The Best RV + Van Instagrammers In My Feed

I've lived in the Brave for long stretches of time, 3 months on my first cross-country trip, a couple months while I worked at a summer camp in 2011, and then 6 weeks earlier this year.  During this last trip I decided to follow some fellow traveling souls on instagram, and let me tell you, there is no shortage of amazing people with amazing feeds who are doing the full time rv/van/trailer life thing.  I thought I'd share some of my favorite ones!  Get ready to start clicking "follow" because these traveling souls are inspiring and follow-worthy!

@thewandering_eye

This photographer and her man are traveling around the US in the most stunning Winnebago ever.  If my Brave was bigger and more modern, she'd definitely be channeling these decor vibes.  It's super inspiring to see someone showing that you can totally make an RV look just as gorgeous as those jaw-dropping pinterest apartments.  These two actually just ended up settling down in a house, but if you go back through their feed you'll see all their travels.  Still, her feed is beautiful, definitely worth a follow.

@birchandpineairstream

Kate + Ellen renovated an Airstream to be a fresh, modern and airy home on wheels.  And then they sold it and they're doing it again.  So if you're looking to get inspired by a full renovation, this feed is following along with the entire process.  Get inspired!

@freshoffthegrid

First off, I'm most impressed that these two are doing the mobile living thing in a car.  And not like an SUV or anything, a tiny little car.  Impressive.  They write a camp cooking and lifestyle blog, and so their instagram feed is full of adventure and tasty things.  And who doesn't like that?  Go follow along and your appetite for food and wanderlust will be satisfied.

@poseidonsbeard

The cutest family traveling and adventuring in a van.  While Dan + I don't yet have kids, I've always been super inspired by families doing family-hood in different and unique ways.  Seeing these guys living life on the road makes me really excited for the day when Dan + I are parents, showing our kids around the world.

@tinyhousetinyfootprint

To be honest, one of the things I love most about this account is that their trailer has a similar layout to my Brave.  It's fun seeing a familiar looking space to be inspired by, even if it's not a Brave.  They have a blog as well, and, as their name suggests, they're all about inspiring people to live small with a small impact, sharing stories from other people who are living small.  

@therollinghome

These two cute humans built out their VW, and share their life and travels through their instagram, blog and in a gorgeous book with the same title.  They're traveling around Europe, which is definitely a change from the mobile dwellers I usually follow traveling the US.  They have incredible taste and each photo they share is beautiful and inspiring.

@idletheorybus

This hippie pair in their bright orange bus are adorable.  They're creatives, an illustrator and a photographer, and they just launched a kickstarter for their book "Orange is Optimism."  In addition to beautiful photos of their adventures, they always post lovely prose in the description of their images to encourage and empower their followers.

@outsidefound

These two built out the most incredible bus home I've ever seen.  I most definitely read back through their entire blog archives to see the whole build out process. I'd be lying if, after scrolling through their blog, Ididn't' want to trade out my Brave for a bus like that!  If you want to build out a bus of your own, they give tons of info on how they did it for anyone who want their resources.

@ladyadventures

We actually ran across Lady Adventure IRL while we were in Joshua Tree!  Her little Toyota RV is so cute and she goes all over in it on outdoorsy adventures.  If you want some lady power in your mobile living feed, Lady Adventures is a great account to follow!

@s_artuso

This gal converted a bus into a fresh, simple space.  Her floor paint job alone is worth the follow.  And if you like dogs, she's got the cutest pups in her feed.  She's not really a traveler, her bus usually stays put, so it's not a feed for getting inspired to travel, but if you love her space and want to see more of it, go follow her feed!

Entering the Cocoon

I'll be honest.  Moving to Alaska was not an easy decision and even though we are here now, it still doesn't feel quite "right" in a way.  After going back and forth for months about whether to stay in Tacoma or move up to Alaska, it ultimately made the most sense to move up here, primarily for medical care financial reasons, but leaving Tacoma felt really bad for a lot of other reasons.  

