52: Solo Traveler Tell All! Airstreaming Across America with Travel Blogger Deborah Dennis

Ever dreamt of selling everything and hitting the open road? Digital nomad and travel blogger Deborah Dennis did just that. This fearless world traveler decided it was time to explore her home country so she packed up her life, her two dogs, and her Airstream travel trailer, and started a journey across the country.

Our conversation with Deborah is a deep dive into the realities of solo travel. Deborah candidly discusses everything from the fear of towing a trailer to the joys and challenges of traveling with dogs. She also breaks down her preferred places to camp as a solo traveler, how to find the best boondocking spots, state and county campgrounds, and  Harvest Hosts, a membership that provides free stays at charming farms, wineries, and breweries.

But Deborah's journey doesn't stop at travel. She ventured into the online world, started a travel blog, enrolled herself in classes to expand her knowledge, and explored varied opportunities in the digital sphere. From full-time travel to intermittent travel, from online side hustles to full-time endeavors, Deborah's story is truly inspiring. Whether you're a seasoned traveler, a digital nomad, or just someone with a dream, this conversation with Deborah is sure to get your wheels turning.

Follow Deborah:
Travelswithwally.com
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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

So picture this you get rid of all your stuff, purchase an airstream travel trailer when you've never even towed anything before, and you set off on a cross-country road trip by yourself. Sounds overwhelming, right, but that's exactly what this episode of the Wayward Home podcast is all about. Deborah Dennis took the leap and traveled full time with her two dogs and her tow behind trailer, all on her own. She has tons of interesting tips and lessons about how to do this by yourself, what it was like as a single woman, and what her lifestyle looks like today. Let's go. Welcome to the Wayward Home podcast, all about van life, boat life and nomadic living. We'll bring you tips, interviews and stories from the road and on the water. Now here's your host, Kristen Haynes. Hey there, I'm Kristen Haynes with thewaywardhomecom and I spend half the year in my camper van and half on my sailboat in Mexico. I hope to inspire you to live nomatically too.

Speaker 1: 0:50

So before we jump into this episode, I just wanted to ask you this have you tried boondocking before? If you don't know what boondocking is, that's totally fine. It's finding beautiful and free campsites on public lands like Bureau of Land Management and on Forest Service lands. It's our favorite way to camp in our sprinter van, but you might be a little nervous about boondocking. How do you find campsites? Can your rig really go safely down those dirt roads? How do you find food and water? How do you take a shower? Well, in my boondocking 101 guide I answer all these questions and even show you the best and my most favorite ways to find these free campsites. You'll also get a logbook and trackers. You can keep records of your favorite sites. Are you interested? Well, you can head to thewaywardhomecom forward slash boondocking to grab the ultimate boondocking guide with the logbook and tracker. Again, head to thewaywardhomecom forward slash boondocking.

Speaker 1: 1:43

So in this episode of the Wayward Home podcast, I talked to Deborah Dennis, who's a travel blogger, photographer and designer, about her solo trip across the United States in her Airstream travel trailer. When she decided to take this trip, Deborah had never even told anything before. But Deborah isn't a stranger to solo travel. She's tracked black rhinos in Zimbabwe, sailed in Tonga, photographed lions in Africa, hiked Machu Picchu and scuba dived the Great White Wall in Fiji. She's quite the adventurer and has a blog called travelswithwallycom. It's such an inspiring episode to hear more about Deborah's journey, so let's get into it. Hey, Deborah, thanks so much for joining the Wayward Home podcast. I'm so happy you're here today.

Speaker 2: 2:25

I'm so happy to be here. Thank you.

Speaker 1: 2:27

Awesome. So first of all, let's just go into a little bit about your travels. I know that you have an Airstream and you travel in that, and you took a cross country trip in your Airstream by yourself. So let's just go back to the beginning. What made you decide to get that Airstream and take this trip in the first place?

Speaker 2: 2:44

Well, I've traveled all over the world and I just always wanted to come back home and see more of the country and see family and friends and bring my dogs along. And so I just researched it a bit and I decided I wanted to have an Airstream travel trailer, and so I went off and bought one and decided to go cross country on my first trip, which was kind of, you know, industrious.

Speaker 1: 3:12

Yeah, very much so. And what was it like because I have a little bit of a fear even driving the Sprinter Van I'm in. It's a big van, I got used to it. But what was it like for you in the beginning, you know, learning how to tow something that's a whole other animal to learn how to deal with.

