Just as I hit my stride today, masterfully balancing housework & editing, my husband walked in the door with five of these adorable little guys. Sadly, they appear to be abandoned; he ran across them last night, and when he checked on them today they were no better off. Scattered around a very hot sidewalk in Central Florida, and a day promising temps in the 90′s, he knew he really had no choice but to rescue them. At about 48 hours old, they were likely to end up dead from heat or a meal for one of the many creatures that inhabit the area where we currently stay.

Unfortunately, it’s Sunday and there isn’t anyone around to bring them to. After a call to my mother-in-law, some checking online, and a trip to the store for a kitten bottle & kitten formula (yup, they make that), all five are happily cat-napping away in their makeshift home at the moment. I’m seriously hoping the local shelter will take them and continue to nurture them to the appropriate adoption age, I’d hate to think of anything bad happening to them.

Needless to say, my productivity dropped to zero after the arrival of the kittens. On the other hand, my dog Bitey, who had spent the better part of the day holding the couch down, leaped into action. She’s been pacing around the kittens bed, sniffing them, watching them…she seems a little confused, but still guards, which I think is sweet. The confusion must be due – in part – to the fact that Bitey is quite fond of chasing grown cats. These guys are defenseless and so very tiny, and they don’t run away at the sight of her!

It’s a darned good thing we are on the road, it would be hard for Justin to take them from me if he had found them when we were home.

Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival

During the spring, Epcot transforms into a wonderful world of colors, fragrance, topiary displays and much more. Although it’s my first trip to Epcot period, I could not have been more delighted than to find out about the annual festival, which is put on by HGTV (which I love!)

Already a stunning park full of fountains, water features, lakes & tree-lined walkways (more of my favorites), the festival put this very-amateur photographer into snap-happy overload. Below you’ll find a few of the shots that interested me the most, but I will definitely be back, hoping to catch some of the blooms during the ‘golden hours’.

If you’d like to enjoy some other photos of the festival – as well as information, history, and events, the festival has two great places to check out, their Facebook Page or at Disney’s web page on the event.

Epcot holds a special place in our heart now, and I know we’ll be back many times. There is so much more to tell and share, but this festival deserved a post all of it’s own!

After you have a look, let me know what your favorites are, I know I have mine!

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When Justin and I first starting talking about this adventure we’re on – about 3-4 years ago, I was never really sure what it would entail in terms of business. At the time, a lot of people were making a lot of money on the idea of a four-hour work week, taking mini-retirements and outsourcing all their work to foreign countries. One of the many books we read made it seem so easy and so appealing (I guess) – how you could live for pennies on the dollar in other countries, make a short call to your ‘virtual assistant’ each day and spend of the rest of it froclicking in the sun. I had a lot of issues with this.

Love in Utah

First off, I’m a happily married and much-middle-aged dog-mom who loves her role as the family “Aunt” – I could hardly see me sauntering off the South America with a backpack and a smile. Secondly, the idea of ALL play and no work doesn’t appeal to me. In fact, when we find ourselves with the rare weekend completely away from computers, I miss work! I miss my clients – many of whom have become good friends over the years, I miss the interaction, the relationships – the frustration of the creative process as a whole, and I need it all!

As our dreams of traveling now vs. later in life (see our About page for more on why we do this), the idea of making additional income off of the process crossed our minds more than a few times. It’s just now, a good year or two of the planning stages and 3 months of the actual ‘doing’ that I’ve come to realize that is not what I want. Too many days stressing over how much I should write, where I should submit stuff, am I following the right people? It started to flow over into both my personal and business lives and I became lost in it all.

What I really want is to write for myself. For my family, my friends and my loved ones. I want to share the adventure we’re on without making them feel like their sitting through family slideshow night. What I don’t want is to fret about what I write, how I write it, etc. This needs to be more of a giant love letter to the people dear to me, and if our experience can help others trying to decide if a location independent lifestyle is for them, then great. If not, NBD, and my niece would say. No big deal.

So for now I’ve decided to move towards more of a travel journal, but with my everyday life infused (One of my favorite past blog entries is off the birth of my “nephew”, Austin, and how worried I was about his Mom) – and I believe that is how it should be. In the end, if I inspire the next generation of my family to swim against the stream and live life for their passions, their dreams, their desires – and not solely for the traditional ‘must make all the money I can’ route, then I’ve done my job.

