Life Less Ordinary: Currently: July

Currently living/working in: We roadtripped most of July, with a few days on either end in Denver. Somehow, I squeezed in a bunch of writing projects and J found some gems in our storage units to sell off. But in August, we will be returning to our contract job at Fenton Ranch in New Mexico, where we will again teach kids outdoor education for a few weeks!!!

Currently excited about: Outdoor Retailer in Salt Lake City!!! This will be our second time at OR, an outdoor enthusiast’s dream. Basically, gear companies come to showcase their newest products at the tradeshow, mainly to retailers. We are going on behalf of Backpacker Magazine, who is there to scope out all the newest gear. Not only do we get to be in on that action, but this is also an opportunity to have face-to-face meetings with a bunch of our gear partners.

Currently not excited about: The potential for more work to be done on our 21-year-old campervan. While it did great on its 4,000-mile maiden voyage, we have many, many other miles planned for it. And we already have a long list of “things that are broken, but are they worth fixing???” I’m sure that list will grow, not shrink.

Currently thankful for: Our guardian angels. Even though the tread on our Roadtrek tires looked pretty good upon our purchase, it wasn’t. There were a bunch of hidden bubbles that somehow stayed intact. Our mechanic said he was surprised we made across the country without a blowout.

Currently worried about: We are getting older. Our parents are getting older. Our friends are getting older. Health issues ensue. It sucks getting older.

Currently proud of: We tried to personalize the interior of our Roadtrek as much as possible. I finally get to decorate a home again!!! Pictures coming soon!

Currently regretting: This eastbound-westbound trip was pretty quick and put together last minute, so we missed stopping to see a lot of people, including a few family members! Next time!!!

Currently amazed by: Just how much stuff we still have. We visited our VA storage unit, which is mainly full of expensive furniture we can’t sell. We figure for the $720 we paid in storage unit fees this past year, why not keep it for awhile longer on the off chance we will sometime own a sticks and bricks home again. We’ll see how we feel next year. We did eliminate 4 boxes on this trip. I don’t think anyone can tell a difference.

Current confession: We don’t miss Big Bird (our yellow Subaru Baja) at all. He was good to us, but it was time to part ways. We were able to sell him in just a few days in Colorado (in case you didn’t know, Colorado is the Subaru capital of the world). Hopefully the new owner takes him on as many adventures (and more).

Current guilty pleasure: I finally caved and upgraded our Verizon cell phone plan to include more data. We’ve been living on 500 MB since 2014 or so (don’t forget we share a phone). However, the last few months, we’ve had to purchase more gigs to get by. Knowing how much time we spend on the road, I figured it was inevitable.

Currently reading: “No Shortcuts to the Top” by Ed Viesturs (with David Roberts). I’m still on the same book as last month. I’d like to think I read more when living in the van, but not just yet.