably five or ten big plastic bins full of what’s got to go. Sell it, give it away to someone else who wants it, or gift it to Goodwill. Get rid of it. When you’re standing in an empty house with only one box to carry out to your new life, try and remember what it was like when you first moved into this place, how many boxes you taped, labeled and carried, how many friends came over to help you move things around. By the end of a successful double front of posting everything you’ve got to Craigslist and the yard sale all in one, you should have no trouble getting everything out the door, into someone else’s pickup truck, and off of the property. This is a good opportunity to make a few hundred bucks, too, it’s amazing what a bunch of old junk can bring in, but remember that your primary goal here is to get rid of your stuff, not haggle over the price of that lamp, whether it’s from Fragile or not.

6. The Final Stage

Okay so I know I said five steps, but there’s one final area to consider: re-accumulation. If you’ve got kids, people will be desperate to give them things. I have no idea why, but children are magnets to new, mostly cheap and plastic, stuff. Assign them a space that’s there’s and tell them, don’t bring something new into this motorhome unless you take something of equal size out, and for good. Same with you, every tourist trap you come along will be begging you to buy something or other, some trinket to “remember your time” there. The good news is, it’s not like losing weight or quitting smoking, it’s not an endless struggle. Eventually you’ll learn to appreciate something for just having been able to see it once, owning it will not be an issue. But make certain grandparents and friendly park neighbors alike know that while you wouldn’t turn down a fresh made apple pie any day of the week, the complete nine seasons of Star Trek the Next Generation on VHS just won’t be a possibility.

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Looking to hit the road, but not sure what the right home on wheels would be for you? We’ve put together a nifty little list of websites that are more than happy to help you figure out how to make your full time traveling aspirations a reality.

CampervanConversion.com

This website offers a plethora of information, including costs and timeline, for creating your building your own campervan conversion. Definitely a less expensive way to go, if you’re handy with electrical wiring, cabinetry work, etc., and the finished product can be made to specifically meet your exact needs.

mycampervanconversion.co.uk

Air Forums

An online community for Airstream enthusiasts, there are plenty of members who are more than willing to help newcomers to the Airstream world with any questions, concerns, etc. and the website also features an online classifieds section for getting your own!

airforums.com

Love My Bus

All about Volkswagen Buses of any generation, featuring a forum and plenty of other information to help you figure out if a VW Bus is right for your home on the road.

lovemybus.com

Von Slatt

A sort of diary of the conversion of a school bus into an RV. Even if you have no plans to do a massive conversion like this yourself, this is a fun site to check out.

vonslatt.com

Live.Work.Dream

Follow along with Rene and Jim as they live and work their dream lifestyle from their 5th wheel. They supply not only a plethora of information on making money from the road and the various aspects of living in an RV, but have also successfully set up a home base in Colorado, and did all of it debt free.

liveworkdream.com

NuRVers

A website full of resources and a forum for and by young RVers (ie, non-retirement age types). Plenty of friendly avatars willing to give out advice.

nurvers.com

If you’re a solo traveler, you may also want to look into Van Dwelling and Couch Surfing, two incredibly affordable, very alternative lifestyles for wanderliving.

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Yes, we know, that’s a glorious title. Feel free to reuse it. In fact, doing so could win you a free iPod Touch. That’s right, folks, we’re jumping on the “do a favor for us, get a chance to win some electronics!”

We stumbled upon an iPod Touch and we’re looking to give it away, but since our dog can’t seem to keep his Facebook updated and grandma thinks Facebook sounds dirty, we’ve decided to find a member of our very own website to do just that.

How do I enter?

Simple, all you’ve got to do is one of the following easy as pie on a windowsill things:

1. Tweet about us. Jump onto Twitter, throw up a Tweet that says “Hey, @wandrlymagazine is my best friend. I want to name my child after them!” or something to that effect. In fact, all you have to do is include the @wandrlymagazine bit and you’re good to go!
2. Better yet, head on over to that little website we all love to like, Facebook.com/Wandrly, and click the Like button there. Your 983 closest personal friends will think you’re a traveling aficionado and your mom will be glad to see an update that doesn’t involve you getting plastered with the pictures to prove it.
3. Best of all so far, write a blog post about us on your WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, whatever blog, and then be sure to tell us about it. Not only is this the method we’ve deemed the coolest, but it’s quite likely you’ll get a friendly link back right here from this ol’ blog, too.

Why Would I want an iPod Touch?

Glad you asked, and by asked, I mean of course “read that subtitle”. iPod Touches are the next best thing to an iPhone, without the hassle of a monthly cell phone bill. Here are a few fun things we do with our son’s iPod Touch:

1. Hook it up in your ride, so no more repetitive music from ClearChannel playing the same old top 40 hits from state to state. Make your own radio station and never stop rocking like it was 1999.
2. Upgrade your alarm clock. Tired of that ugly 2004 clock that keeps waking you up every morning with an annoying beep/buzz/whale sounds? An iPod Touch, with the kadgillions of apps available, makes a perfect alarm clock, and you can wake up to your favorite tunes (even if those are new wave whale sounds).
3. Use it as your cell phone. No, you can’t get a cell phone plan with an iPod Touch, but what you can do is talk to people all over the world with something like Skype. You can browse the web, check email, Tweet to your Facebook and Facebook your Twitter. All you need is a WiFi connection and goodbye long distance roaming data plan charges!

We’ll even make it easy for you:

Follow @WandrlyMagazine

We’ll choose the winner at random after we’ve received 1,000 entries or by May 15th, whichever’s sooner.

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Here’s the full copy of our interview with S.K. Thoth from the article Buskers: Modern Day American Bards.

Wand’rly:

When you first began doing this, were you intentionally trying to be a street performer, or did you see busking as more of an avenue to getting into more traditional venues?

Thoth:

Before busking, I was a scooter messenger; and before that, a waiter with ten years experience. I was sick of working for other people. I began to realize that busking would be a better, more honest way of making money, than being humiliated by unintelligent bosses and restaurant managers. Although much has come from busking — a band, other venues, an Oscar, et al — I never thought of it as an avenue to get into more traditional venues, but as a viable creative path towards fully individuating.

