My New Abode

While on my road trip, I decided to move back to Portland, Oregon to live. My time living away and traveling reminded me of the people and quality of life I missed here. I contacted everyone I knew in town and sent out a couple of Facebook requests for temporary or longer term affordable living arrangements. Ideally, I was looking for a place where I could trade house work for rent so I wouldn't have to tap into my savings too much until I found work. I was also hoping to be close in so I could bike to where I needed and save on gas for commuting. I responded to some Craigslist roommate searches, but did not have much luck since it was November and few people want to have an unemployed individual move in unless they are a friend. I have a few friends who knew a family member or friend remodeling their homes with a potential capacity for a work/trade arrangement. Two of those fell through, but the third, which I connected with less than a week before arriving in town, worked out. A couple I had volunteered with previously had a house in inner SE Portland that they were remodeling while they lived in another house nearby where her parents would be retiring to at some point. They had purchased their house about 5 years ago and spent time painting, deconstructing the chimney, removing the old furnace and duct system, installing a radiant floor heat system heated by the water from a new energy efficient condensing water heater, installing solar on their roof, and building up garden beds among other projects. The current big project is the kitchen and powder room which the owners and friends had gutted down to the studs. One of the owners is an architect who is currently finalizing the design to submit to the city for permitting. The hope is to finish the kitchen by the spring but more likely, it will be summer. So I should have a place to stay until then. My situation is ideal in that I am able to live alone in a great location and trade my skills for rent while also learning more about remodeling a 100 year old house. The downside is that I don't have the conveniences of a full kitchen or washer and dryer. For laundry, I have brought snacks over to a friend's house to trade for use of the machines which I continue to plan to do if available since I can catch up with friends instead of having to deal with going to a laundromat. I did hear of a really great efficient laundry not too far away so that will be my backup. 

For a kitchen, I purchased a Kenmore two door Energy Star 3.1 cu.ft. stainless steel mini fridge from Sears on sale for $160 (originally $230). I love having the two doors so my freezer is physically separate from my fridge. The freezer door even has space to hold items. The fridge has a crisper drawer on the bottom with two removable shelves above. The door has space for a half gallon container of juice or milk. The only thing I don't like about it is that the door also has space dedicated for cans. I don't drink much soda so this feature has not been helpful for me. So far, I have been just sticking other things in there like condiments but may modify it in the future to suit my needs. The owners lent me a toaster oven and hot pot. I bought a Presto popcorn popper since I love it as a snack. The model I have is an ingenious design because it has a measuring cup that sits into the hole in the cover above the heat element. The cup also melts your butter while the popcorn pops! I have a folding table set up as my counter, prep surface and dry food storage. Underneath is the rest of my kitchen dishes for eating and baking, Magic Bullet, water bottles, cooler and camp kitchen supplies. There's a grill in the backyard found for free on the side of the road so I'm still figuring out the temperature regulation on it. The trickiest part is clean up. The bathroom sink is too tiny to wash dishes in so I have to do them in the tub. The tub drain is not the greatest at draining, a homeowner special, so I have to pre-wipe my dishes with a paper towel to remove the excess to avoid a plumbing backup. The plumbing is going to be replaced at some point during the remodel so hopefully that will be sooner rather than later. It's worked out fine so far as I have also been going out to eat with friends occasionally and had use of a full kitchen for a week while I was dog sitting. I miss the ability to make coffee since grounds are a mess to clean up but have been savoring the times I meet up with people for coffee. I'm also drinking more tea and may try instant coffee at home occasionally.

My kitchen is set up along a wall of my bedroom next to another table holding jewelry, jars of pens/pencils/markers, white board with my notes, a stack of movies and a few other misc. items by the door. Underneath the table lives my suitcases, tools and bike gear. I recently purchased a full size futon and frame which I love because I can multipurpose it to be both a bed and a couch. It was made by a local Portland shop and is comfortable. The sliding mechanism isn't the smoothest, but I'm guessing over time that I will get the hang of adjusting the positions or will come up with a better solution. I've been using an old sleeping bag and blankets for bedding but am thinking about getting sheets for the summer since I like to be covered when I sleep. The mattress did come with a removable cover that can be zipped off but that seems like it would be difficult for one person. There's a good size closet in my room which stores my clothes, jackets, shoes and gear. 

In total, my room and closet are about 150 sq.ft. and the bathroom is 50 sq.ft. so I'm essentially living in 200 sq.ft. total.

