Thankfulness

Finding your happy in the holidays

| jamiefeinberg

Hi friends. I’ve been dealing with some health challenges that, while very treatable and straightforward, have had me feeling completely exhausted much of the time. It’s been especially challenging given that this has been the busiest season of my life since moving to Prince Edward Island.

A typical week, over the past six weeks or so, has seen me performing 1-3x, attending or leading rehearsals and auditions, having meetings, and perhaps a social gathering or outing as well in the mix.

In addition, I interviewed for a dreamy 3 days a week position (I was so close, with wonderful feedback on how well-suited I was and how great my interview and experience were etc.), took on some very part-time writing and virtual assistant work, supported clients using the Enneagram and mental fitness, and did some great vocal coaching in individual and group settings.

What’s been key for me, in all of this, has been two things: prioritizing & choosing joy.

Prioritizing is always helpful, especially when you’re someone like me who tends to have several important projects and commitments happening simultaneously. But when your health isn’t in a good place, prioritizing is essential. It becomes your lifeline. What’s the one thing I NEED to accomplish today, or the consequences are dreary? What’s the one thing that, if I accomplish it today, gives me the best chance of hitting my goal for next year, or creating the income I’m seeking for next month? What’s the one thing that, if I made time for it, could make a meaningful impact on my feeling rested or accomplished or loved or content today?

Prioritizing is how we make sure we finish the holiday season satisfied. Maybe that means we balanced the need for quiet contemplation with the need for holiday shopping or managing family members and their expectations. Maybe it means we balanced festive gatherings with time for ourselves, or we took some time off while still meeting the demands of a boss or our clients or our families.

But how do we choose joy?

I choose joy every day, many times a day. When I start to feel the telltale signs of tension in my arms and shoulders, or feel my head getting foggy and anxious thoughts creeping in, I acknowledge what I am feeling, and then I choose to set aside stress and overwhelm. I choose joy.

I choose to stick to my wiser, positive emotions, choosing what’s best for the particular moment at hand. Maybe that means I choose to empathize with people, near or far, who are suffering. Maybe I choose to move into calm and clear-headed action. Maybe I explore the options available to me or create an entirely new, outside of the box solution to the problems I am experiencing or observing around me. Maybe I focus on gratitude. These are all ways to choose joy, for me.

Joy can mean sipping hot cocoa or looking at Christmas lights or giving a gift or cooking a meal together.

Joy can mean letting go of opportunities for overwhelm and instead embracing the more productive emotions available to me. Instead of dwelling in anxiety, what’s the one action I can take to make a difference in this moment?

Does that sound like prioritization? It sure is.

We have chosen a beautiful life that means we are usually far from family during the holiday season. We have done that mindfully. That doesn’t mean that we don’t simultaneously wish we could be here and there. It doesn’t mean we don’t have complex emotions at this time of year.

I’m exploring ways to clarify for myself what matters to me during this season. What are my priorities? Who do I want to see, talk to, spend time with? What traditions do I want to maintain? What new traditions do I want to start? What just isn’t my priority, so I can let it go, accept it as it is? What isn’t within my control, and how can I work on accepting that? And where am I finding joy?

Wherever you are, whatever your situation this year or this week, I believe you have some agency. You can choose a thought that brings joy. Maybe you can choose an activity, or choose to skip an activity. If you aren’t sure how to proceed, let yourself get quiet and contemplate what you truly want and what truly matters to you. Do some grounding exercises. Phone a friend or hire a coach or see a therapist if journaling or brainstorming yourself isn’t getting you there.

And when you’re ready, I hope you’ll prioritize with intention, and choose joy.

Happy holidays, friend.

P.S. If you’re looking for ways to spread joy to us, we thank you. Sharing this post is a great way to do that. You can also listen to Ross’ Christmas album or check out our ukulele course – use the code YEAREND.

Time for Reflection

| jamiefeinberg

This is the time of year when I take time to reflect.

Where was I at this time last year, and how much progress did I make?

What moved the needle for me?

Am I satisfied with my progress?

Am I proud of what I did, in spite of all of the challenges and pressures?

