Life on the road taught us that every successful traveler is backed by an invisible community of campground neighbors, repair experts, seasoned RVers, and unexpected friends
Published on September 6, 2024 – Narrated by Jim
We’re here! We’re ok!
You haven’t heard from us in a while, but that’s because we’ve been out adventuring. Oh boy, have we been adventuring – but more about that later.
For the next few … however long it takes … I will be handling the blog solo. That’s right, Living in Beauty will be the “Jim Show” until Carmen writes a first draft of her screenplay.
Living in Beauty isn’t just sun-kissed scampering these days.
We’ve been busy.
Beauty is serving as Carmen’s writing retreat and my comfort station following a short stint as a camp host.
Now, back in the San Diego area after being away for almost two years, reminds us that we are never alone. This is our pit stop, our watering hole where everyone knows our name.
San Diego still serves as our home base, although we no longer own property here. This is where we freshen up, fuel up, stock up, polish up and test out new equipment as we soak up advice from highly experienced RVers.
Several years ago while camping on the bay, our camp-site neighbors invited us to test their new inflatable kayaks. That very day we bought two similar kayaks that have served us beyond our wildest dreams.
When we wanted to add two cabinet doors to our Airstream, our good friend, Nate, offered to make them for us.
After they were installed, we needed matching Airstream hardware from 2001. I posted a photo of what we needed on Airforums.com, and a stranger named John gave them to us, postage free.
On another annual stop in San Diego, it was time to re-certify our old aluminum propane tanks. If we had gone to an unscrupulous company, we might have ignorantly accepted new inferior replacements as some vintage trailer owners have done. Ferrell Gas explained to us the value of our aluminum tanks.
When we were newbies, trying to figure out the best cookware for a small kitchen, full-time Airstreamers Elizabeth and Jack, introduced us to Magma nesting cookware. Even though we harbored doubts, we trusted their experience and now tell everyone how we love the stuff.
The folks we bought our Airstream from in 2015, Larry and Jacquie, not only sold us the best trailer we had seen advertised for sale in our year-long search, they also became close friends and trusted advisors.
Back in the summer of 2016, Vinnie Lamica of Vinnie’s Northbay Airstream Repair, spent two unplanned hours with us (in the middle of his work day!) familiarizing us with our Airstream. Wow!
When you are in the company of RVers you’re never far from help. While we were camping at Shenandoah National Park, followers of Living in Beauty, Darrell and Kris, shared great advice about golf-course camping and fine-tuned our folding Dolphin eBikes
We like playing with others, especially with those who know the game. Living in Beauty is a group effort in expertise from a wide range of experts. Our mistakes are our own, but we attribute our successes to “The Collective.”
Welcome to Camp Everybody.
In remote areas of Colorado, the Outer Banks of North Carolina or the High Sierra’s… where ever we are, we share the wilderness with European tourists, doctors, retired factory workers, astronomers, architects, retired military personnel, teachers, millionaires, free climbers, all tending to laundry, simple home-cooked meals, and vehicle maintenance.
The morning murmur of voices around the community water pump, and small talk shared along the path about the chill last night – did you see the wild horses in the valley? the meteors at dusk? – smoothes out any gnarly brain tangles you arrived with.
Every day is an exercise in the small stuff. The tank handle broke, a tire has a slow leak, the steps need lubricant … The commitment to RV travel is about a litany of daily challenges. These good diversions are all part of the therapeutic benefits of living in nature.
Tank management and charging batteries informs you about how little you, or anyone, needs to survive. Losing dependency on long, hot showers, unlimited water and a refrigerator the size of a walk in closet has ruined us. We look forward to weeks of adventure in remote areas and the peace and quiet away from the rush of civilization.
After eight years, we still feel like babes in the woods, innocents without a clue. We crave opportunities to sit at the feet of Experience. If you ever hear one of us say, “I’ve seen it all” or “I know it all,” please show us some compassion and slit our tires.
Engaging with others, locals, and travelers, is enlightening. Eating and playing within new borders, as welcome guests, broadens our experience, expands our world view, and stimulates our appetite for regional cuisine. When it comes to food, we are the most enthusiastic ambassadors.
When rolling into a new town, Beauty enters like a big shiny exclamation mark, “So excited to be here!”
