How quickly time flies ...
Six months ago today, we packed up and left Poulsbo, WA, officially beginning our travels. We have seen so much, and been so many places. It still seems incredibly crazy to think that this is our life.
We awoke this morning at the Belton Lake Outdoor Recreation Area (BLORA) just outside of Belton, TX, on our way to Waco and then Dallas. We've called BLORA home now for a couple of nights as the temps outside have dropped below freezing at night and hover right around freezing during the day. We got quite a shock to our systems waking up to below freezing temps in Austin, TX, with no running heat. Being able to plug-in to the grid to use our electric heaters is making the bitter cold bearable.
When we started this journey we really had no idea how long we would be traveling or where all we would visit. We had ideas of destinations. Some of them we have visited. Others were deterred due to financial, weather, or other logistical constraints. Even still, we have loved our journey!
Orsuré and I together called Poulsbo home for almost a year. We moved there 31 October 2017 - Halloween night. We moved in with my folks and into my childhood bedroom. Two grown men and a nearly 90 lbs dog then lived in what was once the room of my younger self. (The square footage of that room is more than that of ShaVanda; around 120 sq ft vs. around 80 sq ft including the cab area. We seem to like downsizing into small, compact living spaces.)
Of course, moving in with the folks had its challenges, but it was truly amazing! Mom, Dad, and my sister Tamara were all amazing help and support as Orsuré and I (slowly) built out ShaVanda. We would not have been able to have the home we do today without you! Thank you! We love you all so much!
But, having originally planned to be on the road by February 2018, we had told my family we would be there only a short while. Needless to say the date continued to be pushed back and we finally were ready to embark on our journey 06 September 2018. Having bought our Sprinter van the beginning of October 2017, it took us 11 months to get her, ShaVanda, up and ready as a home on wheels.
Where we've been ...
Below is a map displaying the places we have called home these six months since being on the road. There are a lot of them. I have highlighted the locations where we've celebrated the monthly anniversary (the 6th day of each month) of our travels to date.
06 September 2018 Month 0 -- Poulsbo, WA We officially moved out, beginning our journey, having lived with Mom and Dad as we built our home.
06 October 2018 Month 1 -- Green Bay, WI We were visiting Orsuré's cousins who live there and Orsuré's Dad who was up visiting from St. Croix, US Virgin Islands.
06 November 2018 Month 2 -- Hilton Head, SC Having no more major commitments, we were now on our own schedule, and from here on out we slowed down our travels.
06 December 2018 Month 3 -- Key West, FL Key West quickly became the longest place we had consecutively lived since being on the road. We definitely fell in love with this island and its people.
06 January 2019 Month 4 -- Key West, FL We're still here, loving being able to enjoy a tropical winter. We ended up staying here for just over two months - from the end of November until the end of January.
06 February 2019 Month 5 -- Asheville, NC Having made friends in Key West who live in Asheville made it a really easy decision to enjoy some unseasonably warm, 70 degree temps, in this incredibly unique pocket of Appalachia.
And today, 06 March 2019 Month 6 -- Belton, TX On our way between Austin and Waco, we decided we really needed to plug-in to get electricity for a few days at a campground to heat up. When we woke up on Monday in Austin, it was 30 degrees and with the wind chill, it was 20 out. Much too cold for us in a van without heat.
Although this was only an incredibly brief snapshot of the monthly anniversary of our travels, all the places we have lived in between have all been truly amazing! Some, like our current location have been campgrounds, others have been business parking lots, and others have been residential streets. Below is a brief list of really memorable places we've called home, in the order we have visited.
Poulsbo, WA • Ballard, WA • White Center, WA • Salt Lake City, UT • Hot Springs, SD • Appleton, WI • Green Bay, WI • Minneapolis, MN • Fontanelle, NE • Dubuque, IA • Ellerbe, NC • Myrtle Beach, SC • Charleston, SC • Hilton Head, SC • Savannah, GA • Skidaway Island State Park, Savannah, GA • Sarasota, FL • Miami, FL • Islamorada, FL • Key West, FL • Naval Air Station Key West, FL • Cape Canaveral, FL • Topsail, NC • Asheville, NC • Atlanta, GA • Dobbins Air Force Base, Marietta, GA • Mobile, AL • Biloxi, MS • New Orleans, LA • Austin, TX • Belton, TX
Are you interested in learning more of where we've stayed and what we've seen? By either clicking on the following link or copying it and pasting it into your web browser you can see a more extensive map of everywhere we've lived and places we've visited along this journey.
"Map of ShaVanda's Sojourns"
https://goo.gl/maps/WwZSnpzNen62
For all those we have visited who live there and / or who we've met and befriend: Thank you for sharing your home and some of your world with us! It has been truly amazing! You have made our travels so incredibly memorable.
What's next? ...
We began this journey with an almost completely finished home. Although there were a few projects we hadn't finished before taking off, we were confident that in the short-term we could easily make due without them. As of today, six months later, we still haven't finished all of them. Two unfinished projects include setting up a running water system and mounting a table top. Semi-basic, but yet undone.
Being the ingenious and creative people we are, we have figured out easy work arounds that still allow us to have plenty of water and table-top space to work. No, it hasn't been laziness. They just have no longer been immediate priorities.
In addition to this small list, a few other projects have been added as we have continued traveling. 1) We want to purchase and install a small heater under the passenger seat that runs off of our diesel fuel. 2) We want to install an "under-hood generator," connecting our vehicle's alternator to our home battery system, allowing us the ability to charge our home battery as we drive. 3) We want to purchase a third lithium battery from Battle Born Batteries for our house electrical system. 4) We want to purchase and install "Sumo Shocks". 5) We want to downsize our belongings even more to not be so weighted in the back under our bed. ... And the list continues. The main deterent for these is financial, but we will figure out how to make things work.
With regards to places we're heading, we will be visiting some more family and friends in Dallas, Phoenix and San Diego through the remainder of Winter and early Spring. From here we have ideas of where we're headed, but these may change with the weather and other constraints.
We are excited to see where this road takes us. So, come along on the journey with us! Where will the road take us in another six months?