Our tickets are booked – we head back to where our RV is parked in Florida on April 5, ending our wonderful winter season in the US Virgin Islands. We’ve been trying to shift focus to considering what life might look like for us upon returning stateside. We’ve been considering the range of desires we both have for future adventures to determine what feels right.
We really have no firm plans or decisions made. One of the cool things about having a life designed to be open to unlimited possibilities, is that there are always a lots of possibilities!
Some of the options that find their way to the top of our list have included:
Embarking on our sailing dreams
St. John is a cruiser’s mecca this time of year, and that was one of the appeals of us wintering here. We’ve been blessed to have been able to hang out with full time cruisers and checking out a number of boats for sale. However, at this point – we just don’t feel ready to embark on this lifestyle right now. We’re not sure we’re quite ready to take on the challenges of maintaining a boat, trying to find a work/life balance aboard or the horror stories of the unending boat projects our cruising friends tell us about.
Sailing is something we want to do eventually – but we’re just not ready to make the sort of commitment (financial or timewise) right now.
Extended international travel
We both would love to get back into international travel – something we both had a good amount of experience with before we met. Renting short term here in St. John has really given us a great balance of feeling at home while being in an amazing new place to explore when not working. So the idea of slowly wandering the world is strongly calling both of us – staying in places measured by months, not days.
The biggest obstacle is Kiki. We’ve started some research on importing cats into other countries, and there are a handful of countries that have fairly easy sounding policies that don’t involve lengthy quarantines. But it does seem it could be rather pricey (at least as expensive, if not more so, than traveling with a kid) and full of red tape. We would love to hear from folks who have dealt with traveling internationally with pets to confirm if it’s actually feasible or not while moving around a few times a year. We fear that many of our international dreams will put us in the position of needing to find a temporary long term home for Kiki. Which definitely diminishes our interests in much international travel.
However, one interesting option if we didn’t have Kiki to contend with – is taking a transatlantic repositioning cruise this spring to Europe (which are relatively dirt cheap) and setting off from there with a couple backpacks. We’re both also feeling called to exploring southeast Asia for a bit. Or we’re highly intrigued by applying for summer (our winter) temp jobs in Antarctica.
Returning to RVing
The easiest and most logical option is to of course returning to our home on wheels. The idea of returning to the exact same life we were living prior to St. John just isn’t all that appealing to us. But it’s not so much the RV that isn’t calling us, but what feels like had become routine for us – rushing around the country to attend events, and not having nearly enough still time to stop and enjoy the journey. We crave something new!
So, we’re giving consideration to ways to shake things up and enjoying what we think could be our last RVing days for now. Some of the RVing ideas that interest us include:
Finding some other fellow technomads on wheels to caravan up to Alaska with, or perhaps down into Central America. Or even just staying domestic and sharing in roving mobile community. The idea of continuity of nomadic community is highly appealing to us. Interested?
Concentrating on visiting places we’ve not been before, or spots we want to spend more time in. We have just a handful of states left to mark off.
Concentrating on staying in places that would provide excellent hiking and running trails, so that we can both focus on advancing our run training.
Finding a city we’d be happy in for a few months, and concentrate on getting trained up to be qualified disaster relief volunteers.
Perhaps considering a slightly larger RV to give us a bit more space and amenities. However the task of RV shopping for something as uber-awesome and unique as our Oliver doesn’t thrill us.
Looking into shipping our Oliver overseas, and RVing in different countries. RVing in Europe, for instance – may be a way to scratch our international itch and be quite Kiki-compatible.
This serenDIPity sign is located by our place on St. John! Perfection.
Listening to Serendipity
Of course, there are probably tons of other options out there that have not yet presented themselves. So we’re keeping our ears and eyes open to whatever opportunities serendipity might have for us. People we know who need to sublet their place in another amazing place for a bit? Temporary fun work projects or volunteer gigs? Care-taking property?
Have ideas or opportunities that might be a fun adventure for us.. for sure, be in touch!
I suspect that returning to the RV for at least the short term is most likely, and perhaps having one last big adventure together. But we do feel that our days traveling via our Oliver Travel Trailer might be coming to an end. In our minds, we consider ourselves open to entertaining the right offer to sell and move on to whatever is next for us. And I suspect that by the end of the year, it’ll feel right to actively list the trailer for sale.
And in all honesty, we really don’t have a clear vision other than not settling down anywhere long term. And while we hoped that we’d be leaving St. John with some clear direction, it doesn’t bother us much that the future is just as fuzzy for us as it was back in September.
It’s fun to be in a mindspace of not knowing what might be next … and really and truly being open to the possibilities.
