Growing Old – Page 3 – Two Travelin' Chicas…

The Roads of Baja

There is a strong draw, felt by a number of nomads, to explore the wild spaces rarely visited by “tourists”. One reason is the lack of transportation capable of handling the washed out, wash board dirt roads found in these areas. Another, the urge to stay in the familiar, attached to cell phones, TV and the comforts of the brick and mortar of a home. When we tell some of our journeys, they all gasp and wonder where we ever got the need to wander.

There is a pull to the desert that has enveloped Chris and I. A need for open spaces, a dry climate and room to roam freely, sometimes without seeing another soul for days. The chance meetings often turn into deep conversations and a fire side chat recounting trials and tribulations of life on the road. We share our stories, sometimes harrowing and unbelievable. Perhaps it’s a draw to face death at every turn, or perhaps the thrill of adventure and to push the envelope beyond the comfort level of the normal human. This takes us to today, four and a half years of being free and able to travel at will, one with our surroundings.

In February of 2021, we hooked up with a caravan of three, Chris and I and two other gals, and crossed the border into Baja Mexico, for the first time. There’s a call we lean towards and freely give into, that paves the way for our wander lust. Baja seemed like the great western frontier that we needed to explore and conquer. Armed with only our cell phones and a good translation app, Garmin GPS, and a competent van, we set out to explore a country unknown to us; a 1,000 mile journey full of new flora and fauna, animals and sea life. I found it so inspiring that I wrote a book while traveling through Baja for 3 months. Fast forward to January 2025 and here we are again.

https://www.amazon.com/Childs-Story-Answers-Why/dp/B09PHHCGWX?dplnkId=38cdaa69-0263-42c6-afe6-a62c7c7e4057&nodl=1

It’s been a tough 2 years emotionally. After loosing our corgi Gandaulf, we sold our first van and all the toys we had accumulated during our travels and set out to travel around the world. Seven months traveling around Europe and another four months in SE Asia, Indonesia, and Malaysia, then back to the States where we purchased another van to complete the Canada/Alaska trip we missed out on during our two and a half years living on the road.

Alaska and western Canada is another frontier of sorts. Not like the desert but just as grand and open. The roads in each very similar; pot holed and delaminated. The punishing washboard roads in dire need of repair, are enough to put any van build or truck to the test. there would be whole days of traveling 3-400 miles and never cross another vehicle. We were never sure if the paved sections of the roads were better than the dirt roads, both held their own dangers. The grandeur of the Alaskan and Yukon outbacks are hard to match, even in the deserts of the south western USA. Still, the desire to revisit Baja California, Mexico and the desert was strong.

Today, January 6, 2025, I’m writing you while enjoying coffee and the warm sun of La Paz, Baja California Sur, surrounded by fellow travelers. We’ve traveled 1350km so far, with another 300km to go. The roads to this point have been narrow two lane highways, with little to no safety lane and often no shoulders. There are times when we must come to a complete stop to walk the van through deep potholes and slow to a crawl when passing trucks come barreling around blind corners. There are constant signs of accidents, both with roadside crosses and mangled guardrails, straightened out or completely ripped from the supports and trailing off into deep ravens as if pointing to the site of a wayward vehicle leaving the road and plummeting to its end. Often times, there will be stretches of road that have carcasses of dead cows, horses or the unidentifiable remains of some unfortunate animal, usually struck at night by a speedy semi, as they come to the flat roads to sleep. It’s a constant reminder that it only takes a second of misfortune to end a life.

So our nomadic wandering continues with so much more to see and experience. We may be absent but we are always present where ever we find ourselves. Living in the moment, sometimes with no set direction but forward. Always savoring the newness of each destination and rolling with whatever may come our way.

Down a Winding Desert Road

To say our lives are boring, would be the biggest lie anyone ever told. Today we find ourselves on a pilgrimage down to Baja California. Driving through the barron desert of California’s Mohave. The vast emptiness is overwhelming and all encompassing. Creosote, desert rose, sage, Joshua trees, and various other spiny shrubs, dot the desert floor. Whips of dust circle and rise into the sky in thin tornadic spouts. The desert has a beauty all its own.

