It’s been nearly six weeks since our family embarked on a road trip across the United States with our stuffed 2001 Chevy Tahoe pointed northeast. Originating from our home in Northern California’s wine country, we set out to traverse our country in two weeks time via a northern route. If you’ve been following along, you know that this isn’t just a vacation. My husband is continuing to work remotely and I am managing our Airbnb rental from afar (with lots of help from my mom). That said, we’ve already realized that some places we visit will be truncated due to those restraints. We’ve paused intentionally at specific map points but also left some days open-ended to match exploration with our energy levels and availability.

We’re parked in New England for a bit, but we’ve been talking about the places we’d like to revisit. Montana could fill weeks on end. Our time along the Mississippi River was magical with bald eagles flying overhead and days spent on the water with our friends. There are also places that we know we don’t need to see again and that’s a-okay with us. I’m detailing some of our favorite spots below. Pausing to reflect on what we’ve already experienced has been quite a balm to my travel-weary soul and is giving me the energy to carry on.

Yellowstone National Park and Montana

The town of West Yellowstone welcomed us with a cold rainstorm and threats of snow in mid-June! We spent the prior two days making the drive across California, Nevada and Idaho so arriving in Montana felt like we were finally making some progress. Upon entering the park, we immediately spotted a bison grazing by a creek. More bison peppered the landscape as we drove along and we marveled at both their size and link to our country’s past. Pushing further into the park we stopped to see mud pots bubbling over and were surprised by an elk cow just inches from our car as we turned a corner. Wildness was around every bend from the full Yellowstone River, raging at every turn, to the bountiful wildlife. Old Faithful was a must for us and we sat (impatiently) waiting for it to erupt with the hundreds of others gathering as it’s time to eruption ticked closer. Moving on from the geysers big show, we intended to drive through the parks wilder northern range before exiting out of the Roosevelt gate. Construction and storms changed our course and we went out the way we came and soldiered on through Bozeman toward Billings. The storm was pretty intense at times during our drive making it difficult to orient, but what a sight for these 10 California eyes.

While we had some adversity in Billings (our rooftop carrier was robbed), the two nights we spent there were warmed by an old friend. He hung out with us at our hotel’s happy hour and played basketball with our sons. Neils caught up on work while the boys and I checked out a local park. We didn’t scratch too much of the surface of Montana but were awed by beautiful vistas and wildlife literally everywhere. We will definitely be back for more.

Crazy Horse Memorial and South Dakota

South Dakota is one of those places that I probably won’t revisit, but that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy our time there. The Crazy Horse Memorial alone was worth the visit and the perseverance of the Ziolkowski family is truly impressive. Honestly, it wowed us more than Mount Rushmore, which is a short drive away.

Next up was the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in De Smet, SD, though it took us a full day to get across the state to it. Who knew South Dakota was that big? (Sidebar: they also have a wine region!) The Ingalls home site in De Smet was a must for me as I recently re-read the Little House books and Wilder’s fully annotated Pioneer Girl autobiography. Since no one else in the family was too excited about the tour, we skipped it and self-guided ourselves around the small town. With two days in South Dakota, we were eager to move on to our next stop.

Minnesota

Welcoming us with warm hugs and cold beer, our friends in Wabasha, MN made our time at their home on the Mississippi River a highlight of our trip. They immediately pointed out a bald eagles giant nest in the high trees above their cabin. As if on cue, three juvenile heads popped out. Being my first eagle sighting, I was truly impressed. After relaxing for a bit, we loaded onto their pontoon boat for the “drive” to town for dinner. What a delightful way to travel!

The next day their grandkids arrived and were instant besties with our three. How sweet are childhood friendships? These kids have met only a couple of times in their lives, but their rekindling was instantaneous. A day of football throwing, fishing, water-balloon throwing and tubing wore us out! Tubing along the Mississippi was just so much fun. Boy antics ensued and we lost Patrick off the tube on the ride back to the cabin. No words of caution can compare with real life experience and subsequent lessons. Patrick is still talking about how he “fell into the river”, so hopefully this lesson sticks with him.

We said our goodbyes after two nights on the Mississippi with plans to return. It felt so reminiscent of the summers of my youth on Cedar Creek Lake in North Texas. Reconnecting with the joy of never-ending days on the water made me want to repeat this experience for our sons.

