new vandweller forum

wanted to get the word out about the new vandweller forum over at Bob Wells'  "cheaprvliving" website.

so many of us have gotten our start, or benefited from Bob's website in some way. there is a ton of information there, and now a new forum where we can ask questions, share our stories, and glean information on the mobile lifestyle. please come join us, we will be glad to have you!

http://www.cheaprvlivingforum.com/

be careful what you dream

watched this last night after seeing a link on you tube:

silent monks hallelujah chorus

i got quite a laugh out of it! til later.....

i fell asleep lying on the cot, surfing the net with my laptop on my chest. i fell asleep and dreamed i was participating in this chorus, and flipped my laptop over my head and out of bed. fortunately it landed on a box of yarn at the head of the cot. scared the bejeepers out of myself. the laptop survived.

paleotools blog

i am still incredibly busy, 36 hours til my next venue to sell hats and add a little money to the coffers, but i had a comment from a new reader who goes by paleotool. if you know me, then you know how i get a little excited about the word "paleo".  i clicked over to his blog,  and it's a VARDO!

those who know me also know that i have been carrying around old building plans i found on ebay, with the dream of building a sheepwagon to live in. then recently a friend started building a vardo and i was hooked! so i am thrilled to pieces to see this new-to-me blog. i can't imagine i hadn't seen it before, and can't wait to read it all. pop over there to check it out............

http://paleotool.wordpress.com/plans-projects-and-patterns/the-vardo/

i am going to knit on something i don't need my eyes for, so i can read and look at photos!

welcome, paleotool! so glad you dropped by!

van yogurt

while i'm busy knitting, pop over to sarah's blog at "trail cooking" and see what she has been up to. all good! since i rarely use my cooler in the van, i love getting ideas about how to have some occasional treats that normally take refrigeration or ice. i don't eat a lot of yogurt, but this is how i shall have some yogurt when i've a hankering out in the desert,  far from civ :-)  thanks sarah!

http://blog.trailcooking.com/2010/11/30/food-find-instant-trail-yogurt-via-the-baby-food-aisle/

as many of you know, and as we have mentioned on vandwellers, sarah is the guru of freezer bag cooking. you can find her on facebook too!

i've been busy

i have been in a sort of fiber seclusion. Turkey Day market is tuesday, and i have a few ufo's (unfinished objects) i need to..... finish.....and a dozen i want to start! two more events in december, but things will relax after tuesday. you'll hear from me then! promise!

fear and traveling

any of you that know me know that i am basically a coward with courage. not too many things i'm afraid to do or try, but more often than not, i need to get past some bit of fear or hesitation. i am not what i would consider reckless, though. i often need a little (okay, a lot) of encouragement when doing new stuff.

the subject of safety has surfaced in a few places again lately. there are so many positions on safety and protection, all across the board. so many different life experiences that can shape our perspectives. as a victim of a violent crime and a person with an anxiety disorder, my evaluation of risk is very personal. it most likely won't be yours, and that is as it should be. we each need to take the time to study the broad base of information available in order to make choices that we are comfortable with.

the united states scares me, sometime scares the bejeebers right outta me. awhile back, there was a couple in an RV murdered and found in the burnt out RV, most likely by those escaped prisoners in the southwest. what i found very striking is that there was so little mention of it, in the press, or in my vandweller circles. did anyone else find that disturbing? the murders, i mean?

i could not help but wonder how that whole scenario went down. was this couple kidnapped in a truckstop parking lot? approached with a smile while stretching their muscles at a rest stop? bushwhacked while boondocking in the desert? i've thought of that many times. i thought about the fact that their weapons were possibly used on them....they certainly didn't protect them. i understand that the prisoners were in possession of the victims guns, at any rate. how would i have fared if i had been the one approached by those prisoners? where would my weapons have been? would wasp spray, a machete, a 9mm have helped? would my intuitive alarm have gone off? would it have gone off in time? or would i have answered some smiling stranger inquiring about my dog with the cute stripe on his nose, oblivious to danger.....

i am no more afraid than i was before. i still intend to get back on the road as soon as i am able. i will still stay at truckstops and reststops, and way up in the hills in the desert all alone. i will continue to hone my awareness and my intuition, and try not to lose the joy of spontaneous meeting as i travel. i will tweak my weapons and the skills of using them, as i practice ways to avoid that need. i will still operate on a faith that everything in the universe is exactly as it should be.....

a big debate with strong opinions is regarding the dangers of traveling to mexico. i hear and read alot about killings there related to the drug war. if you are messing with the wrong cartel, you are liable to lose your head. that almost goes without saying. i just read a link about 20 people being killed at a home in mexico. that sounded more intentional than random, not something i am likely to encounter while traveling there. that happens everywhere in the U.S., even near my hometown.

so how do you sort it out? where do you find your safe zone? in your weapons? in your mindset? by staying home? (i can promise you that isn't always safe.)

some links here regarding state department warnings.

this guys blog is very interesting reading.


i would love to hear your thoughts on this. especially why we heard so little about this RV couple that was killed, right here on our own soil.

kate