January 2023 Canlife Correspondence, Our Almost Monthly Newsletter
The kind of travel that helps us capture life, is slow, unrushed, and loosely planned. It's the kind that leads us on a side trip off our route to Alaska, so that a dude we met a few hundred miles back, who was WALKING with his dog from Tierra del Fuego, Chile to the Arctic Ocean in Prudhoe Bay, AK passed us...WALKING! True story.
Over the past 2 months, we've been doing a lot of the other kind of travel, involving planes, hotels, baggage, work, numerous beds, and catching up with family and friends. It's all been great, and we don't want to sound ungrateful, but between moving in and out of homes, hotel rooms, packing, unpacking and generally rushing around, it's hard not to feel like we've been on a runaway train. If our home is where we park it, then our home, for the past several weeks, was sitting at the property of a friend in California wine country while we bounced between work commitments and visits with our people in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Michigan.
We're back on the road now, and we cannot tell you how good it feels! The lovely bay we've discovered on the coast of California is all new to us, but it feel like home because, frankly, we are back in Hamlet and enjoying the sunrise from our door.
There are two things folks tell us that they want in order to travel more -- time and money. Let's break these down, shall we?
Travel has a way of slowing time down, at least our perception of it. Routine has a way of speeding things up so that life starts whizzing by and we wonder, "Where the hell did last week go?" We've been fascinated by our own experience of this phenomenon and it turns out there's actually some science to explain it. When our brains have to pay attention to the details of navigating a new environment, with new sights & sounds, and new experiences, we perceive these moments as lasting longer than those in which the brain can sort of tune out, like our daily commute or household chores.
"But you gotta have money, if you want to travel." Or do you? People assume that because we travel, we must have won the lottery or are independently wealthy. Neither of these assumptions are true, but we've found that a life of travel isn't necessarily about having an excess of resources, but in how we choose to allocate those we do have.
While we give seminars that go in-depth about this topic (see "In Front of the Mic" below), here are 3 easy ways to travel on a budget. And here are some others. While none of this is neuroscience, it might just take you someplace where life slows down enough for you to enjoy it!
1. Use an airline frequent flyer program credit card to charge everything
We rack up travel miles on everyday expenses like gas and food. Over the years, we've used these miles to go to New Zealand (twice), Hawaii (twice), Dominican Republic, and dozens of cross country flights. This only works if you pay your bill off each month in full!
2. Cook most of your own meals
You know we love to cook our own food; it's how we were raised. Hutch's family rarely ate out but still traveled; you could spot the Hutchison's lugging a cooler of sandwiches into the amusement park or stopping at a rest area to enjoy our picnic lunch. Some of the best meal experiences while traveling were picked up at the grocery store deli counter, a good hunk of cheese, some olives and spreads, and a bottle of wine eaten at an ocean side park can be memorable! And if you think you can't cook and eat well while traveling, see our Recipe of the Month made over a portable grill.
3. Boondock with your RV
As many of you know, we spent nearly 5 months traveling to and in Alaska last year.
Along the way, and throughout this amazing landscape, we boondocked with our RV nearly the whole time. Using a electrical hook-up campsite (at around $50 / night) would have cost approximately $7500, instead of the $900 total that we spent for some state park and municipal campsites in just under 5 months. Learn more about boondocking here.
Water Mission - Water Connects Us All!
Last year, we got a call from a former student of Hutch's. For those of you who don't know us, we used to work at a university in the mountains of NC. Zach was conducting research on solar equipment for his new job with Water Mission and saw a photo of Hutch in one of our blogs. "Hey, I know that guy!" he said and picked up the phone. The call lead to not only re-establishing an old friendship, but also developing a new one between Renogy and Water Mission (a Charleston, SC nonprofit dedicated to safe and secure drinking water in many parts of the developing world).
Zach's role as a part of the engineering team is to help transition their in-country water pumping, treatment, and filtration projects to solar power. This helps make each project more sustainable for the community that depends upon the water, but also the planet. They also send off-grid emergency water filtration systems to areas impacted by war or natural disasters -- and these "disaster cages" are completely moving over to solar using Renogy equipment. Earlier in the month, we spent a few days with Zach in Charleston to meet with his team and get a handle on what they do. We'll be sharing more on this developing relationship in the coming months, but it is tremendously rewarding to be involved with such meaningful work with the important people in our lives. You, too, can get involved in this meaningful work by participating in their Walk for Water annual fundraiser, which takes place in many parts of the US.
Recipe of the Month - Heart Beet Chili
Beets, beets, good for the heart.... or something like that. In light of Valentine's Day right around the corner, this recipe is a reminder to embrace what you love. And who doesn't love a good bowl of steaming, gooey chili on a cold, winter evening? We made this one on our favorite OTZI Flame grill! Save 10% off your own with this link and our promo code CANLIFE.
Find all of our easy and delicious recipes on our blog.
Deal of the Month - Lithium Iron Phosphate Batteries On SALE now
Everyone in the RV world is talking about upgrading their batteries to Lithium...it's the most asked question we get. There are few other DIY upgrades that can nearly double your battery capacity while reducing your overall weight and battery space requirements.
Renogy has many of their 100AH Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries on sale at nearly half-off the price of just two years ago. So if you're thinking about it, now might be a good time to act! It's a while supplies last type of deal...
To learn more about deep cycle batteries and how Lithium Iron Phosphate is changing the game, read our recent blog comparing the 4 types of batteries currently available to the RV market.
Blog of the Month - Lower Your RV Heating Costs with AirSkirts Insulation!
Even from our sunny perch in northern California, we've been tempted to get out our heater, so RVer's all over the country are struggling with heating costs at this time of year. Last February, in the Michigan snow, we product tested this ingenious RV insulation product that inflates between the ground and your rig, effectively stopping air transfer that steals the heat, and your propane, right out from under you. Check out our blog and video here.
In Front of The Mic - LaCrosse, Wisconsin & Duluth, Minesota
Speaking of cold places...we're excited to be invited back to the LaCrosse Sports Show (Feb 9 - 12) & the Duluth Sports Show (Feb 16 - 19). If you are in the area, be sure to stop by and see us. We'll be giving seminars on RV Solar 101 - Sizing a Solar Powered System for Your Rig & The Cost of Living on the Road. Check out our 2023 Seminar Schedule.
Good News for the Environment - Okra Goo, The Plant Based Super Hero!
Who knew that gross, sticky substance found in Okra, the appreciation of which differentiates the southerner from the transplant (the "from here" vs the "come here"), would actually be a super power in the fight against micro-plastics in our water system? We are not making this up folks!
Parting Shot - Pacific Peak Challenge! This series of images from the Cascade mountain range really stumped some of our followers on social media. Each set below is a photo of the mountain(s) from the ground and then from the air. We explored them last year while traveling through the PNW, then flew over them last week. Can you name these peaks? Email us with your answers and we'll announce the winners in our next newsletter!
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