While other women are curating designer bags like they’re building a museum collection, I’m out here thrilled to the gills over a $150 backpack I found on a motorcycle website. Yep. A motorcycle site. Ha.
I Never Imagined Finding the Backpack I Needed on a Motorcycle Site.
I wasn’t even looking for it. I was supposed to be doing Important Travel Blogging Business (read: Googling dog-friendly campgrounds and comparing disc golf courses like my life depends on it), and somehow I ended up on VikingBags.com. Honestly, I almost just clicked the X and moved on, but first, I scrolled their “Adventure” category… and lo and behold.
I didn’t need a bag made for RV life, printed with a cute little camper, or a dog-backpack with a cute little paw print.
I need a bag to keep up with me—someone who’s chasing her husband down desert trails one minute and across a hot, humid Midwestern disc golf course the next.
Weirdly, I never expected a bag built for motorcycle touring to be the solution I needed – but it’s on its way!
The Bottom Line: Practical > Pretty
I have never been “that girl” who needs glam and glitz – I need practicality and usefulness.
Do I think this backpack is going to save my life? Doubtful, although staying hydrated is keystone to adventuring.
Do I think it’s going to save my shoulders, organize my chaos, and look cooler than a $3,000 handbag sitting unused in an RV closet? Hell yes.
Sometimes, it pays to look outside your comfort zone – you might be amazed at what you find! Maybe I’ve just stumbled onto a new content series – “Shopping Adventures” – where we plunder and pirate equipment from other niches to solve practical solutions. Hmmmm. 🤔
Stay tuned, I’ll give you an update when we get the backpack in hand! (Shipping while living in an RV can be a challenge!) We’ll let you know how it goes…
Why would anyone want to celebrate 420? Let me lay it out.
It isn’t about rebellion. It’s about gratitude.
We know what you’re thinking. Another blog post from “those people.” The ones who think c*nn*bis is the answer to everything. The ones who treat 4/20 like some glorified excuse to get high.
And we get it. Truly. We’ve in Colorado for a decade, so we know just the people you’re talking about.
We’re GenX. Subsequently, we grew up with the same “Here’s your brain on drugs” commercials on TV that everyone else did.
But here we are. Not trying to change your mind — just asking for a few minutes of your time. We’d like to explain why we celebrate 420, and why you might not want to judge it quite so quickly.
Gary at a 4/20 Festival in Denver
A Decade Lost to Prescriptions
In early 2016, my husband and I were taking more than a dozen prescriptions — daily. For him that included a decade of chronic pain from surgeries and spinal damage led to a steady rotation of opioids, muscle relaxers, and nerve blockers. He wasn’t “abusing drugs” — he was following doctor’s orders to the letter. But after ten years of compliance, he was still in pain. Still exhausted. Still dependent.
Similarly, I was on my own chemical cocktail just to manage anxiety, depression, and burnout from a high-stress job. We were only in our 40s, but we felt old. Sick. Disconnected. Heavy — physically and emotionally.
Our Breaking Point
One day, we looked at each other and realized: this isn’t working.
We were doing everything “right” — the prescriptions, the appointments, the insurance battles — and yet, we weren’t healing. In fact, we were barely maintaining.
And so, we made a different choice – we moved to Denver. We…
got outside, played more disc golf, did more hiking
Most of all, we got honest about our patterns. And yes — we began a careful, respectful relationship with the most infamous herb.
Wait… Weed?
I know. That word alone might trigger skepticism, discomfort, or even disgust.
But here’s what it wasn’t:
It wasn’t a reckless escape.
It wasn’t about tuning out.
And it definitely wasn’t a party.
We treated it like a tool — one of many in our new routine. No differently than one might do for their doctor when experimenting with a new medication, we tracked our results, journaled our progress, and paid attention. We didn’t try to feel “nothing” — we tried to feel better. And slowly, we did.
We lost weight, slept deeper, smiled more, and started building a life instead of just surviving one.