If the water is of interest, and staying in the US is a plus, let me suggest the Great Loop – my parents have been doing it for 3 years with a dog in a troller. They LOVE it. They get to see all the little towns in US, Canada and now Bahamas and beyond. Google Cruising the Great Loop for info. Sailboats have trouble here, considering the tall masts and the short bridges but the trip is awesome. Alternatively, if you’re headed south to central / South America, we should hook up. We leave end of year in an RV to drive the world over three years.
Wendy – Indeed, I’ve been day-dreaming about the Great Loop ever since I first read about it. It is certainly on my todo list – someday at least. Though I imagine doing it in a sailboat, I know it is a lot more practical to do it in a trawler. Maybe we’ll buy a used trawler, do it for a year, and then move onto a sailboat after that. In the meantime – I’d love to hear more about your trips plans. I’m heading over to your blog now… 🙂
so many choices…so little time! I’m sure you guys will figure out something interesting. If we could figure out how to unload real estate in an upside down world, we would definitely offer to join in the trip to AK. I think that would be a blast to travel around up there with a group of like-minded folks. Pretty much all the options you listed sound pretty good. =)
Here’s another source for you–a blog about a couple who take their RV to Europe: http://www.papillontravels.net/. Not that we want you to leave the U.S. but we do want you to do what feels right for you more than for us. Besides, dreaming about future travels is an important part of the nomadic life.
Australia (and New Zealand) are definitely on our radar.
But unfortunately, it’s not even an option for us unless we decide to find a temporary home for Kiki. They have some of the strictest pet import and quarantine laws around. So, it remains a future dream location until we can convince ourselves we’ve exhausted all other viable options for traveling with her.
We invited Kiki to join us on the road just about 2 years ago when she was just 7 weeks old, and we made a commitment to be a traveling family and raised her to be with us. So, it just doesn’t feel right to kick her out of the deal… unless she was showing signs of moving around not agreeing with her. Besides, I already gave up one cat to hit the road in the first place… I’m not eager to go through that pain again.
Ahh, the possibilities! It will be fun to see what route you end up taking : ) We sold the house in 2009 and house and pet sit all over the states (currently in TN after a year in MA, and heading to OR in June). I (along with Dalene) recommend http://www.housecarers.com along with http://www.caretaker.org/ as they have both been beneficial to us. There are ads for sits on private land that provide RV hook-ups on occasion…sometimes in really nice spots (Napa, anyone?). And parks…RV, National, etc. So, you could combine the two before deciding to sell Oliver…
If I could convince Paul to go the RV route I would (my Dad had an Airstream back in the day and I want one of my own!). Paul works full-time for a software company and is nervous about having reliable wireless on the road, even though I have assured him others are doing it and we can too : ) In the meantime, we enjoy being Caretaking Couple. We will most likely country-hop once Paul decides to retire from his full-time gig here in the US. Feel free to contact us if you ever have any questions about caretaking…
Thanks for the further endorsement of the caretaking options.. I was up last night going through listing on the sites to see what was possible. Definitely some intriguing possibilities.
As far as wireless on the road – it is entirely possible. I’ve been running my software development company and team remotely from the road for nearly 5 years now. It’s not as lush as having a wired high bandwidth connection… but it gets the job done. Just gotta take time to enjoy amazing views while you wait a few extra seconds for things to load 🙂
Europe sounds amazing of course and for selfish reasons we hope you stay stateside. But what about Canada? It seems like in the summer Toronto and Montreal would be a nice medium between staying in the states and Europe. Not to mention the HIKING!
Canada is definitely on our list potential locations to spend the summer in. That was actually our plan for last summer, until my father fell ill and we ended up back in Florida. If we did the Alaska trek, we’d definitely meander a while going through Canada.
Well, I totally understand your wonderlust. I’ve been a perpetual nomad since my early 20’s and can’t imaging I’ll ever stop! If you decide to go to Asia and spend a longer time there (and integrate w/ a community), an easy way to do that is via teaching (English). The TOFEL test would be the first step. If, on the other hand, you decide to go to Alaska, let us know. We’re seriously considering an extended RV trip up there. Went backbacking there in many years ago and would love to go back. Nina
We’ll definitely let ya know if the Alaska trends to the top of the list for us… would be hella fun to have a nomadic caravan up that way to share in resources.
And with any travel form .. we’d continue running our software business, no matter the location. But taking fun little side gigs to learn more about local culture is always an option and fun.
I was going to suggest house-sitting (especially the international type) but Dalene beaat me to it! Also, however, isn’t it time you at least explored the possibilities for finding Kiki a “vacation home”? I have a friend in England who takes in foundling cats from his local animal shelter, until a suitable permanent home can be found for them. He’s a professional photographer who travels outside the country occasionally – often enough to make having a resident cat problematical. This, he says, works very nicely for him. Perhaps a shelter in an area you frequent could help you find someone who, like Rick, loves cats but can’t have a permanent one. I’m sure you’d hate to leave her behind even temporaily, but it might work nicely for both of you.
