29029- snow basin

I’ve just completed my first 29029 “everesting” event- it’s a monster hike where you complete a certain number of ascents with your total elevation gain = 29029 feet, or the height of Everest.

For me this event meant REDEMPTION 🔥 after being hit last summer and missing out on ALL of the events I’d paid for and planned on, this one (if it went well) was to be my personal signal that I am on my road to recovery and making my comeback 💪🏼

I chose this event back in December because with this new knee of mine I knew hike up- gondola-down could be a really great combo for me. Plus it seemed like a new audacious goal wayyyyy outside of the 📦 of my norm endeavors/conquests. Here there are no winners or podiums - you either finish and get your red hat, or you don’t.

52.42% of the 250 participants got the hat.

I hiked & prepped a lot but I’ll tell you after that 1st ascent I wondered if I’d done enough. …ascent after ascent I kept meeting the 🏔️ and giving it my best.

After 9 climbs on Friday I decided to stop at 830pm and get some sleep. (You’ve got 36 hours to get the 13 ascents in and you can stop whenever you want). After some amazing rest I went back out for four more today and finished at noon.

I’ll be honest, the uber competitive part of me wanted to see if I could “crush” all 13… and it was hard to go to bed walking away from being one of just a few people with nine accents. I knew I’d wake up to people way ahead of me. And you know what- I prioritized myself and my wellness and rest and I put myself to bed. Not ONE regret.

The boards don’t show finishing times… so I worked on dialing down my “crush it” and turned up my “bring maximum stoke.” Finished it off with a jog to the finish and collected my red hat.

I’ve been absolutely BLOWN away by this event and the caliber of the staff & volunteers & aid stations & accommodations.

I didn’t stay in the 🛖 since I’ve got the 🚐 and Ramsey 🐶 but the tents looked amazing. The food has been stellar and truly just feeling like a rockstar with all the cheers and all-round stoke has made this an event I’ll def recommend to others. *It’s not cheap but you get lodging and meals as well as a top notch event.

Don’t underestimate the challenge- the 🏔️ is humbling. People are going home without hats and I’ll tell you what— I never once took for granted that I would either. I’m dealing with new body parts & hardware that’s only a year old; it was all new to me seeing how my body handled this long event. I was super happy it went so well. 🙏🏼— #getbusyliving #29029everesting #29029 #onelifetolive❤️

photos:

The trip began with a stop at blue Mesa reservoir for a night; I’ve wanted to check this out and now that the water levels are topped off I wanted to see it in its full splendor !

Then it was on to Snow Basin, Utah … (a spot I’ve not been to before) … some pics of the venue and setup:

Day one: we started at 6am. Amazing to see everyone with their headlights on and to feel the nervous energy !!! I logged nine ascents and stopped at about 830 to sleep.

After some solid sleep Friday night, I started my final four ascents around 630am Saturday and finished by noon.

I showered and laid down for an hour to let my back recover and then rode the gondola up to the top with Ramsey to cheer on the finishers who were under the gun to get their final ascent in by 6pm. So inspiring 🙌 the volunteers at this event bring MAXIMUM enthusiasm— oh my gosh they all cheered so hard for all of us 🙏🏼

The event finished with an awards ceremony and recap video - so good.

We wrapped up the trip with a second stay at Blue Mesa res on the way home; this time on the west side (before we stayed towards the east end). It’s absolutely GORGEOUS!!!!!

A special SPECIAL thanks and shout-out to volunteer Pip, a dog-loving goddess, who volunteered to let Ramsey hang out with her near the ascent boards at the base so that Ramsey could be part of the action and not stuck in the van alone. Pip is truly an Angel 😇!!! 🙏🏼

Gore creek & turquoise lake

The idea of checking out gore creek- both the campground and the trail- came about in the winter of 2021 at mcdowell mtn park in Scottsdale az. Yes this is how my world works. I’d potted some little plants in old jam jars and felt called to give one to the super cute volunteer couple who often worked the gate there. I was leaving a van camping adventure, departing the park, and on my way out I stopped and gave them a little plant.

Somehow we got to talking about them being camp hosts at various campgrounds around the country and he said- hands down- his favorite place of all time where they’d been camp hosts- was the gore creek campground just outside of vail.

Well with that kind of endorsement I couldn’t NOT check it out ! So I added it to my adventure list for the summer and booked a campsite for a few days - June 2022 …

And then I got hit by a motorist in early June 2022 and 100% of my summer plans were immediately canceled. Including this one. I scrapped the camp reservation, ate the cancellation fee and kinda mentally moved on.

Until this summer … when I began adding adventures back on the books; I recalled this gore creek campground Recommendation and decided I still very much wanted to check it out.

Van camping for Ramsey and me in the peak summer months can be tricky as my van has a rooftop air fan but not an AC. Just the van itself has ac and I don’t like to run the van and have it idling just to keep us cool. Thankfully vail is at a higher elevation and as the trip approached I checked the weather to ensure we wouldn’t roast — the temps seemed doable esp with nice cool overnight lows so off we went :)

It’s such a lovely and small campground RIGHT at the base of the vail pass bike path/climb ! not sure how I never noticed this little gem in here before but what a hidden treasure. I could understand fully why it was so hard to find available sites here. (**Note: I booked this site MONTHS ago! No more days of winging it with campsites- too many people are also doing the #workfromanywhere thing these days to be spontaneous - plan ahead!). 🗺️

We settled in, set up camp, went for a couple walks, made a quick run to get some groceries and then I enjoyed an *evening of light yoga and meditation as well as reading one of the books I leave permanently in the van— The Fifth Agreement.

*With all the rain colorado has enjoyed this spring and summer, this is the first trip in the van EVER where we’ve had a really bad issue with biting flies. 😞 they made it impossible to focus during yoga and super easy to go to bed early.

Tuesday morning i woke up excited to finally check out the gore creek trail as well as one called deluge. We started on deluge as I assumed it would feature fewer humans given its “black” trail difficulty designation on trail forks - the trail was gorgeous but very overgrown, making me nervous about snakes/ poison ivy/ ticks etc.

We went about 1.5 miles up gaining almost 1000ft elev before I’d had enough foliage scraping my legs and we turned back. We only saw a couple humans— which was awesome — This trail made me 100% convicted about (finally) getting myself a pair of hiking pants asap.

We doubled back to the sign where the gore creek path started and went up that for awhile- it was not as overgrown and followed the creek, offering that lovely rushing water sound as well as several water crossings which give Ramsey a chance to get wet and cool down. Soooo pretty. I turned us back once I felt she was starting to run out of steam (ok and I was, too 😉) and we made our way back to the van.

At the end of both trails are lakes and while it would have been cool to see one of them by making it to the trail end, I was happy with our adventure. I don’t do efforting or muscling my way through things these days; when I feel complete, I shut it down. I let my intuition and what my body is craving guide me and while it leads to a fair number of “Incompletes” I also 100% do not give a damn ✌️

I try to soak up these adventures with Ramsey while I can before she isn’t able to or doesn’t want to anymore. She’s twelve and still hikes like A BOSS but I know it won’t always be like that 😞 🐶 ❤️

I’m in a major retraction phase (again) now after being really open, outgoing and energy-outputting for the last few weeks … a few folks overstepped some boundaries of mine, I felt over-asked and over-stretched really quickly, and I came right back into energy preservation mode… it’s really notable to me how quickly and desperately I needed to shut things down and go back within again.

It’s just showing me so clearly how deeply depleted and grief-filled I still am and how much healing there is to do yet. Grief works like that I think.One step forward and two steps back - for me that’s how it feels in this season anyways.

So I’m super thankful for this van outing where I don’t need to talk to anyone or summon courage or energy. I simply get to do whatever I feel called to do next. Moment by moment. 🙏🏼

On day two I (of course!) got the road bike out and rode vail pass - 3x. The first time I took super easy, the second I gave it some gas and then the third just took in the scenery. Not even close to my PRs from back in 2013 but 🤷‍♀️

I wanted to get four climbs in but started too late and needed to pack up the campsite for noon checkout (camp hosts take this very seriously I’ve learned in these years of camping!).

It was absolutely perfect out. A pristine bike path far away from any motorized vehicles and just a few other riders out. Slight cloud cover, ideal temps —- true slice of heaven out there. 🙏🏼

We left vail/gore creek (aka the land of pernicious flies) and with fingers and paws crossed (that the 🪰problem would not follow us) we made our way to our campsite at turquoise lake near Leadville…

Wow. In a word. At this even higher elevation (Approx 10k feet), Temps were nice and cool and with the lake right here the breeze felt heavenly - and it kept the flies at bay … thank GOODNESS. 🌲🪵 (although a few sneaky 🦟 found me and bit me up!).

The lake is breathtaking and the campsites are fantastic. I wasn’t choosy when i selected my spot here but once I got Ramsey put for a walk and did some recon I quickly learned the “beachfront property” spots are the ones to aim for next time.

Even better- no signal here. 🙏🏼 that’s always my goal when we’re out camping - to have my 📱rendered useless. I had just one bar of signal in vail which meant some annoyances found me there // that I was touching my phone more than I wanted to be.

Here- radio silence. Just the breeze and the absence of flies and quiet. 🐾 Ramsey and I are in heaven. (I use my iPhone notes app to draft my eventual blog post when I’m in places w/out signal).

We sat by the lake for a long time just… being.

It began to sprinkle so we returned to the van where I looked for another book and found “she- understanding feminine psychology.”  I read it cover to cover as I have before on van trips (hence the reason i leave it in here). Something about sitting in the midst of tall trees with nothing to do and nowhere to be really heightens my reading experience.

Each time something new jumps out from this book — this time:

“A woman has a profound capacity to be still, perhaps the most powerful act any human being can make. She is required to go back to a very still inner center every time something profound happens to her. This is a highly creative act but must be done correctly. She is to be receptive, not passive.”

This book blows me away every time.

I highly recommend it. It’s 80 pages and will probably take you an hour to cruise through.

I woke excited to ride the mtb trails along the lake— stunning!!!

I had an absolute blast and can’t wait to come back here!!

**I always post these blogs after the fact -never contemporaneously with my trip.

Breck & Frisco- summer solstice

I’ve done a thing… I rented my house in golden- aka what’s been HOMEbase since May, 2009 … and I’ve committed myself to some months of wonder - adventure - exploration - and self love/self care … it’s exciting and so far I love being in new places and spaces and trying different things on for size.

Thankful for the van & other lodging, for a flexible schedule and the ability to work from anywhere, grateful for my health and well-being; yeah, it’s FULL SEND for me after last year’s events and trips were disrupted due to the crash— absolutely unapologetically going for it and I don’t care what anyone thinks about it ! 💖 🚀

Last night I raced in a breck Wednesday night mtn bike race series for the first time ever. The trails were new to me and I didn’t get a chance to preride much of it so I was racing blind 🤪which isn’t my favorite. I’m still battling anemia related to the miscarriage two months ago and my hemoglobin remains low so I really feel the shortage of red blood cells up at 10k feet elevation ! But I wanted to have fun and just explore and try new things - so I did ! After all it’s the solstice and what a difference in this solstice versus last year ! 🤩

The race was fun/ my heart rate was pegged - no matter how hard or fast I climb I still get beat by the other women on the descents. Maddening for sure but I’ve got Loads of work to do in my desire to be a more proficient mtn-biker.

Mother Nature put on QUITE show out there. We had the most gorgeous weather and temps. Wow.

After the race we relocated to Frisco to a campsite I’d reserved near the lake. We enjoyed the most amazing sunset hike and the clouds just blew my mind. I stayed up way past my bedtime but then again isn’t that the point of the longest day of the year ?!? The overwhelming feelings of gratitude washed over me like waves. I feel more like myself than I have for months.

We woke the next morning and went for a lovely run- which was a pivot from my original plan of riding the reverse Cooper triangle route on my road bike. As I felt into what I needed and what my body wanted (something I do every morning nowadays), I knew my back was tight from racing last night and I wanted to involve Ramsey and so the opportunity to run alongside a gorgeous lake (something i don’t normally have the chance to do!) overrode the road bike ride and away we went for a beautiful morning run/jog/hike. 💯 stoked on my decision.

One of the absolutely essential apps I use and happily pay for in my adventures is trail forks. You can download an entire state at once so I’ve always got all the trails and maps accessible even when my phone doesn’t have signal. It’s kept me from getting lost so many times and helps me quickly find my way to trails etc. I highly recommend ! Here’s the route of our run:

Where to next ? Well …I know the answer to that of course but I’ll never share my adventures or plans online until after I’ve left the place or done the thing. Safety first. 👋🏻

Chino valley and Prescott - pink full moon

The trip began with a trust for public land site visit which is super interesting and exciting ! Chino valley will hopefully be home to a new state park very soon if this all works out. I sit on the TPL SW advisory board and believe so strongly in the work that they do. Please check ‘em out !

I’d planned to van camp in chino valley after the site visit but temps were unbelievably cold with overnight low of 25 and whipping wind. So I splurged for a hotel room and Ramsey and I enjoyed a nice warm chill evening ;) she loves two queen beds when she gets her own !

