We’re beginning round 2 of manifesting our Vanabode!
In a few days, we are heading back to the birthplace of the Naked Hippies Roadtrip dream … our river home on the banks of the Missouri River near Columbia, Missouri.
It was there that we first lived in a tent one summer. It was there that we lived and worked as camphosts for five summers. It was there that I took a leap of faith and walked away from my corporate job.
Yep! Quit my job to enjoy afternoon breaks like this!
And, it was there that we pulled up stakes, hit the road and left in November, 2013 on the never-ending roadtrip.
It’s time to go back, to touch base with our “roots” again … to revel in the joys and memories of all the miles we have traveled and to also …
For the last couple of weeks, we’ve been downsizing – AGAIN!
Heck, I’ve even had to downsize on my laptop – getting rid of unneeded files to make sure I always have enough room for the hundreds of pictures I take as we travel.
Our stay at the river will be totally different this time, it will be just as it was when we were there in the tent that one glorious summer.
We won’t hook up to electricity, we won’t hook up to water, we will be unplugged. This is more practice for living the Vanabode lifestyle.
The best part about all of this, well, one of the benefits of being unplugged at the river is that we will be parking our camper down a ways from the campground, at a friend’s private little camp spot … away from the commotion of other campers – nestled in the trees right on the banks of the river.
We have ordered the inverter we need to use with our 12v battery, (the one recommended by Jason in the Vanabode book) so that we can keep our laptops and phones charged, using the big ol’ Dodge Ram pickup battery to charge the 12v. It’s exactly what we did the summer in the tent to stay plugged in enough to keep our business growing.
Now, the rest of this week is going to be crazy busy with all the kind of last minute tasks you do to get ready to go anywhere. I’ve got a long checklist of things to remember, stuff to get, people to see once more before we leave.
You can feel the energy rising in us, and I believe even our Big Foot Camper can sense the coming adventure … there’s a roadtrip coming up!
Always breathtaking!
Back to the river, back to campfires, rides on the pontoon, spectacular sunsets, glorious sunrises, walks through the woods, the sounds of train whistles, coyotes, owls and flowing water … reconnecting to what we call “home base.”
It’s good to go back and touch base every now and then. It’s definitely time for this to happen.
It’s definitely time to take this next step to manifesting our Vanabode.
I’m excited to share with you our experiences from the river.
Stay tuned!
Trisha (and Bruce!)
p: 573-881-6715
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P.S. You can follow each step of our journey to our Vanabode here:
P.P.S. We love sharing our life with you because we know that seeing two ordinary people who absolutely love life and love traveling are actually doing it and having the time of their life gives hope to others who dream of breaking free. See how we love EVERYTHING we do – including our income streams! Click the banner below to see where you can start, too!
Yes, it requires you to remove your clothes, and there are some who will think of running around stark naked! While, there’s great freedom in being a naturist, it’s not the subject here. (we’ll get to that in another blog post!)
We’ve been carrying around excess weight for nearly two years.
Lugging around all of this: (it’s shocking, really!)
Guess what happened as soon as I finished clearing out the excess clothes?
I tackled books, papers, junk drawers, kitchen utensils and pots, and all that bathroom/personal stuff that had accumulated.
The result? Losing weight! A TON OF IT! Two huge trash bags of clothes removed to donate; two huge, HEAVY trash bags of junk to throw away; dozens of books to take to the library, a table full of items to sell or donate; a huge box of papers to burn …
And it feels so goooooooood! There is a lightness to the camper now. Our clothes can breathe. Not every drawer and cabinet is stuffed to the brim.
Now we’re wondering how our gas mileage will improve!
This was phase one as we prepare to reduce and simplify our life to live and travel in our Vanabode home. There will be MORE downsizing when the official moving day arrives.
For now, we’re good.
That was how to lose weight the Naked Hippies Way!
This downsizing experience has served two purposes …
First, Losing weight! The physical result of eliminating unnecessary and unneeded items from our living space feels so freeing.
Second, reflecting and realizing how much “junk” we carry around in our minds that weighs us down and keeps us from living the best life possible.
This is losing weight the personal growth way:
We carry around fear, anger, jealousy, lack, low self-worth, bitterness, doubt and worry.
It’s a huge burden that if not removed, will drag you down to the depths of a hellish life, a life where you just exist, you just get by, go through the motions … survive.