Ultimately, this reflection needs to be in balance. Shaming ourselves for what we didn’t accomplish or beating ourselves up isn’t the answer.

Likewise, brushing past our shortcomings and forgetting the ways we let ourselves down entirely risks us repeating mistakes again.

There is a gift in everything that happens to us, if we choose to see it. There is a gift in every choice we made, whatever the outcome, if we are lucky enough to make it through.

The key, though, is deciding there’s a gift, and then finding what it is.

And showing ourselves, and those around us, empathy is an essential part of the process.

I do this reflection work in several ways; on my own, in my mastermind, with close friends, and sometimes with a coach, like I did yesterday.

I will do similar work as I set goals and plan how I will hold myself accountable and set up great habits in 2023.

Today I celebrate me:

  • I am a childfree coach supporting women and all who are ready to create a life they love
  • I have made incredible strides in my mental fitness
  • I have made professional gains in the arts and in my writing (and a bit in my speaking career too)
  • I have gained a lot of clarity in my business
  • I have shown love, and compassion, and supported many dozens of people this year, not least of all my family
  • I’ve helped my clients improve their lives and find more joy and success
  • I’ve started three new group programs
  • I have had so much fun
  • I have made new friends, strengthened existing friendships, and further contributed to and built community around me

I wish you joy and peace in this holiday season, whatever you celebrate (or don’t).

P.S. I do have at least one more spot in my mental fitness program for January. If you’d like an affordable route to accountability, peace, success, and even community, you can grab a spot on my calendar to learn more. Please book ASAP as I am taking some time off for the holidays and the group program starts the second week of January. Feel free to email rossandjamieadventure @ gmail.com if you don’t see a time that works for you.

P.P.S. What is the one thing you are celebrating yourself for as we close out 2022?

Anxiety: a path forward

Woman in shades of pink walks forward into a canopy of trees
| jamiefeinberg

I keep changing and changing and changing this title, but in truth, I know exactly what I’m going to say. The conundrum, of course, is that while I have learned that anxiety, even lifelong, chronic anxiety struggles, can get better, I also don’t want to be one of those people promising you snake oil or making you feel invisible if your anxiety proves to be way more stubborn than my own challenges have been.

So, with that caveat, here’s an update on where I’m at, how I did it, and what I can suggest for other people who are struggling too.

The Recap

Last October, I started having panic attacks. Debilitating ones, that were really getting in the way of my work and my life. While I had experienced perhaps a half dozen panic attacks while living in an RV and traveling the US, I was otherwise completely new to them. And when I’d had them, they hadn’t gotten in the way of my work or my life – I knew what triggered them, and within a few hours, I’d been able to move on from them.

But last fall was different. My husband was really worried. I was really worried too; as the current primary breadwinner in our relationship, and with a husband who was a full-time student, what if I couldn’t pay our bills? So I was having panic attacks and I was spiraling further, getting anxious about having anxiety, which I’ve since read is a sign of an anxiety disorder rather than simply anxiety (which everyone has on some level, and which is 100% normal, to my totally not clinical but still very educated on anxiety understanding).

On one particularly bad day, after a series of particularly bad days, I wanted to go to the mental health clinic. But, of course, I was anxious to go. I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t quite believe they’d let me in, especially because I hadn’t received my health card yet (which is your ticket to free health care as a Canadian resident).

My loving husband took me. He sat with me patiently in the car, and he came inside with me too. And the therapist I saw was so affirming, so understanding, and so encouraging as she got me on the list for free province-provided therapy. She even believed me and took notes when I told her I’d recently realized the ample supplies of nightshade vegetables I’d been filling my diet with were apparently a huge anxiety trigger (tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and eggplant were filling my diet during this harvest season), based on my own Googled research.

This began more than six months of challenges as I waited, and waited, and waited to get that free therapy. Backing off the nightshade vegetables helped make the panic attacks less frequent (think 1-2 per week rather than daily), and I finally signed up online with my first therapist since college. She went from being okay for a few months, helping me to treat the anxiety, to being completely awful, around the same time I was seeing a very mediocre (at least for me) free therapist (finally) provided by the province.