W:

I take it that you’ve been doing this for quite some time. What can you tell us about what busking was like for you in the various phases of your life, such as before the 2002 documentary, immediately after, and now 10 years later?

Thoth:

In my early years, busking was all about finding my voice. I did covers of great classical pieces (mostly Bach) all the while experimenting with my own music. When I realized people were more interested in my music than the classical pieces, I stopped playing dead composers, saying, “I’m not going to be a necrophiliac anymore. If not me, who else is going to play my heart.” Around the time of the Academy Awards, I was in full inventive flight having just finished my three act solopera, THE HERMA: The Life and Land of Nular-In. Fully confident in my complex and powerful voice, I evolved a new, very physical method of playing the violin to accompany my voice. Right after the Academy Awards, the experience of the celebrities at the event taught me that they were not as energetic as the media projected (in fact less energetic than many homeless people I knew). This observation, shall I call it an epiphany, made me realize that a much bigger accomplishment was at stake — the death dance, to die while prayforming. At present, I have a partner who is my protege. Although as devoted as ever, I am now a mentor and involved in another’s creative growth. In addition, physical difficulties forced me to reinvent myself; it is either I re-invent or succumb, and “I will never put down my sword and shield.”

W:

I read an article where you mentioned that you were a street person before the documentary came out, and then how you were sort of catapulted to the exact opposite end of the spectrum as far as society’s concerned. When you say you were a “street person” do you mean you were homeless? Was this a choice as part of putting together your solopera and performing, or were you living in the streets for other reasons?

Thoth:

I think that I never referred or refer to myself as a “street person” (however I could be mistaken). I don’t even call myself a street musician, rather referring to myself as a public performer. In the documentary I did call myself homeless which my mother has taken issue with. However, I did lose my apartment to the inflation initiated by the late 1990’s dot com bubble, and she generously provided me with a room in her home to help me get back on my feet.

W:

As a street performer, you must get a wide variety of reactions to your work. On one hand, the shape you’re in, your attire, the quality of your work, it clearly says “I’m not asking for a handout, I’m making art here”, but a lot of people I talked to, and even many buskers themselves, they seem to associate street performing with begging. Why do you think that stigma has been attached to busking, and what are your experiences there?

Thoth:

The stigma of buskers as beggars exists because many buskers act like beggars. I on the other hand, unlike beggars who consider themselves powerless, know that I am powerful. That confidence gives me the responsibility to gift all my power to all and everyone as a public service. Unlike most who gain power and model greediness and excess (as we see daily both in politics and business), I do the opposite. I model altruism, compassion, neutrality and humility, not wielding my power for gain or subjugating others to my will, but to move and inspire others. Thus I am always grateful for any and all tips given from those who recognize what I am doing.

W:

You mentioned that you’re headed to Europe, and I gather you do a good deal of traveling. When you travel how do you get around?

Thoth:

In the USA we have been traveling by car. In Europe, we will travel by planes, trains, buses and walking.

W:

Did you travel before the documentary? How did you get around then?

Thoth:

I did not travel much before the documentary. I stayed pretty much in one place — San Francisco, then NYC.

W:

Where, for most people who try it, busking is a phase or a means to an end or they just eventually decide that a more “normal” job is the way to go, you seem to have made a career out of it. When you look back at the progression of your life, are you immensely satisfied? Do you ever wonder where you would be if you wouldn’t have stayed with this, if you’d have given in to pressure from society? Did you ever think about just dropping it all?

Thoth:

When I look back at my life, I feel immensely satisfied and fortunate: I am a conscious, fully activated, creative being. What more can I ask? Traveling shows me this truth the most. I have a perspective on life because of my work that allows me to see many of the lies and illusions people in general are embroiled in. Stopping was never an option, and no, I have never thought of dropping it all. Nothing moves, renews and satisfies my need to transmute and neutralize energy as much as prayforming. Why drop the truth?

W:

What might you say to young people just getting started with street performing, or really to any young artists with a vision that they want to see come together as a meaningful piece of work?

Thoth:

Success as a street performer or public performer requires gargantuan amount of self-discipline and dedication. This is not the path of a slacker (as most might think) but of a person driven to self-realization. Like no other profession one has complete control of one’s expression and business. Lack of self-discipline both creatively and financially undermines all potential artists. Few if any of the popular artists would have continued doing what they do had not the luck of fame supported them.

W:

When traveling, how do you decide where to go? What makes you pick Europe next week over South America or Portland over Savannah? Is everything bookings now or do you still just play out to do it?

Thoth:

We travel the world looking for resonant places that are not restricted by someone or something. We rarely book anything but always make our own venues since only we know what a truly good venue is.

W:

How do you meet the people you end up doing performances with? Is there a kind of a street performers circle, a community?

Thoth:

I am a rugged individualist in the ancient tradition. I don’t belong to any societies. I have yet to encounter any society that fully embraces all that I am. People who perform with me have to be willing to make music in the moment and reveal their entire hearts, know when not to play too. I am not interested in technicians and egoists.

W:

You have a lot of material online. How do you think it translates, seeing a YouTube video or just hearing an mp3, to what you do live?

Thoth:

No recorded media translates or communicates what we do better than seeing and feeling us live.

W:

How much Thoth are you and how much Stephen Kaufman? Are they one in the same, do you believe that you become your act and your act becomes you over time?

Thoth:

There is no act. Thoth is Stephen Kaufman in full regalia and full power without apologies to the greedy, weak-minded and frightened. Ruthlessly yet compassionately I am committed to inspiring humanity to evolve towards its true angel nature.

Interview with Prayformer S.K. Thoth is brought to you by Wand'rly.
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An all too typical response to seeing our family out and about traveling full time is “How do you do it?” There’s an assumption that we’re dirty hippies living hand to mouth or perhaps backed by some inheritance that never seems to run out. Nothing could be further from the truth, we’ve earned every penny we’ve spent, and we’ve learned to make our dollars stretch into the places they count. Gathering the tools (or lack of) you need to be able to maintain a constantly mobile lifestyle consists of three things:

1. Become your own income.
2. Avoid burdens.
3. Simplify your needs.

This is nothing that hasn’t been said before, but I want to quickly reiterate these ideas and then show you some of my favorite places for inspiration in all of these arenas.

