None of Us Are Getting Out of Here Alive | 2 Years Full-Time Travel

None of Us Are Getting Out of Here Alive | 2 Years Full-Time Travel

James opens this episode by telling us he's already been given a ten year prognosis, and instead of dressing it up, he just says it plain: none of us are getting out of here alive. We're just off three weeks living inside our friends' lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and James spent part of that stretch in New Hampshire saying goodbye to a friend he'd known his whole life. He came back with a cancer prognosis sitting differently in him than it did a year and a half ago, and we talk about it plainly before we ever say good morning. Then we're in the Badlands of South Dakota, boondocking for free at a spot called Nomad's Lane, watching Norman have a standoff with a pronghorn while Bella chases it and loses badly. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, we realize we're rounding out two years of doing this life exactly the way we dreamed it. What You'll Hear in This Episode: - Why James opens this episode talking about his own cancer prognosis and a friend's death, not as a downer, but as the whole point - What three weeks actually living inside friends' lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa looked like (T-ball games, water parks, and a borrowed driveway) - The excuses we all reach for instead of going after the life we actually want, and why they're good excuses, just not true ones - James's actual advice: stop chasing the Joneses and start living - Where we're boondocking for free in the Badlands, and how to find the spot if you're coming through - Norman's standoff with a pronghorn, and why Bella never had a chance - What it feels like to round out two years of full-time travel, doing it exactly the way we used to just dream about Resources and Mentions: - Pleasant Creek State Park, Iowa - Palo Marsh, Iowa - Badlands National Park, South Dakota (Wall, SD) - Nomad's Lane boondocking, Badlands SD (free, self-contained, no utilities) - @KerouacsCruising on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube - Norman and Bella, our dogs Note for Clarity: James says this rounds out "a year" of full-time travel. To be precise: this is a year doing it the exact way we dreamed (full-time, in the travel trailer). Add in the year and a half we spent traveling before that in a utility trailer, and we're actually just over two years into full-time travel altogether. If James talking about a ten year prognosis and deciding to go after life anyway stirred something loose in you, that's exactly the kind of thing The Reinvention Project was built to sit with. Come find us when you're ready. https://thereinventionproject.podia.com/the-quiet-reinvention-workshop [https://thereinventionproject.podia.com/the-quiet-reinvention-workshop] You're always welcome at our campfire. Find the blog, the show, our socials, Ko-fi, and how to reach us all linked below.

Ticks, Beepers, and a Stick in Norman's Mouth | Life on the Road With Dogs

"Do you want the good news or the bad news?" That's how this one started. Norman, a stick, and a phone call that had Cara convinced something was actually wrong. We've been traveling full-time with Norman and Bella for a while now, and this episode is everything we've learned along the way that we haven't said out loud yet. The hammock that saved our backseat. The water timing trick we wish we'd figured out before our Kansas debacle. Why we medicate them the same way we'd medicate ourselves after an injury. The tick situation that's still not fully solved. And the beeper collar that quietly became one of the best decisions we've made on the road. Plus: a stick, a spoon of peanut butter, and a phone call that had one of us convinced the worst had happened. What You'll Hear in This Episode: * Why our dogs never learned to hold their bladder, and what that means for road trip planning * The dog hammock and cushion setup that saved our backseat (and our sanity) * Why we don't feed or water them right before a long drive, and what taught us that lesson the hard way * The pain medication mindset we use for the dogs that we also use for ourselves * Our ongoing, unsolved tick situation and why we're looking for a better option * How the beeper collar became one of the best tools we've added to the road * Hot pavement, paw pads, and timing walks around the heat * What we've learned about national park rules and campground restrictions for dogs * Norman, a stick, a spoon of peanut butter, and the funniest non-emergency of the trip Resources & Mentions: * Our dog first aid kit episode [https://kerouacscruising.alitu.com/episode/7e359f75-4cd1-4f4b-b920-f6ce68685b5c] (porcupine quills, cactus removal, rattlesnake awareness) * Our Kansas episode [https://kerouacscruising.alitu.com/episode/79912d8f-6a32-4dd9-9433-40bce382e905] (the cop and emergency convoy story referenced here) * Wall Drug, South Dakota [https://www.walldrug.com/] (the billboard campaign that got us curious) If something in our conversations is stirring something in you, The Reinvention Project is where we go deeper. Come find us when you're ready. https://thereinventionproject.podia.com/the-quiet-reinvention-workshop [https://thereinventionproject.podia.com/the-quiet-reinvention-workshop] You're always welcome at our campfire. The blog [http://kerouacscruising.com/what-weve-learned-traveling-full-time-with-dogs/], the show [https://kerouacscruising.alitu.com/1?order=newest], social [https://www.facebook.com/KerouacsCruising], Ko-fi [https://ko-fi.com/kerouacscruising], and how to reach us [ Join@kerouacscruising.com]!