When you take time to reflect on the limiting beliefs you have been carrying all your life, you’ll say exactly what I said when I viewed the massive amount of clothes piled in our camper …
“Who NEEDS this?”
You definitely don’t need the negative, limiting beliefs in your life.
They have been taking up space in your thoughts for too long. It’s time to downsize … to clear out the junk drawers of your mind.
Make space for joy and happiness and expectancy and hope and creation.
How?
By going within … through meditation, reflection, getting still. By listening, seeing and feeling your connection to The One, God, the Universe, the great I AM – whatever name you give to your higher power.
Meditation is something Bruce and I take time for every day. No matter what. It is making a huge difference in our life, in what we are seeing manifested.
It is the ONLY way to find yourself, your true self, your higher self, your Divine self. Go within in order to soar without.
There are many roads that lead you to your inner self. Find the one that works for you. The only “mistake” you can make is in not taking the time to meditate.
No matter what road you take, the journey will be remarkable. It’s the focus of our morning mindset call “Journey to Magnificence” where we read and study and discuss personal growth books and ideas.
The call is open to anyone seeking guidance and understanding and knowledge about the Law of Attraction, about manifesting your desires, about being and doing and having all that you dream of.
Join the call Monday thru Friday at 10 am Eastern. Dial in for the live call and discussions here 712-775-7085 pin 150703#.
Dig a little deeper – expand your knowledge and understanding even more with these recent articles which will give you more insight for removing limiting beliefs:
Our dream is to live and travel and work from our Vanabode. We’re excited to share the journey of manifesting this in our lives. Keep up with our discoveries and manifestations here.
There is a lot more behind the scenes to visualizing that which you desire than just looking at pictures on your vision board.
Oh, it’s fun to create a vision board and you should certainly do that. Find pictures of what you desire, places you want to see, things you want to do.
It’s a great way to perk up your imagination and increase your energies.
We just created a new vision board for our Vanabode dream. We found pictures of it inside and out so we have a clear picture of what it is we will have when it arrives.
But, the pictures don’t mean a thing if you don’t take time to FEEL them.
Now, I’m not talking about running your fingers over the pictures.
What I mean by feeling them is taking time to feel what it will feel like when you have that.
Nothing happens to create your desire when all you do is glance at the pictures on your vision board.
The work is in getting into the feeling of owning it, experiencing it, seeing it … BEFORE you physically see it.
It’s believing before seeing.
That kind of believing takes some work so that the thing that you desire becomes so real to you, it’s as if you already have it, as if you have already experienced it.
It helps to think of it as a movie that you are watching.
The movie starts with moving day. I see us transferring our belongings to the Vanabode. We’re laughing and having fun making everything fit just right. It feels satisfying that we have simplified our life even more now and as we make the final preparations. We giggle like a couple of teenagers getting away with making out on the back porch.
The next scene is driving away in our Vanabode, waving goodbye to our friends, hitting the road. We crank up the stereo and sing along to our CD of roadtrip freedom songs … first song is “Freebird” of course!
It is exhilarating to be free, to be traveling in this Vanabode without worries about it breaking down.
We love the ease and assurance of being able to pull into any parking space, anywhere. We absolutely love parking along a river or lake and opening the back doors to enjoy the view. We feel at ease driving through big cities.
Gazing at the moon from the back of our Vanabode is going to be one of the most amazing experiences
Next scene, we’re driving across the country from Arkansas, through Missouri, Illinois, Indiana … on our way to the East coast. We are carefree, we are happy. I’m excitedly busy capturing pictures of the beautiful landscapes we see. We stop for the scenic overlooks, the interesting little towns and museums … this is how we live and what we love to do.
Everywhere we look, there is beauty and wonder
Next scene, we are in Maine and it’s 4 am … we’re sitting on a boulder on Cadillac Mountain, waiting to be the first to see the sunrise in the U.S. My heart swells with adoration for this beautiful moment, for being right here right now and I’m giddy with excitement.
I’ll be the first to see the sunrise in the U.S. at Cadillac Mountain
Now, we’re traveling through the fall colors that spread for as far as we can see. Our mouths drop open in wonder of the spectacular masterpieces our Creator has given us. Every turn of the road reveals another magnificent view. We travel down country roads and drive under canopies of red and gold and orange. We stop to walk among the trees and stand in awe of the beauty of nature.