Become Your Own Income

A steady paycheck from an employer is seen as security. That baffles me actually, because when you rely on your employer for security, you’re only safe while they deem you necessary. Some 20 million people were laid off, let go, or otherwise lost their jobs in the United States in 2011. That’s about 1 in 13 Americans of working age (if you consider 15 and over “working age”). An employer is not a safety net, they’re simply part of a larger illusion we’ve created for ourselves as to what a safety net looks like. When you take control of your own income, by figuring out what your skills are, what your passions are, and how they might work together, you become responsible for your own livelihood, and I can personally guarantee you that if you truly put your heart and back into it, you’ll be able to make it on your own.

While we’re on the note of personal security, I like to remember that trading security for freedom tends to leave us feeling like we’re living in cages. Speaking of which…

Avoid Burden

I don’t know if it’s an innately American quality, or if it’s humanity at large, but we seem to have a knack at building up cages around us and then complaining that we’re not able to break free. Why are bachelors, retired old men and female divorcees so often idolized in movies? Because we all secretly want what they have: simplicity.

Sometime, typically in our twenties, we begin amassing things in our life. We get a dog, buy a car, get married, have children, buy a house, buy another car, and as our employers see fit to raise our income a few percent every year, so do we raise our bills: basic cable becomes some lavish 450 channel package we barely make use of, we buy insurance from a duck to supplement the insurance we already purchased from a gecko, and so on. All of these things are unnecessary to our happiness. Now, if you love dogs, that’s great, I’m not telling you to take man’s best friend down to the pound and give him the slip. If you have kids, good for you. If you’re married, no one’s telling you to get a divorce in order to be free. But it’s one idea, for sure.

Don’t let your kids be the reason you don’t follow after what it is you want in life. “My kids need stability,” you say. But what does that mean? Going to the same school every day, meeting the same people, learning the same lessons over and over again, only to come home to unhappy parents? Stability does not need to come in the form of an address exclusively. Stability is created by the environment of emotions that a child lives in, not necessarily the stick walls of their home. When adults pursue their dreams, they teach their children to do the same. I firmly disbelieve in living for my children, because my children we be adults one day and have a chance to live for themselves as well. While we are adults, it’s our job to live fulfilling lives, and that’s the only way we can teach our kids to do the same when it’s their time to make the big decisions.

The non-living ties we have to this world are a lot easier to let go. If your dream is to sail around the world, well that $1500 / month mortgage isn’t going to get you there. Selling that house very well may get you the funds to buy a boat and get your business off to a start, though. If you wished you exercised more, try trading that $100 / month cable bill for a bike. Look at what it is you want to do, and look at what it is you are doing. Best case scenario, you can trade what’s tying you down for what could set you free.

Simplify Your Needs

Touching on the cable bill theme, there are a lot of bills in our lives that we could do without. Remember when you were just getting started and you could get by on minimum wage? I recall thinking, at 22 while I was making around $23,000 / year, if I could land a job that made $30,000, I and my family would be set.

But as my income crept closer and closer to that mark over the next few years, I still didn’t have any more extra cash in my pocket than I did at $23k. Then I looked in my mailbox. A cell phone bill and a landline, a Netflix subscription, cable TV, Aflac, all of these bills I’d been creating out of a false sense of need.

I’ve quickly learned over the years that insurance is just a way to trade all of the health and opportunity you have now for a chance at having a little better life later. That is, if you think of your health like a video game character, when you’re 20 years old, you have 100% “life”. Every year you lose about 1.5% of that “life” until, somewhere in our 80s or 90s, we die. At the same time, in a video game you often have money which you can use to do the things you need to in the game. In life, as in a video game, we don’t all make money evenly over our lifetimes, there are ups, downs and in betweens. Some people stumble across a treasure chest and others lose their treasure in a shipwreck. Still, we all have some amount of cash that we’re accompanied by throughout our adventure, and it typically gets larger as we get older. The current model of insurance says that if we spend those years while our “life” is up around the 90% – 100% mark trading our then small cash reserves on insurance, when we’re closer to the 30% or below “life” level, and when our cash is inversely likely to be much larger, we’ll get a few extra dollars at that point to help keep us at 30% for as long as possible (or until your insurance benefits run out). Essentially, purchasing insurance is trading enjoyment in your youth for prolonged old age.

When you start to look at things like this, as though everything has a value based on the time it takes and the time you have, then you can start to really pick apart what’s complicating your life and get down to doing what you want. If you claim to want to see the world, well that takes time to do, and spending four hours a day in front of a television means you’re trading those four hours watching ABC for four you could be spending touring the USA.

But eliminating bills is just the start, truly living simply goes far beyond that. Do you need four pairs of jeans? Aren’t they all just blue pants? Try and get by with one pair (that’s the beauty of jeans, they’re meant to be worn more than once). Are there sixteen people in your family? No? Then is it necessary to own sixteen place settings? The obvious benefit is that you save money buying clothes, dishes, towels, furniture, whatever. The side effect is that you spend less time cleaning clothes, dishes, towels, furniture, whatever.

When you begin to reduce your own life’s overhead, you become like a lean, well run business, and the product you’re creating is your own happiness. By simplifying, you give that business more money to operate on and more time to work with.

Learn More

These ideas are not new, I did not invent them, even if I came to some of them of my volition. They are, often times, easier said than done. Over time I’ll try and expand more on these ideas, but in the mean time, there are a few people out there already doing a really great job of explaining how they’ve used similar principles to make their lives all the more fulfilling. Check out their writing, their philosophies, and start thinking about how you can apply it to your own mission to get the life you want.

Joshua Fields Millburn, along with his friend Ryan Nicodemus, are the Minimalists. They write about simple living, how they ditched their big money jobs to work for themselves and now feel more satisfied than ever, and do it all with beautifully woven words.

Colin Wright is young, he’s free, he’s entrepreneurial. He travels the world and lets other people tell him where to go, selling t-shirts and himself along the way. Well, kind of.

Janice Waugh travels the world alone after her husband passed away, and is looking to help other (especially female) people experience this world all for themselves, too.