Niagara Falls

On we marched through the Midwest and into the East following thunderstorms much of the way. The morning we arrived in Niagara Falls was muggy and overcast, but we somehow avoided the rain. After making the 20 minute drive to the Falls we were delighted to learn that we’d be able to board the second Maid of the Mist boat out that morning and thus avoid waiting and big crowds.

Admission time: I did not plan to include the boat ride as a part of our Niagara experience. In fact, I have some deep-seated fears of waterfalls tracing back to childhood. But, a sweet gesture from my dad motivated me to board the Maid and experience the falls up close. And you know what – I actually enjoyed it! Our poncho-clad family were among the first to board so we scored a prime spot on the bow and planted our feet as firmly as we could to keep our place – it’s rough out there in tourist land. After a thorough drenching, we took the elevator back up to the vista and had a bit of an interesting experience while waiting in line. A group from India eagerly asked if they could be photographed with our family. We were unsure why they wanted a picture with complete strangers, and during the confusion of it all we mumbled okay. Afterward, the kids asked why they wanted a picture of us and I in turn asked if it made them uncomfortable. Two out of three admitted that yes, it did. After thinking on it for a minute, I told them that we probably looked pretty foreign to these travelers with our light skin, hair and eyes and they wanted to capture an image of us. I added that if something like that ever made them uncomfortable they could absolutely decline. Learning experience of the day – check!

Family Time

The initial portion of our road trip ceased that day as we arrived at the Western Massachusetts home of Neils’ sister, brother-in-law and our three neices. The three days we spent swimming, eating casual dinners and giving endless cousin piggyback rides were joyful. And hot. A heat wave hit as we were departing and wowee, is the humidity a beast! A 95 degree day at home is no walk in the park, but it is still bearable to be outdoors. A 95 degree day + humidity calls for sitting in an air conditioned room or pool time. Thank goodness we had access to both! Soon enough we’d realize that AC is a must if we’re staying in inland New England. Next up would be a Vermont housing debacle, but I’ll leave that for my next post.

It’s now the end of July and we’re satying in a Hampton, NH beach condo for the week, alternating beach days with rain days. One thing we’ve learned to appreciate is the post-rain clear days when there is virtually no humidity and beautiful blue skies. And Starbucks iced coffee + extra soy milk.

Until next time, friends.

The million days of May have ended, which means we’re that much closer to our departure date. Last month was full of activity – from Mother’s Day lunches, family hikes, school events, drama performances, piano recitals, Memorial Day and volunteer commitments.  Oh and our 10th wedding anniversary on the 31st. Phew! As excited I was to move on to June, the weight of the never ending to-do list is pressing. So, today I’ll be getting into the nitty-gritty of our trip preparations.

Readying our home for Airbnb

The most encompassing items on my prep list have nothing to do with our road trip. Rather, I’m focused on making our home into an ideal Airbnb rental. As this is our first time hosting on the platform, I’m hyper aware of the rating system. High ratings on Airbnb can quickly earn us “Superhost” status, which helps in search placement and the nightly rate we’re able to fetch. In theory this seems pretty achievable since we have a pretty minimal approach to stuff ‘n things collecting around our house, but let me tell you what – it’s no easy feat. Especially if you’re a perfectionist like me. As much as I’ve decluttered our house and lives over the past few years, there’s still a baseline amount of unnecessary items loafing around in unseen places. And these things need to be cleared out. So, that’s task #1 this week. Check out the remainder of my “Mission Airbnb” checklist below:

1. Decluttering: see above. The boys’ rooms are by far the worst offenders in terms of sneaky items hidden in closets, under beds and in “special hiding places”. For what it’s worth though, they’re being extremely cooperative and each bringing just a small tote bag of treasured things – if you don’t include the giant stuffed animals. Those animals are doubling as pillows on the road, so we’re all good.