Then we relocated to the Yavapai campground, a place I wanted to camp back in 2021 but had a heck of a time ever getting a spot. Well this year I was in luck- likely due to the waning cold temps and transition slowly into springtime temps (it’s above 5k feet up here so snow has just melted). It was everything I’d hoped for and more. Minimal signal. Quiet. Tall amazing trees. Incredible hiking with the trails all to ourselves. Sooooo magical.

As of the time of this trip- which i’m posting about much later- I have a secret. I am pregnant and no one knows and it’s just me and this little one and Ramsey and my van and it’s incredible to have this experience and to have the privacy of savoring it all for myself right now. ❤️

I get to be out here soaking up the magic of the link full moon and it is pure MAGIC indeed.

This is a campsite 🏕️ that truly feels restorative. We enjoy hikes, naps, healthy meals, full moon gazing and a campfires. It’s heaven on earth. Ive lived with this little one inside me now for over a month and my excitement to introduce him or her to nature and vanlife down the road certain builds ;)

Lake Havasu & Cattail Cove

For the price of a @mbaaraceseries @mangledmomentum bike race entry … we got two free nights of 🚐 camping out at the rodeo grounds. Yes it was just a dirt lot but we had loads of room to spread out, clean restrooms and showers! And who doesn’t love a pop-up bike party out in the desert.

I was thrilled to come away with 🥈 in my second race back post-crash. How far I’ve come since last June. The body is an amazing thing and I’m constantly blown away by its capacity to heal and grow stronger 🙏🏼.

After the race was done, we went into town to check out the famous London Bridge— timing it early on Sunday morning and enjoying the quiet while everyone was still sleeping.

Do you know the story of this bridge ? It’s mind-boggling:

“After it was dismantled, each of its 10,276 exterior granite blocks from the original bridge was shipped to Lake Havasu City. Each block was numbered before the bridge was disassembled. The blocks were shipped overseas through the Panama Canal to California and trucked from Long Beach to Arizona. The shipping and assembly of the bridge, and dredging of a man-made channel underneath, cost $7 million.”

Source: https://www.golakehavasu.com/london-bridge

Then back out to the SARA trails for a hike attempt (cut it short due to loose scrambly nature of the trails; much better for riding than hiking).

Ready to see more of the lake, we moved to our campsite at @cattailcovestatepark … What a little slice of lake heaven ! While there weren’t any trails I could ride in the area, we enjoyed one of our best-hikes-ever along the water. Water on one side as far as the eye could see and then yellow and purple flowers on the hillsides - it was a visual feast that elicited emotions of feeling supported and held by nature. 🌱 💕 🌸

Spring break in this area was understandably busy & congested but the weather was cool and lovely and we had a great adventure here. 🌵 amazing to see such a huge body of water in the middle of the desert, 3.5 ish hours away from phx. We will def go back to explore more of the waterfront campgrounds in the future. 🗺️

@golakehavasu @lhcazgov is a spot that’s been on my AZ list for a few years now, and I am so glad I finally made it out there (once again thx to bike racing for providing the impetus and destination!).

#explorearizona #vanlife #lakehavasu #lakehavasucity @cattailcovestatepark @lhcazgov @golakehavasu #latergram #arizona #optoutside @trustforpublicland #homeiswhereyouparkit #freshairandsunshine☀️ #dogsofinstagram #vandog #mountainbikeracing

Little Ramsey deserved her own little cute gallery :)

Book review: Feral by Emily Pennington

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

If you know me or follow me on IG you see most books get five stars from me - I suppose I am intentional with my choices or perhaps am generally easy to please ?!

I really wanted to like this book. It called to me as a vanlife adventurer and someone who of course wants to see as many national parks as possible…

I saved it for this road trip and devoured it in the course of three days. But truthfully I read it so fast because the book itself brought on feelings of rush, haste, and yes- caused me some bedtime anxiety (I read before bed).

While i appreciated (and yes at times 100% related to) her “get this quest done in a year following my plan as much as possible” … I also wanted her to slow down and share more photos and feelings and to SOAK IT IN. She got herself good and sick several times on the journey and much of her angst was related to a crumbling relationship which really hung over her trip like a wet blanket. I appreciated her frankness and candor but I also wanted her to enjoy it more. For much of the book, this once in a lifetime adventure simply felt to me like … work. I felt depleted reading it not energized as I’d hoped.

If nothing else it reminded me to slow down and savor my own adventures more…

An indication of how much a book impacts me is how many bottom corners are bent, signaling a page I wanted to come back to. Here there aren’t many corners bent. I’ll share the lines that touched me most:

I was struck by a quote from Edna brush perkins in the visitor center: “how can rocks and sand and silence make us so afraid and yet be so wonderful?”

three life altering mantras:

In this very moment …there is nothing to worry about - nothing is lacking - there is much to be grateful for.

it’s not a race I kept telling myself it’s an excuse to roam around a beautiful place in the name of self discovery. why do I keep forgetting that? This is what’s real wilderness sickness loss beauty what if the parks are showing me exactly what I need to learn? That if I don’t slow the F down I’ll miss out on the miracles happening all around me

I have been a fugitive from the void for too long I have traveled too far to keep running away if I am to love let it be easy if I am to find horror let me wrap a ring of flowers around its neck if I am to belong nowhere let me belong everywhere

Snowmass, Twin Peaks, Twin Lakes

Back in September I had the amazing opportunity to head to snowmass for CO mtn league high school mountain bike race. I got to support the kids and help with hand ups and pre ride etc etc. it was SUCH a wonderful experience. The van camping was a huge plus on top of a great trip. Through the league we had the chance to camp in the snowmass rec center. (Proved really convenient since for $15 day pass there I got to workout, hit the outdoor pool and shower!).

The next day I got up and went on a ride there as I’ve not been to snowmass in years and never in the non-snow months. Right from the rec center lot I was able to grab the north and south rim trail. Spectacular. Truly. Wow. Despite that I’m coming back from injury and still super skittish on the bike I just took my time, stopped often and soaked in the changing leaves. 🍁

And THEN I wanted to eke out a bit more magic from an already magical van trip … so as I drove back down independence pass I looked for a cool campground and VIOLA! Twin peaks caught my eye. And wouldn’t you know it- it was the last night it was open for the season. And wow. The yellow aspens were… positively glorious.

Finally- having learned that Mondays are a really great day to be out on the trails when many folks have returned to their homes or workplaces, I decided to check out Twin Lakes. And the changing leaves could not have rewarded me MORE for this decision. I was in awe the entire time ! And having spent most of my summer unable to walk or hike, this felt like a double triple treat. Immense gratitude feels the entire time.

I cannot recommend the Twin Lakes trail (aka the CDT trail!) especially this time of year. 🙌

Cactus Cup, Tortilla Flats, Sedona, Dead Horse Ranch & Cave Creek

We’ve been out and about exploring a LOT the last few weeks with some solid van adventures, a rad mountain bike race, plenty of work and adulting mixed in (plus some relationship repair/restart {referenced in my last blog]), and some fitness/form coming back as well.

I’m honestly not sure if anyone finds these adventure recaps helpful or useful or even entertaining, but I sure like writing about them ;) So if you’re here reading, WELCOME! And enjoy!
Last year I raced my first cactus cup- a 3 day mountain bike race- and learned a LOT of lessons. This year I was back with all of that intel and was determined to improve on my 2021 results- even if just shaving time off my own times and racing against myself … I had to keep in mind that from mid September into late December 2021, I wasn’t riding or training at all due to chronic back pain /injury …. so to even be lining up evoked big feels of gratitude… those months of chronic pain just about did me in mentally-not being able to ride was SO hard. And then I found myself fearful of the bike, fearful it would hurt me and make my back awful again. It’s been a slow road coming back, one with consistency being the primary focus.

So with around 2.5 months of rides and consistency in me, I gave the 3-stage race my all. I was most proud of shaving 30 minutes off my time in the 40-mile XC loop from last year. That felt amazing. And then shockingly two of the women in my AG no-showed for Sundays enduro, so I moved up to 3rd Place and got to stand on the podium- yeasssssss!!! 🥉

**If you are visiting the Scottsdale area and want a nice long 43-ish mile Mountain Bike Loop to ride, I recommend check out the Cactus cup website, route page, and downloading the saturday course to your computer so you’ve got turn-by-turn help… you can just follow the computer and enjoy a really lovely 3-4 hour ride!!

It was such a fun weekend overall — van camping in the big parking lot with all the other racers was so much fun and it was great to see friends and just feel a hint of post-two-year pandemic times morphing into more normalcy. 🙏🏼 It felt amazing to be back in the bike community once again.

After the race wrapped up Sunday, I moved us to a campsite I’d booked for us in the park (McDowell), since we had a couple more days of exploring and adventuring to come. For me and vanlife, I’ve found as the quote says, “it’s easier to stay out than to get out.” So once I’m out with the van loaded and my vanlife mindset, I try to make the trips 3-5 days to make the loading/unloading worth it.

As with almost all of our nights in the park, it was magical and lovely. The evening hikes/walks and sunsets, and then the quiet with the stars overhead -it’s truly special. We’ve never stayed at the same place in the park, we’ve tried out different campsites in the main campground as well as the tent sites. All are winners (**except for the tent sites when you’re sandwiched between two other spots-those offer NO privacy and I don’t recommend those unless you’re actually in a tent and can be away from the parking spots).

TORTILLA FLATS/CANYON LAKE

From McDowell, we made our way out to Tortilla Flats- to the Tortilla Campground and the site I’d booked us. On the way there we drove past Canyon Lake, truly gorgeous and unexpected out there in the desert! We hung out at the lake’s edge for hours, watching people boat, jetski, paddleboard and watching dogs swim out chasing after balls thrown by their owners. I had originally set this as a hiking destination I wanted to try, and the lake added a true bonus - next time I’ll definitely try to find a campsite closer to the water. NOTE: the tortilla campground is closed a good chunk of the year (it closes at the end of March, as temps start to rise). This campground was nice - though not much to do and sadly, no trailheads nearby (which is a first, I’m used to us being able to hike from our campgrounds). For me that is a deal-breaker, as I don’t want to have to drive the van to get to our recreation activities….

** Here’s where I’ll add one of my big personal takeaways so far in my first 15 months of vancamping- I don’t do boondocking or off-grid, remote van camps. I just don’t. I don’t like it, I don’t like being way out away from people, often in areas with lots of ATVs/Side-by-Sides and places people go to shoot off their guns- and often in spots that are super dusty, and pretty hard on a vehicle to get to. It’s not to say I’ll NEVER do it, but it’s not my preference.

I am ok spending the $ fees on campsites in parks with bathrooms and friendly campers- where I feel much safer, and have resources near me (like water hookups at some sites), if we need them. Yes-sometimes you are tooo close to your neighbors and you can hear everyone’s business, but in general everyone is out there for some peace and quiet; people usually keep to themselves other than a little friendly chit-chat…. so that’s why I choose campgrounds.

The next morning we drove back toward the lake and started our hike - up Boulder Canyon trail, ironically ;) It was there I began to realize my brand new phone case for my new iphone 13 (new as of December) had somehow scratched or fogged from the inside, and my photos were getting blurrier and blurrier! The hike was great- though by then I was itching to “plug back into the matrix” (aka re-engage in adulting stuff) after being relatively-offline for 5 days. I’ve found 4 days is kinda my sweet spot… after that I get a little angsty as things start to stack up, and am ready to re-engage with emails, work, daily tasks).

**Another van camping/exploration/adventure tip: I LOVE TrailForks - the app is AMAZING. WELL worth the $35/year fee! You download all trails in the state you want to your phone, so it doesn’t matter if you have signal or not- and you can just so easily find trails wherever you are, color-coded by difficulty (similar to skiing gradient, where black is hardest, then blue, then green is easiest). PLUS you often get other users’ input, photos, intel to help plan a route…. I use this app EVERY time we are out exploring somewhere new. And of course, the Garmin InReach is always along too just in case I ever get into trouble and need help or need to text someone and don’t have a cell signal.

It was back to work for the rest of that week and weekend which -after the 3 day race weekend, was a recovery week, training-wise. **This serves me well as then I can truly buckle down on work and other life tasks with low levels of training intensity. It set me up for success as we embarked on a second van adventure the following week….

SEDONA

Last winter I’d set a goal to get to Sedona and wasn’t able to pull it off, so this winter getting there was a top priority. Months ago, I’d located a large and lovely group campsite and booked it, thinking surely a few of my arizona friends might want to come join me for camping, hiking, biking, etc. But as the dates grew closer, everyone’s response was some version of, “sorry, work has really blown up on me, I can’t make it….” So that’s how I found myself enjoying a really awesome HUGE campsite RIGHT on Oak Creek- all to myself! (This spot is intended to host up to 50 people/ 10 vehicles). And while it’s the most expensive campsite I’ve ever stayed at, it is still likely one of the least-expensive places to stay in Sedona !!! The traffic here has gone WILD, so having a bike to use for errands was handy- as to drive in town adds 30+ minutes since it’s backed up almost all day, every day.

The creek RIGHT outside the van door- -AMAZING.