Wanderlust Part 5: Trip Costs

For those of you interested in what it might cost to travel around for 3 months in a vehicle, I am going to list what my expenses were with total costs at the bottom. I stayed with family for about 3 weeks total so lodging and food were provided for free for the most part. I was not paying apartment/house rent during this time. I also brought snacks with me which helped lower food costs. Some of this food was leftover from moving and not included in the total. Luckily my car didn't have any problems and just required a couple of oil changes and a tire rotation.

CA to MN

Gas $300

Coffee/food $13

MN to VT

Gas $200

Hotel $100

Vermont

Yestermorrow Tiny House Design/Build Course, lodging and 1 meal a day $2,000 - $500 (work-trade) = $1,500

Gas $40

Eat out $30

Farmers market $30

Groceries/beer/wine $45

Gifts $100

Clothes $120

VT to MN

Gas $265

Tolls $38

Oil change $55

Motel $125 for 2 nights

Eat out $155

Tourist $37


MN

Gas $30

Food/Eat out $76

Clothing $20

MN to OR

Gas $425

Oil change $60

Hotel $24

Food $15

Dead horse point park $10

Totals

Gas/Tolls $1298

Low gas $2.89

High gas $3.69 in the U.S. $1.272/L in Canada

Average MPG = 28

Car Maintenance $115

Food $364

Lodging $249

Clothes $140

Tourism/Gifts $147

Yestermorrow $1,500

Total Expenses $3,813

Wanderlust Part 4: The Journey West

After leaving Boston, I drove west through Massachusetts and New York surprised by the amount of money I had to pay for tolls on the freeway, nearly $30 to get to Niagara Falls! I arrived there late and found a place to park and spend the night close enough to hear the roar of the falls. I walked around the falls area the following morning on the U.S. side amazed by the beauty and power of the water and also the ability to stand at the edge of the dropoff with only a short railing as a barrier. I drove across the bridge to the Canadian side to admire the falls from there as well. Parking is more regulated on that side I'm guessing since the falls face that direction ($20 vs. free on the U.S. side).

I drove that day through Canada, crossing the border in Detroit which took 2 hours. It was the longest and most invasive border crossing I have been to yet. I chose the bridge route but was told the tunnel was just as bad. They even made some people get out of their cars during the search and rummaged through my things, not bothering to put anything back in its place. The evening, I met up with a friend for dinner in Kalamazoo, MI and stayed with his family that night. After breakfast the following morning, I drove to my parent's house in Gibbon, MN. They were in the middle of harvesting so I helped out driving people and tractors to and from fields and did a little bit of stock chopping myself. The weather there had changed from hot and humid in September to cold and snowy in early November.

My longest day of driving was 14 hours from Gibbon, MN to Longmont, CO where I would stay with relatives that evening. After hundreds of miles of a flat landscape of fields of corn, soybeans, wheat, etc. I arrived near the base of the Rockies in the dark. I caught up with my aunt, uncle and cousins and saw some of the damage from the flooding in September. I lucked out on crossing the I-70 pass since there was very little snow and a clear road. Driving on toward canyon country, I camped near Canyonlands National Park that evening. 

I explored southern Utah for a week, hiking in Canyonlands, Dead Horse Point, Corona Arch, Arches, Natural Bridges, Glen Canyon, Capitol Reef, Bryce, Zion, Buckskin Gulch, and Grand Staircase-Escalante. I also entered the lottery for the Wave twice but didn't win (70 people for 10 spots!). Mid-November was a great time to be in the desert since there were fewer tourists and the weather was warm during the day, though a little cold at night with temps in the 30's, but my 20 degree down sleeping bag kept me warm! This was the second time I have traveled there and the next time I plan on spending more time in the area around Kanab and Escalante.

After Zion, I decided to drive to Vegas because I could find a cheap hotel room to spend the night and shower. I was exhausted when I arrived but wanted to walk the strip and see the fountain show at the Bellagio before heading to bed. The following day, I continued to drive west through the desert through Death Valley and then to the eastern base of the Sierra's. I slept in my car near Bishop that night and then drove north to the eastern entrance of Yosemite. Luckily, not much snow had fallen yet and the road was clear. I had only visited the valley before so it was a treat to experience the high country and to drive through the elevation changes. I also passed through the area where the fire raged this summer, the trees eerily covered with fire suppressant.

