Reflections...

But I Looked There Three Times! Snow was in the forecast. Big snow. Record-breaking snow. And I wanted to be prepared with my best ski jacket, a light purple number with a matching fleece inner jacket. But that jacket was in storage, not in the RV. Organized Storage (NOT) Last fall we packed up our house in Alabama, preparing to move into our fifth wheel. With plenty of moving experience under our belts, you might have thought by now I’d have a foolproof system to keep track

Systems Gone Wrong I was so careful while packing up our house in Alabama. We were about to go full-time on the road again in our fifth wheel. So with the luxury of time, I labeled boxes, took pictures of the contents, and staged long-term storage boxes separately from boxes that would travel with us. I did everything right, I thought. All to no avail. An Ever-Shifting Plan Our end goal, after RVing as long as we want or can, is to live near family in Oklahoma. So it made sen

I Was Just Trying to Make Things Interesting If you know Roger, you know he likes to label himself “The Resource.” And he has the t-shirt to prove it. The t-shirt he gave me? It says, “I never question Roger’s choices because I’m one of them.” And that's a perfect introduction to share what I learned about faith and trust in the episode below. It Was Just a Joke—Wasn’t It? Back in 2022 as we drove away from our beloved Southern California mountain cabin, headed for 15 months

How Could We Not Notice? The first time it happened, we brainstormed how to keep it from happening again. To no avail. We were camping in Louisiana, the same place we had power issues (read about it here: https://www.juliergreenwalt.com/post/the-pop-we-didn-t-want-to-hear ) . Rain was pouring down as we ran to the truck and jumped in. About eight or ten miles down the road, we pulled into a Walgreens parking lot to pick up a prescription. But who was this guy and what was he

Hope Springs Eternal (Even When Slightly Unrealistic) You can’t help but hope you’ll be the one to beat the odds. Whether it’s winning the lottery or finding miraculous healing, most of us dream of being the recipient of a miracle. And some of us even buy a lottery ticket or two. So when Roger and I read the sign, “Over 33,623 found by visitors since becoming a state park in 1972,” we couldn’t help hoping we’d be the ones to score a selfie holding up the 33,624 th  diamond fo

Up Close, But Not TOO Personal I so wanted to see an alligator up close. Well, maybe not THAT close. And maybe an alligator-proof barrier between me and the gator would be a good idea. Early December provided surprisingly great weather for biking, walking, and hopefully reptile sightings at Sam Houston Jones State Park in Lake Charles, Louisiana. But with the cool nights already upon us, was it too late in the season to spot a gator swimming or sunning in the swamp? The park

It never crossed our minds that this one-night stand would be our first encounter with a faulty power post.

...with a Christmas Message from Us “Roger, he’s telling us something is wrong!” “No, no, he just likes my boat,” Roger responded confidently. “No, he’s saying we need to pull over. Take the next exit,” I insisted. And good thing Roger gave in—this time. As we slowed on the off ramp, a wheel from our boat trailer passed us and turned the corner. “Wow, God, look what happened to your boat trailer,” Roger quipped. Our anticipated sailing day was over before it started. Instead

What Do Wetsuits, Kayaks, and Dinghys Have in Common? Wetsuits, kayaks, and dinghys all look great on Instagram. Swimming with the fish, paddling along a beautiful island coastline, buzzing among anchored boats in a quiet harbor—all things we wanted to do. So for our sailboat excursions we really wanted all three. We could just see ourselves sharing exciting adventures and exploring new vistas. At the very least, these three things would give us something to do besides lounge

Insect Hitchhikers Tick…tick.  Tick-tick-tick. Tick. No, it wasn’t a bomb, and it wasn’t the cute clock in the corner. Roger and I looked at each other, thinking, Really? How many more can there be?!!  We recognized that annoying ticking. It was yet another Asian lady beetle bumping against the ceiling near the light. When will it end? Since camping near Montgomery, Alabama, in November, we’ve been swatting these little beasts daily. They’re wannabe ladybugs, as evidenced whe

Being hospitable in small spaces is part of the fun in full-time RV life. Sure, we’ve got the whole outdoors to be hospitable in, but when the weather doesn’t cooperate, what can you do to accommodate friends and family comfortably inside a travel trailer? When your friends exclaim, “It’s so cozy!” they usually mean, “It’s smaller than I thought.” Kind of like “bless her heart” doesn’t always mean what it sounds like in the South. More Space than a Cruise Ship Cabin Still, at

How do you make a home when you’re constantly pulling up stakes and moving on, when you have different neighbors, churches, stores, and restaurants every week? What do you do to feel “rooted” and comfortable wherever you are? I remember our first night at a busy campground in Southern California when we set out on our 2022-23 RV journey. I was awake for hours as my mind raced: Are we crazy? Can we really do this?? What did we forget? And most importantly, Are we gonna be able

As promised, this week's posts is an in-depth review of the Hypershell exoskeleton device Roger recently purchased.

Decision Fatigue is Real. And Probably Emotional. Maybe you’ve been through it—that deep, wrenching struggle of what to give up and what to keep, what’s worth packing and what you’ll look at later and say, “Why in the world did I keep that? ” And the longer you pack, the higher decision fatigue wall, leading to choices you may regret. Speaking for myself, of course. The Perpetually Unused Glider Some people get sentimental over family heirlooms. Me? Apparently, I get emotiona

Oh, the Freedom We've Found When we decided to hit the road full-time in our 5 th wheel back in 2022, we knew one thing for sure: Roger’s body wasn’t going to let him be as adventurous as he wanted. Back pain discouraged him from hiking and even taking walks. So to fight back against aging, we splurged on an exciting solution: Lectric e-bikes. To mountain bikers or long-distance bicyclists, e-bikes are a cheat. But to a Type 1 diabetic whose body wears out more quickly than

Second Time Around—And Still Learning As We Go We’ve done it before; we can do it again—but better this time. I think. Everything we learned from 15 months on the road in our first 5 th wheel will come into play: what to pack, what to leave behind, and what we’ll never buy again no matter how many YouTubers recommend it. First time around, we devoured YouTube videos of full-time RVers, bought a bunch of gear—some of which turned out to be vital and some of which was just too

Our free boondocking spot looked great--until we ran into an obstacle we couldn't drive through.

Potato Harbor, Santa Cruz Island Rounding the headland into Potato Harbor on Santa Cruz Island—it always feels like a homecoming. Potato...

On Keeping Promises and Navigating Danger There’s a tried-and-true maxim among liveaboard sailors, the ones who have chosen the adventurous, nomadic lifestyle of the sea: You can commit to a date or a time, but never both. We weren’t liveaboard sailors, but we enjoyed several multi-day sailing vacations cruising among the Channel Islands off the coast of Southern California. Talk about an exciting lifestyle! From isolated coves to bustling harbors, from fog to sunshine, from