Beware of Moose

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Beware of Moose when driving New England Roads. RV and Auto collisions with moose cause severe damage and injuries. Readers share their stories and photos.

Third Time’s a Charm

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Hammock TimeWhen we embarked on this trip, I often imagined kicking back in my hammock with my Powerbook and enjoying my new office. Well, the first couple times that I have actually strung up the thing I ended up not spending any time in it at all. If my hammock time wasn’t called on account of rain, there was either too much on my RV honey do list or simply too much of the outdoors to go enjoy.

I am now happy to say that my vision has finally come true. The view from my new office is well worth the wait. The only thing missing is our internet connection.

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But Can We Stand the Weather?

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Burlington VermontWe’ve traveled many miles searching for our ideal community. A few times, we thought we might have found it. But . . .

The thought of moving into a small town is nice, but few have the diversity that we feel makes life more interesting.

We crave the solitude of 40 acres in the sticks, but fear we might go nuts being so isolated.

And in places where we love both the land and the people, it might a lot of effort to fit in.

So where does that leave us? At the other end of the country, completely enamored with one state in particular, which is now the benchmark to compare all future areas against. That state is Vermont.

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The Bed and Breakfast Lifestyle in Oakville, Toronto

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Canada Bed and Breakfast Melfort House Heather Donaldson When Jim and I first considered changing gears and starting a new business, running a Bed and Breakfast or lodge was high on our list. So I did some research, and read two books that helped us narrow down our focus, if we decide to make the leap. The books, “So You Want to Be an Innkeeper” and “I’m Living Your Dream Life,” dive into the gory details about the daily demands of catering to tourists. I highly recommend them if you’ve ever considered running a tourism business.

What’s It Like Running a Bed and Breakfast?

We’re still considering this type of business as an option, so when we checked into Melfort Cottage in Toronto, we were on a mission to learn more about that line of work. Melfort Cottage is a small three room Bed and Breakfast, run by Heather Donaldson, a retired schoolteacher. Located in the middle of the posh Oakville area, Melfort Cottage is perfectly situated in an historic neighborhood, within walking distance to restaurants and shopping.

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When Is Enough Enough?

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Toronto Ontario Canada SkylineLet’s get one thing straight: I am not a pinko communist! But you’d have to be blind not to notice the scandalous events of our government over the last few years, and any thinking person has had to ask themself; what is wrong with this picture? Personally, I’m fed up, and sadly, I’m not so sure that anything can change the mess that big money and nepotism has created in the U.S. Thus, my tirade about living in the U.S. . . .

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Epilogue: Shaking the Family Tree

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Toronto City HallRené asked me if I felt any more Candian now. Truth is, I have always felt part Canuck – though my home team would be the Maple Leafs – since I learned my mother was from Toronto and I went to the Snow Festival in Quebec as a child. After all, I am supposedly half French Canadian and half Scottish Irish. And one of my closest, dearest friends hails from Winnipeg eh. But I have to admit it felt good being Canadian at least for a day. Especially since that day happened to be September 11th.

It was actually nice to not be bombarded by the regular American media suspects forcing us to remember in vivid detail the tragic events of 2001, as they have every year for the past six. The only sign whatsoever that it was in fact 9/11 was a group of peaceful demonstrators in downtown Toronto proposing that the World Trade Center tragedy was an inside job. And personally, I was glad the morning paper didn’t carry a full page image of the burning towers that has been burned into my psyche the very day it happened.

Coverage of events at Ground Zero made it to page eighteen of Canada’s national newspaper. The front page was reserved for a 30th anniversary tribute to the beating death of Steven Biko by South African police. I found the story educational, enlightening, and touching. Perhaps it was buried deep in U.S. papers, I don’t know. But I doubt this important reminder of apartheid in the world made the front pages.

I just had to play Peter Gabriel’s “Biko” from Shaking the Tree on the iPod as we crossed the border back into the U.S. after being questioned by a stern guy playing the role of a Nazi officer. So do I feel a bit more Canadian? You bet eh. And it feels good.

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Climbing Down the Family Tree

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Jim and Rene at the AltarWe haven’t blogged in a few days because we took some time to trace my roots with a brief trip into Toronto. While we accomplished our mission of finding the church where my parents were married and the cemetery where my grandparents are buried, we also discovered that the trip was far too brief to discover everything we wanted to know about living in Ontario, Canada.

Although we have budgeted for a few hotel nights each month on this trip, our stay at Melford Cottage Bed and Breakfast in Oakville Ontario was the first time we have left the comfort of our trailer since selling our stick house and putting our bedroom furniture in storage over three months ago. While it did feel a bit weird leaving all our possessions in the trailer at Four Mile Creek NY State Park campground to take a little vacation from our “vacation”, Heather Donaldson’s home served as a great base to search for my Mom’s roots around Toronto and gave us a chance to reconsider what the future holds for us once again.

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The rundown on our WordPress plug-ins

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Readers who have chosen not to register for this blog and receive notification of posts and comments will be happy to know that we have just activated the Subscribe To Comments WordPress plug-in.

Beneath the comments form at the bottom of every blog post, there is now a convenient check box that will enable you to receive follow-up comments via email. This is just one of the various plug-ins we have installed to make the LiveWorkDream blog better.

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Plan Early, Stay Focused and Tell Everyone About Your Road Trip Sabbatical

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Early Retireee Plans RV Road Trip with MotorcycleSince launching our blog, we continue to find individuals who also want to hit the road and travel. Some, like Sara and Matt, are doing it in a truly eco-groovy way, by treading lightly across America in a veggie oil powered RV. And the couple that inspired us, Phil and Carol White, continue to live their Road Trip Dream across America, while sharing the benefits of travel with others at conferences and events. Our Blog Roll, over on your right, has links to theirs and other RV travelers websites.

Recently, Rudy and Irene Tenorio of Atlanta, GA, contacted us, asking more details about our trip. This adventurous couple wants to take early retirement, starting in December, 2010. Because they’re smart and starting to plan now, and contacting others who are doing it, they’ll definitely be on the road to making it happen in ’10.

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Live / Work Report One

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Whenever we find locals willing to chat (of which there are many in the rural places we visit), we ask loads of questions about the area, their work, the weather, you name it. They think we’re playing “20 Questions,” but what we’re really doing is trying to figure out:

  • where the heck we might move to, permanently
  • and what on earth we’ll do for a living

As summer winds down, the locals have more time to talk. Information is getting thrown at us as quickly as the summer days are going by. The following is a summary of what we’ve learned recently, so we can look back on it a year from now — if we do decide to settle down somewhere . . . or start to run out of money, whichever comes first!

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Watch out for sudden curves.

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Tight Curve for an RVAfter putting more than 6,000 miles behind us, today was the first time I actually felt uncomfortable maneuvering the trailer. OK, I’ll admit it – I was scared. It takes a man to acknowledge his faults, and learn from them.

Call it overconfidence or poor navigation, or blame it on bad signage and a crazy sudden curve. It all comes down to this: when haulin’ 16,000 pounds plus, know where you’re going, stay alert, and never ever panic.

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