Exploreblog.net: traveling the USA in a tiny trailer

We've spent the past month traveling a significant portion of the United States. In order to make the last part of the journey—a "quick" trip out to California to visit our son—we decided to fly instead of drive. As a result of that flying experience, we've spent quite a bit of time discussing our pros and cons of the two modes of transportation: flying and driving.Given how we live and travel most of the time—driving while pulling a tiny trailer behind our car—it's no surprise that we prefer to drive. Even so, this recent trip got us thinking about all the reasons we prefer to drive...and some situations in which we would choose to fly.Listen in to hear our thoughts...and be sure to share your thoughts with us!Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some of yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

Hershey, PA! We love Hershey! It's one of the few places we've deemed worth multiple visits through the years.We recently visited for the third time; in this episode we talk about that weekend visit.We were fortunate enough to plan our visit on the weekend of what Hershey calls Choctoberfest—think Octoberfest combined with chocolate (and lots of dogs!) It's no surprise that we loved it.It was a fast-past weekend: we spent time at Hershey's Chocolate World, Choctoberfest, ZooAmerica, HersheyPark, The Hershey Story Museum, and Fresh market. That's quite a lot for two days, even for us. In fact, we broke our peersonal record for steps in a day!Listen in to hear what we thought about everything we did while in Hershey. We liked most of it, but, as is always the case, we also discovered some areas for improvemnt.We hope you enjoy hearing about our time in Hershey, Pennsylvania!Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some of yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

We were passing through Gettysburg, PA on our way from the Baltimore area to Hershey, so we stopped to see what we could do with four hours in Gettysburg.Truth be told, we've wanted to get to Gettysburg for a long time—and we've actually been quite close to it before—but we never quite realized where Gettysburg was geographically located until planning this trip.So...what can be done with four hours in Gettysburg? Will we go back? And what is Gettysburg—why is it so important?Listen in to find out! In our four hours, we visited the Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor's Center (including the museum, cyclorama, and film), drove through part of the auto tour, spent some time in the Gettysburg National Cemetery, and drove around town to get a sense of the tourist options.We hope you enjoy hearing about our time in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania!Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some of yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

At the end of our visit to Bardstown, KY (see the last two episodes), we took an almost two hour road trip to visit The Ark Encounter in Williamstown, KY.We did this for Brad's birthday...Brad has wanted to see this life-sized replica of Noah's Ark since he first heard about it several years ago. The most amazing thing about the ark is its size; it is truly something to behold, and it led us to re-think long-held notions about the ark. But there's so much more than just a giant ship made of wood. Inside, there are three (tall) stories of exhibits related to the biblical story of the flood and its implications for faith and even science.  Plus, there are beautiful grounds to explore, complete with a small zoo!Listen in as we describe our trip to The Ark Encounter.Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some of yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

After nine months in southwest Missouri, we're back on the road in our tiny trailer. First stop: Bardstown, Kentucky.We're in Bardstown to enjoy some distillery tours and tastings, encounter some history (many of the buildings here are much older than any of the buildings in places we've lived), visit significant Christian sites, and more.Listen in to part two of our experience in Bardstown as we discuss our experiences with: the Springfield Sorghum Festival, downtown Bardstown, the Bardstown Farmers' Market, Willett Distillery, the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Bardstown Burgers, Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, Bardstown Bourbon Company Kitchen, the Heaven Hill Experience,...and more.Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some of yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

After nine months in southwest Missouri, we're back on the road in our tiny trailer. First stop: Bardstown, Kentucky.We're in Bardstown to enjoy some distillery tours and tastings, encounter some history (many of the buildings here are much older than any of the buildings in places we've lived), visit significant Christian sites, and more.Listen in to part one of our experience in Bardstwon as we discuss our experiences with: My Kentucky Home State Park Campground, Talbott's Tavern, Maker's Mark Distillery, Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, the Jim Beam Distillery., a brief trip to some distilleries in Frankfort...and more.By the way, we are having a GREAT time in Bardstown!Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some of yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