In almost every other decision I've made, I've been the sole person involved.  It's easy that way, because the decision affects me and no one else, so it really simplifies the decision making process and how I feel after making the decision is very straightforward.  This was one decision that really makes me feel like I made the right decision logically, but I know that it affects Dan much more negatively than me.  My job is mobile, Anchorage is my hometown, my family lives here, my medical care is affordable here.  For Dan, he's leaving a place he grew up, all his friends, his job, the house we bought and cared for.  So my confidence that I made the right decision for my medical care and pregnancy/newborn support is twinged with a lot of guilt and heartache surrounding what feels like tearing my husband away from a place he very much loves.  And while I know that it was a decision we made together, I feel a lot of responsibility for causing the move.

And, to be frank, it doesn't feel like a move "up," if you will.  We are living with my parents, which, at 30 years old, isn't #lifegoals, if you know what I mean.  We are living in an apartment above their garage, so we have our own separate living space, but there's still that feeling of, well, failure I suppose, in a way.  Going from being independent homeowners to moving back to the house I lived in growing up, it's not easy.  

I want to feel independent and grown up.  I know that this time is in many ways a cocoon for me, and maybe both of us.  And I feel so so so grateful to have a family that can provide a cocoon for us as we make this transition to parenthood.  I'm trying to choose to be positive and seeing this time as a true cocoon time, where we will inevitably emerge stronger that we were before, more independent, and more equipped and able to be the best parents we can, in a financial situation that allows us to move "up."  Ideally a cocoon isn't somewhere to stay forever, and it's also not a place where you revert back to your caterpillar self.  I'm trying to keep that in mind as we enter this somewhat uncomfortable space of being cocooned.  I imagine a caterpillar feels a bit uncomfortable, going from being able to scrunch around freely to being all wrapped up and stuck in a cocoon for who knows how long.  And not knowing what he'll look like, what life will be like when he emerges.  I feel that way very much.  The uncomfortability of not knowing what life will look like as a parent, how we'll cope with it, how I'll be able to be a businesswoman, wife, and mom all at once (even though I know it's more than possible based on how many amazing ladies I see doing it).  

People's lives on the internet can seem all insta-perfect and wonderful, but that's never the whole story.  While I feel a plethora of mixed emotions about moving, pregnancy, parenthood, and more, I'm doing my best to focus my attention on staying positive and having a great attitude through all the change that we're dealing with, because really it's one of the few things I do have control over.  Doing my best to take this in stride and take each day as it comes.

Maternity Style | Week 20

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I was going to start with the first week I documented (week 8), but first I wanted to share this super amazing shoot I did up in Alaska last month with my friend Grace Adams!  I was up in Anchorage shooting a wedding and Dan came with me to get a feel for the city we'd be moving to shortly and I asked Grace if she was available for a last minute shoot with the two of us so we could have some photos to go along with our pregnancy announcement.  I was really excited to be able to have some photos with my love so we could share the news with our friends, and it was fun to have the photos done in our new town.

I made a flower crown and bouquet because, well, I have a hard time passing up an excuse to play around with florals.  I used some bought flowers and then foraged the rest from our backyard and with the pine branches and red flowers I sort of ended up with a very December-esque crown, which actually is perfect because our tiny person is scheduled to make their first appearance at the beginning of December!

Dress + Necklace : Free People | Shoes : Kenzie Girl
Photos by Grace Adams

Stuff I don't need.

It's weird being a part of new marketing sector.  Pregnant lady, new mom.  So far the ads in my facebook and online haven't been super targeted at pregnancy yet, but I have a pregnancy app that has some ads in there, and I got a huge packet of coupons from shopping at a maternity store once, and while I get that some products are nice, it seems like, by and large, most of it is unnecessary.  I don't need a whole new wardrobe full of maternity clothes (but I should probably get a second pair of the maternity jeans I got because I wear them like every day...).  My newborn doesn't need a closet full of cute outfits.

Moving has been a huge process of getting rid of stuff.  So much stuff.  So much stuff we don't need.  And we don't even have a big house. When we were house hunting I think we looked at one house that was 2000 sq/ft, twice as big as our current house.  I can't imagine how much more stuff we would've had with that much room to fill!  I'll admit, I love stuff.  I love stuff a lot.  I like making spaces cozy and styling things to look lovely.  I like having art on my walls and pretty furniture and such.  But still, it's amazing how much unnecessary stuff accumulates without even noticing.  

