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work remotely

Staying Fit While Traveling Full Time

Oh hey, there! It’s been a while since I’ve talked to you guys. This time I have something pretty exciting! As most of you already know, I am a huge fan of working out. It’s something that’s been a part of my daily routine for as long as I can remember.

One thing that I was hesitant about when hitting the road, was leaving the comfort of my full time gym. It had everything I could ever need to keep up with my daily WODs (workout of the day) and feel comfortable that I wasn’t going to lose any of my newly acquired skills.

Let me get to the point. Brandon built this super awesome website, map.fitness, that allows you to search for outdoor (or indoor) fitness gyms in your area. It’d compare it to the Campendium for workout facilities. The only way this site will be successful is if users, like you, help us populate the map with workout facilities in your area.

Our goal is to help users find a place nearest them where they can workout. When you are constantly on the go, whether full time travel, business travel, new to an area, or just looking for a place near you to workout, we want to provide you with the tools necessary to help you get in shape and enjoy the outdoors.

Steps to join:

Head over to map.fitness.
Click the “Join” tab.
You’ll create your profile.
Now you can start contributing by choosing what type of facility is it:
From here, you will then be prompted to fill in the rest of the details including a title, description, location, and pictures.

We are very excited about having a platform for people to find places near them to get fit. You’d be surprised how many parks have workout equipment so we might as well utilize them!

July 3, 2017

A Year in Review – Airstream Style

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

Holy moly! What an amazingly awesome ride 2016 has been. When we rang in the new year (I was asleep by 10PM) I had NO IDEA we’d be packing up all of our things, buying a (newer) Airstream and hitting the road. It’s stuff dreams are made of, y’all. Lets take a little trip down memory lane, shall we?

At the beginning of April is when this great journey began. We spent one of our last nights in our sticks and bricks house scrambling to get everything in storage (including the old Airstream) and out of the house. Our tenants were moving in to the house in just eight short hours.

We spent a few nights parked in a friends driveway where we learned that we would need an alternate transportation option for the generator. Thankfully we had time to grab a Thule rack while we were still in our hometown.

Once we left Austin for our maiden voyage, we spent a few nights parked in Dad’s driveway. Little did he know this was about to become a trend. We’ve spent many nights parked in that very comfortable driveway, utilizing his fancy washer and dryer, and even washing our house on wheels in his driveway. Thanks, Dad!

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Junction, TX

White Sands National Monument

May is when we really started to learn the ropes. We had replaced all four of the tires on the Airstream at this point, changed the (broken but not really broken) converter, and realized that this GIANT TIN TUBE gets really really hot when the temperature rises.

We experienced our first national park in May. It was overwhelming, awesome, and fueled a fire we didn’t know existed. We hit our first milestone of tiny living for 30 full days, without any accidental deaths. All in all, May was a great month!

yosemite national park

Yosemite National Park

June is when we were introduced to Bend, “real” boondocking, and when we determined we really did need a more powerful tow vehicle. What an expensive discovery that turned out to be, but we do love the power behind the diesel.

We also visited our second National Park which turned out to be absolutely gorgeous and not busy, at all. Crater Lake National Park was partially closed in certain areas due to snow still on the ground, in June, so we were only able to explore on foot and bike.

Deschutes National Forest – Bend, OR

Crater Lake National Park

Come July we were needing to move on from Bend, so we ventured to the Oregon coast. While it was lovely, we weren’t a huge fan of the dreary weather so we turned our rig back around to make our way back to Bend for the fourth of July weekend.

At this point I wasn’t real sure we were going to make it any further in our journey and I was completely fine with it. However, we insisted we move on, so we did and boy am I glad we did! Our next stop was Seattle to visit friends and family.

We spent our evenings taking the ferry from Bainbridge Island into Seattle to dine in great company. Our first ferry experience was, um, not our brightest moment. We just got on a random ferry that was leaving the port in Bainbridge Island, and I quickly realized we might not have gotten on the right ferry. Thankfully, after asking a couple, we were informed that we were in fact on the right ferry. We loved spending time with Aunt Leta and seeing the sites of a big ol’ city.

