Sustainable & Creative Living
It’s been almost 2 months since I left Florida with my husband, Nate, and dog, Mash, in tow for the van life. We’ve been living and traveling in a van up the east coast of the United States. It’s crazy to think it’s only been 2 months. It feels like it’s been a lot longer because we’ve done so much and been so many new places in such a short amount of time.
Related: Why Traveling is Good for your Soul
It’s been almost a month since my husband and I started our van life adventure. It’s definitely been a whirlwind of change. Our whole world has been turned upside down and all the comforts of home have just been completely changed. We now find comfort in simpler things. Like a quiet place to sleep or a private place to shower.
After many months of planning, things are finally happening! A little less than a year ago, before we were married, my significant other, Nate and I decided that we were going to travel the country.
We’ve always been travelers, from the very first year of dating. So it kind of feels like everything we’ve done together has been in preparation for this trip. It started out as a small idea inspired in part by our first trip to Colorado. Another bit of inspiration came from when two of our best friends went to New Zealand for a year.
I’ve never really made a bucket list before. For me, I’ve just always done the things I wanted as they come along. If an opportunity comes up to visit a friend or do something fun, I take it without thinking I’m going to cross it off a list later. However, with my trip coming up, I thought it would be fun to start a bucket list (among my many other lists) to drum up ideas and get even more excited about our adventure.
I was born with a wayward heart. My entire life I have loved to travel. Some of my first memories as a child are those of a family vacation. I truly believe that traveling is not only good for the soul but necessary to have a full life.
As a kid, my parents always took vacations and trips. When I was a teenager I was fortunate to be able to take a trip to Europe. Since the beginning of my adult life, I have always made it a point to find a way to travel at least once a year whether with my family or my now husband. We’ve been up and down the east coast and bits of the west.
My fiance and I spent a week in Colorado, our first trip out west. A trip like that makes you never want to leave. Colorado is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited and one of the few places I have thought that I could actually live.
We spent the first few days in Boulder, CO which I wrote about in Part 1 of this series. Then we spent a few more days in Copper Mountain for our friend’s wedding (Part 2). The last part of this series we packed a few more activities into the trip.
In honor of Spring, it’s time to start planning your next travel adventure! Whether it’s spring break or summer break, or just a weekender trip – travel plans are exciting!
That being said, traveling is also usually costly – not just for you – but for the environment too. Usually when traveling people like to indulge and splurge. But in doing so, it causes more waste, more energy, and more emissions than would have been extended before.
Some of the best ways to travel eco-friendly are to travel as though you never left home. You’ll see what I mean below.
January is coming to an end, and many of us are settling into our busy routines. If you’re like me, you’re probably already working away on your resolutions and goals for the New Year. Many of my goals have often centered on getting better at or doing more of something I’m already working on. Yet regardless of what time of year it is, or what I’m already doing, it’s always a good time to start something new.
