What we pack checklist

Hey, Loves!

I have been having a blast making videos for

Haha, it makes me giggle - whenever I say it, I think of Shark Week lol

Anywaysies. So, today, I am sharing a video about the stuff we take with us, and I wanted to provide a "more comprehensive list" of what we keep in the van with us.



I don't think it is possible to make an "all comprehensive list", but these seem to be the most important things that we would keep on a checklist to remember we had with us...

• clothes
• 5-7 favorite outfits
• 1 for opposite weather
• jacket
• shoes
• flip flops
• tennis
• water shoes
• bathing suits + towels
• linens
• 1 set
• park quilt
• bathroom supplies
• shower bag
• daily hygiene bag
• pampering bag
• laundry hamper
• laundry supplies
• door hook
• coolers
• big - all cold
• medium - daily/snacks
• small - insulin
• reusable bags
• nonperishable foods
• personal stuff
• whatever fits in our space
• port-a-potty (more on this in later video)
• important paperwork
• extra Diabetic supplies
• portable ipod dock
• jumper cables
• extension cords
• orange
• long household
• power strip
• window shades
• headlamps/flashlights
• water jugs
• drinking water
• cleaning water with a sports top for pressure
• water bottles
• drinking
• baby wipes
• bag of dishes
• plates
• bowls
• silverware
• cutting knife
• cutting board
• big bowl - we eat lots of big salads
• measuring cup/spoons (for my diabetic daughter)
• dish soap + brush
• slide-locking “ziplock” bags (used for EVERYTHING)
• grocery bags (for trash, dirty clothes transport from shower area)
• sharps container
• fabric spray + air freshener
• incense + lighter
• hairrope box (or whatever supplies you may need for work)
• extra hooks + tabs (for the curtains - always have extras on hand)
• hand broom (for sweeping floors)
• first aid kit (personalized - we don't carry random stuff we don't use)

Tomorrow, I will be sharing a video about what we keep in our storage and some tips on deciding if storage is right for you.

My biggest love + my biggest joy,

Vanpacking - my newest business venture

'Ello, Loves! ♥

I don't know if you know yet that I have been leveraging our vanpacking adventures to find a way to empower families to live more self-directed lives, by growing a business that revolves around helping families live road bliss more - be that full-time, part-time, road trips, day trips, whatever. If folks want to live on the road, I want to help them spend more time on it :)

I have started making videos as both "how to"s and "how we"s + I am now offering road trip bliss mentorship. Also, I am working on some sort of self-paced e-book/e-course type product! Wahoo!!

It is incredibly exciting to be sharing more of our life with interested folks, and inspiring the next waves of families who want to live on the road, or even helping folks already on the road live more bliss (through helping them through the learning curves), which I have done for several mamas :))

I am still new at making videos, and I hope they will always feel cozy and easy - a reflection of our life on the road -, but I also look forward to learning more about how to make the videos and maybe invest in some video editing apps or software to make them more informative + professional-like :) Wahoo!!!!!! for new learning opportunities :)

I have been on quite a journey with our gypsy status so far this year, from preparing to launch my gypsy caravan subscription on New Year's to a couple days later having CPS telling us we HAD to live in a house due to my daughter's new-onset diabetes, and everything in-between since.

We have lived on my mom's farm with goats and dreamed big homestead dreams, and we have celebrated our 3-year Nomadiversary back in our van.

I had the suspicion that we could live very safely on the road with her new diagnosis, and I am so grateful to have found a diabetic specialist (an endocrinologist WITH type 1 diabetes) who affirmed that completely. People with type 1 diabetes do AMAZING + INCREDIBLE things everyday - this is not a life sentence to misery, but an opportunity to get more creative + care for our family in new and exciting ways.

My littlest LOVES our road life, and THAT is our barometer - not an outside source who doesn't know what they are talking about. 

Having said that, we are excited about the gyspy-homestead hybrid lifestyle we are leaning heavily toward right now. This was another reason I was questioning my gypsy status. Until I had an awakening that resonated YESSSSSS so deeply:

I will always be a gypsy, regardless of whether we have a hOMebase.

Because we will always be planning our next road life experience. We will always be free to move in the ways we feel called. Being a gypsy is about way more than whether we are in a house sometimes or not - we embody the depth + wholeness of the lifestyle and way of being. We are always open to change.