We've spent quite a bit of time in southwest Missouri for the past eight months. During that time, we needed a go-to place—someplace we could count on to spend a few hours when it was too hot or cold or rainy to explore outdoors—and we chose the Bass Pro Shops complex in Springfield that features a retail store and a number of museum galleries all under one roof.Today's episode is the third in a three-part series about what we enjoy in this complex. Specifically, today, we focus on the Bass Pro Shop retail store.If you've been to a Bass Pro Shop retail store pretty much anywhere around the country, you know what to expect: outdoor gear oriented toward fishing and hunting, some camping supplies, fudge, aquarium tanks, stuffed (taxidermied) wild animals and great theming. But we're here to tell you: the flagship store in Springfield has something extra. Maybe there's a better Bass Pro Shop out there, but we haven't been there. This is a great place to come, get out of the heat—or the cold—and spend an hour or two wandering the store while observing some (live and stuffed) wildlife and even drinking a fine coffee/espresso beverage.Listen to today's episode to hear our walkthrough and review of this store that has become like a home-away-from home while we've been in southwest Missouri...which we will very soon be departing. (In fact, we expect next week's episode to be on location...someplace else.)Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some of yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

We've spent quite a bit of time in southwest Missouri for the past eight months. During that time, we needed a go-to place—someplace we could count on to spend a few hours when it was too hot or cold or rainy to explore outdoors—and we chose the Bass Pro Shops complex in Springfield that features a retail store and a number of museum galleries all under one roof.Today's episode is the second in a three-part series about what we enjoy in this complex. Specifically, today, we focus on the Wildlife Galleries. In the next and final episode we'll talk about the retail shop.We really didn't know what to expect in the wildlife galleries at the Wonders of Wildlife Museum. Both of us were anticipating something like the natural history museums we encountered as children; we weren't fans of those places. But, WOW! This is...different. These galleries are so thoughtfully and imaginatively created that we fell in love and chose to spend as much time in them as in the aquarium. From the amazing Native American Indian display to Teddy Roosevelt's cabin to the Lewis and Clark paintings to the dioramas to the narwhals—yes, these sea unicorns really exist—to live penguins and so much more, we have a great time every time we visit the wildlife galleries. Listen up to hear our experience of the wildlife galleries at the Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium in Springfield, Missouri.Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some of yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

We've spent quite a bit of time in southwest Missouri for the past eight months. During that time, we needed a go-to place—someplace we could count on to spend a few hours when it was too hot or cold or rainy to explore outdoors—and we chose the Bass Pro Shops complex in Springfield that features a retail store and a number of museum galleries all under one roof.Today's episode begins a three-part series about what we enjoy in this complex. Specifically, today, we focus on the Wonders of Wildlife Aquarium. In the next episode, we'll discuss the wildlife galleries, and in the final episode we'll talk about the retail shop.What an amazing place! We could—we have—spent hours on end gazing at the fish and other wildlife on display in this fantastic aquarium. Listen up to hear our experience of the Wonders of Wildlife Aquarium in Springfield, Missouri.Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some of yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

We love high ropes courses, and it has been way too long since we went ziplining. On a recent trip to Branson, we discovered a place called Fritz's Adventure...which is a giant, 80,000 square foot indoor adventure playground. It features 19 activities, including a 4-story high ropes course, a tree-tops rope and zip line course (that even goes outside), adult-sized slides, an urban climbing wall, and much, much more.Listen to today's episode to hear about our experience at Fritz's Adventure. Spoiler alert: we had a great time!Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some of yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

We've never recorded an episode like this before!In today's episode of the Exploreblognet Podcast, we take a look first in Susan's everyday carry bag (her purse) and then in Brad's everyday carry bag (yes, Brad carries a little bag that looks like a camera bag to carry his essentials.) We open up the bags to see what's inside, and we talk about why we carry each item.When we decided to leave our brick and mortar home a year and a half ago, Susan knew she needed to carry a different kind of purse...something that would allow her to keep the essentials for a full-time traveler on her without taking up too much space. Brad intended to carry all of his necessities in an e-Vest. Well, time has passed on some of our decisions have changed.Listen to today's episode to discover what we carry on us every day and why.Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some of yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