Speaker 2: 3:26

Absolutely. I have to say, I was terrified and there's a funny story about it because a friend of mine found this Airstream used, but it was in Texas and I'm in Northern California and there just wasn't a lot used. I would have had to wait six months to buy a new one, and so I just called the guy up and I said, you know, would I just drive there and pick it up? And so you know, that's basically what I did. We arranged the whole thing.

Speaker 2: 3:55

The unfortunate part was it was February 2021. And I drove down there and the Texas Ice Storm hit and I was in West Texas and if you've ever been to West Texas, it's a crazy, huge expanse of land and I just got stuck in a hotel for five days on my way to pick up my Airstream. So well, that's a bummer. It was a bummer. It was a bummer, but I got there and he gave me a two hour tour and he gave me a 20 minute. This is how you tow a trailer and off I went. And, yes, I was terrified, I actually was.

Speaker 1: 4:35

Hey, and how did you eventually get used to that? Did you have to watch like videos, or did you just jump into it and start driving it?

Speaker 2: 4:41

and practice makes perfect, I watched a few videos on how to back it up. So that helped a lot. But it was trial and error. I mean, it was just. You know they tell you just do everything slow, do it incrementally until you can really, you know, get the feel of it. But you do, you feel very unwieldy on the road. My Airstream is tiny, it's only 22 feet long and you know big tractor trailers and other big RVs go by you and I'm not very big on the road, very true.

Speaker 1: 5:16

And so, eventually, you learn to drive it, and as a you know, solo traveler, single woman, like, what was it like for you to embark on this journey? What was that like at first?

Speaker 2: 5:28

I know it was. It was kind of. It was interesting. You know I'm very intrepid. I've been lots of places on my own doing solo travel, so that wasn't the hardest part. The hardest part was just navigating a new world of RV parks and understanding you know how to do trip planning and making reservations that's hard. And driving and taking care of my dogs All that stuff was difficult, more difficult than I thought it was going to be. Actually, it just took a lot.

Speaker 2: 5:59

Plus, I work on the road. I'm a digital nomad. I work and have to go to places where I have Wi-Fi to upload, you know Zoom calls, and so that was yeah, that was hard. I mean it's funny. Though, when I get to RV parks and I drive in and I park, you know people come over and you know guys will come over and they're like so you buy yourself and I'm like no, I've got my two dogs with me, because they just look at me like did you just do? You know, like you're doing us all alone? And women come over and they're like oh yeah, I want to do what you're doing. I want to leave my husband at home.

Speaker 1: 6:40

That is so funny. I was. Yeah, I was wondering how people would react, because I think it's a little less common to see a solo female on the road. I still think people just take, do a double take. They're like how is she doing that alone? Did you get a lot of that, you know, as you were traveling across the country?

Speaker 2: 6:55

Oh, all the time, all the time. Yeah, and you know, like I said, it was very curious. People were just so curious. I was like I don't know. The thing in the zoo that you go look at right is like we got to go talk to her. What was she doing this? What is she doing? Why is she doing this? So yeah, oh funny.

Speaker 1: 7:14

And were people always friendly? Or did you ever get any weird kind of vibes about that from people?

Speaker 2: 7:20

You know what I thought I would have more interesting experiences or difficulties or something, especially on the whole cross-country tour, you know, going to different states, different people, because people, you know people just say, oh, you know, aren't you scared, aren't you this? And I have to say everyone was so helpful, so friendly and I had like zero weird experiences. I mean I camped in lots of different places, nothing ever unsafe or scary. But to some people I think they would feel you know a little more, you know, not comfortable. I mean I have a group of friends on Facebook and you know acquaintances and stuff, and there was lots of questions of you're so brave, you're so this and I don't know. I'm not sure I feel that brave, but I definitely think it's inspiring to see someone like me you know I'm older, I've done a lot of things, but still totally new experience for me like you know, taking on a new challenge.

Speaker 1: 8:27

I think it's really cool to hear that you've had such a good experience on the road as a solo female traveler solo traveler because I get a lot of people writing to me asking like, can I do this, is it safe? And it sounds like, from your perspective, you had a really great time and continue to have a positive experience out there by yourself.