If we decided we could part with Kiki for a bit, I’m sure we’d have no problem finding someone for her to live with. It’s more an issue of.. do we want to? We kinda love her and stuff. We’ve gotten her cat-sitters for a couple weeks at a time when we’ve done Burning Man or took on intense work gigs, and we go a bit crazy missing her. 🙂
Oh boy. I have a feeling that we will be posting a very similar post in the near future! It’s tough, hey, when there are so many opportunities?! A good problem to have, I guess…but still tough.
Have you checked out house sitting? That is what we are doing right now in Honduras, and are loving it! A couple of good websites we use are http://www.mindmyhouse.com and http://www.housecarers.com. The last one has a lot of opportunities right now.
Good luck! Will be excited to hear what you do next.
Thanks for the links to the housesitting sites… we have done that for friends during our travels, and it’s been an awesome way to take a break from the RV. We’ll keep an eye out for any opportunities that might be a fit for us (ie. allow cats and/or have trailer parking).
After a few wonderful summer trips to Canada and Alaska, I’m becoming very interested in RV travel beyond the 48 states. I came across 2 blogs last year that you might find interesting: http://evesteve.blogspot.com (a full-timer couple with a Winnebago View who are in Florida right now currently preparing to ship their RV to Europe and live there for a year or two. They did some fabulous past adventures to Newfoundland and down into Mexico). The other RV adventure traveler is Tessa Hill from Texas ( http://www.travbuddy.com/TessaHill/blogs ) who has taken her 3 kids on amazing roadtrips in their LazyDaze RV to Central America, Mexico, Maritimes, Europe, etc. Tons of info and inspiration available on these sites!
If the water is of interest, and staying in the US is a plus, let me suggest the Great Loop – my parents have been doing it for 3 years with a dog in a troller. They LOVE it. They get to see all the little towns in US, Canada and now Bahamas and beyond. Google Cruising the Great Loop for info. Sailboats have trouble here, considering the tall masts and the short bridges but the trip is awesome. Alternatively, if you’re headed south to central / South America, we should hook up. We leave end of year in an RV to drive the world over three years.
Wendy – Indeed, I’ve been day-dreaming about the Great Loop ever since I first read about it. It is certainly on my todo list – someday at least. Though I imagine doing it in a sailboat, I know it is a lot more practical to do it in a trawler. Maybe we’ll buy a used trawler, do it for a year, and then move onto a sailboat after that. In the meantime – I’d love to hear more about your trips plans. I’m heading over to your blog now… 🙂
so many choices…so little time! I’m sure you guys will figure out something interesting. If we could figure out how to unload real estate in an upside down world, we would definitely offer to join in the trip to AK. I think that would be a blast to travel around up there with a group of like-minded folks. Pretty much all the options you listed sound pretty good. =)
Here’s another source for you–a blog about a couple who take their RV to Europe: http://www.papillontravels.net/. Not that we want you to leave the U.S. but we do want you to do what feels right for you more than for us. Besides, dreaming about future travels is an important part of the nomadic life.
Australia may not be on your radar but you should seriously consider it. We just spent a year here doing the nomad thing and we’ve LOVED it!
Australia (and New Zealand) are definitely on our radar.
But unfortunately, it’s not even an option for us unless we decide to find a temporary home for Kiki. They have some of the strictest pet import and quarantine laws around. So, it remains a future dream location until we can convince ourselves we’ve exhausted all other viable options for traveling with her.
Yeah Australia is certainly not the most pet friendly place. We left our little bugger at home (with parents) and we miss her pretty badly.
Isn’t she cute?! 🙂
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thelastminute/3827919779/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thelastminute/4068979208/
Awwww.. precious 🙂
We invited Kiki to join us on the road just about 2 years ago when she was just 7 weeks old, and we made a commitment to be a traveling family and raised her to be with us. So, it just doesn’t feel right to kick her out of the deal… unless she was showing signs of moving around not agreeing with her. Besides, I already gave up one cat to hit the road in the first place… I’m not eager to go through that pain again.