When we departed Colorado for this new way of living—traveling the country in a trailer while making periodic longer stops to earn money—our now-adult children had just left our house. We were new empty nesters. One of our priorities was figuring out how to keep our relationship with our two boys strong.We knew this way of living would offer both advantages and challenges with respect to staying connected with our kids.In this episode, we spend some time talking about the advantages offered by this lifestyle with regard to staying connected with our adult children. Then, we talk about seven strategies we use to stay connected with our adult children.By the way, all of these strategies will work—or can be adapted to work—no matter where or how you live. So, if you have adult children and want to stay connected with them, tune in!!!!Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some of yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

We've been taking weekly road trips while stationed in Ash Grove, Missouri for a while. Ash grove is a little more than an hour away from Branson, so we've made a great many of those road trips to Branson—a place we've visited many times in the almost 27 years we've known each other. Upon our return from a recent trip to Branson, we sat down to talk about our experience of Branson...in terms of shows, theme parks and other family entertainment, nature, College of the Ozarks, and shopping. Listen in to hear our perspective on the great family entertainment destination that is Branson!Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some of yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

We've been taking weekly road trips while stationed in Ash Grove, Missouri for a while. Last week, we visited Bentonville, Arkansas. It's been on our to-do list since we arrived in Southwest Missouri.Listen in to hear about everything we did in Bentonville—maybe you'd even like to use our itinerary as a model for your day-trip to Bentonville.Without giving too much away, we had a great time! We visited the Walmart Museum, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Museum of Native American History...and more. Listen in to hear our impressions of each of these museums! Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some of yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

We've talked before about how we make money while living this lifestyle and how we try to keep to a strict budget while working on producing more income flows. For the past six months, Susan has been serving a congregation as an interim minister, and I—Brad—have been writing books. In fact, I've now published two middle grade Christian fiction books in a series called The Enchanted Bell Tower.In this episode, Susan interviews me about what it's like to write, publish and market books as a means to earn money while living nomadically. She asks me about things like:How long it took to write and publish my first book;What kinds of things I've had to learn in order to self publish;How I chose to publish and why;The biggest challenges of writing and self-publishing;Fun stuff, like my favorite places to write;Tune in and hear the conversation! And, please, check out The Enchanted Bell Tower series of books on Amazon.Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some of yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

You've heard me—Brad—mention before that I have a chronic illness. And, of course, you know we live in a tiny trailer.Today, we'll go into depth about how these two things fit together.I'll start by explaining a bit about my chronic illness—ulcerative colitis—with as little graphic detail as possible. Then, Susan and I will launch into a discussion about how my chronic illness impacts our living in a tiny trailer...and how we deal with/manage these impacts. We hope this discussion will help you evaluate how you can live nomadically with a chronic illness.Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some of yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

We live a nomadic lifestyle; yet, for the past almost six months we've been based in one location. (That will change very soon, as we will once again begin traveling.) It might sound a bit strange, but for us, it's not. From time to time, nomads like us who don't generate enough income from the jobs we do while traveling need to settle down for a while to both earn some money and use our skills and gifts to contribute to society. In this episode we talk about the things we do to keep living a nomadic lifestyle even while temporarily based in one spot for a while. We've even discovered that we enjoy this as a nice change of pace. Even so, we know we're going to pack up and begin traveling before too long, so we continue to live very similarly to how we live while traveling to make it easy to switch back to living in our tiny trailer again. In this episode, we discus how we do that.Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some of yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