As we make our way, small desert communities spring up in the middle of nowhere. Towns like Needles, Searchlight, and Topok breakup the monotony of flatness. We wonder what the inhabitants do for fun? Chase jackrabbits…wander around in altered states of mind. Sit on porches rocking in old wooden rocking chairs. Commune with the vast sky? There’s a certain peace found here in the desert emptiness, vastness that is beyond measure. A kinship with Mother Earth, a pleading of the poor souls living among her scorched soil and dwarfed trees and plants.

For the next few months we will enter this environment willingly, searching…searching for that kinship, immersed in the life of leisure. Healed by the salt air. Lost in days unknown, time lost, only day and night. Wander around with like souls just living life on the peninsula’s terms. It’s time to disassociate from the tension and unknowns of life in the US.

We are looking for somewhere to call home base. Someplace we can travel out from or just hunker down and become part of a community. Who really knows. What I do know is, we have wandering spirits that are hard to quench, hard to convince to stay in one place…wanderlust.

Wings Clipped

As a few of you know, I have been having some digestive disorders for almost a year. A friend of mine reminded me that it’s probably been much longer than that. The difference is the severity. Living as a nomad has been a lot of fun, except when an illness creeps in and knocks us down.

Not all illness has a physical cause, as I have come to understand all too well. Our world is so full of stresses, some from outside stimuli, others from within our own body and mind. To understand the role stress has on our mental and physical beings, has become a goal of mine since I have stopped working. It’s been a chance for me to step back and really “feel” my body and mind. It’s not just work or a job that causes “stress dis-ease”. It can be relationships with oneself and others, physical limitations (real or imagined), dis-order and dis-ease inside the mind and body, environmental influences such as smoke, weather, amount of daylight, extremes in temperatures and diet.

This setback in my health not only affects me but also Chris. There have been days on end that I have not been well enough to do anything. Constant stomach pain, not being able to eat, nausea and a squeezing sensation in my diaphragm that takes my breath away, have all become part of my daily life for at least the last four or five months. I don’t know anyone who can live with this and try to stay chipper and act as if nothing is wrong. I try so hard tho.

So here we sit in Rapid City, South Dakota. Many may ask…”why South Dakota? October 22, 2019, we sold everything we owned; our house, furniture, toys, tools, artwork, nick-knacks…everything but our van, which was to be our home. But…the Patriot Act states that we had to have a US domicile, in order to maintain banking in the US, including our retirement accounts. Now this is actually kinda fun, except when you need medical care, since you can look at different states and their laws and cost of living. How easy is it to get residency, register a car without being physically present, taxation of income, capital gains, etc. South Dakota checked off all the boxes.

Now, here we sit, going through the messed up medical system of the USA. Doctors think only inside the boxes that the insurance companies set up for them to work within. That system has high deductibles that are easily consumed by the amount of testing they do to find a physical cause to the symptoms presented. My DR won’t even talk to me until all tests are completed and five other DRs look at and interpret the results, which can take up to 3 weeks we are being told. You can’t speak to anyone that doesn’t have an extended arm and hand in your face telling you to wait. I am not one to sit idly by and wait. There is no empathy, just f#%€d up rules. My point is with all these deductibles, it makes it hard to spend out of pocket $$ to see alternative Drs, like chiropractors, naturopaths, yoga instructors, acupuncture, meditation centers, on-line classes, etc., these practitioners often address the energy or dis-order inside the mind and body pathways, rather than pacifying symptoms.

So why then, am I still sitting here? Although this is not where I’d like to be, stress caused by not feeling well can exasperate the dis-ease. Also not being able to stop for any length of time to heal, can be a problem when living as a nomad. There are other things besides surgery and invasive chemical medications that can soothe the symptoms and possibly correct the dis-ease or imbalance occurring in my body right now. These blocks and dis-order can be resolved, returning the body to a state of stasis. Stasis equals a dissolution of symptoms at their source.