Other than bike commutes, I didn’t have plans to ride in Sedona, however. The trails there are candidly, too tech for me and that translates to Megan isn’t having fun- so my goal all along was to nab 2 solid hikes and one 10-mile run… which I did. Add to that some cold creek soaks for the legs, some bike commutes to Whole Foods and the Hike House, checking emails using my cell phone hotspot, making awesome meals, soaking up the red dirt and amazing vortex vibes there, and I’d call it a GRAND success. I loved every minute of my time there and can’t wait to go back. (I hadn’t been to Sedona since 2019 and would really love to make it an annual visit if I can possibly pull that off). If you’re going- plan ahead! This town is PACKED and expensive!

DEAD HORSE RANCH

From Sedona I decided to break up the drive back to Phoenix by first stopping at Dead Horse Ranch State Park for a night. I could see on TrailForks there were lots of nice green/blue trails right from the campground and I was itching to get some mtn biking in, so that’s what we did!

NOTE: if you are in a small van and don’t need hook-ups, you can almost always reserve and stay at the tent-only sites. Those spots will have strong NO RV language because they are smaller and don’t have any hookups- but if you have a small vehicle or van like mine, you are good to go (which is good, since these sites are often the only ones available!) . Once we arrived and setup the van, I popped out for a late afternoon mtn bike recon ride to scope out the trails a little bit. Then it was a gorgeous evening, as the park sits up higher than surrounding areas, and the stars were SO bright and visible.

The next morning I enjoyed another short mtn bike spin, and then it was time to pack up & hit the road!

CAVE CREEK REGIONAL PARK

And…for our final stop, we paid a second visit to Cave Creek Regional Park. (We stayed here back on Superbowl Sunday and I felt I’d only just sampled some of the offerings of this area so I wanted to return for a second stay). It’s a VERY quiet park- no water sports so no boats and trailers, and it’s a much smaller campground/park than Mcdowell, so the number of people camping there is much lower. It’s just super chill- lots of horses in the area, and I think it’s absolutely gorgeous… plus we can see the hot air balloons off to the west rising in the mornings… that is really something to witness on your morning walk!

My parents arrived at the park right around the time I did, to meet me for a campsite lunch -we had Such a great time hanging out and chatting while chasing the shade underneath my awning… the higher elevations in Sedona and Dead Horse had mitigated the rising temps and it was much warmer “down” in town (still at 2k elev).

After they left, Rams and I enjoyed a nice long sunset hike. Then the next morning, I got out for a 3- hour mtn bike ride exploring some more new-to-me trails in the area, and then we made our way home!

Overall these were ALL solid places to stay, ride, hike, and hang out. I enjoyed these adventures very much, and I continue to learn more about myself on each outing.

The COFFEE/ANXIOUS THOUGHTS EXPERIMENT:

On these recent outings I really began experimenting with removing coffee to see if it affected my mood/anxiety levels- and it DOES! I was having lots of anxious mind middle-of-the-night wakeups on the McDowell race weekend (coffee each morning), so I switched to match tea on the second outing and the anxious brain was gone. I have removed coffee from my daily routine now, and am drinking only Matcha Tea or MUD/WTR instead, and am noticing a big difference in my daily headspace.

ON the van life topic in general- I believe that keeping it basic and uncomplicated is the key to getting out there as often as possible….

I try to keep all of the van life stuff as simple as possible to make popping out like this as easy and low-stress as I can. I try to keep the van mostly clean, I restock the water and rewash the towels between trips, I try to keep basics like dog food and instant meals always packed in there…. With so many people “working from anywhere” these days and so many like me adopting the vanlife, it is no longer possible to “wing it” and book campsites on the fly- campgrounds especially in warmer areas this time of year, are all booked to the gills…. so I can’t emphasize enough the need to plan ahead.

If you have questions, hit me up in the comments, I’m happy to share what I’ve learned so far!

100 miles in 100, er, 30 days

As these things go… I was following the AZhikeaholics on the ‘gram and then started down the rabbit hole of amazing Phoenix area hikes and then … I stumbled on Maricopa County’s 100 miles in 100 days challenge … with about 30 days remaining in the challenge GAME ON 💪🏼! Need another tshirt ? Nope… but I did need a new challenge ✅

The challenge started back in November ‘21 and ends Feb 8. I logged my first miles of the challenge on January 7. 

So yeah… no time like the present ;) let’s do this

It counts trail runs, hikes, mtn bike rides and horse back riding miles. (The biking miles are only counted 50% which makes sense as four easy rides would knock the whole challenge out). Hikes/trail runs count 1:1 mileage. No clue on the horse miles as that’s not my jam. 🐴

**You also need to visit a minimum of 3 of the Maricopa county parks. uh, yes please - I’ve always wanted an excuse to tour all of these amazing sites

So- with the white tank xterra 20k run as my first race of 2022, I nabbed some hiking, running and cycling miles the weekend of that race at White Tank park wayyyyyyy out on the west end of Phoenix. That was my first visit to white tank and I really enjoyed it. The campsites were nice and spread out - and as with my overall experience in Maricopa parks, the restrooms and facilities were all uber clean and nice. 

The following week I booked a thurs-sat campspot reservation at Mcdowell, with the goal of getting a nice long mtn bike ride in (my first since sept 19- the monarch crest crank ! The dirt from that event was still on my bike!) as well as a nice long trail run … I love mcdowell and have spent the most time at this park. I’ve learned that when the scheduling is within my control it’s much better to camp mid week than on weekends because the weekends are just so much busier of course. 

I logged a three hour (30ish mile) mtn bike ride Friday afternoon checking out some new trails I’ve not ridden before as well as reconning some that I’ll be racing in March. I happened to time this camp excursion with the full moon and let me just tell you- that is the secret sauce right there. It makes sitting outside after the sun goes down, soooo magical. I mean seriously check out these pics : 

As of the Friday evening post mtn bike ride and hikes in mcdowell I had 44.34 miles counted towards the challenge. 

White tank and mcdowell will spoil a person when it comes to immaculate (and new) restrooms and showers. They set the bar sooo high it’s hard to measure up at other parks.

After that outing … the following week I booked a night at Usery park and while I was on that end of town I decided to nab a night at Lost Dutchman - (not a Maricopa park for purposes of the 100 mile challenge but I’ve wanted to check it out and do some hiking there). 

I should pause and say- this time of year in AZ and esp with Covid lending to more people out in the campgrounds now due to work from home / work from anywhere and people just generally being out in the wild more (myself included) it’s not really feasible anymore to just “wing it” and nab a campsite reservation a day or two out. It has to be planned and booked a few weeks out. i actually have come to really like having van trips PENNED in on my calendar so that I can map life and work around them and always have something ahead to look forward to!

Honestly — it does get me out in the van more — the default and easiest thing to do is ALWAYS to just stay home.  Van life is amazing but yes- it does take effort and planning/packing/prep of some meals and more. So for me at least, making campsite reservations a ways out really helps. 

Usery was great for full moon photos as it’s got a bit more character to it, I feel, BUT the biggest reason I won’t camp there again is the gun range across the road. Ugh 😣 The shooting went from early in the am until well after dark and while I don’t really mind it, poor Ramsey does- fireworks and gunshots have her either hiding in the van or else trying to make a run for it - neither of which is ideal. 🤦‍♀️

I got in an ok ride there… Usery isn’t just wide open and flowy like Mcdowell is, and then the next day I got in a solid 7 mile run/hike which included a jaunt with Miss Ramsey up to Wind Cave:

As of leaving Usery park… I had 63.43 of my 100 miles of the challenge done:

After relocating from Usery out to Lost Dutchman, I truly began to appreciate the cleanliness and newness of Maricopa parks. LD is an arizona state park and it’s much older - the bathrooms/showers are clean but quite dated (paint chipping etc). 

It was great to see this spot on the WAY east side of phx. The campsite is super full/booked - but I lucked out with a spot that sits all by itself which is totally ideal (135 if you ever camp here).

All in all a great trip and some really great sights, workouts and sunsets in the bag. The hike was more tech than I realized so I went up as far as I felt safe with Ramsey and then turned back - I’ll need to tackle it solo another day. (Siphon Draw trail up to its peak).

So then- being a woman on a mission to now camp at all the Maricopa parks- I checked campsite availability and found a SINGLE night out at Lake pleasant— it is wayyyyy out there on the NW corner of phx but I’ve never been and so with such limited campsite availability there I added it to my mid-week calendar / plans. Two nights would’ve been better given the haul up there but that just wasn’t in the cards… it ended up being ok since folks there LOVE their generators 🤦‍♀️ and the spot i’d booked was nowhere near water as the edges are all dry.
I’m glad I got out there and got to see it - a giant lake in the middle of the desert is pretty cool - but one night was plenty. That was my least favorite of the four Maricopa parks.
That boosted my challenge miles a bit and made for the 4th (bonus round) Maricopa park visit. ✅

photos:

I was back to mcdowell the first weekend of February, for another xterra trail run and - what would be my last chance to get miles in before the contest ended on Feb 8.  I got out to the park Saturday midday and nabbed a nice and easy 16-mile mountain bike ride which gave me 8 more miles towards the challenge. A couple hikes added to the tally and then it was time to hit the hay before my run the next morning. Check out these lovely photos of the Saturday adventures and sunset :

Going into the 15-mile run, I needed a little over 15 miles to finish the challenge:

And I’m happy to say the run went SPECTACULARLY!! Wow.
Surprised myself big time with a 2nd place AG finish and 9th woman overall…
the race not only went really well but it + a short hike with Ramsey afterwards put me over the 100 mile goal and marked my completion of the challenge JUST in the nick of time- it ends tomorrow!

PMP & Piestewa Peak 🏔

I caught myself sitting on my couch mindlessly scrolling again. A Monday night. Just any old routine night.

I did a mental inventory of the day - I got a lot done, my place was clean and picked up, basically things were all in order. Hence, the scrolling. I was also aware of my nervous energy- further prompting my scrolling as an avoidance /numbing behavior … My dad just had a major surgery and I was supposed to ✈️ on Tuesday to visit he and my mom, to help them for a few days but given the absolutely rampant Covid numbers right now, they asked me to postpone. So I saw a wide open Tuesday that I’d held open for travel- now ripe with possibilities.

Around 7pm I got the itch to load up the 🚐 and go somewhere local for a sunrise hike/jog in the morning…. I simmered on it for a bit. Went out and checked on the van (aka Artemis- she’s usually stocked and mostly ready to roll, complete with dog food, snacks and water, which makes going wheels up so much easier) and then I felt the, “it’s Monday night you shouldn’t go out and do this” (insert sleep concerns and all the “responsible” adulting messages we tell ourselves)…. 🤦‍♀️
yet I found myself packing a small bag of run essentials and snacks, and mapping my way to the neighborhood near the trailhead …because 🚐 > scrolling on my 📱 any day (or night).

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” Mae West

Also… what’s the point of having a 🚐 if I am not using it as often as I’d set out to when I bought it; what’s the point of working for myself and having a flex schedule if I don’t go do spontaneous things on school nights; on that note- I don’t have kids and so there really aren’t school nights in my reality …! I’ve just come off some majorly huge HUGE life events and stressors, the saddest solo Christmas ever thanks to my Covid booster that rocked my world and set me back a week and also-finally and most importantly: I am a grown ass woman who can do what she wants and I don’t need to rationalize my desire to go vancamp and sunrise run/hike during the week to anyone, including myself! 🙌 (put that on a sticky note if you also need a daily reminder!).

This is why they say getting out the door is the hardest part - because yes, sitting on my 🛋 is loads easier. It takes effort to get out the door. And yes the adulting voices in my head wouldn’t have objected to staying home and I could’ve saved myself effort and prob slept better at home,

but. . .
I GOT OUT THE DOOR. ON A SCHOOL NIGHT.

I was rewarded with this :

I’d love to tell you I 🚐 camped up there but saldy, no … a group of young punk kids were all up there drinking and what not … so I got to be the weird lady in the giant van trying to turn her rig around in the midst of them trying not hit their cars or boulders or roll off the edge … sigh. 🤦‍♀️ Didn’t anyone tell them it’s a school night ?!

Not easily dissuaded from my plan I just parked a bit further down and got ready for an early bedtime. Rams loves vanlife because it’s the only time she gets to sleep on the bed next to me:

We got up and attem with the sunrise and struck out for the trail via some extended mileage as I wanted a full morning adventure. The views, colors, temp and desert bliss did NOT disappoint. THIS, I proclaimed to myself - this is why we LOVE the desert 🌵!

Imagine my surprise once we got to the base of PP and found signage prohibiting dogs. drat. No worries though, it was a great quiet morning to be out running/hiking and rams and I had a blast exploring PMP with the help of the Trailforks app (a game changer for me in outdoor spaces like this so I can avoid being lost).

**This is a good lesson for me - no dogs allowed is not usually an issue on Colorado trails …but given the types of trails and peaks here in Phx, it’s likely to be a regular thing …so I’ll need to do more research before the next one. Thankfully temps are nice and cool so rams can chill in the 🚐 no problem.

So we doubled back to the van after nabbing a nice 5ish mile hike/jog and then I relocated the van to the PP trailhead … made myself some coffee, warmed up a bit and then tackled the peak while rams held down the fort in the van.