She’s our friend-catcher. The locals approach, even before we have a chance to visit the tourism office, pointing out the landmarks, explaining the history, directing us to the sights.
It’s an open secret. The slow-travel, wheels-on-the-ground perspective of the USA is more informative than watching the news. Traveling in your own home is also a handicapped-friendly way to get out there. Even with foot injuries (on separate occasions) we’ve managed to experience the real America.
As we age, we don’t want to lose the feeling that every day is a deeper plunge into beauty in every color and dimension, for as far as the eye can see …
… waking up every morning with a great swelling sense of being blessed and excited about what the day will bring.
Even on days when we have no idea where we’ll sleep that night, we know it will be beautiful.
… because Beauty surrounds us.
And with almost 3,000 days on the road and no plans to house-up, our only regret is that it took us so long to discover the magic of mobility.
Okay. Ball’s in your court. Tell us your best Good Samaritan story. There is no word limit.
You can see our exact route on this map.
*Photos in this post, unless otherwise noted, were taken and copyrighted by Living in Beauty.
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Good luck Carmen on ‘draft #1’! This blog is a wonderful synopsis of your adventures!
David, great to hear from you! Your RV travel weather website and daily email is still our ‘go to’ source for up-to-date and accurate weather predictions for us as we make plans. Thank you for all the work you put into it. Send our love to Kathy. Jim
Although we have traveled in our Airstream for over eight years – 200,000+ miles 49 states, Canada & Mexico, we learn from and enjoy your blog. So well written and informative!
Denise, wow wow wow wow wow! 200,000 miles! Just wow! Glad you enjoy our blog. We would love to sit down with you and talk about all the lessons you have learned traveling that many miles. Although we have almost put that many on our truck, we have only towed the Airstream 70,000 miles in 8 years. We have a lot we could learn. Thanks for following Living in Beauty. Jim
Screenplay! Hosting! New adventures, love it.
We’re 4 weeks into a three-month shakeout trip with our 2017 Flying Cloud and your paragraph about all the little things that can break rings true. But also the sentiment about it feeling WORTH fixing it vs. all the maintenance stuff on our house.
In fact, this trip is to 1) get outta smoky C. Oregon and 2) see if our scheme to sell our house (and everything else) next spring and go full-time holds water. Can’t believe how fast a month can go, especially up on the spectacular Olympic Peninsula!
I don’t have any great Good Samaritan stories (yet), but have already had conversations with a bunch of other travelers and gleaned a few tips and ideas. Good times indeed. And Carmen’s declaration that travel gets the creative juices flowing is so true…feeling fired up these days.
Thanks, as always, for sharing your journey! A pleasure to follow along.
Dakota, yep, you never know what life will throw your way. Congratulations on being 4 weeks into your 3 month trip. Hope your comment about things needing fixing is not implying you have had lots of problems. Small, easy to overcome problems is what we always hope for. Sounds like you two are considering doing what we did, selling our real estate and all our possessions and hitting the road full-time. In case you haven’t read our blog about that, The Clearing, here is the link. Thank you for following Living in Beauty. Stay safe out there! Jim
We’ve read that excellent post plus a ton of other posts! Your resolve and story sharing is galvanizing my wife’s resolve to jump in. We did 3 years of van life in the past, but always kept the house in Portland. This would be different! Exciting.
So glad for you enjoying life to the fullest. I love to hear of your adventures and hope you stay forever young. We have traveled some on WBCCI caravans and loved them all. Stay safe and enjoy the best life ever. Dennis age 88
Dennis and Edna, congratulations on your travels at the age of 88. You are our inspiration for our future! Thank you! We are enjoying life right now. This is a wonderful lifestyle that we hope we can continue for more years to come. One day we hope to arrange to travel with an Airstream club caravan. Someday. Jim
Good Samaritan story: A year or so ago, my husband and I were camping in Lone Pine, CA in April. I proposed we drive to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, in the White Mountains, to see the oldest living thing on Earth- Methuselah; a 4,854 year old bristlecone pine tree. Hoping enough snow might have melted for us to get there in our 4-wheel drive truck we decided to give it a try. The sign at the entrance to the forest cautioned we would be on an unmaintained road and traveling at our own risk. We chose to push on. The road got pretty snowy on the north side of the mountain and before we knew it the truck was sliding sideways off the road into a gully. After about 30 minutes trying to get the truck out of the ditch and just as we were getting concerned because there was no cell service in the area, another truck came up the mountain attempting to get to the bristlecones too. He realized he couldn’t make it through the snow either so this Good Samaritan drove Mark down where he could get service and call a tow truck. It was a long day with no bristlecone pine sightings but we certainly had an adventure and were grateful for the kindness of strangers.