Why We Celebrate 420
We don’t celebrate 420 because it’s a “stoner holiday.”
We celebrate it because it marks a turning point in our lives — the moment we took ownership of our health instead of waiting for someone else to fix us.
It’s no different than someone celebrating the day they quit drinking. Or the day they finished chemo. Or the day they ran their first mile.
It’s a day we remember that healing doesn’t always look the way we were told it would.
But Is It Medicine?
As much as I’d love to be the one who shouts it’s benefits from rooftops (in fact, I was that person for many years), I’ve realized what the disclaimer, “Results not typical,” really means. Not everyone can do what we did.
If this herb were a diet drug, Gary and I would be their poster children.
So is it a medicine? That’s not for us to declare. We’re not here to make bold claims or push any agenda. We understand that science is still catching up, and not every story has the same outcome.
But we also know that not all solutions come in pill bottles.
And we’ve seen firsthand what can happen when people are willing to try something new — responsibly, mindfully, and with great care.
And the courage to take a different path when the first one failed.
If that doesn’t sound like something worth honoring, that’s okay. We’re not here to convince you.
But maybe next time you see someone quietly honoring 4/20 — you’ll remember that for some of us, it’s not about “getting high.”
It’s about finally getting well.
You Don’t Have to Smoke It, Just Don’t Judge Me When I Do
You don’t have to agree with our choices to understand our gratitude.
All we ask is this: if you wouldn’t criticize someone for finding peace in prayer, or relief in a prescription, or strength in sobriety… maybe don’t criticize us for finding hope in a plant.
Happy 4/20 — from two people who take it seriously.
We lived a dream life for nearly a decade. We purchased a house in the mountains, surrounded by trees and natural beauty – but not people. We were an hour from the nearest grocery store and 90 minutes from the nearest city.
There are memes made about how we chose to live. In the meme, they ask, “Would you move here and give up social media for a million dollars?” Well we did it and didn’t need a million dollars to do it. We lived where the deer and the antelope roam, but the cell phone signal didn’t.
We had the remote, secluded mountain life that others dream of… and today, we traded it off for a camper.
Home Ownership Comes with Complications, Too
Yes, we’ve sold our sticks-and-bricks house and committed to life on the road in a rolling rectangle with wheels. Are we crazy? Maybe. But if you’ve ever lived on a rural mountain property, you already know: home ownership is not all white-picket-fence dreams and sun-dappled porches. It’s more like dry rot, driveway erosion, and propane tanks that only run out at 10pm during a blizzard at Christmas.
So, in honor of this monumental milestone, here are some of the real reasons we’re choosing full-time RV life over the so-called “security” of home ownership — especially in the mountains:
1. No Instant Gratification… Literally
Living in the mountains means you’re blessed with scenic views and soul-soothing silence — and cursed with no delivery options whatsoever.
No pizza. No DoorDash. No Uber Eats. Not even Amazon Prime.
Two-day shipping? Try two-weeks-if-you’re-lucky and you better pray your package doesn’t get rerouted to “Undeliverable” because your driveway scares the FedEx driver.
2. Everything Breaks. Always.
Owning a home means you’re never not working on it. Roofs leak. Windows warp. Pipes freeze. Septic tanks burp up unpleasant surprises. Even your “low-maintenance” appliances conspire against you the moment you dare to take a weekend off.
Our cooking range once tried to kill us with a carbon monoxide leak.
And just when you think you’ve fixed everything, you realize nature has other plans. Spoiler alert: Chipmunks will destroy more insulation than you think, and if a squirrel wants in, it will get in.
3. The Grocery Gauntlet
“Oh, just run to the store!”
…Said no one who lives an hour and a half from the nearest grocery store, one lane road, mountain pass, and two elk crossings away.
A “quick” grocery run is a full-day commitment complete with weather window calculations, extra fuel, and a detailed route plan like you’re prepping for an excursion on Everest.