PP aka Piestewa Peak, at 2,610 feet is the second highest point in the Phoenix Mountains, after Camelback Mountain, and the third highest in the city of Phoenix, Arizona.

The peak (previously called Squaw Peak) is named after Specialist Lori Ann Piestewa, a U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps soldier from the Hopi Tribe in northern Arizona, who was killed during an ambush near Nasiriyah, Iraq, in 2003.

More about the peak here: LINK

And let me just tell you — it’s fun/challenging on the way up and pretty dang sketchy coming down. Double black diamond, indeed.
Definitely leave the little kids home for this one.
and bring your grippy trail shoes.
**Wanna blow your mind ?! Check out the Strava segments and the times these maniacs are running up this beast. Like 15-17 minutes to the top. Wow.

Now that I’ve done it once and know what to expect I’m excited to do it again. I’ll def start earlier (park opens at 7) as by 930-10am on a Tuesday morning the trail was pretty busy.

Rapha Prestige - Aspen

It’s been years since I’ve been to Aspen so when I was asked to join a four-woman team for this event I said HELL yes! 

With I-70 being closed at glenwood canyon I was worried independence pass would be a zoo but the drive was relaxing and enjoyable. I set up the 🚐 in the campsite (Difficult Campground - by far one of the cleanest sets of camp restrooms I’ve ever seen, highly recommend) and then rode into town to meet a friend for a spin-out ride.
We cruised up to Maroon Bells easy and took some requisite photos at the lake. ;) it is so gorgeous up there and I am so thankful I got to experience those views as it’s been too long since I last saw them!

I cruised back to the van and then made a nice dinner from some leftovers I’d packed (we’d hosted a neighborhood cookout Wed nite and are those not the BEST leftovers?!). I got in some journaling (no cell signal at the campsite- worth the price of admission!) and some yoga and then hit the hay early. 💤 campground sleep can be the best sleep I’ve learned, since it feels so safe and they’re usually super quiet.

Saturday morning I rolled into town early to be sure i could secure a nice shaded spot for the van. 

I knew we were in for a big day and there was a little nervousness palpable in our group. The route was approximately 110 miles an over 8000 feet of elevation gain. The thing that would make the ride most difficult was that most of the extended climbing was in the latter half -specifically between miles 60 and 100. 

And… Yep- those late climbs were tough!!! My garmin died close to town but my garmin varia radar/light stayed strong all day long - I really like having it alert me to cars approaching us from behind.

It was definitely a big long day (soooo much stopping and standing and waiting that part KILLED me!) but we had a great time out there; the route was really incredible, the weather was cool and wind was low-  and I was thankful that a good chunk of it was on pavement and not all on gravel. 🙏🏼

It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know one another a bit better and learn more about ourselves in the process too. Liz, Micah, I-ling and I wore our red, yellow, green and blue jerseys and white socks, 🤍Going by the team name, “clean socks dirty hearts.” 😊 we were the queens of primary colors! ❤️💛💚💙

On a personal note… After the last few weeks of bike events and being more disciplined with my intervals and gym work lately, I could feel some fitness coming on and it felt great to FINALLY feel great on the bike!! For most of this year I have not felt good on the bike - most days have felt like a battle - harder than they should feel- and this time I finally felt like I had something to give to the pedals. When you return to some form and the body feels part of the bike instead of feeling like it’s awkwardly struggling - that’s a good day. 🏆

When we got back to Rapha they had an amazing dinner cooked up for us and we all hung out for a bit, savoring the day’s events.
Then I loaded up the van and started driving away from Aspen with no real plan other than to get somewhere before dark.

I ended up settling us on the top of Independence pass because- why not ! At 12k feet elevation or so I knew I ran the risk of my sleep being somewhat disrupted but the sight of the setting sun up here was worth it (albeit colored by the smoky haze we are all realizing may be our new normal due to summer wildfires across the US). 

We settled in and called it a night nice and early. I woke to the sight of the sun rising and filling the van with some warmth (it’s cold up there!) and after making coffee and oatmeal, Ramsey and I struck off for a high elevation hike before the humans arrived.

We had the whole place to ourselves !! As we returned to the van, humanity was arriving and it was time for us to ✌️ out. 

This is one of the biggest upsides to vanlife- being where you want to be, camping at no cost with no setup, having all your stuff with you and being flexible with plans and adventures, and being first out there and first done before the crowds descend …. 

A lovely human saw me taking pics of Rams and asked if I wanted a photo with my pup. I sure did ! Humans are awesome. 🙏🏼

My First 14er attempt… unsuccessful

This Van adventure was intended to cross off an item that has been on my bucket list since I first moved to Colorado back in 2006, namely hiking a Fourteener. 

For those not from Colorado or familiar, a 14er is a mountain hike that rises up to 14,000 feet above sea level and there are numerous 14ers. across the state. In fact it is a very popular endeavor to attempt to hike all of the 14 or‘s and many people have done so. I’ve ridden two 14ers on my bike, evans and pikes peak, but haven’t hiked one. 

For no specific reason this is one of those things that just simply has not happened for me, and it’s also not something I’ve wanted to attempt to do the first time on my own. 

So when I made a new friend who was willing to hike Yale, a 14er that she has done a couple times already, I jumped at the chance!

The night before Rams and I did a mini recon hike of the first half mile of the trail. Wow that sucker is steep.

Then, I drove the 🚐 up Cottonwood Pass and watched the sunset from the top of the pass which was absolutely incredible. This experience made this entire endeavor worthwhile in and of itself! 

I then drove a bit down the pass to VanCamp for the night, and if I could do this over again I think I would sleep at the lowest elevation possible, since I think the thin air caused me to get absolutely no rest. 🤦‍♀️ Dinner was a batch of hot Huel, some almonds and hot tea.

Micah and I met at the Denny trail head at 5:30 AM sharp and off we went to hike Mount Yale.

From the word go, I knew I was in trouble; my body felt like absolute garbage, my legs felt wobbly and I felt dizzy. I kept trying to keep the fluids and fuel on board, however the sense that my legs were just not reliable, persisted. 

As we approached tree line and then got above tree line I told Micah that I thought I needed to turn back -as disappointed as I was- because I felt like I was going to be a significant liability on the way back down if I went all the way to the top.

Thankfully she agreed to keep going so that she could get her acsent in, and I turned around and started back for the van. I am really sad that my first 14 or attempt was unsuccessful. 

I learned a few things in this process one of which is that I need to do a lot more glute strength work, as the butt cheeks were on fire 🔥 from the very start, whereas the quads never felt a hint of effort. I also think that getting up sooner than 40 minutes prior to go time is a good idea, as I don’t think I had time to sufficient to wake up (never got my coffee in!) and didn’t really get my mind in the game this morning. 

Lastly as I mentioned, I think I would sleep at a lower altitude and then drive up to the trail head the morning of. 

This is certainly not the last time that I will attempt to summit Yale, it is simply the first… while I am very sad that I didn’t get to stand at the top and hold the sign, I know that I will try this again soon!

Cottonwood Lake and the Women We Met Along the Way

“I have a lot of proof that the world is conspiring to make me happy.”
― Matthew McConaughey, Greenlights

---

First: The women we met along the way …

The first was while filling up the van with gas at the gas station. The woman next to me asked if I liked my new black rhino wheels and Toyo AT tires. I said did and explained my reasons for choosing them and then we got to talking about the van etc. She shared she just moved to CO from FL to work and lives in CO six months of the year (in her “mini Winnie”) and that the day we were chatting was her 62nd birthday ! She simply exuded life and positivity. After chatting a bit we wished one another well and off we went. 

After arriving at my campsite I was walking Ramsey to scope things out when we came upon a woman sitting by herself on her ATV. I asked if she’d be willing to take our photo by the lake & she happily agreed. This led to us conversing about the area and she filled me in on several really good details to know. Like nearby free disbursed camping. And the path around the lake and so on. She was just sitting there waiting on the rest of her party to join her and it was so fun to chat. She couldn’t get over that it’s just me and the Rams out here. :) 

Last, at the campsite that evening a mom and her daughter rolled in around sunset and set up camp at the site across from me. So cute… the little girl looked to be around four or so. At one point the mom waves at me and then said she was sorry for the noise they were making. I was like ARE YOU KIDDING ME ! …there’s no one else I’d rather have for camp neighbors ! A mom and her girl (later learned it was Kelly and Luna from Longmont) out camping and chatting and listening to her little girl giggle it was so good. She went on to apologize for speaking loudly but said it’s because she’s 50% deaf. I said again seriously you guys are not bothering me at all and if I had a little girl that’s exactly what I’d be doing with her as well— camping out under the stars ! 

Next -Where are we this time? Cottonwood lake campground up Cottonwood pass from BV. After seeing pictures of this lake on IG I just had to come up here and yes it’s just as glorious as expected... The lake is absolutely stunning. 

The past two months since our last van trip have been an absolute whirlwind - we made our way back to CO from AZ in early May. I had a birthday :) then… I was off to Cabo for a trial lawyers college May 13-16; it was the first gathering of lawyers anywhere since Covid. Amazing experience.

Life forever changed when I landed back at DIA on May 16, I learned my dear friend Gwen had been hit and killed while riding her bike in a bike lane that morning. On a Sunday morning at 10am. This news absolutely rocked me and our entire community. I went straight into action that Monday getting her ghost bike done and installed at her crash site, organizing a ghost bike ceremony for the cycling community that next morning and getting involved with her husband Mike & her family to help make arrangements. News and media sources across the country picked up the story and the interviews and requests for comment were extensive. I was so glad they covered her story — she deserved it and it also helps elevate this issue for the public at large. 

That week was a blur. Her viewing was Friday evening and memorial service Saturday. Writing my friend’s obituary is something I hope to never have to do again- AND- it was a gift for me to once again re examine how I’m spending my precious days. I’m all too acutely aware of how any bike ride could be my last. For Gwen it was her last - and I take solace in knowing she went out doing what she loved. 

On the heels of that I was off to San Diego for a women’s trial lawyer conference June 4-6 - this one is special since i’ve been attending these the last four years (except 2020) and while it’s a group mostly of Nevada lawyers they’ve welcomed me into their family. This time I had the immense honor of closing out the seminar with a talk that was titled “finding your inner peace.” I was so lit up doing something I feel so passionate about and I truly hope we can save this noble profession by helping lawyers get and stay healthy. I talked a lot about trauma and how we aren’t trained nor prepared to manage the trauma we experience and adopt in our clients’ cases. No one teaches us about “secondary trauma” and how it’s tantamount to PTSD. And here we are as lawyers brushing it off as “just part of the job” and those emotions and trauma are living inside us until we address them. No wonder this work consumes so many people. Just over the weekend I learned another talented Colorado lawyer lost his life to suicide. 

Anyways — I ran off to “numb out” on nature and altitude. There are a lot of pressing things weighing down on me right now. I saw this 2-3 day gap between them and with my van packed I hauled a** out to the mountains. I highly recommend it. Give yourself permission. Yes. In the middle of the week. Mid-week camping is where it’s at nowadays with campgrounds so full. 

After settling in, our first night featured a nice long hike around the lake …complete with a semi stressful river crossing to get back to our campsite so we didn’t have to reverse the two miles back, as we were running out of daylight. I crossed in my shoes and socks to protect my feet and the current was strong enough I was really glad Rams had her puppy backpack on so that I could use her leash to tow her across. We made it and Rams got to cool off in the water so it was alllll good. 

Dinner was a nice big salad with extra toppings for flavor and protein. Then I made a fire and read outside until it grew dark. No cell signal. The compulsion to keep reaching for my phone lasts a while, then slowly the phone is no longer near me. And then eventually I forget where it is … 

I can’t get over how good it feels to me to be back out here. It had been too long- my last van trip was early April so… two months ago. I’d grown a bit rusty on the van stuff and already notice things I totally forgot to bring along. 🤦‍♀️ ahem Coffee bean grinder ! Sweat pants ! …definitely out of practice. Being out here with no cell signal is exactly what I wanted and needed. Adding in the area being close to the lake and not many humans and this is definite new fave spot. 

On this trip i wish I’d brought my gravel bike and not just my road bike. I wasn’t thinking about the long gravel road up here from the paved road, to get to the lake — only thought about riding cottonwood pass on the new road bike when I packed up. Whoops. Lesson leaned: Always bring the gravel bike no matter what. 

The next morning, we had our breakfast and coffee and then it was time to strike out for a reconnaissance run up the gravel road where woman number two had told me there was incredible dispersed camping. Before we left I chatted with the lady and her daughter Luna she so very kindly offered me the use of her kayak in the lake today. Is that not the most incredible thing? The kindness of strangers still continues to amaze me. Ramsey and I ran up the road to check out the dispersed camping sites and sure enough, there were many of them and they were incredible, many situated right on the river.

On our way back down we encountered a camper with two women in it. They stopped and rolled down the windows and chatted with Ramsey and I for a bit, asking me about the campsites up the road. I was happy to share the information I had just learned in observing the many spots along the road perfect for camping. So far that is five women (and a little girl named Luna) I have met on this van trip all of whom have added joy and happiness to my days.

When we got back from our run, Luna had a present for me- a drawing. And flowers. So cute.