I'm looking forward to creating a cute, cozy space for our new babe, but I also don't want to end up with a ton of stuff again.  It's so hard to be mindful and intentional about bringing stuff into our house.  That was one thing I really loved about living in the Brave.  You really don't have any space for stuff you don't need.  I loved that simplicity.  That clarity.  I crave it, but at the same time I crave having a beautifully styled home full of stuff I love.  Where is the balance between having enough stuff and cultivating a simple and clear life?  It seems like maybe a push and pull.

Ironically, right now the Brave is actually full of some of our excess that is in storage.  We sold some stuff, took a ton to the thrift store, tossed some, and what doesn't suit us at this stage in life (like my burlesque costumes) we stored with the Brave.

I still dream of life on the road full time in the Brave.  I really adore the lifestyle, I adore the people you meet on the road, I adore seeing new beautiful places each day, experiencing new local cultures, new small businesses.  For now the Brave is in storage.  Maybe, hopefully, someday we will get to pick up that dream again.  Some of my favorite memories of childhood happened in RVs and on longterm trips.  I love following full-timer families on Instagram, homeschooling their kids, showing them new things and teaching them through their travels.

For now, I'm trying to keep from acquiring too much stuff and cluttering up my life again.  Moving is a huge pain, but it's also nice to have something like moving force you to do one of those purges.  I should institute a quarterly purge to keep this simple intention.  Seasonal purges.  As someone who loves thrifting, it can be easy to acquire cool things that I don't actually need and that don't actually serve a purpose, but having a set time to get rid of that stuff could help with it piling up.  

I know I'm about to be in the midst of an onslaught of marketing to tell me that I need a thousand new things to be a mom.  I think I will be happy to keep the stuff acquisition to a minimum and to DIY the shit out of as much as I can.

What I'm Reading

In the past few months I've read some of my favorite books of all time, so I thought I'd share my current reading list with you guys because I feel like these books are incredible and if you haven't read them, go pick them up now!  I didn't do it on purpose, but all of these books center on the idea of human connection and how humans are hardwired for connection.  Each one focuses on the idea from a different perspective, but I love each one and how inspiring each one is in it's own way.  

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
-By Brené Brown

If you haven't seen Brené's Ted Talk on vulnerability, stop reading this post right now and go watch it. It's in the top five most viewed Ted Talks with over 24 million views on the Ted website.  I've only just started Daring Greatly and am on the second chapter now, but knowing Brené's work, I can't wait to get further into this one.  Kristina, my Wildbride partner, finished Daring Greatly on our Wildbride Retreat tour and highly recommended it.  She said it felt like a mini therapy session every time she picked it up, in a good way.  So much food for thought and life change.
 

The Art of Asking: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help - By Amanda Palmer

Amanda's book is refreshing and so inspiring.  Amanda's writing style is super easy to read and it really feels like she's talking right to you.  Dan also read this one and really loved it.  I was challenged and inspired to do more asking.  In the past couple years I've been more intrigued by the idea of asking and rejection, trying my hand at rejection therapy now and then.  The Art of Asking kind of goes deeper into this idea.

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
- By Elizabeth Gilbert

You're probably familiar with Elizabeth Gilbert.  Eat. Pray. Love. anyone?  Yup.  Big Magic is a refreshingly honest look at living a creative life as an artist, writer, etc.  It's encouraging and frank and is a great read for anyone who aspires to, or is currently, living as an artist either full time, part time, or as a hobby.  The chapters/sections are super short (some are under a page long), and it feels like a very quick read.  She writes in a very colloquial way, which made me feel almost like she was talking to me, not like I was reading a book.  Dan read this one after I finished it and he really enjoyed it as well!

How to Win Friends and Influence People
- By Dale Carnegie

I'll be honest, I'd heard about this book in the past a few times, but the (comes-across-as-sort-of-douchey) title put me off from getting this book.  It was suggested to me by another photographer who told me it was a must-read, one of those books that everyone should have to read, and that it helped him immensely with connecting with clients.  I immediately hopped over to Amazon and ordered it and I'm so glad I did.  It's now on my list of books that everyone should read, and honestly I feel like this should be required reading in high school or college.  I suppose at it's root it is a book about how to win friends and influence people, but more than that it's a super practical guide for understanding human behavior and how to best interact with other people in conflicts and difficult situations and how to honor one another through words and actions.  It's now one of the most underlined books on my shelf and I already feel like I need to read through it again to really grasp the concepts and put them into practice in my life.