And don’t forget the cooler. You’re not coming home in time to keep your ice cream frozen or your edibles from melting.
4. Fire Season is the New Anxiety Season
If you’ve never lived through a Red Flag Warning, count your blessings.
The moment those words hit your weather app, your brain spirals:
Do we have enough gas?
Where’s the fire?
What direction is the wind blowing?
Should we pack the animals? The heirlooms?
Wait — did we pay last month’s insurance premiums?
Fire season isn’t just scary — it’s existential. There’s nothing like standing on your porch and sniffing the air like an amateur meteorologist trying to decide if it’s campfire vibes or an incoming apocalypse.
Once you’ve experienced a wildfire, you’ll never look at a campfire the same.
Colorado Wildfire is Terrifying (Image created with AI)
5. Rodents, Rattlesnakes & Random Power Outages
Country living means cohabitating with the entire cast of a National Geographic special. Every critter wants in — and some of them will succeed.
You will:
Battle mice in the closets.
Scream when you lift the toilet lid and find a spider that could rent a car.
Lose power randomly for “reasons” that no utility company can explain.
Bonus fun? When the power goes out, so does your well pump. That means: no lights, no water, no flushing, and exactly zero fucks given by the utility company.
6. Snow Removal = Full-Time Job
Living in the mountains sounds dreamy until you realize snow is your new boss, and it’s an overachiever. Luckily for us, we didn’t have full-time jobs or deadly commutes… so we would wait it out. But when you get with four feet of snow, you might wonder if you bought enough groceries to last.
You will shovel. You will plow. You will beg your truck not to slide off the icy roadways. You will learn to identify snow types like Eskimos and know exactly how many inches = cancel all plans.
Oh, and surprise storms? They’re just the universe reminding you who’s really in charge. The weather report may call for clear skies, but when it’s 44 degrees and you’re at 9,000 ft. snow and graupel are not your friends.
7. Isolation Is a Double-Edged Sword
Sure, the solitude is lovely… until you need a neighbor. Or a mechanic. Or a tow. Or a plumber. Or an emergency room.
Out here, it’s just you and your YouTube degree in DIY survivalism. Hope you watched that “How to Thaw a Frozen Pipe with a Hairdryer” tutorial before the storm knocked out your internet.
Have an emergency? No worries, it’ll only take an ambulance, the fire department, or the sheriff 20-30 minutes to come to your rescue – and they’ll likely show up with an attitude because they’re a volunteer that you just got out of bed at 2am.
8. You’re Always Behind Schedule
Rural life operates on mountain time, which is code for: “Nothing is on time.”
Contractors don’t show. Deliveries disappear. Mail takes a sabbatical. And don’t even try to schedule anything official like permits, inspections, or DMV renewals unless you’re prepared for an all-day wait.
So, Why are We Going Homeless by Choice?
Because freedom.
Because we’re tired of fixing things that break so that we can sit still in one place.
Because we’d rather deal with small, manageable chaos on the road than big, overwhelming chaos in one location.
Because we want to wake up in the desert, fall asleep by a river, and have the world as our backyard.
Most of all, because after years of doing everything “right” — the house, the property, the work — we realized something:
As much as I would love to call myself “retired at 50,” I’m not. Yes, I’ve planned ahead and prepared ourselves for this adventure by setting aside a little money to cover our basic living expenses. I intend to continue to work as a freelance writer while we travel.
Fortunately, I’ve trained for this. Over the last several years, living in a Colorado mountain paradise – birds, chipmunks, and deer frequently distracted me. Sorry, but when a herd of 32 mule deer wanders into your yard, all work comes to a screeching halt.
The key is learning to prioritize your time, set daily goals, and mind your task list, so when nature or adventure calls, you don’t feel guilty taking a break.
Prioritize Your Time, But Go With the Flow
Personally, I’m a morning person. I love the wee morning hours before the rest of the world wakes up. It’s quiet. It’s peaceful. But I also know I can’t write anything until my brain wakes up and gets inspired by something. So, rather than wake up and try to jump straight into writing something, I read first.
