Reflections...

From Street Chaos to an “Above It All” View I like knowing where I am. I mean, I really like knowing where I am geographically. I’m not so good at “north, south, east, and west,” but in relation to landmarks such as Half Dome in Yosemite, the Shard in London, and the “Twin Estates” sign at the entrance to our new neighborhood, I’m an expert. When we had our cabin in Southern California, I could point out Strawberry Peak from anywhere in the San Bernardino Valley and say, “We

Fear, Courage, and 130 Steps Underground “Mimi, I don’t want to go down there,” four-year-old Benson said. In that make-or-break moment, my oldest grandson Kaysan quickly took Benson’s hand. “It’ll be okay,” he said. “I’ll help you.” For a split-second, I felt both proud and disappointed. Proud of Kaysan’s instant, loving response. Disappointed because I wanted to be the one who soothed Benson’s fears. As a long-distance grandparent, I long to “be there” for my grandkids—for

Long-distance Grandparenting Kashmir wants to wear my earrings. Kaysan wants to talk about Minecraft. And Benson wants to touch my earlobes. When grandchildren live a literal ocean away, every moment together is precious. Grateful for Every Meetup With Our Grandkids Since 2020, our daughter Jennifer and her husband Bilal have lived overseas, although they’ve occasionally spent seasons here in the States. We’ve enjoyed Florida, Idaho, Washington, and Alabama with them. We’ve a

Learning to Live Small A major watchword for full-time RVers is “storage.” In an RV, space is at a premium. Whether it’s a bumper-pull trailer, fifth wheel, or Greyhound Bus-size motorhome, you quickly learn your 2,500-square-foot sticks-n-bricks house just isn't going to fit into your 250-square-foot RV. As Roger and I set out on our first full-time journey, a well-meaning friend gave us cute pictures to brighten our living space. Another friend, just as thoughtful, gifted u

The River Cruise That Almost Wasn't Ever found yourself on the wrong side of the river? With a non-refundable ticket and the clock ticking? We thought we knew what we were doing. We double-checked our confirmation email. We plugged the address into Google Maps straight from the email. And taking into account the bus and train rides, we made sure we would arrive extra early for our afternoon high tea cruise on the River Thames in London, England. So an hour before the cruise w

As a home base in London for a month, it certainly looked appealing in the photos. Maybe 350 square feet, bright blue furniture, a yellow accent wall, an efficiency kitchenette, and one bedroom with a king bed. The small living space of a fifth wheel is our usual domain, so from the photos we expected this apartment—excuse me, flat—would suit us just fine. Bonus: it even had a washing machine, a non-existent luxury in our RV. Best of all, it was only a half-block walk from ou

Biking from Waveland to Bay St. Louis Riding a bike in the rain is mostly nobody’s idea of a good time. But I’m being perfectly honest when I say riding our e-bikes to Bay St. Louis in Mississippi was an absolutely stellar experience, even on a rainy day. And it’s a great example of how a simple perspective shift changes how we think about life’s storms. Yes, we got cold and wet. But also, we knew it wouldn’t be for long. At the end of the ride hot showers and comfy recliners

Our Favorite and Not-So-Favorite One-Night Stops Getting from one fabulous destination to the next, sometimes you need a place to stay for just a night or two. RVers have several options to cover those in-transition spots. Some are free, some are sketchy, and some are well worth driving out of your way for. With just the two of us, life on the road can be lonely sometimes. So, beyond providing a basic parking spot, our favorite one- or two-night option gives us a chance to me

A Sneak Peek from Turning Your Inner Bullies Into Allies So You Can Love Like Jesus From chapter five: Why Can't I Get It All Together? Redefine the Control Bully During our sailing years, I had one overriding goal, and it wasn’t to avoid shipwreck. It was just this: I didn’t want to be the story someone else told over dinner. Every time we anchored, launched the dinghy or kayak, maneuvered through a busy harbor, or furled the mainsail, I kept one eye on the task at hand whil

Worlds We May Never Experience We so appreciate YouTubers who bring us into worlds we’ve never experienced, places we’ve never been, activities we may never do, and some we just might try because now we know how. (Sure we do.) Like millions of other people, we get a kick out of vicarious living when we watch a guy chop huge chunks of snow for a supposedly cozy shelter. We discuss the reasons anyone might want to spend a night in an offshore duck blind with a blizzard coming i

I Couldn’t Believe What I Was Seeing I rounded the front end of the truck and stopped in shock. What was Roger doing in the middle of the road with his shirt off?! It only took a moment for the penny to drop. Oh, no. We Knew Better We are pros. We spent fifteen months as full-time RVers, for heaven’s sake. No more “rookie mistakes” for us. Famous last words. While living in Alabama, with a new rig and short work weeks we often camped at nearby spots in Alabama and Tennessee.

How We Build Our Expectations and Travel Calendar RV life can be so exciting, especially in the planning and anticipation. So we’ve been discussing where to go in 2026. Over time, it seems the process of deciding where to go shapes us as much as our actual experiences. Beyond that, keeping our expectations flexible and realistic helps us stay calm when things work out differently than we planned. (I'm talking much more about me here than Roger.) Choosing Priorities Our calend

But Not in My Heart Slam! The boom holding the mainsail swung sharply across the boat from right to left. Unplanned, but not unforeseen. We were about an hour out from Channel Islands Harbor and the storm we’d been watching all day had finally hit. And we were ready. Roger and our guest for the day, Kristen, stood on the cabin steps under the dodger, out of the rain that began pouring down. I braced my feet and held tightly to the wheel as the boat heeled and pulled against t

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.