I continued on to Sacramento where I stayed with my friend for a couple of days, packed up my things and then drove north on I-5 to Portland. The Siskyou pass was clear of snow although quite foggy which was really disorienting to truckers who couldn't decide which lane to be in. I made a mental note to explore more of southern Oregon and Northern California on a future adventure since the scenery is so breathtaking. During the summer though so I don't have to worry about snow. The rest of the drive was smooth sailing and I arrived in Portland that evening and settled into my new home where I would be work-trading for rent and temporarily living without a full kitchen during the remodel. More on that later.

Wanderlust Part 3: New England

I arrived at Yestermorrow Design/Build School late one evening in mid-September. Upon entering the main campus building, I found a kind student who was willing to show me where I could set up my tent in the woods. After doing so in the dark, I slept well after a long day's drive. I awoke the next morning, left the shelter of my tent, walked to the edge of the forest line and then through the grass to my car, taking in my new surroundings. The Yestermorrow campus is located between the towns of Waitsfield and Warren, Vermont in the Mad River Valley. It's a spectacular place to be, especially in the fall. The leaves had already started to change when I arrived and I would witness fall in full bloom followed by its wane when I left a month later. This was my first time traveling in New England, and it will not be my last.

I had heard about Yestermorrow several years ago when I wanted to learn more about design/build. I kept looking at the class schedule for courses that interested me and with timing that worked for my schedule. Finally, I saw the Tiny House Design/Build Course which started about a month after I was laid off from my last job. To help pay for the cost of the class, I arrived early so I could participate in work-trade, which included staining, cleaning tools and digging a trench. Luckily, there was another student in my class doing work-trade as well so we were able to share the work load and get to know each other. Some other benefits of getting there early were exploring the area, campus, utilizing the library full of design and building books, talking to other students, listening to certificate presentations and enjoying a jam session.

Finally, the first day of class arrived. We shared dinner, introduced ourselves and did a quick design project with a partner. Over the next 12 days, we saw small houses in the area via field trips, framed and sheathed a tiny house on wheels, and worked on our own tiny house designs. The class was intensive so we were kept busy from 9:00am on the build site until around 2:00am in studio. We had a couple of free time slots which enabled us to do as we wanted. One day, I chose a 35 mile bike ride to Middlesex, Waterbury and back. I also took time to go on several hikes which were spectacular and a refreshing break from campus.

The last day was full of presentations and dinner before people took off. It was interesting to see the variety of designs our class came up with and the excitement to build. I lingered on campus for part of the weekend, taking advantage of the library and lounging in my hammock. Then I packed up, reluctant to leave. I met a new friend in Montpelier and then drove to her mom's home where I spent the night. I left the following day, driving through Vermont and into New Hampshire and the White Mountains. Camping after Columbus day weekend in colder climates proved to be difficult with many campgrounds closed, so I ended up sleeping in my car a few nights. I drove up to the top of Mt. Washington, then hiked down a couple of miles to two alpine lakes and then back up. After the Whites, I drove through Maine to Mt. Desert Island where I wandered around Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. I talked to a couple who recommended an inexpensive place to stay the night so I set up home base there for a couple of days.

Then I drove down to Portland where I met up with a friend who I knew from the other Portland. After work, we went out to eat sushi and wandered around the Old Port, grabbing a drink at a bar before heading back to his apartment. The following day, I drove to Portsmouth, NH and wandered around, marveling at the historic character of the buildings. Then I was off to Boston where a friend toured me around the city to the commons, public garden, Harvard square, etc. via the T. I met up with another new friend from my class and spent the night at her house. In the morning, we grabbed coffee and these amazing scones, and then walked around the neighborhood and lake. We said our farewells and I began my journey back west.

Wanderlust Part 2: Eastward Journey

In Part 1, I wrote about my travel accommodations. In Part 2, I will be writing about some of the places I explored as I traveled from California to Vermont.

After staying with my friend in Sacramento for about a week, we decided to go hiking at Lake Tahoe on my way out. This was in early September so the weather was perfect and the scenery a wonderful escape from the city. I was somewhat surprised by the amount of development around the lake as well as the campground rates (around $40!) as it was my first time there, so after we parted, I continued to drive around the lake, through Reno at night, eventually sleeping in my car at a rest stop somewhere in Nevada.

I spent the next day driving through the desert in northern Nevada and Utah, passing through Salt Lake City and watching a spectacular sunset at the Flaming Gorge in Wyoming where I camped that night. I drove through the rolling hills of southern Wyoming the following day near the route of the Oregon Trail, stopping for a break at Independence Rock. As I neared the Black Hills area that evening, I found a place to park my car and slept inside once again, wrapped in my cozy 20 degree down sleeping bag.