My main focus of my exploration is the vagus nerve, which is part of the parasympathetic nervous system. I also have had bouts with Ataxia in the past caused by reaction to an auto-immune inflammation in the body. While the DRs here twiddle their thumbs, I am attacking, perhaps, the root cause of this uncomfortable physical condition I find myself in. Regardless, our wings are clipped and we have hunkered down with a commitment to my health.

some fun travel photos

A Good Match Photo Challenge

Back on home turf…let a new journey begin

It’s been a month since we flew from Singapore back to Salt Lake City, UT, our home state, and it seems like we are finally getting a routine back into our lives. We pet/house sit for a week or so, then spend time in the van, then another pet/house sit, then back into the van and back into the desert for some silence. I am afraid this is as routine as it will get. It seems that Chris and I both have restless souls that prefer to wander than to settle down. Traveling allows us to meet and get to know new people on a personal level, one where they are engaged and not simply exchanging niceties.

The last two days have been a bit overcast and rainy. This made for a fun few days in the desert. It is this life giving rain that brings the deserts into bloom and, at the same time, turns the roads into a slick slurry of mud and sticky clay. After a night of downpours, we decided it wise to retreat from the back country and find some provisions and refill the water tank. The ride out was a nail biter but the 4X4 helped out. The slick mud and clay sticking to every inch of the van.

In a harsh environment, such as the desert, any rain that makes it to the ground is a godsend. Before the storm set in, the sky was full of brilliant white towering clouds with grey bottoms, being heavy laden with water. Below these beautiful floating vapor wonders, hang wispy sheets of rain that dissipate hundreds of feet from the ground, never a drop reaching the earth, this is called virga.

This strange but beautiful event occurs when the air is too hot and dry for the rain to hit the ground, it also can create dangerous down burst winds. These winds often show themselves as dust devils, columns of dust, sand and dirt that swirl hundreds of feet into the air like an invisible tornado starting from the ground up. It’s an amazing sight to witness and unforgiving if one is caught near one of these devils. They will hit a car and try to push it off the road, fill a tent and sleeping bag full of sand and send trash and debris flying hundreds of feet into the air, as if they were ballerinas preparing for a dervish dance.

Traveling, as we do, is not for everyone. Some people like the comforts of four walls, TV, and a routine that rarely changes. Traveling is hard, takes a lot of planning and when traveling in a van, some heavy lifting. It can take you way out of your comfort zone or help you find a new one. It is, however for us, rewarding and fulfilling. The people you meet can be precious gemstones, or an obstacle, your choice. We may think we live in the best country in the world, but unless you travel…how would you know?

Canyons and Deserts back Home in Utah

Can I start out by saying that my heart feels full when in the vast deserts of Utah. The grandeur is awe inspiring, the silence, deafening. The sun is warm on you skin in the cloud free azure blue skies that go on forever. The deep canyons, carved by wind, rain and the elements are like a sculpture’s best art. The spiral towers of molten type rock appear to ooze down the cliff faces, getting more narrow till one side meets the other in the depths of its rocky tomb. The great cottonwood and juniper, pinion pine and sage, seek shelter in the shadowy depths. If you sit patiently, you can see the prairie dogs, marmots, squirrels and chipmunks run along the layer of the cliff face. A crow breaks the silence with its caw and the swish of its wings as it shoots past us on the currents. A cool breeze slides along my cheek and gives me a shiver.

It’s our first outing with the new van. It’s a 2023 Winnebago Revel 4×4 on a Mercedes Sprinter chassis capable of traversing any terrain we can find, handling the washboard roads like a luxury vehicle but with the weight of a built out adventure van. The inside is cozy, fitted with all the amenities to keep us comfortable for our travel adventures to come.