Speaker 2: 8:44

I have and I, you know, I think there's a level of a mindset right. I mean, I have a very adventurous mindset and I think just being open and flexible and, you know, being open and kind to other people seems to bring that kind of response back right. You know, I'm grateful to be out there and living this life and do want to share it with people and kind of, you know, help people do that. And one question I get all the time is oh, I'll do it someday. And you know it's like anything. You know we're just getting older, the world's changing. It's like I just tell people just do it now, you're never going to be ready, you're never going to be totally ready, you're never going to be. Oh, I've got everything you know figured out, because I certainly didn't. You know, I just kind of flung myself out there.

Speaker 1: 9:40

So yeah, that's so cool and encouraging to hear and, yeah, and that makes me think about you know, the next thing for us to talk about is parking your Airstream and figuring out the trip planning, Because I know when I travel around, it's me and my partner, Tom, and he's driving and I'm doing all the Googling and the research and the bookings and he's. So we have this kind of you know we share, but you are saying you're doing this all by yourself, as a digital nomad while driving. Tell me a little about your planning, especially with the trailer, and how you do this by yourself.

Speaker 2: 10:09

Yeah, absolutely Well, I was. I was. I was very nervous about not having a place to stay because with a, you know, with a trailer, you can't just pull off the road like with a van, right? You kind of have to be somewhere. And so I always, before I got on the road in the mornings, and I would plan three or four days in advance, if I could, just where I was going to camp, right, and usually I would stay two or three or four days because, you know, I had a trailer so I could make camp, which is why I wanted a trailer. I looked at vans I want to make camp and then I can take, detach my trailer, take my dogs, we get in the truck and we go hike, explore, kayak, whatever we wanted to do, right, and so that was my thinking. So I would get to places and I would figure out these cool places.

Speaker 2: 11:00

And again, I found Really cool places because I did a lot of research. You know, I didn't want to just stay at rv parks with, you know, side by side and your, you know, cramped in and all that kind of stuff. So I paid a lot of attention to all kinds of different sites and apps and learned a lot About finding either remote sites or, if you want to go to the national park, in you somebody. I asked some friends and they said stay at henry's lake, which is outside, and it's just a so much better experience, you know, because you're not dealing with crowd, you're not so. So that was my way of wanting to travel right, to be more in nature but still see a lot of different things.

Speaker 1: 11:42

Yeah, and what types of facilities to do typically stay at. I'm sure it was a combination, but over some of your favorites.

Speaker 2: 11:49

Yeah, it was definitely combination. I would say county parks, state parks Are fabulous in a lot of different states, or again, california, iowa, they're just amazing. Probably underutilized research, I don't know. You know we stayed going to the grand tea times. I mean just amazing.

Speaker 2: 12:10

But another thing I found somebody turned me on to was a thing called harvests host, and so in between I would call, you know, find a harvests host, and harvests host is Usually one night stay.

Speaker 2: 12:22

You join this membership thing for less than a hundred dollars a month or a year and then you get access to I think now it's forty five hundred different places all across the country.

Speaker 2: 12:36

And I remember I started on my trip and I love farms, I've worked on farms, I love to eat well, and so I went to this first place. I think it was outside a crater national monument, someplace in I'd a hoe, and it was this beautiful farm and you on the, on the, when you sign up. You know, once you sign up it's free, you just request access and basically they say, okay, park over in the horse pasture and then you can come to the greenhouses or the, you know the farm, and buy whatever we have. And I was like this is the fricking coolest thing Because, for one, most of the places I've stayed because their farms in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes there's nobody else there and you can have the run of these places and you never get to see these things otherwise. You know, they're kind of sharing their livelihood with you and we're at the same time, I felt great supporting small business, especially a farm.

Speaker 1: 13:37

Yes, true. And so when you go to one of these places a farm, a winery, a brewery and others, lots of different venues what kinds of things would you purchase from these farms, for example?

Speaker 2: 13:49

Anything they're growing. I mean, I went to three or four alpaca farms a ranch in Wyoming and she actually needed from the alpaca will and she had this whole store inside a ranch when she sold socks and everything. So it's great to buy gifts for people, which is what I did, and then, you know, I stayed on a place of blueberries or buy any kinds of things they made, you know, or had harvested, depending on the season apple farms, maple, sugar farms, all kinds of different stuff. Yeah, the wineries are scared a little more challenging because you tend to spend a lot more at those. So I haven't gone too many of those up your budget.