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We finally made the long haul up through the Black Mountains, all along the Blue Ridge Parkway, and into North Carolina’s Mt. Mitchell State Park.

It’s a long drive to Mt. Mitchell from just about anywhere. From Asheville, you can take the Blue Ridge Parkway north just over thirty-three miles, which takes over an hour due to the winding, scenic nature of the Parkway…and that’s without stopping off at every scenic overlook to get a breathe deep moment. Worth the drive though? I’d say so, particularly considering the drive is every bit as spectacular as the mountain itself. Bicyclists keep a slow, steady and often smiles on their face pace as they keep on keeping on higher and higher, passed every now and then by guys on motorcycles hugging turns that seem to be specifically made for crotch rockets and the new generation of retiree biker gangs. Vintage cars pass us in the Bus and wave, tourists and bird watchers and families coming for a hike from the city all parked along the various pull outs that offer grand views of the Swannanoa River Valley and Seven Sisters Mountains, which lead back down to Montreat and Black Mountain.

We’ve come a little unprepared though, having forgotten to bring some charcoal for the intended cookout, poised to include homemade burgers, corn on the cob and, of course, a can of Grillin’ Beans. We also forgot to bring any adult beverages, having attempted to purchase them along with our other foodstuffs earlier this bluebird sky of a Sunday morning, but alas, the heavy Christian stain left on the laws of North Carolina have left us unable to purchase a six pack and a bottle of wine before noon, and we were well into the parkway by that time. Never a problem, though, when you’re just playing it all by ear. The park doesn’t allow alcohol anyway, so while we won’t get to imbibe, we also won’t have to feel like criminals on a picnic, and we find some fellow wanderers willing to let us use a little of their charcoal.

You can hike up to the summit, a whopping 6,683′ high at the peak, which lays Mt. Mitchell’s claim to the highest point in the Eastern United States. On a good day, one can see as far as the Smokey Mountains’ Clingman’s Dome, some 70 miles west. But we’re here for some fun in the sun. It’s brisk at this elevation, even when it was 80 degrees back down in Asheville, so try and remember to bring a hoodie along with that charcoal!

Here are a few pics of what you can expect when you reach the top. Enjoy!

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Just wanted to let you know of a great little opportunity for pet lovers in Asheville, NC. The Animal Compassion Network is truly a grass roots organization dedicated to animals in the area: they are dedicated to their no-kill policy and try their best to get pets into new, loving owners’ hands.

ACN’s Director, Eileen Bouressa, sent me over a little information on exactly how and why volunteering with the organization can work perfectly for travelers in the area. If you like pets and are missing your own on a trip to AVL or just want to make a new four legged friendship, be sure to check them out.

From Eileen:

Travelers are welcome at Pet Harmony, Animal Compassion Network’s Adoption Center and Pet Supply Center. Pet Harmony is less than a half mile south of Biltmore Estate and surrounded by great hotels, so we are very convenient to travelers. Instead of going to the stuffy hotel gym, they can exercise by taking one of our rescued dogs for a run or walk or just throwing the ball in the play-yard. And we encourage people to visit with our cats for adoption in the Kitty City habitats. Our kitties will soak up the attention while a busy traveler takes a few quiet minutes to unwind in a big chair by a sunny window with some felines friends. Animal Compassion Network is a safe-for-life organization, so our animals live in foster homes when not at Pet Harmony and all are guaranteed a home. So people can enjoy themselves hanging out with some really sweet animals in a bright, joyful environment without concern. Every morning, our foster dogs literally drag their foster parents to the front door to get inside to play. And chances are good visitors will see a lot of cats and dogs getting great new homes while they are there. Pet Harmony is a really fun, unique place to visit.

Your readers can also shop in the retail part of Pet Harmony and bring back a really cool toy or treat or locally made sweater or hand-tooled leash for the four-legged family member they are missing. (One hundred percent of proceeds from all retail sales go to ACN’s rescue work.) Or if the travelers are fortunate enough to be able to bring their pet with them, we encourage them to stay at the Hilton Biltmore Park. Not only is the hotel pet friendly, but they donate $5 to Animal Compassion Network every time a guest stays with their pet through the Stay Hilton, Stay! Program. So visitors to Asheville who don’t have time to volunteer can still help us save lives just by choosing to stay at a compassionate hotel like Hilton Biltmore Park.

Learn more about the Animal Compassion Network at their website.

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When I was but a wee young budding parent, the joy that my little man Tristan brought into my days was rivaled only by the reality slowly seeping into my brain that my days of traveling had ended before they’d even really begun. I went on that way for a few years before one day, well, after a long process of many days and weeks and years, actually, I realized that having kids isn’t a reason to not do anything, but all the more reason to take them along for the adventure, give them a chance to see things many people never do in an entire lifetime.

Families on the Road is all about parents and their children living full time. No place to call home except where your home may roam. Check them out, and if you’re a family traveling or thinking about traveling, be sure to join them!

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This is our full interview with Southern Rocker Jamie Dose of Velvet Truckstop, from our Asheville issue.

Wand’rly:

So Velvet Truckstop is a rock n’ roll band, and somehow that’s become unusual over the last twenty years or so. In fact, being a true group of rock n’ rollers almost makes you alternative, since the alt scene is almost the predominant one these days. How did you come to be such a wonderfully traditional southern rock outfit and was your sound intentional, or just what ended up happening with your collaboration?

Jamie:

I would say that this bands sound has been intentional for two reasons. The first being my partner in crime: lead guitar player Dorsey Parker. Dorsey and I met in college at Appalachian State in 1996. We share the same interest in music. The bands we always listened to were the Grateful Dead, Rolling Stones, Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd (just to name a few). So these bands had a huge impact on how we grew up. Although with our new line-up (Ian Harrod and Jacob Baumann) I would also say that bands like Son Volt, Drivyn and Cryn and Wilco have also made huge impacts. The second major impact was Artimus Pyle. Dorsey and I both worked for him for seven years. This experience really made us want to combine the Southern Rock with a twist.

W:

Are you guys all from Asheville, or if not, how did you find your way here?