Things Began Shifting

By the spring, a few things began shifting in my life:

  • I wrapped a contract with a client that had been having a negative effect on my mental health for a very long time, giving me space to begin healing from what I later realized was pretty intense burnout
  • The work I’d been doing on myself using the Enneagram was paying off, and I was seeing the benefits in my relationship with Ross, with my family and friends, and most importantly in my relationship with myself too
  • I found a new therapist who was NIGHT AND DAY from my previous experiences; she’s still supporting me, and I am grateful every day that I didn’t give up on finding the right person for me
  • The time I’d invested in finding community on PEI was bearing fruit; I had local friends and was doing meaningful work, collaborating in multiple music ensembles and enjoying the opportunity to lead one of them
  • I created an Enneagram group and had a really successful pilot program (my first group coaching program over several months)
  • I discovered the Positive Intelligence framework and became a major advocate for the benefits of mental fitness (and subsequently, I became a mental fitness trainer and incorporated the work into my coaching business)
  • I finally stepped outside of my comfort zone into an Anti-Anxiety program offered free to Islanders (called I CAN) and completed it successfully

According to my anxiety coach, my last panic attack was in late August. I know it was a combination of the techniques I had internalized by this point (learned in both I CAN and in my mental fitness studies) as well as some of the deeper personal development I had done. Having my therapist to cheer me on was especially helpful on the days I needed someone to vent to – whether you work with a therapist as well (always ideal) or just find a friend or hire a coach or accountability partner, that safe space was key.

I’ve now realized that I’ve been battling anxiety my entire life, or at least as far back as middle school. I also realize that if I had known then what I know now about mental fitness, I wouldn’t have needed to have the stress and overwhelm in my life. And I would have made healthier choices from a sage place rather than acting out of fear or to numb or distract myself.

What I Recommend

My own personal journey to get control of my anxiety was more long-winded than it needed to be, but there were also a lot of factors at stake. If I hadn’t been overwhelmed in my work, things might have played out differently, perhaps on a faster timetable. If I wasn’t so sensitive to nightshades, the panic attacks may have been less debilitating. But what I now realize is that the gift of my panic and anxiety struggles over the past year or more is that I now have direct experience I can use when coaching my clients. I can relate to them in ways I never could have five years back. What a gift!

Also, for those of you with access to some kind of free anxiety program, or one that’s very affordable for you, do consider it, if you’ve got the bandwidth for it. While I wasn’t learning many new things in mine, the daily practice and accountability (just like I use with my clients) helped me to finally finish integrating all the things people had taught me over the years. I CAN is a great option for Islanders. Find out what, if anything, is available for you.

If you want to sleep well at night, if you want a life with less stress and overwhelm, if you want the tools to find joy and peace and curiosity again, I’d love to introduce you to the mental fitness training we can do together. I have a few spots open in a small group program that will be starting up this January. I’m also developing a new program specifically with musicians in mind, and I’m planning future groups for a) for childfree people b) for men and c) for retirees.

If you’re intrigued, the easiest way for me to tell you more is for us to hop on a call so I can give you a tour of the program and a bit of coaching and some training to incorporate when you’re feeling anxious or fearful or angry or judgmental. I include a few of my favorite mindfulness techniques that you can actually use anywhere, at any time. It’s a free call, and if it intrigues you, I’m offering my programs on a sliding scale to make them as accessible as possible as we begin 2023.

I have such gratitude to be a coach and to be doing this life-changing work. Please reach out to learn more, and if you think this might resonate with a friend or a family member, please encourage them to do the same.

Take care, and be well.

Hurricane Fiona

| jamiefeinberg

We’ve experienced hurricanes before. Living in New England, we’d catch the tail end of them occasionally, and in Florida, we experienced one in an RV, prepped with a go bag, near a bath house, and fearing we’d get COVID if we had to flee. (Luckily for us, it fizzled out by the time it was near us.)

Suffice to say, though, that when we moved to Prince Edward Island, Canada, we didn’t expect to encounter hurricanes.

