Creative Living Archives | Page 3 of 6

Full-time RVing or Home Base? — What I Chose and Why

travel trailer parked on grass with text overlay: Full-time RVing or a Home Base? What I Chose & Why

When I left California for Texas in my RV, I had no idea what the future would be like. I absolutely loved my trip and had dreams of full-time RVing but I didn’t know if that could be a reality. Would I choose full-time RVing or part-time travel from a home base? Related: Epic 40-day California to Texas RV Itinerary I knew that once I had spent some time with my dad in Texas, I wanted to get back on the road and explore the Gulf Coast, Midwest and East Coast. In the back of my mind, I figured that I would probably just take extended trips from my home base rather than full-time RVing as long as my dad is still living. My mom…

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Survive the Storm — Be Prepared for a Natural Disaster

glowing orance sun shining through dark clouds from a wildfire with text overlay Have you been through a natural disaster? How to be Prepared

When I lived in southern California, I lived with the possibility of an earthquake. When I moved to northern California, wildfires were a real threat. In fact, before I had lived there for a year, we had to evacuate ahead of the Butte fire, one of the largest wildfires ever in California up to that time. Now that I am living in southern Texas, the danger comes from hurricanes. Other natural disasters that effect the US are flooding, thunderstorms, tornadoes and even volcanoes. No matter where you live, you are not totally safe from a cranky mother nature so it is important to be prepared for a natural disaster. A couple of weeks ago, we had a severe thunderstorm during the night. We woke up…

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How to Plan the Perfect Staycation

La Feria Nature Center observation deck across lake

Some people plan a staycation as a special event, but, for me, it’s a perpetual state of being. I am always planning the next adventure in my own backyard and hope to inspire you to do the same. We are often so busy with our daily lives and looking forward to that long vacation away that we forget about the awesome things around us. For the last few years, I have made it my mission to explore every nook and cranny of where I live and I want to help you plan the perfect staycation. What is a Staycation? Simply put, a staycation is a vacation where you stay home and participate in local leisure activities. Wikipedia says a staycation does not involve overnight accommodations…

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Epic 40-day California to Texas RV Itinerary

When I finally pulled away from the home I had lived in for the past four years in Pine Grove, I was both relieved and excited. I knew there were things I would miss but there were also some uncomfortable things going on that I was glad to be leaving behind. The thought of what might lie ahead – whatever that might be – was exciting! I was headed to Texas in my RV, making a lifelong dream come true. I had a general idea of what my California to Texas RV itinerary would be but I also wanted it to be fluid and flexible. To set the stage for this trip for those of you who don’t know, this was my first time ever…

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Three Years and I’m Still Here!

Today, March 7, 2019, marks the 3 year anniversary of this blog. On my first anniversary in 2017, I wrote a post about the journey to finding my blogging passion. Last year, I was so busy, I actually forgot about the anniversary! Where the Blog has Been Two and a Half Years Documenting Gold Country I moved to Gold Country in October of 2014 but I didn’t start the blog until March of 2016 when I decided I missed writing about travel. I was still writing my two pet blogs but travel, including wine and food, is my passion. The blog was fairly static in terms of growth during 2017 and 2018, but already in 2019, it is on track to more than quadruple in…

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Were They RV Must Haves or Have Nots?

While downsizing for the RV life, I made a list of RV must haves. A review of the list reveals which items were my most useful RV must haves.

A while back, while I was downsizing my house to move into my trailer, I wrote about the things I had on hand that I thought would be RV must haves. When I look back on the list, it is interesting to see what I actually used, what I didn’t need or miss, and what I wish I’d had. What do you think were my most useful RV must haves? My Most Useful RV Must Haves Before I left, I read lots of posts about how people mostly cook outside their rig. I took that to heart and took my portable gas grill as well as electric gadgets that could be plugged in outside. Most of the time though, it was too cold to cook…

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Most Viewed Posts 2018 Edition

This is one of my favorite posts to do during the year. It is so fun to look back over articles and see what was popular and resonated with my readers.

This is one of my favorite posts to do each year. It is so fun for me to look back over my articles and see what was popular and resonated with my readers during the year. It gives me food for thought about what to include as future posts. 2018 was a year of huge changes for me. The first few months of the year, things went on pretty much as usual. I visited lots of places in Gold Country to find the gems to share with you on the blog. Then, somewhere around May, some events got put into motion and I decided to start a whole new chapter in my life. I wrote all about it in post #7 below. Top Ten…

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A Newbie’s Favorite RV Membership Programs

There are quite a few RV membership programs out there. I did a lot of research and comparison to decide which were most beneficial to me. Which do you use?

When I was planning my trip from northern California to southern Texas, I researched a lot of RV membership programs to decide which would be of most benefit to me. There are quite a few options, so it wasn’t an easy task comparing them all, but there were a couple of RV membership programs that stood out for me. The RV Membership Programs I Chose Passport America for RV Parks I knew I wanted to stay in a lot of RV parks so Passport America seemed like a no-brainer to me. They let you check out their member parks before you join so I could see there were plenty on my potential route. A one-year membership costs $44. With a 50% discount at over 1600…

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What Does a 2800 Mile, 40 Night RV Trip Cost?

The cost of an RV trip is different for everyone, but I thought you might be interested in learning what my 2800 mile, 40 day RV trip cost.

Of course, the answer to this question will be different for everyone undertaking such a trip but I thought you might be interested in knowing what my 2800 mile, 40 night RV trip cost. Here’s What My RV Trip Cost Gas: $948.91 I’m sure it is no surprise to anyone that this was the biggest expense of the trip, especially since many of my miles were through California. I paid almost $5 a gallon in some places! Once I got into Arizona, the cost went down to under $4 a gallon and in Texas under $3 gallon. I was using premium gas while I was hauling because I wanted to help my car out with all the oomph I could. In retrospect, it may not…

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9 Reasons I Preferred Staying in RV Parks on My First Solo Trip

Boondocking vs staying in RV parks. Here are the nine reasons I felt more comfortable and preferred staying in RV parks on my first solo trip.

OK, I have to admit it, I played it pretty safe on my trip from northern California to southern Texas. This was my first time pulling anything larger than a horse trailer and I was traveling solo. As much as I might have liked to do more boondocking, I just felt more comfortable staying in RV parks. I was on the road for 40 nights and stayed in RV parks for 35 of those nights. All but three of those 35 nights were at Passport America parks at half price. If not for Passport America, I would have been forced to do more boondocking to save some money because I could not have afforded to pay for that many nights at full price. Most…

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