Understanding the Locals by Bicycling Through America

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Crazy cyclist on Red Mountain Pass near Ouray Colorado

On my criteria list for the ideal place to live and work: Must be bike friendly.

Bicycling has been a way of life for me since 1992, when I moved to San Francisco, got a bike and rode in the second Critical Mass ride, ever.

But trust me, I’m not a trendy gearhead. My antique 1992 Trek 7000 mountain bike is an unstylish hardtail, with an old Girvin Flex Stem, a precursor to modern suspension. But from San Francisco to Florida, Old Blue has repeatedly gotten me from Point A to Point B, and it’s all I need.

So whenever we arrive in a new place, I like to go for bike rides to get a feel for the area. When you ride, you can quickly judge not just the safety of the roads, but the attitude of the locals.

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Funniest. Comment. Ever.

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Al Workamping at Vickers dude RanchWe just received the funniest comment on any of our posts, from someone named Harvey. (Sorry RhodesTer.)

It made me laugh. And it reminded me of fellow workamper Al, who we met working here at Vickers Ranch.

On the post I wrote about trying the NextGen Gallery Worpress plugin, Harvey said:

“You got a picture of canned pork brains, and everybody wants to comment on what program you’re using!”

ROFLOLFYIETATBD! 😆

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Our Radical Sabbatical: The Real Work Begins

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Road Trip Stops at Capitol Reef National ParkThe idea of taking a long break first occurred to us in 2006, when some mindless channel surfing led us to the TV show, Radical Sabbatical. Each 30 minute segment would tell the story of someone who had suddenly woken up to realize they hated their career, life was passing them by, and they needed a change, fast.

While reality shows are generally crap, watching how these people worked to make their dreams happen provided much of the inspiration we needed to get moving on our own dreams (well, that, and Jerry’s illness).

Neither Jim nor I had ever taken an extended break. In my 20s, my friends went backpacking around Europe after college, but I had student loans to pay, so I took the first dumb job that I could get. By the mid 90s, I was handing over my paycheck to student loans and credit card debt. And as for Jim, well, he’s always been too responsible to slack off.

Now that we had paid some dues in life, we became giddy at the thought of reverting to slackerdom. But the more we thought about it, we knew we couldn’t just split without some kind of goal in mind.

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The Best Small Towns According to Fellow Road Tripper Kim

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South Park Colorado Chamber of CommerceI’d like to share a list that was recently emailed to me by fellow RV traveler, Kim She kindly sent it from somewhere in the Yukon territory of Canada last week.

She and her husband Sam left their home in Louisiana last June, and have been touring around the U.S., criss-crossing much of the same territory that Jim and I have. Read about their travels on their blog.

Kim and I share a lot of things in common, as you can tell by her list of favorite towns. See how she’s picked many of the same places / regions that we have, for many of the same reasons? But she’s also introduced me to some new ones that I’d like to check out, like Rodeo, New Mexico.

Here is Kim’s list of the best small towns in North America that she’s been to, so far. Thanks Kim.

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Live Work Dream: Our List of Small, Liveable Western Towns.

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Arkansas River Valley Colorado After a year on the road, it seems clear to us that if and when we settle down, it will be somewhere in the West.

We gave the Midwest and East Coast a chance, and even fell in love with a few places, like Wisconsin, and Vermont. But ultimately, there’s just too many people crammed into the Eastern states. And in the Midwest, the mountains aren’t nearly tall enough for us. Many places we spent time in were beautiful, and quaint, but all along, I couldn’t help but drawing comparisons to my favorite places in the Western states. Nowhere else could measure up.

When we first hit the road, I didn’t want to consider Colorado as a future home, because I knew I would love it, but that real estate is expensive, and there were better deals to be had throughout the rest of the country.

But, the old adage “You get what you pay for” is so true. While you can get 100 acres with a home for less than $200k in the Midwest . . . it’s the Midwest. The people are the nicest, but the land is flat, the area is homogeneous, and the scenery just can’t compare to the kind of western mountain landscapes that take your breath away.

With this in mind, I’m willing to admit that I love the familiarity of the west, and would consider buying something in these parts. For now, here’s a list of places we want to investigate in depth.

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Living Free in a Van Down by the River

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Florida Traffic SceneThis just in: every minute you spend sitting in traffic to get to a job you hate, one more young adult decides to quit the rat race, sell everything, and hit the road.

Ok, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration. But the longer we’re on the road, the more we keep meeting crazy kids our age who are also fed up with running on the treadmill of job/home/stuff/debt.

Hitek Homeless Hits the Road
Take for instance, Johnny and Jenn, aka Hitek Homeless. We met this couple online last year, while their escape plans were coming to fruition. They bought a killer Arctic Fox truck bed camper and a diesel dualie, sold their stuff, and finally hit the road a few months ago. Recently, Truck Camper Magazine interviewed them about their decision to fulltime.

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The Always New Shower View

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Ouray Bluff through RV Skylight from 4J+1+1 CampgroundNearly a year ago now – way back in Deadwood, SD – I wrote about how the view is always different from our kitchen table. Another view that always changes for us is out our Bathroom window.

Being a skylight, the view is usually of the sky. Light during the day, but sometimes we see stars at night. Until it fogs up.

Nevertheless, I am always reminded that this adventure is still fun and exciting whenever I look up and see new trees. Or the best yet, this view of the bluff above our site at the 4J+1+1 Campground in Ouray, CO.

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Maybe We’ll Rethink That Earthship Home Idea After All

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We came across this earthen home near Pagosa Springs, Colorado. It’s under construction. We were so thrilled when we saw see a “For Sale” sign on the property. We thought “Hey, maybe it’s a sign! Is it meant to be?” When we stopped to talk to the closest neighbor, he gave us the scoop. The home is for sale because “Wild Bill” as he’s known …

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Show Me the Money: Hard Numbers from a Year on the Road

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Jim with Trucker Cap Leaving Eureka CAOne year ago this week, we drove away from Humboldt County in a daze. We couldn’t believe that we had really pulled our sabbatical off, and year on the road seemed like an eternity. Little did we know that it would fly by seemingly as quick as a two week vacation. We have so much to say about our epic journey. But for now, let’s start with the hard numbers.

Thanks to the meticulous Quickbooks expense tracking I’ve done over the last several years, and Carol White’s Live Your Road Trip Dream book budgeting templates, I was able to put together a budget that works for us. In short: we came in under budget, and the money we’ve saved will enable us to continue to live this lifestyle for at least the next year if we choose to.

If you’d like to see the technical details, a PDF with summarized numbers is here. But if spreadsheets make you snooze, then here’s a quick summary of my numbers for the year, and some ways we saved money:

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