Part of getting the new van was learning from our old van, SleepyTurtle. She was a fine build and was perfect for what we needed and especially traveling with Gandaulf, our old corgi. There were a few things missing, as we found out after 2.5 years living full time in her. She was built to withstand the worst rutted roads we found in Montana and Wyoming. She rarely had a rattle. She was built as a fair weather camping rig, without heat or AC, she had an inside composting toilet and an outside shower. There was plenty of counter space, we carried 50 gallons of water and had a ginormous fridge and high output stove, for outside cooking only. She was a great van! Now she and Gandaulf are gone.

Our new van, doesn’t have a name yet, but as we investigate her and outfit her to be home for perhaps the next year, one will come. Maybe some sort of warrior princess or a great explorer name, perhaps a docile creature of the desert or mountains. It will come.

We just finished our first house/pet sit in SLC and have taken a retreat to our favorite place, The Swell in central Utah’s San Rafael Desert. It’s a relatively short drive from SLC and sits at about 6,000 feet in elevation. The Good Water Rim Mountain bike single track trail sits adjacent to our camp. It’s a 6.8 mile trail that skirts the canyon rim and is quite technical although, and an easy ride to get the heart pumping.

Around our primitive camp, the sandy ground is a mauve color with stark greenish black, twisted bark, pinion pine and juniper trees standing against the brilliant blue sky. The layered sandstone revealed by the erosion of the sand, stand like castle walls at the top of an impenetrable hill. There is no sounds outside of the wind, birds and occasional passing vehicle.

It’s an oasis in the mad haste of life in the city. It’s a welcome respite from the last year of traveling in Europe and Asia. It calms the mind, lowers the blood pressure and can suck you away in a hypnotic trance if you sit and don’t think. A perfect spot for a meditation or just to day dream. Not a care in the world or a need to rush. Just silence, beauty and peace.

And…that’s a wrap. SE Asia

There’s so much running around in my brain. First, I’d like to say that 4 months in SE Asia has been a good amount of time. Countries visited include, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. There are so many more countries and places to explore, but as with Europe, it will have to wait.

Each country has had its charm, sorted history, beauty, beaches, lakes, and natural formations such as the Karsk Mountains. We’ve visited memorials depicting the horrors of wars, incredible temples and places of deep cultural significance, bumpy roads, tiny streets, crazy traffic, billions of motorbikes, stairs and stairs, and more stairs. The one thing that reigns true in every country, be it a wide open space country, huge city with skyscrapers, or farmlands, are the kindness of the people. I know this has been said over and over again, but believe me, it cannot be said enough. In all of our years of traveling and doing humanitarian work, it is the people with the least, that are willing to give the most.

I can honestly say that Chris and I try our best to be informed about the culture and beliefs of the people in whatever country we visit. It goes a long way believe me. Whether it be a few phrases in the local language, a simple bow, a conversation about the religion or mythology of the people, you can see their eyes brighten and a smile comes across their face that says more than words could ever convey. To be courteous and ask permission to take a photo shows a great deal of respect at times.

One thing we struggle a bit with is tipping. On our tours with GAdventures, we learned how tipping can be a good and bad thing. Being “westerners”, privileged as some would call us, it is important to understand the concept of tipping. For example, in Cambodia and Vietnam, the average monthly salary is equal to about $400 USD. The people live comfortably and are happy. Introduce tourism; they may be employed at a hotel, restaurant or attraction catering to tourists from all over the world. IF these tourists tip, which is about 30% do vs 70% that don’t, the appropriate tip may seem ridiculously small to us, but to them, it could mean more than we can imagine. Sometimes it amounts to nothing but the fact that you have recognized them and appreciate their service. That you see them! The point being, tip appropriately…not like you would at home. It can disrupt their lives in ways we can’t understand.