In the morning, I watched the Bison roam through Custer State Park and saw Mt. Rushmore from a distance. It was my third time in the area so I didn't check on the progress of Crazy Horse, hike down into the caves or drive on the Needles Highway, all of which I recommend checking out if you haven't been there before. Since I was traveling with a limited budget, I decided to spend my money on things I hadn't yet experienced. I had purchased a National Park Pass earlier this year (a great investment), so I decided to check out some of the Badlands before heading east.

The remainder of the day I drove through fields of corn in South Dakota and southern Minnesota until I reached my parent's house late that evening. In that following week, I spent time catching up with family, eating lots of home cooked food, going to a car show, and learning about the Minnesota wine development at a winery in the area. Apparently there are cold season grapes native to Minnesota that they cross with European grapes to make varieties unique to the area. Wineries have been popping up all over the state in the last 10 years with a current number around 50.

Heading north from my parent's farm in southern MN, I drove through Minneapolis, the downtown skyline and U of M exits still familiar. I decided to take my route through Duluth and the UP where I had yet to travel and was treated with forests and spectacular views of Lake Superior. Fall was at it's beginning with the leaves just starting to turn. I can only imagine what it looked like a few weeks after I passed through. I crossed the border at Sault Ste. Marie and after a few questions about who I was, where I was from, where I was going, and why I was in Canada, I continued on my way.

Canada was beautiful. Most of the landscape I drove through in Ontario and Quebec was full of forests and lakes with scattered towns and cities. There is a large Amish community up there and the shoulders of the freeway are extra wide to accommodate their horses and wagons. I stayed the night at a hotel in North Bay and drove through the cities of Ottawa and Montreal the following day before crossing the border back into the States in New York. At some point, I would like to go back and spend more time up there. 

Soon after I crossed the border, I refueled since I had tested my luck with the size of my gas tank due to the high cost of gas in Canada. I found that my tank actually holds at least 14.2 gallons, possibly even more since my gas light didn't come on. I did also consider that it may not be working. After I filled my tank, I drove on a narrow two lane highway across the islands of Lake Champlain, catching the sunset and then driving the remainder of the way in the dark to my destination: Yestermorrow Design/Build School near Waitsfield, VT where I would be taking the Tiny House Workshop.

Wanderlust Part 1: Acommodations

In my first blog post, I mentioned that after being laid off from my job, I decided to take my Subaru on a road trip. Over the course of about 3 months, I drove across the country and back, covering more than 10,000 miles of land so beautiful and diverse, yet at times monotonous (as those of you familiar with the Midwest plains know). I find it interesting when I talk to people who are fascinated by the flat prairie, endless fields of corn and relatively unpopulated areas of the Dakotas, Iowa, Nebraska and southern Minnesota. It's usually people who grew up in urban areas and are accustomed to denser development. I think that growing up on a farm in Minnesota has led me to appreciate the conveniences of city life, but yet I still need time where I can escape the traffic, pollution and constant human interaction to recharge in the peaceful solitude of less populated areas. This is also the reason I chose to travel solo. It can be enjoyable to travel with family, friends or a partner and can keep costs lower, not to mention safer if you happen to break down on the road or want to go on a multi-day backpack. I also have friends who have traveled solo and participated in ride share and couchsurfing to help minimize costs while also being able to meet new people. I have couchsurfed in the past a few times and have had positive experiences. I even had a potential offer to stay at a place in Salt Lake City, but my timing had changed and I found a place farther east that evening to camp instead. With couchsurfing, you really have to plan ahead and I wanted to be more flexible with my travel. I enjoy sleeping outside when I can and prefer undeveloped camping areas in National Forests or BLM land over established ones with the drone of RV generators interrupting the silence. My tent is a 2-person which really means 1-person and room for gear. With the rainfly, self-inflating pad and 20 degree down sleeping bag, I have stayed warm when nighttime temperatures have dropped into the 30s. It's the first tent I have ever purchased and has held up for 4 years so far. My only complaint is that it has sleeves for the poles instead of clips which I think makes it more difficult to set up and take down especially in cold weather with numb fingers. Other than camping, I slept in my car at rest areas (which I learned that you are allowed to do for up to 8 hours, not sure how that is regulated), rural areas and areas just outside of towns (sleeping in a car within city limits is generally frowned upon in many areas). Sleeping in my car was sometimes just easier than finding a place to set up my tent and I didn't have to deal with packing up a frosty tent in the morning! It was, however, a bit cramped since I was sleeping in the back seat and I'm 5'8". My car was a great traveling companion and has been reliable so far, which is why I bought a Subaru. However, in the future I would like to trade my car for a 4-wheel drive truck with a camper shell. Having a truck would enable me to get to places I have been unable to go to with my car since it would have a higher clearance and 4-wheel drive provides better traction than AWD. Also, sleeping in the back of a truck is less conspicuous than sleeping in a car and you can fully stretch your legs so they don't get cramped. I also stayed in a few hotels and motels, one in Canada where I arrived in the evening and after two hotels said they had rooms for $120 and $150, I finally found a third with two kind women at the font desk who gave me a room for $100 including tax (which was 14%). I mostly wanted a place to shower and use the internet, a plus was that they also had free breakfast. A tip for traveling: if you arrive in a city or town late at night and need a place to stay, ask for a lower rate. Hotels usually want to fill their rooms so they may be flexible. I also stayed at little motel on Mt. Desert Island in Maine for 2 nights since the campgrounds were closed (apparently this is common in the New England states, and likely other states in colder climates, to close after Columbus Day weekend in mid-October). I was also able to talk the lady into renting me the room for the weekly rate which was lower so I only paid $125 for the two nights. The other motel I stayed in was in Vegas after I was unable to locate a sweet camping spot on BLM land just south of Zion National Park where I had been a few years ago. I went online to Travelocity and booked a room right off the strip for $24! Finally, I stayed with family and a few friends along the way. A few options I did not utilize on this trip were couchsurfing, Airbnb and hostels.