I shared with her mom my intel from the recon run about the disbursed camping up the road and started to pack up. I bid them farewell and made my way to the spot I’d see on our run- right on the river, gorgeous trees around and the Grand sound of water flowing fast. Totally ideal.

I came out here to write this book that has been brewing in me for a couple years now. It’s around the concepts I feel lawyers can and should implement in life in order to thrive in this profession. It’s a combo of my own biography plus tricks and self help wrapped into one. I started it in late 2019 and then stalled out with a bad case of “who am I to write such a book .” But now after being asked repeatedly to write and speak on these topics and after what I’ve seen during the covid era and the fact that the book stuff keeps waking me up at night, I’ve decided to write it. No matter what. Even if no one reads it. 

This venue is perfect for this. No cell signal of any kind. No distractions. No people. Just Rams and me and my laptop and the van and the healing sound of rushing water. It’s not lost on me now that bringing the road bike actually serves my goal as I can’t just go for a ride here. Walks and runs are my options - far more time efficient.

So far the system that’s working is to write as long as I can and then take stretch breaks or stand in the water or quick nap or snack and then get back to it. I’m proud to say just in these few days of being out here I’ve got all of chapter one downloaded from my brain and solid start on two. 

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There are no emails to check. No house to clean. No Instagram posts to create or comments to read. It’s just us out here. And it’s incredible beyond words. Oh also it’s a week day. How lucky am I for this to be reality ? Time both goes very slowly and also, flies by out here. The time writing absolutely flies. Hours fly by. The time sitting still or resting go slowly. The good kind of slow. Check out the time lapse video of the clouds —-> good, right?

And another thing that is serving me out here: no sugary snacks. No distractions in terms of food. Just healthy meals like Huel curry or oatmeal. Avocados. Bananas. Grapefruit. RX bars. Tomatoes. Seltzer! But Nothing to mindlessly snack on. That’s proving really helpful and important for writing. 

The upcoming weekend will be perfect for catching up on emails and work. (Thank you Google for “schedule send” so they can go out Monday morning)— as no one ever said you had to work only on week days & play only on weekends. 

I’ll close out with this- on my way home from San Diego last weekend I bought Matthew’s new book, Green Lights. I read it all the way through on the flight home- I devoured it, and I bet you will too. I highly recommend it. The quote up at the top of this blog is one of my faves. Here’s another:

“I think we are our own aspiration and we should interrogate and investigate ourselves, get to know ourselves as well as possible,” … “And in doing so, we will learn and we find out what our own greenlights are.”

🚐 maintenance 101

I’m a jack of all trades in many areas of life … but one topic area I’ve pretty consistently shied away from is automotive repairs and mechanics. My brain has just never really understood how it all works and I haven’t cared enough to learn. 🧠 🤷‍♀️ As long as the magical key makes my ride start and magically go, I’m a happy camper.
I mean- that’s what AAA is for, right 🤷‍♀️?!

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Well- now that I’m loving vanlife and living in the van PLUS traveling some bigger miles and driving in more remote areas, I felt it was really important for me to learn van maintenance. It’s a 6 year old vehicle now and it had 2owners prior to me. So it’s hard to know what maintenance was done or not done- but now that she’s close to 38k miles, warranties have mostly run out and some things are likely getting due for service.

I decided rather than continuing the “ostrich with her head in the sand” approach, I’d take the bull by the horns and proactively learn more in order to avoid surprises /ruined adventures/giant time sensitive or urgent aka expensive repairs …

knowledge is power #amiright.
So today I met with my mechanic friend Chad and he patiently walked me through the main items and showed me each of them … I’m definitely a visual and experiential learner so this is how my mind retains info best. He even showed me some old parts like a trashed water pump and an old belt so that I could see what it looks like when stuff goes sideways.

Many of you car people may roll your eyes at the simplicity of this 101 session however I suspect many van lifers out there didn’t (or don’t) focus as much on what’s under the hood as they do on the internal buildout.

My van is a 2015 ram Promaster 2500. (2500 refers to the chassis I learned today- which includes the frame and suspension setup).

So let’s review what I learned from this maintenance crash course with Chad:

We started at the front and worked our way back:

Wiper blades- we installed one new one and it’s funny how something so simple makes such a big difference!

Blinkers and brake lights ✅ ✅ 🔴➡️⬅️

Brake fluid check - should be yellow-Not brown. I recently had my brakes serviced so I knew I was all good here- the fluid had become a light brown so that was taken care of last month.  It led to the replacement of the driver side brake caliper too 🤦‍♀️ .

Washer fluid - concentrate is the way to go= saves the giant bottles from landfills (use amazon button below to order yours- **as an Amazon associate, I may earn commissions from your purchase)!

Power steering fluid - should be clear. Dipstick showed it was low so we added more to the reservoir- generally speaking, approx 30-35k miles is when a car is due for power steering flush so I’m coming up on that shortly.

I recently had the oil changed so we checked the dipstick and it looked good I use the synthetic oil that needs changing every 5k or so I asked him why not use the oil that lasts for 10k or 15k miles?

Chad recommends every 5k to bring it in so that your vehicle is seen by a professional. Even if your oil can last 10-15k he still suggests having filter checked, oil topped off and vehicle checked out. Because —-a problem left for 10-15k miles unaddressed could really ruin your vehicle. This makes total sense to me.

Air filter - if it’s super dirty, Replace it. Depends on driving conditions ie super dusty terrain, would make this more often. So no real mileage guide this is use-dependent. Ask that this be done /checked alongside with oil changes. 

Transmission fluid - generally, it’s supposed to be red. Check your car type to see what color it’s supposed to be. Same thing -changing every 30k miles or so. Mine is light purple blue/red ish. So it’s semi new. He put some on paper so I could see the color:

For Dodge- it’s a plug down beneath a wiring harness to access this- and then a long custom dipstick made by dodge/Chrysler is needed to reach down in to check fluid color. Not exactly easy.
It can either be drained, or lines that can be hooked up with new fluids and pushed through. Once the oil is black the vehicle transmission is done.  So don’t let it get even close to that point …. Duly noted

Water pump — if it’s going bad, engine heat symbol ⚠️will show it’s running hot, or it also could be leaking coolant. ♨️This is one he had taken out of another customer’s truck - it was toast! This is a hard part of the engine to see and inspect.

Accessory belt - rotates power steering pump. Usually don’t break but the ribs wear down and then the belt starts squeaking. This is one from another customer’s car:

Rear brakes checked - since we just recently replaced front ones (pads & rotors). Fronts typically do more of the braking and therefore often need replacement before the rears. Wheels have to come off to inspect.

A “pad slap” means that they’ve put new pads on but didn’t machine the rotors. That’s how the van was when I got it. It’s not optimal as it means the pads are braking into a surface that isn’t a fresh “mating surface.” Rotors can only be machined a few times but then the rotors get too thin and start to warp. Then you need new rotors. 

The brakes on the van are Mercedes parts which tend to be softer - European design - so they’re really a one time use, they don’t like to be machined. Chad recommends new pads and rotors on a bigger vehicle like this

Rear brakes are great —more than 10k miles to go. I asked him, “is it Ok to use transmission to slow the vehicle instead the brakes ?” He says yes. (whew … since I do this a lot).

Tires Aired up - check tire specs not vehicle specs if you’ve gone after-market.

He recommended that I purchase: 19mm socket for the lugs and breaker bar for extended leverage so that I can check and tighten my wheel lug nuts and change a wheel if I ever get a flat

Which then prompted us to check the spare tire for good air pressure to be sure it’s good to go. 17 lbs = whoops…Mine was low. We topped it off at 35psi ✅.

Lastly — battery check. Mine is 100% even tho it’s an original. The battery in this van actually lives underneath the driver side floor panel & it’s really tricky to get to:

Overall this was two hours of time well spent. I learned a lot and decided what things I’d be willing to tackle on my own versus always taking to a professional. It’s also nice to know what I’m looking for so that I don’t get upsold on nonessential repairs in the future. I can budget ahead now for repairs and service I can anticipate doing in the next 10k miles.

on that note … here’s my favorite comedy skit of all time and it just so happens to Be about lug nut day 😛

The Grand Canyon & Rim Run Recon

We left the campsite in Prescott and made our way to the Grand Canyon — my first time ever. I know I know- it’s insane it’s taken me this long to get here. What matters is that I made it ;) And since last fall I’ve been saying I would come here this spring to run the rim2rim or if I was really in run shape, I’d do R2R2R.

(The morning breakfast and yoga before relocating ….):

As it turns out - I’m not in that kind of run shape, so I’m dropping down in and then coming back up. Without a driver on the north end to pick me up I can’t just run south to north rim. However my friend Danny - the reason I am here- he’s doing the full r2r2r … down angel across the bottom to north rim then back to south rim up Kaibab and then back to our campsite —he’ll have over 50 miles in tomorrow.

And because he reserved a campsite awhile back for his big run, here I am. Thanks to Danny I’m finally seeing and running some of the Grand Canyon. Thankful once again for this van making its way into my life opening up these new possibilities for me. ⭐️

Today we settled into the campsite (um hello mister elk!) then took the bikes to visit the drop in at Angel and the run up and out at Kaibab.

And then we had a feast at our campsite.

Danny crawled into his tent super early since he’s getting up at 3am to be running by 430am. 🏕 🏃 😴

Tonight … as the entire campground winds down and it grows quiet out there, I am maximizing the time by using my hotspot to check emails on my laptop. …Because it IS a weekday after all and inboxes never sleep. 📥

Today’s wins:

Today marked my fourth day since I’d properly showered and washed my hair. I was so excited for the campground showers and got here to find them closed due to covid. So badly needing to wash my hair, I used a cycling water bottle and some shampoo and mannnnnnnnn did that feel amazing !!! Clean wet hair. Wow. I felt like a new woman. It truly is the little things out here. 🧼

Speaking of the little things … so far I’ve put 2 tanks of fuel in, I’ve paid $14/night for 2 nights at the Prescott campsite, I grabbed some water & snacks at Natural Grocers today and then I bought a National Parks pass at the gate today ($80/year - the GC entrance fee was $35 so that was a no brainer). Life in the van, in parks, spending the days outdoors running, riding, doing yoga … it’s a pretty inexpensive and super gratifying way to live. Simplicity at its best.
🙏🏼 I’m so grateful and thankful to be out here. I’m excited to run & recon some of the rim tomorrow — however far my legs decide to take me ! 🚀

Oh and for logistics- we are staying at the Mather campground. It’s pretty densely packed with spots, you don’t get much room away from your neighbor, but the restrooms are nice and clean and you can’t beat $18/night! A bike /walking path takes you easily from here to the trail heads on both the west (angel) or east (Kaibab).

---

Ok so the big run day… first, coffee & breakfast !

Danny and I both had successful endeavors ! I ran down Bright Angel from our campsite and went about 6.5 miles towards the bottom, past Indian Garden, and then turned around and came back up. The down was much harder on me than the run up! It was around 4 hours for me and about a half marathon distance — more than I’ve run in a while! And NOT a fast pace. When I say run- it was more of a walk/jog/hike. It was an amazing experience. I carried a ton of water with me and stayed on top of hydration the entire time. I also brought snacks and ate them all.
In a nutshell- this run/hike was Much MUCH harder than I expected. I cannot imagine running rim to rim let alone coming back again.

Danny had a huge & successful day- he started around 420am & ran into our campground a little after 5pm tonight — his watch tells the story of this amazing feat, check out those stats ! At some point he posted a 6:44min mile today too-! He looked fresh as a daisy, incredible how NOT exhausted he seemed. Ramsey hopped into his lap when he sat down- I’m sure that didn’t feel great on tired quads !

Overall this has been a GREAT trip full of fun, new places, people & experiences. Sooo thankful. 🙏🏼 🚐 🏃‍♀️ 🐶 🚲 🌳 🏕 🏔

Prescott AZ- racing & forest-bathing 🌳

This 🚐 trip kicks off with a lovely dose of #americana - some ball sports, some lively hockey, some bike racing, kids running around, the requisite amount of dirt and dust, loads of campers and RVs, ample 🇺🇸 flying and one helleva sunset ... 🌅 I took the @canonusa out to capture all the feels. #sunsetvibes🌅 💕

Life these days offers glimpses of normalcy and it feels really *really* good. 🙏🏼

Also can I get an amen for @dippindots ?! I haven’t had these in probably 20 years. What a treat. 😋.

Ok so where are we? We’re in a large sports complex park in Prescott, AZ. Here for a mountain bike race, I’m experiencing for the first time this parking lot-event style camping vibe.
This wouldn’t be my top vanlife venue choice on a regular basis …but for this event and experience it’s totally fine. This location boasts temps a full 20-25 degrees than in Phoenix so we’re enjoying the nice cool evening temps and the escape from the big-city-heat.

Pros: restrooms close by, lots of friendly humans around, safe.
Cons: all the humans. And pavement.

