In a recent post we asked you all to submit any and all questions you had for us about our nomadic lifestyle. In today’s post I’m excited to share everything we were asked along with our responses. Sit back, relax, and enjoy learning many random things about us, our modes of travel, how we avoid burnout, what we love and don’t love about our Four Wheel Camper, and so much more.
Enjoy!
What is your current “go to” lens for photographing and documenting your travels?
We would be hard pressed to pick just one. An essential that I love is the Canon RF 14-35mm. It allows me to take wide photos from inside the cab while we’re driving, as well as inside our truck camper. It would otherwise be difficult to show these small spaces that we live and travel in. I especially love having a wide enough lens that I’m able to use the cab of the truck to frame photos while we’re driving. It feels like a great way to set the scene and provide context.
Further, I find the 70-200mm to be a really versatile lens for travel and lifestyle photos. Though if I had to single out one lens I’m most excited to use for our travels this winter it’s the 28mm 2.8 pancake lens that we just purchased. I bought it with the sole intent that it will be my street lens. I want to take more street photos when we’re walking around towns, but would like to be as discreet as possible. With the rest of our kit being large lenses, I’m excited to have one that can fit in a shoulder bag while we’re in public settings.
What is your favorite book or book series on travel, international or otherwise? (top 3 is even better if you can’t narrow it down!)
- To Shake The Sleeping Self: A Journey from Oregon to Patagonia, and a Quest for a Life with No Regret by Jedidiah Jenkins
- Walden on Wheels: On the open road from debt to freedom by Ken Ilgunas (we read this back in our twenties and it fueled our fire to pursue an unconventional way of life)
- 927 Days of Summer: Around the world in a VW van by Brad Van Orden, Sheena Van Orden
It doesn’t necessarily fall into the above categories but a book that is too good not to share is The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon. A history lesson of the Grand Canyon combined with a detailed account of one of the most ambitious adventures of our time, it’s one of our all-time favorite books.
What are your favorite Health & Wellness / Mental Well-being related books?
- Four Thousand Weeks: Time management for mortals by Oliver Burkeman (I’ve read this one twice)
- The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz
- Think like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day by Jay Shetty
Your posts are so incredibly well written, do you have a specific writing process for your posts?
That’s really kind of you to say, thank you. I’ve found I do my best writing when I’m doing it regularly. In a perfect world I would write every day. I had a six month streak going before life got wildly busy this year and I look forward to getting back to that practice. Whether it be writing something to share publicly or simply a stream of consciousness dump, the regular practice keeps the self-critic at bay and the creative juices flowing.
I’ll add that purchasing a dedicating writing device was a game-changer for me. I have a 13” MacBook Air that contains nothing but the Notes app so that all I use it for is writing. This helped me overcome the frustration of always being distracted by the pull of social media, email, google, etc. I’ve now trained my brain that when the MacBook Air is in my lap I’m focused on writing and that’s it.
What are each of your top 3 pieces of gear or tech?
Mine:
- A camera. I can’t imagine not having a camera within hands-reach at all times. Documenting our lives is such an important thing for me.
- Starlink. This has made running our business from the road SO much easier. Not to mention provided a long list of other benefits.
- A Laptop. Whether it’s for writing, editing photos, running our photography business, or posting on this blog, I’d be lost without a good laptop computer.
Mark’s:
How prepared are you when you encounter dangerous wildlife, water life and insects?
Knowing what we’re dealing with and how to avoid it is our first line of defense. This starts with reading any warning signs in the area and paying attention to what fellow travelers have to say about a particular place. Second, I would say, is having a heightened level of awareness. Most living things that pose a threat to us humans won’t engage unless provoked or threatened. For example, we’re always watching the ground closely in rattlesnake county and listening for warning signs. (I’ll note that the most negligent thing I’ve done recently is go for a walk on a narrow, overgrown trail in rattlesnake country while wearing headphones. I had a close call and was reminded that the distraction of headphones increases our risk of having an unwanted encounter). We carry a robust first-aid kit as well as a Garmin InReach two-way satellite communication device that includes an SOS button. Outside of that we make peace with the fact that you can only be so prepared and that sometimes bad things happen, but more often they don’t. While we have a healthy fear of things like bears, snakes, and sharks, we don’t let that stop us from exploring the natural world that we love so much.