Bandon, OR

Bandon, OR

Smith Rock State Park

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Ferry from Bainbridge Island to Seattle

August was when things really started to get interesting, as if they weren’t already. At this point, I was adamant that Bend, OR was going to be our favorite place but here comes Montana and Glacier National Park. Wow. What an amazingly gorgeous, friendly state.

Glacier National Park is where we encountered our first Grizzly bear, mountain goat, and weird giant beaver looking animal. It’s where we fell even more in love with the life we were leading. It’s where we acquired our first National Parks Pass. It’s where we dusted off our passports and headed into another country, aka, Canada.

As we made our way south, we spent some time on the outskirts of an adorable little town on the border of Montana and Wyoming. We were able to boondock right on the Yellowstone River all while being just fifteen miles from Yellowstone National Park. At this point, we are just knocking National Parks off of our list. After work, we’d venture into Yellowstone National Park and partake in some mini hikes. We saved a good ol’ mountain biking trip for a weekend and it nearly killed me. Fortunately, I survived and we headed onto Grand Teton National Park.

There is this awesome little boondocking spot right outside of the park that over looks the Tetons. And holy moly, it was hands down the most gorgeous spot we had yet to stay. Needless to say, we were starting to love Wyoming as much as we loved Montana.

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Yellowstone River

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Grand Teton National Park

September is when we started to really head back south. After leaving Wyoming, our next big stop was Colorado. This is where I really started to feel the affects of the altitude. You’d think I would be used to it at this point, but for some reason it became even harder for me to breathe.

Anyway, we spent some time in various towns throughout Colorado with our favorite being Pagosa Springs. We had visited a few years ago to ski and loved the fun, vibrant little town so we were excited to be back in the summer.

After leaving Pagosa Springs, we headed to Taos, NM to visit some friends from college. They were kind enough to let us moochdock in their driveway and then take us downhill mountain biking. We had just acquired some new sweet mountain bikes so we were excited to put them to the test. And wow. They aren’t the type of mountain bikes made for downhill mountain biking, but they got the job done and we had a blast. Taos is an adorable little town and we hope to visit during ski season!

At this point we were wrapping up our journey and hadn’t been swimming ALL summer. Which is unheard of for a couple of Texans so I begged to turn our rig southbound straight for the beach. Given a love for the white sandy beaches of Florida, we didn’t object. We spent a few days driving a ridiculous distance to get to our favorite little campground in the Southern United States, Grayton Beach State Park.

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Pagosa Spring, CO

Angel Fire, NM

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Grayton Beach, FL

October was the month that we were expected to arrive back in Austin, TX so we tried to make the most of our final days on the road. We made our way to Tennessee because I really wanted to visit Nashville. We found a great campground right outside of Nashville to spend the week. The spots were GIANT and the leaves were starting to change which was gorgeous.

After leaving Nashville, we made our way to Arkansas which is such a beautiful state that I believe is underrated. One of my favorite little towns in Arkansas sits right in the Ozark Mountains with a fun little downtown area and great hiking all around.

buffalo national river arkansas Thorncrown Chapel

Eureka Springs, AR

We are incredibly grateful for the time we spent exploring the beautiful western United States and cannot wait to see what the eastern portion has to offer. It’s fun to think up all of the places we can (and will) go. One major adventure I have in mind, includes turning this adventure south and heading through Mexico into South America.

One of my favorite things about our journey is sharing adventures with our family and friends. Our parents have been nothing but supportive and I’d have to say my Dad is our number one promoter. I mean, he is the reason we have so many subscribers.

December 21, 2016

The Extraordinary Escape – Eureka Springs, AR

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

As we approached Eureka Springs, we were greeted by an overwhelming amount of corvettes. At first, we thought it might just be a cluster of vet enthusiasts, but we quickly learned there was an annual corvette meet up happening in this lovely little town.