Country roads, back roads, the roads less traveled … that’s our route
We travel at our own pace, stopping when we choose, pulling over when we’re tired or want to take a trail that we see marked.
We are energized by travel, by the open road. We are happy and joyful and fully alive at living this simple lifestyle that is rich in experiences.
We wake up each morning with eager expectation for a fantastic day of travel. We rest so well in our comfortable bed. I get up each morning and easily make coffee on our little propane stove. We find a spot where we can quickly do our T5T yoga exercises.
Our mobile internet device keeps us connected so that I can continue to blog about our adventures and efficiently and effectively do whatever marketing I need to do for our business – from wherever we are parked.
We fall asleep each night feeling immensely grateful for all that we have, all that we are able to do.
We LOVE our life!
That’s the movie I play over and over and over again. When I look at our vision board, I start the movie and live it with as much feeling as I can.
It is becoming more and more real and that’s how visualizing works. The more you can FEEL, the closer you are to creating and manifesting what you desire.
It is feeling as if your prayers have been answered.
Of course, you can do this same visualizing process with any desire. The key is to be specific instead of general. The more specific, the more the energy moves into alignment.
The following excerpt from an Esther and Jerry Hicks workshop sums up the visualization experience I’ve just shared with you, and I’ve taken the liberty to add our Vanabode desire to her words:
It’s going to be so fun to now watch the Universe deliver a path to me to help me to get into this Vanabode. Even though I don’t physically have the van yet …I can FEEL the universal forces lining up to bring me this experience. I can feel that I have captured the experience of this. I can feel that vibrationally it has happened within me. I can feel that I have come to match what’s in my vortex.
I can feel that I have been putting so many pieces into this vortex and I can feel that it’s already framed up for me. I can feel that the cooperative components have been assembled and I can feel that with this effort that once I got rolling that I made it into the vortex. I can feel now that this is a real probability.
This doesn’t feel like this is something that someone else is creating, it doesn’t feel like something I’m removed from … it feels viable and vivid and real to me. I know that I am the creator of my own reality and I so look forward to my time in this materialized machine, but meanwhile, my attention to it and my expectation of it is going to help me to feel the way I feel right now.
I feel vital and alive and assured. I’m happy that now I’ve finally talked myself to be a cooperative component. I’m feeling confident, even a little cocky! I’m going to watch for the opportunity that the Universe is going to offer me. It’s going to come, along with many of the other things that I’ve been reaching for.
Visualizing is a powerful way to manifest your desires.
Just make sure you feel the reality of whatever you desire as you visualize.
Maybe I should coin a new word … feelization!
What desire are you visualizing? Can you feel it now, BEFORE it is here?
P.S. Visualizing is something we discuss often on the morning mindset call: Journey to Magnificence
Come join us 10 am Eastern
712-775-7085 pin 150703#
We didn’t know it, but we actually were doing a Vanabode camping practice run in our Big Foot pickup camper…
20,000 miles, 18 states in 2014 …
we just didn’t realize how much of an influence the Vanabode book had impacted and influenced our simplistic, never-ending roadtrip lifestyle until we recently read the book again.
And now, as we prepare for our “official” Vanabode camping lifestyle, we’re feeling pretty good about how easy this transition will be. We have already been Vanaboding … in our pickup camper! Here’s how:
SHOWERING
Our pickup camper has a shower, but from the start, we converted that shower space to storage.
So, as we traveled throughout the USA, we showered at campgrounds, at the beach, at friend’s and family’s homes. Plus, we discovered that the habit of daily showering wasn’t as necessary as soap and shampoo advertisements want you to believe.
Have you ever showered in the rain? In the right setting, we take advantage of the warm summer rain. It is exhilarating, refreshing and absolutely makes you giggle with delight!
Love this simple solution for our Vanabode lifestyle.
But now – I’m excited to add this little gem to our Vanabode … this Advanced Elements solar shower which has received awesome reviews on Amazon.
THE JOHN
When I was a little girl, I remember traveling with my Grandma Day who kept a coffee can in the car for us to use as a pee can. It came in pretty handy on some of those long car trips.
Now, hold on to that little snippet of a childhood memory … and fast forward to 2014 when we took off in the Big Foot camper …
and picture this: stopping to eat at a restaurant, walking back to the camper, seeing a drip, drip, drip coming from the camper, a steady little stream running down the parking lot.