   

2. Generic-izing our space: I’ve been working on this portion of our list intermittently over the past few months. This goes hand in hand with decluttering but also involves little tweaks that will make our home more appealing to the masses. Think: removing personal photos, kid’s artwork and thinning out books. We’re always watching our budget, so finding ways to make our home inviting on the cheap are paramount. A proud frugal moment for me was picking up a beautifully illustrated wall calendar for free, removing the prints with an exacto knife, then framing them in inexpensive Ikea frames.  These will hang in our hallway where our family photos normally reside. We’ve also purchased new solid white towels on the cheap to update our linen offerings. Other updates include a new duvet cover (to encase our aging bed quilt), a new lamp shade and sofa covers. Aside from these few nominal expenses, we’ve been able to mainly update our space for free by simply moving things around.
3. Making our space family friendly: perhaps this is not an important detail to all hosts and that’s okay. We’re marketing our home for what it is – a family home. And even though we don’t have babies anymore (sniff, sniff), we strive to make our space comfortable for families traveling with young children. Why? Because we are those people searching for kid-friendly homes. When we had 2 babies and a toddler and a vacation home boasted a pack n’ play or high chair, we snatched that rental up. It is just so much easier to have these items available than lugging them along or renting them locally ($$$). Thus,  I’ve taken it upon myself to scour the internet and local curbs for free baby items with much success! To date, I’ve picked up a pack n’ play, high chair and jumperoo – all for free! I unearthed our old white-noise machine (unsold at my friends’ local kids consignment store) and spent exactly $2 on a crib sheet for the pack n’ play. A bit of time spent sprucing up my finds was the only cost so that’s a win in my book.  I should also mention that by having baby and kid things on hand, we can market to a wider range of folk and that’s a big part of the equation here.
4. Touch-ups: after living in our home for 4 years there are ample areas ready for a touch up of paint. This week, I’ll be wiping down walls and doorways to prep for touching them up with a bit of paint next week. Outside we’ve also scraped the exterior, power washed and done some painting. These are all updates that contribute to our general home upkeep and the main cost is our time. DIY, baby!

   

5. Cleaning: okay, so I’m a bit of a neat freak and sharing my space with 4 fellas can sometimes drive me crazy. I clean our home regularly, but I’m happy to outsource that task at this point. It’s a tad difficult to keep our home as tidy as I’d like with 3 boys constantly running in and out these first 2 weeks of summer. So, we’re hiring a friend to come in after we depart to deep clean before our first guest. I’ve definitely had to reconcile that some things will not be as I like during these 2 weeks and move on from sweeping the floors for the 17th time in a day.
6. Guest resources: this week I’ll also be working on writing our house manual and resource binder. This will serve to inform our guests of how things work in our home and recommend some local favorite restaurants and stores. We also installed a lock box a few weeks back to house our key so that our property manager (my mom) does not have to be onsite for each check-in.

Preparing for our travel

Simultaneous to our home prep is the travel prep we need to do before we go. As our departure day inches nearer, I have found myself starting a pile o’ stuff in our garage. If you got that I don’t like piles of stuff from the above diatribe about cleaning, you’re absolutely right. But, I’m actually a-okay with this pile because it means we’re getting closer to our trip! In said pile resides a bin of independent study + homeschooling supplies, our newly purchased portable DVD player with thrift store DVD’s, travel books for the boys, a soft sided rooftop cargo carrier and other various miscellany. I also scored a free tow hitch cargo rack a week ago. It pays to regularly browse the Craigslist free section!

Aside from the growing pile, I’m compiling mental and digital notes of places to visit along our route. First up is the Tetons and Yellowstone, so this week I’ll be scanning library books to familiarize myself before we go. I honestly don’t have much of list of must-see places, as we prefer to travel slow and find our way as we go. There is so very much to see and do in each of the places we’ll visit that we’d drive ourselves crazy if we tried to do it all in our truncated time en route. Thus, we’ll connect with the places we do see and try not to worry too much about doing it all in this one trip. This is especially true here in the West where we are within a 2 – 3 day driving radius of many National Parks and protected lands.

Wrapping it all up

As we prepare for our departure, I have begun to feel a little sad about missing out on our classic summer fun in California – you know, FOMO. We love nothing more than a summer trip to Lake Tahoe, camping on the coast, trekking to Yosemite in the Fall, swimming in the Russian River and all the little things like shopping our local farmer’s market weekly and growing our summer garden. As much as we’ll miss these experiences, we know that California will be here waiting for us. With every choice we make we also give something up. The excitement of all we’ll see, do and experience across our country definitely outweighs our sadness, but I’d be remiss to not mention these bittersweet feelings. As my son Finn so sweetly put it, “I’m sappy, mom. Sad + happy.”

Onward to more trip prep, my friends. My next update will detail our cross-country route and first destination!

