Roaming About

A Life Less Ordinary

Month: December 2018

2018 at a Glance – Our Roaming Highlights

When I started following my travel passion over two decades ago, my friends were curious about how I could pull it off financially. The answer: all my allowances (as a teenager and college kid) and later my wages were saved up in order to explore the world. As I (unintentionally) became a full-time nomad in 2003, peers and strangers were still apprehensive; some of them even a bit jealous.

Then, as I kept documenting my lifestyle, first through email reports in Dutch, then in Dutch and English, and eventually via my blogs It’s Irie and Roaming About, comprehension set in. I’ve always written about the good and the bad of this lifestyle and offer a glimpse into our monthly expenses. More people “get it” now, and their “I wish I could do what you’re doing” has turned into “It’s awesome how you are living, but I couldn’t do it.” There’s the family, the routines, the job satisfaction, the comfort of home, the different priorities. I get it too.

Whether you are an armchair traveler or a fellow nomad, I hope you are still interested in the content and photos on Roaming About – A Life Less Ordinary and that you continue to follow along as Mark and I set out towards new horizons in the new year. Thank you so much for being here, for reading, commenting or offering us mental support and comfort to keep living the life less ordinary. Without further ado: here are the highlights of our last year in the United States and beyond. I’ve added links to previous posts where applicable. My 2017 overview post can be found here.

January 2018

The year didn’t start too well with my mother-in-law requiring a second brain surgery and her hard road to recovery. Mark and I flew back to Massachusetts from California to help out, after finding a replacement house sitter for those two weeks. Six months later, she was back to her old self. Amazing at 82!

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The Yeasty Beasty Experience

Today, I would like to introduce you to an incredible couple, who we are happy to call close friends. Some of our best friends are the ones we met when living on the road or on the water; there’s nothing like hanging out with kindred spirits, or visiting them again during our travels.

Mark and I met Tom in Green Turtle Cay in the Bahamas, in 2008. He was sailing his sturdy little Ellida and would meet up with his girlfriend further down the Caribbean island chain. In St. Martin, we caught up with him and Karmen, who is a chiropractor and aspiring photographer. Her traits came in handy, as Mark was suffering from a bad back one year and he and I had a romantic plan the next year.  Continue reading

Completed House Sits – Ojai, CA (November 18th to December 7th, 2018)

Every house sit Mark and I complete constitutes a chapter in our book of life. They are all different and compelling, whether it is because of the location, the house, the owners, the pets, or all of the above.

I just loved this crisp mountain view every day

Mark and I committed to our most recent sit in Ojai while we were traveling for a few months in our camper and didn’t plan on house sitting too much anymore. The home owner had contacted us in February, asking whether we’d be interested in a three-week sit in the fall. I had been vague – sure, we’d be interested (we had heard nice things about Ojai and being in Southern California that time of year is not a bad choice), but it was way too early to commit. She checked in with us every couple of months and in August, we bit the bullet and decided to be there, after confirming our 11ft high camper could park in the driveway.

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Monthly Expenses – November 2018

Expenses - image

Every month, I post a report of our expenses to show that it is possible to live a comfortable, exciting and adventurous life without breaking the bank. The less money you spend, the less you need to make. 🙂 Since July 2018, Mark and I have lived and traveled full-time in our camper van Zesty, which has affected our expenditure, compared to our previous house and pet sitting lifestyle. This last month was a combination of van life and house sitting.

This report includes ALL of our expenses, in US$, for the two of us. Under groceries we incorporate all the food, produce and non-alcoholic drinks predominantly bought in supermarkets. Toiletries belong in that category as well. Dining out means eating at a restaurant/event or purchasing take-out food. The health category covers non-prescription medicines and Mark's vitamins and supplements; medical contains prescription drugs and doctor's visits. Health insurance and costs are related to my health care as a permanent resident in the US. Mark is still eligible for free health care in the state of Massachusetts as of today. If a non-emergency were to happen outside of that state, it will be expensive! For check-ups, we both return to the East Coast. I still pay a small quarterly fee in Belgium for health care (required to retain citizenship), which I mention in my year report.

November was an interesting month. Half of it was spent in Zesty, as we drove south in California and spent a week in Monterey, working, and the last couple of weeks, we were settled at a house sit in Ojai. We REALLY tried hard to spend less money, but with my birthday and our Christmas shopping, the gift category went up. We kept ourselves from buying more alcohol, except for that one cheap bottle of white wine, and postponed filling up our diesel tank again until December. 

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IWSG Writing Update December 2018 – Monterey Moments

Every first Wednesday of the month, the IWSG (Insecure Writer’s Support Group) engages writers to share their fears, thoughts, progress, struggles, excitement, encouragement, or anything really, about their writing. A different question is posed each month, as a writing prompt for IWSG members. Answering it is optional. For December, the question is: “What are five objects we’d find in your writing space?”

This amazing, supportive group of writers was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Today, the co-hosts are  J.H. Moncrieff, Tonja Drecker, Patsy Collins, and Chrys Fey. Feel free to swing by their sites and see what they’re up to.

Answer to the question (“What are five objects we’d find in your writing space?”)

Probably the same items you find in other writers’ writing space – a laptop, a mouse, a glass of water (or cup of tea), a strong light, and a desk – with the major difference that everything but the laptop and the mouse changes whenever we move houses to take care of people’s animals.

My trusted computer goes everywhere with me

Book Progress

What was I thinking when Mark and I moved into our camper van Zesty indefinitely, at the end of July? That I’d be able to combine daily errands, sightseeing, driving, hiking, and translation jobs with writing/editing my memoir? Ha! And, it’s not that I didn’t know better, after running our own business from a sailboat in the middle of nowhere and from a couple of campers for years. Combining work, life and leisure on the road (or the water) is tough, leading to the insane and the impossible! Yes, Mark and I are good at making a challenging lifestyle just a tad more challenging.

Enough about my wishful thinking, my naivety despite experience, and my conviction that “it might work out this time.” It didn’t. I can’t concentrate hours on end to work on my book when: 1) my laptop’s battery only lasts three hours, 2) we have limited data on our cell phone acting as a hotspot; the same cell phone Mark uses for navigation when he goes on bike rides, 3) two people occupy the same 10 square feet and one stowable table simultaneously, 4) a paid job pops up each time I attempt to pick up that memoir again, and 5) we stay in all these amazing places full of discovery and adventure.

So, Mark and I are house sitting again for the time being. Continue reading

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