Camping at Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Vermont

The Impetus

Hello, my name is Laura and this is my first blog post! I grew up on a farm in rural MN and have recently resettled in Portland, Oregon, where I lived for about 4 1/2 years prior to the last nine months. In the past nine months, I moved to San Diego to work for a solar company doing energy audits. I had a friend working for the company and qualified people there were hard to come by so I thought, why not further my professional skills in a sunny locale? Of course, this was my rationale during rainy and cold January (although still not as harsh as MN winters). San Diego was a sunny and warm relief and I did learn a lot about energy auditing as well as about solar. I was less impressed with the amount of people, traffic and obstacles to cycling but did manage to eventually find a relatively safe route to work and back with the help of a pedestrian bridge. After three months, I was promoted and transferred to the Orange County office in Santa Ana and found a place to sublet on the UCI campus. I actually enjoyed living in Irvine mostly because the city has a great network of multi-use paths which I enjoyed for recreational cycling (riding to work was not really feasible) and because I had a really great roommate with an adorable cat. My new role at work was as a lead auditor (I was an assistant before) and at first I had an assistant who soon was phased out so I was doing audits solo. At first, it was a bit overwhelming, especially when I was going to two homes a day and then having to complete the data upload. Eventually I worked out a system that streamlined the audit and data upload process and enabled me to complete audits faster with better accuracy. Then the company decided not to offer the full energy audits and to incorporate a simplified version to the solar audits in order to still meet incentive requirements. That meant my job would be phased out. So I continued to learn as much as I could about solar including the auditing, permitting and inspections processes in hopes that I could transfer to a new position. Unfortunately, by the time my audits ended, the company was not in a position to transfer me so I was laid off after 4 months. During this time, I also learned that living in the "O.C." did not really fit with the culture and values I want in a place so I decided to move yet again. I stayed with a friend in Sacramento for a week, left some of my things there and headed east on a three month road trip in my Subaru. The details of this adventure will be covered in a future post. By the time I returned to Sacramento, I realized that Portland was where I really wanted to be, so I found a place to stay through a friend where I am able to keep living costs low by helping work on the house. As much as I enjoy traveling, it really is great to have a home base! Part of the reason I started this blog is because I want to share my travel experiences and to inspire extended periods of travel. The other part is that, after moving 6 times in the last year, I really want to have a place of my own. Since I cannot afford a conventional house and do not want a mortgage, I have decided to build a tiny house next summer. Until that time, I will be volunteering, researching and blogging about what I learn in hopes of being able to help and inspire others who also want to build. My dream is to have a tiny house in Portland which I could rent out when I want to travel to those interested in living more simply. I would also like to find and buy land in the forest and build a small strawbale cabin, studio, sauna, etc. which would be a retreat for me and others. I am excited to share this journey with you wherever it leads!

On the road to San Diego