Is that what I think it is??? UH OH!
So, here we were miles away from our trusted repair man (who happens to be named James Bond!) and short on funds for any kind of major repair which we were sure this would require. (remember, we started out on this roadtrip as a leap of faith! Have you read our story?)
We decided to stop using the toilet because no one needed to be subjected to that when walking by our camper. No one! I all of a sudden felt like Pig-Pen, the Peanuts character that was surrounded by a cloud of dirt, except what we had wasn’t a cloud – it was a puddle.
So, back to my Grandma and her simple ways (which have influenced and inspired me in ways I never imagined until I simplified my life.)
With the toilet out of commission, and because we were often not parked in a campground with hookups and bathrooms … Grandma’s coffee can became the solution.
Now, some may find this totally disgusting and unbelievable … but until we made it back to James Bond in October, the Maxwell House coffee can served us well as a portable potty. Just sayin’.
Our Vanabode will have this portable Passport potty!
It’s a step up from the coffee can for sure. But it still requires a daily disposal of waste. As Jason Odom shares in the Vanabode book, they use the portable potty for peeing ONLY – unless it’s an emergency in the middle of the night. Easier cleanup, you know.
Here’s an interesting fact. FREEDOM IS HEALTHY!
Since hitting the road in November, 2013 we have been healthier than ever! Oh, there have been a couple of days of down time when rest was the most needed cure … but overall, we have not been sick.
We have never had intestinal issues that would have made the coffee can very unsubstantial. Freedom is good for you!
WIFI and Recharging
We depend on the internet for our business, so having internet access and being able to recharge our phones and laptops is something that we dealt with when we left on our never-ending roadtrip.
Most RV parks have WiFi available so as we traveled, we will periodically stay in RV parks to grab a shower to get our bodies reacharged and to get the batteries on our laptops and cell phones recharged as well.
But, there were many more times that we visited local libraries and spent the day working there. We loved the quiet environment, being surrounded by books, and having the easy access to WiFi and to outlets that allowed us to recharge our batteries.
Other options include Starbucks and even some Denny’s have free WiFi connections; but, we’re always considerate of the business who relies on getting customers in and out. That’s why libraries are our number one choice for recharging and Internet service.
Simple … easy … free.
This is what we use to connect to the Internet when we have no other options.
When no other options are available, we rely on this for our internet – Verizon’s MiFi Jetpack.
The 30G per month plan is usually enough for our business purposes, but we do have to monitor our usage. Streaming movies is out – it wipes out our data allowance much to quickly.
VISITING BIG CITIES
As much as we love to spend our time tucked away in the woods, there are times we venture to big cities – usually to attend a business event.
Last year, we were in Los Angeles three times and on the last trip there, we finally figured out how to visit big cities with NO HASSLE.
Of course, when we are in our Vanabode, it won’t be an issue to drive through the cities and park in the parking garages so we can easily sightsee or attend events.
But, when we are in the Big Foot pickup camper, maneuvering and parking in big cities is a much bigger issue. But, we found the greatest solution.
Departing LAX. Ex Continental
We park at the airport. Then take the airport parking lot shuttle to the terminal. Then grab the city subway or tram to head into the city.
At the end of the day, we reverse the process and climb into our bed, in our camper, parked at the airport with the sound of jets taking off to lull us to sleep!
Minimal cost and maximum stress relief!
We also park in Walmart parking lots overnight, at truck stops, and at casinos. (Now you understand why sleeping at the airport with jets taking off didn’t keep us awake.)
There was only one night when a Walmart guard knocked on our door and asked us to leave. No big deal … we always check with the store to make sure it’s okay to park overnight. But, on this night, we had navigated to the wrong Walmart. Same street name but at opposite ends in Phoenix.
One night out of 365 … not too bad I’d say.
This is one of the main reasons we are so ready to Vanabode. No worries about getting permission to park overnight. Stealth camping here we come!
Isn’t it great how one experience leads to the next, and then the next?
Would you Vanabode? Could you?
Trisha (and Bruce)
p: 573-881-6715
f: Find me on Facebook
n: Subscribe to the Naked Hippies Newsletter
P.S. In the Vanabode book, Jason has a complete chapter on making money while on the road. We’ve got that covered, too. Having a mobile business keeps you mobile, instead of being stuck in one place for six months to a year, or years as we did when we were campground hosts.
