Oh, how we WANTED to make this a magical experience. I so WANTED to claim my spot on Cadillac Mountain in Maine to be the first to see the sunrise in the U.S. We so wanted to visit states that neither of us had been to before. I so WANTED to visit Walden Pond, Niagara Falls, and all the quaint little coastal towns. My mouth was watering for lobster rolls. We planned to make it to Key West for Fantasy Fest at the end of October.
But … something nudged us in the other direction.
Call it intuition, call it divine guidance … call it whatever you want; but we turned the truck to the south instead of northeast.
Now we know why.
The East Coast is being deluged with rain right now because of Hurricane Joachim.
Flooding, high winds, massive rain, beach erosion – at a historic level is definitely not good for roadtrips.
We would have been smack dab in the middle of this mess if we had not turned around.
Isn’t it a lovely thing when you get to see the reason WHY you were nudged in a difference direction?
It doesn’t always happen this way so quickly or clearly when you stand at a crossroads. (But it’s awesome when it does!)
The Naked Hippies East Coast trip has been postponed until further notice. Actually, until next fall!
We’re grateful that we turned around.
Grateful that we didn’t let our stubborn egos drive us to make that trip no matter what. (I mean, we SAID we were going … are you going to do what you say, Trisha?) Monkey chatter, all monkey chatter to create self-doubt.
Plus, we’re excited to see what lies ahead for us in the Southwest this winter.
You don’t have to shovel sunshine!
Arizona, here we come!
Bring on the 85 degrees and sunny days!
Have you ever stood at a crossroads, felt that nudge and changed your direction?
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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
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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.
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!
Faith is to believe what you do not see and the reward of that faith is to see what you believe. – St. Augustine
It’s been a couple of weeks since Bruce and I made the decision to Vanabode. During this time, we have been immersed in thinking and reading and visualizing our Vanabode lifestyle.
We DID IT! Our dream became our reality!
It’s a familiar journey, for we recognize the excitement, the anticipation and the assurance that we WILL do this. We’ve done it before, when we dreamed and planned and made space to live fulltime in a RV.
This dream, though, is buoyed by the experiences we’ve had over the past eight years of taking leaps of faith, of studying personal growth, and of applying Laws of the Universe to our life. I believe this dream will become our reality in a relative short time as compared to the time it took us to finally get the wheels moving on our camper in 2013.
And, just as before, we don’t know how or when or where our Vanabode will show up, we just know that it will.
There are a few steps we are taking right now, a few rules we have set, in anticipation and preparation for the arrival of our Vanabode.
1. Daily Meditation
Daily meditation has become a habit for us over the past several months. It is during meditation that ideas begin to flow and we are able to see and feel our dream of Vanaboding as if it is happening now.
Meditation has so many benefits to our health, our emotional well-being, our reactions and our state of mind. Too many people medicate with Xanax or anti-depressants to feel peaceful and calm – we don’t medicate, we meditate.
We recreated our vision board with pictures of the Vanabode (inside and out), a map showing the East Coast roadtrip we will take from Maine to Key West, Thoreau’s simple little cabin at Walden Pond (which I am excited to visit), and the autumn colors of New England which we’ve not yet experienced in person.
This is our vision board – what we see as we fall asleep every night and when we wake up every morning in our camper.
I’m such a visual person that these pictures help me “see” the dream as I visualize during meditation.
2. Letting Go of the How
This requires a constant awareness because we are so used to taking control and figuring out solutions to everything in life. Yet, it is exactly what jumbles up the process, slows it down, and prevents your desire from showing up.
As soon as you begin to work out the details, trying to tell the Universe where to find the means to get you to your dream, the door to all the incredible solutions that you didn’t know about slams shut.
So, we are letting go and allowing the Universe to place people, places, things in our path to help us. Now, before you think we are sitting around on our asses waiting for everything to be dropped in our laps … there are some actions we are deliberately taking.
3. Taking Action, Too
Before we manifested our pickup camper, we took action to make space for our dream of living on a never-ending roadtrip. It was drastic measure from most people’s perspective, but it was exactly the right action for us. We got rid of everything in our two bedroom duplex and moved into a tent for the summer. The next Spring, our camper showed up.
We have lived and traveled in this pickup camper since 2010. Every inch of space has been utilized … and then some. It’s time to downsize AGAIN!
The goal we have set is to do something to downsize every single day. Remove something from this camper on a daily basis, until we are down to the minimal basics that we’ll need for our Vanabode.
We will have six plastic containers that are stored under the bed and a set of stacking drawer containers behind the driver’s seat. So far, I’ve decided I will use the containers as follows, but these plans are subject to change, as we get down to the final move in.