Speaker 1: 14:33

That's very true. If you go to a farm and you're just buying some vegetables, that is way cheaper than bottles of wine or dinners out and stuff like that Exactly. I heard some people say oh, I want to do harvest host, but I have to buy something and that seems expensive. So it's good to hear that you don't have to buy super expensive things when you stay at these places.

Speaker 2: 14:54

No, absolutely not. But you know, in my case I would buy that food anyway. So why not buy it from the farm? And you only have to, you know, as a courtesy, only have to spend twenty dollars. And so you know. Again, it was stuff I was gonna buy anyway. And then the gifts and these different places were fabulous. I mean even a winery. If you didn't even drink, you could go to a winery and just buy gifts for people. So I like that whole small business, entrepreneurial stuff, because I've been doing that all my life as well.

Speaker 1: 15:26

Right, yeah, yeah, it is really cool to support small businesses and it's really affordable when you think about it. For a hundred dollars for a year. When I've seen our view parks, that are like sixty five bucks a night. That's pretty economical, do you think?

Speaker 2: 15:40

Oh yeah, our view parks are getting very expensive, I think, and full. They're very full, especially during the summer.

Speaker 1: 15:47

Right and have you had experience also staying in our view parks?

Speaker 2: 15:51

Yeah, I think I mean our view parks are fine, you know. I mean definitely if you want to stay, you know, close to a national park, for instance, or you know just traveling in different places, maybe closer to cities. I mean I have stayed in plenty of Our view parks and and they're fine. I mean I again, with my trip planning, I use google maps and I see what they look like and how the terrain is, and do I have to make any, you know, different driving directions because I have to plan that out before getting the truck right. Nobody's in my copilot seat except my dogs and they're not giving me directions so true, and how?

Speaker 1: 16:31

how far in advance do you plan out your campsites?

Speaker 2: 16:35

Yeah, not too far, because I like to be flexible. I actually just went up to vancouver island from northern california for a couple months I'm just may, june, july and I did plan some things I had to plan, like the ferry crossing, taking the art, you know, the rv, the air stream over on the ferry, so stuff like that you have to plan. But I think I only called week in advance and you know I tend to, you know, just like I said, park the rv somewhere for three days, four days a week, and then I can do, you know, trips and driving around and hiking and stuff while I'm there.

Speaker 1: 17:16

Yeah, and I interesting thing about harvests host is you can probably get one fairly easily. I'm guessing, depending on where you are in the country, that you don't have to plan that out many months in advance. Is that was at your experience with harvests?

Speaker 2: 17:29

and some have same day, like I stayed at the telemark cheesery in oregon that literally I think they could. They had a field just outside the you know the greenery, where probably fifty are these good park and people just came in and left so they always had space and they had a restaurant there. So you just park and you know it's just great transition from you know driving, cause lots of times like I went all the way up to vancouver island so I had you know three or four days, I think I spent two weeks getting up to vancouver island, right, so it's kind of that trip planning and I have to say, or again, state parks rock. I mean they are just fricking fabulous right yeah, yeah, they are.

Speaker 1: 18:16

I've stated a lot of organ state parks I'm from, or again, and I love them in california has good state parks and you know my mom travels in a big class a and they love state parks, is their preferred place to camp and you're right that it's kind of overlooked. You know the state. We stated a county park last night in san diego and those are often overlooked so there are a lot of places to stay that people you know you don't have to book out. I hear from a lot of people like I have to book the six months in advance. All these campsites are gonna be gone but really they're not and you and I are just to yeah well, and you have to be flexible, like I'm flexible, to be off grid.

Speaker 2: 18:51

I have solar. I can be off grid three, four, five days and you know I have enough water capacity right, and so you know you go to camp handiom or any of these other bigger sites where you know where can you boondock next to some place where you want to go. Another option and I've done that a bit arizona and colorado and different places, so you know there's always alternative. I think it's just harder to research and that's what stumble people stumble on.

Speaker 1: 19:21

Yeah, true, so you have boondocked with the air stream. I was gonna ask you about that. What was that like?

Speaker 2: 19:26

Yeah, a little bit. You know, and I'd like to boondock more. I'm just I'm actually going up to the eastern seara is in a couple weeks with a friend and you know we're going up to monolake area and stuff and you know I think it'll be really fun experience. Sometimes it's nice, like I tend to now what to camp with other people who have fans or who have, you know, an rv and that's. You know more of a building, a community, and when I went across country I stopped at a lot of different friends, places and Experience. Do you know parts of their life, like in the upper peninsula, michigan and places like that where I'd never been before?

