Joe and I got real sick. And then Joe got better. And I stayed sick. And we holed up at his parent’s home for a bit.

Virginia sure is pretty. Cold, yes. But, pretty.

You know, you go and make a bunch of plans……. Well, for some family reasons, we’re slowing our plans down a bit. We’ll still be traveling for the next year, but in smaller chunks and have a home base in Virginia with Joe’s parents. It’ll be easier for me to let people know when we’re coming and the interviews will be scheduled more. Easier on everyone.

This wasn’t what Joe and I were planning on, but sometimes you just have to go with the flow, you know? xo

Thanks everyone for playing! Your stories made me feel a little bit better about how bad I feel….xo

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Hello Friends!

Joe and I are sickitysicksick. We’re making sounds and expelling things no one wants to hear about. Instead of lovely photos of the past few days (which there aren’t many because it is SO HARD to lift the camera to your face when you’re sick) we’re having a give-away today.

Leave a comment about a time you were sick while traveling and two lucky people will win a small present picked up at Meteor City, Arizona.

Here’s Joe in front of the Trading Post. He looks pretty good for being really sick, yes?

Contest ends at midnight tonight.

We went the back way to Prescott along some winding roads and tiny towns. It took a little longer, but we liked it.

When we got to my brother’s home, his wife Lori greeted us at the door.

Lori is one of the nicest people I know and her laugh is golden. Lori and Sam are the cutest.

They have their own grocery in their kitchen. Sam used to stock fruit at the store and old habits die hard. I think he does a lovely job.

They took us to Sedona where we just caught the last of the sunlight creeping its way behind the mountain. They sky is so clear and the stars! My lands, the stars.

Apparently, part of visiting Sedona is trying the deep fried pickles at Oak Creek Brewery. They dip spears in batter and fry them like okra.

And? I liked them. I especially like the ranch hugging my teeth in this next photo. I hope you didn’t just lose your lunch….

Sedona is beautiful. I wish we could have been there a little earlier so I could have showed you. But SOMEONE had to take a nap and waste most of the afternoon. The SOMEONE that is me.

Today – Phoenix.

Other things we’re trying to do – not buy any consumer plastic crap goods, only buy things for give-aways that are handmade by local vendors, take fast showers and wear everything twice to save on laundry washing impact.

Please leave your ideas in the comments. We’d like to do everything we can to offset our impact on the environment.

Cross-posted at Leahpeah.

In the meantime, here’s a pretty photo of our drive to Moorpark from Santa Cruz.

I’m so pleased that people have really pondered the question and are taking it seriously before submitting. Some of the stories are so tender and sweet that they’ve made me weepy. Weepy!

Our ‘practice’ travel week here in Santa Cruz has gone well, if you don’t count the scary carpet with small nuggets of things I’m sure I don’t want to know more about. Also – I packed way too much stuff. I always have a few extra shirts and jackets in case I need them. And then a few more in case the other ones don’t work out. Lesson – pack less and lighter. It’s not really that fun to drag heavy suitcases in and out of motels every day. I’m trying to find the happy balance of wearing everything twice before washing but not smelling like really stale cigarette smoke that seems to be so usual and pungent in cheap motels.

My big issue? And, you’re going to laugh, but please do it quietly where I can’t see you. My big issue is that I am a pillow person. Like, really a pillow person. So, where some people (like JOE) can just have one and they don’t mind that it’s the one that has been sitting on the bed for a thousand heads to touch, I have to bring my own from home. And not just my own, my ownS. Yes, I need a minimum of 5 pillows to sleep at night (although 7 is better, but I’m making due here, people) and my own blanket.

Imagine if you will, the largest duffel bag ever made. Now, insert 5-7 pillows, really scrunching them down. Next, take your jean quilt that you sleep with every night, fold it into 8ths, and cram it down on top, REALLY pushing it in and down or your NEVER going to get that zipper closed. Now, all you have to do is drag it out the door, down two flights of stairs, across the parking lot and shove it into the trunk. Repeat every day for the next 6 months. See what I’m saying? How does one learn to ‘rough it’ as they say? How can I downsize my pillows and blanket?? Because even I admit – this is ridiculous. But, ew. Germs and other people’s sweat and hair and skin dust.

Also – we need a new cooler with a lid that works.

I’ve been to Santa Cruz before, but I swear it has never looked so beautiful as it did today. Warm with a cool breeze. Sun hitting just right. People meandering and not impatiently passing. I had the best scrambled egg bagel ever and Tecate beer with a little salt and lime. I may be going on a bit too long, but, just look at that ocean!!

THE STORY – We’ve decided to make some radical changes in our lives, which have become heavy with Stuff. We want to slough off our skins and see what’s underneath. (I hope I find a million dollars and a pony. -Leah) In an effort to Reboot our lives, we are selling nearly everything we own in the next few weeks. It only sounds crazy because it kind of is. Crazy Awesome! For the whole story, click here. We’ll be updating this blog regularly and you can play along!

The markers below indicate cities we’d love to visit. We’ll add dates to the markers as they firm up and we’ll be adding more cities as we go. If you feel moved to host an evening in your city, let us know. We gladly accept gas money via Paypal. See you soon!