Since going public with our long-term family road trip plans, we’ve received varied reactions ranging from “Awesome!” to “You’re so brave.” Those who react in shock to the idea of traveling cross-country with our 3 young sons often smile politely while trying to not look at me like I have a third head. I get that reaction – I really do. That was the very same one I would’ve had 5 years ago, when we were in the thick of raising two toddlers and a pre-schooler. Most often, though, the question is “how?”.

Backstory

Five years ago this would have not only seemed crazy with a capital C, but more pointedly it would have been wildly unaffordable to our family.  Let’s back track a bit to 2013. A quick look at our tax returns for that year reveal an adjusted gross income that would classify us among the top 5% of taxpayers in the US. Great, right? Not so fast. That was also the year we acknowledged the urgency of our inflated lifestyle and mounting debt. Like clockwork, at the end of each month we’d find ourselves freaking out about our dwindling bank account while basically ignoring our consumption habits. Something had to change. And thankfully it did. After looking our spending patterns in the eye, we began taking steps to become financially fit. If you’re looking for the specifics on what we did that year and beyond check out my in-depth post here.

Where we are now

We’ve been debt-free (aside from the good ‘ol mortgage) since 2015 and continue to examine our spending monthly to make sure we’re not trending up. Spoiler alert: we do trend up and readjust frequently. It’s definitely a balance to walk the line of living a frugal life filled with experiences we enjoy. We now live on one income and continue to save in our boys’ college funds and retirement, though not as much as when I was working. Would we love to bring in more income so we could stash more away for the future? Absolutely! But, and this is a big one, we value living our why now. What’s our why? It’s our personal family mission statement that includes valuing experiences over things, being active outdoors and regularly seeking opportunities to broaden our world view. Taking the pay cut was okay with us because it ticked all the boxes in our why and ultimately led to more flexibility with our time. But “what about the money?” you say! “Didn’t you cut half of your income?” Read on, my friends.

How We’re Doing This – The Nitty-Gritty

How is this trip financially doable for a one income family of five? Well, one important fact we haven’t fully addressed is our home in the San Francisco Bay Area. Yes, it’s pricey. But, we were lucky to find a (reasonably, for the area) affordable home four years ago. We actually have two homes on our lot – my mom is in the second unit –  which makes the financials work for all of us. While our mortgage isn’t cheap by any means, it’s still cheaper than rent in our ridiculously pricey locale. This fact is an important piece of the “how we’re doing this” puzzle. Owning vs. renting is a no-brainer for us but the question of how we’re able to keep our home and still do this trip is a big one. Many families that travel long-term sell their homes prior to their big trip.  While selling our house for a big windfall of cash is tempting, we knew that wouldn’t work on many levels. Number one being that we are not in this alone (remember my mom lives here too). We also know that if we “cash out” of our California home, we’d likely be unable to return and afford another home here. So, selling is off the table.

The renting equation wasn’t so easy. We toyed with listing our home as a short-term six month rental on Craiglist, but we are not seasoned landlords so that didn’t really gel for us. So, we listed our home on Airbnb! We’re first timers at it, but reading how other traveling families have chosen this option to cover expenses gave us the confidence to move forward. It’s been 2 weeks since we’ve listed our home and we have 4 bookings! (Can you tell I’m excited?) Yes, this option is more work in that we’ll have more turnover while we’re away, but we are okay with that. We also have our home listed on HomeExchange.com. We swapped homes in 2016 and were happy with the arrangements, so we’re hoping to fill in some our travel dates with another exchange or two. I highly recommend this cashless travel option!

Additional Things to Consider

1. We’re traveling slow and staying put longer

Aside from our two week trip across the US, we’re aiming to spend at least one to two months in each location. This works for us on many levels, but for the purpose of this post it’s way cheaper! Many vacation rentals offer long-term discounts for staying monthly. Case in point: our Airbnb summer rental in Vermont offered a whopping 67% discount for monthly stays. This puts our monthly rent at about the cost of a weekly rate in many typical vacation locales. Traveling slow means that we’re not spending each day as if we are on vacation, so our time will mirror our home lifestyle. We’ll cook most of our meals at home and look for inexpensive or free local activities like hiking and swimming in summer months. In essence, our life will be similar in terms of expenses and perhaps cheaper in some ways due to our high cost of living in California.