As for my Facebook, Twitter, etc. accounts, I’m going to disband any other than my personal ones – social media has become a monster, and I have enough trouble staying current for the people I need to. The last thing I want to do is offend all my ‘Friends’ because I posted 1000 photos of snow of Facebook.

Dear family – I’m saving that just for you, some of you will love them, some will hate them, and I love that I know all of you well enough to know where you fall in that category.

One aspect of living life on the road/run, is that my husband and I are quickly learning how to adapt and combine our old lifestyle – fully stocked kitchen, a familiar grocery store with sales, checkers that know us by name, and so on – with our new nomadic one. Needless to say, it’s been a challenge, albeit a fun one.

First of all, Justin and I have completely different styles of doing many things, and nutrition is one of the biggies. While he is all about the high-protein, low-carb, big manly carnivore items, I opt for more low-fat, plant-rich selections. (Don’t let that last statement fool you, Justin tends to eat healthier than I, since he tends to avoid sugars and starches, which are my Achilles heel.) Neither of us are big restaurant diners, for a few reasons.

Cost – That’s a no-brainer. Unless it’s something I cannot prepare myself, it’s tough to pay $20 for a steak dinner when I make a mean one at home. Being as humble as I can, I must say I am one heck of a good cook…just ask my family.

Selection – It’s hard for both of us to stick to our desired meal plans when dining out. Even though I know restaurants will take special requests, I was a waitress in my younger days for many years, and I know it’s not always easy on the staff, a leftover value from my days slinging burgers.

Portions – This is another area like special requests, where I realize it can be done, but does anyone except super humans with willpower of steel actually do it? I know we don’t. Sitting in a restaurant and enjoying a meal has a way of somehow warping your brains belly-o-meter, and you never really realize just how much you ate until it’s time for that walk to the car. I’ve literally seen every friend and family member I have leave an establishment rubbing their stomach, leaning back, commenting how full they are – I’m sure you’ve experienced the same.

So where does that leave us? Or I should say me, since I’m the designated cook in this pair. Justin could quite well be a better chef that myself, however just looking at his family favorite recipes gives me a pain in my chest! Our friends can speak to that first hand – but Justin by a grill or a deep-fryer and you’re in tailgate heaven. Wings, homemade fries, steaks, ribs – he does it all. Since I’m pretty fond of my husband, I try and keep him in all his caveman glory, all while omitting as much of the unhealthy stuff that I can.

This means a lot of “home” cooking – much more challenging without a home, usually sans stove & oven, and just a tiny fridge/micro combo in the room (if we’re lucky!) As I’m writing this my latest batch of three-bean chili is simmering away on a portable burner strategically located atop the dresser – I make do with what I can! Larger batches of chilis or soups can be a great option if you do have the room to store items in cooler or mini-fridge. Just dish them into single serve containers and you’re set. By making it yourself you have the ultimate control over what you’re eating, you’re generally going to pay less than buying canned, and it’s much better for you. Plus, it’s a lot easier to pass on high-cost/highly processed fast food when you know a nice warm meal is only a minute or two away at your home base.

Tips I’ve Learned So Far:

Don’t assume motels, hotels, and such will have the necessary items you need. I left many of our favorite cooking utensils and small appliances at home in storage, thinking I’d never need them. So wrong! We’ve made more than a few trips to Wal-Mart, Dollar Tree and such replacing our abandoned favorites for much less desirable ones.

Evaluate just how important an item is and how often you’ll be using it – especially before going “cheap” I really can’t stress this one enough. My very favorite chef’s knife & stone currently lie at the bottom of a plastic tub in a cold garage while I am mangling tomatoes with a special 3 for $3 set from the local discount store.

We’ve officially been on our own and without a “home” (a lease, an apartment, rooming with family, etc.) and it’s time to do a little reflecting on what worked and what did not.

