pickup-gets-naked

The Naked Hippies’ Pickup Gets Naked … one step closer to our Vanabode!

On October 16, 2015June 4, 2016 By Trisha BarnesIn Travel, Vanabode Dream, Work From AnywhereLeave a comment

Ready to see the Naked Hippies’ pickup get naked?

It’s about time, don’t you think? Ha ha!

We have lived and traveled in this Big Foot camper since 2010 … and have never taken the camper off our Dodge Ram pickup.

pickup-gets-naked-naked-hippies-roadtrip — We haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on our list!

Now, as we prepare for the switch from a pick up camper to the Vanabode stealth camping lifestyle, our truck had to get naked.

We had to remove the camper so we can sell the truck separately from the camper and still have a place to live while we modify and set up the Vanabode.

I have to admit, I was pretty nervous about doing this. After all, it’s our HOME and the camper has been resting on the truck for over five years. All kinds of what ifs started spewing from my mouth.

What if the support legs won’t hold the camper up?
What if we can’t get the camper back on the truck if we need to?
What if the camper tips forward because we sleep and get a bit rowdy on the front end where there is no support?

If this had been a reality show, you would have watched me stand close by with furrowed brow and an anxious look.

You would have seen Bruce read the instructions for removing the camper. (By the way, we were extremely grateful to find these instructions in the truck’s glove compartment! Can you say lifesaver?)

And, you would have seen Ron, our dear friend, pull out the necessary tools and gadgets from his magic storehouse and just tackle the job without worrying about the what ifs still pouring from my mouth!

Uh oh! The hydraulics aren’t working.

“I knew it!” Trisha mutters under her breath.

A quick call to another dear friend in Eureka Springs, who is the official Naked Hippies mechanic provided the solution … get some oil and a plastic squeeze bottle to add the oil to the hydraulic canisters.

That’s all it took!

Bruce and Ron cranked the hydraulics to lift the camper off the truck.

And now … Our Naked Hippies’ pickup gets naked!

I swear it kinda shimmied and shook when we “undressed” it!

We piled into the cab of the truck and took off for Home Depot to get concrete blocks to sit the camper on.

At first, Bruce was a little disoriented driving the truck without the camper on its back and without all that weight! He had to get used to have a 360 view of all traffic again!

It was totally weird to not have Big Foot with us.

Now we’re wondering what kind of mileage the truck will get. It’s been pretty awesome in spite of the weight. Bruce was getting nearly 20 mpg WITH Big Foot!

Lowering the camper onto the concrete blocks was a breeze. A successful job!

(AND, there IS support up front under the bed, too!) WHEW!

Who wants to buy a Naked VINTAGE 1989 Dodge Ram pickup 350 with a Cummins Turbo Diesel? This truck will run forever, or so we’ve been told by many mechanics.

Stay tuned … more adventures ahead!

Must Read

Visualizing Our Vanabode Dream

Vanabode Camping Practice Run

Living Off the Grid the Vanabode Way

Naked Hippie Roadtrip Fun — We LOVE our life!!

Trisha
c: 573-881-6715
f: Connect with me on Facebook

P.S. Everyone always asks … how do you afford to live and travel full time? As long as we have our smart phone and internet … we can work on our online business. We love the freedom! Get our free ebook that tells the story of how the Naked Hippies came to be … and how we just didn’t give up on living this dream. If we can do this, so can you! Grab the free ebook here: http://trishahippie.com

living-off-the-grid-the-vanabode-way-naked-hippies-roadtrip

Living off the grid – the Vanabode way

On September 2, 2015June 5, 2016 By Trisha BarnesIn Vanabode DreamLeave a comment

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.”

pontoon-on-the-missouri-river-naked-hippies-roadtrip — 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.

sunset-on-the-missouri-river-naked-hippies-roadtrip — 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!

dragonfly-naked-hippies-roadtrip — 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!”

peace-and-serenity-naked-hippies-roadtrip — Immersed in nature, awed by the peace and serenity here.

Trisha
p: 573-881-6715
f: Are we connected on Facebook?

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!

Visualizing Our Vanabode Dream

On July 13, 2015June 5, 2016 By Trisha BarnesIn Vanabode Dream2 Comments

Visualizing our Vanabode Dream

The Journal of our Manifestation Journey

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.

one-year-on-the-naked-hippies-roadtrip — 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.

visualizing-our-vanabode-dream — 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.

downsizing-to-vanabode-naked-hippies-roadtrip — 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.

Trisha (and Bruce!p: 573-881-6715
f: Are we connected on Facebook?

P.S. One of our greatest delights is hearing from you!
Leave a comment below … share your dreams, ideas, and
inspiration.

Stealth camping is for those who like to be able to camp anywhere in nature or in cities. The Vanabode way is the way to go!

Stealth Camping the Vanabode Way

On June 24, 2015June 5, 2016 By Trisha BarnesIn Travel4 Comments

Stealth camping, the Vanabode way is something we considered when we first started planning for our lifestyle of a never-ending roadtrip.

