Tag Archives: lifestyle

The Small Life: The Peterson Family

livinlightly-on-the-roadI am so pumped about this post! I love to see how families make living small work for them. Today we’ve got Nick Peterson from Livin’ Lightly. Nick, his wife, and two young children live, travel and work from an Airstream! Take it away, Nick…

livinlightly-morning-cuddlesHello! We are the Peterson family! My wife and two kids (daughter 3 years and son 5 months) live, travel and work in our 1966 Airstream Overlander. We’ve been living small full-time for the past two years.

For us tiny living was never about the space. (At least not entirely.) We chose to live small so that we can live large in other areas of our life. Life’s all about trade-offs.

livinlightly-exploring-mapPre-Airstream the daily grind consisted of work, paying bills then we tried to squeeze in some family, friends and fun. After the birth of our daughter we began to rethink our existence and intentionally plan our life.

livinlightly-stoy-timeFor us this meant trading a steady income + benefits, larger living space for portability, time with family and pursing work we love.

In preparation for this transition we buckled down and cut all unnecessary spending, got on a strict budget, paid off our debt and saved. We purged and sold all our stuff, bought a vintage Airstream and a big truck to pull it. We worked to build versatile and largely passive income streams to pay the bills.

livinlightly-parked-in-woodsNow we have the time, and ironically space to share life as a family, the freedom to travel and explore and pursue what matters to us most.

Here’s to living the small space large life dream!

Aren’t they just the cutest?! You can read more about Nick and his family on their blog, Livin’ Lightly or on IG: livinlightly. And remember, If you want to submit your own Small Life, email me asmalllifemelanie @ gmail dot com.

love,
melanie

 

 

Unconventional Lifestyle Blogs

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

I get periodically obsessed with things. I’ll only want to eat mushrooms for two weeks or I’ll want to obsessively learn about making soap. Anyone else the same way? No? Ok. Just me, eating mushrooms and making soap for two weeks until I’m on the the next fascination.

Anyway, this past week or so, I’ve been doing a lot of personal research into alternative or unconventional ways of living. I hope it’s not just a passing phase because unconventional ways of living are fascinating– especially since I live pretty unconventionally, myself. It’s got me dreaming of becoming a full-time traveler or homesteader or a traveling homesteader. Can you be both?!

Here’s a few of my favorite resources I’ve found so far:

The Art of Nonconformity
On the Art of Nonconformity, Chris writes about about personal development and life planning, with the conviction that you don’t have to live your life the way other people expect you to;  entrepreneurship and other kinds of unconventional work, with the belief that the work we do should be both fun and meaningful; and  international travel, travel hacking in general, and his journeys to more than 25 countries every year.

The Modern Nomad
Gustav Andersson worked a 9-5 job for five years and realized that he was slowly stagnating into a comfortable routine — a personal nightmare of his. So he quit his job, sold his flat and walked away from the well-trodden streets of London to begin life as a modern-day nomad.

Nomadic Matt
Matt’s story is similar to most of our stories. We have the 9-5 with the 2 weeks of vacation per year. But a trip to Thailand on his measly 9-5 vacation changed him. He met five backpackers who showed him that he didn’t have to be tied down to a job and that he didn’t need to be rich to travel. After that trip, Matt went home, finished his MBA, quit his job, and set out on an adventure around the world. Matt is one of the foremost experts on travel hacking.

The Prairie Homestead
Jill ‘s journey with homesteading started with a compost pile. She currently lives on  67 acres of Wyoming prairie and blogs about returning to your roots of self-sufficiency and simple living, whether you live on a sprawling ranch or in a high-rise apartment.

Wayward Spark
Camille lives in Oregon with her husband and two little kids in an off-the-grid, tiny cabin. On her blog, she shares her honest experiences of modern day homesteading.

I’ll share some of my favorite Airstream travel blogs soon. I want to hear about your favorite unconventional lifestyle blogs in the comments!

Obsessively researching until then.
love,
melanie

 

Happy Birthday to me!

baby girl

This baby girl turns 27 today!

Today is my birthday! I have one every year!!! Anyone else singing that No Doubt song? No? Don’t get me started about how much I love Gwen and No Doubt.

In honor of my birthday, I’m taking the day off from the blog.

later gaters.

love,
melanie

27 before 27: Birthday Goals Update

Last year, I posted my 26 27 before 27 goals. And it’s almost my birthday, ya’ll.  I thought it’d be fun to see how well I did. Admittedly, I lost the original paper these goals were written on, so I haven’t looked at them in a while. Luckily, I saved it here and shared it with you lovely folks! Here’s the update:

26 27 before 27

  1. Travel to a new city: New Orleans and Philadelphia
  2. Try a new cuisine: Israeli
  3. Read a “classic” novel: I re-read the Great Gatsby. It counts!
  4. Make a new friend: Amber
  5. Learn to make a vintage cocktail: Tom Collins… gross
  6. Implement “do nothing” Sundays: I don’t think this will ever happen.
  7. Sleep under the stars: At Drew & Jordan’s wedding
  8. Print out old pictures: Noooope.
  9. Buy a new pair of jeans: I hate jean shopping.
  10. Go on an unplanned adventure: My whole life is an unplanned adventure at this point!
  11. Send a letter: Sent it with a package. It counts, right?
  12. Connect with an old friend: Lauren
  13. Throw a party: Doing this (again) on Monday!
  14. Take a night-time stroll: Do this all the time with George, of course!
  15. Live without regret: Done.
  16. Forgive often: Working on it, always.
  17. Visit the farmers’ market: I visited the one in Raleigh. It counts.
  18. Bake for a friend: Easter
  19. Play in the ocean: I touched the ocean last time I was at the beach. The water is still super cold here!
  20. Visit the antique store in Williamston: Never open.
  21. See a movie alone: Not at the theatre, but I have watched a few alone.
  22. Speak up for myself: On many occasions, still needs work.
  23. Learn to shoot a handgun: Just need to take the class now.
  24. Get a massage: Bah, I never make time to schedule these!
  25. Hug George daily: My welcome home hugs are the best!
  26. Laugh often
  27. Worry less!: Work in progress!!!

Tomorrow I’ll share my new birthday goals.

Do you make birthday goals? What do they include?

love,
melanie

New Orleans Honeymoon

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One of my favorite parts of the graveyards in New Orleans were the painted tombs. Colorful in life, colorful in death, right?!nola60001 nola60002 nola70001 nola80002Standing beside Voodoo Priestess, Marie Laveau‘s (disputed) tomb.

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nola30001For our honeymoon, George and I decided to forgo the traditional, all-inclusive beach trip for a darker, and dare I say, more exciting vacation to New Orleans.  And we didn’t regret a minute of it. The food was amazing, the history was rich and the beer was flowing!

As you can tell from the pictures, we visited several graveyards and we brought along cheapo, disposable cameras. I kind of love the way the pictures turned out. They are a little creepy, over-saturated, and look much older than digital photos. We also forgot to charge the digital camera– happy mistake! I brought the disposable cameras on our ghost tour too, but none of the pictures turned out. I think a ghost ruined the rest of our film!

If you are thinking about doing something a little off the beaten path for your honeymoon, I would highly recommend it. Get out there and see something new!

Did you go anywhere “different” for your honeymoon? Are you planning to go somewhere “different?” Let me know in the comments.

love,
melanie