Small House Big World

I’ve been reading travel blogs for years. These stories of people dropping everything to take off and see the world were a big inspiration for this trip. Reading stories of exploration and adventure allowed me to live vicariously through others while I was stuck at home studying (and planning my own big escape).

The first travel blog I ever read was the Hynes’ Honeymoon Blog at http://www.sailblogs.com/member/honeymoon/. My dad actually showed me this blog. We both devoured the entire story while we prepared for a sailing trip in the British Virgin Islands. For their honeymoon Seth and Elizabeth Hynes (both avid sailors) bought a catamaran and took off to sail around the world. They made it half-way around the globe before learning that Elizabeth was pregnant with their first child and heading home to start the next exciting chapter in their lives.

Another favorite is the Bumfuzzles at http://www.bumfuzzle.com. Pat and Ali Shulte traded their high-rise office jobs and Chicago condo for a catamaran when they were in their late-twenties. They successfully circumnavigated the globe without any prior sailing experience. That was over fifteen years ago and they have been traveling ever since. They raced around the United States in a vintage Porsche, drove through South America and Europe in a VW Microbus, had a baby in Mexico, moved onto a monohull sailboat, had another baby in Mexico, and eventually traded in the aquatic life for a vintage RV and the beaches of Mexico.

When we decided to go on our own big adventure, Brandon started reading travel blogs as well. One of his favorites follows another young couple that are traveling the United States in an RV. Like us, they didn’t know much about RVs when they first started, but are learning as they go. Unlike us, they have not put an end date on their adventures. They are working mobile jobs from the RV as they travel and plan to keep going as long as it’s fun! You can read their blog at http://www.smallhousebigworld.com.

When Brandon realized that Kelly and Anna from Small House Big World were traveling to the Portland area we decided to get in touch with them. They got back to us and we all met up for dinner earlier this week. It was so much fun to talk with another young couple that is doing right now what we plan to be doing in six months. We had so much to talk about that dinner lasted for about three hours!

Anna told us that Kelly was going to be out of town this weekend and it would be her first time staying in the RV alone. So we invited her to come back and hang out with us on Saturday! Kelly and Ana are traveling with their dog Max and two cats. Max came along on Saturday.

Our first stop of the day was my favorite local dog park. We took Max and Rudy to the park so that they could meet on neutral territory. They did the typical sniffing routine and proceeding to play with all the other dogs. Success! The dogs had a great time at the park and Anna and I had a chance to chat about our websites. Anna is also the primary writer on their blog. I learned a number of new tricks while chatting with Anna that prompted the redesign of our own blog. I hope you’re enjoying the new design!

Our next priority was lunch. We went to a local favorite that has a nice outdoor area when you can bring your dogs. We left Rudy at home but brought Max with us to the restaurant. He was very well-behaved and even drew some attention from some strangers passing by. He was also happy to eat the carrots that came with my hot wings (though I’m sure he would have prefered a wing or two).

Our next stop was our RV storage lot. We wanted to take Anna on a tour of our rig. I think she loved it as much as we do! We can’t wait to take a tour of their rig, a 37-foot Pace Arrow, but that will have to wait until another time. We have a feeling we will run into these guys again, further on down the road.