How do you get packages from Amazon, or do you? Amazon requires a street address. I suppose that once Amazon perfects its drones, they could chase you down.
We have to get creative when it comes to receiving packages. Every so often we’ll use Amazon lockers which are available in various locations such as select grocery stores. Amazon offers the option to have your order shipped to a locker, which is nice. If we have plans to see a friend or family member, we’ll ask if we can have a package shipped to them. For the most part we wait until spring or fall when we’re camped at our property and can receive mail and packages there.
I wrote an article in the A-Z guide about receiving mail while living on the road full-time which contains more details about this popular topic. You can check it out at the link below.
What about doctors? Does your medical plan follow you around?
Great question. There are several advantages to maintaining some kind of home base as a full-time RVer and this is one of them. We spend one month every spring and one month every fall on our property and this allows us to catch up on doctor’s appointments. A home base could be anything from spending a month at the same RV park every year or parking in a family member’s driveway a few times a year. I wrote more about this in the A-Z guide which you can find at the link below.
Do you have any tips for maintaining healthy eating on the road? Specifically when in remote areas where fresh/whole foods are more challenging to get or insanely expensive?
I think our #1 tip for maintaining healthy eating on the road would be to cook for yourself. When traveling full-time, the temptation is always there to try a new restaurant or be drawn to the convenience of fast-food. However, it not only will negatively impact your health but the cost adds up as well, making full-time travel more expensive than if you cook for yourself. We always travel with bulk foods such as rice, beans, quinoa, oats, nuts, and seeds. Shopping for produce that’s in-season helps with finding good, affordable produce. However, there have definitely been times and places where we simply are unable to locate the fresh/whole foods that we crave. Our commitment to healthy eating definitely waxes and wanes depending on where we are and what’s available to us.
Whats your favorite go-to meal?
We have two go-to favorites that we almost always eat for breakfast – 1) chilaquiles with eggs 2) oatmeal loaded with fruit, nuts, and seeds.
What are the biggest contributors to burn-out…if/when you get to that point? And how do you remedy that?
This question and the next question below are similar so I’ll take the opportunity to answer it from two different angles. Below is how we deal with burn-out during the 3-4 months of the year that we live in our truck camper:
Driving too often is our biggest contributor to burn-out when living in our Four Wheel Camper. We like the opportunity to feel like we’re living somewhere for a few days at minimum, rather than just passing through. We realize we’re feeling burned out when we start feeling more overwhelmed by new experiences rather than excited by them. When we recognize we’re feeling that way is when we know it’s time to find a spot and sit still. If we can do so for about a week, we usually feel recharged and ready to get back on the road.
Does it get tiring constantly traveling?
Since this question is similar to the previous question, I’ll answer this one as it pertains to our overall nomadic lifestyle which includes alternating between living in an RV and living in a truck camper:
Years ago we found it tiring but we’ve since learned how to design our travels to avoid burn-out. I think the biggest contributing factor to feeling worn down from travel is decision fatigue. Decision fatigue is a result of moving so often that you’re constantly having to decide where to go, how to get there, where to dump your tanks, where to refill supplies, etc. In 2017 we lived on the road for one year and moved locations every 3-6 days. At the end of that year we were worn out and were not enjoying the lifestyle as much as we’d expected. In 2020, when we returned to full-time RV living we vowed to slow down and stay places longer with a goal of staying the full 14 days that is allowed on public lands. This was a game changer for us. However, the key piece to our success in making this lifestyle sustainable for us over the long term is that we kept our truck camper so that we could still pursue overlanding adventures for a portion of our year. Every winter we put our RV in storage so that we can spend 3-4 months overlanding in our truck camper. Being able to partake in both lifestyles (RVing and Overlanding) over the course of the year is what has kept us satiated while also avoiding burn out. It’s a unique way to approach full-time life on the road but the combination works great for us.
Check out the article I wrote below about RVing vs. Overlanding vs. Vanlife to learn more about how they all differ.
What do you feel are the biggest challenges when you only have your Four Wheel Camper? And what are the most valuable advantages?