First off, how did finances measure up?  This is probably the area that I am most excited to see go down in the future.  For the amount of traveling we did, however, I’m quite pleased with the results.  During the month we spread our time between six hotels and spent about 30% more than we would have back home in our last apartment.  Having to do it all over again, I could have saved about ½, putting us at less than a permanent location.  Not bad considering these factors:

Rookie Mistakes

When heading to a town known for its conventions, it’s wise to check the calendar before giving up your room.  An ill-timed change in location – due to a poorly kept motel – cost us at least a few hundred dollars & nearly a full day of work.  We discovered this when we left a Motel 6 in search of a better place during the week of the Consumer Electronics Show.   Ooops.   Apparently, one of – if not the – largest convention Las Vegas hosts.  Plus side – We ended up in a great resort about an hour or so Northeast of here in Mesquite, Nevada.  This also enabled us to visit Utah and Arizona both, including the town of St. George and the Valley of Fire.  It was wonderful!

Traveling With Pets!

I love my dog, and I will never leave her behind or “board” her for the sake of a nice hotel room (which more than one proprietor has suggested!)  Unfortunately, having her in tow does costs us some additional fees & phone calls.  Without her we’d be in a condo overlooking the Strip for far less than we paid this past month, but then it wouldn’t be a family trip, now would it?  My advice – put your investigative skills to work when looking for a room with your furry friend.  Fees vary widely.  Some hotels charge per stay, some per night.  Most will cap the fee at some point.  Extended Stay of America, where we are currently staying, charges a hefty $25 per night (although they call it nomial), but their fee maxes out at $150, no matter how long your stay is.  Marriott’s Residence Inn charges  around $75 per stay, which works well if you are staying a week, saving you about ½ of the Extended Stay’s fee,  but could quickly deplete your budget if you were staying just a night or two.

Don’t Be Afraid To Check The Goods First

A half-million dollar view!

Was It Worth It?

Without a doubt – absolutely!!  We have seen more in the past month than in years before…we’ve experienced things that we never thought we would (half-mill condo included!), and had the best times.  Our entertainment budget has stayed relatively low – Groupon, free attractions and visiting places during “off-peak” times have all helped.  You cannot put a price on some of the experiences we’ve had, including an impromptu night with visiting relatives, pulling off the road to watch rock climbers, stumbling across the Valley of Fire, and many evenings spent in front of the Fountains at Bellagio.  In the past 30 days we’ve gained an invaluable amount of knowledge as well, including how to ensure February tops this past month!

Now the big question – where do we go next?  That’s probably the toughest decision of all

Last night Tearei and I decided to treat ourselves to what is supposed to be the best buffet in Las Vegas. I have to admit it was a pretty amazing buffet. We got a couple of discounts through dinners4tonight which sells coupons (kinda). It’s confusing, but saved us about $10 on our meal.

We got there at about 8:00pm and waited in line until about 8:3o. I’m not a big fan of waiting in line, so this wasn’t a fun part of the evening.  That said, once we got in I could see why there was a line.

This buffet is easily twice as big as any buffet I’ve ever seen. The biggest draw seemed to be the crab legs. I saw several people with plates piled high with just crab legs. I’m not much of a seafood person so I didn’t bother. Tearei had a couple and said they were good.

They have sections for Italian, seafood, Mexican, BBQ, Asian, American, a huge salad bar, and about every kind of desert you could think of.  It took us about 15 minutes of wandering around before filling our first plate. It was almost like there were too many options

I ate too much, and ate some more, and tried to talk Tearei into driving the van into the casino to pick me up. Of course she wouldn’t do it.

If you are thinking of going to the Carnival World Buffet, I’d make a couple of suggestions. 1) Wait until you are hungry and weight an hour more. 2) Walk through and see all the food before you start picking out what you’ll eat. 3) Get a coupon from Dinners4Tonight and save a couple dollars.

All and all it’s a fantastic Buffet. If you like crab legs it’s especially nice.

One of my resolutions was to have my own “every day for a year” type project.  Another was to start going a Photo-of-the-Day, partially to help document our travels.

Looks like *my* project365 will be to post a photo every day Problem solved.  So – a few hours late, here is my very first Photo of the Day (POTD), on the very first day of the New Year, just a few days into our new nomadic lifestyle.