Not to mention, historically + globally, nomads/gypsies hunker down for the colder months and whenever their needs call them to. That doesn't make any of us less a gypsy.

As soon as I had that realization, the business ideas just started flowing through me.

So, this week, I shared videos about how we have made our van our hOMe - we shared videos about picking the right vehicle, our bed, privacy, storage, and personalization.

Next week I will be sharing videos about "stuff" - what we take with us, what's in our storage, what we got rid of, how that process worked for us, and how we keep it down to simplicity (aka organization + constant simplifying).

I have at least 7 more weeks full of ideas, and I welcome ideas for more videos/themes.

If you want to follow these videos, you can either subscribe to my YouTube channel, or if you are on Facebook, you can "like" + follow my Gypsy-Om page, where I post the videos each day, along with other gypsy-esque stuff :)

And it doesn't stop there.

Seeing how crystal-clear it is to grow a successful business from this Vanpacking stuff helps me see more clearly how I can finally grow a successful business from my other Life Design stuff that I want to offer. I realized (again) that that is what it all basically boils down to for me... Life Design. I am all about it. I am fierce about living it, and I am thrilled to help others do it.

The world needs more blissful people in this world. It creates the kind of magic that I want to live + live around.

Wow, I could seriously talk about that ALL DAY.

Anywaysies. SO.

I hope you enjoy the informational videos + ones like this:

 

All my love,

Our 3 Year Nomadiversary

Yes, Darlings. 3 years!!

Thanks to Timehop (an app that shows me all the pictures I took with my iphone + Facebook statuses/pictures I shared on that date every year in the past), I have been watching with anticipation as my own journey from a house onto the road unfolded.

I was able to see and semi-relive (or at least remember) some big parts of that journey.

Plus things that happened in other years around this time. This seems to be a special time of year where I feel drawn toward movement and making things happen. Mmmhmmmm.

I find it interesting that, currently, we are in a place in our life where we are so ready to transition back into a house and travel only part time.

I would see posts about my frustration about getting onto the road, and I feel solidarity with my past self in frustration trying to get into a house now.

This has been an incredible journey.

My baby has lived on the road longer than she has lived in a house - I love that fact :))

We have had QUITE a journey, full of adventures. We have done things I never thought we would do. We have experienced way more than I ever expected.

The road life has completely transformed us, as a family, as individuals.

We have met the most incredible people and seen the most beautiful landscapes.

We have lived a kind of simplicity + abundance that is unique to back-packing type travel.

I feel like a seasoned road-liver now. We can officially turn in our amateur status and get the cool badges :D

Even though we are looking for a house as a hOMebase, we will always be gypsies at heart. We will always be planning our next trip. We will always be road-dreaming. We will be finding excuses to take daytrips and roadtrips. I am not going to stop advocating for families to be able to fulfill their road dreams by considering vanpacking.

In fact, I am going to be getting more serious about this, by sharing videos about how we do it, to help families see it as a possibility, and to get through the learning curve a little easier.

I have been having some technical difficulties, so I am limited in pictures I can share with you to the last year, but here is a little collage that captures the gypsy om of this little bliss life.

 

Sending much bliss to you, Love!

Nova

waking from a nightmare

My Loves ♥

I have been absent.

I have been fighting a big fight.

An hour after my last post about taking leaps of faith like a badass, CPS showed up at my friend's house, armed with allegations of medical neglect and a Sheriff, and took my kids.

I fought for 7 weeks to get them back, and now I have been fighting for the last week to recover from the experience.

Words cannot describe the hell I have been through, the trauma my children have been through, and I hope to be able to share more of it with you soon, when I can find the words, when reliving it to describe it doesn't leave me sobbing in a puddle on the ground.

It's a story that needs to be told.

What I can share is that after fighting tooth and nail for the truth to be revealed, my children were returned to me, the case dismissed, and we have no further CPS/court involvement.

Instantly. Like "poof".

Well, kinda like "poof", except for my family reeling in the aftermath.

That legal "poof" is incredibly rare. I owe the victory to Truth Revealed. And I feel like I live an epically charmed life for all of the blessings that fell into place to make this a reality. I had HUGE support from my Facetribe and a seriously dedicated team of magic-workers who helped plug me in to the resources that made this happen.