Our biggest challenge when living in the Four Wheel Camper is that our level of enjoyment and overall comfort are entirely dependent on the weather. While the FWC offers a lot of amenities in a compact package, it’s not a comfortable space to hang out in for long periods of time. We can ride out one bad day of weather before we need to seek out better conditions or we might go a little stir crazy. With that, sometimes chasing good weather for days on end can be fatiguing.
The most valuable advantage would be the number of places we can access with a four wheel drive truck and compact truck camper. The entire reason we got our Four Wheel Camper is because we love exploring remote places that are hard to reach. When we’re towing our RV around we have to always consider the amount of room it takes to turn around and we can’t maneuver our way through rough obstacles (which often lead to the coolest places). We absolutely love that our truck camper can go just about anywhere our heart desires, and when we find a cool spot all we have to do is park, pop the top, and we’re home.
When in your Four Wheel Camper, how long can you last off-grid before restocking with water, gas, propane or food, etc?
We can go about a week before needing to restock; fresh food probably being the first thing that we run out of. When living in the Four Wheel Camper, our wanderlust fires back up after 4-6 days and at that time we end up moving simply because we’re ready to see something new.
If you could change one thing about the Four Wheel Camper, what would it be?
I think our biggest qualm about the Four Wheel Camper is how uncomfortable it is in high winds. When wind conditions exceed about 20mph, it’s so loud inside that it’s difficult to sleep. I don’t think this problem is necessarily specific to Four Wheel Campers, I imagine any pop-up camper has the same problem. On windy days we dream of a hard-sided camper though I don’t know that we’d ever want to give up the low-profile clearance that the pop-up allows when the top is down and we’re driving.
Is there anything you miss that this lifestyle doesn’t provide?
Life on the road offers so much, it’s hard to imagine living in a house again. The only thing I can come up with, that a house would provide, is the ease a yard offers for having a dog. We both miss having dogs in our life but having a dog on the road is a whole different ball-game than having a dog while living in a house. Our two pups, Cozmo and Kaia, had social challenges and also seemed to get into everything, making it stressful to have them on the road with us. Once they reached the end of their lives we decided to wait a while before making that commitment again. We hope to one day find a mellow dog that fits with our travel lifestyle.
Aside from that, the one thing that Mark sometimes craves is concrete. He does all our vehicle and RV maintenance himself and working in the dirt is sometimes a challenge.
What’s your favorite taco truck or restaurant in Baja?
Oh gosh, there are so many good ones. Our top two favorites are Tacos El Muelle in Guerrero Negro (this is probably the most well-known taco truck in Baja and for good reason) and Chapala, a little roadside restaurant in the middle of nowhere at the Highway 5 junction with Highway 1 (some of the best salsa and spicy flavors in Baja).
I noticed you have property in Colorado but do you have insights into other states that are attractive to RVers? I’ve read Florida, South Dakota, and Texas are good choices for various reasons.
Since we’ve been Colorado residents during our entire time as full-time RVers, I don’t have any good insights on residency in other states. The states you listed align with what I’ve heard to be the most popular states full-time RVers choose for residency. The Escapees website has several informative articles on residency and domicile.
How do you reduce/handle condensation in colder weather in your FWC overnight?
Condensation in our Four Wheel Camper is impossible to eliminate entirely but good ventilation will at least reduce it. We typically keep our vent hood open and one of the windows above our bed open slightly. We’re lucky in that we typically camp in mild temps and in dry climates. This may be an entirely new ball game for us this winter when we head to the more humid regions of Mexico.
We are a family of 4 with 2 small ones and a dog. We want to travel in an RV. Is it hard to pack such a small space and have all your necessities as well?
No matter the size of your family or size of the RV, compromises will have to be made. However, it is entirely possible to travel in an RV comfortably as a family of 4 with a dog. We see people doing it full-time, all the time. The key is to determine what is most important to you and learn to live without all the rest. Many things that you think you need when living in a house you’ll learn are more appropriately deemed “nice to have” rather than actual necessities. For example, I love a closet full of clothes but find that I have everything I need with just a few key items. The closet in our RV is smaller than a standard coat closet in a house and yet we’ve adapted and are perfectly happy. When you first move into an RV it may feel as though you’re giving up a lot. As long as you can push through that discomfort, once you get out on the road you’ll find that you’ve gained so much in terms of adventure, wonder, freedom (and so much more) in exchange for what you left behind. And while we don’t have kids, I hear that they are extremely adaptable and often take quite well to a life with less (especially when the outdoors have so much to offer).
