#southwestnomad

[avoidantcool]

Post-Vegas (Adventures) Recap

It’s been 11 months since I’ve been on the road and almost a year since I bought the RV. The longer I’m on the road, the more disconnect I feel toward people who live the traditional, sedentary life. Most of this spawns from the amount I have to repeat myself. I understand that what I do is perceived as “weird” to most people and they are just genuinely curious (often times envious to some degree). However, to me, this is just my every day life and I have a comfortable routine. So, whenever I go somewhere new and meet new people, it can be hard for me to explain anything about my current life without it turning into a really long discussion about how/what I do as a full-time RVer. 

I am trying to work on this, but it can be incredibly difficult, so I’ve found that I have become somewhat avoidant of new people recently. I imagine this will be a new phase wherein I have to find the best way to interact with people without my lifestyle automatically becoming the subject of conversation.

On a brighter note, the animals and I are in Pueblo, Colorado. After Vegas, we took a detour to Cornville, AZ (just south of Sedona) through Snowflake, AZ to attend a regional, dog friendly Burning Man event (Saguaro Man).

After Saguaro Man and on our way to Colorado, we even did some hiking in New Mexico, just outside of Albuquerque.

Here is an updated map of where we have traveled:

We have been in Colorado for almost a month. We are currently staying at my friend Louie’s house; she and her family have generously provided us with electrical hookups and a big backyard for the dogs (Louie also nomads most of the year, but is car-based and animal-free... although she does have a hilarious cat, Squee, who lives at her Colorado house).

Because we’re sitting still for a little bit and my registration is up for renewal, I am in the process of switching registration and residency to South Dakota (fun fact: I’ve been to 45 states; South Dakota is not one of them). South Dakota is a good state for residency for me as a full-time RVer because there is no income tax and their RV registration is less than 1/3 that of Nevada. I’ve heard Florida and Texas are also popular states, but I felt South Dakota was a better fit for my needs. 

In our spare time, we’ve been exploring Manitou Springs and Colorado City, which are just outside of Colorado Springs and have great nature (Garden of the Gods) and downtown in close proximity. Colorado definitely has some great culture and nature!

Garden of the Gods:

(I should note: The above picture was taken after successfully scrambling up and down this rock barefoot. Louie told me we were going to Colorado Springs; she did not clarify that we were going hiking/rock scrambling!)

Manitou Springs: