June 30, 2023; 10pm PDT
It's been three weeks since we left Chugiak. We have seen black bears and emergency rooms; played in hidden creek pools and been eaten alive by mosquitoes; celebrated a birthday (Isaac turned 4!) and stayed up for hours in the night with our kiddos. We have gaped at epic waterfalls and slammed fingers in doors (yes, multiple fingers); soaked in hot springs and cleaned up with washcloth baths; hiked in old growth forests and comforted bruised children on the playground. It's been amazing. We're exhausted. We're happy. We think we've made the right choice.
Click through the slide show below to see some of the highlights.
For those of you reading because you're our family and friends, know that we are healthy and thrilled to be back stateside. For those of you interested in our life as full-time RVers, please read on!
Here are, in no particular order, some things we've learned on our trip (or knew, and want to stress):
Use bins, like medium-sized tupperware-style bins, to organize clothes and food. Label as needed. They store and stack so well.
Put things away as quickly as you can. Basically this means just clean up after yourself. There isn't much space for clutter.
Keep some extra paper towels and toilet paper easily accessible and some harder to reach. Pull from the latter when you're down to a roll each.
Cook and eat outside as much as possible, especially in hotter places or when cooking onions. :)
Buy a dust buster. Ours is a black and decker and it is awesome.
Invest in collapsible everything. We have bowls, colanders, a tea kettle, a pour over thing, and tupperware. We save so much space with these.
Don't be afraid to purge as you go. When you notice that you're really not/never going to use something, let it go. Find a Goodwill or a free library. Let it go.
The bunkbeds are off limits during the day for us. We use them for storage; specifically the bottom bunk houses Isaac's cot and sleeping bag, a bin of ziplocs/rubber bands/clothespins; kids' toys...the upper bunk isn't ever used as a bed and keeps our sweatshirt and bedding bins (sheets, etc).
We got Starlink...it's hit or miss so far, but people swear it's great once you're in the lower 48 and out of the woods. When it has worked, it has been just what I hoped for as a remote worker.
We have a nice mat for outside. It keeps a lot of dust and mud from creeping inside.
We moved the kids' snacks from the pantry to above the fridge for easy accessibility, especially at night.
The last point brings me to the biggest challenge of all.........SLEEP. The kids are on summer schedules, camping schedules, and transition schedules, all of which mean late, late bed times. Autumn is still awake at 10:15pm as I write this (strategically out of view of her window). We use melatonin every three nights or so to get a break, but it doesn't really work for Autumn and it often makes Isaac wake up in the middle of the night with a weird dream so even that's not a great fix. On top of how hard it is for them to fall asleep, all of a sudden Autumn is having trouble staying asleep which means she wakes Derek and me up at least once a night. She may be going through a "scared of the dark" phase, which we know is normal, but it's still annoying. Isaac sleeps great once he falls asleep, but always crawls into bed with us by 4am. No biggie, really, unless Autumn is also in the bed with us. Then Derek heads to the bunk bed and I turn myself and the kids 90 degrees so that we can all fit and no one will fall off the edge of the bed. It's not a great night for me all twisted up. Anyway...that's the biggest challenge.
Tonight we set up the tent for the first time. The temps at night are right (for adults, anyway), and we thought we'd give it a go. Derek and Isaac will try first. I'll try it out with Isaac or Autumn tomorrow. This might help or it might make things way harder! We'll find out soon enough.
Other challenges...
Eating healthy when produce is so frickin' expensive in rural Yukon and BC
Getting sick and sharing one room (Isaac had strep throat in Whitehorse)
Roadtripping with a potty-training child (iykyk)
But for all the challenges, the pluses are significantly more noticeable. We're meeting lots of fun people, hearing their stories and learning about all the ways they love to camp. We're seeing incredible scenery - mountains, deserts, wildlife, waterways. We have so much time together, unplugged, and we're learning more about each other and how to be good to each other every day.
And we're outside all the time, which is what we hoped for more than anything when we decided to do a year-long trip this way.
So for now, things are good. We're tired, but we're good! We'll be in Washington for a month and then we'll head to Oregon for two months, probably. Please do send us your suggestions for places to stay and play.
Happy summer all! See you out there.
P.S. We'll do a Canada recap at some point, discussing campgrounds and routes, so if you're traveling between Alaska and Washington, stay tuned! :)
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