Category: Planning

It’s Not a Vacation! We’re Working When We Travel

So we took this whole month of May to travel from our home in Wisconsin down to Phoenix, out to San Diego, up to Northern California, and end up back up June 1. The main purpose is so we can pick up more of our stuff from storage in Roseville, California. However, since we know so many people, friends and family, in Phoenix, San Diego, and Roseville, we are taking time to visit with them as we travel.

But it’s not a vacation! No, we are working while we travel. We are still doing all our usual stuff. I work as a Virtual Assistant managing client’s social media marketing, newsletters, and blogs and am continuing to do so. We have a web design business we are continuing to run and in fact have received new work as we’ve been traveling.

And Joel’s book coaching and publishing business, Someday Box, has continued. We have one client in the final stages of editing her book, another in the U.K. that we’re working on formatting the interior of his book (in fact we had an international call with him yesterday), and yet another that signed up for the Pathfinding Session and Road Map. We had an hour call with her last Monday while here in Arizona and have scheduled another one this next Tuesday while we’re in San Diego.

So for us it’s business as usual – we did spend 18 months living as nomads with no fixed place of residence traveling and working. It’s no different now except we do have a fixed place of residence and travel less than we did.

When we do take a vacation, we’ll let you know. We do take the last two weeks of the year off from work. This year we may just end up in Arizona for most of that time. Perhaps visiting our friends and family here and taking time to see Oak Creek Canyon, Sedona, and Jerome. We did spend out honeymoon in Oak Creek Canyon and this December will be our 10th wedding anniversary!

And this trip we are getting to connect with lots of friends and family – in Phoenix it’s been Terry & Virgie, Dan & Annete, Rod on Saturday, and Sunday Sue’s Uncle Phil. In San Diego we’ll see Sue’s mom, Joel’s brother Brett and his family and Joel’s sister Lynn and her family. Also our good friend Ken. Then it’s up to Northern California to see Tom Bentley, Dave Reffkin, Pam & Phil, the Stephens family, and of course Fiona’s big sister Rachelle!

The final four days of our trip heading home Fiona and Sue will get to drive through Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota – all states they’ve never been in before. Oh, and we’re driving through Yosemite. So that will feel like a vacation – though Sue does have a big transcription project she needs to get finished that week as well. That’s when having a colleague comes in handy. Sue is very grateful to Amy in New Jersey for all the assistance she’s providing in that area.

So, don’t ask how our vacation was! We weren’t on vacation! We were traveling and working and having the time of our lives! Don’t you wish you could do this?

School on the Road

Fiona is now in third grade. There are less than five weeks of school left and four of them we’ll be on the road. I’ve already got her curriculum sorted out. She’s home schooled through a State-funded program and we meet weekly with a local teacher. Obviously that’s not going to happen while we travel. However, we will stay in touch via email, possibly do Skype video chats, and Fiona’s teacher can check some of her work online. Oh, and if Fiona blogs about at her blog, the teacher can see what she’s doing as well.

The photo above was taken when Fiona received her last package from Little Passports. Every month she gets to ‘travel’ to another country. She’s used to having school on the road and we’ve got lots of fun things to do these last few weeks of school.

Packing Up for a Month

It’s the weekend before we leave Monday morning for our month-long trip. Fiona is excited to see her sister Rachelle. That’s a photo there of the two of them last August when Rachelle came to Rice Lake, Wisconsin to visit.

What do you take with you when you know you’ll be gone a month? And you’re on a budget and know you don’t want to eat out too  much so you have to bring food stuffs along. Easy! We’ve done this so often it really doesn’t take us long at all.

Joel and I did some shopping for on-the-road snacks and drinks yesterday. Things like:

  • Water, iced tea, apple juice boxes for Fiona, lemonade mix, hot cocoa mix for Fiona
  • Chips, pretzels, pita crackers, fruit & grain bars
  • Black olives (Sue loves those), three-bean salad, baked beans
  • Chocolate – milk chocolate and M&Ms for Fiona, lots of dark chocolate for the adults

We still have to get the giant jar of green olives and Sue has to make bread rolls for making vegetable sandwiches for the road. Isn’t this exciting?

Homeward Bound (On, Wisconsin!)

I love it when I can make a title out of nothing but song titles.

Yes, the rumour is true: we’re moving to Wisconsin. (The reason you haven’t heard the rumour is because I’m starting it now.)

New Jersey is beautifully sunny. The friends we’ve made here are connected at our core.

But we just can’t afford it.

Moving into our own home would cost, between first month’s rent and security deposit (typically a month and a half’s rent) we’d be looking at $3,500 or so to move into a place, not counting utilities, internet, etc.

And then $1,000 minimum a month for a place that was a little too small, or an apartment (hard hard hard for me.)

In Rice Lake, where my Mom lives, we can get a 2 bedroom house, single family dwelling, not condo, duplex, whatever, with a garage and basement, for $525. One month deposit. Some places want a utilities deposit, so it’s about $1,400 total to move in. Yeah, utilities, etc. But internet can wait, ’cause the Rice Lake Library was our hangout for a month at a time when we’ve visited my Mom.