Our first evening there, we ventured into downtown Eureka Springs to grab some dinner and check out the adorable town. The downtown area is set right in the foothills of the Ozark mountains with winding roads that leads up to adorable cottages. We sat up on the balcony of an old hotel and watched the corvettes, and motorcyclists cruise through the narrow downtown streets. Next door, was an open amphitheater with a live band playing cover songs from the 80s. People were singing along and clapping from the balcony. What fun!

downtown eureka springs

Sunday, we woke up with no set plans. After doing a little research I quickly learned there are a plethora of hiking trails within in a 60 mile radius of Eureka Springs. I had wanted to hike to some waterfalls in the Buffalo River National Park but learned that it isn’t much of a waterfall if it hasn’t rained recently. Instead, we hiked from Centerpoint to Goat Trail which spit us out right on a cliff overlooking the Buffalo River.

buffalo national river arkansas

As we were hiking along the goat trail, we noticed that there are some really neat little nooks perched right in the rocks in which you could tent camp, for free! The views of the river and bluffs were enough to make the hike in worth it. Actually, I guess, the hike out was a bit more challenging since it was up hill all the way.

buffalo national river arkansas

An older gentleman had stopped us on our way back to the truck to ask if we had spotted the giant rattlesnake everyone was talking about. Well, no, we sure haven’t and thankfully so. I couldn’t figure out whether the gentleman was pulling our leg or serious about the “giant rattlesnake”, either way, I high tailed it out of there.

buffalo national river arkansas

A few years ago, I was pursuing Pinterest and came across this amazing chapel in the Ozarks. I’ve always wanted to visit and since we were so close I’d asked Mr. TCP if he’d dust off the tripod and put on his fanciest clothes for a quick photo shoot at the Thorncrown Chapel. He rarely objects to my ridiculous requests anymore.

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It really is a stunning piece of architecture. One that should be seen in person.

After we made our way from the chapel, we went back to the downtown area to walk around and visit the neighborhoods that sit behind the quaint downtown streets. There is art work every where you turn. It’s hanging on the cement walls and it’s even part of the stair cases.

downtown eureka springs

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At this point, I figured we could take a headshot or two of me so I could update my LinkedIn profile. Just in case I need to dust off that ol’ resume. Also, I had washed and dried my hair so why the heck not.

The one on the right really sells how I feel about working and the one on the left just makes me look like a delight. Either way, Mr. TCP had to edit out some wrinkles. HOW DO I HAVE WRINKLES AT 28?!

We’ve already started planning our next trip to Eureka Springs, maybe even plotting a way to live there part time. It’s a gorgeous little town with minimal traffic so it’s right up my alley!

Just a fun, old school motel, that sits on the main street running through Eureka Springs.

October 12, 2016

One Month of Living Tiny

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

We hit our one month mark of living tiny a week ago. When we had originally thought of this new life, we didn’t really think it would happen. It’s one of those things you talk about but in the back of your mind it’s just too crazy. It’s something that “normal” people with “normal” jobs just do not do. I mean come on, we got married a year or two ago (who is keeping count anyway) we should be having babies! Right?

Here is a quick recap of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The good:
We laugh a lot more than we did back home. Even at the annoying things. Well, I usually laugh while Mr. TCP is dealing with the annoying thing, but at least one of us is laughing. Right? You’d think spending so much time together would result in annoyances or just down right hatred of one another. It’s in fact done the opposite.

Downsizing is good for the soul. Or something like that. Living with less is actually fun. Transitioning into a much smaller space wasn’t as painful as you’d expect. Our home back in Austin was around 1250SQFT so we weren’t living in a macmansion to begin with. And clutter really bothers me so filling our home up with a bunch of stuff just doesn’t do it for me. Living small is perfect for us in that we can’t acquire much and picking up after ourselves has been an absolute must.

