Thankfulness

Accidents Happen

| jamiefeinberg

And sometimes they’re caused by construction companies.

For those of you who haven’t been seeing us in the national news, the islands in the Outer Banks that we are living and working on have been without power since Thursday thanks to an unfortunate construction mistake. Our campground has been running on generators ever since, and the KOA next door had to close due to sewage issues when the outage happened. Meanwhile an evacuation order was issued, but those currently on the island (even short-term visitors) can stay if they’re self-sufficient like most campers are.

So we’ve been making due with a generator and the best staff and management we could ask for. There’s still a beautiful beach, which we took advantage of until the ocean ate Ross’ glasses. But we will be back there and taking it easy while working to stay cool at a much emptier than usual campground. 

Today’s plan was to handwash our clothes, but the limited power that came back yesterday is enough to power our washers and dryers, so I am thanking the powers that be for modern technology!

I’m sure when all of this is behind us, I will have more insight and tips for dealing with situations like this. But for now we’re just taking it one day at a time. (Photo is of the almost empty beach at 8 a.m.)

Note to future folks – in an emergency here, T-Mobile is apparently Talk and text only. Luckily Ross has Verizon and the campground has internet!

Do you have any power outage tips? 

Six Months on Ross and Jamie’s Adventure

| jamiefeinberg

Happy Friday! I’m happy to report that we’ve passed the six month mark of our full-time RVing life change/adventure! When Ross and I agreed to do this, we promised each other we’d stick with it for a year and re-evaluate then. I’m happy to report that after six months we’re just as excited to be doing this and looking forward to year two this fall.

One of the amazing things about this lifestyle is the way it changes your sense of time. We had many conversations two and three months in where we realized it felt like we’d been doing this for months instead of years. After all, we’ve visited tons of states (20 I believe, with notable time in all but a couple of them), hanging out in nature, exploring museums and historical sights and trying to learn what living like a local would look like in cities and towns across our nation. It’s amazing what we’ve been able to see already, and we aren’t ready to stop, although our pace is slowing down currently to give us more time to make money along the way. As we celebrate this milestone, I wanted to talk about how this experience has differed from our expectations so far, and about some of the lessons we’ve learned along the way. 

Assumption: Life on the road will be full of adventures.

Reality: Yes, life on the road will be full of adventures. Some of them will be awesome and some of them will be frustrating, like when your house battery won’t stay charged or when the pilot for your fridge won’t light. Also, maintaining a balance between real life and playing tourist is harder than it looks! 

Assumption: Once we have more time to ourselves, booking shows will get easier. (Not that we ever thought we’d be an easy sell!)

Reality: Free time helps, but the lack of great internet while we travel kind of balances this out. Booking shows has proven to be one of the hardest types of work we do on the road! That being said, it does get easier with practice and a routine.

Assumption: Finding part-time work when we settle in a place should be pretty easy, especially in a tourist area. 

Reality: Most businesses don’t want temporary workers, so getting a gig isn’t as straightforward as we wanted and we can’t emphasize that we are nomads when we apply. (And this problem was much worse before we had a car! Limited businesses within walking distance narrows your options further.)

Assumption: Being on the road will be stressful, but the freedom will help make up for the new stress. 

Reality: Overall, we are MUCH less stressed than we used to be. It’s gotten easier with time. Financial stress is real, but if you organize your time well, this lifestyle is usually a dream come true. And days when you have to work super-hard are easier knowing they’re financing this lifestyle. That being said, your anxiety and depression don’t go away because you hit the road! Make sure you have strong self-care habits, maintain your personal space and work to keep the lines of communication open with your partner. 

Assumption: We’d have tons of free time to work on music projects and booking once we hit the road. 

Reality: We have to work VERY hard to make time for this. Because we’re juggling so many income streams and responsibilities, the music making sometimes takes a far back seat. We’re working on making this a regular part of our schedule, but it’s something we are still working on. 

Assumption: We probably wouldn’t be back to New Hampshire for another year or so. 

Reality: I’ve gotten two gigs in New Hampshire since I left. So I flew back in December and in March for a few weeks. Who’d have thought I’d be offered higher-paying theater work once I moved out of the state?! (Ross, unfortunately, is waiting for New Hampshire to call with his gigs. We will be both be back this fall for a month to teach workshops and perform.)

Assumption: It will be harder to not have a regular community on the road. 

Reality: We have made friends wherever we’ve gone. Although our social lives aren’t particularly exciting, we find people who care about us and share stories with us everywhere. It’s been pretty wonderful. We miss our friends and family, but we definitely feel welcome wherever we go. (It helps to be able-bodied, white, a male-female couple and relatively privileged. We know this and are constantly thankful that we can feel relatively safe and welcome wherever we go.)

As we look forward to the rest of this year, we are currently on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. (Report on Florida, Savannah and Charleston to come!) After Labor Day, we will visit New Hampshire and then head back to Florida if our plans stay on track. We will stay there through the winter and possibly spring. 

Thanks for reading and following our journey!

Tucson Nights and Delights

| jamiefeinberg

Ross and I really loved our visit to Tucson. So much so that we kept extending it! Unfortunately we have been having persistent battery issues, so while we were there Ross installed a new battery for us. (That hasn’t fixed the problems, unfortunately, but that’s for another blog.) When we weren’t working or problem-solving, we found plenty of fun things to do in Tucson. 

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum has been number one on my list to explore in Tucson since I began reading RV blogs. It’s very pricey – $20.50/person – but it includes an aquarium, phenomenal gardens, a zoo full of exhibits and special presentations, a butterfly place, a hummingbird place, cafes, a cave and much more. Since a year’s membership is only $80 and includes unlimited admission, free coffee or tea at every visit and more, I knew we should just get an annual pass so we would have multiple days to explore the wonderland. 

