Goodwill Rocks!

Today Goodwill had 50% off of everything!
I got NEW eccoⓇ hikers in my size for $4.98.  They don't even appear to be worn and have no foot impressions.  I noticed this past fall my hikers felt worn.  Well, bring on spring, baby.  I'm ready to hike.
I also got a new large (in perfect condition) Igloo thermos ($ .98), four plastic plates for less than 50 cents, fleece vests for both my guys ($2.25 each) and a sleeping bag for $2.75.  It's a synthetic fill and shell with cotton lining.  It's rated for warmer weather so if it gets cold at night whoever uses it will need to wear wool socks and use the wool blanket I keep in the car. Still, it was $2.75!!!

The Loot!

So, my total for this trip so far...
Hikers (though not just for trip) $4.98
Thermos                                       .98
Four plastic plates                         .49
Fleece vests                                4.50
Sleeping bag                               2.25
Total                                        $13.20

I've been perusing family and cheap travel websites and blogs. It's next to impossible to find blogs of families traveling together cheaply. In the US. There are a lot of tips for traveling abroad.   

Some ideas I've gathered for our trip:
From butterflydiary.com  - How to Explore LA without a Car and Tips for Staying Healthy on the Road
From pcta.org - Hiking and Backpacking with Children... me being the child, of course.
And the Kallin family hiked the Appalachian Trail together last year. From Georgia to Maine.  With two kids!  Impressive.

What I'm not finding is blogs and information regarding traveling as a family with little or no money or traveling with older children.  All travelers who specialize in very cheap travel are single and free of family obligations.

Trupti Devdas Nayak

Trupti Devdas Nayak

Trupti Devdas Nayak

Trupti Devdas Nayak

Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway?

Photo taken by Wikipedia User:Ruhrfisch





There are always people who want to poo-poo dreams and diminish plans. I chose to believe they are trying to be helpful and have my best interests at heart. We are not going into this willy-nilly.  In fact, that's why we are taking about six months to plan this trip.

Here are a list of my fears.

• BEARS! Yes, I know.  There are very few attacks on humans, they just want your food and they are more afraid of you than you are of them... blah blah blah.  
• Money.  It's going to cost a bundle. I am afraid of running out of money before the end of the trip. I thought of prepaying for reservations before going but what if something happens and our schedule get's messed up.
• Something happening.  What?  I don't know. Car breaks down. Someone gets sick or injured. We're robbed and car stolen. Aliens get us in Roswell.
• Not being able to get our work done.  Michael has two jobs that allow us to work from home. But we need cell reception and internet to do it.  If we don't work we don't get paid.  See?
• Pain and discomfort.  Michael and I are not young. We have aches and pains and are fat and out of shape. How are we going to feel sleeping in a tent and traveling in a car for a month? 
• BEARS!

“Be cautious of bears at all times, even when being mauled by a tiger.”
― Craig Benzine/WheezyWaiter

• Getting along.  At home my daughter and I have separate rooms.  But on the trip we will be in a tiny car for a month. Together. And Michael and I get along really well.  Except when we are under stress.  Then we bicker.  I want this to be a positive experience. 
• Being the mom... doing everything I have to do at home but on the road and in the dirt with no modern conveniences.  Whiny? Yes. But ask any mom.  She'll tell you.
• Not having the right equipment.  Which is why we are doing a trial weekend before we go.  Just to see what we actually need/use and what is unnecessary cargo.
• Bug bites.  This is more of a discomfort thing.  Pennsylvania bugs don't touch me.  Michael, however, is a frickin' smorgasbord for biting critters. Chiggers, however, love me. We don't have them in Pennsylvania but I know they are elsewhere and I know they love the taste of me.  And the itching... Oh, the itching! Not to mention the scabby bite marks that make you look like a meth addict.
• Keeping my family fed within a budget on this trip.  Over a campfire. In the rain. With BEARS! 
• Rain.*  This does fall under discomfort but it's a different kind of discomfort.
• Not wanting to come home. 
• Did I mention Bears?

