Official Semi Nomads

Are we verbing Montgomery here?

I am excited to announce that a long time goal of mine is finally being realized. We are embarking on a semi nomadic style of life. I left traditional work nearly four years ago, and ever since my husband has been trying to move to a position where he can work remote more often.

So finally, we are going to be able to work and travel from the road about 50% of the time. We have already made a few trips to places in the south like Augusta,  Myrtle Beach and parts of Alabama.

In between weekends filled with exploring new places are evenings spent driving, and work days spent at libraries, coffee shops, and fast food places. We do what we have always done when traveling the US, as lucky white US citizens. We sleep in the car a lot. we camps some, and we occasionally spring for a cheap hotel room. It makes a huge difference in cost, and it has rarely presented a problem. For right now, we are keeping the "work remote life" strictly domestic. There is a lot of country to explore (and some favorite places I can't wait to get back to) but we do still plan to take some actual vacations internationally.

We also eat some cold meals, and have a portable butane stove to make some hot ones. We definitely are trying out the restaurants that make a place unique, and patronizing wherever we find good wifi and an electrical outlet.

So, this isn't quite the #vanlife you have heard of, at least not yet. We do aspire to get a Dodge Caravan, for the coveted in floor storage space that removing the Stow N Go seats will give us, while keeping MPG a lot more reasonable than most travel or camper vans popular with #vanlife, at the expense of not having a full in van kitchen with live edge counter tops and recycled pallet paneling. The Dodge will be a more stealthy camping option, but allow us a bit more room to organize, and a more comfortable sleeping arrangement than the Prius we drive today.

Another current limitation, and one we are still figuring out, is how to travel with our very aged puppy, who will soon be celebrating her sweet 16! She doesn't deal with heat too well, or cold, so we have to find places that are mild enough in climate for her to spend time outside with us. So if you have any recommendations for pet friendly locations, we would love to hear about them. She's too old to walk, so she get's her own little carry bag that we take her around in. We have found some places have very accepting beaches, parks, gardens and restaurants, and some... don't

Thanks for reading! I plan to talk about specifics more eventually, but if you have burning questions, let me know! 

An Amazing Two Weeks in East Africa

March 2018, after nearly 8 years, we finally returned to Africa, this time to the east African countries of Kenya and Uganda.  Here's a brief overview: 

We first headed to the Masai Mara, visited a Masai village, then went on a game drive with a highlight of seeing a pair of giraffes "necking" 

The next day was a full 12 hour game drive where we spotted 4 cheetahs, a nest of 9 sleeping lion cubs, even more lions, antelopes of all kinds, 2 leopards, hyenas, hippos, and so much more. Highlight: coming upon that second leopard, who had been resting in tall grass right by the road. Our driver/guide momentarily thought his tail was a snake in the road. And when the large male got up and moved to a termite mound just feet away, we had him all to ourselves. 

A visit to Lake Nokuru. This used to house massive flocks of feeding flamingos, but the water level has gone up, making most of the lake too deep for feeding. But it is still easy to see quite a bit of wildlife here, and smaller flocks of flamingos. Highlight: mom and baby rhino in the far distance, lone male rhino right up close, and Rothschild's giraffes close to the road as well.

Murchison falls national park:  Cruise up the river, to see the base of this massive falls, then drive to the top for lunch.  Highlight: Chimp trekking elsewhere in the park, we found a family group and watched a juvenile strip branches of blooms. 

Nile River Sunset Cruise: Jinja. Water levels have changed here too, this time due to a dam. However, the river cruise between 2 dams proved to be fantastic birding, as we were able to see many shore, wading, and water species we hadn't seen elsewhere. Highlight, a troupe of red tailed monkeys

Lake Bunyonyi: beautiful mountain lake, smaller wildlife, and a pleasant accommodation. We even saw an otter here. A visit to the displaced pygmy village was not educational to their culture or history, however, the people depend on such visits as they appear to live in total poverty. 

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. A visit to see mountain gorillas, which you can see nowhere else in the world but this and one other park. We joined a family of 4 (silverback, 2 females, and a year old baby) for an hour. They seemed almost completely unconcerned by our presence. Beautiful, and a little smelly.