But, then our Big Foot pickup camper miraculously landed in our laps and we forgot about the Vanabode … but not really.

big-foot-pickup-camper-naked-hippie-roadtrip — This is our current home!

Now, after nearly two years of traveling around the country in our Big Foot pickup camper, we are seriously considering it again.

Actually, it’s more than just a consideration …

it’s our quest.

Let me describe what stealth camping the Vanabode way is. You live and travel and camp in a white utility van that has been revamped inside to be your living quarters.

Now, of course, all kinds of questions come up immediately about what kinds of revisions do you make, what do you do for a bathroom, a shower, a kitchen, storage, etc.?

All of those questions are explicitly and ingeniously answered in the book which you can pick up here or by clicking on the pic over on the right sidebar of this post.

The Vanabode book will answer all your “how” questions, plus give you so many ideas for saving money on travel, even if you don’t choose to live in a Chevy van.

Plus, if you have an ounce of the travel bug in you … if you love roadtrips … you’ll love the book. Just watch this and you’ll understand:

Here’s exactly why we are ready for the Naked Hippies Roadtrip to begin stealth camping the Vanabode way.

We’ve never wanted a huge RV because of the stress it would cause maneuvering a huge Greyhound sized vehicle through a city, or pulling a fifth wheel behind our pick up camper. Our pickup camper has been the perfect size for us … but,

it’s still is hard to maneuver through city traffic and parking isn’t always so accessible.

For instance, when we stayed at a hotel in Los Angeles last summer for a business event, the management had to open their back gate to let us into the parking lot because their front entrance was too low.

Found a great solution from this experience! The second time we went to Los Angeles, we totally changed our arrangements to attend the event. We parked the camper in the LA airport parking lot, took the shuttle to the airport (free), took the hotel shuttle to the event (free) and had the fun of watching the planes take off almost right over our heads! Total camping fee for the weekend event was $18.

We’ve stayed overnight in Walmart parking lots, at truck stops, casinos and even rest stops when a campground wasn’t readily available, or when we just got too tired to go another mile.

Some of these places have no problem with overnight RV parking, but more and more have added restrictions against RV overnight parking.

See why a white Chevy van would be able to park anywhere? It doesn’t scream RV!

One of our favorite places to visit is Ocean Beach, California. The first few times we were there, we were able to park our pickup camper on any city street as long as we paid attention to the early morning street cleaning schedule. We always found a parking space a block or two from the beach and loved it, of course!

stealth-camping-the-vanabode-way-naked-hippies-roadtrip (2) — We love the sunsets at Ocean Beach!

On our last visit there, an irate resident whose house faces the ocean came knocking on our door one afternoon, after we had spent the first night parked there. He informed us there was a new San Diego County ordinance passed several months prior that prohibited any RVs on city streets. It was his strong suggestion that we move or be fined $200.

Again, a white Chevy van would not raise any red flags. We could go back to Ocean Beach without any worries of fines.

I’m sure by now, you have begun to understand that our experiences of RV fulltime living are not like most others.

We do our best to avoid the RV parks where asphalt has replaced grass and RVs are lined up like houses in a suburban development.

We don’t hunker down in one place for the winter season like the thousands of Snowbirds that head to Yuma. We get restless to get the wheels rolling so we can see more of this great country.

We live simply to the point that towing anything is just out of the question. So, wherever we need to go, or want to go, the Big Foot Camper must go.

We’ve experienced enough restrictions over the past couple of years to make us realize that many people think RVs only belong in a RV park or campground.

The Naked Hippies are ready to start stealth camping. We’ve already been implementing some of the suggestions from the book. Now it’s just a matter of finding the perfect white van for us and fixing up the inside.

So, now begins another great adventure … the unfolding of our next dream which has caught us a little by surprise and stirred up quite a bit of excitement.

You know what happens when your dream becomes reality? Another dream is born, ready to evolve and unfold.

Our dream of living fulltime on a never-ending roadtrip came true and in 2014, we traveled over 20,000 miles through 18 states.

And now … we’re going undercover! We are ready to experience the same kind of adventures Jason Odom and his wife Kelly recently had on their eighteen week road trip along the East Coast … stealth camping the Vanabode way!

We don’t know when it will happen or how it will all fall into place.
We do know that once a dream takes root, the people, places and things to make it a reality are already available.

Stay tuned! This is going to be a great Naked Hippies adventure as we start planning for stealth camping the Vanabode way!

Trisha
p: 573-881-6715
f: Find me on Facebook

P.S. This quote from Jason Odom, creator and author of Vanabode just sums it all up for us. This is why we are living on the never-ending roadtrip:

“We have all wasted the romance because we thought we could buy with money from a travel agency what only extended periods of time can give us. We all stumble into that terrible day at some point, when we realize we have so few days left to do the things we dream about, having wasted so much time on nothing.” Jason Odom

P.P.S. Grab a copy of our free ebook “We Did It – You Can Too” which tells the whole story of how the Big Foot pickup camper landed in our laps!! Click the pic in the upper left corner.