Jamie:

As I stated, Dorsey and I met in Boone of 1996. Dorsey is from Atlanta. I am from Woodstock Virginia. Ian is from Raleigh and Jacob is from Alabama I believe. We have had several incarnations of VT. Ian and Jacob are the “around town” best at what they do. Dorsey had played with them in other session work and they joined VT in 2011.

W:

Do you think of Asheville as a “best kept secret”? I ask because compared to places like Nashville, Austin, Portland, et al., I don’t think WNC comes immediately to mind when asking people where the best places to see music are in the country, but for it’s size, Asheville may pack more music into any given night than those more recognized places. Why do you think Asheville is able to stay small but go big?

Jamie:

Well Asheville is home…comparing it to Austin is unfair. We have played SXSW several times. It is just a bigger market with more people. Asheville on the other hand, retains a small town southern charm. It is a music city. One of the biggest concerts of the year nationally is held right here. The Warren Haynes Christmas Jam is an annual Bonaroo… I think that Warren being an Asheville native has had a big impact on what is going on in AVL. The other reason would be the energy and talent of the local artist. We have an abundance of really talented musicians, of all genres, some of which are designing new genres. This is a strength that you usually find in LA, Austin and New York. This alone validates the city of AVL as a music city. We also get a ton of National performers…I think they are curious and love the atmosphere. Artist love chaos.

W:

How do you end up getting to play with people like Skynyrd’s Artimus Pyle and ex-Grateful Dead members Tom Constanten and Buddy Cage, and getting them onto your records?

Jamie:

I met Artimus backstage at the Christmas Jam…we later bumped into each other at the Orange Peel, and the rest is history. I played guitar, as well as Dorsey, and sang lead in APB for 7 years. I wrote the music to a track on his latest album Artimus Venomus. He has been a great mentor and friend. I have toured the US, played with 4 original members of [Lynyrd Skynyrd], theres only one in the touring LS band now, and been given many opportunities. He taught me about performance and professionalism; and I owe him a ton of props…he is an amazing drummer with an amazing story. Tom Constanton was living in Charlotte at the time. I’m a big Deadhead. I started going on [Grateful Dead tours] when I was 14. I needed a keyboard player for some Charlotte gigs…my buddy Scarekrow said give TC a call. I did and boy was that fun! At the time we were working on “Sweet Release” and he agreed to play on it. He played at Woodstock! Wow, what an honor! He still sends me postcards and stuff…just an out of the box sort of player and an interesting human. Buddy Cage and I have known each other for a while. When New RPS come to town we get to hang. He has been another real positive influence on me. He plays Pedal Steel like an angel and a demon..all wrapped in one! He really helps us bring out that Rock face/ Country face on the album..BC is a hero in both his playing and attitude. Overall these instrument monsters respect VT and have been a driving motivator in our careers.

W:

Have you as a band, or as individuals, ever done any busking?

Jamie:

No busking..although it is popular in AVL. that would be way to hard for us to do!

W:

I’m always interested in hearing a band’s take on the state of interacting with music as a physical possession, and the lack thereof of that these days. Do you have any opinions on mp3s, downloads, etc. and how that’s changed music from the days of buying a record or CD and listening it from start to finish, having the book in your hands, and getting the whole experience?

Jamie:

[Laughs] Yup its changed. The rise of karaoke and video games have taking the soul out of Rock and Roll..which is probably why you don’t find it anymore. We travel backroads, write original material and play instruments. Its a dying art form. In these times, someone who has never played a gig can get a million hits on Youtube…and its probably not their song! We have entered the “Cliff Notes” for self expression…and its a little scary.

W:

I see you’ve played the Orange Peel way back in 2008, have you played there since? Perhaps not quite the nationally recognized venue back then that it is today, I’d still love to hear what it was like for you to play there, and if it’s a spot you’d like to play again.

Jamie:

We have played the OP…its great. Dorsey and I have played the Tacoma Dome…its better. AVL has become so competitive. There’s nothing like a big stage with great lights and good production. Several clubs around town are now offering that. We would be interested in doing more there…we just have more offers from Highland Brewing Company, Pisgah Brewing Company and the Emerald Lounge. Those are the right sized clubs for us…now…

W:

What kinds of places do you most enjoy playing? Big outdoors or packed dive bars? On the road or at home?

Jamie:

We enjoy playing in anywhere where the audience is respectful and into what we are doing!

W:

Is there a particular place in Asheville you would rather play than any other?

Jamie:

There are many Asheville bands that are super talented. From Bluegrass to world to experimental.

W:

Similarly, if you could see a favorite band in Asheville, and could choose where they’d play, where would you choose? What’s your favorite place to see music in town?

Jamie:

Jazz..they all deserve a chance to let their songs fill the air…

More on Velvet Truckstop in our Asheville music article. Photograph courtesy of velvettruckstop.com.

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Our complete interview with busker and Ashevillian Nick Marshall of Blind Boy Chocolate & The Milk Sheiks

Wand’rly:

First, can you tell us how Blind Boy Chocolate & the Milk Sheiks got started. Were you individual buskers before you all started playing together?

Nick:

The band started with Tony, Dwight and myself in the summer of 2009. I actually met Tony in a professor’s office in college. I was in there to shoot the breeze with this professor about old blues music, something he was interested in and Tony came in for help on a paper he was writing for another class. It had to do something with blues music in the early twentieth Century. Our mutual interest in old music sparked a friendship and when I found out that he played guitar, we started working on a few of those old tunes. When I met Dwight, a train rider who played a musical saw among other things, I introduced him to Tony and we all three played. The fact that Bele Chere ’09 was rapidly approaching catalyzed the whole band thing. We wanted to make the best of busking so we home-recorded a five song CD to sell at the festival. With a CD, we realized we would need a name. To make a long story short, the name Blind Boy Chocolate & The Milk Sheiks, which started as a joke just stuck. It’s really a triple-entendre that nods to race, food and old blues monikers like Blind Boy Fuller and bands like the Mississippi, Alabama or Beale Street Sheiks. Mr. Alex Brady, who had been a friend of Tony’s came onboard some months later to add bass and round out the sound. We’ve had other members come and go as well but the four of us have been working on this fairly consistently since the end of 2009.As far as street performing prior to the formation, I know that Dwight had done a bit in his travels around the country. I started busking in Dublin, Ireland in 1999 and have done it here and there since then.