Next thing we make a point to do is ask the locals about themselves and their family. We engage with the tour guides, drivers and hotel staff. They aren’t robots, not yet anyway. They live to have the jobs they do. They feel very lucky to have them and will always serve you with that genuine smile I am always talking about. Even when you can see them visibly melting in the heat and humidity, just as you are, they persevere, continuing to do the best they can to serve you. For example; we watched a woman in Thailand that was probably 7-8 months pregnant. She was there for lunch at 11am and was still there when we went back for dinner at 8pm and was still there when we left at 9:30. The restaurant was still open for another 1.5 hours. She was seating customers and clearing tables. She never stopped. There was no AC, just an open air restaurant. Another woman, a bit overweight by Thai standards, was also there that same time. It was an exceptionally hot day and the night was stifling with not a hint of breeze. She stood at her station with sweat running down her face, using a menu to cool herself. She greeted us with a smile and welcomed us back by name. It’s often hard to put aside the privileged part of us that can’t believe the working conditions.

All this writing made me hot, so I just used my pool. Now the pool attendant is helping us to get more shade on our cushy sun bed. 🥵🤣 Like i was saying…

We are currently in Uluwatu, Bali, our last stop in Bali. It’s 84 degrees or 31 celsius and 80% humidity. I’m watching 4 guys on a glass roof over the eating area at the restaurant, removing what amounts to a completely shattered piece of 3/4” tempered glass…with no gloves! No safety gear, just grit and perseverance. Wow! 🥵😳 I need to go use the pool again just from watching them…

We hope that you’ve enjoyed our journey. Feel free to reach out to us for recommendations or with any questions about where we’ve been. Thanks for following our travels! The Girls

Skipping Across SE Asia

Well…what can I say? It’s been about 4 days now that whatever had gripped my body, and made me so ill, has passed. It literally reduced me to tears at least once. Perhaps it was the dreaded COVID that slapped me upside my head almost a month ago to the day. Perhaps it was the gut bacterium that affects some poor souls traveling to this part of the world all the way down to Indonesia. The shear will power to eat a meal, even though you know the inevitable cause and effect of this necessary evil of human existence. The constant “thick head” feeling, like you’re gonna pass out in a puddle of sweat, or pop like an over ripe tomato. No matter, until we finally came out the other end of it, it’s just been an unmotivated, uncreative existence. Today the urge finally hit me. The words began to flow in my head to the point of needing to pick up the pen and paper, and share.

It’s hard to remember good things to write about, although I know there were plenty. Why does it have to be big? Perhaps just the joy of watching something as brilliant and humbling, as the sun melting into the ocean each night. Maybe it is the feeling of the warm ocean and fine sand beneath your feet as you walk down the beach admiring the brightly colored beach bars and restaurants. Or it could be one word and a hand gesture symbolizing a lotus flower, used as a greeting, for conveying respect, or just being kind and letting them know they see and hear you… “Kaaaaaa…” or Krub for men. One word that has so much meaning to us now. https://coconuts.co/bangkok/features/thinglish-professional-thais-still-use-ka-krub-speaking-english/

My eyes see the incredible blues and greens of the sea. My ears hear the crashing of the waves, the sounds of the longtail boats, the song of the birds shrill song, morning, noon, and night. The sound of the cicadas wishing the sun good morning and goodnight as it slips below the horizon, grabbing the blanket of night with all its stars. I can smell the sweetness of the salt hanging in the heavy air. My skin burns with the warmth of the equatorial sun and the salt spray turns to tiny diamonds on my skin. You can taste the sweat and salty air on your lips. These are all mesmerizing and just make you feel alive.

We’ve been to 6 islands now in Thailand and Vietnam. Koh Lanta, Koh Naig, Koh Kradon, Koh Muk, Con Dao, and now Koh Phi Phi. We’ve spent nearly 3 months here in SE Asia. When we set out 10 months ago, we had dreamed of spending the winter in SE Asia. We’ve covered but half of the world. I guess one doesn’t realize how big the world is. Some set out to go around the world in a year. I think I am finding that we’ve been a meer skipping stone across the surface of a big pond. This next year we may be skipping across the Americas, perhaps in a van again. Brush up on our Spanish that has taken a third row to learning customs and a few phrases in whatever country we’ve been in. Touch more countries in hopes of finding more places to want to hang our hat someday and use it as the “home base” of our nomadic lifestyle. Delve deeper into the culture and people. Honor them and be respectful. To make more likeminded friends, whom we may only meet on a ferry or bus ride, but immediately have a connection with. The internet and social media indeed has made the world a smaller place and opened our eyes to places we never even knew existed. Our minds are fluid, we can’t stay still for long, but I think we’ve realized that it is nice to have a base from which to venture out from and back to when we feel the need to ground.

