Month: February 2026

by

Hitch Itch and Nowhere to Go

I should probably start by saying it has been a long winter, with more snow than we expected, and colder than we thought it would be. In all fairness everyone local keeps saying it’s unusual weather but seriously I have heard that enough time during our travels that I wont believe it until I see it. Having to hand haul water to the goats and chickens every other day wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be but Lee’s inability to work in his new garage has been a pain. We didn’t really think about that fact that it has no insulation or heat and it’s just to cold to putter out there.

The house itself has been pretty warm though which is nice and I am a big fan of our propane heat. Still, part of the fun with the land and animals is getting out there every day and there were many many days where it was a struggle just to let them in and out every day. The reason I mention this is because when I started to feel restless I initially thought it was just winter blahs but then Lee and I realized that we have been in the same place 11 months and in the house for 8.

Generally in our travels that was the maximum we wanted to stay anywhere without pulling up our jacks and rolling out, so I initially didn’t recognize the feeling for what it was: Hitch Itch. For those who haven’t traveled full time, hitch itch is a real thing where travelers start to want to move on. The time period varies from person to person and place to place but the feeling is pretty standard across the people I have talked to. Basically something in you starts to say, “It’s time to go” and when you can’t scratch that itch for one reason or another it gets uncomfortable.

I don’t know why I thought that completely changing my life and buying a house would stop that cycle, but obviously for us at least it didn’t, or hasn’t yet.

You can mentally make a decision, but often emotions take some time to catch up and I think that is where we are. I’ve talked to some folks in similar situations and they are combating those feelings by planning trips, either in a small RV, or traditional “vacations” with flights and hotels. To be honest neither one of those options really appeals to me right now. First and foremost I have these animals I am taking care of and don’t have a good solution yet for taking a long trip anywhere. Secondly, some part of me likes being in one place and the hassle of traveling for a short period of time isn’t really appealing. If we were in a position where we could take longer trips it would definitely be more appealing but I have sort of locked us in by the type of home I have purchased.

And to be honest there are days I feel like we have made a terrible mistake. Lee is quick to say “what is the alternative” and he’s totally right about that, plus I really like being close to my in-laws and we’re loving the time we are getting to spend with them. Frankly that has been the best part of moving back home although it depends on the day whether or not it is worth it on balance. A big part of that is the money. Being debt free was a pretty awesome way to live, but now we have a mortgage and a car payment and the corresponding lack of freedom that comes with it. Oh yes, we had to buy a second vehicle because neither the truck nor my little Venue drove well in the snow at all. In December we found ourselves in a situation where some days we didn’t have a vehicle that we felt safe leaving the house in (country roads, minimal snow removal) and bit the bullet and bought a snow worthy Santa Fe.

Don’t get me wrong, we like the car and the house, but we very quickly slid back into a traditional life, and it happened MUCH faster than I would have though possible. Still we are keeping an eye on retirement and as long as we both have decent jobs for the next 8 years we will come out of this with minimal debt. And I am really glad that we are putting our money into something (a major motivator for me buying this house) but everything costs so much and the improvements we wanted to make are going to come much slower than either of us want.

I type all this knowing full well these are all first world problems, but I thought I would take a minute and catch everyone up on where we are with the move. In a nutshell, the transition has been much tougher than we expected, but there have also been many unexpected joys along the way. As we head into our first spring in the house we are both very excited about planting a huge garden and using the excess food to donate to our local food bank. One of my favorite parts of standing still has been the opportunity to get involved in the community and sharing our good fortune with others. That was always a challenge on the road and we are taking full advantage of the opportunity in our sticks and bricks.

That’s all for now, and cross your fingers we are done with the snow for this winter. Watching my goats and chickens venture into our backyard with the nicer weather has been a huge lift to out spirits and I am sure the garden will be amazing. Lee has a plan!!!

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itune
by

First Official Visit to the Everglades National Park

I know I haven’t written much lately and frankly I have been toying with the idea of ending this blog, but since I can’t figure out how to save all of this information in a format I can access later for the time being at least I will continue to write when something of significance happens. In this case it was a long-anticipated visit to Everglades National Park.

Like almost anyone who has spent time in Florida I have driven through the park on numerous occasions, but I never really visited it if that makes sense, so I decided to incorporate a visit with my annual trip to Florida to see my Mom. Despite the size of the Everglades it’s not that easy to decide where you want to enter because there aren’t roads that cover the whole park.

After some research we decided to book a tour through a company called Captain Jack’s and I am really glad I did. We got the combination tour which not only included a boat ride through the islands of the Everglades but a really fun Airboat tour of some swamps. First we had to get there though and it was a pretty long drive to get to the town of Everglades City.

Everglades city has an interesting past, being the home to bootleggers during prohibition and drug runners in the 80’s. Eventually though the town became an Everglades tourism center and has a permanent population of 352 people. The K-12 school only has 80 students total and many of them come from the nearby Native American land. Learning about the history was very interesting, but the best part of the Airboat ride was when we went at high speeds and did some 360’s. That will get your blood pumping and despite my concerns I didnt get seasick at all. First time on an airboat was a blast and I highly recommend. WE even saw an alligator despite it being pretty chilly which was a nice bonus.

Mom looks super cute in this pic!
Big Boy

As much as I loved the airboat though, technically we weren’t in the National Forest for that part so I was excited about the boat tour. This guide was absolutely fantastic, and they spent a ton of time talking about the history and animals of the area. Plus the slower pace and warmer afternoon weather made for a very pleasant boat ride

What were my big takeaways? First of all, the only mammals on the sea islands are Saltwater racoons. They have adapted to live on minimal fresh water. We didn’t see any but we saw tons of birds including a nesting Osprey and pelicans that dove repeatedly right in front of us. They mentioned that the animals were very active because a cold snap was due the following day but whatever the reason we saw tons of birds along the way.

This is the National Park Sign for this area. I was official!!

Most of the islands looked like this above and you would think it was boring but it really wasn’t. The tour guides were just great, and we learned about how Boa Constrictors have been taking over the interior Everglades and wiping out native species, but they haven’t gained a foothold in the islands. They also pointed to a far away high rise and talked about how you can boat to Miami from where we here or up to Naples. I didn’t really get how much of the Everglades was on the ocean I always thought of swamps and alligators, but it really is much more than that.

As we were heading back to dock we also had the most beautiful thing happen. Dolphins followed our boat and for a long time jumped and played in the boat wake. It was truly a beautiful moment and I was so glad I got to experience it.

The only downside to the trip was the VERY nice and new visitors center isn’t open yet. The park rangers do have a small portion of the Everglade City tourist center though, so I was able to get my magnet. As usual though National Parks never fail to impress, and I am so glad I did this one for real 🙂

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itune