We Stopped White-Knuckling It | Road Life Two Years In

Two and a half years ago we were gripping the steering wheel so hard our knuckles were white. Trying to figure out how to keep this life we'd built from slipping away before it had even really started. This week... we're not doing that anymore. This episode is a road dispatch from Kansas and Iowa; tornadoes we almost panicked over, soul people we tracked down in Kansas City, a wedding memory that hit James somewhere tender, and a quiet realization that we've actually, genuinely arrived at the life we were fighting so hard to keep. We also talk about what it felt like to drop into the grind-pace of regular life while visiting people we love... and how strange it is to live outside that rhythm now. Not better or worse. Just different. And how much we notice it. What you'll hear in this episode: * The tornado that turned out to be mostly in our heads (and the neighbors playing in the rain while we were ready to flee to a storm shelter) * Kansas City through the windshield of a 26-foot trailer; six lanes, kind strangers, incredible food * Cheyenne (from our Safe Space episode) in real life; her bookstore, her world, her people * The wedding James doesn't remember attending... because he was very, very drunk * Why Iowa might become a twice-a-year stop on our route * What "white-knuckling it" actually felt like in year one... and what it feels like now to just... relax into it * Where we're headed next (Montana, Yellowstone, Beartooth Pass...?) Resources and mentions: * Cheyenne's podcast [https://youtu.be/frHKFnTAf3Y?si=dkN95iSBqHWIkS66] * Our episode with Cheyenne [https://youtu.be/asuuHmnq8-M] * The Reinvention Project [thereinventionproject.podia.com/the-quiet-reinvention-workshop] If something in this conversation is stirring something in you, the gap between the life you're grinding through and the one you can feel waiting... that's exactly what The Reinvention Project is for. It's a quiet space to look honestly at what you're building and who you're becoming. Come find us when you're ready. You're always welcome at our campfire. Everything: the blog [http://kerouacscruising.com/we-stopped-white-knuckling-road-life-two-years-in/], the show [https://kerouacscruising.alitu.com/1?order=newest], social, [https://www.facebook.com/KerouacsCruising] Ko-fi [https://ko-fi.com/kerouacscruising], and how to reach us [ Join@KerouacsCruising.com], is linked. We're glad you're here.

We Just Needed to Let the Dogs Out | Kansas Road Trip

We just needed to let the dogs out. Then the cop showed up. From the art streets of Santa Fe to the flat middle of Kansas in tornado season, this one has everything. We catch you up on the leg of the trip that took us through New Mexico to visit Kaatje Jones [https://www.wildxpression.com/] (co-author and now in-person friend) and into the heart of the Great Plains, where the weather changed overnight, the RV parks take cash and checks only, and one very routine dog stop turned into one of the most chaotic moments we've had on the road. Plus: what we actually learned about tornado safety, why you should never let your gas tank drop below half in rural Kansas, and why James now checks the weather three times before he trusts it. What You'll Hear in This Episode: * What Santa Fe is actually like — the art district, the culture, the adobe buildings, and the hiking that surprised us * Visiting Kaatje Jones [https://www.wildxpression.com/] in person for the first time and why her property in the mountains east of Santa Fe is its own whole experience * Cara's first time doing anything physically demanding since the car accident in March, and what it felt like to climb again * Why we'll keep finding climbing gyms on the road, and where to look for auto-belay walls when you don't have a partner to belay you * The moment the Kansas weather forecast changed overnight from sunny and 90 to tornadoes and 65 degrees * What we actually learned about tornado safety, including why overpasses are more dangerous than most people think * Rural Kansas RV parks: cash only, no online reservations, and why that actually worked fine for us * Nearly running out of gas twice in the plains, and the practical rule we now live by when pulling a trailer through rural areas * The dog stop that turned into a cop encounter in the middle of a Kansas field, and what happened next Resources & Mentions: * Kaatje Jones [https://www.wildxpression.com/] — voice therapy practitioner and co-author of the Together We Rise anthology. Catch up on our episode featuring her here! [http://kerouacscruising.alitu.com/episode/0b27b924-54f8-40aa-8c49-a81a8b127e94] * Rancheros Campground [https://santaferancheros.com/] — Santa Fe, New Mexico area. 15 minutes from Santa Fe proper, old growth pinyon and juniper trees, trail around the campground, great privacy between sites * Glorieta Pass / Pecos River area — dispersed camping pull-offs on the right heading up. Good for tent camping and fishing (trout). Worth noting: it read as group-style dispersed camping — not traditional individual sites * Canyon Road — Santa Fe's art district. Blocks of galleries, handmade jewelry, sculpture, and some of the most beautiful and unusual art we've encountered on the road If this conversation resonated with you, you're always welcome at our campfire. For photos, reflections, and the companion blog, head to KerouacsCruising.com/blog [http://kerouacscruising.com/driving-through-kansas-what-nobody-tells-you/]. To follow along in real time, find us on social @KerouacsCruising. To support the journey, visit Ko-fi.com/KerouacsCruising. And if something here made you think, feel, or see your life a little differently, we'd love to hear from you in the comments or at Join@KerouacsCruising.com [Join@KerouacsCruising.com]. However you choose to be here — thank you for being part of this. 💚🩷