I’ve been becoming more and more aware of my “prepper” tendencies. They increased significantly when COVID-19 came into focus in 2020, and finding the balance between prepared and hoarding can be trickier than you might think.

As we got wind a hurricane might come out way, a part of me felt it would be healthier to just use the food we had at home. And when my car started acting up, it meant I would have to shop on foot. But I am so glad I headed out Thursday for essentials, and Friday for a few more I couldn’t fit in the first trip.

Hurricane Fiona was no joke. We lost power Friday night, and as of this writing, I think our street is probably still days from it returning. And when 95% of the island lost power and nearly everyone it seems lost trees or gardens or suffered damage, gratitude isn’t hard to come by.

So I continue to offer gratitude. For a radio. For enough food. For access on foot to places to charge devices. For kind islanders offering food for a donation or a coffee. For all the privileges that set us up well for this. For past experiences that strengthened me in following my intuition and preparing accordingly.

I am about to launch a pilot of a mental fitness program that’s been transformative. I use the skills multiple times throughout the day, especially under our current stressors. Due to our power situation, I haven’t finalized the details in a pretty way. But if you’d like to be one of the first to try the program out with me, I’d love to hear from you. Leave your email below, or contact me at Rossandjamieadventure @ gmail.com for the details. If you’re ready to take charge of your life and move the needle on getting out of your head and into a meaningful life that lights you up, let’s chat. I’d love to send you more info and learn about where you are at and what you’re looking for.

And wherever you are, stay safe, and take care. You’ve got this.

Weird vibes

| jamiefeinberg

So, I’ve been honest here about my recent struggles with anxiety and overwhelm and the work I’ve been doing on myself through the Enneagram, other forms of personal development, therapy, and self-care.

I wanted these past few weeks to be me getting back into the swing of things with my business after a delightful week of fun with my mom here on Prince Edward Island.

I wanted to be focused and on top of it.

And, while I think I’ve done a decent job of meeting my obligations and haven’t (I hope) missed any deadlines, I’ve been giving off vibes.

Weird vibes.

Vibes that confuse the heck out of people.

Can you possibly relate to this, or am I alone? Am I the only person who, in a state of anxiety, finds themselves making their friends and family think they’re getting the death stare when they’re actually getting the deer in headlights/confused as all heck look by someone who’s struggling to keep up?

It’s contributed to some communication challenges recently, for sure. And it’s given me plenty of fodder for therapy sessions.

But I am grateful. I’m grateful for family and friends who’ve done the work alongside me to communicate what they’re feeling, tell me when I’m bothering them, and taking care of themselves in the process.

I’m grateful for a cat who insists on all of the snuggles when I’m in a funk.

I’m grateful for a new therapist who seems like a great fit for me.

And I’m so excited for this season of concerts and my new pilot Enneagram program.

I imagine these weird vibes have something to do with my Enneagram type (I’m a 1) and something to do with all of the stress it can be really hard to avoid putting on myself.

I may not have my anxiety completely under control yet. I may have some weird vibes ahead of me. But I’m thankful for this life I’ve crafted and that you’re a part of it too.

Take care, friends.

P.S. I’m still writing a book. Any interest in getting on my email list in exchange for some previews from it? If so, please comment or reach out.

Signs of Spring

Beach out an old window in winter - Ross and Jamie Adventure
| jamiefeinberg

I write this in mid-March. I’m looking out my window at a clear blue sky, trees with leaves bare, birds flying from branch to branch. I’m thinking about the fact that while my walk to the farmer’s market was really cold today, I stayed warm enough. That sun really helped. And though it’s only March, and it’s still winter as I’m writing this, I’m starting to see and feel signs of spring around me.

Of course, intellectually, I know spring isn’t here yet. But listening to the birds as they call to each other outside, I’m focusing instead on that sun, picturing the beach days to come, the sunsets on the ocean, the flowers, the berries…

I love spring. It’s my favorite season, always has been. The promise of what is to come, the new life, the eternal optimism of spring – I don’t think we can beat it. Sure, I love the summer days too, and fall leaves changing is so special…but when spring is in the air, it makes my heart happy.