Not all families have that, and my heart breaks for them. I cannot imagine having gone through all of this without the constant ears and shoulders, encouragement, kindness, love, perspective, help, and ability to allocate such huge tasks that were set before me to such competent incredible beings.

I know this happened to me, to open me up to be more available to the families I look forward to serving.

This experience has transcended my life and my life purpose.

I hear I just leveled up.

A warrior forged by the fire of the phoenix.

Again.

Braver-er, wiser-er, heartier, take-no-bullshit-ier.

I broke. I was broken. I was shattered into heavy heavy pieces, trying to figure out how to live each moment.

I sunk deep. I tapped a deep inner source. A fire grew in my belly.

I touched the tangible primal inside me. I have raged against the night sky and in my mind and deep into the earth. I hear the primitive call of my tribe howling at the moon - my people calling for me. I feel the wild protector growing alive inside me. I feel my calling to not only help families design intentional lives but to help them prepare to protect it, because what is the point of a life intentionally designed if it can be ripped from you in a moment's notice for no good reason.

New lessons on being proactive and advocating for myself, when I used to cower. Love and kindness and peace are great, if they are a choice. But they are not powerful when they are a default of fear. And how can this be translated into helping my community?

Crystal clarity on relationships - specifically, the healthiness of certain relationships - in my life. And a "take no more shit" policy on people who mistook my kindness for weakness.

This warrior is what has transcended from the hardest thing I have ever gone through in my life. And there is more to me right now. I am bold, but I am also soft.

The trauma breaks my heart every day, and it sometimes cripples the empath in me. It takes some serious healing mojo to recover from something that big, especially when you feel like you have zapped your resources just to get through. How do you ask for more afterward?

But I must.

My children and I are free and clear, legally, but not emotionally or financially - our financial needs are overwhelming to me right now, after the financial waste of my resources CPS's hoops created for us. So, I set up a bit-o-fundraising, for beloveds and their beloveds who might have the heart and means to help heal us further.

This is me refusing to feel helpless in this destruction, refusing to sink into the depression of feeling "stuck" and "unable to..."


I look forward to offering my services again soon, to families, to mamas, to women, to brothers. Who could use an emotional midwife, a life design guide, a sacred mentor, and so much more.

I suspect, once I can taste my freedom, I will feel ready for that job again.

For now, what I am offering to my community is a legal service that is a buffet of legal equality, including the service that would have protected my family from the trauma of this experience. I am absolutely delighted to share this with my people, and if you want to know more about it, please feel free to contact me. This service is a win all around - it's an incredible company, offering an incredible service, to oh-so-deserving people ♥

This first post updating you all has been the hardest, and I am sure now that the dam has opened, the flow will come out easier ♥ I look forward to filling you in with the details as I can ♥

taking leaps of faith like a badass

Hello, Darling ♥

I'm in one of those moods. One of those kinds where I feel fiercely authentic and over-ready for life alignment.

Feeling seriously brave today.

Brave enough to leap into my destiny fiercely knowing that it will all work out, that no fear is worth holding back and playing life small.

I am tired of not having a hOMe. I am ready to hOMestead. I am ready to gather an intentional community of soul sisters and soul brothers. I am ready for goats and chickens and farm structure building (motivated by Pinterest pictures of repurposed materials). I am ready for an earth-grounded home. I am ready to live sustainably. I am ready to grow a business, leveraging my incredible life experiences. I am ready to open up completely to abundance. I am ready to secure myself with a savings.

I am ready. I am ready. I am ready.

So, how does one take a leap of faith like a badass?

My formula goes a little something like this:

Know that this is your undeniable destiny. Especially having tried other things that didn't light you up and didn't fulfill you because they were not your calling.

Tune in to your needs. What do you absolutely need? Make sure you have that, and be incredibly open and creative about how that can fit with your destiny. Ask yourself every moment how you need to be cared for - self-care enables you to show up ready for anything you are undertaking.

Hold a vision. Know what it looks like, feels like, tastes like, sounds like, smells like. Engage in it's vividness. Grow a vision board or alter or journal or list dedicated to every soul-delicious details of your vision. Visit it daily, carry it in your back pocket. Align your whole life energy with it.

