Fallbrook

Oakland to Fallbrook

February 25th, 2013   Mileage: 470

After leaving the East Bay around a month and a half after we had made the decision to travel, I sold the bulk of my posessions, packed my clothes, and we loaded my parents’ SUV I had been borrowing and Rob’s Ford Focus like Tetris champions and headed south on the 5 freeway towards Fallbrook, where our vague ideals would manifest into some sort of tentative reality.

Originally thinking we would spend a few weeks in Fallbrook doing odd jobs and selling Rob’s car to put towards a sedan wagon of sorts, we ended up staying for nearly two months and in possession of a much larger vehicle than we had foreseen.

Our initial vehicle/housing thoughts… Save on gas and get a compact car just big enough to accommodate ourselves, our ninety-pound dog and the, surely, minimal amount of things we would need to live for a year or more…

That makes perfect sense, right?

With one side trip before departure down to Big Sur, a test-run of sorts, in the oversized SUV I had been borrowing from my parents, with little provisions and a big ambition towards the box-house lifestyle we were planning on getting ourselves into, we quickly realized the impossibility of surviving.

Two grown adults, a large beast, and a foolishly underestimated amount of necessities later… We could NOT co-exist with any amount of comfort at the disposal of no running water, no space for alone-time, no room for our dog to do anything but curl into a ball surrounded by towering possessions, no refrigeration… No space!

Wafting in like a sour stink to your face, the reality of the literal roadblock we were facing smacked us upside the head. “How is this going to be possible?, was all we could think about.” And then I remembered… The camper…

Not that this idea hadn’t crossed my mind before in wishful thinking, but this thing had been sitting on all four retractable legs for nearly three years in the rock parking space of my parents house, basically wasting away with no hope of further use. My father had sworn its decrepitude, and my mother had stated its extreme lack of shocks impossible for her back. Dad had been voicing donating both the camper and pickup truck it sat on for years.

But this camper, oh this camper.

This little lady was the essence of my childhood. When I think back on it; the lifestyle my parents raised me with, to be ever-wandering travelers, always curious with what was around the next corner, has carried into my adult psyche. From traveling for all of my pre-schooling childhood to being chased out of our hometown by hurricanes, we were always moving. It was natural for me to pack up shop and move on to the next experience. I have recognized these patters forming in my life, and have yet to find comfort in settling anywhere, no matter the place. Not right now.

We waited until our arrival to even bring up the idea of refurbishing this spacious load to cart us in our travels to my parents. My father is the kindest and most loveable man you will ever meet, but has a comedic repetition in saying “no” before considering the alternatives. After promptly saying no, followed by an entire list of practical and probable reasons for failure, we put up a damn good diplomatic and heartfelt argument. It was so real and true in our minds, and all of our friends had given us nothing but support and admiration, they had to believe in this idea too. With my mother and I naturally teaming up against dad in our skillful craft of manipulation and consciously honed persaverance, and Rob’s practical male influence, it didn’t take long. He was on board with the idea, and offered his gracious and knowledgeable support.

On our way up north, we ended up being parked by a Subaru Forester (one of our preliminary car choices)... Quite a difference in size and comfort level if I do say so myself...

Our original time estimation extended into two months. With truck and camper repairs, we awaited the green light on our checkouts, keeping busy with art shows, fantastic meals that made my family’s heart swoon, and odd jobs around the house. 

Rob made gnocci and the three generations; my grandmother, mother, and I carefully rolled the little potato dumplings. He made us lasagna with homemade noodles, buffalo mozzarella, marcono tomatoes, and fresh basil from the garden.

We painted the garden fence...

 … And the storage barn…

I prepared for the San Marcos Art Walk

                                                   ...And had a mighty nice show

We fixed up our camper in a fine utilitarian fashion, adding cigar box succlent arrangements, a spice rack, crafty storage, and lots of comfy blankets.

Then the time came...

Time to go.

Our two months in Fallbrook were just wonderful. My parents and extended family fell head over heals for Rob, and we sure did enjoy our time together. Thank you for all the love and support you have given us. We got crafty and down to business, enjoyed the abundant nature and the beauty of Fallbrook, and spent priceless quality time with the Cosners. We loved our time there and were so delighted to be among family. Thanks again you guys, without you this would have never been possible.

Letter to the Parents

My dearest family,

As you know, I have lost my job, gotten dumped, pay way too much for rent, both money and a bike have been stolen from me, and I'm starting to loose my confidence that Berkeley is the right place for me right now. I need to make a decision on what my next move is going to be, how I am going to live, and I think I've figured it out. It is time I go on my adventure now. I've never been more sure of anything in my life, I need to get out and  explore this great state of ours, and the way everything has lined up, now is the absolute perfect time. I am almost 24, I have no idea what I want to do with my life, I don't know what's out there and what my options are because I've haven't gone there yet. I need to travel. You raised me to be a road-warrior and I've felt so trapped and stagnant being away from it. In all practicality, I would not be able to do a trip of this whimsy and possible length by myself. I have about $400 to my name, a crap load of stuff in my room that constantly feels like a ball and chain keeping me from going anywhere, and a dog that I will never leave behind.