Winter in Venice ~ Christmas Tree Lights (The Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas, NV)

I took this photo for the lights themselves.  Encased in different-sized plastic bubbles, each one containing 4 led bulbs, I found it stunning.  You may have seen more on my Facebook page, but this particular photo captured the inner workings of the tree lights, and is still beautiful.  Additionally, you can spot the snowflake embellishments on each bubble, something that is harder to see when the tree is in any other color state.  Enjoy! (I’ve included the Venetian’s stock photo of the tree for you to see the size and surroundings)

Tearei & I never go out and do anything for New Years Eve. This year we were in Vegas among the huge crowds. But, let’s back up to the trip here…

With New Years Eve on a Saturday this year, the traffic on Friday made it seem like California was emptying into Nevada. At points I felt my GPS was “punking” me as it said it was going to take 3hr 11min to travel that last 100 miles, but still said the same amount after another hour of driving.

We made a couple of silly errors. One of course was trying to travel when everyone else was as well. Another was waiting until the last minute to book a room. Lucky for us the extended stay still gave us a decent rate as we were going to be here for a week. Otherwise the “cheap” motels were $120 +.

At about 6pm we were ready to head towards the strip to join in the festivities. Our plan was to take a bus that goes right in front of our hotel. It’s a straight shot about 3 miles down to the strip, so we didn’t think this would be a big issue. We waited at the bus stop for about 20 minutes or so, and then we saw the two story bus heading our direction. The driver only slowed down slightly to announce “You’re going to have to catch the next one.” We figured that if that one was full the next one is likely to be as well, as it was still early in the evening.

We switched plans and drove, paid the $20 for parking, and walked up to the strip.

Earlier I had purchased a Groupon for a “yard” sized drink. It’s one of those crazy tall drinks they sell here. Our first mission was to find the place where I could get my drink. Weaving through thousands of people at various levels of intoxication, past the guy on on the loud speaker shouting about Jesus, past 7 street vendors selling mostly light up novelties, through the lines in front of the street “bars” we come to a security guard at the entrance of the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood Casino where my drink is waiting for me. He is stopping anyone who doesn’t have a good reason, from going in. As we could tell from the people in front of us, “going to the bathroom” was not a good reason. Lucky for me, going in to get my drink qualified, and we got in.

We passed a couple of bars on our way. One was the Stripper Bar which has a giant old time “stripper” sign/statue that looks like Bob’s Big Boy’s slutty girlfriend. As we were walking by a little kid starting playing on one of the feet of the statue. It was totally innocent, but I can’t imagine the parents were too excited about it.

We found the Fresh Grill & Bar. I stood in the “alcohol” line and Tearei walked right up to order some food in the empty “food” line.  I had them fill my 36″ drink with a concoction they call “moonshine.” It was just a blended drink with orange & pineapple, and as I’d later find out, Everclear.  Tearei had a spicy chicken wrap and I had a cheeseburger.

The Miracle Mile of Shops goes in a big loop, so we decided to walk around the loop to get back to the front and go back out. The lighting for the inside of the Miracle Mile is really interesting. With clouds painted on the ceiling and the lights set to a certain level, it’s meant to give you the feeling of dusk. It’s pretty effective.

We stopped by a wishing well, where it “rains” every half hour. We waited a couple minutes to see the action. I was laughing at Tearei because she was so excited about videotaping the “rain.” As Oregonians how often do we get to see rain? I have to admit, the stuff they come up with is pretty neat though. If we are here a month I might actually miss the rain and go check it out again when I’m home sick.

By the time we got around the circle of shops, I had almost finished my drink, so I decided to go back to get a refill. Tearei waited outside, as she was getting hot. I got my refill, met back up with Tearei outside, and headed back down the strip.

We stopped into a candy shop called Sugar. It was crazy busy in there, and they didn’t seem to have lines. There were about 6 of them making milkshakes behind the counter and whoever wormed their way up to the front to ask for something got it. It was odd, but actually seemed to be working pretty good as far as getting a lot of milkshakes and hot chocolate sold. Tearei got a milkshake and we headed out.

As we were walking back up the strip, we had to kind of shove our way through this giant line of people, waiting to order drinks. As we were heading west, a group of people is shoving their way, single file, coming east. The guy at the front says, “OK everyone hold hands,” and they did so the could drag each other through the crowd. The guy at the front was my favorite Poker Player, Daniel Negreanu. I was bummed that I couldn’t get to him and get a picture with him or something.