Gather a support group. Your biggest cheerleaders. The ones who believe in you. The ones who remind you why you are doing this when you have doubts. The ones who won't let you step away because you don't think you aren't brave enough. The net you fall into every time you trip (it's a new dance, tripping happens!). The sisters and brothers who sit with you on the floor and listen to your heart and hold hands together while you stand back up, sending you off again like a father giving his most heart-felt blessing.

Face your fears and ask each of them if they can stop you. Sometimes, this requires heaps of trust that the thing will just work out in some creative way. And also trusting that what you are stepping into is better than anything you are afraid of.

Let good-intentioned folks keep their own fears. Know that their fears are their own stuff coming up for them. It really has nothing to do with you, except that you became a mirror for them. But if their fears trigger you, take a peek at them and see if they truly are a concern of yours that you want to examine, or if you were just absorbing their fear-energy ♥ Do some energy clearing and send them love and blessings, and hope that you will be a great example for them to follow their own dreams. If a dream is so precious and vulnerable, sometimes I don't even tell people until I'm in the next step (below), so they can't try to stop me. This may be a part of your self-care. And never underestimate the power of simple Ho'oponopono.

Be so ready that nothing can stop you. Grow that momentum until it cannot be stopped. Until the brakes don't even work.

Race around at the last minute to get prepared. lol This just happens to me - it's not planned, just spontaneity at it's best :) Don't let "not being completely prepared" stop you - you can check stuff off your list en route. Because the next step is more important than this one.

Leave, leap, catapult, propel. Just take a step. Just keep stepping. Just do it. Before you know it, your past is in your rearview mirror and the wind is in your sails. You freaking did it!!!!!!!

SQUEEEEEEEEE your statuses on Facebook. :) Inspire others! Let them on the ride! Maybe it's just to your support group? Or maybe this helps you get clear about who you want on your friend's list at all?

Allow the swift and powerful flow. This is the part where you would be freaking out if you tried to slam on the brakes or put a foot down in a riding down the river analogy. Just ride the ride. The longer you can ride it, the further you will get into it. And the incredible lessons you will have will blow your old self away.

Sit with your butt on the earth. And allow your head to swirl in the flow. You can be grounded AND in the flow as the same time. I highly recommend it. It's been an integral part of the processing and integration of all that has and is happening, and the continued ability to allow the swift and powerful flow.

Stay present. You are no longer who you were. You stepped into the fire, and it burned off all the old outdated stuff. You are just here, just you now. No need to try to remember who you used to be or how you used to do things. Enjoy now.

Be a lighthouse. Let your story inspire others. Speak your truth about risk-taking and faith-leaping. Encourage others to follow their dreams. Become a part of their support group. A perpetuating circle.

Rinse and repeat. Your life has been INCREDIBLE. But someday, you may feel stuck again and ready for a new adventure. Do it.



All my love,

p.s. - If you want to connect deeper on this with me. I offer love + inspiration + insight + dream-manifesting consultation + big heaping waves of support + I believe in you. All for donation. For you. Yes, you. Whether you are brand new to my blog and to meeting me, or someone who has been following in silence for a long time. If you feel called toward me to help you through anything in your life, please connect with me. It is an honor and my absolute pleasure to connect with you. I don't turn anyone away ♥ ♥ ♥ Come ♥

the peace after the whirlwhind

Hey, Loves ♥

I kinda disappeared from here, didn't I?

I'm sorry ♥

I am finally feeling the peace I need, to sit down centered and connect with ya'll.

My last blog post was about the Radiant Living & Learning Retreat right before Thanksgiving.

Just after that, we raced off toward Chicago. We stopped in Kansas, on our way, and spent a beautiful few days with our beloved Margot and Andres. What a treat!

Margot and I met online (on the Radical Mamas Tribe sisterhood mama group I founded almost 7 years ago) when our boys were little. She was facebook-present for Jaja's birth (my friend who was physically present kept our RMT mamas aware of all of the details of the event ♥).

