Category Archives: Life on the Road

Brent and Lorelle VanFossen spent 16 years living on the road full time in a 5th wheel trailer, motor home, and anywhere they could find a bed or couch. In this category you will find tips and techniques about traveling on the road.

Thinking Small Living on the Road

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published March 7, 2014

One of the biggest challenges of living in an RV on the road is space. Fitting it all in. Now that we are living in a home without wheels, space means something else, but every home is challenged with space issues. A student of mine found a video showcasing modular and flexible furniture from Italy […]

Also posted in Full-Time Living | Tagged compact design, compact living, full-time living, furniture, living on the road, space, tiny houses, tiny living | Leave a comment

In Case of Emergency: Use Your Library Card

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published October 19, 2013

My local library sent out a newsletter stating the following: Making a personal emergency plan and kit does not need to be all consuming. Take it in manageable bits—add to it each month until you have all of the components assembled. There are many easy items to add from the outset to pack in your […]

Also posted in Full-Time Living, Staying in Touch | Tagged communication, distaster, emergency, emergency kit, library, library card, safety, security, staying in touch | Leave a comment

My Father Helps Me Fill in the Blanks of Our Story

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published August 20, 2013

In going through stacks of papers from my father’s home more than a year after his death, I found a manila envelope with my name on it. Inside were printed copies of emails I’d sent out in 1996 onward before we had an easily-updated website. When we left my father’s driveway in Marysville, Washington, I […]

Also posted in 2013, Full-Time Living, Telling Stories | Tagged autobiography, father, history, journal, life on the road, on the road, our journey, parents, preservation, stories, tales | Leave a comment

Flying, Driving, Walking: Changing Our Perspectives on Traveling

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published August 16, 2013

The Arctic Tern has been found to have the longest annual migration of any animals in the world, traveling 44,000 miles in ten months, the equivalent of three round trips to the moon from earth in its lifetime of about 30+ years. When I think about how much and how far we’ve traveled, the Tern […]

Also posted in Photography, Wildlife | Tagged birds, driving, flying, terns, travel, walking | Leave a comment

Letter to Those Desiring a Career in Nature and Travel Photography

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published March 4, 2013

On a regular basis I get emails and comments from students attracted to the photography bug. To them, photography represents the exotic, exciting, and adventurous. While there are some aspects that involve travel, adventure, and excitement, for the most part photography as a hobby is fun. Photography as a business is hard work and boring. […]

Also posted in Business of Nature Photography, Photography, Selling Photography, Working on the Road | Tagged business, business of photography, career, education, nature photography, photographer, photography, photography career, photography degree, travel photography | Leave a comment

Are You Still Paying for International Phone Calls?

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published December 30, 2012

According to a recent Harris Interactive/Rebtel Research Study, smart phone and web users are idiots and spending money they don’t have to call internationally. Despite the number of free web services available to make international calls, US smartphone owners are shelling out close to $37.8 billion a year to keep in touch with foreign contacts. […]

Also posted in Internet Tips and Tricks, Staying in Touch | Tagged apps, borders, communication, free calls, free international calls, free text, international, international calls, international travel, mobile, mobile apps, mobile phones, smart phones, smartphones, staying in touch, technology, wifi | Leave a comment

Finding Vegetarian and Raw Food Sources Near Beaverton, Oregon

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published November 20, 2012

I’m finally starting to explore our new neighborhood near Hillsboro, Oregon. My new quest is to find healthy and organic local produce and natural foods stores, and some good ethnic groceries so I can eat with healthy recipes from all over the world. Here are some resources I uncovered on the web to help me […]

Posted in Life on the Road | Tagged asian markets, beaverton, food, grocery stores, hillsboro, international foods, local, local food, markets, pdx, portland, raw food, restaurants, shopping, vegetarian | Leave a comment