W:

What do you think the difference is between being a band playing in the streets vs. being a single person out busking? What do you see as the advantages or disadvantages of each?

Nick:

I think that it really depends on the performer. Personally, I like playing with a group on the street because of the energy that it generates. While you split the money amongst more people, the experience is more fun. Music is very social for me. Dwight will busk with the group or by himself. Tony will occasionally busk on his own as well. I think it just depends on what your doing musically.

W:

If you don’t mind me asking, how much money an hour do you make on average while busking? How does that compare to what an average show you play at a bar or festival pays?

Nick:

Money made busking fluctuates a great deal. I’ve made five dollars in an hour and I’ve made fifty. It really depends on the vibe, the weather, the crowd. It’s hard to say what you’ll make until you do a count at the end.

W:

Do you mostly play around Asheville, or have you ever gone on tour? Have you ever done any busking on tour, or any traveling busking at all?

Nick:

Blind Boy Chocolate and the Milk Sheiks have played in maybe 14 states in the last three years. We’ve played from Austin to Boston and from Charlotte to Seattle. Usually we’ll try to busk during the day and play the gigs at night. Laws about street performing are different everywhere you go so you just snoop around a bit to get the scoop wherever we are. New Orleans is a good town for busking but very competitive. Portland is pretty good as well. It’s hard to beat Asheville in the summer and fall.

W:

Forgive me for my lack of knowledge regarding turn of the last century tunes, but it sounds like alot of the songs you play are covers from a time well before our grandparents were even born. What made you want to play that old-timey music? If most of what you do are covers from a bygone era, do you write original material, too?

Nick:

Most of the songs we rework are from the late 19th or early 20th Centuries. Its kind of hard to say what makes this such an exciting time period for us to draw from. I’ve always been kind of an old soul for music. There is a great sense of honesty, I think in the simplicity of the old tunes- and they are timeless. I mean they deal with issues that are still pertinent: poverty, travel, relationship issues, revelry, whatever. As I mentioned, Dwight is interested in freight trains and hoboing which were huge in the depression era. There are lots of great train songs out there from this time. I think that traveling fits with acoustic music because there is no “plugging in”. Travel is also a great American legacy. We have written a few original pieces but unlike some bands, we aren’t compelled to fuse contemporary lyrics with old chord progressions. We like to breathe new life into the old tunes. This means coming up with arrangements and solos which ARE original if anything conventional can be called original anymore.

W:

I’m also writing an article on busking in general, not just in Asheville, but across the country, and I’m curious to hear what buskers think about street performance as an art form or as a way of getting their music out there. Do you guys see busking as sort of a means to get bigger shows, with the ultimate goal being to play “more traditional” venues like bars, clubs and festivals, or is it a whole other thing on it’s own? If you could choose to play a street corner or, say, the Orange Peel, all things considered, which would you prefer?

Nick:

I think busking is great. I think its good for the performer, good for tourism and thus good for the town. We also love playing bigger indoor venues, mainly I think for the exposure to an audience that is enthusiastic about the music. Playing to the public is great because you never know what will happen whereas playing to a paying audience is great because of their express interest in the band and the music. We certainly have no plans to quit busking. We are still very much at home on the sidewalk.

W:

For a city of it’s size, Asheville’s got buskers packed in and that’s kind of unusual in America, and it’s not just musicians, which I think is the most common form of street performance in our country, but musicians, living statues, etc. Why is Asheville such a haven for buskers in general?

Nick:

As far as Asheville goes, I’m not sure. I think that somebody in local government must share my opinion that the performers enrich the whole downtown experience. I think that musicians hear about the scene here and want to try it for themselves. Likewise, many tourists have their favorites that they look for when in town, whether it be music, a statue act or whatever. All of this generates a healthy bit of competition among performers which raises the bar. While you will see the occasional wino with guitar, now you will see really great musicians and performers too. It’s kind of exciting on a Friday or Saturday summer night here.

W:

How do you choose where to play when you’re busking? Are there secrets to getting an attentive audience or just certain places that’ll bring in more tips?

Nick:

The really good spots downtown are places where people expect to see street performers. Pack Place is like that. It’s sort of a tradition that people will be performing there in the evenings, weather permitting. As far as getting a good audience, I think its just a matter of performance and showmanship. Being able to play a wood saw, wash tub or a pair of rib bones proficiently doesn’t hurt. I mean the thing about the Milk Sheiks is that although its a spectacle, it also based in American musical tradition so its familiar- particularly to a lot of older people.

W:

Thinking less about busking now, what’s your favorite place to play in Asheville as far as indoor venues go? And what is it about that place?

Nick:

The Grey Eagle is a particularly nice place to play. It’s an honor to play on the stage that has hosted so many country, blues and roots music greats. They do a great job with the sound, which is something, as street performers, that we hate to worry about at a gig. We’ve played the dive bars and we’ve played at the Orange Peel and we like them all.

W:

Is there a sense of community between musicians in Asheville? Do you have a few other friends / bands that you guys try and always help one another out getting gigs or is it more “every man for himself” in a town with so much music and only so many stages? What about within the busking community?

Nick:

There are a lot of buskers in Asheville and while we are certainly not one bit community, we are pretty familiar with each other and try to be mutually respectful of each others time and spce. Generally a performer will give up his or her spot after two hours to the next waiting performer. We do have good friends that play in other street performing bands and its always great to run in to them out there. Sometimes you’ll run into a performer who is rude or selfish but they don’t seem to last out there for the most part.

W:

I couldn’t find a whole lot of info on Low Five Studios, which is where your Bandcamp page says you recorded your record. What can you tell us about where you recorded and how?

Nick:

Low 5 studios is a small recording space that is run by our friend Patrick Kukucka. He’s recorded several of our friends bands and I always thought he did a great job so we went to him in November.

W:

How does recording an album and selling it online compare to busking? The audience part is obviously different, but how does it compare monetarily and just as a way of getting your music out there?

Nick:

Honestly, we put our stuff up at bandcamp to make up for the fact that we constantly run out of CDs. We wanted our stuff to be available to the public regardless. It is not a big source of income but it does help pay for things like gas for out-of-town gigs.

