Illustrations Inspired by Our National Parks!

I like to draw, so typically when I hit the road on an epic adventure, I have in my bag artist tools -- graphite, paper, markers, colored pencils, gum erasers, and a sharpener. This adventure is no different, I am still carrying these items. Also in my bag are a few other tools that pack light and allow me to create digital renderings that I can easily transmit from app to site to platform. 

The first drawing that I've deemed "complete" enough to share (that can be a tough determination) is of our home during this project, Wally the Airstream, inspired by our time in Death Valley National Park. It was created on the iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil with the mobile app Procreate.

Starting out, I had no idea what I was doing so I loaded a series of sketching apps—Adobe Sketch, Forge, Sketches Pro—and gave some thought to what I've seen so far this year and to what I wanted to create. Then I took to drawing while riding passenger in long expanses of open road. As soon as I thought I was "on to something," I would discover another sketching capability in this app or the other, or a new pressure angle on the Apple Pencil, that would steer me in a new direction. While trying to finish a drawing this was frustrating; while trying to make something look cool, this was awesome. After many, many, many drafts of drawings in different styles, I started to gain an understanding of the different workspaces. Ultimately I chose to favor Procreate because it combines many of the aspects of Adobe graphic art programs that I love (particularly, it has layers) and for me, it is the most intuitive as a result of my familiarity of such programs. 

I have an entire collection of National Parks inspired illustrations in the works and will share them when they are ... complete. 

In the meantime, I hope that you enjoy my first drawing. :) 

— Stefanie

360 Virtual Reality (VR) video from inside the Airstream

Click arrow icon to play, then scroll with your mouse or cursor to get a virtual look at our home on the road. (Note: Visual clarity may take a few moments to sharpen on some machines.) 

Scroll around to see a 360 view of our home and office inside our beloved Airstream, Wally.

Breaking in New Hiking Boots

"If your nerve deny you - go above your nerve."

– Emily Dickinson

(And Cheryl Strayed) (And Stefanie Payne)

We'll be hiking a lot during 2016 and my other boots have seen maybe one too many miles over the years, so I bought some new kicks. You might recognize them from the movie Wild. (As far as I can recall, these are not mentioned in the novel of the same name.) These are the shoes that Reese Witherspoon playing Cheryl Strayed wore on her quest to conquer the Pacific Crest Trail. I've worn mine only once. 

Stupidly, I decided to trot out for a full day of hiking along the Sunset Trail in Hot Springs Arkansas without first properly breaking them in. By the end of the day and for two weeks after, my ankles were blistered and nerve-shot and cursing me, as my much less expensive, worn-once-too-many-time Keen's came to my defense.

I still have great faith in these boots and feel that once they are broken in, I'll never want to part from them. So, I enlisted advice from some experts in order to make them work.

One of the park rangers at Hot Springs told me to put the boots on, step into the river, then wear them until dry, allowing them to form to my feet in the process. REI, from whom I bought the boots, precisely says not to do this. I took both of their advice, dabbing them with river water, wearing them around Wally until they stopped making my feet bleed ... Eureka! I didn't need to break them in, they needed to break in me. 

Still, I'm not completely convinced that my shoe troubles are over and I still wonder if these boots will at some point go flying into a ravine this year. In that spirit, I welcome additional advice of how to break in hiking shoes. Feel free to have at it in the comments box below. Thanks in advance!

What to Read While on The Road

There is no road trip or outdoor adventure complete without the companionship of two things: great music and great reading. Below are books we are reading, re-reading, and hoping to read while on the road this year (and a few that we've loved along previous travels that we want to suggest to you.) If we've missed a can't miss, please feel free to make suggestions in the comments box by clicking on the article title and scrolling to the bottom. Thanks in advance for your inputs. :) 

On the Road, Jack Kerouac 

The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway

Life of Pi, Suraj Sharma

A Year in Provence, Peter Mayle

Miracle in the Andes, Nando Parrado

The Motorcycle Diaries, Ernesto Che Guevara

Tracks, Robyn Davidson

Journey to the Center of the Earth, Jules Vernes

The Great Railway Bazaar, Paul Theroux

The Happiness of Pursuit, Chris Guillebeau

Light at the Edge of the World, Wade David

Jock of the Bushveld, Sir Percy FitzPatrick

The Road to Oxiana, Robert Byron

In Patagonia, Bruce Chatwin

Travels with Charley in Search of America, John Steinbeck

A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson

Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer 

Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer

Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates, Tom Robbins

West with the Night, Beryl Markham 

Wild, Cheryl Strayed

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, Alfred Lansing

The Snow Leopard, Peter Matthiessen

 The Wanderess, Roman Payne

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert M. Pirsig

The Beach, Alex Garland

Wind, Sand, and Stars, Antoine de Saint-Exupery  

A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush, Eric Newby

Journey to the Center of the Earth, Jules Verne