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Advocate for OUR National Parks & Public Lands!

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Scroll directly to the bottom if you are seeking tangible ways to make a difference!  If you are new to this information, please read the entire blog. If you've been following us for awhile, you know that educating and inspiring others to enjoy and learn about the natural world, living and traveling more sustainably, sharing our own story about making a huge life change , and bringing joy to others through visual imagery and storytelling are what keeps Freedom in a Can rolling down the road.   We try to keep negative news out of our posts as there is so much of that in other places. But, after the abuse of federal power that's been ravaging our democracy for the past couple of months AND flies in the face of nearly everything we stand for and value, we simply had to speak out about the random acts of reckless UN-kindness that are happening across our country right now!   The sweeping changes enacted by our current federal government are NOT acts of efficiency, t...
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March '25 Canlife Correspondence: Camping on the Carolina Capes, Crucial Apps, Cold Weather Batteries, & Clean Energy Credits!

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Nearly 25 years ago, we spent our short honeymoon on Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, the southernmost inhabited island along what most people consider the "Outer Banks."  Disembarking from the ferry, we were immediately welcomed by a wooden sign on Howard Street imploring us to "Drive Real, Real SLOW!"  It seemed to capture both our vacation goals after the frenetic pace of our wedding week, and the essence of this village post Labor Day.  We spent a few days with our rented 1-speed beach cruiser bikes (complete with handlebar basket) taking in what this small, sleepy island had to offer -- miles of undeveloped Atlantic beach, a few restaurants, the oldest lighthouse in North Carolina, an amazing coffee shop & bakery and the lowest of low-key vibes anywhere between Cape Cod and Biscayne Bay.  It was perfect.  Returning this spring, after such a long hiatus, we feared that perhaps change had swung its wrecking ball.  But, to our great joy, the small c...
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February '25 Canlife Correspondence: Words of Wisdom, Ways to Advocate, Winter Wonderland, & RV Wine Tours!

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"That's genius!" Hutch exclaims, "why haven't we done this before?" Every single day on the road for the past 12 years, 5 months, and 26 days, we have learned something new -- about ourselves, each other, our communities, our beautiful country, and how to make the everyday things we do just a little bit easier. It's just like any life, really, except ours moves around a bit more. Monday at this time, we were leaving a cute Air BnB above Blake's Tavern in Lil' Rhody and getting an Uber to go to the Providence airport.  Today, we are back in our normal habitat, sitting outside of Hamlet along a beautiful lake in an off-grid campground in central North Carolina with thousands of birds chattering away in the distance. The city is a mere 7 miles up the road, but it feels like a world away.   When we give in-person seminars at RV shows in various cities across the country, we meet people who are trying to absorb as much as they can before they even ...
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January '25 Canlife Correspondence - Show Season, Solar Sizing and Seaside Supper Satisfaction

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From Furniture City to Rocket City - Finding Your Dream RV! What's an RV Show?  This was our first thought after being asked to speak at one in 2015.  We'd already been living in an RV for 2 years, but we had no idea what these shows were all about.  After a decade, they are now an integral part of our annual schedule.  If you'd have told me that we'd be traveling around the country sharing personal insights into our simple camping life, let alone making a living through it, I would've called you crazy.  S hari is nudging me to mention all the other side gigs and things that keep us afloat financially, including the blog writing, the videos, the product testing, and more -- but I digress.  It all began in Furniture City, with the Grand Rapids Camper, Travel, & RV Show in January 2015.   Seriously though, what is an RV Show?  Many of you joined us on this newsletter from the audience of one of our show seminars, but some of you might have ...
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Small RV Kitchen Tips, Hacks, & Techniques: From Refrigeration to Clean Up!

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“What do you eat?  I mean, you can’t possibly have many pots and pans and utensils in there….or store much food.”  If we only had a nickel for every time we’ve heard this question over the past 12 years, we could have bought enough groceries for a month. “You’d be surprised,” we always respond.  It doesn’t matter how big your kitchen is, it’s the size of your imagination that really matters!  All anyone really needs to cook is a heat source, a pot, and a spoon.  We are two foodies on the move and we have whittled our kitchen essentials down to what we need to make incredible meals, all with just a two burner stove or a campfire, a 12V fridge, and a few cooking essentials -- including just one small electric kitchen appliance.  Can you guess what it might be?  In our tiny space , there are some small and simple things that have made our life just a bit easier while living and cooking on the road. Our trick?  Everything we have has to either be use...
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Tips & Tricks for Exploring America’s National Parks in Your RV

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Welcome back to Exploring America’s National Parks, Part 2!  In this blog, we provided you a cadre of resources to begin researching which of the 63 National Parks you’ll explore next. If you missed Part 1, we recommend you begin here before diving deep into this blog. In this issue, we’ll share our secrets and tips on when to visit, where to go, what to bring, where to camp, how long to stay, and more!  For this insight, we draw upon our 25+ years of outdoor adventure and exploration (with over 12 years full-time RVing) and our professional outdoor and environmental education backgrounds.  When to Visit?  Much of this has to do with your own schedule, but if you think that August is the perfect time to visit Acadia, Yosemite, or Yellowstone, so do tens of thousands of others. Visiting during the busy season means that you’ll be sharing trails, restrooms, visitor’s centers, campgrounds, park roads and popular view spots with large crowds.  Since many parks have...
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