W:

Do you ever wish it was the era from which your songs come from? Do you have a bit of a longing to trade in all of the mp3s, iPhones and instant connection to anyone in the world as quickly as you can rattle off a tweet for the days when cars still ran on steam and everything was just a bit more sepia toned?

Nick:

Ha! Good question. Again its hard to say. Would I want to live in a time when influenza was often life threatening or walking to school took two hours each way? No. In other words I appreciate our modern conveniences and cures. I am charmed however, by old sepia toned photos of river boats and dusty old phonograph record players. I don’t think any of us in the band do Twitter but yeah, things seem to be happening so fast nowadays that one can’t help wonder if we’ve traded quality for quantity when it comes to products or even information. In a way, we are lucky to have access to both worlds. I mean much of the digging we do when we are researching the old stuff is done using the internet. None of us are luddites but we do appreciate old art, music and humor.

More on the Grey Eagle and Asheville’s music scene in our debut issue, and don’t forget to check out the full busking article, too. Photograph by Zen Sutherland.

Interview with Blind Boy Chocolate & the Milk Sheiks is brought to you by Wand'rly.
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The following is our complete interview with Asheville indie rockers Kovacs and the Polar Bear.

Wand’rly:

Are you guys all from Asheville? If not, when and how did you end up here?

Nick:

We’re from Asheville. We’ve all lived here for a good while, and it is definitely home.

Joe:

Yeah we’re all pretty much local boys. Chris and I grew up out in Black Mountain, and Andy and Nick went to high school in Hendersonville.

W:

It’s no secret to most big music lovers, and probably most people in the South in general, that Asheville is a pretty great place to be for people on both sides of the stage. But if you ask anyone out West or up North about great music scenes in the country, Asheville doesn’t often beat out places like Portland or Austin. It’s not like music in Asheville is new or anything, do you have any comments about why you think Asheville is such a “best kept secret” type of place?

Nick:

Asheville has a lot going on. There is such a wide variety of good stuff going on in such a small city, but it is kind of spread thin. People in Asheville are really supportive and friendly, but there are definitely certain places that people need to play to get heard. It can be a tricky town for traveling bands to get anything going sometimes. It’s slowly changing though, and better and better music is starting to emerge.

Joe:

Im not really sure. Asheville’s very much so a bubble of a town, and in a way I think a lot of folks kind of like that about it. It’s got a lot going on and things being made and created, but a lot of it tends to sort of stay here for the most part, and I’m not sure why that is. Maybe it’s just because Asheville isn’t really as big as those cities.

My own feelings on it are that it’s a very comfortable, laid back and easy place to live, which is great. But in that sense, being comfortable often leads to contentment, and not really wanting to strive for something more or “bigger”. I’ve felt these things and I’ve seen a lot of friends (artists, musicians, filmmakers, etc) who come and go from this place, with that sort of struggle and frustration perhaps. But then again, I don’t know what that ‘something more’ is, I guess it’s that ‘something more’ that everyone is kind of after. But that could just be seen as success or whatever on other people’s terms, so that’s kind of bullshit. I don’t know.

But ever since I can remember I’ve heard people talk about Asheville being the next Austin or Portland or wherever and I’ve never seen it happen. I think it really has the potential to be something like that, but I don’t think there’s a formula for it to happen, it may or may not, maybe it’s just the timing of certain people and certain things happening, and I guess it just hasn’t so far. But there’s anything wrong with that.

Recently with the opening of the MOOG factory and what those folks are doing for music here has been really cool, and could lead to bigger things, more exposure, what have you… but then again, Asheville is just Asheville. And I guess it’s all really just hype, and when it comes down to it, it shouldn’t matter. Who knows, I don’t know. It’s a beautiful place to be.

W:

Has Kovacs & the Polar Bear, or any of you as individuals, ever done any busking?

Nick:

Nope.

Joe:

Never as a group, no. I don’t think Nick is into busking. I’m not against it or anything, and I enjoy hearing other buskers sometimes and I appreciate the performance aspect of things, I guess maybe we’re just a bit shy in that sense. If I was traveling and needed a little traveling money or something, I’d probably be up for it.

W:

What’s your connection with River Whyless? Are you guys friends or just play together? The greater point I’m getting at is, what kind of camaraderie do you feel with other local bands?

Nick:

We have known them for a while. They’ve always been sweethearts. We never really got to know each other really well, but they are certainly friends. We’ve recently been getting to know them better and they are great folks. We have a lot of friends in other bands that we play with. It is a pretty tight knit little circle in Asheville. Other local bands like River Whyless are always really busy touring and stuff, so you don’t get to see them a lot outside of a show setting I guess.

Joe:

We just recently played their album release show, and yeah we’re pals with them, as well as a lot of other bands. I think there’s definitely a camaraderie between a lot of bands here, its pretty small, everyone kind of knows everyone and goes to one another’s shows and are quite supportive, and a lot of bands share members, and there seems to be a mutual respect for all kinds of music and genres and weird shit, so that’s nice.

W:

You played the Orange Peel several years back, and we’re going to be looking into that venue in particular in the article. What can you tell us about playing at a place with the history and the current stigma and buzz surrounding that place? How did you get the gig and what was it like working with the people at Orange Peel?

Nick:

It was really a good experience for us. Someone contacted us to play for a festival that was going on, and we were really excited to do it. The people there are really good at making things run smoothly. I just love playing places where I have seen so many of my favorite bands play. It makes the experience a lot more meaningful. They just do what they do very well there.

Joe:

I wasn’t in the band when they played there, and even though I’ve been around Asheville since the Orange Peel opened, I’ve actually only seen one show there (Tony Clifton, which was the greatest show ever). Not that I’m against going to it or anything, I guess I just don’t listen to much new or popular music, and I don’t really like “big” shows and crowds, so I tend to go to smaller shows. But it seems like a really wonderful venue, and it’s definitely put Asheville on the map in that sense, and made it a destination spot for a lot of big name touring folks.

W:

Do you have a favorite place to play in town? A particular bar or club? I see you’re playing a show Friday night in a warehouse for Grammer School’s album release, do you like playing less formal places like that? Do you do birthday parties?

