Life Turns to a New Direction

This is a very hard post to write.  Three weeks ago, my life changed in an instant.  No real warning, no time to prepare, no time to do anything but focus on the new firehose of reality that was now rapidly propelling me in a totally new direction.

I know lots of travels and photos have transpired between my last blog post (my summer volunteer ranger gig at Bryce Canyon National Park last summer) and now.  I hope to fill those gaps with backdated posts in the coming weeks as I get the time/energy.  

But this post may very well end up being my last, chronologically speaking.

Dental Implants for Nomads - 5 Lessons Learned

One drawback to nomadic life is the difficulty in maintaining continuity of "in-person" service providers-- be it hair stylists, mechanics, or doctors and dentists.  While most services can be performed same-day or within few days, a few require multiple visits over a much longer time period.  Getting a dental implant is one such example.

As I recently discovered, getting a dental implant as a full-time traveler can be fraught with added "gotcha" complexities.  To help fellow nomads steer clear of these in the future, I share my top 5 Lessons Learned:

How to Move To Florida in 1 Hour

Yes, it's absolutely true!  Within one single hour this past Wednesday, I managed to:

• Trade in my Illinois Driver's License for a new Florida DL
• Title, register, and license both my RV and car to Florida
• Register to vote 
• Get a Declaration of Domicile document filled out, notarized, and filed with the County Clerk's office
• And, with a couple minutes to spare, take this cheerful "selfie" of Florida's newest resident! 

Now, obviously, it took much more time beforehand to prepare for this super-smooth morning in Florida.  If you're a full-time RVer looking to change your domicile state soon, read on to find out how (and why) I "moved" to the Sunshine State.

Busy Days on the Refuge & a New Job

Since the 18 new volunteers arrived 2 weeks ago, it’s been a flurry of activity here at Bosque del Apache NWR.  Between training sessions, pot lucks, and preparing for the big Festival of the Cranes (that starts this Tuesday), it’s been an exceptionally busy time.  Add to that, a new job for me here on the Refuge, lots of new major personal legal/financial changes to plan (as a result of the new 2016 ACA Healthcare plans), and a little episode of nearly burning down my RV last week….and I’ve felt rather scattered in 101 directions this month!

Sorta like these snow geese.  One day they’re enjoying a nice relaxing sunny afternoon resting in one of the ponds…

and the next day they’re buzzing over the tourists’ cars fleeing for their lives!