It’s been a wonderful (non)winter in Jersey. Just as when we left Montreal, Albuquerque, Denver, St. Paul, and Vancouver, there are people we’ll love and miss for the rest of our lives.

But it’s time to go.

If you’re between Philly and Madison and could bear 4 overnight guests during the 2nd week of April, please give us a shout.

If you’ve been considering some web work, writing a book, or getting some admin help, and just haven’t gotten around to it, we’ll need to earn about $1,000 in the next 3 weeks to make this trip and land on our feet without excess stress. Again, give us a shout.

And if you’re in Rice Lake and have a spare bed, book case, or chair you’d be willing to let us have or use, um, yeah, that; give us a shout.

Bridge Out on Memory Lane

In the movies, when the long-lost father/mother/brother/sister/whatever crosses paths with their kin, directors show us the visceral connection. Look in their eyes; they know something just happened. Nice for story lines, but no connection to reality.

Continue reading Bridge Out on Memory Lane

Visit to San Diego Extended Due to Van Repair

We arrived safe, though tired, in San Diego last Friday night at Joel’s brother’s house. We had a very nice meal together and then got to bed. Our niece is kindly letting us use her new futon to sleep on. Sunday we had a great visit with my mom, Grandma Susan. We enjoyed our lunch at the park.

Grandma Susan and Fiona at our Sunday Bible meeting
Grandma Susan and Fiona at our Sunday Bible meeting

We also got to visit over the weekend briefly with Aunt Lynn and her kids. Fiona also got to meet some of her second cousins and play with them. Baby girl Bonnie is her favorite of course.

Second cousin Bonnie
Second cousin Bonnie

Then there’s Uncle Brett (Bonnie’s grandpa) and second cousin Timothy.

Uncle Brett with granddaughter
Uncle Brett with granddaughter
Second cousin Timothy
Second cousin Timothy

When we arrived last Friday we thought we’d be leaving on Monday or Tuesday. But over the weekend the van started making this noise in the front right wheel area much like it had a few years ago when we had trouble with the wheel bearing – that had been covered under warranty. So we took it to the Kia dealership Monday and they confirmed that was the problem. Fortunately the van is still under warranty and all repairs will be fully covered.

We just found out today they can do the repairs on Wednesday and we can make plans to leave San Diego now to head for Wisconsin later this week.

So though we’d rather not have vehicle problems, the timing couldn’t have been better. And this way we get to stay and visit more with family. Fiona’s really enjoying getting to know more of her family – especially baby Bonnie!

The Long Haul: In Retrospect

A year ago I wrote about the beginnings of our adventure. Then I wasn’t sure exactly where we’d be in a year or if we’d even decide to leave behind a home and travel. I did know I wanted to do something different.

So we packed up, drove up to Vancouver and spent a glorious three weeks there. The trip made me realize the need for big change in our lives. I had gotten into a rut and the daily grind of getting up and sitting in our dark little home office wouldn’t cut it anymore. I needed to be outside, feeling the sun shine on my face, the wind blowing through my hair. I needed to spend time teaching Fiona about the great big outdoors.

It’s great to be able to go anywhere we want and to maintain our work and keep our clients happy. When our official “one year without a home” time comes at the end of September, I’ll write even more about all this has meant and how I feel. For today I want to thank all the wonderful clients we have who have worked with us even when we are so far apart. Below is just one testimonial from a satisfied client:

“I have been truly amazed that with all of Sue’s travels, I haven’t experienced any interruptions in service whatsoever. She has consistently delivered her services to the same great level I’ve come to expect, all since becoming a road warrior! I’m not sure I’d be so resilient, but she and Joel really know how to operate mobile businesses. Well done!” ~ Stephanie Chandler, Author, Speaker, Publisher,

P.S. Stephanie later emailed to say, “It really is remarkable how you’ve managed to go mobile with your businesses. That should be your next book!!” Guess we’ve got more work to do and another book to publish! :)

Finding Me: The 1st Year

I wrote that the most important thing you find when you travel is yourself. (What I said literally was the real challenges are inside us; the journey simply exposes them.) I could write about the amazing changes in Fiona (as the 7th child, I know what to expect and she’s exceeded it exponentially.) I could write about how Sue has relaxed, has developed her faith, has deepened my belief in her undying unconditional love.

But I’ll just write about me, okay?

Continue reading Finding Me: The 1st Year

Challenge: Routine

The challenge: maintaining a routine. Many wonder how it is possible to maintain a routine while traveling. There are especially concerns about some sort of routine for Fiona and her schooling. And of course our work. So what’s our routine and how do we maintain it?

We’ve always had a rather flexible routine in our way of life. Important things get done while allowing ourselves lots of spontaneity in life.

One of the most challenging things is arriving at a new place where we know we’re going to be for a few weeks and getting settled in. If we can settle in quickly, in a day or so, we can maintain our routine and get more done. We continue to work on that. One of the first things we do when we get to a new place is find the place we’re going to work and get our computers set up. Next we need to find a place for the books and materials Joel needs to refer to for his work.

Continue reading Challenge: Routine