 One of the big reasons we chose this tiny trailer lifestyle was to see family more frequently. Our kids have moved out of the house, our parents and extended family members are getting older, and we've had enough of getting at most a few weeks each year of vacation time to spend with family.So, the first thing we did upon leaving Colorado over a year ago was embark on a cross-country trip to spend some quality time with as many family members as possible. In the process, we figured out that—as much as we love spending time with family—there are some challenges to spending THIS much time with family. They—and we—are just not used to spending so much time together.Today, we talk about the challenges of spending extended time with family members while we travel the country. We also talk about our strategies for dealing with these challenges. We've learned that if we adjust properly in response to the challenges, we can spend as much cherished time with family as we—and they—want to.Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some of yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

It's no secret that inflation has been creeping up for a while now. We started noticing it as soon as we left our brick and mortar house a little over a year ago. We struggled to keep the budget we had made several months prior and wondered why...since we were purchasing almost exactly what we intended to purchase when we made the budget. Well, things had changed in a few short months. Ever since, prices have risen significantly higher.In this episode, we discuss how inflation impacts people like us—people who have minimal budgets and few discretionary expenses—versus others in society. Unsurprisingly, when almost everything you purchase is essential for living, inflation impacts you more.Listen in to discover how inflation impacts us and what we do to minimize that impact.Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some of yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

Years ago, when we started planning to leave our brick and mortar home and travel the USA while living in a trailer, we had a very important decision to make that would impact all the others: should we keep our 2013 Subaru Outback 2.5i as our tow vehicle for this new adventure?We ultimate decided to keep the Subaru, which we call Moses, for a variety of reasons. That decision led us to choose a modestly outfitted and very tiny Hiker Trailer...all so we could keep the trailer's weight (empty) under 1,000 pounds. In today's episode, we talk about the pros and cons of that decision. Having spent a year zipping across the continental USA in this rig, we've discovered some things we love about our tow vehicle and some things that we wish could go a little differently. There are most definitely trade-offs. Overall, we are happy with Moses. Listen in to find out why.Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some of yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

We've experienced a great many amazing stories while living in a tiny trailer and traveling the USA for the past year! And we've already shared many of them with you...on a variety of topics. In today's episode, we share some of our favorite stories that we haven't yet told because they don't fit into any of the specific topics we've discussed in previous episodes. We share: the story of our biggest WTF moment; our favorite story of traveling with a pet; two favorite nature stories; and our favorite story about the generosity of strangers.Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some of yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

When we started living in a tiny trailer and criss-crossing the USA a little over a year ago, we had little idea what we were in for. We had rarely camped; we had never owned a trailer before. For the previous almost twenty years, we had lived exclusively in homes with tons of room to accommodate suboptimal organization. Suddenly, we found ourselves downsized into a Subaru Outback and a 5' x 8' Hiker Trailer. Finding stuff when we needed it became a problem. Getting out of the trailer in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom became a problem. We needed better organization! In today's episode, we discuss our journey toward becoming more organized in our tiny trailer lifestyle. Listen along to hear funny stories and to discover the tips we've learned from our experience...so you don't make the same mistakes we made!Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some of yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

This past week, we had the opportunity to stop at the new Wally's mega-convenience store on I-44 outside of St. Louis, MO.As we toured the store, used the restroom facilities, and picked up some coffee for the road, we reflected on visits we've made to another mega-convenience store chain, Buc-ees, during our first year of traveling the United States while living in a tiny trailer.  In today's episode:We provide some background about out experience with the growing trend of mega-convenience stores.We discuss our experience of both Buc-ees and Wally's.We compare Buc-ees and Wally's with respect to certain aspects that are important to us (and travelers like us.)And we give a few thoughts about our desires for this trend.Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some of yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

One year!As of a week and a half ago, it's been one year since we left Grand Junction, Colorado and began this new way of life—traveling the USA while living in a 5'x8' tiny Hiker Trailer. To celebrate one year on the road, Brad and Susan continue sharing some of their favorites from the past year—favorite restaurant food experience, favorite alcohol experience, favorite view, favorite way to relax, and favorite National or State Park (aside from the campground portion.)If you'd like to hear about more of our favorites and haven't listened to Part One of this series, please be sure to go back and listen to last week's episode. Listen in to hear about some of our favorite experiences while criss-crossing the country and living full-time in a tiny trailer!Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some fo yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