As I navigate stress and a variety of challenges in many areas, I keep coming back to this hope, this promise. I sing about it. I dance it. I breathe it in.

Nothing is promised, but we’re still here. I’m still here. You’re still here. And whatever we’re facing right now, spring is still coming.

And that, I think, is something to celebrate today.

Here’s to spring, to new beginnings, and to tomorrow.

Take care, friend, and if you’ve had some good news you’d like me to celebrate with you, please leave a comment and share it with me!

______________________________

Supporting Our Blog

We are so thankful for your support of our blog and our careers! You can help further by doing any or all of the following:

  • Purchase one of Ross’ albums! 
  • Take Ross’ online ukulele course!
  • Become a patron of our work!
  • Make purchases via our Amazon website links. There is no additional cost to you, and a portion of the proceeds can support our travels. Begin your Amazon search here.
  • Make other purchases using our affiliate links. Signing up with Dosh is a great way for everyone with a smartphone to support us, and we also have options for aspiring virtual assistants as well as occasional and full-time RVers to save money.
  • Subscribe to our blog, as well as perhaps InSearchOfAScoop.com, and recommend our work to your friends and family.
  • Take music or theater lessons (group or private) from us, either in person or via Skype at TinyVillageMusic.com. 

Prioritizing community

| jamiefeinberg

When we finalized our plans to move into an apartment and settle down in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, both Ross and I were particularly excited about the opportunity to find community.

Previous to hitting the road in an RV, we’d both found community mainly in the arts. Though I was still seeking a “best” friend or two, for the most part, we were happy enough day to day with our social circles. We had friends of different ages, friends who we’d invite to parties, and the friends that we performed with. It wasn’t perfect. Ross struggled to find a strong, accepting music community with plenty of opportunities for him, and I didn’t have the close friends I was hoping for. But we knew we were lucky to have lots of friends and fellow musicians that we were sad to leave behind when we started traveling.

As full-time travelers in an RV, our definition of community shifted. We found online community with other RVers or musicians, in-person community when we settled into a campground for a while, and in some places, we were welcomed into the local music community too. When we hit it off with friends while workcamping, held in-person meetups with friends we’d met online, or stumbled into a wonderfully accepting music community (think Seattle, Denver, Orlando, and most ESPECIALLY Portland, OR!), we rejoiced and made the most of it. And when the pandemic hit, Ross found community with musicians from around the world at ukulele meetups.

By the time we moved to Canada, we were ready for other types of community. The need had been exacerbated by the pandemic as well. We were ready to find a local farmer’s market, a regular grocery store, retailers, restaurants. We were ready to build lasting relationships and find a musical home that would accept us and sustain us moving forward.

For Ross, finding community has happened fairly naturally. As a student, he met classmates and professors and was soon getting invitations to parties and musical performances. He started performing in ensembles and socializing during and in between classes, and together we enjoyed local holiday festivities and concerts with the wider community (when COVID protocols and our own comfort permitted).

For me, finding community has meant taking deliberate actions on a regular basis, and following my intuition. I had a hunch that music would be a great entry point to making friends, and that hunch was completely correct. It led to me making a couple of wonderful friends within a few months of arriving here, and I’m now collaborating with dozens more through Island A Cappella and Luminos Ensemble. I even made a friend through a purchase on Facebook Marketplace!

My friend Jenn and I, at a wonderful comedy show, pre-Omicrom variant.

I’m now regularly receiving invites and getting to know my new local friends. I’ve even joined a local book club, one of those things I’d “always wanted to do” pre-pandemic, but never had.

And while COVID often slows things down for a while, each of these efforts has had some positive effect. I have both in-person and virtual meetups regularly.

Meanwhile, I’ve continued to strengthen my existing friendships, with Zoom meetups and phone calls with friends and family: our personal development mastermind, RVing friends, monthly family teas, and monthly check-ins with family and friends from so many places in my life.