Fecking Travel Today

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published January 20, 2012

Bill Morton of Australia sent me this wonderful video link. Fascinating Aïda is a three-woman satirical cabaret act from the UK. This is video from their popular “Cheap Flights” song describing what you really get when you buy a cheap flight online. It so sums up my travel life in so many ways. With almost […]

Also posted in Going, Travel | Tagged airlines, airports, cheap flights, cheap tickets, cheap travel, flights, flying, online flight sites, saving money, travel | Leave a comment

Which RV to Choose for Travel and Life on the Road

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published November 29, 2011

I’m constantly asked which vehicle or trailer to choose when making a decision to take your camera and life on the road. My answer never varies. Here it is. There are a lot of articles out there with one view or the other on what type of recreational vehicle you should choose for travel. I’ve […]

Also posted in Full-Time Living, Going, Planning for the Road, Trailer Tales, Travel | Tagged choosing an rv, home on the road, living on the road, on the road, recreational vehicle, rv, rv choice, rv travel, snowbird, snowbirding, travel, vehicle | 2 Comments

Man Finishes 11 Years Walking Around the World – Just Because He Could

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published September 29, 2011

Walking for eleven years around the world, Jean Beliveau is about to return home to Montreal. Beliveau left Montreal on the day of his 45th birthday, August 18, 2000, after his small sign business went bankrupt. He decided to run around the world to try to escape that painful episode in his life. Archambault and […]

Also posted in Full-Time Living, Going, Travel | Leave a comment

What Is In Your Emergency Kit?

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published September 9, 2011

With Southern California out with no electricity, homes burning up in Texas, tornadoes across the country, devastating heat waves, much of the Northeast under water (and more water), earthquakes, and the threat of terrorism in New York and Washington DC (which means it could happen anywhere), are you ready? Is your emergency kit been inspected, […]

Also posted in Going, Pets on the Road, Planning for the Road, Staying in Touch, Travel | Tagged blackouts, disaster recovery, disasters, earthquakes, emergency, emergency kit, emergency planning, emergency situation, floods, hurricane, pet emergencies, pets, safety, safety planning, security, storms, tornado, weather, what to do in case of an emergency | Leave a comment

A Stolen Purse Leads to Crime Ring and Tips for Security Online and Off

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published June 17, 2011

On Lorelle on WordPress, I just published Security and Protection: Understand the Social in a Crime Network and How to Protect Yourself, an article that shares the story of how my purse was stolen recently, and the fascinating story of how the thief was caught, my role in the catching, and what I learned about […]

Also posted in 2011, Telling Stories, Travel | Tagged crime network, cybercrime, internet privacy, personal privacy, privacy, steal, theft | Leave a comment

Podcasting From the Road

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published May 30, 2011

My business partner, Dave Moyer of Bitwire Media, WordCast, and other ventures, and I spent several weeks on the road 24/7 traveling from Chicago to Portland, Oregon, to Seattle, then Vancouver, BC, and back to Seattle, then Portland. It was non-stop movement. He was worried when it came time to do the first podcast on […]

Also posted in Working on the Road | Tagged dave moyer, interview, life on the road, microphone, on the road, podcast, podcasting, recording, road life, road work, travel, working from the road | Leave a comment

Brent and His Practice Guitar

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published April 21, 2011

My husband, Brent VanFossen, plays classical guitar as well as steel guitar, specifically fingerstyle. He’s been playing since he was a kid, rock and roll style, and learned how to do fingerstyle guitar while we were in Israel, then realized he needed to go back to the basics and started on classical guitar training. He’s […]

Also posted in Full-Time Living, Telling Stories | Tagged brent vanfossen, guitar, life on the road, travel | Leave a comment

Buying WIFI: The Greed of Expensive Hotels

By Lorelle VanFossen | Published April 12, 2006

I’ve been planning to write a scathing article about the high price of WIFI Internet connections at hotels, motels, and the like for a while, but I can’t compete with the brilliance of Respectful Insolence’s article, Good WIFI, Bad WIFI: Most of the hotels that I end up staying at for these meetings are pretty […]