Handling mail? Basic foods to start a trip? Basic camera? Toolkit?
- We have a virtual mailbox with Traveling Mailbox. For a reasonable annual fee, our mail is scanned and emailed to us.
- A few food staples would be oats, beans rice, high quality cooking oil, protein powder & milk for shakes, nuts for snacking, fresh produce, chips & salsa.
- We travel with several cameras and lenses but the Canon R6 with the RF 14-35mm lens is what lives within arm’s reach at all times.
- Basic automotive tool set with wrenches and sockets. Dewalt. Mark uses this 168 piece kit by Dewalt.
Would love to know more about your camper jack setup. I hate the weight of traditional setups and had been contemplating something that seems similar to what you already have.
When we bought our truck camper 12 years ago we chose to not purchase jacks, assuming the camper was never coming off the truck. That ended up being true until three months ago when we decided to convert to a flatbed. When the need came up for jacks, Mark was interested in a more affordable option rather than spending over 1k on a traditional set. He ended up pairing trailer tongue jacks from Harbor Freight with a piece of uni-strut to extend the leg. They’ve worked great. (Here’s a link to a trailer tongue jack on Amazon)
Do you use the thermal pack from Four-Wheel camper? If so, how do you like it; if not, are you considering it?
Yes, we have the thermal pack from Four Wheel Camper and it is a permanent fixture inside our camper. It helps with regulating temps in both hot and cold weather. The new version looks like it may be even better but for now we’ve decided to stick with what we have which is about 10 years old.
Internet access is important to me, even in remote places. Do you have a preferred service provider for Baja and/or mainland Mexico?
Internet access is important to us as well as we run a small business from the road and can only get away with being offline for a short period of time. Since we prefer remote, off-the-beaten-path places to camp that often don’t have cell signal, we’ve found Starlink to be an essential piece of equipment for us. Before Starlink, the need for connectivity very much limited where we camped in Baja. Starlink provides high-speed internet anywhere we are and has opened up a whole new world for us in regards to where we can camp.
If you’re interested in signing up for Starlink, you can use this link to receive one free month of service after signing up and activating your account.
What party were you at when you confessed your love to Mark?
Haha. When I said “ask us anything” I wondered if anyone would hit us with some personal questions. While this question is a bit of an inside joke from an old friend of ours, it’s a great opportunity to share the backstory about how Mark and I came to be a couple; and feels like a great question to end on.
Mark & I met in 2002 while attending The Art Institute of Colorado. We were both obtaining our photography degrees. Through a very random turn of events (a story for another day) we became roommates and lived together for two years. Our relationship was 100% platonic and we became good friends over that time period. One week before we were to part ways (Mark was planning on moving to New York City while I would be staying in Denver) I realized I’d fallen for him. The thought of there being two thousand miles between us was devastating. At this time Mark was a social butterfly and I was a home-body. However, on the night of a mutual friend’s birthday party, to Mark’s surprise, I decided to tag along. This decision was a strategic one, I knew that having a drink first may be the only way I’d find the courage to tell him how I felt. Well, that plan took an unexpected turn when I’d drank a little too much and began telling all of our friends at the party that I was in love with Mark but neglected to actually tell Mark. At some point over the course of the night he found out. Not only were the feelings mutual but Mark claims to have attempted to suggest a relationship weeks earlier and I turned him down (that’s a debate that may never be settled). We’ve been inseparable ever since.
Thank you to everyone who submitted their questions for this post! We love sharing about our unconventional lifestyle in hopes of inspiring others to pursue a life they love. If this brought up more questions, don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments below.
Also, congrats to Ali and Rick who were the winners of our giveaway and will each be receiving a signed copy of our latest book!
We’ll see you again next Sunday with an awesome and wildly inspiring interview with some of our fellow full-time travelers!
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