One year!As of this past week, it's been one year since we left Grand Junction, Colorado and began this new way of life—traveling the USA while living in a 5'x8' tiny Hiker Trailer.  To celebrate one year on the road, Brad and Susan share some of their favorites from the past year—favorite campground, favorite piece of camping gear, favorite roadside attraction, favorite food discovery, and favorite experience. Next week, we'll add to our list of favorites.Listen in to hear about some of our favorite experiences while criss-crossing the country and living full-time in a tiny trailer! Feel free to ask questions about our experiences or to share some fo yours with us by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

Lighting...does it matter? In this episode, Brad and Susan discuss something they didn't think about—too much—prior to embarking on the adventure of living in a tiny trailer: lighting. It turns out that lighting is more important than they thought...as is keeping their lighting solutions both minimalist and function. Listen in to hear how Brad and Susan light their lives while living inside their tiny trailer.Let us know about your favorite lighting solutions, or ask us any questions about our lighting, by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

Is it possible to keep clean—ourselves and our stuff—while living full time in a tiny 5' x 8' trailer? Absolutely—yes!In this episode,  we—Susan and Brad—discuss the various cleaning supplies we use—with very limited space and with no permanent tanks on our trailer—to keep clean while full-timing. We've discovered some amazing resources...and we hope these resources work for you, as well.If you've got any great cleaning solutions for tiny trailer living, let us know by sending an email to brad@exploreblog.net.  Enjoy!Send us your thoughts and questions to brad@exploreblog.net.Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

In the past two episodes, we've talked about how we keep healthy while living full-time in a tiny trailer.In this week's episode, we complete that discussion, focusing specifically mental and emotional well-being. In our experience, living full-time in a tiny trailer and traveling around the country promotes better mental/emotional health than our previous lifestyle; in this episode, we talk about why. We also provide several specific practices that have been helpful to the development of positive mental/emotional well-being...for us. Enjoy!Send us your thoughts and questions to brad@exploreblog.net.Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

Last week, we began a discussion about how we keep healthy while living full-time in a tiny trailer. In this week's episode, we continue that discussion, focusing specifically on food—how our eating habits help us stay healthy while we live full-time in a tiny trailer and travel around the country. As we talked in preparation for this episode, we discovered that the limitations of a TINY trailer actually directed us toward healthier eating habits. Listen in to discover how these limitations have helped us and how they might be able to help you. Enjoy!Send us your thoughts and questions to brad@exploreblog.net.Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

While we prepared for living full-time in a tiny trailer, we watched tons of videos of people who already full-timed. We watched these videos in part to get a sense of the issues we might encounter...so we could prepare. One issue that popped up quite frequently was the issue of health and exercise...which surprised us. We assumed living full-time in a tiny trailer would allow us the freedom to adopt more healthy habits.In this three-part series of episodes, we'll discuss how our full-time reality compares with our incoming expectations with regard to healthy living. Keep in mind, we started our as middle aged people who already had fairly healthy habits.In this week's episode, we talk specifically about exercise—how we exercise while living full-time in a tiny trailer. Enjoy!Send us your thoughts and questions to brad@exploreblog.net.Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

Brad is a hobby person. Susan—to a slightly lesser extent—is a hobby person. Prior to living full-time in a tiny trailer, the stuff of our hobbies filled the space of our house: magic tricks, antique dominoes, board games, books, and more. Then, we downsized and fit the whole of our lives into a 5' x 8' trailer and a smallish tow vehicle. So, our hobbies look different now. And yet, they also look somewhat the same. In this week's episode, we talk about how we practice our hobbies while living in a tiny trailer. Enjoy! Send us your thoughts and questions to brad@exploreblog.net. Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