I spent so many years feeling frustrated that I didn’t have the close friends I wanted. If I threw a party, it was always a hit. And I could cast a show or a concert. But who did I call or text when I was struggling? Honestly, for most of my adult life, I didn’t have anyone, or if I did, it was my partner. My husband is amazing, but we do better as a couple when we each have our own friends too.

Now, as I’ve struggled with anxiety and overwhelm in no small part due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on those tough days, I have a list of people I can connect with. I can make plans with friends. And in any given week or month, I’m getting some of those 1:1, deeper conversations that are one of my favorite things in the world and that energize me.

So if you’re challenged in finding community right now, I wanted to encourage you. I believe it’s absolutely possible. It may take months or years (even decades!) – but it’s possible, if you are able to carve out the time. Especially if you will prioritize it. Join a book club (online or not), a musical group, a walking or hiking club, start a group to attend theater shows together, volunteer…the possibilities are endless!

And one of my goals for this year is creating a retreat so that I can foster and share that kind of relationship-building that I’ve found so helpful and comforting in my own life and business. (Do let me know if that interests you!) I’ll be leading virtual retreats and, in the future at least, in-person ones as well.

Where do you find community? Is this an area that you struggle with? Have you found virtual outlets for when in-person gatherings aren’t feasible?

Please comment, and let me know. I’m so curious. And thanks for reading, friend.

The Rv has sold, and the adventure continues

| jamiefeinberg

Hello, friend! How are you? How is life in your neck of the woods? Are you safe, and healthy, and happy most of the time? We sure hope so.

Since our last update, so much has happened. Read on for updates on where we are, what we’ve been up to, and what’s next in the life of Ross and Jamie.

We moved to Canada! To be honest, it happened six or so days later than planned, because in our rush to get everything complete, we managed to initially take the wrong COVID test! It then took multiple tries taking the PCR test in northern Maine to get our results back in enough time (within 72 hours) to cross over the border, but the pluses were that we got to enjoy some vacation time in Bangor (a much more fun, progressive, and affordable city than we’d realized) and got a tiny taste of Moncton, NB too, where we spent our first successful night in Canada. Once (hopefully) COVID is behind us, Moncton will be close enough to us for a day trip or easy overnight stay, so we were excited to get a little preview of it.

Though we’ve had a ton to do since we arrived, from coordinating the sale of our RV (thank you to everyone who assisted with that!) to purchasing some furniture, from learning where to buy groceries to setting up a bank account (still working on that one this week), to learning how to see doctors and mental health professionals here (there’s a big wait list for primary care physicians here, but having access to free mental health clinics a truly beautiful thing).

At the same time, Ross has gotten started at the university and has already played a few concerts on acoustic guitar (while simultaneously continuing his ukulele teaching and podcast editing), and I’ve started singing again (apparently I’m a soprano 1?) and will be the director of Island A Cappella, a barbershop singing group affiliated with Harmony, Inc., beginning in January of 2022. I also sang at a church this summer, so it’s been fun to get back into the arts, and the extra income doesn’t hurt either.

Thanks to school and the music ensembles respectively, we are each making friends and dipping our toes into having a social life and community here on the island. After five years of travel, it’s exciting to set down roots and really invest our time, energy, and money in a community.

Of course we both have supportive friends and family back in the US, and we’re thankful for Zoom and cell phones to keep us connected with them. Social media helps too, and we’ve been scheduling time to connect virtually with loved ones.

We’ve both had our struggles in adjusting to things, but we still wake up every day thankful to be here and eager to keep doing the work to grow and thrive here. We know how privileged we are, and we don’t take it for granted.

After a much-needed social media and blog pause, I’m looking forward to growing my coaching business and our music business in 2022. If you’d like support in creating the life of your dreams too, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to offer you a free session to help you get clarity on your priorities and find your path forward.

Thanks for reading, and have a beautiful day!