Ahh, the possibilities! It will be fun to see what route you end up taking : ) We sold the house in 2009 and house and pet sit all over the states (currently in TN after a year in MA, and heading to OR in June). I (along with Dalene) recommend http://www.housecarers.com along with http://www.caretaker.org/ as they have both been beneficial to us. There are ads for sits on private land that provide RV hook-ups on occasion…sometimes in really nice spots (Napa, anyone?). And parks…RV, National, etc. So, you could combine the two before deciding to sell Oliver…
If I could convince Paul to go the RV route I would (my Dad had an Airstream back in the day and I want one of my own!). Paul works full-time for a software company and is nervous about having reliable wireless on the road, even though I have assured him others are doing it and we can too : ) In the meantime, we enjoy being Caretaking Couple. We will most likely country-hop once Paul decides to retire from his full-time gig here in the US. Feel free to contact us if you ever have any questions about caretaking…
V
Thanks for the further endorsement of the caretaking options.. I was up last night going through listing on the sites to see what was possible. Definitely some intriguing possibilities.
As far as wireless on the road – it is entirely possible. I’ve been running my software development company and team remotely from the road for nearly 5 years now. It’s not as lush as having a wired high bandwidth connection… but it gets the job done. Just gotta take time to enjoy amazing views while you wait a few extra seconds for things to load 🙂
Hey Guys,
Europe sounds amazing of course and for selfish reasons we hope you stay stateside. But what about Canada? It seems like in the summer Toronto and Montreal would be a nice medium between staying in the states and Europe. Not to mention the HIKING!
Happy RVin!
Amanda
Canada is definitely on our list potential locations to spend the summer in. That was actually our plan for last summer, until my father fell ill and we ended up back in Florida. If we did the Alaska trek, we’d definitely meander a while going through Canada.
Hmmm,
How much for that Oliver? I won’t be needing it until after July/August when the Kid goes off to college.
Rasheed
Hi Rasheed.. I sent you a private e-mail regarding the Oliver. Thanks!
Well, I totally understand your wonderlust. I’ve been a perpetual nomad since my early 20’s and can’t imaging I’ll ever stop! If you decide to go to Asia and spend a longer time there (and integrate w/ a community), an easy way to do that is via teaching (English). The TOFEL test would be the first step. If, on the other hand, you decide to go to Alaska, let us know. We’re seriously considering an extended RV trip up there. Went backbacking there in many years ago and would love to go back. Nina
We’ll definitely let ya know if the Alaska trends to the top of the list for us… would be hella fun to have a nomadic caravan up that way to share in resources.
And with any travel form .. we’d continue running our software business, no matter the location. But taking fun little side gigs to learn more about local culture is always an option and fun.
I was going to suggest house-sitting (especially the international type) but Dalene beaat me to it! Also, however, isn’t it time you at least explored the possibilities for finding Kiki a “vacation home”? I have a friend in England who takes in foundling cats from his local animal shelter, until a suitable permanent home can be found for them. He’s a professional photographer who travels outside the country occasionally – often enough to make having a resident cat problematical. This, he says, works very nicely for him. Perhaps a shelter in an area you frequent could help you find someone who, like Rick, loves cats but can’t have a permanent one. I’m sure you’d hate to leave her behind even temporaily, but it might work nicely for both of you.
If we decided we could part with Kiki for a bit, I’m sure we’d have no problem finding someone for her to live with. It’s more an issue of.. do we want to? We kinda love her and stuff. We’ve gotten her cat-sitters for a couple weeks at a time when we’ve done Burning Man or took on intense work gigs, and we go a bit crazy missing her. 🙂
Oh boy. I have a feeling that we will be posting a very similar post in the near future! It’s tough, hey, when there are so many opportunities?! A good problem to have, I guess…but still tough.
Have you checked out house sitting? That is what we are doing right now in Honduras, and are loving it! A couple of good websites we use are http://www.mindmyhouse.com and http://www.housecarers.com. The last one has a lot of opportunities right now.
Good luck! Will be excited to hear what you do next.
Thanks for the links to the housesitting sites… we have done that for friends during our travels, and it’s been an awesome way to take a break from the RV. We’ll keep an eye out for any opportunities that might be a fit for us (ie. allow cats and/or have trailer parking).
After a few wonderful summer trips to Canada and Alaska, I’m becoming very interested in RV travel beyond the 48 states. I came across 2 blogs last year that you might find interesting: http://evesteve.blogspot.com (a full-timer couple with a Winnebago View who are in Florida right now currently preparing to ship their RV to Europe and live there for a year or two. They did some fabulous past adventures to Newfoundland and down into Mexico). The other RV adventure traveler is Tessa Hill from Texas ( http://www.travbuddy.com/TessaHill/blogs ) who has taken her 3 kids on amazing roadtrips in their LazyDaze RV to Central America, Mexico, Maritimes, Europe, etc. Tons of info and inspiration available on these sites!
Thanks a bunch for the introductions to some cool new folks, Lynne! Great stuff to investigate should we pursue the international RVing thing.