*The last time we were camping was at World's End State Park, Forksville, PA, 1998.  Our daughter was about 6 months old and our son was three. The rain fell steady most of the weekend.  When it was not raining it was pouring. Everything got wet including the sleeping bags and bedding.  The fire kept going out. We saw no bears but that could have been my husband's snoring and did I mention the rain? We haven't camped since. Seventeen years later and planning a month long camping trip!

For the record. World's End is a fantastic place to camp and hike.  Just not for me in the early fall of 1998.

... but I don't.

We will be traveling frugally.
When we started discussing this trip TWO years ago we kept running into the same issue.  Money and time.  We have lives. Jobs. School. Cats. But we also want to travel more.  What to do? What to do?

Enter Travels with the Blonde Coyote! Mary Caperton Morton is a fascinating young woman with experience to share.  And her photography! Stunning. Please see her blog. She is an incredible travel writer.

After some confidential talk between Michael and I we decided to camp as much as possible and not take the van but take the 2 door Accent.  Yes, it'll be a tight squeeze but it'll be good for us to live minimally.  Right? Originally we thought a roof carrier would work but we decided on a back hitch basket to keep gas mileage at the maximum. After all we'll be traveling over 6,500 miles. 

Here is a thought provoking wiki-how regarding minimalist camping.We might even try some dispersed camping.

Here are some of the destinations we have in mind.
Three French Hens French Country Market (for me and Meredith. The boys will be bored.)
Mall of America for Meredith
Various National Parks such as The Badlands and Grand Teton and Yosemite
Bodie, CA (for Michael)
Some of the standard California sites... such as Big Sur (for me)
Grand or Bryce Canyon and/or Grand Staircase
White Sands (my mama loved it there)
Hamilton Pool (Andrew's request)
Dallas Cowboys Stadium (for Meredith ONLY) and Southfork Ranch
Van Buren, MO to see family
And maybe a stop in Bourbon Country
Of course, these plans are not set in stone.  But a recent family meeting lead us to some of these ideas.

I look forward to sharing our experiences with you.

Chantal

Four adults in this for 6,500 miles!

If I had the money and the time...

... I'd fix up one of these cuties and hit the road.

Check out 'canned ham camper' or 'vintage camper' on Pinterest.  Too cute!! I just gush!

https://www.pinterest.com/chantallenee/my-latest-obsession/

Back Story...

I recently told a friend of our plans to travel west in the late summer. His response? "Why?"
Uh, to see this great land.

Oh, I've seen a lot of it before.  But my family hasn't. So the planning has begun.

That's me, the little girl, my parents and Gus, our yellow lab, proudly standing in front of our tricked out milk truck complete with stereo, hot plate and waterbed.  Yes.  Waterbed. (very early 70s)

We originally left Pennsylvania in 1971 to work a horse ranch in Haxtun, Colorado. We then moved to Alamosa, Colorado and then to Denver. Apparently, my parents got antsy in April. They purchased this milk truck and we headed south. It was at the Grand Canyon we split from the two other couples we were traveling with. They wanted to head North and my parents wanted to head South. 
We moved on to visit Big Bend, Texas after a stay in Las Cruces, New Mexico. 
We then headed thru Galveston, Texas to New Orleans. 
It's at this point I think we went north to Pennsylvania for a brief visit. We left to go south to Florida before heading back up to Georgia where my parents worked in the tobacco fields for 2 weeks then to Indiana. They worked to make some money in Indiana and visited the friends before hitting the road again. It was in October the truck broke down in Missouri. My parents purchased a farm and that is where we stayed for the next eight years.
That's the biggest travel story of my life.  Six months on the road.  My father has a vagabond soul and I think my mother was anxious to get out of her home town.  I'm so grateful they lived the way they did.  Not only did I get to see a lot but I learned to appreciate other cultures and ways of live.

Back story.