2. We Hoard Hotel Points Year Round

While becoming debt-free we temporarily stopped using credit cards to aid in changing our spending habits. Upon reaching our goal of $0 debt we began discussing adding them back to our wallets for the rewards. This caused some nervousness on my end as I have a long history with slashing debt only to bring it back. But after an extended period of remaining debt-free, we felt comfortable signing up for a rewards card. I took a free online credit card “hacking” course and it was well worth the 5 minutes of daily email reading. We’ve had a few different cards over the years, but our current favorite is the Marriott Rewards card with it’s large signup bonus and multi-tiered redemption system. They have a new offer even better than the one we received – check it out if you’re interested and you’ll get 100,000 points! We’ve been banking both Marriott and IHG points (known for their family friendly Holiday Inn Express and upscale Kimpton hotels) for the past year so we have several days worth of points banked. We’ll use these points during our drive across the northern United States as this part of our trip is definitely more expensive than our slow travel in New England.

3. We Know People Where We’re Going

This is a biggie! Knowing people – specifically family and good family friends – in the locales we’re visiting is paramount for our trip to work, especially since this our first mega-trip. We have family in New England which was a huge motivator in choosing our destination(s). We also have family and friends along our route which makes the travel much more enjoyable and truly worth it. Time spent with these special people is irreplaceable and this is what making memories is for us.

4. Remote work makes our travel possible

This item could easily be ranked as #1 in our “how”. If remote work were  unavailable then our trip could not exist at this time. Sure, we could take a truncated version, but it definitely would not be the long-term trek we’ve been dreaming of. Neils’ job is location-independent and the managing partners of his firm have been a big support to our family. Working for a company that values family and life balance has been an amazing gift! Neils’ job is internet based so he’ll have to shift his working hours a bit to make it work.

Fleshing out this trip has been a lot of work but it checks so many of our why boxes that we knew the timing was right. Frugality has played a very large role for us and should not go unmentioned. If we had never taken a hard look at our spending habits, this trip would be a pipe dream. Pivoting when plans don’t pan out and a whole lot of ingenuity has been necessary during the planning process. We’re nearing go-time (1 month left!) and it feels like all-the-things need to get done. And they do, so that’s where I’ll leave you today, friends.

Stay tuned!

Typing the title for this blog post gave me a huge rush. We’re really doing this, aren’t we?! Yes, yes we are. If you know me, you know I’m a gal with a lot of ideas. Too many at times. This latest idea to travel cross-country and experience life outside our beautiful, idyllic California bubble has been brewing in some form for about 2 years. I will first say that we love California. I try to call myself a native, but I’m not – no disrespect to my homeland of Texas. It’s just that I kind of always felt like a square peg looking for my true home. I found my home and the love of my life here. We created our family here and settled in Neils’ beautiful homeland of Sonoma County.  It’s truly my dream life.

But, there’s always that nagging feeling of wanderlust tugging at my sleeve. Having 3 sons in 18 months put it on hold for a bit, but it’s always been there. In 2016, when the boys were 5 (times 2) and 6 respectively, we took our first big road trip traversing California east to Nevada, onward to Utah for 10 days and then home via Idaho and Oregon. Our trip was not long by most standards clocking in at 16 days, but for us it was monumental. It certainly wasn’t all roses and we learned A LOT about what we can handle and what we can’t (spoiler alert: this showed us we are not cut out for long-term camping). But this was the tip of our adventure family travel and so it’s important to highlight. For the bulk of our trip we spent our time in Utah in a 2 bedroom condo on Park City mountain. Our accommodations were totally free (I’ll write more on this in an upcoming post) and we’re hoping to score this same scenario again for our upcoming trip.

The Utah trip turned out to be the catalyst we needed to keep traveling with kids. 2016 saw our family take trips to Yosemite, Colorado and Washington. 2017 didn’t see any big road trips, but we were able to take a couple of treks to Yosemite (seeing a trend?), hit Legoland in Southern California and visit our family in New England. We camped in the Sierra foothills and spend time in New York for the first time as a family (on a 100 degree day, I might add). Maybe travel and adventure beget more travel and adventure, because as soon as we’d settle home for a couple of months, I’d find myself wondering where we’d go next. In late 2017, Neils and I began talking about a big trip and this conversation was different that the ones that preceded it. You know the chats when you’re on the road and you wonder if you can live in the locale you’re visiting? We’ve had those in Maine, Oregon and Vermont. A bit like Goldilocks, California was always just right for us, but the itch for adventure never fully leaves, does it?