As you may know, I've met someone, and that someone told me the day before I got fired that if I was let go, he would leave with me, and go anywhere with me, because he doesn't want to be here without me. Mr. Rob Starr came into my life a little over a month ago and we have been attached at the hip ever since. He is the sweetest, most genuine man I have ever met, next to dad of course. We are not jumping into a relationship or promising each other the moon, but we both want the same things out of life right now, and that is to adventure! Whatever one is lacking the other seems to make up for it. He has his head screwed on nice and tight and his feet planted firmly on the ground. He is kind and gentle but can access and take authority in any situation. He can fix a car and start a fire and cook a dang good meal from it! He has promised to protect me and keep me safe, but not hold me down or tell me what to do.

We know this is kind of crazy, but rather than moving home with my tail between my legs because the bay area chewed me up and spat me out, I want this next phase in my life to me my decision because its something I have always wanted to do. I moved up here for the wrong reasons, but I never stopped trying, and in the end, I met Rob, and I wouldn't trade that for anything. We know we get along, we know we are awesome and can make friends anywhere, we are smart and resourceful and we know its time, time to get on the road again!!!

Now, take a breath and let this digest. Though its surprising, I don't expect this news to be too much of a shock to either of you. And dad, I know all of the negative situations are rushing into your head in preparation for your rebuttal, but, fear not, we have done some planning, at least an outline and budget, and will continue to until its time to hit the road. We are planning on leaving in about 2 months. Rob just got a $500 bonus added to each pay check so we want to milk that for a while so we can rack in some dough before we take off. February 8th would be his 3rd pay check as of now which would mean he would have $3000 from work by that date. I have last months rent payed for January and an $800 deposit if I put my notice in with Rosina before the 1st. 

Rob has a car but we don't think its suited for our trip so he is going to fix it up and sell it to put towards a used wagon. We can probably get around $2000 for it, which realistically would be about $1500 after repairs.  We are also doing a massive condensing of our wardrobes. There are 2 hip stores that buy used fashionable items. I've gone through my closet and all of my beautiful clothes I realistically never wear, but they could rack in a good amount of money. Between the 2 of us our super hip duds could bring in about $300.

Below I've included our planning outline for this month and January so you can stay updated on our progress. Below there is also our budget for how much we project we can make as well as how much we are going to need to spend for our preparations. I am planning on coming home Sunday the 23rd, maybe sooner to avoid traffic because I don't think the easy Sunday driving rule is going to apply for the Sunday before Christmas, but I'll leave at about 4 am to get down there as soon as I can. I'm going to be stuffing the car with as much as I possibly can that I want to keep. I'm planning on keeping my blue dresser, red desk, and blue beautiful couch. I also have my 2 big paintings and the other small ones. We will be storing our books and records at your house also as we are not willing to part. I am bringing back all of my oil painting supplies to keep at home and only taking my watercolors. They are portable and versatile and deserve a little special attention on this trip. As far as everything else goes we will be having a garage sale in January to sell the rest and then donate what we haven't sold. Let me know (mom especially) if there's anything of mine you want to keep like my rugs... I can't really think of anything else you'd want.

So I'm sure you're wondering, "what are they going to do when they run out of money"? And to answer that, we will be keeping close tabs of our money. We have been doing a lot of research on WWOOFing and plan on doing that along the route of our travels first of all. WWOOFing stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. There are millions of farms across the world, for example there are probably 2000+ in California alone, that open up their fields and lodging for people to come and work their fields for 4-6 hours a day, 5 1/2 days a week, for generally anywhere from 1 week to 2 months. Many of these farms allow dogs, but its all about getting in contact with the right ones to find the right fit. They don't pay you but provide food and lodging, so we are hoping to basically farm hop to conserve our cash from the start. We are both very interested in learning how to grow our own food properly and in proportion to how much land and plots it would take to sustain a restaurant. I have talked about wanting to open a business in the future and have it involve art, food, and community above all. Rob being a long-time manager in kitchens and helping open multiple restaurants in New Mexico and California, he is also very excited about our new "class curriculum." We will also be making professional resume portfolios and a nice interview outfit so that if/when we find a place we'd like to stay at for a while we have a much better shot at finding work if we plan ahead and have our portfolios in hand.

