Dateline: Clayton ID, 1 August 2026
We’re now heading into our 2nd half of our 2nd full year of full-time RVing…and just like Carl and Ellie—actually better, since we’re on the adventure together!—we thought it was a good time to explain...why we keep explaining.
When first we began telling our friends our plan to go full-time (FT) RVing, they kept peppering us with questions, like, “How will you get mail? How will you cook meals (this one puzzled us, till we figured out why it was being asked)? How will you get your medications sent to you (another issue to be addressed, anon!)?," among many other enquiries.
For some of the questions we had answers: we figured that most folks looked at what we were planning, and thought, “Camping. Tents, cooking over campfires. Pooping in the woods."
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| Our fire ring in Oklahoma |
Y’know…campfires, out under the stars, roughing it with nothing more than tin foil in which to bake potatoes, and a cast iron pan to cook our collected road kill….:)
We finally grokked what folks were asking, based upon what they believed 'RV camping ‘ to be. They thought we’d have to cook, campfire-style! Setting up for campfire cooking is not the easiest way to make meals, certainly not every night, plus a number of places where we camped didn't allow open campfires, so that put the kibosh on that. There is also the not-inconsequential cost of firewood, coupled with wind (and ash, and blowing embers).
In fact, we prepare all our own meals, in the RV’s little kitchen. We have a gas stovetop and teensy oven, a microwave, a convection oven, and most of all the other goodies one uses to fix food.
It’s little, but, there’s only two of us!
We have yet to cook over a campfire…toast marshmallows, maybe roast some weenies, but that’s it!
So, thats where we live…in a simple small efficiency apartment, that just happens to be towable!
The old saying, 'Home is where the heart is,’ has never been so evident, so real, and never so enjoyable. I think we all know that saying, but this nomadic way of life has driven it sharply home…So to speak!
Heres a few places we’ve called home…
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| The apartment on wheels, backed by the mountains of Clayton! |
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| Folks know where to find us.. |
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| On a trip up to Mt Borah, tallest point in Idaho |
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| The road less traveled…. |
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| Deformed sedimentary layers of Mt. Borah |
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| Part of our “office" |
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| The Boardwalk! |
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| Wildfire smoke…. |
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| On our ATV adventure! |
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| An old, mossy tree |
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| “We’re on the top of the world.." |
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| Moss-covered rocks, back of Clayton.. |
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| Renee’s ‘fitchin’ pond! |
Now…getting mail and meds? *That’s* been a bit more challenging.
First, the mail: Intially, we had a friend in Colorado, to whom we forwarded our mail, and she would sort through it for us, discard the junk, and scan or read us the important things. In antipation of going FTRVing, we had transitioned almost all our important mail transactions to paperless, online formats, but there were a few that would not allow that.
In any case, you can only forward mail up to a year, then the USPS will no longer allow that, plus, we felt we were overly importuning our gracious friend.
We switched to a mail forwarding service: there are a number of them, and the one we chose, for no other reason much beyond their name, “Moosely Mail,” in Pinedale, Wyoming. For a nominal monthly charge, they will discard junk, send you photos of non-junk, and if you request it, they will open and scan the contents, then shred it all.
Second—and this one actually was easier than we anticipated—medications: Due to the interconnectivity of most health care providers, and nationwide chains, like Kroger or Walmart, you can obtain meds at any of their pharmacies.
So, the short answer: we live wherever we land. Kinda Zen-like, but true. We actively choose our ground-of-being, and engage with it. There is little rote about our existence, and we get paid handsomely, by the sights we get to experience, the people we get to meet, and the freedom.
At any moment, we—the editorial we—choose our existence: we’ve just chosen to do so, on the road.
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| Selfie sticks do come in handy! |
A little video of our backcountry ATV trip!
https://youtube.com/shorts/DCsgyBj0P2k?si=L1gsrFELPeGHtr-G
The ATV gets you places like this...
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| …and this... |
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| ..And this! |
When we began living this way, we were unsure how our ’son’ would adapt…
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| Unsure as to the proper use of a picnic table..! |
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| How he spends most of the time as we drive..sacked out! |
…well, same as always…happy!
Arlington finds ‘his trucks’ to be safe spaces: he has a bit of separation anxiety, so unless we medicate him, we aren't able to leave him alone in the trailer, for long. However, in his trucks, we can leave him—with the AC on—and then take him along, if we’re shopping, or going out to dine. He’ll just lie down, and go to sleep. He is also blessed with a bladder that can hold a gallon….!
So that where we live…that’s where we enjoy this blessed retirement…and we wish more of you could join us!
Seeya down the road!