Here’s a little info on how we’re able to make this work and why we were able to have this conversation in the first place. Neils’ job is location independent even though he currently works in an office. He’s worked from the road and home in the past, but never long-term. I think it’s fair to say that he enjoys the structure of an office. I, on the other hand, do not. I worked independently for nearly 10 years and going back to an office nearly gave me a coronary. I am about as independent as they come, so in May 2017 I left my career of 12 years and have spent the last year being a stay-at-home parent to our boys (read how I made the switch here). Life is full of surprises, so while we have the flexibility of our current lifestyle we’re taking this leap and hitting the road.

Why? Beyond my wanderlust and our adventure-family status, we seek to show our boys that life can be enjoyed no matter where you are. We feel that exposing our kids to new locations at a young age will instill the flexibility that’s needed in our modern world. Not only for survival but to thrive in a future of unknowns. We want them to know that friends can be made anywhere and that the vast majority of people are inherently good. A favorite quote by Mark Twain sums it up pretty nicely for me. In “Innocents Abroad” he wrote, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” 

So, hold on tight, friends! We’re hitting the road on June 15th and we hope you like calamity, because that’s what you’ll get by following along. See you out there!

Big adventures await for our family! We’re taking an extended road trip across the US and Canada from June – December 2018. During this time we’ll be leasing our lovely, mid-century Sonoma County home as a long-term, furnished rental. We prefer a 3 – 6 month lease, but are open to shorter duration stays for the right tenant(s).  We have a family member living on the property in a separate house who will serve as property manager during out absence. Want more info? Keep reading!

Here are all the details:

• 3 BR/1.5 BA bungalow in the heart of Cotati  – two blocks from downtown
• Sleeps 6 comfortably
• Furnished in simple, modern and comfortable decor
  • Master – king bed
  • Second Bedroom – 2 twin beds
  • Third Bedroom – full size bed
• Refinished original hardwood floors throughout
• Washer and Dryer in garage
• Large shared backyard with custom deck and wood play structure
• Mature fruit trees dot our backyard and you’re welcome to eat from them as well as the vegetables in our raised garden beds
• Walking distance to Cotati’s restaurants, bars and Sonoma County’s best market – Oliver’s
• Easy access to bike paths and hiking trails
• 10 minute bike ride or 20 minute walk to SMART train station
• Basketball courts and baseball field on our block
• Semi-rural neighborhood

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Rent is $2800 per month and that gets you our furnished home with internet, water and garbage costs included. Electricity is billed as used. Security deposit is $2000. No smoking. Small dog is negotiable – sorry, no cats as we are allergic. We live in a quiet neighborhood so this is a perfect rental for a family, traveling professional(s), grad school students, or retired couple. Credit check and references required. Available in early June.

To apply, contact Lindsey at 415.902.8956 (no texts please – calls only) or lindseybgoodwin@gmail.com.

Wait! Don’t run away with thoughts of yucky used stuff filling your brain! I promise this will be a painless tale where you won’t actually have to touch previously-owned items via your computer screen. All kidding aside, I used to live in a reality whereby I thought everything previously owned was either a) dirty b) gross or c) ugly. I only bought new cars, new clothes and new housewares. Pregnancy #1 cemented my “everything MUST be brand, spankin’ new” mentality, as I had to have the best for our son. Along came babies #2 and #3 just eighteen months later and the edges began to crack on my new-only policy. Of course we didn’t go out and buy brand-new everything’s for our newest bundles of joy, as we still had a baby in the house and we had almost everything we needed. So, babies #2 and #3 gleefully entered the world without having everything new and guess what? They survived!

Sarcasm aside, my point is buying used in real life became easier to swallow after I ripped off the band-aid and made a used purchase or two. First up – a minivan. Our two year old Toyota Sienna (aka swaggerwagon) ran perfectly and cost way less than the new model I’d been eyeing. It also whetted my second-hand purchasing appetite. Craigslist finds and hand-me-down toys were my new jam. By the time our boys entered preschool I stumbled into the world of used kids clothes and was pleasantly surprised to find a beautifully merchandised children’s consignment store in our town.

