OurBiggerPicture

Gratitude. My attitude about gratitude is different now. It’s for different things and in different degrees of magnitude. I used to think I was grateful before, but I seem to reflect on it more now. Or maybe I just feel it more intrinsically. Not just for the amazing opportunity we have to not work for a while, but our life on the road this past year gave us simple pleasures that brought me joy. On many an evening we swam in oceans and rivers and lakes until dark. We practice

After 6 months on the road and a trip back to California, we are starting to feel it. A new perspective. We felt it when we landed at SFO. We marveled at how clean everything looked and we had a huge appreciation for strangers speaking English. We salivated at the organic restaurants (and a wine bar??) in an airport, and oh, the bathrooms. So clean..with toilet paper AND seats. We see things a little differently here now. The traffic is orderly (no 3 abreast in 2 lanes), dogs

(by paula) The big wait is over. We are finally on the road. We spent the week before we left saying goodbye to friends and packing up the last remaining items of our home in Mill Valley. We methodically sorted through everything we own to either store it, bring it, or chuck it. After 22 years of marriage and 12 years in that house, it was a long and arduous process. And then amazingly, we closed the front door and drove away without a backward glance. We crossed the Golden

(by Paula) The very first adventure for Our Bigger Picture was to go to Burning Man. For the past ten years or so, John and I have mused about going to Burning Man. We were curious, and living in the Bay Area we knew people every year who went and loved it. Every year we said, “maybe next year”. But this year was different. This year we were embarking on this great adventure down to South America, and a trip to Burning Man seemed like the perfect kick-off to our new life. O

(by John) The overlanding community is growing and those that sell to this community put on the Overland Expo - and that is awesome. Every May, thousands of like minded folks who like to be outside trekking around in every type of vehicle imaginable decend on Flagstaff and Mormon Lake. This is mecca for those who are setting out on any type of trip whether to the closest national forest or (literally) around the world. And it seems to be a bit of a homecoming and celebrati

(by Paula) On our way to the Overland Expo we spent some time in Death Valley National Park to put the Rig through it's paces. A shake down trip, if you will. We wanted to get some serious off-road experience and see what it could do. We also had never visited this national park before and it was surpisingly beautiful. And hot. The day we did a big mountain bike ride the temperature was around 100 degrees. We drove North to South through Saline Valley, which is about 80 miles

(by Paula) On our delivery trip to Colorado in March to bring home the camper, we had one day, just one, that didn’t involve a 7 hour drive. So we stopped at Home Depot in Yuma, Arizona to buy a bucket and a cordless drill. We use the drill to put up the roof of our camper (that’s how simple my life is about to get). The old drill died and we needed a bucket for…well, anything. So a pit stop at the Home Depot was the only thing on the agenda that day. John went in and I staye

(by paula) Our last real vacation was last November. In the Out Islands of the Bahamas. It was remote. I mean, really remote. Most of the younger inhabitants of the two islands we visited have left for Nassau in search of work, and the old people are all dying off so the "settlements" are disappearing. The homes are being taken over by the vegetation. Bushes, palm fronds and wild flowers grow now within their walls instead of children. The island is taking back its terrain. T

(by paula) I’m not exactly sure when we figured on the route for this trip. The notion, the idea, the birth of this journey has been in our hearts and minds since the first day we met. But the where and the how of it was amorphous. It became like most things in our relationship - an evolution of sorts. John had been reading Overland magazine for a few years, ever since we went on safari in Tanzania. There, he discovered a desire to drive some place. On our own, figuring it ou