Most of the time, living and traveling the USA in a tiny trailer is awesome! But sometimes, things can get a little scary and/or stressful. We didn't realize how often this happens until we sat down to make a list for this podcast...and discovered we've got enough stories for two full episodes (and many more stories we wish we had time to share.)  From almost totaling our trailer in our very first campground to a very strange day on which we started two accidental fires, we've had some pretty scary and stressful experiences. Listen in, feel free to laugh at us, and—hopefully—learn from our many mistakes. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

Most of the time, living and traveling the USA in a tiny trailer is awesome! But sometimes, things can get a little scary and/or stressful. We didn't realize how often this happens until we sat down to make a list for this podcast...and discovered we've got enough stories for two full episodes (and many more stories we wish we had time to share.)  From almost totaling our trailer in our very first campground to a very strange day on which we started two accidental fires, we've had some pretty scary and stressful experiences. Listen in, feel free to laugh at us, and—hopefully—learn from our many mistakes. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

Over the past ten months, we've spent more than six months of nights living in our tiny 5'x8' trailer, and we've spent those nights in campgrounds spread across the continental United States.  In this episode, we reminisce about our top 5 campgrounds. Plus, we provide a bonus RV park, one of the few RV parks that worked well for us in our tiny trailer.  If you'd like to hear more about some great campgrounds for tiny trailer camping—or even if you'd like to hear the entertaining story about how we lost our awning on the shore of Lake Huron—listen in!  Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

As we've transitioned from full-time tiny trailer living to part-time tiny trailer living this past month, we've started taking more day-trips, visiting places within a few hours of our part-time residence. We hope to spend half our time in the tiny trailer—for the near-term future—once the weather gets past frozen. In this episode, we discuss a recent day trip we took to Ha Ha Tonka State Park. On the way back from the state park, we visited the Leaky Roof Meadery and Jem's Steakhouse, both in Buffalo, MO. We were really impressed! Listen in to hear more about our tour of an old and abandon castle grounds and a couple of gems—pun intended—in the town of Buffalo.  Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

We've been living full-time (ok, a little bit part-time the past month) in our tiny 5'x8' Hiker Trailer for nine months, and we love it. In this episode, we offer the first of what will be many roadside attraction reviews. Why? Brad loves roadside attractions. This week, we discuss and review the roadside attraction known as Uranus, MO. (Imagine all the fun the owners of the place can have with that!) We really enjoyed our visit to Uranus and want to share our experience with you. Enjoy!Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

We've been living full-time in our tiny 5'x8' Hiker Trailer for eight—almost nine—months, and we love it. In this episode, we discuss how manage our budget. We live on just $2,000 per month...which isn't easy when you factor in gasoline, camping fees (aka rent), health care, and food. We'll share three strategies that have helped us live within our frugal budget, and we'll share the general categories of our budget...all to help you discern how best to budget for your full-time (or not so full-time) life on the road. Enjoy! Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

We've been living full-time in our tiny 5'x8' Hiker Trailer for eight—almost nine—months, and we love it. In this episode, we discuss how we manage to pay for this lifestyle. We'll discuss what we did in preparation—how we saved enough money to live for two full years without having to earn any additional income—and everything we've done for the past eight months to try to make money while living in our tiny trailer. We also share some big news about how gas price increases and our efforts to make money have led us to a brief interlude in our full-time living—we just began part-timing while basing out of a small efficiency apartment, so Susan can work a short-term part-time job.  Tune in, and you'll hear about everything we do to try—emphasis on "try"—to make money while living in a tiny trailer! Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

We've been living full-time in our tiny 5'x8' Hiker Trailer for six months, and we love it. This episode continues our series of "Top 5" episodes with regard to various aspects of tiny trailer living. In this "Top 5" episode, we discuss the top 5 things we've learned about clothing for full-time living in a tiny trailer. Trying to down-size our wardrobe into the tiny space we've allotted for clothing—two milk crates apiece—has been challenging, and we've learned a ton. We'll share what we've learned with you. Also, as a BONUS, we'll discuss a related topic: towels. Enjoy!  Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