Joe:

Collectively, I’m sure we’d all say the Grey Eagle. It’s a wonderful venue run by wonderful people, and we always have a great time there. Other great places to play/see shows: The Get Down, Bobo Gallery, Broadway’s, Emerald Lounge… I personally like less formal places, the best shows I’ve been to have been in living rooms and basements. I don’t think we’ve ever played a birthday party.

Nick:

The Grey Eagle is our baby. We love playing there. It is kind of like our home base. We’ve come to know the people who work there really well, and they are amazing. The sound there is great, and the people who come out are always so supportive. We definitely like playing less formal places too. We love house shows and getting rowdy, and doing quieter stuff in small random places. Some of our favorite shows have been in strange places I guess… We have totally played some birthday parties.

W:

Asheville’s lucky in that it’s got the population to support, or at least the business owners’ with the desire to keep local record stores alive. Do you guys have opinions on the value of record stores like that? Do you find that a local shop helps promote you guys or get your music out there where it may not have?

Nick:

Every record store in Asheville is great. I know it sounds like a kiss ass thing to say, but it’s true. Harvest Records has helped us out with so much in the past. They also get a lot of the bands that I love to come to Asheville. They are really a key element to the music scene here, and I think most local bands would agree.

Joe:

Absolutely. I think they are invaluable. It’s really amazing what Harvest has done with expanding and booming so much, in a day and age where things like that are sadly dying out. It’s really a testament to the guys running it as well as the local community that supports it. And yeah, all of the local record stores are definitely supportive of musicians and local music and vice versa. It seems that’s gotta be an undeniable relationship in any sort of music community. And really, it just comes down to a town full of nice folks. People want to help other people out, and I think it’s as simple as that for things to thrive. Being kind.

W:

In that vein, how do you feel about the mp3 world that we live in? When you put your songs together as an album, do you think “man, I wish this was the good ol’ days where someone would listen to this as an entire record at once” or do you embrace the Internet and what it’s done for bands who aren’t on major labels?

Nick:

I don’t know that I’ve ever really thought about it. I’ve always liked seeing a band live. I think that is what a band is all about. Honestly I take whatever music I can, however I can. When it comes to our stuff, Im humbled by the fact that anyone listens to it at all. I think the internet is a great way to hear bands you like and find out more about them, but I think that people will always enjoy listening to records straight through. It’s nice to have both options I guess is what I’m trying to say.

Joe:

I’m not sure. I don’t really live in an mp3 world. I think if an album is good, it’ll find a way to the listener, and if it touches them, then they’ll listen to and take in the entire record at once. I’d like to think that will never be lost. All my favorite records, I tend to think of them as a whole, like a little world they’ve created that I’m invited into and get lost in or find something in. Though the same could be said for a single song I suppose.. and I’m always a wisher for the good olde days…

I think the internet is a great tool for bands nowadays, in a way to reach out and directly connect to an audience as well as other bands all over the country. It’s crazy how many people I’ve met who’ve come through town or have emailed us, and they know such and such from such and such band from such and such place, it makes it seem a small world after all! And we have the Internet to thank for that!

W:

I asked about where you like to play out in particular, but if a band you really loved was coming to town, and you could pick where they were going to play, where would you want to see them?

Nick:

The Grey Eagle.

Nick:

In my basement.

Read more about the Asheville music scene and the Orange Peel. Photograph by s000z.

Interview with Kovacs and the Polar Bear is brought to you by Wand'rly.
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You’ll rarely find a cool hotel with hotels.com, but for those one nighters when you’re just looking for the cheapest place to stay off exit whatever on some lonely lost highway, the hotels.com app takes the fifteen phone calls worth of work out of the equation.

It knows where you are, and once you tell it how many nights you want and how many people, it does the rest. Simply put, it can’t be beat for quick and easy location of a place to call home for the night.

Plus, if you sign up for an account, Hotels.com has a pretty good Buy 10 Get 1 Free deal, where basically after you book and stay at 10 hotels with them, they’ll give you a free room of the average value of the others.

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Accufuel is a simple app for tracking your miles per gallon, which with gas being one of our largest expenses living on the road, is a great way to keep track of how your vehicle is doing with conservation of natural resources such as oil and the paper they use to make the money we never really want to trade in for said oil.

I’ve used a few of these types of apps, but Accufuel is my favorite as it allows for easy input. To get started, you choose your vehicle via the easy setup screens, which enters in your estimated mpgs for both city and highway. Then you just enter your mileage and how many gallons you used to fill the ol’ tank up, and Accufuel begins displaying both your all time average miles per gallon as well as those for your most recent fill up. One function, and it does it well.

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If Boulder, Colorado was New England in the fall…

A Small City living in a Big Town’s clothes, Asheville floats between technicolor forests and the highest peaks in the east

Asheville, NC is brought to you by Wand'rly.
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But we’re not just here to help you find a place to sleep. As full time travelers ourselves, we know that deciding where to go next can be the biggest choice you ever have to make. We aim to show you the ropes on the coolest places to call home for a week or two. Where to get the best Blood Mary on a Sunday morning, how to get your boots dirty on a good hike, or how you can give back to the places that give us so much enjoyment.

We know that exploring a new place is pretty much the whole point, and we’re not here to be a spoiler for your next destination. We just want to help you figure out where to get started.

Wand’rly Magazine is completely free to read, though we are looking to keep the project sustainable, so we’ve got $5 / year memberships which give you access to hundreds of dollars in discounts, and for you business owning types, we also have the world’s best advertising deals.

As for who we are, well I personally am Nathan, traveler, devoted spouse and loving father. I write most of the articles here, and people tell me I do a good job at it. My lovely lady is Renee, a photographer, my babies’ mama, and the singularly shiniest apple of my eye. We’ve got two kids, Tristan and Winter, and a third on the way. They’ve traveled more in their collective 11 years than most people do in a lifetime. And of course, Granny Nanny, our live in nanny and the kids’ grandma. She’s the heart of the operation really, keeping these kids in check so we have enough free hands to keep bringing you new issues.

Check out our first issue on Asheville, North Carolina. We promise you won’t be disappointed!

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