Welcome to Notes From The Road, a monthly recap of where we’ve been and what we’ve been up to over the last 30 days. We hope you enjoy it.
This month’s Notes From the Road is coming to you from our property on Colorado’s western slope. In the four years we’ve owned our property, we’ve never spent any time here during the summer months. But with all the truck projects and preparations for this winter’s travels, we decided this was the best place for us to be as productive as possible in August. Not having to find a new place to camp every week or two has been a nice change of pace, though the 90-100 degree temps have been something we have yet to experience in our 4 years of full-time RV living. Fans and mid-day outdoor showers have been imperative.
While August has primarily consisted of me working at my desk and Mark working on the truck, we still have some fun highlights to share! Here’s what we’ve been up to the last few weeks…
Truck Improvements
This month Mark had Alcan make and install custom leaf springs on the truck. Those along with new tires, new ball joints, and new shocks and the ride is as smooth as ever. We also reached 300,000 on the odometer this month and hope with Mark’s impeccable preventative maintenance schedule and the reputation of the 7.3L turbo diesel engine, there are many miles left to go.
The work that funds our travels
While I tend to not talk about it much here, this time of year much of our time is dedicated to our wedding photography business which is what funds our travels. We are unbelievably fortunate in the fact that our business is seasonal, allowing us to be location-independent 2/3rds of the year, and when we are working, our work takes us to some of the most gorgeous locations in the Colorado Rockies.
Overland Expo – Our first ever public speaking event!
We had an incredible time at last weekend’s Overland Expo Mountain West in Loveland. Our first-ever Overland Expo exceeded our expectations by a long-shot. I can’t think of another place that contains such a high concentration of education and inspiration for vehicle-based travel.
The top ten highlights from the weekend and why we can’t wait to do it again…
- Meeting so many incredible people and being blown away by their travel resumes.
- Hearing Patty Upton’s presentation on her and her husband’s round-the-world journey in their 1966 CJ-5 in the ’80s. My jaw was on the floor for the entire hour.
- Camping festival-style among hundreds of other folks that love vehicle-based travel as much as we do.
- Doing our first ever public speaking event and sharing about our Baja travels! We truly hope we inspired others to set out on a Baja trip of their own.
- Running in to old friends and folks we’ve met on the road in the past.
- Getting the chance to sit down with people who were so generous in sharing their tips and campsite recommendations for our upcoming travels to Mexico and Central America!
- Seeing all the rigs and different ways people live this lifestyle.
- Soaking in the inspiration that basically hung in the air the entire weekend. We’ve never experienced anything like it.
- The endless opportunities for education on so many different travel-related topics. So many thanks to all the instructors that took the time and effort to share their knowledge.
- Oh, and of course, all the dogs we got to meet : )
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT, THESE ARE THE POSTS THAT WE SHARED IN August:
- Travel Plans & Truck Modifications
- The benefits of cold plunges: a hobby we never thought we’d have
- A-Z Guide to Full-Time RV Living: Nurturing your health & wellness
- Full-time RV Living with HD
While there hasn’t been much travel in August, there has been all kinds of travel planning. It may only be the start of September but we feel winter quickly approaching and couldn’t be more excited for what’s in store for us at the end of the year. Thanks so much for following along.
Cheers!
Michele & Mark
The expo in Loveland looked and sounded like a lot of fun! I have no doubt you will be returning. And how much fun planning your next adventure! I’m looking forward to following your blog!
Michele & Mark!
Could you, would you….
Describe some of what is different about the overlanding crowd? I attended some years ago
https://newmexnomad.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-journalists.html?m=1
and was impressed by how quiet the dogs were. Also, when I stopped at Ft Tuttle outside Flagstaff, the base for that year’s event, there was, gathered round a fire, a string quartet playing a baroque piece.
I think most folks who travel are, in general, kind and generous. But Overlanders’ aesthetic has seemed different….more disposed to wine and its compliments than beer and such (though I’m always willing to belly up to a stout or porter).
Did your experience include any impressions that’d corroborate my sense of things? Yuh know what ah’m sayin’?
Mark & I found that a wide variety of folks make up the overlanding community and what you’re exposed to at Overland Expo depends greatly on how and where you spend your time. I think because we spent a lot of time getting to know fellow presenters/instructors we met a lot of like-minds and laid-back people who are out living the traveling lifestyle. On the other end of the spectrum are the people who appear to love devoting their time to their builds and the gear more than the travel. Plus a little bit of everything inbetween. I think there’s a little something for everyone at such a big event.