We've been living full-time in our tiny 5'x8' Hiker Trailer for six months, and we love it. This episode provides a brief pause in our series of "Top 5" episodes with regard to various aspects of tiny trailer living. In this episode, we discuss how we connect to the internet while living full-time in our tiny trailer...and working while on the road. To date, most of our work has depended upon internet access, so semi-reliable internet access is essential! I doubt everyone could get by with our primary and secondary solutions to internet access, but they have worked for us. Listen to this week's episode to discover how we connect to the internet...and the challenges we've encountered along the way. Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

We've been living full-time in our tiny 5'x8' Hiker Trailer for six months, and we love it. This episode continues our series of "Top 5" episodes with regard to various aspects of tiny trailer living. In this "Top 5" episode, we discuss the top 5 roadside attractions we've visited while criss-crossing the United States. We begin with a discussion of what makes something a roadside attraction...in our minds, anyway. We also included a bonus 6th roadside attraction for RV enthusiasts. Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

We've been living full-time in our tiny 5'x8' Hiker Trailer for six months, and we love it. This episode continues our series of "Top 5" episodes with regard to various aspects of tiny trailer living.  We've decided to expand to our Top 6 for this Episode: the top 6 things we look for in a campground. We begin by explaining how we distinguish a campground from an RV park, and why we prefer campgrounds. Then we provide the top 6 things we look for in a campground. Somehow, we forgot to include one other thing that's very important to us: a quality cell signal. I'm sure we'll talk about that in a future episode! Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

We've been living full-time in our tiny 5'x8' Hiker Trailer for six months, and we love it. This episode continues our series of "Top 5" episodes with regard to various aspects of tiny trailer living. In this "Top 5" episode, we discuss our top 5 favorite meals while living in a tiny trailer these past six months...along with one Bonus item that pertains to living and traveling full-time in a tiny trailer with a dog...well, kind of for this one. (In each of our "Top 5" episodes, we'll provide bonus content pertaining to full time RVing in a tiny trailer with pets.)Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

We've been living full-time in our tiny 5'x8' Hiker Trailer for six months, and we love it. This episode continues our series of "Top 5" episodes with regard to various aspects of tiny trailer living. In this "Top 5" episode, we discuss the 5 meals we've eaten most frequently while living in a tiny trailer. Tune in next time to hear our Top 5 favorite meals after 6 months of living in a tiny trailer.Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

We've been living full-time in our tiny 5'x8' Hiker Trailer for six months, and we love it. This episode continues our series of "Top 5" episodes with regard to various aspects of tiny trailer living. In this "Top 5" episode, we discuss our top 5 essential products for living in a tiny trailer...along with one Bonus item that pertains to living and traveling full-time in a tiny trailer with a dog. (In each of our "Top 5" episodes, we'll provide bonus content pertaining to full time RVing in a tiny trailer with pets.)Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

We've been living full-time in our tiny 5'x8' Hiker Trailer for six months, and we love it. But, that doesn't mean there aren't challenges.  In this episode, we discuss our Top 7 challenges—that's right, we couldn't confine the challenges to just a Top 5—we've experienced living in a tiny trailer for the past six months. We'll also provide a Bonus challenge concerning living full-time in a tiny trailer with a dog. (In each of our "Top 5" episodes, we'll provide bonus content pertaining to full time RVing in a tiny trailer with pets.)Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

We've been living full-time in our tiny 5'x8' Hiker Trailer for six months, and we love it. This episode begins a series of "Top 5" episodes with regard to various aspects of tiny trailer living. In this "Top 5" episode, we discuss our top 5 reasons we love living in a tiny trailer...along with one Bonus reason we love traveling in a tiny trailer with a dog. (In each of our "Top 5" episodes, we'll provide bonus content pertaining to full time RVing in a tiny trailer with pets.)Music in this episode is borrowed from "Solo Acoustic Guitar" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under CC BY-3.0.

In this brief episode, Brad and Susan provide a little background about who they are, how they ended up living in a tiny 5'x8' squaredrop trailer, and a description of their rig. Be sure to discover how Brad and Susan began this adventure, so you'll better understand what they talk about in future episodes.