______________________________

Supporting Our Blog

We are so thankful for your support of our blog and our careers! You can help by doing any or all of the following:

  • Purchase one of Ross’ albums! 
  • Take Ross’ online ukulele course!
  • Become a patron of our work!
  • Make purchases via our Amazon website links. There is no additional cost to you, and a portion of the proceeds can support our travels. Begin your Amazon search here.
  • Make other purchases using our affiliate links. Signing up with Dosh is a great way for everyone with a smartphone to support us, and we also have options for aspiring virtual assistants as well as occasional and full-time RVers to save money.
  • Subscribe to our blog, as well as perhaps InSearchOfAScoop.com, and recommend our work to your friends and family.
  • Take music or theater lessons (group or private) from us, either in person or via Skype at TinyVillageMusic.com. 

Big News About Where We Are Headed Next

| jamiefeinberg

This week has had lots of excitement. My new group coaching program, Crafting Your Life Adventure, is launching soon, so I’ve been sharing lots of tips and information on Instagram and in my Facebook group.

We also got word that as of April 5th, Florida residents can get the vaccine, so we are seriously considering a trip to Florida in the coming weeks (perhaps to spend a month or so there, depending on which vaccine we get).

But our biggest news, which I am THRILLED to finally be able to announce, is that we are moving to Canada this fall!

Ross has been teaching music for more than fifteen years, and he has an associate’s degree in audio production that he frequently draws upon as a composer and as an audio/podcast and video editor. But what most people don’t realize is that he has never completed a bachelor’s degree or a degree in music.

As we debated where we wanted to go next, we were reminded of how much we LOVED our honeymoon on Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. In fact, after spending time in Charlottetown, we had multiple conversations where we kept saying “how do we live here? How do we get back here?”.

Moving to Canada isn’t easy, but it was a dream that we kept in the back of our minds all of this time. With the uncertainty of health care in the US, our desire for better options kept resurfacing.

Last fall, we decided our next step should be to attempt to go to Canada. Since Ross hasn’t had the opportunity to get a bachelor’s degree yet, that seemed like our best course of action. I’m thrilled to report that Ross got into his top choice school, the University of Prince Edward Island, and he even received a $3,000 merit scholarship from the music department!

He’ll be studying music education, composition, and classical guitar, and he’ll be getting his bachelor of music degree. I am SO proud of him – keep in mind, he just bought a classical guitar for this audition, and he’s only been playing it since December!

If you’ve never been to Prince Edward Island, it’s astonishingly gorgeous. Like, take your breath away. Though we are going to miss New Mexican cuisine, warm winters, and being able to visit our favorite spots in the U.S. via RV (gosh we will miss our RV!), we are looking forward to unlimited hot showers in an apartment in an awesome city (Charlottetown) and plan to purchase a van large enough to camp out of when the weather is nice.

School begins in September, so we will head to Canada in August, provided visas and all of the other details come together as planned.

Can you believe it? We are thrilled!

If you’d like to support our adventures, consider purchasing a Harvest Hosts membership or one of these other products using our link. You can also share our blogs and social media posts with your friends and family.

And two other incredible ways to support us would be these:

1 – Buy Ross’ play the ukulele course – perfect for beginner and early intermediate students

2 – Buy Jamie’s Crafting Your Life Adventure course – perfect for aspiring adventurers, whether you dream of starting a business, traveling the country, or creating a schedule full of joy and freedom (or all of the above!)

Thank you so, so much for supporting us and this amazing life adventure. It’s been almost five years of RV life, and we are so blessed. We can’t wait for what’s next!

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Supporting Our Blog

We are so thankful for your support of our blog and our careers! You can help by doing any or all of the following:

  • Purchase one of Ross’ albums! 
  • Take Ross’ online ukulele course!
  • Become a patron of our work!
  • Make purchases via our Amazon website links. There is no additional cost to you, and a portion of the proceeds can support our travels. Begin your Amazon search here.
  • Make other purchases using our affiliate links. Signing up with Dosh is a great way for everyone with a smartphone to support us, and we also have options for aspiring virtual assistants as well as occasional and full-time RVers to save money.
  • Subscribe to our blog, as well as perhaps InSearchOfAScoop.com, and recommend our work to your friends and family.
  • Take music or theater lessons (group or private) from us, either in person or via Skype at TinyVillageMusic.com.