It never seems to fail, as we’re wrapping up an extended stay somewhere – that’s when our social calendar starts to fill to the brim. We have most definitely been abundant this past week.
Nomadic Meet-Ups
One of the amazing side effects of running this blog has been the opportunity to meet up with other nomads. And in this past week we’ve had not one, not two… but three nomadic rendezvouses.
Sandi Wheaton
About three years ago we had the opportunity to meet up with photographer Sandi Wheaton at the tail end of her Route 66 nomadic debut. She introduced us to the Salton Sea and Slab City in southern California, and we instantly connected with her. She’s now splitting her time being a tour guide in Nova Scotia in the summer, and spending her winters traveling and concentrating on her photography. She was on a last minute whirlwind driving tour in Florida, and we were able to squeeze in a 1 hour quick meet up with her. It was short and sweet, and ever so good. Next time – sooner and longer, ok?
Sam Morrow
Our good friends Sam & Tracy of ZenNomads have arrived in Florida, and are currently staying a bit north of us. Sam had to make a visit to a client in south Florida by car, and stopped in for a bus slumber party on his way. We geeked all night flying the AR Drone (click for a fun video Chris made showing it off) and comparing Mac OS developer stuff. It was fantastic to catch up with him since our time together in St. Louis over the summer – and we are very much looking forward to several weeks together in Cedar Key next month.
Raam Dev
Sandi had just been over in the Tampa area meeting up with our friend James Schipper of LiveCollarFree. James has been a nomad-stalker to many for years, the kind we adore – because he helps us all (and I don’t know what we’ll do once he hits the road himself next month…who will be our stalker then??) Anyway, we learned that Raam Dev, another fellow nomad, was roaming around Florida too and would be near Melbourne this week. We had a delightful afternoon meeting up with him for the first time – it’s always a pleasure to meet up with like minded nomadic souls. Raam has been traveling the world since 2010 with just a small backpack. Despite our different current modalities of travel, we had a lot in common. The time just ticked away brainstorming about all sorts of nomadic techy stuff and philosophy. And he let me smell his hat.
How can you tell we were thoroughly enjoying ourselves? We didn’t remember to stop and ask to film a quick interview for the Ramblings series. Next time perhaps we can introduce you to Sandi and Raam on video. They’re both amazingly inspiring.
Local Fun
Aside from nomadic meetups, our local social life was active too.
We’ve been enjoying some live theatrical events – including catching the Dave Koz & Friends smooth jazz Christmas show (love me some jazz!). We also joined my parents and some of their friends for an afternoon matinee of a local community theatre holiday rendition of the Dean Martin show that was entertaining. Even more entertaining was hanging out with my parent’s gang of friends afterwards for dinner and drinks – what a hoot!
The weekend before last was also a big event in my family – the Army vs. Navy football game. Now, we don’t watch sportsball at all, but this game – we’ll make an effort for. My dad is a Navy vet, and Chris’ dad an Army vet – so it’s always tugging at the heart to pick sides. This year, for the 11th time in a row, it was Go Navy!
My father was very proud and glowing.
Being still has also allowed us to catch up on our movie going, and we took my dad to see Lincoln. And we caught a midnight premier showing of The Hobbit. Both excellent.
We also made use our zoo membership pass before it expires at the end of the month, and took my mom to the Brevard Zoo for her birthday. I’m always impressed with how well run this small zoo is. This visit, Chris and I went on a private kayak tour, which took us along the backside of the giraffe enclosure. We got an upfront and personal experience of a herd of galloping giraffes curious about us along the shore. Amazing.
Amongst all this fun, we even managed another live streamed video event – this time with a focused topic of internet options for RVers. AT&T even cooperated by turning on brand new LTE service in our area that very day, allowing us to broadcast in higher definition. Combined with the iPad Mini’s better camera, the video came out much better quality. The video archive has now been placed within our recent post on our internet setup, so if you have an hour to spare – you can sit back and listen to us explain it all.
We’re aiming to have our next live video event on Saturday, December 29 at 11am EST – live from our Technology & Mobility Q&A session at the Arcadia Bus Rally. Join us virtually, or in person if you can!
To remain here in Melbourne through Christmas we had to move spots within our RV Park, ending our longest stationary stay in one spot since we got the bus of 2.5 months.
One of our goals with getting the bus was creating a mobile space that would be comfortable for extended stays – and we’ve definitely proven we made the right choice. It’s been extremely comfortable while being still – unlike our past smaller RVs.
We’ll remain here in Melbourne until just after the holidays, then it’s off to the Arcadia Bus Rally, then a month in Cedar Key! We’ve thoroughly enjoyed our much needed stationary time and we’re ready to mix it up a bit too!
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