Kitchen utensils
Pantry items
Books and CDs
Tech stuff, tools, duct tape, etc.
Clothes
??
See? This is still unfolding as we downsize. My plan is to purchase one of the storage containers to use as a guide for what to keep. It will have to all fit in these containers … if not, donate it or junk it.
4. Awareness and Expectancy State of Being
We remind each other continuously of this dream in conversations between the two of us, and with others. Having a mindset of expectancy is what fuels the manifestation. We think and act and speak without any doubt or hesitancy. Instead of saying “IF” we say “WHEN.” For example, “If we can find a Vanbode for the right price,” we say, “won’t it be fun when we find the right Vanabode.”
And then, we stay aware of the unexpected solutions that the Universe sends to us. It just goes along with letting go and not trying to figure out how this is going to happen.
Everything you can imagine is real. ― Pablo Picasso
I’m sitting here in the camper, looking at a Mason jar filled with shells and sand and rocks and acorns that I picked up as we traveled last year. I smile as I am reminded of all the beautiful places we visited and now realize this jar will be emptied and not part of our next journey in the Vanabode.
Seashells, rocks, sand, pinecones, cotton, feathers, spanish moss, cactus pod, seaweed … all reminders of the beauty of nature we experienced
Maybe I’ll find a place in the woods here in the Ozarks to build a little gratitude shrine for all the memories these items hold. I’ll return them to nature – and in a thousand years, some archaeologist will find seashells in the Ozarks and wonder what strange phenomena caused them to be deposited here. J
I know what will happen next … we’ll be walking along a beach in Maine or Massachusetts and I’ll see a shell that I’ll slip into my pocket … and soon, another mason jar will begin to be filled with nature’s memories again.
Visualizing our Vanabode dream is fun and exciting. This series of blog posts will keep you entertained for sure, but also make you part of this incredible journey. We are honored that you dream and imagine with us.
You’re never too old or too young to step into your greatest self and live your dream.
I found this amazing list of accomplishments by people of all ages when I was searching for quotes about the limits we place on life.
1) Helen Keller, at the age of 19 months, became deaf and blind. But that didn’t stop her. She was the first deaf and blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.
2) Mozart was already competent on keyboard and violin; he composed from the age of 5.
3) Shirley Temple was 6 when she became a movie star on “Bright Eyes.”
4) Anne Frank was 12 when she wrote the diary of Anne Frank.
5) Magnus Carlsen became a chess Grandmaster at the age of 13.
6) Nadia Comăneci was a gymnast from Romania that scored seven perfect 10.0 and won three gold medals at the Olympics at age 14.
7) Tenzin Gyatso was formally recognized as the 14th Dalai Lama in November 1950, at the age of 15.
8) Pele, a soccer superstar, was 17 years old when he won the world cup in 1958 with Brazil.
24) Marie Curie was 35 years old when she got nominated for a Nobel Prize in Physics
25) The Wright brothers, Orville (32) and Wilbur (36) invented and built the world’s first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight
26) Vincent Van Gogh was 37 when he died virtually unknown, yet his paintings today are worth millions.
27) Neil Armstrong was 38 when he became the first man to set foot on the moon.
28) Mark Twain was 40 when he wrote “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, and 49 years old when he wrote “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”
37) Ray Kroc Was 53 when he bought the McDonalds Franchise and took it to unprecedented levels.
38) Dr. Seuss was 54 when he wrote “The Cat in the Hat”
40) Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III was 57 years old when he successfully ditched US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in2009. All of the 155 passengers aboard the aircraft survived
47) At the age of 89, Doris Haddock began walking the 3,200 miles between Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. to raise awareness for the issue of campaign finance reform. She did it in 14 months, walking ten miles a day.
48) Trisha Barnes was 58 when she and her husband took off in their pickup camper to live, work and travel the country on the never-ending Naked Hippies Roadtrip.
It’s no longer an excuse … old or young, you can do anything you set your heart and mind to accomplish.
The first step toward getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.
~ Unknown
One of the greatest joys I have is working directly with people of all ages. The young ones give me hope that there are great changes coming from their generation. The older ones inspire me to fill my days doing what I love with energy and vigor.
You’re never too old or too young to live your dream.
The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.
― Jordan Belfort
What about you? What is it that is calling you to step into more life, more YOU?
P.S. We live the Freedom Lifestyle. We can work from anywhere we choose to be. We can be across the country visiting friends and family, walking on the beach, climbing the red rocks in Sedona, or parked in a campground. And we can still work ON our business. This business does not require me to punch a clock, sit in commuter traffic wasting hours we could be spending together, waking up at some crazy hour just to make it to work. We get to work with people we choose to work with, whose company we enjoy. We are the CEOs of us – the Naked Hippies!
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