I read today’s news, maybe a few blogs on Medium, and I scroll through social media for a little while until something triggers an idea. (These days, it usually doesn’t take long.) While traveling, maybe I’ll read my notes from the previous day’s excursion, or spend some time looking ahead to find our next destination.
The moral of the story is this… pay attention to what works for you. Don’t set your schedule based on some article you read about some random celebrity’s idea of a perfect day. Do what works for you. Maybe you’re a night owl who doesn’t really get inspired until the moon comes up and can’t imagine waking up at 5 am every day. It doesn’t matter what your preference is, but learn to use your time so that it works best for you.
Show of hands – who’s a lister? I’m a lister, and I blame my mother. She left lists of things for me to do while she was at work in the summer, and it stuck.
But for years, I was doing it wrong. If you have more than 10 items on your daily to-do list, you’re doing it wrong, too. I would create lists of completely unattainable proportions or so vague that the item was never really complete. Thus, I felt like I never accomplished anything.
Now, I write many of my blogs on the fly. I can write 1,000 words in an hour or less when I’m inspired, triggered, or otherwise emotionally motivated.
But for larger projects, client work, or research projects, finishing a little each day trains your brain to trust the process—and that’s where true self-discipline is built.
Break It Down
Break your lists into small, achievable chunks. Take your big tasks and break them down into little tasks. Not sure how to break a project down into daily chunks? Ask ChatGPT to help. (Yes, I’m a writer—and yes, I use ChatGPT like an office assistant and mentor.)
By breaking down a writing assignment into daily, bite-sized tasks, you can avoid overwhelm, build momentum, and actually enjoy the process. Here’s an example of how a 1,200 to 1,500-word article can be completed in five focused days without overwhelm, anxiety, or procrastination:
Day 1: Brainstorm, define your audience, and create an outline
Day 2: Draft your introduction and first section
Day 3: Write the body sections and develop your core examples
Day 4: Wrap it up with a conclusion and complete a rough edit
Day 5: Final polish, format for submission, and hit publish
Even the biggest, most insurmountable projects can be accomplished by simply hacking away at them, chunk by chunk. As long as you’re making progress, you’re moving forward, and that’s all that matters.
A Few Listing Hacks to Build Self-Discipline
For me, listing isn’t just about getting shit done. It’s the mental preparation for planning the day, maximizing my time, and allowing myself a little guilt-free downtime. You see, as a child in my house, I was taught that rest and recreation are rewards for a hard day’s work.
So, my little list of crossed-off items was my ticket to freedom. Whether freedom meant a day at the pool or a night at the local skating rink, those scribbles equaled cash, even to a 10-year-old.
Forty years of listing later, there are a few things I’ve learned to make my lists more effective.
Categorize Your List by Energy Level
Let’s get human for a second, shall we? Some days, you wake up ready to conquer the world. Other days, you’re lucky to conquer your inbox. One trick I’ve learned to stay disciplined without burning out is to group my to-do items by the amount of energy or brainpower they require.
Here’s how it works:
High Energy Tasks – writing, graphic design, recording, editing (mornings)
Medium & Low Energy Tasks – admin work, social media, emails, website maintenance (evenings)
Labeling your list this way lets you match your energy to the task instead of fighting your body or brain. It’s still self-discipline, but it’s self-discipline with compassion—because burnout doesn’t serve your long game. Plus, notice how I’ve focused my tasks for morning or evening? That’s so I can prioritize “play time,” such as exploring, hiking, or doing whatever during the day.
Keep the List Visible
I’m a tech geek, but as much as I’ve tried, digital to-do lists and apps simply don’t work for me. Don’t get me wrong, they’re fantastic, and I’ve tried dozens of them. The functionality in many of these apps is phenomenal.
But here’s my mental dysfunction – if it’s out of sight, it’s out of mind. If I have to pull up an app, a tab, or a separate window to look at my to-do list, it will get overlooked.