Why Not Me | Crewing the Cocodona 250 in Arizona

We celebrated our anniversary on a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. By Monday we were following a 250+ mile foot race through the Arizona backcountry. We didn't plan that week. It turned out to be one of the best we've had. We're back on the road, and this episode is the catch-up we owe you. We talk about what it felt like to go home, what we fixed, what we decided to keep, and why we're not selling the house after all. Then the episode goes somewhere we didn't see coming: a 253-mile ultramarathon through central Arizona, a brother-in-law who'd been training for a year, a crew of unpaid people who showed up with their whole hearts, and a 34-year-old woman who made history by becoming the first person ever to win the Cocodona 250 outright. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, a quiet realization: the things we really want have a way of arriving. Just not always in the shape we expected. What You'll Hear in This Episode: * What it felt like to go home after months on the road, and the surprisingly emotional decision to stop talking about selling the house * The solar panel upgrade that changed everything (and the folding panel that quietly gave out) * How we ended up crewing for a 250-mile ultramarathon * What it means to truly let the people in your corner show up for you and why that's harder than it sounds * Rachel Entrekin, 34, who became the first woman to win the Cocodona 250 outright, beating every man in the field and the course record by over two hours, and the "why not me" mantra she used to get there * Why the mindset game and the physical game are the same game, and what that means for the rest of us * What's coming: Santa Fe, Kansas City, Iowa, New Hampshire, Montana, Idaho, and James's son's new business launch * An honest mention of The Reinvention Project and why this episode is the reason it exists Resources & Mentions: * Cocodona 250 — 253-mile ultramarathon, Black Canyon City to Flagstaff, Arizona: cocodona.com [https://cocodona.com] * Rachel Entrekin — 2026 Cocodona 250 overall winner and course record holder * Dr. Joe Dispenza — mentioned in relation to retreats, mind movies, and the "thoughts create your reality" framework * Dr. Margaret Cochran — the "backseat driver" concept (the inner critic that wants to drive the bus) * Dispersed Camping, Flagstaff, Arizona * LA Comedy Club at the Edgewater, Laughlin/Bullhead City — anniversary comedy show * The Reinvention Project: thereinventionproject.podia.com/the-quiet-reinvention-workshop [https://thereinventionproject.podia.com/the-quiet-reinvention-workshop] What you heard in this episode isn't a commercial break. It's the thing the episode is actually about. Watching Jeff run 250 miles. Watching Rachel win on "why not me." Watching a crew of people show up with everything they had without being asked. All of it points to the same thing: the gap between what you're capable of and what you've given yourself permission to believe. That gap has a name. The Reinvention Project is where we're working on it, with people who are ready. If something in this conversation is sitting with you, come find us when you're ready. thereinventionproject.podia.com/the-quiet-reinvention-workshop [https://thereinventionproject.podia.com/the-quiet-reinvention-workshop] If this conversation resonated with you, you're always welcome at our campfire. For photos, reflections, and the companion blog, head to KerouacsCruising.com/blog [https://kerouacscruising.com/why-not-me-life-lessons-from-the-cocodona-250/]. To follow along in real time, find us on social @KerouacsCruising. To support the journey, visit Ko-fi.com/KerouacsCruising. And if something here made you think, feel, or see your life a little differently, we'd love to hear from you in the comments or at Join@KerouacsCruising.com [Join@KerouacsCruising.com]. However you choose to be here — thank you for being part of this. 💚🩷