travel

My (almost) Solo Excursion

Posted June 9, 2018 by Barbara Techel

Since 1995 I’ve had at least one dog, though most of the time two. Since Kylie passed in November, we are down to just one. And one it will be. We’ve decided no more big dogs. As I’ve also mentioned before in my posts, Gidget will also be my last special needs pup I’ll adopt.

What a journey it has been. There are times I’m so ready to be on my own without caring for a canine companion, but then there are other times I just can’t imagine not having a dog after Gidget moves on. For 24 years now there has always been a bundle of fur to cuddle up to in our household. But I feel ready for a break when that day comes.

Earlier in the week I set off on an excursion by myself. Well, that is…almost by myself, as I had my ever faithful sidekick with me, Miss G. But this was something I’d not done before in my almost 55 years which was to venture off without another human being with me. To stay in an RV in a campground. Two hours away. By myself.

It was a big deal to me. Three days to myself. I registered for a half day writing workshop, which was on Tuesday. That was such a treat. I enjoyed every moment of discussion and free writing about forgiveness and compassion. It was exactly what I needed.

The first night in the very quiet campground I swear I heard every little thing that went bump in the night. 🙂 I woke up often and at one point I wondered why I had done this. I wanted to go home.

But I stuck it out. Gidget was curled up in her little bed next to me in the big bed and that was quite comforting. It made me wonder though what it would be like to be in the RV without her. It was then I felt an overwhelming gratitude to have her part of my life.

I’m treasuring even more these days my time with her, even though I still have my moments of looking forward to how my life will unfold when she is no longer here. It’s been difficult at times for me to express this here on my blog for fear of judgement. While I’ll miss her greatly when she departs, I have to be honest and say that after caring for three disabled dachshunds since 2006, there will be relief in not having that responsibility.

Each dog has brought me to this place I am today. More comfortable in who I am. Standing stronger on my feet than I’ve ever felt before. And it’s because of Gidget and so much she has taught me that I feel ready to be solo out in the world someday. For how long that will be, I don’t know. But I’m not meant to figure any of that out right now.

This three day solo excursion was a wee little taste of being on my own as John stayed behind understanding that this was something I needed to do. I’m proud that I did this. Whenever we take a leap and dive into our fears, well, the end result is feeling like you can do just about anything!

While I’m glad to be back home and don’t need to venture out on a solo excursion for awhile again, I’m really glad I challenged myself. I feel changed in subtle ways and it just really feels like this is all the part of the process of what lies ahead as I continue to expand in who I am.

Thanks for reading!

XO,

Barbara

Have Van Will Travel: New Season & Kicking it into Gear Again

Posted June 4, 2017 by Barbara Techel

It was last August when we had the idea to convert one of John’s Chevy cargo work vans into a camper, which for short we call the “vamper.” We also named her “Second Chance.” At the end of this post are links to follow along with previous posts about our journey with the conversion thus far.

Last October we did take Second Chance to Tennessee, staying in her one night on the way there and one night on the way back. The week in Tennessee we stayed in a lovely cabin, only because the vamper wasn’t done yet.

We still have a ways to go and with winter it wasn’t possible to work on it. But it’s a new season and John has kicked into gear again.

The last two weekends he spent insulating it so well we can actually hear the radio playing and have a conversation riding down the open highway. Yay!

Today he is building his bed, cause after all, the Master Carpenter has to have his spot first. As you can see in the photo above he designed it with storage underneath.

I didn’t see any plans drawn out for it and asked him how he knew to build it without looking at anything. He pointed to his head and said, “It’s all in here. Just like you with your writing.” That made perfect sense to me!

My bed will run horizontally along the long side of the van above John’s.

We also placed the refrigerator in the van today to get a feel for it and to see how it looks(It is a 12 volt that will run off of the solar panels on roof via the Yeti) . John came up with the idea to place it flush with the two doors that open out on the side of the van. That way when we are in the tent (which I’ll explain about in a moment), we don’t have to hop in and out of the van to get something out of the fridge. That guy, he’s always thinking! 🙂

As you can imagine, one has to utilize every square inch of this conversion to the best of its abilities and why we decided we would also need a drive-away awning. It will act as our kitchen/hang out spot. So we are looking at getting the Vango Airbeam Idris II Drive-away awning – which is exactly what it means – you can leave it up and drive away with the van when you need your vehicle to go site seeing for the day.

Though a bit pricier than regular tents, we love that it is inflatable and will go up in a matter of minutes. As you know, when on vacation or longer weekends, every precious moment of fun counts! So we still have to figure out how to measure for which one we will need and then have it shipped here to the US from the UK. unfortunately no one in the US sells them.

So we are making progress. Of course it never seems to be fast enough as one is anxious to just get on with the business of enjoying. But many great memories being made with this project and no doubt we will be talking about this for a long time to come.

Stay tuned as we will continue to work on it this summer…and hope to get out in it to a camp site or two in the area yet this summer and then a trip for vacation later this fall.

Past posts for Have Van Will Travel Journal

The Adventure Has Begun. New Home on Wheels. Who’d of Thunk?

The Conversion Begins

Inspector Approves of Phase One Conversion

She Gets a Name

First a Name and Now Mascots

Cozy Comfort

Flooring is In (video)

Cutting it Close

Northeast Tennessee – Photo Gallery – So much Beauty!

Posted November 16, 2016 by Barbara Techel

While I did share many photos on my Facebook page of our vacation, I know not everyone is on Facebook. So here is a photo gallery of highlights of our vacation to Northeast, TN. We were in the tri-cities of Johnson City, Jonesborough and Elizabethton. We also visited the art district of Asheville, North Carolina one day, which we had been to before, but wanted to go back to again as we loved it the first time. It was lovely once again! This whole vacation was full of so much beauty all around us!

On the way to TN and one the way home, we stayed one night in our Vamper – Second Chance, as I’d been writing about we were going to do. While the Vamper (a van we are converting to a camper for those that don’t know) isn’t quite done, we were comfortable and slept well. And it was a great way to give it a test run to see how we want to finish it out and organize it, which is our project for over the winter.

And a huge bonus to our vacation was that both Kylie and Gidget did so well. I was a bit apprehensive how it would go, but so pleased they did so well. And as many of my friends have pointed out to me… well, they were with you and John which is what made them feel home. Yup, I suppose that is true.

So I hope you enjoy my gallery of photos. I’d highly recommend Watagua River Cabins and this area of Tennessee for those looking for somewhere to visit. Lots to do, and again, so much beauty surrounded us. I could see living in this part of Tennessee part-time should that work out for us in our retirement years.

Enjoy!