About Annie

     I’ve been traveling around America workamping and volunteering  since 2007.

My home on wheels (the Tin Can Cottage) is a Winnebago Mini Motorhome.

This blog tells how I got started, my travels, my jobs, the hardships of being away from family and friends and topics of interest to people who live in RVs and people who dream about living in RVs.

Sometimes, though, the stories are eclectic: about routine RV life, my daily adventures, photographs and thoughts about life.

Living in a home on wheels ( my Tin Can Cottage) has not kept me from developing many friendships in different parts of the country.  It is a wonderful amazing bonus of life on the road.

Joy!  Annie

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How It All Started (#1)

Back in the day when I owned a house and worked at my job as an 8th grade counselor and teacher, I used to inspire my students by giving them what I considered to be the ten most important two letter words for having a dream life.

I would present these magical words by way of a game of hangman so they could “discover” them for themselves. After 13 years of teaching over 5,000 students, I decided it was time I granted myself permission to take on the power of the words: “If it is to be, it is up to me” in living my own dream life.

The dream life for me: living in a motor home aka recreational vehicle (RV), working at jobs around the country, and experiencing a never-ending journey of adventure and discovery via the open road. It entailed selling my house and furniture, walking away from my career, and in short, learning a brand new way of life.

All that was over four years ago. Today I am still living my dream life but not without initially going through immeasurable difficulties and countless mistakes.

As I travel across America I meet so many people who want to know about living in a home on wheels and making a living while they’re at it. Hence, the idea for this blog.

As you read my entries, please let me know what issues or concerns you’d like to see addressed or just leave a comment. I appreciate any and all feedback.

Joy! Annie

(aka Tin Can Traveler)

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Every Day: Something! (#2)

It was the end of May 2006. I had given myself a year to put everything into place. In just one year I needed to sell the house, resign from my teaching position, sell all the furniture, research and buy an RV. It all looked so simple, in my dream! In reality it was like being in a kayak on a river in Class IV rapids; sensory overload: what to do first, where to look, how to paddle, and all the while staying right side up! And, man, oh man, when you’re in it, the river moves like a runaway freight train!

Okay, I thought, all I have to do is set a reasonable goal. So I came up with this:Every day, do something, just one thing toward bringing the dream to reality.

So I got myself a notebook divided into sections for all the different things I needed to do. One page had all the info on selling the house. Another was filled with everything that was being sold or given to family and friends. Other pages were devoted to researching RVs and jobs for RVers.

The most unsettling list was the one with all the things I wanted to keep. I was delirious with materialistic greed, thinking I could still harbor all the flotsam and jetsam from 40+ years of pack rat proclivity.

Mentally, I had attached the stuff to me as so many outer coats that now had to be peeled away one by one. The only way to do it was to adopt a spirit of philanthropy. I saw most of my possessions off to good homes; only keeping what I thought I needed or would be useful.

It took me most of the summer and multiple parings but my home finally took on a cavernous look.

My next step was selling the house. So in August 2006 the house went on the market. Within a month’s time something happened that was both wonderful and dreadful. But that’s a story for my next post.

Joy! Annie

(aka Tin Can Traveler)