Where We Shop

Sweet Pea is a darling little shop that made my entry into buying used clothes seamless. Amy Strother, Sweet Pea’s owner, has a keen eye for sourcing the best quality used clothes, shoes, books, toys, maternity and baby items. The cleanliness (remember, I was a germ-o-phobe) and cuteness of her store immediately washed away all my feelings of used-induced-uneasiness. The store has now become our go-to for our kid-related purchases. If we have a birthday party to attend, we head to Sweet Pea for our gift shopping. New sport uniform needed? Yep, we trot around the corner to scour her shelves for cleats, jersey’s and socks. New school clothes? You guessed it – Sweet Pea is where we start. And guess what? We get most of our goods at no cost or deeply discounted. Why? We take OUR gently used kids gear, clothes and shoes to Sweet Pea to sell on consignment and earn credit that we can either use to shop or cash out. We have never cashed out, as we love the no (or little) money exchange model of shopping.

In the case where I can’t find what we need at Sweet Pea, I delve further into the land-of-used and seek out my favorite thrift stores. The deals to be had at thrift stores are unbeatable. There is definitely more digging involved, but the good stuff is there. Just a month ago I unearthed a Marmot jacket for my son in perfect condition for just $4 at our go-to shop. A similar style on the retailer’s website sells for $50. I popped that baby in the washer, then on the line to dry and it was as good as new!

When I exhaust my local resources for pre-owned kids gear, I turn to my favorite online consignment store, thredUP. I was an early adopter, latching on to this site back in 2013. Since then it’s grown in popularity which means greater selection for the shopper. The process is simple – 1) order a clean out bag and fill it with your good quality clothes, shoes and accessories, 2) send the bag to thredUP via their pre-paid label, 3) receive an email confirmation of your credit balance once your bag is processed and 4) shop for gently used clothes with your credit! I usually wait until I have a good amount saved up and then fill the bag up to it’s brim to maximize on my potential credit. A clear bonus of this model is ease-of-use and also the variety of women’s clothes, accessories and shoes in addition to kids gear. The caveat is that the credit is less than you’d get at a brick-and-morter shop. Plus you don’t get to try it all on in store. Though there is a 30 day return policy, so if something isn’t quite right we send it back and our store credit is returned as well. Check them out here and you’ll receive $10 off your first order!

But, WHY?

I’ve covered the how of shopping used, but you may still be scratching your head to figure out why I go to all this trouble to save a few bucks when big box and online retailers make it so easy and cheap to shop new. I have found with buying used we are able to procure longer lasting, better quality brands than the inexpensive in-store brands I was previously accustomed to buying. I also like that we’re recycling goods that are still perfectly usable. It’s also better for our local economy to buy a donated or consigned item + keep the money circulating in our community vs. feeding the corporate giants that pedal cheaply made goods. Our consumption driven society has us all throwing out perfectly good items – sometimes without ever being used- and it’s both financially and ecologically prudent to seek out these goods. It’s also fun! I love the process of finding a hidden gem at a thrift store or better yet from our local Freecycle group. While we still buy some things new (no used underwear, people), the second-hand market has treated us well these past few years and I can proudly say that my germophobia has been kept (mostly) at bay. Miracles do happen!

I’ve been writing this post in my head for nearly 3 months now and it’s time to get on with it. This (blog) space is new for me and I wanted to make it perfect before debuting my new piece of the internet. With 3 kids, 1 husband, a hiking habit, volunteering, loads more interests and a job, perfect is just not happening. That said, I want to get the show on the road so I’m jumping straight into summarizing what it is I’d like to chat about here. If you jump over to the About  section of the site, you’ll learn a bit more about who I am and what I’ll be blogging about.  Got it, okay, there’s more.

A short list of topics that are brimming over my cup right now are (in no particular order):

• Frugality + Simplified Living
• Recovering Consumerism
• Personal Finance
• ADVENTURING
• Nature
• Motherhood
• Gardening + Growing Food
• Community
• Sustainability
• S l o w i n g  D o w n

To expand a bit more on where I’m coming from, I’ll be weaving in stories of the life transformations our family has made over the past few years, while providing tips and useful information on how we’ve been able to “hack” life (I honestly hate this term) to create a lifestyle that follows our values.  For now, I’ll leave you with a question:

What values do you wish to bring to the forefront of your life?

Until next time, friends.

LBG