 

All of these things we have experienced from a distance and over the phone over time, and now we got to connect and cuddle in person. Oh, she is SUCH a love. And Noble and Andres were instantly 2 peas in a pod ♥

Then we headed into Chicago and spend almost 2 weeks with our beloved friends who used to live in California. We used to visit them on the weekends and soak in the family fun, the mama time, the joy, the sweetness.

Reuniting these 2 was absolute magic

The kids got to play in snow!!!!!!

And enjoy friendship with a heavy dose of hot chocolate

 

and homemade pumpkin bread

I also sewed up a storm. I sewed so.much.stuff. Like this :))

And then we headed toward California, to be there for the winter holidays. Per Kass's request (and my heart's pull), we headed for Texas.

And on the way down, we slid out on the highway and ended up in a ditch. For 3 hours. Until a good samaritan stopped by and pulled us out. It was a little scary being stuck there in the cold, and the van is a bit banged up, but we drove away with so much gratitude.

And it got me thinking a lot about how we really are ready for a home on wheels - a fifth wheel preferably. We would have no need to race through bad weather to get somewhere warm and safe and cozy - we could have just pulled over in a parking lot, cranked up the heat, made dinner in our kitchen, maybe watched a movie on our laptop, cuddled in bed together, prayed for the drivers out there, and went to bed for the night, prepared to head out in the sun's warm rays.

I have been afraid of changing my home. I have been afraid of letting go of the ease and lightness and all of the reasons we loved and chose this. But I am very clear that it is time to release my fears about how it will change things, and start gearing up for a real home on wheels.

A home with amenities and luxuries like a fridge and a stove and a sink and a toilet and floor space for the kids to play on and storage space so we can have our things with us, instead of leaving them in a storage somewhere - somewhere that just keeps being across the country from where we find ourselves -, space I can spread our stuff out and live in.

I am so ready.

Can you tell?

January is dedicated to making it happen for us.

If you want to be a part of our gathering of resources, there is a GoFundMe box to the right of this where you can donate toward our cause or plenty of links up top where you can purchase something to support us ♥ There are other ways to support us, too, like sharing our story and helping us find the right people to make this magic happen. And sending us love and manifestation juju is oh-so appreciated :))

So, we spent a few days in Texas. I can't believe how much like home it felt when we pulled in. Wow. I truly love my Texas peeps. I wish I could have hugged and loved on more of them, but I got a good dose of a few until we get back there.

And then we drove for 2 days straight to get to California, to our beloved longest-time-friends Amy, Chris, and Krislyn.

Oh, the joy when we pulled in. It was incredible and absolute magic. The love. So.much.love. It lights us all up and brings us together.

So, after all the welcome hugs and crying and soaking in the sight of each other and barking in gleeful reunion (that was the dogs, not us), Amy and I did not end up going to sleep like the kids did. We raced off to Wal-Mart to overdrawn my bank account buying gifts from a very-believed-in Santa, stocking stuffers from us mamas, and holiday crafting supplies for the next few days. We have 4 kids who need and deserve a beautiful holiday and a short amount of time to do it, so we got straight to work.

And we worked good.

We celebrated Yule last night with holiday music, Yule story telling, homemade gifts, and lots of smiles.

there are lots more pics on Facebook
and yes, Kassidy, is biting her gift, and Noble is copying her

After having not slept for 2 days, I went to bed early and forgot to sing the sun back to the earth. I hear he is on his way back anyway. Kass and I will take the next shift and sing Yule songs tonight ;)

Today, I awoke, after 10 hours of sleep, feeling gratitude, ready to enjoy this homemade holiday with my loves, and peace about where we are right now.

It truly has been a whirlwind. It has been hard in various ways - not the least being that we found out Jaja has lice the morning we left Texas. *insert deep sigh of solidarity* Now, remember that she and Noble have dreads and feel bad for me (lol)

But I am so grateful to be here right now. And I am so grateful to be sitting in a spot I will be at for a whole month. Our little winter haven. I don't "have" to be anywhere for a while. I have plenty of space for some much needed self care, some business clarity, some hOMe manifestation.

I am thrilled over the moon for this new year.

But right now, I want to soak in this place of peace right here where I am at. And I want to make some hot chocolate with candy canes and prep the dough to make ornaments and other gifts this year.

What a beautiful life.

I wish, for you, a beautiful, magical, sacred holiday.

All my love,