It’s about 10:30pm and we start to contemplate if we should just watch the fireworks from our hotel parking lot. Both of us had sore feet from walking/standing on the cement.

Instead, we ducked into the part of Bally’s with the little restaurants. Here we were able to sit for a bit and rest our aching dogs. While siting and resting we saw Danielle from the CBS reality show, Big Brother. Ironically, it would have been super easy to go get an autograph/picture with her, but neither of us were too interested. It’s fun to see people in real life that you have only seen on TV, though.

We hung out for about an hour and then went back outside. We decided to go back to our van, and watch the fireworks from the van. This way we could beat the crowds leaving and get back at a reasonable hour. We sat and watched the fireworks for about 5 minutes (it was an eight minute show) and people were heading to the parking lot so we went ahead and took off.

The fireworks were pretty impressive. They lit off the same show over 4-5 different casinos simultaneously. While the shear volume and kinds of fireworks were more and better than I’ve seen before. I found the show to be a bit mechanical. It was just one after another. I didn’t realize how important the pauses are within a fireworks show. Music makes it better too. All and all I like the one they have on 4th of July in Seaside, OR. Here they probably lit off as many fireworks in 8 minutes, as the Seaside show has in 20-30 minutes, but it’s just not as good a show without the pauses. Of course this one wasn’t a 4th of July show, so who knows what they do for that.

We got home in about 5 minutes, and both crashed pretty quickly.

What more could you ask for as a New Year’s resolution than to travel the world for an undetermined amount of time? Aside from marriage, kids, and other life-changing events, I cannot think of anything better.

After nearly two *very* successful years of flirting with living the location independent lifestyle, we’re 100% sans home and ready to go!  Less than an hour now we’ll be able to count ourselves among the growing niche of modern-day nomads.   Our first destination – Vegas, baby!  Normally our New Year’s midnight tradition consists of Justin working while I have long since fallen asleep.  This year we’ll be right in the thick of at all at the Fremont Street Experience, complete with cheesy 80′s tribute bands, fireworks, and quite a bit more, I’d imagine.  Although we could have spent $100′s of dollars to party with big “stars” like Kim Kardashian or Pauly D, we’re going to pass and go for a much more humble event

Neither of us has been to Las Vegas before, I have a feeling we’re in for an amazing time.

For those of you who have spent time in Sin City before, what were some of your favorite things to do?

Usually I like to write outdoors, or at least in my “mobile” work station (our car), but it’s a brisk 30ish degrees (F) outside this morning, but the clear blue skies are just beautiful. So instead, I am safely tucked in the warmth of our room, which has been our home away from home for the past week. As a trial run, to say this was a success would be an understatement. Away from the many things at home that seem to dilute our focus, we’ve been getting higher-quality, higher-impact work done, more miles per gallon, if you will. Not that I don’t love those little time killers, but when don’t leave the house for a traditional work shift – whether it’s for someone else or yourself – it’s easy to lose track of time in household chores, phone calls, errands, etc.

Personally, I have been able to invoice out nearly as much this week as I did for the entire month of October. Justin has been busy making connections, befriending the local innkeeper and helping him with marketing ideas and such. Mostly we’ve enjoyed his stores, and I must tell you – if you need to stay Pendleton, Oregon for any reason – this is the place. They have done more for us than I ever expected a motel to do. Ask for Gordon if you do stay, head down after dinner and he’ll chat you up over some fresh-baked cookies & milk, or for the more adventurous, a nice drop of Whiskey. Truly a great guy. I miss my family terribly, but its experiences like these that I know make this journey worth it. Not only will I become a better person in the end, but I’ll have my own stories to share with generations to come.

So my question remains – where do we go now? Obviously late fall/early winter is not the ideal time for a road trip, however the holiday season usually requires your presence at various family gatherings (to eat, of course!), and this may be our chance to visit some of places I have always wanted to near Christmastime. Leavenworth, Washington has always been high on my list, as have places like Aspen, Colorado, Whistler, BC and other towns that seem to put on quite a show for the holidays. Since I come from an area known for rain, rain and more rain – the postcard perfect snowy Christmas is not something I get to see.

Ideas? Suggestions? I’d love to hear them…today is “moving day” and we still haven’t decided what is next for us. That is the true joy of being LI.