Living off the grid – the Vanabode way is not new to us, but …
we’ve had to figure and refigure this transition.
One thing we’ve learned on the Naked Hippies never-ending roadtip is this … if you stay in one place too long, you can get too comfortable and too used to a set routine …
so that when you move on, the transition to a new setting, a new routine is sometimes arduous.
We spent the summer in Eureka Springs with our dear friends and business partners. We were spoiled in every way, for sure, and are so extremely grateful for their gracious hospitality.
But, we pulled out last weekend to come back to our Missouri River home to reconnect with our “roots” and the beauty and serenity of this place … AND to begin living off the grid. No electricity, no hookups, in preparation for our Vanabode lifestyle.
So, as we’ve had fun seeing old friends and getting situated on the banks of the river, we’ve had to figure out how to power our laptops and cell phones – to keep our business growing – since we don’t have unlimited internet and continuous electricity flowing to our devices.
We’re using a 12v battery and an inverter, just as we did when we lived here in a tent one summer. Read our story here!
So, it’s back to the basics again!
It has made us mindful of our habits and caused us to plan more strategically for the work we do every day.
We even bought a portable CD player to use for the guided meditation series we are using so that we don’t use up all the laptop power while meditating. You remember those portable CD players?
As always, there is a solution for everything that comes up, for everything that we want to do. So, we’re making this transition pretty easily and having a ton of FUN figuring out our new “routine.”
We never pass up an invitation for a boat ride on the river!
A routine which includes time not only off the grid, but off the laptop and cell phone, to watch the river, dance under the full moon, listen to the coyotes and owls and cicadas, ride on the pontoon, and say “amen” to another wonderful day as we watch the sunset over the river.
This is what I collect now!
Interesting and exciting to me are the dragonflies that hover around me as I sit outside with my laptop or my journal. The dragonfly animal totem represents transition, adaptability and reconnecting with Mother Nature. BINGO! Exactly what we are experiencing!
Beautiful messenger!
We’re parked right on the riverbank, under massive shade trees and have the most incredible view of this beautiful river from right to left as we fall asleep and wake up every day.
This is where we call “home” because it’s where our dream went through its labor and birth.
And now, there’s a new “pregnancy!” (hold on now – read the previous sentence – it’s not ME!)
A new dream is going through the labor to be birthed in our lives … the dream of our Vanabode.
You can read all my journal entries about manifesting our Vanabode here.
So far, so great is how it feels to be living off the grid!
All in all, we still say “it doesn’t get any better than this … until it does!”
Immersed in nature, awed by the peace and serenity here.
P.S. The #1 question we are asked when people find out we live and travel full time on the never-ending roadtrip is this … “How do you afford to do this?” If you’re asking that question in all seriousness because you have this urging within you to travel, to be free, to live life on your own terms … and you know that life is too short to wait … send me a message on FB or text me. Let’s talk!
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
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