Hopes, Dreams and a New Year

And again, it is time to move along to our next destination, Singapore.

The last 10 days have been spent recovering from a 43 day tour of SE Asia, including Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The things we have seen, heard and experienced, will be indelibly etched into our psyches forever.

The kindness of the locals, the stories told by our many guides, the sights and sounds of countless prisons, war museums and mass grave sites.

The opulence of beautiful temples. The immense grandeur of karst mountains jutting up from azure blue waters. Tiny, brightly painted long boats and giant wooden boats gliding down the Mekong and bobbing in silent, protected coves.

Stunning, powdery white sand beaches, towering skyscrapers in bustling cities, the sensory overload of horns and music blaring from establishments, to the gentle crashing of waves.

All these things paint a picture in our minds eye of life in these countries. We hunger for more as our thirst for travel and new experiences hasn’t waned in the 9 months we’ve been traveling.

What have we learned? Well, how to live in the moment, how to sit in silence, how to take life as it comes with no preconceived notions of what the next destination will bring. We’ve learned to accept that which we cannot change and make the best of it. Mostly, I’d say we’ve learned to slow down. We aren’t just living a dream but also have responsibilities. We have time to pick and choose our battles and how we will approach them. As a teacher of mine always says, we have the luxury of leisure.

It warms my heart to know that sometimes, just the words I write, can transport some of you outside of your haste and allow you 10 or 15 minutes to dream and escape reality. Perhaps they stir a deep longing inside of you to travel outside of your comfort zone.

The life of a traveler is constantly stepping into the unknown and overcoming any trepidation that may arise from traveling to a new destination, one we’ve never been to before. Learning new languages, customs and new currencies. We are traveling to find a place to settle in and become a landing spot, after all, we can’t continue this pace forever and the urge to stop sometimes looms large. But in the mean time, we plan a few weeks to a month and do it again and again. I hope you will continue to follow us and join in our exploration.

Backpack and Barefootin’

Some mug shots before we go. I have packed and repacked. It’s approaching 25lbs plus about 4-5lb spread in the front. Mind you, we are not going backpacking, just moving from one mode of transportation to another, hotel to boat to trains, we got it all coming. It’s a tolerable weight in a well balanced women’s EJA Osprey pack. I am guessing maximum walk would be a mile or two but I doubt it’ll be the same in SE Asia than EU.

Comfortable shoes…that’s been the next scramble since we’ve been back in SLC. These are my beach shoes, I have another pair plus my sturdy Merrell hiker sandals. Some TeVA mush flip flops for pool and shower. We have bought more shoes for CW and finally narrowed it down to a Merrell hiker sandal and a ALTRA Women’s Lone Peak 6 Trail Running Shoe. Both excellent light weight but sturdy options. She also has a beach shoe and flip flop.

We now settle down after our flurry of buying and returning sprees. Our itinerary sounds so enticing. So much off the beaten path and such a unique experience to travel in a loosely structured humanitarian based tour. Home stays and cooking classes. Temples and buddhas. History and civilization, life at its core. A painful past that is just that, past, don’t we all got it. Never judge, work hard and always smile! Be thankful for each day. Live it like it’s your last.

So me and my back pack will become close friends. I will grow stronger by the day and maybe shed a few lbs equal to my new load. 🤣🤗😮‍💨. All shots are in arms and we have our 90 days of malaria pills. The travel clinic suggested it. Enjoying the last load of laundry in wash and dry mode. What a lazy society and so lucky. Heading out for Seattle Monday for a quick early flight out the next day. Fly to S Korea and then 5hr flight to Ho Chi Minh. Enjoy the pics and posts coming.