Mickie, what a great good samaritan story. Thank you for sharing it and detailing it so precisely. I as right there with you while reading. Glad it worked out and that you tow are not still stuck up there. 🤪 Thank you for being a follower of LIB. By the way, we love camping near Lone Pine in the Alabama Hills. Stay safe and happy travels. Jim
I happen to have a Good Samaritan story- A week or so ago the police helicopter was flying over our neighborhood around 10pm looking for- who knows, you can’t understand them. Lower and lower and louder they called out for a missing person alert. My neighbor called and was scared and I told her not to worry-keep your door locked. Bob comes from our bedroom patio and says “I am going out there. They’re looking for a 25 year old female in a white towel, and I am going to find her!” 😂 They found her but I think Bob is still looking.
Lori, I think there MAY be a bit of a stretch in the truth of this story. Just saying. Jim
During our May/June trip to Rock Creek, I witnessed a single man trying to park a small trailer. I immediately realized he had never backed into a campsite before. I suggested that Greg help him. Sure enough, first trip with his first trailer and being alone, no spotter. Greg gave him him a quick lesson: turn the opposite of the way you want to back which was not what the electrical engineer newbie thought logical. He also had installed a back up camera and didn’t use his mirrors. That didn’t help of course. But he was a quick learner and with Greg spotting he got it in a quite tight and short site. We’ve all been there.
Hope to see you soon, Linda Mitchell
Linda, great story. Thank you for sharing what Greg did. I had forgotten about the times we have helped folks back-in, sometimes for the first time. We were in Chassahowitzka River Campground in Homosassa, Florida when a lady in her 50’s was trying to back into a site with her new 16′ Airstream Bambi trailer that she had just picked it up from the dealer. After watching her attempt it several times, I offered to provide her a few tips. She graciously accepted. The first tip I always offer is grab the bottom of the steering wheel, not the top. Then, from holding the bottom, turn the steering wheel the direction you want the trailer to go while backing up. She caught on immediately and backed in, slowly, right into her spot. She was a very happy camper!!!! Hope we see you soon! Jim
Always a treat to get an update from you and Carmen. What an honor to be included in this latest post. Your kind introduction to Dolphins led to us buying two Dolphin e-bikes. Then two more. Yup, we have four Dolphins. Long story – best told around a campfire with adult beverages. Or in a good brew pub. Just took two of the Dolphins to the Atlantic Provinces of Canada including Newfoundland. Love, love how they store inside the motorhome garage. All the best. Darrell & Kris
Kris and Darrell, glad to hear you are enjoying your Dolphin eBikes. We still love ours and how they store in our truck. Someday we would love to make it to Newfoundland. Hope our paths will cross again and we can catch up. Stay safe! Jim
We love our Magma nesting pots too- in fact; I’m pretty sure your blog was where we first learned about them.
Cyndy, glad to hear it was our blog where you heard about this fantastic nesting cookware. We use ours everyday! Stay safe out there and happy travels. Jim
Yeah, yeah… I want to hear more about Carmen’s screenplay! 🙂
You’ve summarized part of the RV lifestyle really well, Jim. Us, road trippers, are all blessed with the beauty and gifts of Mother Nature, the friendships we’ve created, and the people we’ve encountered. Let it continue!
Liesbet, when. there is something to share about her screenplay, we will. We agree we are all blessed with the beauty and gifts of Mother Nature… well said. And, yep… let it continue! Jim
As far as help provided since living in a camper: tow multiple cars out of the sand, help install and wire Starlink units, offer advice about RV systems and technologies, help with computer issues, … Nothing too crazy. When we sailed, however, we saved at least three sailboats from running aground/ashore/on reefs. 🙂
Liesbet, thanks for sharing. Jim