Friday night parking lot camp vibes …

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Saturday’s race went GREAT! I actually warmed up for this race and implemented lessons I learned in March’s bike race … and took the win! I raced women intermediate 40-49, won my age group.
More importantly I felt great - I executed food, warmup and race strategies. I hit the opening stretch and hole shot into the first climb, at the front, and it paid off. I got more and more comfortable with the fast & flowy portions of the course as the race went along. We raced at noon so I did some yoga and a walk beforehand. Not normally things I’d do pre race but I wanted to keep my face out of my phone as I sat there nervously waiting for my start :)

One of the race organizers shown above- Les- was so kind. The young gal Pictured -Cat-was the one in front of me I could never quite close in on. She races NCAA triathlon for ASU. She’s 20 years younger than me. The girl who finished right behind me was 18. You have to love a spot that allows women of all ages to closely compete and root one another on ! I highly recommend the MBAA events. This was mY first and I’ll definitely be back it was great !

As I chatted with Cat at the finish I met her friends including a guy named Jason from Bend OR. I mentioned the campsites I was considering for the evening and he gave me some great recommendations as he’d been camping in Prescott for over two weeks. Thankfully we had this convo as the place I planned to camp was full (so many are not doing online reservations only First come First serve). So I moved to the spot Jason had recommended and he was right — it is amazing !!! We were super lucky to snag the last spot.

Once Ramsey and I got settled in we went out for a short hike. There are so many trails right here ! She is such a patient photo subject ;)

Some quick dinner (eggs, Tomato, guac, grapes- a little Bit of everything from the fridge) and some CBD drops and soda to recover from the day and wind down … and then it was time for some evening yoga and star gazing before bed.

---

Sunday morning we awoke to the best sights and sounds: quiet. And big trees. The kind of stillness and peace we really can only find in nature and these big trees surrounding us make it even more magical. Our Campsite is nice and big, With ample room for me to throw the ball for Ramsey and for her to walk around and explore. There are birds all around us. It’s delightful. 🐦
I made some coffee, oatmeal, got out my journal (and yeah my 👩‍💻 too) and soaked in the special vibes of this place. I paid to stay a second night since I’m liking it so much. (I usually wait till after night 1 to decide, to be sure my gut has a good vibe about the spot).

I highly recommend this place If you’re ever in the area. It’s west of Prescott and we’re at close to 6000 feet elevation so it’s nice and cool here. I use the Recreation.gov app to scout spots like This- some even have a QR code so you can use a CC to pay for your campsite (otherwise it’s always cash or check).
again though- many are only doing FF right now and not allowing online reservations.

Pros of this site: great cell signal so I was able to use my hotspot to work on my 👨‍💻; sites are spaced apart so you have lots of room to move and privacy; great tree cover and lots of trails nearby.
Cons: the ATV crowd riding through the campground BRAAAAAAPPPPing. 🤦‍♀️

…the other spot nearby I had planned to stay was the Yavapai campground.
It was full but we got to see some cool stuff on the drive, like this overlook :

Then, as these things often go, I connected with Cat, Jason and their crew and we went out for a fun and chill mtn bike ride on the trail system near my campground. Jason is a professional photographer and he brought his camera along and snapped shots of us on the ride and “sessioning” certain tech sections. It was so fun to be part of a totally random group ride. I’ve missed this so much- being out in the world meeting people like this.

Jason’s professional pics below. Find him at Photo 13 Media.

Post ride, Ramsey and I went for a nice long run up here in the woods. It feels like Colorado … and if I’m being honest, I think we’re both a bit homesick. ;)

And then it was time for our second night in the woods and yoga on the forest floor —Delightful… 🙏🏼

“The key to unlocking the power of the forest is in the five senses. Let nature enter through your ears, eyes, nose, mouth, hands and feet. Listen to the birds singing and the breeze rustling in the leaves of the trees. Look at the different greens of the trees and the sunlight filtering through the branches. Smell the fragrance of the forest and breathe in the natural aromatherapy of phytoncides. Taste the freshness of the air as you take deep breaths. Place your hands on the trunk of a tree. Dip your fingers or toes in a stream. Lie on the ground. Drink in the flavor of the forest and release your sense of joy and calm. This is your sixth sense, a state of mind. Now you have connected with nature. You have crossed the bridge to happiness.”

— https://time.com/5259602/japanese-forest-bathing

The Simple Joy of a Day Trip & Vacation Time Thoughts 💭

This statement right here captures the essence and magic of van life so perfectly:

“Every morning my in-box was full of e-mails asking me to do things I did not want to do or presenting me with problems that I now had to solve. It got more and more intolerable until finally I fled town to the Undisclosed Location from which I’m writing this.

Here I am largely unmolested by obligations. There is no TV. To check e-mail I have to drive to the library. I go a week at a time without seeing anyone I know. I’ve remembered about buttercups, stink bugs and the stars. I read. And I’m finally getting some real writing done for the first time in months. It’s hard to find anything to say about life without immersing yourself in the world, but it’s also just about impossible to figure out what it might be, or how best to say it, without getting the hell out of it again.”

Source: The Busy Trap, Full article HERE.

#Vanlife and van excursions can be somewhat involved. There’s quite a bit of packing and prep that go into them. While it’s always worth it- sometimes I’ve found that a simple day escape is just what the doctor ordered. It’s a chance to get out of the daily mundane and into nature but without the fuss. Done midweek when parks and trails tend to be less-populated, these one-day excursions can really recharge the batteries and leave me feeling motivated for the days ahead.

Earlier this week that’s just what I did. Zero packing or prep later, I loaded Ramsey into the van and we went off for some nature time. No agenda. The weather was moody and my energy was quite low, as it turned out. But it felt SO good to be out there. A break from the home office and house chores and daily routine. Sometimes that’s truly all we need to shake things up a bit.

After our hour long hike we returned to the van- just in time as it turned out, as it began to rain.
I love being in the van when it is raining. LOVE it. So I laid down on the floor of the van, put my legs up on the bench seat, propped a pillow under my head and fell asleep. I slept HARD out there. When I woke I enjoyed a few of the snacks I had in the van while listening to the rain and then drove home.

Just that short outing changed my mood and my day- it slowed me from rigor to rest. Apparently —rest that my body really wanted and needed.

I highly recommend the day trip whether you have a van or not. Take a personal or mental health day or PTO day or half day- whatever you want to call it. And get out there. No fuss.

That reminds me — did you know….

“The average U.S. employee who receives paid vacation has only taken about half (54%) of those days n the past 12 months, a new survey of over 2,200 workers by careers website Glassdoor found. This is relatively consistent with how much vacation time employees reported taking in 2014 (51%), when Glassdoor first conducted this survey. ”

— MarketWatch.com

So why aren’t we all taking every single second of our sacred and deserved vacation time ? Those hours could be spent sprinkling half-day or day -long trips into our weeks to mix things up and keep us recharged? 🤷‍♀️
…well, fear, mostly. Fear of getting behind or of being fired or of seeming like the lazy or greedy one at the office… loathing of the post vacation “re-entry” inbox nightmare. (Amen to that).
So, it’s crazy to me that we fear these things enough to skip our paid time off ESPECIALLY when we know it makes us feel better when we do —
Here’s a solution I LOVE:

“Recurring, scheduled mandatory vacation.
Yes, that’s right — an entirely new approach to managing vacation. And one that preliminary research shows works much more effectively.”

— HBR

“Designer Stefan Sagmeister said in his TED talk, “The Power of Time Off,” that every seven years he takes one year off. “In that year,” he said, “we are not available for any of our clients. We are totally closed. And as you can imagine, it is a lovely and very energetic time.” He does warn that the sabbaticals take a lot of planning, and that you get the most benefit from them after you’ve worked for a significant amount of time.”- HBR, What One Company Learned from Forcing Employees to Use Their Vacation Time  (HERE).

Last year, in 2020, I had planned to take a one-month sabbatical in March. It was the 10-year anniversary month since I’d formed my law firm and after 10 years of being in the day-to-day of the business AND serving clients, I was ready to punch out for a month. I’d spent close to a year putting this plan into action and as it got closer, I was over the MOON about “clocking out” of work and letting my mind be free of its demands. The elation I experienced in the leadup, despite the worries about how it would actually unfold, was super revealing to me about just how BADLY I needed the time off. I was “crispy,” as they say.

Enter COVID, March 2020, and the sabbatical never happened, per se… but instead I got a year of doing so much less in general, that it felt sabbatical-esque even though I was actively working. All of the extraneous stuff like travel to events and seminars were deleted from my calendar, my email inbox noticeably quieted, the legal profession calmed down, and court hearings, depositions, work functions and networking events all went virtual. The need to dress up, drive places, park my car in parking garages, go through security, manage traffic and that kind of logistical stress, essentially vanished.

The experience of Covid, 2020 in general, and the way it slowed us all down paired with my excitement as my planned sabbatical had approached, showed me just how powerful this model of taking one year off every 7 years, or of making employees take forced vacation or working for an employer who mandates time off, is and can be. We are ALWAYS better when we come back from a day outside, a recreational activity, time away from our norm. We are always better after we’ve napped, or sat outside sipping coffee and reading a book. We all KNOW this about ourselves. And yet we do not prioritize it. We wait for that long-from-now aspiration of “retirement” to “truly live” and to experience the freedom of taking time now and then to step out for a day hike or a nap.

I challenge us to adopt these concepts now, as the world begins to wind back up this spring, 2021— we cannot unsee what we have seen with the covid-related slowed down pace of life. Let us NOT knee-jerkedly, systematically, automatically, return to the way things were. Let us instead contemplate taking time off in the MIDDLE OF OUR WEEK JUST BECAUSE, and if we employ people, making them do the same thing. (As an aside- if you hire me to be your coach, I’ll be after you repeatedly and recurrently to take time off)…

Less chasing money… more enjoyment of free time.

Less chase, more rest.
Less vigor, more surrender.

(As an aside, we may be pleased to realize that with more rest, more ideation, more brainstorming in the moments of boredom, we actually do end up making MORE money AND having more free time, both).

I am talking about INTENTIONAL breaks in life’s madness and calamity: Pausing from passwords, logins, inboxes, apps. If we choose to forget what we’ve learned in the last year, shame on us. We were ALL dealt a rough hand with this global pandemic, and many suffered, including those who lost their lives, jobs and businesses. If we fail to adopt some of the positive takeaways from this experience, then I say again, shame on us. Globally we may never experience such a pause or forced slow-down again. If we simply rebound to the old ways, if we don’t make ourselves be BETTER now in this new way of doing things, if we do not FORCE ourselves to remember how the slower pace in business, life, law, bike racing, has BENEFITTED us, then we aren’t as evolved as we think we are. I want us to be better. To implement these new ways for the long haul. Let us learn from our mistakes, from these massive changes and upheavals, and let us proceed forward, better. More time off, for starters!

For incredible reading to challenge you, I highly recommend reading Patagonia’s current magazine/catalog article, “A Letter from 2030.” (Print only, I can’t seem to locate it online).
Oh, and— be sure to watch this video;

“Busyness serves as a kind of existential reassurance, a hedge against emptiness; obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or trivial or meaningless if you are so busy, completely booked, in demand every hour of the day. ”

— https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/30/the-busy-trap/

A Giant Slice of Humble Pie 🥧

Quick quiz…
1️⃣ it’s really important to cool down after a hard, short race.

2️⃣it’s really important to warm up before a race involving a “hole shot.”

3️⃣intervals are the only way to truly improve fitness and performance; therefore it’s important to include them in training each week.

4️⃣all of the above.

Before the start. ICYMI- Drinking coffee in the van is NOT a proper warmup. 👍

If you said 4️⃣above, you’d be right.
Even though I’m not new to bike racing I committed several cardinal sins today and acted like a total newbie: I didn’t eat three hours before my race. I didn’t cool down last night. I didn’t warm up this morning.
When the race started and my group took off uphill towards the single track I popped. Immediately. Legs imploded. 💥 My race was over a few minutes into the thing. I watched my entire AG ride away from me and I never saw them again.

As easy as it was for me to spend the next four hours reading myself the riot act, I didn’t.

I honestly didn’t.
I haven’t done many intervals or much structured training of any kind during the pandemic. Races were cancelled and TBH it turned into a nice long off-season. I rode when it felt good. I ran when it felt good. And after twenty years of structured training, racing, teaching spin classes and following interval regimens my body got a much needed break. It honestly felt the best it’s felt in a long time last year.
I’ve been riding lots of road miles in 2021 but without structure or intensity now and then, I haven’t made any gains towards race fitness. And I knew that.
I also knew this morning when it was cold and rainy and I sat in my van drinking the precious, aka my coffee, that I should’ve been out warming up. I knew that last night when I went from a full gas race effort to driving my van to the campsite and not cooling down, that my legs would feel awful the next day.

Sometimes, we must be reminded of the things we’ve learned already but forgot or pretended didn’t really matter…. today I got re-reminded.

In addition, there were some personal wins:

🏆 I started. I finished. I didn’t crash. I rode some techy-ish stuff that previously would have scared me. I had numerous chances on course to bail out to my van and drive away. Or nap. And I didn’t. My legs felt empty from the start and yet I kept riding. I ate … drank … focused on form and kept going and I felt better the longer I stayed on the bike… four hours later I finished.