Speaker 1: 20:04

Yeah, that's. That's interesting, because another thing people ask me all the time is I want to go rv in a van, but I'm going to be so lonely and by myself, and what would you say to people that are worried about that?

Speaker 2: 20:16

Sometimes I am, I have to say, but you know there's always people around there's, oh, and people are just so friendly. Everybody's out Playing party and have a good time. Having the dogs is always a good conversation starter with people. Lots of people travel with dogs and so you know I'm I am really an introvert, but when I'm on the road I just feel the need sometimes to want to have you know experiences or find out what they've experienced that you know I wouldn't find out otherwise, or I wouldn't, I wouldn't see otherwise. So I think there's a lot of that sharing and Conversation that goes on about what did you, where did you go? You know.

Speaker 1: 20:59

Yeah, for sure. So when you're at a campground and you're walking your dogs, it's fairly easy to meet other campers.

Speaker 2: 21:05

Yeah yeah, I think. Well, you know, you gotta make an effort. I mean, as a solo person. I mean I don't know if you travel solo anywhere in the world. If you travel solo, your, your tendency is to want to connect to people, no matter what. You know, I was in africa traveling solo and again, I just would have conversations with people. Can you watch my bags? You know for us a while? Can you Give me directions? Or I think you're just more outgoing when you travel solo.

Speaker 1: 21:37

Yeah, yeah, very true, and you travel with your dogs and that probably helps with companionship and just you know, having the ability to travel with pets has probably been something wonderful for you. And what kind of stories or advice do you have about traveling with dogs?

Speaker 2: 21:53

Yeah, I think you know a lot of our viewers travel with dogs and I think you know the important things are. I'm just really conscious of stopping every couple hours, right, get out, or all stretching our legs, having to pee, and you know other and other things is just weather like one time I wanted to go to the bad land. We're driving through to iowa and I want to stop in the bad land and there was this boondock place that the national park said is one of the best. Well, I get there and it's a hundred and five degrees and my air conditioning doesn't work with just my solar and so literally the dogs and I mean it was gonna be a hundred degrees at night so it was not.

Speaker 2: 22:39

You know I stopped and I talk to some van people and they were gonna stay, but they didn't have dogs. You know you have to pay attention to that kind of stuff. You know we ended up going to an RV park down the road that had a pool that I immediately jumped in. The dogs can go, but you know, second stuff, extreme weather events are, you know, more of a challenge. You know, driving through Kansas when there's a hurricane warnings, that's always a little crazy thing to do.

Speaker 1: 23:08

Oh yeah, that's right, but it's kind of cool, given that the RV you have. You can go to an RV park and you can plug in and then you can run your air conditioner, right oh? Totally that's so. That's amazing. That's definitely something we don't have in the van. So when it's hot we just freak out.

Speaker 1: 23:23

We're like, where are we gonna go? So we end up driving. We have to go to the coast, the mountain, so we're extra Cognizant of weather because we don't have a way to cool off the van and so that's hard yes, yes, they're making portable a c units now.

Speaker 2: 23:38

So, you might try that, because you know, I think the world's just heating up, isn't it?

Speaker 1: 23:43

yeah, really is, and it's horrible to be stuck in a van or an RV without a way to cool off. It's really like one of the worst things that we've ever experienced.

Speaker 2: 23:52

Yeah yeah yeah, is the biggest thing you know for sure. Yeah, we have to pay attention to.

Speaker 1: 23:57

So, yeah, true, yeah, so I wanted to talk a little bit about your digital nomad stuff because people are wondering you know how to make money on the road and you and I are both digital nomads. So I'm curious if you could talk to people a little bit about what you do to make money so you can travel throughout the year.

Speaker 2: 24:15

Yeah, well, I've been in silicon valley for a long time and so I've been a ux designer and I managed to always get out of the office and work at home for the last, you know, up to fifteen years, and so being a remote worker was not a new experience for me and I've always enjoyed that. So that was one of my reasons to really go on the road is I could just take my job anywhere. I'm a, you know, freelance consultant and you know I zoom meetings and then I do my work at home and upload my information, like you probably do. But there's lots of other ways to make money on the road, as you know. Like you know, there's all kinds of less online stuff and more stuff like camp work camping, I think, and you know, being the park rangers or the.