Have a mobile business. Something you can do from anywhere.
And in keeping with the Naked Hippies lifestyle, it has to be simple.
So simple that a 60 year old grandma can do it. (that’s me!)
Subscribe to our Naked Hippies Newsletter and you’ll find out more about our mobile business, our amazing simple system and how easy it is for you to do exactly what we do … well, except you won’t have to pee in a coffee can!
These articles are the journal I am writing as we manifest our Vanabode. Check back often … we know the perfect Vanabode is making its way to us.
Downsizing is something that is always on my mind these days and also a daily goal I have set as we prepare for our Vanabode.
The Journal of our Manifestation Journey
My intention is to do something every day to downsize. We’re moving from a Big Foot pickup camper to a Chevy Express Vanabode. A new adventure awaits the Naked Hippies Roadtrip!
These containers become our closet, our cabinets and our drawers.
Whatever fits in the six flat Rubbermaid 6 x 24 x 16″ plastic containers will be kept …
and right now, I bet I could fill at least 20 of those containers.
We have TOO much stuff … again.
I’m excited about the daily ritual of downsizing, but there is one thing that has to be unloaded first before I can begin to toss, donate or keep everything that fills this pickup camper.
I HAVE TO GET MY TAXES DONE!
What a relief it will be to get my taxes done.
Talk about a HUGE weight that will be lifted.
Whew!
I’ve been carrying it around for months.
Oh, please don’t even bother to mention this procrastination ploy I have fallen into again. I KNOW the deadline is April 15 – every year without fail. There’s no excuse I could give … I avoided and delayed the obvious.
So, now it’s time to get this baby put to bed and get on with DOWNSIZING!
Sigh. So many transactions, so many details, so many receipts.
If only … if only I had used that awesome tool to keep track of every expense and receipt last year.
I bought it, used it, then got out of the habit, didn’t use it … and now, instead of a one click printed report for the accountant, I have the mother of all spreadsheets that will scare the bejeezus out of you!
The tool that I used and then didn’t use is TaxBot. With this app I can track mileage, record expenses and take a picture of my receipt on my IPhone.
At the end of the year, everything is categorized and all you have to do is hit the “print” button.
So, that’s exactly where I am with downsizing for our Vanabode.
I expect to have this arduous task completed and submitted to my accountant before August 1. Yikes! That’s only one more weekend!
Stay tuned … and keep your ears open for the ROAR of “It’s DONE!” I expect it will break the sound barrier!
A very powerful way to manifest what you really really want is to tell the Universe by making a list.
Remember when you were a kid and wrote a letter to Santa, listing everything you wanted for Christmas?
Now, it was up to Mom and Dad to make sure that all or some of what you wanted was under the tree on Christmas morning.
But, the Universe IS real. And, you don’t need your mom and dad or anyone else to get you what you want – you just need to make a list.
Bruce did this list writing process many years ago B.T. (before Trisha)
He made a list to tell the Universe of all the qualities he wanted in a girl. Whenever he dated someone, he would weave into their conversations a question or comment that would readily tell him if this girl was “the one.” (of course, he says that he wasn’t in a hurry – he was having loads of fun dating all those potential women!)
Here you go Bruce! Love, The Universe
Then he met me.
I met all the qualifications/desires he had listed … and then some!
It worked!
When we were looking for a place to live, we made a list
A list of everything we wanted in the apartment or duplex or house. Our list included a washer and dryer, a dishwasher, a stove and refrigerator, two bedrooms, and these two most important requests: the place had to be extremely easy for my 83 year old dad to find when he came to visit and we didn’t want any steps because Dad had heart issues that made climbing steps difficult.
We checked ads in the newspaper and scheduled appointments to see five or six places, and at the last minute noticed a tiny little ad for a duplex in the price range we could afford. We called the number and scheduled to see this duplex first before all the others.
It was perfect. It had everything we wanted … and then some! It was a mile off the interstate. Dad could easily find it. There were NO steps to climb.
Today, we made our list for our Vanabode, following the same process.
Our Vanabode is making its way to us!
We’ve done more research and we have specific needs and wants for our Vanabode. Just as before, we are expecting the Universe to create this for us
These blog posts are my journal entries to record our experiences of manifesting our Vanabode. Our hope is that you will be inspired and motivated to dream bigger and go after those dreams NOW!