This morning’s view out my van window ⛈

Sometimes just throwing a leg over the top tube on a cold rainy Saturday and pedaling four hours on the mountain bike is a win. I mentally stayed in a positive place even as I suffered - my legs did NOT get the memo that I needed their participation today. They felt like total 🗑! Today the head ruled the roost and kept my body in the game. Given the cold and rainy weather, had I been home I would NOT have ridden four hours on the road or inside on the trainer. So again- that’s a win; I netted some fitness today that I didn’t have this morning.
and …I filled up on humble pie. 🥧 Big time.
Last place by a LONG shot. Friends— first place finished over an HOUR ahead of me. In 40 miles that is a proper ass-whooping.
Yes. I’ve got work to do. Today was a wonderful reminder and kick in the pants.

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest that you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”

— Robert Louis Stevenson

Seriously MAD props to the women out here CRUSHING it. They’ve obviously been putting in the work. It’s super inspiring. I don’t love getting my ass handed to me but I do love the motivation-by-contagion I caught out here. 🔥

Love it when a fellow PeopleForBikes fan has the same socks ;) 📷 cred: Julie Lyon

Post race I was cold and wet. Found myself a hot shower in the campground showers and then made a warm lunch of udon noodles and hot chocolate ! Looking forward to another chill and quiet evening in the van out here in the desert 🏜 . The rain is a nice touch now that I’m warm and dry INSIDE the 🚐 😊!

Lunch was deliciously warm.

Wanna try some of this tasty HUEL?? I LOVE the spicy indian curry!! Click HERE to get $15 off your order!

Post race recovery (& dinner) looked like this:

Back to being a ‘Newb & Pandemic-versary

The tears welled up in my eyes today as I stood near the start line for the national anthem. It gripped me by the throat - more, I dare say- than ever before. My throat tightened and emotions bubbled up as I reflected on my reality:

I am at the start line of a bike race. 🇺🇸 🚲

One year ago, my world (and your world & the entire world) felt like it was ending. We were locked down and scared out of our minds with so much uncertainty, so many unknowns, so much panic. For the first time in my lifetime I went to my local Sprouts in March of 2020 and saw many of the shelves totally empty. How could we NOT panic when we saw our neighbors hoarding food and supplies?!

Colorado hard core locked things down right around St Patty’s day. That’s the day I really felt the shift and began to self quarantine because suddenly we were surrounded by this invisible, indifferent and apparently very random and contagious killer called Covid…. Those were the days when I wondered what was next - would banks & ATMs go bust? (Anyone else get charged by their bank for trying to withdraw cash to have on hand? 👋🏼… yeah that was scary as hell - they didn’t want to part with it). I remember thinking I should’ve stocked iodine tabs at home in case water became scarce. A generator suddenly sounded like a really good idea but I didn’t have one. We worried about whether the gas pumps would run out. We laughed about the TP shortage- kind of. A shortage of anything in this day and age was such a foreign concept…. How far would it all go? I grew tired quite quickly of the word ‘unprecedented.’ Ugh 🤦‍♀️ yes it was -and also let’s stop saying that word over and over.

I remember thinking how thankful I was that Waste Management was still coming to get our trash- because … what if they hadn’t ?
Eerily and overnight -rush hour disappeared. I mean vanished. POOF. I could have WALKED down Highway 58 in Golden or jogged down Colfax if I’d wanted to. I rode the 470 bike path along 470 and could count the cars on two hands. People joked about it being apocolypic and yes— it very much was.

I recall Nat Geo posting that new earth tremors were noticed because we’d all quieted down. The air in Denver was the clearest I’ve ever seen - atop North Table Mountain looking down on denver there was no longer that brownish haze. We all stopped going places and hunkered down. Mother Earth got to catch her breath. 🌍

The upside- we saw people taking to bikes like never before. Summer camps and school clubs and vacations were cancelled and families looked to bikes as one of the few things NOT cancelled. More people riding and fewer people driving meant we didn’t get a call in my office that entire 8 weeks from any injured cyclist hit by a motorist. It was a small win in the midst of an absolutely terrifying time.

A year ago I didn’t know if we’d ever get to bike race again. I didn’t know when I’d get to see the cycling community again. I didn’t know how long I would be locked up in my house unable to go anywhere.
And yet today there I was. About to toe the line of a race.
And let me tell you- it has been a MINUTE since I’ve had the pre race 🤮 jitters. I mean I can’t recall the last time I was so nervous and felt so new ….

Yes, I’ve been a bike racer for a long time. But (aside from one 50-mile mtn bike race years ago and the couple chill 12-hour mtn bike races I’ve done on my singlespeed), I’ve not honestly raced proper mountain bike events and certainly never one for 3-days/stages.
I felt like a proper NEWB. Aka newbie.
I had to readjust my expectations and goals. From trying to podium or win, as historically was the case, to instead— having fun (first 🏆), learning something new (second 🏆), meeting new people and not crashing (ties for third 🏆).

In total candor I was so nervous about this I almost talked myself out of coming to the race at all. That’s right. I almost chickened out. The fears of the unknowns and newness almost steered me into excusing myself due to rain or life stress or other reas…er, excuses.
I am so glad I didn’t chicken out. 🐔 Today I got to see racing through the eyes of a terrified newbie all over again. What kind of nutrition and warmup? What about kit versus skinsuit ? Will my fitness matter or will my skills hold me back? I don’t want to crash. Crashing hurts.

I texted my friend Shannon - a legit mtn biker- and asked him to weigh in on the skinsuit issue. And guess what. Several of my competitors also had skinsuits on - moral: wear what makes you feel fast. Period.

I was a BALL OF NERVES I tell you. And yet I had committed to myself to work more on moutntain biking in 2021– a commitment I made last year during the pandemic when I was looking for solace and a focus. Today I made good on my promise. I loaded up my new “big girl bike” and I decided to wear my “roadie” skinsuit and I gave it my all. I haven’t seen heartrates that high in years. I can’t remember the last time I have had the post-race “hack” … it has been a long time and it felt good to be back in the game.


As predicted … today’s short and punchy time trial looked like this: me crushing the climbs & losing precious time on descents /tech sections. Any time I would make up on a fitness-dependent spot I’d lose on a skills-dependent spot. I finished 6th out of 7 in my AG.

Now-the old megan would have been disappointed. This megan is thrilled we get to race at all and she’s thrilled she even toed the line today and she’s stoked she didn’t crash.

Tomorrow’s stage is the XC 40miler. Sunday’s stage is enduro format where we are timed based on fastest descent times on three segments.

I appreciate events like this which require a combo of skills and fitness. It’s what I once appreciated about cyclocross racing too. That’s not to say my fitness can’t use some work- it can. I haven’t done intervals in a realllllllly long time :)

So yeah- it’s fun to be a newbie again. It’s fun to do things that scare me and to enjoy them and push myself and yes- camp in the van too 🚐 …

I have SO missed my wonderful cycling community and it’s surreal to be back in the midst of it (albeit masked)… It’s something I won’t take for granted again that’s for sure. 🙏🏼

With lovely lady and friend Julie Lyon- she gets credit for race pics above 🙏🏼 💕

The afternoon and evening ended with a walk with Ramsey, camera time as well as a healthy van dinner and then some self care in the van like lax ball rolling and foam roller and meditation on the neck cradle. I got to try out my newest van toy- a usb /cordless mini blender. It was PERFECT for my post race recovery shake!!

Since I have signal out here in the van this trip, I’m keeping up with my nightly MasterClass sessions. This one on sleep 😴 has been really informative and interesting. I definitely recommend it.

Wanna try a free week of MasterClass? Comment below and I can email you a guest pass. (Limited to the first three takers).

VanLife: How and Where to Park It?

Now that I’m publicly posting and sharing some of my #vanlife adventures (here), I’m getting some great emails in my inbox asking me wonderful questions. Here is a recent one:

Good morning Megan — I hope you’re well. I secretly have a little #vanenvy of you and your van. So, I ’m reaching out to see if you have any tips to share!

I’ve made some progress on my cases, and I’m really close to renting a rig and driving it one-way to (my favorite destination) with (my kiddo) and Ace (my dog). It seems like a 4-day, 3-night trip, give or take 1-day/night. Any tips for me on things like where to stay at night? Should I make reservations in advance or go with the flow, etc.? What are my actual options about where to park at night to sleep?

Here is my short answer: YES DO IT! 100% yes. Go for it! AND. Plan ahead (a little bit)….

As sexy as it seems to “wing it,” winging it has yet to work out for me.

The trips where I’ve looked ahead, made plans to park or stay at a specific location, and even reserved a spot in advance, have hands-down been the best experiences. Those times I was driving and said, “I’ll see how far I get tonight,” or “I’ll go with my gut and stealth camp,” or “I’ll see what looks good when I get there,” just HAVE. NOT. WORKED.

You know what those nights looked like? You don’t - because I haven’t posted them anywhere. Because they’re not pretty. They ended with me parking my van in a hotel parking lot.

Those are NOT the dreamy #VanLife photos you see on IG. Those are the sleepless/awkward nights in the van spent regretting not planning ahead (or at least that’s how I felt).

By way of providing just a little context- I started my #Vanlife adventures back in Mid-December 2020, when the days were super short and the nights very long. It’s hard to consider stopping the drive for the night around 4:30pm, when it’s getting dark, as was the case on one of the nights I ended up camping in a Holiday Inn lot. I wasn’t ready to stop driving to scout a place in the daylight, only to sit in the van for 5 hours before bed. (Now-this was also one of those road trips where I was trying to get somewhere, too- it wasn’t an adventure of exploration, it was one with a destination I was rushing towards). Keep your daylight in mind as you map things out too. You’ll have more flexibility in the summer months when sunset is later. You can also set up camp earlier and enjoy having the van doors open and enjoy the outdoor space outside of the van (versus huddling in a closed van with the heater on during winter).

Lessons I’ve learned:

Trying to wing it or be spontaneous once it’s dark is not ideal for me. That’s because I cannot get a good “gut” sense of a place in the dark enough to know if it’s a good place to park and sleep for the night. Whether you’re a single woman traveling alone or a man traveling with his daughter (as my friend who emailed me above is), you cannot fully “feel” and survey your surroundings in the dark. You could park somewhere unknowingly that, had you seen it in the daylight, would’ve been a “hell no” to you ….

Also, you don’t get the chance to read reviews ahead of time if you’re going to stay at a specific spot or site. I’ve learned those are really good to survey. Sleeping is when we are most vulnerable. For me, peace of mind is how I sleep well in the van. Not feeling good about my spot means I don’t sleep. And that’s a fast way to take the fun out of van life.

Case in point: a few months ago, I made the drive from CO to AZ and en route decided to stop in Holbrook. It was dark, I was tired of driving, and it was a new stopping point that seemed ok to me (versus other towns along that stretch of highway). I’d checked the apps (I explain them below) and didn’t come up with any ideal solutions but some articles and blogs I’ve read about “boondocking” or “stealth camping” had indicated that local parks can often be a great spot to park it for the night. So I found a nice-looking residential park in Holbrook and parked off in a corner away from the street, street lights, and homes…. And I felt good there.

Until cars began to pull in one or two at a time and converge in meet ups in the other park corner … where it was dark… these could have been harmless teenagers out to meet up and have a smoke or a make out session away, or … they could have been partaking in some seriously sketch behavior.

I didn’t know, and I didn’t want to know. The point was they were acting sneaky in my spot and it suddenly did NOT feel safe. Argh. Home is where you park it… until you have to move.

I ended up relocating to one of the city’s newest and brightest-looking hotel parking lots. I parked, put up my window shades, and made dinner before going to bed. To pull off this kind of stealth camping, one does need to be self-contained, i.e., bathroom, water supply, no need to let the dog out and so on… and of course you do this at the risk that a property owner may come out and ask you to relocate at any moment. The brightly-lit parking lots at hotels make me feel safe, and the visiting-nature of the guests staying there makes me think no one is going to notice a van with out of state plates there (versus a quiet neighborhood street). It doesn’t make for great sleep with all the lights and often-late-arriving guests with car doors opening and closing. However it does feel safe.

But it doesn’t feel fun- like, at all … and the voice in my head sounds something like, “why did I buy a van to travel in if I was just going to end up back at a hotel…I could have saved myself the money and hassle, driven my normal car and just booked a hotel room here…”. That’s the inner bully in me that comes out when I don’t do “van life” the way I feel I “should” be doing it. Harumph.

All this to say — after a few times of sleeping in hotel parking lots under bright lights because I wanted to be spontaneous but then my safety and spidey-senses didn’t like anything I was seeing in the dark — I’ve decided spontaneity doesn’t set me up for optimal outcomes (or at least it hasn’t, yet). Now of course this depends on the nature of your trip… are you trying to get from point A to point B quite quickly (as I was) or are you meandering off the major roads and taking the smaller roads, off the beaten path? Are you in a 4x4 capable vehicle where you can park off a Jeep road or out on some dirt road or forest or mountain pass somewhere more desolate away from humans where you don’t really need to worry about being discovered whilst stealth van camping or you won’t be seeing humans, period. (And if that’s the case, then you are perhaps taking other concerns into account, like wildlife, getting stuck in snow or mud, or being offline/off signal/lost)….

For me -for maximum enjoyment - I’ve decided a little planning ahead and forethought makes for the best experience, where I enjoy myself and actually get good rest, and also where I avoid paying a bunch of extra costs and sticking myself right back into the midst of high-human-concentration.