I require paper, where my to-do list is always physically visible. A good ol’ whiteboard works well, too – if you have the room to hang one. Obviously, RV living makes whiteboarding a little more challenging.
Use Your List to Make Tomorrow’s List
Now, here’s the kicker. ALWAYS make item #10 on your daily to-do list, “Create tomorrow’s to-do list.” By the time you make it to the last item on your list, you’ve prepared tomorrow’s list and you’re already ahead of the game.
No matter how you slice it, accomplishing 10 productive tasks toward your goal is called “progress.”
This item is critical, because one – it triggers that moment in your brain when you can lean back in your chair, and mentally disconnect – “Ahhhh, my list is done.” Plus, it also mentally prepares you for tomorrow.
Self-Discipline Is Freedom in Disguise
At first glance, self-discipline feels like a buzzkill. It sounds like structure, rigidity, and saying “no” when you’d rather say, “Hell yes.” But once you reframe it—as I have over years of freelancing, mountain living, and now RV life—you realize that discipline isn’t the opposite of freedom.
It’s the path to it.
When you master your time, your energy, and your workflow, you get to earn those mid-day hikes, those long lunches, those spontaneous adventures. And even better? You enjoy them without that nagging feeling that you “should be working.”
Whether you’re freelancing from a campground in the desert or the corner booth of a café with a view, your best work will come from a place of alignment—where your habits support your goals, and your lists are tickets to the life you want to live.
So don’t strive for perfection. Strive for progress. One focused day, one finished task, one guilt-free break at a time.
In 2013, wandering aimlessly through Walmart on a quest for new kitchen gear, I stumbled upon a mini-jackpot. However, it would take 12 years for me to recognize it. I found a purple bella toaster at an astonishingly low price of $9.95. Purple—because life’s too short for beige appliances and, also, “SKOL Vikings!”
With zero hesitation and a Minnesota Vikings sticker, we inducted the toaster into superfan kitchen badassery. Built for Pop-Tarts and Eggos of a college dorm, I’ll be damned if that little toaster didn’t last 12 years!
This toaster powered through more than a decade of artisanal avocado toasts and everything bagels.
The Little Toaster That Could – 12 years running!
Surviving the chaos of a Denver move and braving the altitude of Colorado mountain living, this toaster gave zero toasts about the odds. Even as we opened our home and our life to the public, hundreds of Airbnb guests inevitably paused mid-bite in disbelief, “Wait, is that seriously a Vikings toaster?” Damn right it is.
Twelve solid years, hundreds of slightly burnt bread products, and more houseguest praise than it had any right to claim. And yet, like most of us hitting middle age, it’s starting to slow down. Now, it toasts at its own pace and occasionally requires an encouraging smack on the ass.
Our New bella Toaster
Now, as we prep for our next adventure—downsizing into an RV—our trusty purple warrior is finally, gloriously tapping out. But legends never truly die; they evolve.
How will this icon of my countertop legacy be replaced? With another bella toaster, obviously. Because loyalty, sarcasm, and a deep appreciation for budget-friendly rebellion run thick through these veins.
Here’s to the “Little Toaster That Could”—$10, twelve years, countless laughs, and proof positive that cheap, purple, and trustworthy never go out of style.
How long before this one gets a Vikings sticker? 🙂
What Makes This Blog Different? Let’s be real—most blogs these days are a pop-up minefield. You won’t find that here.
No ads. No pop-ups. No auto-play videos trying to sell you socks. Just clean content and good vibes.
Yes, I have a few affiliate links. But only for products I personally use and love. If it’s linked here, it’s been road-tested in real life. If I wouldn’t spend my own money on it, I’m not sending you to it either. Any purchases made through these links send a little support our way—and we’re genuinely grateful.
This whole operation? 100% homegrown. Self-funded, self-built, and self-maintained. No team, no tech squad—just one woman (and her very patient husband) building something real on the road.