I haven’t enjoyed a place that much since Disney World. I kid you not. Just ask Ross! He loved it too. I think I went at least 5 or 6 times – they have RV parking to make it even easier – and Ross went nearly as many. You drive through a park full of saguaro cactus to get there and Saguaro National Park is just past it – but I will be honest and say we had all the saguaros we needed at the museum. Ross even chose to spend his birthday at the museum – well, the afternoon anyway. (The morning was spent at Toys ‘R’ Us, where I surprised him by decorating the RV with Star Wars. See the feature photo.) But I digress; spending time at the museum was such a gift. 

We visited a few other places in Tucson too. We performed at a local nursing home and a local church (St. Mark’s Presbyterian) while we were in town, and everyone couldn’t have been friendlier. In fact, the church told us we’d always have a home in Tucson, so sweet. We also visited a few stores in a neat part of downtown, including a local food co-op. And we spent an evening visiting a great bookstore and two ice cream places – unfortunately neither were up to our usual standards, but we enjoyed them nonetheless, and the second had coconut milk gluten-free ice cream so it was basically good for me. Right? 

We really fell hard for Tucson. Although we imagine the heat would be too much in the summer months (after all, we saw temperatures in the 80s in December), we could definitely see ourselves here even if it became a popular vacation destination if we end up in the southwest. The music scene didn’t seem to be much of a “scene” to Ross, and left hand turns are awkward, but the people are so nice, the public transportation is great and it’s really an affordable, charming place from what we can tell. 

Thanks Tucson – we will definitely be back! 

Headed to Tucson this year? Let us know. We have a couple of passes to the Desert Museum to give away! 

Giving Thanks in Plano, Texas

| jamiefeinberg

I had very specific goals for Thanksgiving this year, and my husband was kind enough to agree to accommodate me in making them happen. I’ve been following the Auto-Immune Protocol since July in an attempt to reverse some of my auto-immune symptoms, and because it is such a strict diet, partaking in Thanksgiving without making the meal myself wasn’t an option. 

So when my friend Charlie offered to host us for Thanksgiving while we were in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I didn’t want to get my hopes up. But after much back and forth, it was clear this would work for us. Three nights camped in their driveway with electric hookups and showers; a chance to cook my own menu (with assistance on turkey, sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts); and the chance to socialize a bit with friends. Their home in Plano, right next to Dallas, is gorgeous and in a lovely neighborhood, and it was a great place to spend a few days. (I will be sharing the full details on my menu successes and surprises here.) They have a wonderful group of friends and neighbors that we enjoyed spending time with. 

While we were in Plano, I attended a screen acting class, which was fun. I also took some nice walks and picked up a rental car, courtesy of our insurance company. And I loved having a full kitchen to spread out in and cook. 

So far the Dallas area has beautiful weather – we ate outside on Thanksgiving – but it isn’t a very attractive city. Our campground is more than a half hour away though, on a lake, and it really couldn’t be more beautiful. 

We plan to visit downtown Fort Worth today and we might explore in the coming days as well depending on how inspired we are. We’re feeling thankful for this beautiful campground and for friends and family, and we are using this time to regroup and plan what’s next. 

My theater company in NH is performing before Christmas, so I have lots of prep work to do for that, and Ross has work to do to prepare for his gigs as well. So we will need to leave time for work as well as play. 

Thanks for reading! I will share more photos and stories in the coming days. Hope you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving. 

We’re Getting an RV!

| jamiefeinberg

Closing is set for Friday, June 10. We’ll be looking at an RV payment of $211ish per month plus whatever we pay for insurance (expecting a quote by the end of the day)…and we are so excited! It’s beautiful and it’s very us and we can’t wait. Keep those fingers crossed that all goes as planned and that we can find a cheap (to us) car under 2K to keep us on budget. Hoping to have her moved in to her summer home (is it a her? Ross, any thoughts?) by the following Sunday!

Poverty sucks, but Disney is awesome

| jamiefeinberg

Yeah, I know. My poverty revelation isn’t exciting. But the more I read and research, the more I realize that if Ross and I had previously been in comfortably middle class jobs, it would be FAR easier to do what we’re attempting to do. Seems obvious, of course, but if you make more money, you can save more money.

But I said I was going to focus on practicing thankfulness, so that’s what this next post will be about. And I am researching more ways that we can do more with what we have, even if we can’t, say, retire at 40.

I’m thankful that my doctors are taking me seriously. The rheumatologist hasn’t said anything enlightening yet, but I’m still hopeful.

I’m thankful that I have a supportive family who will back us up.

I’m thankful that I was offered a job for the summer, if I want it. It may turn out that that particular opportunity goes away due to some crazy circumstances, but I’m hopeful.

I’m thankful that Judy Pancoast has asked me to musically direct her Carpenters tour this fall. I’m hopeful that between that and our own work,  we can get an exciting schedule together.

I’m thankful that my church so appreciates my work that they gave me a nice Christmas bonus as well as a raise, before I’d even been there a year.

I’m thankful that my arts job gives me the flexibility to attend appointments.

I’m thankful for my husband. He makes it all worth it.

I’m thankful for a loving and relatively sane family.

And final thought for this moment? I’m thankful that due to the generosity of Ross’ sister and husband, we just got back from a one week escape from reality aka Disney World. Since they covered our tickets and housing, we just had to save for the flight and our incidental expenses and food. We enjoyed a much needed break from real life and had a truly marvelous time. It was so good for our relationship – and it got us really excited for RVing because we LOVED being together 24/7.

Life is good. Thanks for reading. Keep at it and I’ll talk to you soon.