Speaker 2: 25:12

I think that job would be kind of fun because you go in and you're, you know, the camp host for a summer and then you could just move around to different you know camp grounds and I thought that was really cool. So I talked to a lot of camp hosts about their jobs. But the online world, I think, just makes it more flexible, right? You could either sell products or, you know, do freelance work in lots of different venues and you know, figure it out and I think it's just trial and error for people. You know, I think it's some work getting it going, but I think it's all doable.

Speaker 1: 25:48

Yeah, same. There's so many options out there now, especially if you want to do your own business like freelance, right? I did that quite a bit before my blog started making a good income, so I was just piecing it together and it's possible. There's so many opportunities out there and I think it's inspiring for people to hear about it and know that you know you can make it work. Anybody can really do it. There's something for everyone, I think and I know you've done articles on this on your travel site and there's a lot of ways there are and I think what's?

Speaker 2: 26:14

I think what it is is overwhelming to people and they don't stick with one thing, like you. Probably. Stuck with writing, got good at writing, sold articles and then you're going right, and so I'm starting this travel blog and learning. There's so much to it, right and and, but you have to stick with it, you have to learn about it, you have to get a community around it, you have to get training and teaching and you know just all I mean. I tell my friends about this and they're like why are you doing this?

Speaker 1: 26:39

You know you're. You're totally right about having to stick with some things. I know when I started blogging, I knew nothing about it. You know, as a journalist, that was my background. I'm like, what is this online business stuff? And I took just tons of classes. I'm still taking classes and I treat it like another degree. So I think for people you're right they need to stick to it, learn all they can, and there's a lot of community out there with whatever you're trying to do. I think there's so much online support, so that's fantastic.

Speaker 2: 27:05

Yeah, and I think you can either treat it as a side hustle, as I call, where you just want to make some hobby money, you know, or you can turn it into a business like we're doing right, you know we're we're doing more. It more on a business level where you know you, you can sustain yourself, you can make a living doing it.

Speaker 1: 27:23

Yeah for sure, so cool. So you did this six month, you know RV trip across the country and tell us a little bit about what is your current travel style like? Cause I think it's neat for people to hear about a variety of different travel styles. They don't have to do one thing, which they don't have to be full time all the time, you know. I think it's good for people to know there are ways to balance it with other types of living. So if you could tell us about what you're currently up to?

Speaker 2: 27:47

Yeah, absolutely. I tend to go on two or three month trips. Now I just got back from Canada, as I said and so that you know was more of a big trip, and then the summer is is more difficult to travel, you know, just with heat and you know all kinds of people out there on the roads, and so now it's after Labor Day and I'm ready to get back on the road again. So when I come back to the Bay Area I have a tiny house, I have a 425 square foot cottage and that's where I reside. So I like my small living. I downsized several years ago, got rid of all my crap and, you know, find you don't need much. The first time I got in my air stream and went across country I had so much stuff and now it's just kind of empty, like even clothes. Like you know, you just don't need a lot of stuff.

Speaker 2: 28:38

So, yeah, I like, I like the intermittent. I'm not sure I would want to go on the road full time, but I could. You know I might eventually sell this place and you know, go on the road for a while and see where else I want to live.

Speaker 1: 28:53

Yeah, yeah, so true, and I think one day I would love to have a tiny home on a property as well, because we split our time between the van and the boat and even that's a nice change, because the boat is way bigger, it feels more like a home. You know, the van is small and nimble, but I like having that diversity in the lifestyle and not just being in the van or just being in the vote, where you have, you know, your, your small home and your RV, so you get to do a combination as well.

Speaker 2: 29:17

Yeah Well, I stopped by tiny communities any place I can. I stopped by one in Oregon and they're they're fabulous. As a matter of fact, many friends are talking about, okay, how are we going to have this tiny community when we retire and then you know how is this going to work? And I think that's going to be a huge, huge thing, right? People want a small footprint. Maybe they want to live in Canada in the summer and then live in Arizona in the winter. I think there's all these different ideas and options out there now, which is kind of fun and it's it's more doable. You see people doing it. You see these little communities coming up too.