I am also an artist, and will be documenting our trip via watercolors the whole way. I feel very comfortable spending a month or more in an area and painting the crap out of the place and trying to hand the town-particular paintings off to a gallery before we leave. I could also jump in and teach art lessons here and there and there's always waitressing to fall back on. With Rob's talents in the kitchen he will have no problem getting work wherever he goes. We are also planning on doing a little photo-documentation of the meals he/we make on the road. He has mad skills and beautiful plating so it would definitely be worthwhile to document and hopefully compile later. As we will be camping and living out of our car, we will never be homeless. If we really like a place we'll get a rental and bunker down for a while. If we don't, we throw everything in the car and move on. 

Considering we will be leaving at the beginning of February Spring will just be starting. We are going to start slowly heading up north, taking our sweet time hitting all of the National Parks and cool towns and cities we've been told of and will be told of. By the time we hit Washington we'll have to decide if we want to head into Canada and then over to Alaska or bear East to Montana. As you know, I've been dreaming of Alaska for years. Funny enough 'ol Rob has felt the same way about it and we don't see any reason to pass up the world's most beautiful place while we're foot loose and fancy free. Rob is applying for a passport now so that he can get it in the mail before we leave so we don't have to sneak him into Canada! Mine is good for another 4 years so I'm set. I have the giant Atlas Road map that will guide our way. We have already outlined our general path for the West Coast version. Eventually after we've seen it all on this side, We want to cross America on the North and make our way down the East Coast. So many places we haven't been to or remember. We want to stay in Ohio for a while and visit Rob's family then settle down at the little pink cottage in Florida for a while. Rob loves seafood and wants to learn to fish. I have been away from Pensacola for so long aside from little visits that I'm ready to hunker down for a while in my home town. After that who knows, who knows if we'll even make it that far. As far as we know, we don't really know what we want to do professionally, there's so much we want to see and do before something like kids makes it all impossible, we want to move for as long as we can so when it's time to settle, we'll have a giant list of places we've been to choose from. 

I'll be bringing everything I can home for christmas and staying through New Years. I'll come back up here for January to finish clearing out my room and selling what I can and Rob's car. Rob's roommate works in catering and told me he can hook me up with some temporary work for January so I can still have an income to save up more money for the trip. We've been researching cars and know we want a wagon. Our price range is under $3500-4000 with good MPG, older than 2000 and under 100K miles. We've looked online and found quite a few in our price range, but with gas mileage we think either the VW Jetta Wagon or the VW Passat Wagon our best for us. We will have enough money saved up for the car but we were hoping to split the cost and save the rest for the trip. Rob can put in his half and hopefully after some discussion we can work something out with grandam or you guys to supplement the rest. This way you could still be helping me buy a good reliable car but only be paying for half of it. We can discuss this more when I get home. After I am officially moved out in January, Penny and I will stay with Rob until his last day at work and last paycheck on Feb 8th. Then, we will pack whatever else we have that we will either be taking or storing and all 3 of us are going to come down and hang out in Fallbrook/south for a while so you can meet Rob. He is very adamant about getting your approval for this trip and wants to spend as much time down there with us as you/we want to feel comfortable with your daughter taking off with him. So once we come down together in February we'll both be moved out and sent off. All we will need at that point is a car. We will have the fundings and hopefully by that time you can pitch in some too. Once we find the wheels we'll get it thoroughly checked out by a mechanic and road-ready the car then its time to travel!

This is going to be the journey of our lives, for our life. It doesn't mean we're getting married or even that we're going to spend the rest of our lives together. This just means that we have each other now, and by some strange twist of fate everything has lent its self to this moment, where I sit on my bed nervously writing the two most important people in my life asking for their support on a trip I was born to make. Yes problems may arise and it won't always be a walk (or drive) in the park, but I feel safe, secure, and loved with Rob, and would never agree to make this leap if it didn't feel 100% right about it. I know you both will understand and I am at the edge of my seat waiting to talk to you about it! Rob wanted us to get all the logistics figured out first and write this up to announce the idea to you. I think our planning has gone really well so far and I'll keep you posted with our progress. Call me when you've read and discussed. I love you both so much. Thank you for raising me on the road and sea and instilling such a sense of vigor and wander in me. I am blessed to have met someone who is as equally adventurous and willing to travel to the ends of the earth by my side.

