Also read : About Allie : The Cliff Notes Version
When Did This All This Rambling Start?
I guess you could say I’ve always had a wondering soul. As soon as I could walk I’d wonder off from my parents at the grocery store, mall, fairs or anywhere my little heart wanted to go. I just felt to urge to always see what was around the corner.
Fast forward to my teen years when I dreamed of visiting anywhere that was not my hometown. I was lucky to have a mom who liked to explore as well. As a family we visited Yosemite every summer for 2 weeks. We explored the southwest – Tucson, Durango, Colorado Springs, Moab, and even Southern California where I was born and raised. Every trip brought new fascination to my young mind!
When it was time for me to “leave the nest” I thought for sure I’d go far, somewhere like Hawaii, New York or even Europe. But I ended up 2 hours south of home in San Diego. Don’t get me wrong, San Diego has more than enough outdoors and history to explore, but I expected to go further out.
In San Diego I graduated from University of CA, San Diego, met and married my former husband and had our first born!! Later we moved to the Bay Area where we had another child. We lived in the Bay for over 20 years.
This Is Where I Go Solo
In 2015 my marriage ended and I found myself solo. No time for exploratory travel, I had a mortgage and 2 teens to wrangle.
This is when I began to think about wondering this earth again, the gypsy soul I had when I was younger never left, it just got distracted.
This was about the time I discovered day hiking! My life changed forever! I could wander trails for hours!
I positioned myself with a Bay Area start-up where I could work remote. I started to save every penny (literally, I still have that jar of coins) and making plans to work around the world once my kids were old enough to be on their own.
By October 2019 I had sold my home in California and headed to Arizona to stay with mom and her husband while I figured all this out – 3-4 months tops.
One month in I got laid off. It was Christmas time so I didn’t bother looking for another job yet, I would do that in January.
During this time a lot of ideas where running through my head about what I was going to do going forward. Would I still travel the world? Would I get a small apartment or home near amazing hiking trails? Would I get a van or RV and travel the United States and Canada? I still didn’t know.
Then three event that early 2020 made my mind for me.
In February I lost my Maggy dog to cancer. She was my only constant companion and the best hiking buddy! The day after I put her to rest I had no energy to think so I took to the Internet for mindless social media scrolling and discussion on hiker forums.
Cruising an all women’s hiking group I saw that someone had written “Does anyone want to do the AZT with me?” My fingers seemed to have had a mind of their own in that moment since my brain was mush and they wrote “I will“.
Back up a minute. I didn’t even know what the AZT was. I figured it was a trail in Arizona but I had no clue what I just signed up for.
After some research I was realized it is an 800 mile trek through Arizona from Mexico to Utah. One generally hikes it continuously for usually a couple of months, this is called a “Thru Hike”. I was scared but very excited.
I had never backpacked so I had to invest in about $4000 worth of gear and food for the trip. Three weeks later I actually met Jan, the woman who asked the question, in Tucson, AZ to start our thru-hike of the AZT.
This is when I got the backpacking bug.
If you’re following along my timeline this was about the time Covid-19 was beginning to surface in the United States yet many were simply thinking it was like the flu and would diminish within a few months. As we all know now, it wasn’t just a flu and it didn’t last a few months. 76 miles into backpacking the AZT Jan and I as well as our buddy David got off trail to be with family.
Those 3 events – loosing my remote job, saying goodbye to my Maggy dog and backpacking a portion of the AZT – got me thinking that I wanted to live full-time in an RV to explore and hike the United States.
Why An RV? And Why the U.S.?
After getting off trail I spent 2 months quarantined with mom and her husband in Arizona. I had the itch to get out yet the pandemic made that difficult. Yet people were still hiking though.
I had $4000 worth of gear and food so I set out to backpack more of the AZT. During my few days hiking a section of the AZT I saw 3 people. It was a little scary at first, especially at night, but I did it. I can’t help but feel I could do more as a solo woman.
I had thoughts of simply moving about in my little SUV with my hiking and backpacking gear, you know, live on the road. But that was quickly banished from my head – I wanted a bed! And a toilet. Sure, I know how to “go” in nature following Leave No Trace guidelines, but I didn’t want to live everyday like that, that suburban housewife still lived on in me.
I’ve always wanted to see Europe, and I hope someday to still do that, yet with a pandemic affecting the globe, international travel was banned by the time I decided to travel in early summer of 2020.
What could I travel in that has a bed and toilet? Be away from people? See the United States? And still hike?
An RV!!
30,000 Miles and Counting
This is where I am today, March 2022! I’ve traveled 30,000 miles and 10 states so far. Mostly Arizona which is my home state now.
It all started in July 2020 when I set out on my first boondocking experience in the Kaibab Forest of Arizona. Of course, I positioned my RV in the woods next to the AZT! And you bet I hiked the hell outta that trail there.
Since then I’ve hiked in Colorado (completing 9 sections of the Colorado Trail), Utah, and some southern states.
That’s mostly what I do – cruise the roads in the United States, searching for free boondocking locations, and hike.
Why Do I Bother to Write All This Down?
I’m an introvert so my favorite brand of communication is writing. I’ve kept a private journal all my life so journaling is not foreign to me. I enjoy writing and sharing my life on the road with anyone who will read it.
I also want women to know 50 is not the end. You’re kids leaving the nest is not the end. Your sagging boobs and enhanced hips don’t signify giving up on your health and feeling sexy. Getting a divorce and being on your own doesn’t make you a “loser”. Losing a job at 48 doesn’t mean you give up.
Midlife is just that – it’s 1/2 way – you still have so much more to give and get from life!
Nature doesn’t care what your age is. So get out there.
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