We waste very little. Just before we left town, we looked at our past water bill and noticed we had used 3,000 gallons of water. GASP! What the hell were we doing? Watering everyone’s lawn in the neighborhood? Six times a day? The Airstream can only hold 39 gallons of fresh water, well 45 if you include the hot water heater, and we go through that in about 4 days. If you do the math, that is roughly 300 gallons of water we are using on a monthly basis now. That is 10% of what we were using before. Obviously, we aren’t including the water we use at laundromats and any bottle water we buy at the store (which is very little). I’d say that is a win!

We are spending a ton of time outdoors. After I wrap up my work day, I am ready to get out of the Airstream so we head to the beach or the mountains. Whichever is closest. We ride our bikes to places we are wanting to explore rather than drive and we are walking the dogs. A lot. I’d say we are spending on average about 30% more time outside than we were in old life. And we spent a good amount of time outdoors before.

The bad:

Laundromats are, um, disgusting. While, yes, some might actually be clean, the thought of doing laundry where others have washed their clothes and other things is quite disturbing. However, on the business side of it. I’d love to own a laundromat. What a cash cow.

Clutter can happen fast! As I mentioned earlier, I am not a fan of clutter and so when you have a small space and stuff starts to pile up it can become a disaster zone quickly.

We are bleeding money it seems. A lot of big expenses seem to keep hitting us around the same time so that has been kind of painful. But such is life and if you plan right it doesn’t hurt too bad. If you ask Mr. TCP how bad it hurts he would say he has severed a few limbs.

The ugly:

Dumping stations. Yeah. It’s just as glamorous as it sounds. This is something that Mr. TCP has the joy of dealing with while I stand back and observe. It can be rather disturbing, have I mentioned that I am kind of a germophobe, so the thought of being in the vicinity of other peoples grossness just about does me in.

All in all, we absolutely love this new way of living and all it offers. It’s something we are truly grateful for and don’t take a moment for granted.

May 18, 2016

A Look Inside our Day-to-Day

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

When we talk about this journey folks always say “What an awesome vacation!”. Well well well, little do they know we live normal lives. I guess the word “normal” isn’t really accurate because most people would say that this life is CRAZY. I think it’s crazy awesome.

Back to our day to day. Each morning we wake up to the usual alarm buzzing loudly telling us it’s time to RISE AND SHINE. Fortunately for us, the sun is already blaring in the windows, whether the shades are closed or not, so the alarm really isn’t necessary at this point.

I am a morning person. I love mornings. It’s my time to workout, make some coffee and spend some much needed time mindlessly browsing social media. Mr. TCP hasn’t always been a morning person but I think he is coming to enjoy them more and more.

Once we wake up, we leash up the pups and take them for their morning walk. This is adjustment for us since they have always had a dog door to use the bathroom at their leisure (and in private). I can’t say they are loving the new bathroom situation.

After all of the kids have been walked, we move on to making the worlds largest pot of coffee then sit down to start the day. Instead of working separately, we now sit two feet from one another. That’s right. We spend eight hours a day staring directly at each other. I’d be lying if death threats haven’t been made so far on this journey. Mr. TCP might even have GoPro footage of me threatening to push him off a cliff. Esh.

We really are super close.

When lunch time arrives, we stretch our legs and take the kids out again for a walk. At this time, I try to get in a workout and Mr. TCP heads out on a bike ride. It’s very anti-climatic.

As the work day wraps up we are both ready to head out for a fun trip to grocery store or maybe if we get REAL crazy, we head to Target. I’ve been trying to use the crockpot as much as possible because it’s the easiest to clean up and it’s rather healthy if you do it right. A friend made a comment about eating out often, and honestly, we don’t. We have eaten out once so far, but we are only a few weeks in.

We are lucky in that we get to go exploring when we wrap up our work day so whether that be a trip to the store or a hike around the local trails, we are getting to see and experience things we otherwise would not be doing back home.

On non-working day, AKA the weekend, we either travel to the new destination to set up for the coming work week or we spend the weekend heading to the craziest trails we can find.

This is our current reality and I cannot say I hate it, just yet anyway.

May 6, 2016