Speaker 1: 29:56

Yeah, and I really hope that does become more of a thing, because you know, as all of us you know, get older and retire, like maybe we don't want to go live in like a home per se, maybe we want to live in these tiny communities that have activities and, you know, support, and I think that's just a really neat idea for people of all ages, you know, to have that, and so I hope that we do see that more. I think it's a cool model, you know. I'm hopeful that that happens.

Speaker 2: 30:20

Yeah, and, and you know, I don't think it has to be just when you retire, because I would want diversity, I would want all kinds of ages, because you know if we're gonna have, you know, grow our own food, say, you know you kind of want the young people in there to help do that. No, seriously, like you know, be as self-sustaining as possible because I think, again, I think there's lots of changes in the world that are making that Kind of something we all need to think about.

Speaker 1: 30:49

Very true. And yeah, the multi-dimension or the multi-generational stuff is important. To have people of all ages interacting and helping each other out, I think, is an ideal situation. So, yeah, let's, let's hope we end up in a community like that one day. I think that'd be lovely.

Speaker 2: 31:04

Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, maybe they'll become something like a harvest host. I've been thinking about this where there is a Whole communities of tiny homes and you can just, you know, be a member. Come and join them, you know, pull up your van for a month or something and be part of this community, because People are really craving that. I crave that, I want I've told all my friends, I want to bring them along all the time, but they need, you know, they need some place to stay and be, and you know how does that all work. So I think we're all just kind of brainstorming and trying to figure that out.

Speaker 1: 31:39

Yeah, very true, we could be seeing some fun changes coming up on the horizon, which I'm hopeful. So yeah, we'll just see what happens. Cool, so tell me a little bit about your site. I know you have tons of helpful articles on there. So, yeah, tell us about your site, how people can find you and what types of articles you have up there.

Speaker 2: 31:58

Yeah, you know I I didn't start it too long ago so it's still work in progress, but it's called travels with Wally calm and wallies, my, my little, you know, rescue dog. I have Lottie da too, who's another little rescue dog, and they're just, you know, kind of my inspiration. For you know, starting this site and you know I just have articles on all of my trip experiences. I, I'm a photographer, so I share lots of Photography and images on Facebook and Instagram and you know, just all these beautiful places that are in the world that you know other people want to see, I get inspired by other people, so I go, you know, look, you know, visit them. And you know I think there's a lot of cool stuff in this country.

Speaker 2: 32:46

I haven't been in a plane for a while and it kind of feels good to be more terrestrial and, you know, just discover things. I mean, my backpacking days, I think, are over, but you know it's nice to bring your little, you know, world, even small as it is, and, you know, go out in the wilderness and be closer to nature. That was, that was always my impetus for for doing this. But, yeah, but my friends encouraged me to start this blog and you know, tell all my stories and you know, inspire other people to kind of be out there.

Speaker 1: 33:20

Totally, and I think it is really cool to travel around with your own little tiny home. I know I love having the van and it's just. I have everything I need right here, and I think that's really cool. I don't have to get used to a hotel room or an Airbnb. I always sleep poorly when I'm inside a new place, and so having my boat or my van is really cool. And, of course, when we don't fly as much, we cut back on. You know the environmental impact of flying. I am flying somewhere later this month. I hardly ever do, but it's true that I read that that's one of the main ways that we can help the planet is to reduce the amount we fly, and so that's a good thing to think about as well, I think, for people.

Speaker 2: 33:57

Yeah, I think so, and you know just the hassle and the crowded and getting on a plane and how long it takes, and you know all that kind of stuff you know, it's nice to bring your little, you know RV along and having my own bed every night, that you're sleeping in your own Stuff and you know you have to pack your bags every night Very fun.

Speaker 1: 34:17

Yeah, I think it's inspiring for people to hear so yeah, thank you.

Speaker 2: 34:21

Thank you so much for asking me to join you. My blog has all my links to Instagram and Facebook and all that, and, yeah, this was very fun.

Speaker 1: 34:29

Well, thanks so much for listening to this episode of the wayward home podcast. As always, I'm really thankful for you, the listener, for showing up and listening to these episodes. If you have a minute and you listen over on Apple podcasts, remember to just give me a rating over there, and if you want also a review, that really helps other people find this podcast as well. Or if you have a friend that you think would really enjoy the wayward home podcast, just send over an episode you think they'd like. I really appreciate it. Thanks so much and I'll see you next time.