I love you,

Daughter

December to-do List:

Sell everything we can/want to:

     -clothes

     -car

     -bed

Pay parking tickets-DMV-Tues 17th 9:10 am

Re-register car-DMV-Tues 17th 9:10 am (needed to sell)

Put in Notices

     -work

     -landlords/apartment

Write email/blog to let friends and family know our plans

     -consider creating donation base on blog through paypal, every donor will be sent painting from travels

Talk to friends about where to visit/sightseeing/things to do/see

Condense wardrobes to bare/desired essentials

Get needed camping gear- Urban Ore, San Pablo Flea Market

     -ask about buying/trades

     -Things we need: Rob's sleeping bag, camping cooking gear (cooking stove, solar shower, wash basin, foam for back of car, all weather/warm         jacket, hiking boots for Rob

Safety gear for car/road

     - all tools needed for car-spare tire, jack, wrench, hazard cones, tool box, AAA, car chargers for electronics

Stock up on hygiene supplies

     - First Aid kit, snake bite stuff, baby powder/wipes, hydrogen peroxide, bandaids/bandages, sanitary gauze

After current insurance expires research cheaper sr22 insurance-(Serenity Insurance-$180 for 6 months)

Smog Car- needed to sell

Get alternator looked at- needed to sell

Burn tons of awesome CDs!

Gather/collect books for trip

     -pleasure reads

     -foraging/vagabond/survival tips

     -road atlas (already have)

     -watercolor pads

Apply for Rob's Passport-send in application so can be processed and sent before we leave (Feb 9th)

Research Cars- spacious (wagon), MPG, reliable ----- Under $3500, under 100K, above 25mpg, 4 passenger 

     - Subaru Forester/Outback (mpg-21)

     -Saturn Wagon (mpg-24)

   * -Volkswagen Jetta Wagon (mpg-33)

   * -Volkswagen Passat Wagon (mpg-27)

     - Saab Wagon (mpg-21)

January to-do List:

Donate everything we can't sell/store

Sell car before we head down south

Take as much home for xmas that can fit in car

Fix up room to get deposit back ($800)

Get camera from home- document adventures/meals made while on road (potential future book?)

Condense Art Supplies/Tools-take home what we want to store, sell/trade the rest

     -bring only watercolors on trip

Get better tent at home and leave current one

Buy used Car

Stock up on Food Supplies (can be done down south after car is purchased)

Outfit car for roadtrip

     -clever storage, foam and pad back seat, have a place for everything, pimp car for camping

Get computer screen fixed and car charger for it

Make professional resume packets for each of us

     -different resume's for different skills

          -cooking/managing, serving, art lessons, painting sales/work portfolio

Bring 1 nice outfit for interviews/job hunting

Projected Money Saved for Trip:

Rob's work- 3000

Rent deposits- 950

Car- 1500

Clothes- 300

Bed- 100

$ from Van- 800

Catering Income- 500

Total: Roughly $7,000

Introduction

Through miles of trial and error in recovery and mechanical breakdowns, our wavering weeks broke into a comfortable clarity that we were actually on the road, again. This little journey we have set out on would not had been realized if it weren’t simply the right time, and the right place in both of our lives. From the sheer luck of, then, entirely unrealized fortunate turns of fate, an opportunity for escape from the everyday regiment presented its self, and we leaped into its foggy future.

Our names are Hannah and Rob. 

I am an artist, and Rob is a chef. Along with our dog Penny, we plan to live out of our truck and camper, traveling America in the search of influence for our visual and culinary art.

With the support of our family and friends and a commitment that allotted our determination for change to outlast our marriage to comfort, our whole lives began to slowly evolve into this utilitarian lifestyle.

Rob and I met in the bay area at the end of November in 2012. He came into the restaurant I was working as a server at with a mutual friend and didn’t take his eyes off me the entire night. He’d catch my eye and bust out that award-winning smile that can just make a girl’s heart melt.

Two weeks later I was fired after a ruthless table at a delicate time in the restaurant’s life. It was inevitable that big changes were going to have to happen. Living month to month with outrageous rent in an unfit living situation quickly put things into perspective. After realizing I could not make the following month’s rent, I told Rob that I was considering moving and fancy the idea of traveling. He told me that if I were going to leave, then he wanted to come with me.

We have both wanted to travel and knew of the mysterious and magical states and towns that we had never been to and could easily miss by settling into a life of menial jobs and overly consuming rent prices. It is important for us to see it all before its too late.

Well then, here is our blog, The Traveling Kitchen and Canvas.

This will be a documentary of our lives on the road together, from both of our perspectives. Knowing that our saving can only get us so far, we are adopting thriftiness and sustainability to its fullest potential, and are seeking an income in the combination of our individual arts. Packing a chalkboard menu, an “eat here” sign, and a display board for paintings, we will be serving up tasty, seasonal treats as we stop at beautiful locations so I can paint.

Along with our non-descript food truck/art gallery, we will be lapping up the personal cultures of each town we stop in, staying for as long as we want, and learning as much as we can from each one. We hope to dive into farming by volunteering with the organization WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms), and spend a wholesome chunk of time volunteering for a wide array of organizations to further our education.

With updates on our route and mileage, you can keep track of where we’ve been and how we got there. With photographs of our meals and paintings made, and the beauty of America, we’ll keep record of our journey as it unfolds. Now that you are filled in, Lets start from the beginning…

-H.C.