A proper campsite to me, means ample space between spots and on this trip- a full moon, too!

Stated bluntly, RV parks and KOAs are not my thing. I purchased the van in order to be independent, self-sufficient, and to avoid expensive hotel stays, as well as to avoid sharing space with other people … so to drop $50/night at an RV park or KOA with ample humans all around me — isn’t my thing. For me, it defeats the purpose of the van, unless I really get desperate for a spot to park for a night. I

f I’m going to spend any money, it’s going to be on a campsite in a legit spot in a rad park with views and humans spread out. REAL spread out.

I’ve also been using a new (Colorado-based WOOT!) app called Harvest Hosts. With HH you pay a cheap annual fee to be able to stay for free at farms, breweries, vineyards, alpaca farms, and so on. It is literally a place to park the van- some are bigger and more spectacular than others — but all are property or business owners who’ve said “you’re welcome here, and it’s safe to stay here,” and that on its face holds immense value to me. So far I’ve stayed at 2 HH locations and messaged a 3rd (but ended up continuing to drive so didn’t stay).

All 3 owners have been amazing and friendly, and hospitable, and in each, I slept super soundly knowing I was in a place I was approved to be, that was safe, and also family-owned, and not shared with too many other campers, either. With COVID closing some of these places, the owners are still often willing to let you just pull up and park, no worries. (Again- you need to be self-sufficient, restroom use isn’t usually offered).

Other apps I like to consult and explore to research/reserve camp site spots, investigate dry camping on BLM spots, and more, include:

Campendium

Recreation.gov

National Parks

I’ve also heard Hip Camp is great, though I haven’t tried it out yet (and I hear it does overlap quite a bit with Harvest Hosts).

Another site that’s been recommended to me, but I’ve not yet used other than to check some reviews on some spots (i.e. road-side rest areas): https://freecampsites.net/.

Ok so… if you’re in a bind, you can’t find any camp sites, RV parks or Harvest Hosts …. or if it’s late at night and you’re focused on driving big miles or maybe you just need to stop quick and get some rest— then what are the options?

Well as I’ve mentioned, “stealth camping” means your rig looks like just a vehicle (ie a van, unmarked, no indication humans/kids/dogs are living/sleeping in it) and you park it on a city street or in a neighborhood to rest. Personally this isn’t something I intend to try. The reason is simple: as a home owner, if someone drove onto my street after dark and parked a van outside, and I didn’t see anyone get out, and the van stayed there overnight, it would cause me concern. I don’t want to stress out another homeowner and I definitely don’t want to have the cops knocking on my van telling me to move in the middle of the night. I found more info HERE.

“Boondocking” or free camping/wild camping/dry camping, usually means off-grid, away from services, away from amenities, and often, removed from other humans. This is a hugely helpful place to start HERE.

Taken a step further and in moments of desperation where you don’t care WHERE you’re sleeping so long as you’re not going to get run off because it’s permissible— shops like WALMART and HOME DEPOT, and Cracker Barrel, to name a few, allow parking lot RV camping.

Walmart’s official policy: check with each store first. READ MORE HERE.

Google “what stores allow free camping” and you’ll find some results near you, such as:

Since I began my vanlife adventures in the midst of COVID, I also learned that some states have closed many of their road side rest areas (for example, NM, almost all of the west bound ones were closed on my most recent drive). Each state and recreation area has different restrictions and limitations from totally closed, to half capacity, to fully open. Some that used to take online campsite reservations are only doing day-of, on the spot pay to reserve a spot, and so those scenarios leave some unknowns up in the air- if you’re counting on that being your home for the night, but you can’t reserve it ahead, and it ends up being full when you arrive, be sure to have a plan B.

I had this experience recently. I was planning a bike ride and several other aspects of a trip around my ability to camp on a mountain where I wanted to ride -the spot was not currently taking online reservations however. So to be sure I wasn’t totally SOL when I got there, having to scrap my ride and plans totally, I located a nearby B&B and emailed the owner, asking, “if all else fails, could I pay you a few bucks to let me park my van in your parking lot tonight?” She emailed me back and very kindly said yes (and tried to talk me into reserving a room). I didn’t end up needing it as I nabbed a camp spot where I wanted to be -but given her reply and helpfulness, if I ever need a place to stay in that area again, she’ll definitely get my business.

Now of course— “TRUE” van life pursuit probably means wanting to go off-grid and go somewhere off the beaten path in some scenic spot totally removed from humanity. AWESOME goal and aspiration and IG is replete with vanlifers who find those spots and their photos are amazing. Also though, (for me at least being out there alone), I don’t want to get myself into a position where the van could get stuck, where if I have a van mechanical and don’t have cell signal I’m going to be in a spot of trouble, or where legit wildlife may be a concern. There is remote and removed from city noise, and then there is too remote/too distant for my liking. Each vanlifer has their own risk tolerances, experiences, van capabilities, etcetera to evaluate.

With the lack of cell signal being a possible issue, allow me to mention 2 products in this category worth exploring.

1— WE BOOST signal booster— the one most often recommended to me has been the $499 one HERE. I do not yet have one so I cannot speak to this personally but the guy I bought my van from had one and swore by it for working while on the road.

2— Garmin inreach mini. This i DO have. It’s a satellite -based walkie talkie of sorts, that allows for communication via one’s cell phone (or the Garmin) to call for help or send short texts to your contacts. NOTE: you do need to pay for a subscription service to activate it, so plan ahead. I haven’t had to use mine yet, as the times I’ve been without signal it’s been a GOOD thing, and I wanted that reprieve from connectedness. If you’re truly going to go out into the wild in your van, I think this is a great investment.

Finally— and it really does state the obvious, but to be able to stealth camp or boondock or setup camp in a Walmart, or even to stay at some of the Harvest Host sites, having one’s own bathroom setup is essential. If you’re in an RV it’s a nonissue but for most vanlifers, a built in restroom isn’t part of the equation.

I went with the Luggable Loo and accompanying bags. It has been a life saver more than once, and I can’t recommend this enough. When it’s empty/not in use it’s easy to stash in the back with the bikes. If it’s going to be an overnight somewhere, whether a campground far-away from the restrooms, or a stealth camp in a hotel parking lot, having this inside the van makes staying stealthy, possible.

It’s also saved me having to stop for fuel or a purchase I didn’t need to buy, just to use a gas station restroom. It’s been awesome if I’ve stopped for fuel and feel like the gas station or area is dodgy, and not a spot I want to go inside to patronize.

Perhaps TMI but then again, the #1 question I always get about my van is, “does it have a bathroom” and I can honestly answer YES now that I’ve got this very affordable option along for the ride. ;)

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Vans can provide one helleva bedroom window view when you can crack the door and see this from your pillow!

Bottom line- van life isn’t any kind of SHOULD… some days and nights will be pure bliss with full moons, quiet campsites, perfectly-executed plans. And some will be late, dark, cold, sleepy, perhaps lost, and yes, maybe spent in a paved parking lot. It is going to be both: perfection AND growth opportunities. I hope you’ll show yourself some grace as you figure it out. There is no “THE WAY” in vanlife (or in any kind of life!)…. have fun with it, be adventurous, and be safe too.

**remember, as an Amazon Associate, I may earn commissions from purchases if you use my links above!

I very much still consider myself a vanlife newbie, so if you have tips/tricks to share, or followup questions for me, or both, please comment below- I’d love to hear!

No Cell Signal & Boredom (the good kind)

I’ve been out in the van for the past several days and nights in a spot where there is no cell signal. To be candid, while the riding and hiking nearby is stellar, the absence of 📱 signal in this spot was the main feature I sought out. I know myself well enough to know that just picking up the phone to check a couple texts quickly degrades into checking emails, instagrams, andddddd down the rabbit hole. 🕳 Nothing can snap a person (me) out of zen wilderness headspace quicker or more abruptly than one negative email or comment on socials. 

So here I am in the space of no signal sitting and drinking my morning coffee and just relishing the quiet- the lack of things to “do,” and instead focusing on being. 

JUST. BEING. 

Having done a bit of journaling to start, I am in a headspace now to process and download some recent experiences and conversations. To ruminate and ponder them and extricate the lessons or the growth now that they’ve percolated; I am ready to see the teachings in them and to try in some respects to adopt them into my new and evolving mindset. 

That’s the thing with those magical pivotal moments/conversations/experiences. It takes some time to go back and review them in order to try and seal in their flavor for the long term if they are mindsets or patterns one wishes to adopt. I recently read somewhere the mind has decided on something up to 7 seconds ahead of us being aware of it. This is what makes reprogramming old patterns so incredibly difficult. Oh and also we’re often up against primal patterns ingrained in us on a cellular level passed down for many many years to help us stay alive. Yeah- competing with that hard wired biology can be tough. 

“Oh there’s that thing I do- what is that?,” I can ask with kind curiosity.

Here’s the thing... We all have trauma, pain, past experiences that we bring into our present and often times they are so ingrained into our neural patterns that they run us. Without us knowing. Without our permission. They lead to the same outcomes in conflict. The same breakdowns in partnerships. The same self loathing or self flagellation by our inner bullies. The cycles perpetuate.

Doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results is—as we all know— insane. 

Call it COVID slowing down the pace of life overall (and forcing the legal profession to change its approach/adopt virtual practices) + losing my dog and my grandmother during the holidays reminding me how short and precious life is + a very traumatic near death experience last October (a sobering reminder of how short MY life is and can be) + the van coming into my life unexpectedly and giving me this chance to explore and slow down in quiet sacred spaces like the one I’m presently in .... plus maybe the stage of life I’m in, not a mid-life crisis but more an arrival at “enoughness” and the privilege it’s affording me to be curious about what my life can mean and represent going forward. Call it whatever you like…

And, regardless, I know that I am exactly where I’m supposed to be 🙏🏼.

On this trip I had a couple guests joining me for the first two days and first night. It was fun to enjoy the van experience with cohorts out in the wild for the first time. Turns out I laugh a lot more when I’m not out here by myself ;) Laughter is sooo good for the soul.

We enjoyed wonderful bike rides, an incredible camp site dinner and breakfast, delicious van coffee (of course), ease in conversation & connection, and ample laughs. It was wonderful sharing this space with them. I was lonesome when they left. And now I am enjoying the quiet and solitude of being here alone. 

I loved having them here AND I love being here solo now. 

This is one of the biggest ah-has for me in the last year or so: using AND. My coach Shelley gets the biggest credit for teaching me this and really helping me rewrite my vernacular to use AND more and BUT less. (Read more about this concept HERE).

All this to say ... out here away from signals and socials, it’s a truly incredible space in which to look within, when the clutter and noise of normal daily life are stripped away and I’m left with a quiet van parked in the sun, a day without any agenda or schedule, when I am able to tap into the creativity that flows through me most strongly when I’m in Spartan-esque environments. 

Boredom begets creativity and brilliance IMHO. (And much smarter-than-me people agree). I think we don’t get nearly enough boredom-moments in normal life. I think clutter and distractions rob many of us of our truest brilliance because it (creativity) comes out only when we’re truly free to let the mind wander without being pulled multiple directions by life. 

“Exchange your cleverness for bewilderment.”

— Rumi

When is the last time your mind could truly and freely wander?

The book I’m reading on this trip is called The Minimalist Vegan.

There are so many compelling reasons to be animal product -free in both dietary decisions as well as lifestyle decisions. I won’t digress too much further into this topic in an already-too-long blog but the truth is that awareness in all areas of life demands that we be conscious consumers of everything that we eat and buy. Minimalism stands for only buying what we truly need and use and eliminating or not buying the rest. It stands also for less clutter and confusion - including in our socials, apps & emails, and items we own/insure/maintain. 

I have noticed a direct correlation for myself between the phases of life when I’m consuming (stuff, food, social media), and when I’m feeling most out of control in my life. 

When I’m seeking something to grab onto ... some guiding light or orientation- I often default to complication and more stuff. Anyone else?

The truth is that filling life with clutter & crap will never lead us to our truth, guiding light, intuition or knowingness. Nope... All we do is unconsciously distract ourselves right away from our inner voice of wisdom and from life’s most important things... love, health, being. 

Is your default, distraction? Mine can be. I’m working on that. 

Out here in the van I realize that I needed this reset - something deep inside me was drawn to take this trip because I knew I needed to be physically and mentally removed from the norm of day to day in order to hit that reset and get back to basics. Get back to what really makes me feel good & alive.... back to my knowingness.

Sending you love and light 💡 ☀️ from out here in no-signal-land nature and hoping you find some zen in your day or that can soon you escape to a place where it’s virtually guaranteed. 

Go... Find a place where you can be bored. ✨ 

This is the tea I keep in the van (shown in the top photo). I love it for the cool nights when it’s dark outside, but too early to go to sleep — it’s the perfect pairing to reading or journaling, and the detox-theme carries over to detox from noise, stimulation, social media, emails and junk food and goes within, thanks to the tea.

This is the wonderful book I reference above. You can order your copy on Amazon using this link:

*Reminder, I’m an Amazon Associate, I may earn commissions from purchases you make using my links to products above.