Our Leap Year

Category: San Ramon

  • El Fin

    El Fin

    Thanks to all of you who followed Our Leap Year and cheered us on throughout the year. Even though we knew we weren’t crazy, it still felt good to hear it from someone else. 🙂

    We’ve been back in the U.S. for a few months now, getting accustomed to life as digital nomads. When we first posted about that plan back in July, we joked that perhaps we’d buy a van and travel around in it.

    Well, we did it.

    Beginning in January 2015, we’re going to travel around North America, while working, in our minivan-turned-camper named Red Delicious. We’ll chronicle the experience on a new blog, Nomads With a Van. Check out the video tour of the van below:

     

     

    We hope you’ll continue to share your enthusiasm with us, but more importantly we hope this blog has inspired you to take whatever leap you’re thinking about in your life. Before we went on our leap year, we were stressed and terrified but also hopeful, and we haven’t looked back. Be bold, friends — you only live once.

    Lots of love and thanks,

    Tamara, Chris & Holly

  • 24Oct14

    24Oct14

    Teaser: Here’s Holly, and this was her face when she met Red Delicious for the first time. #WhoIsRedDelicious

  • 13Oct14

    13Oct14

    After spending September on the Tahoe Rim Trail and then in New York and Montreal, we’ve been plotting our digital nomad life and catching up with friends in San Francisco.

    We’ve got some exciting stuff in the works, but it’s not quite ready to be unveiled. More soon…

    PS: Holly says hi.

  • 31Aug14

    31Aug14

    Time for our next adventure: the Tahoe Rim Trail! After a couple weeks of visiting family and friends in San Diego, Santa Barbara, and the Bay Area, we’re finishing off our year with 165 miles in the Sierras with my dad.*

    We’ll share photos when we get back. Hopefully we will make it the whole way around! In the meantime, here’s our packing list. Everything is in quantities of two, unless otherwise specified.

    / CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES /

    • Hiking shirts
    • Convertible pants
    • Sports bra (1)
    • Underwear (4)
    • Baseball caps
    • Socks (2 pairs each)
    • Boots
    • T-shirts to wear at camp
    • Thermal base layer
    • Fleece hoodie (1, for Tamara)
    • Flannel shirt (1, for Chris)
    • Rain/wind jackets
    • Sunglasses
    • Bandanas
    • Hair-ties

    / HIKE & CAMP /

    • Backpacks
    • Compasses
    • Water filter (1)
    • 2-liter water bladders
    • Small water bottles
    • Trail atlas (1)
    • Two-person tent (1)
    • Sleeping bags
    • Sleeping pads
    • Inflatable pillows
    • Cook stove (1)
    • Fuel canisters
    • Set of spare matches (1)
    • Mess kit and utensils
    • Rope to hang food (1)
    • Headlamps, with one set of extra batteries
    • Knife/multi-tool (1)
    • Camp soap (1)
    • Towel (1)
    • Duct tape (1)
    • Light paperback books
    • Deck of cards (1)
    • Spare Ziplock bags (5)
    • Garbage bags (2)

    / PERSONAL ITEMS & FIRST AID /

    • Toothpaste
    • Toothbrushes
    • 8-packs of hygiene wipes
    • Waste trowel (1)
    • Lip balm with sunscreen
    • Sunscreen (1)
    • DEET lotion (1)
    • Nail clipper with built-in file (1)
    • Toilet paper
    • Ziplock “wallet”
      • IDs
      • Credit cards
      • Cash
      • Trail permits
    • Cell phones and chargers, for resupply visits into town
    • First aid kit (1)
      • Bandages and gauze
      • Alcohol wipes and antibiotic ointment
      • Burn and itch ointment
      • Blister care pack
      • Advil
      • Immodium

    / FOOD /
    We plan to resupply at least once on the trail and brought enough food to last eight days, with 2,000 calories per day, per person

    • Food stuff sacks
    • Three king-size Snickers to celebrate Chris’s 34th birthday on September 2 (!!!)
    • Breakfast
      • Instant coffee
      • Instant oatmeal with dried fruit and nut mix
      • Packaged bear claws
    • Lunch and snacking
      • Powdered Gatorade
      • Everything bagels, pre-sliced
      • Peanut butter
      • Fruit roll-ups
      • Granola bars
      • Prunes and dried apricots
      • Beef jerky
      • Trail mix
    • Dinner
      • Freeze dried packet food from Backpacker’s Pantry (4 nights)
      • Instant mashed potatoes with pepper salami (2 nights)
      • Macaroni and cheese with pepper salami (2 nights)
      • Small shaker of grated Parmesan cheese, for flavor and calorie boost

    *You might be wondering, what is my dad bringing? I didn’t even want to attempt to put his list up here lest I get part of it wrong. He’s very serious about finding the lightest and most minimal equipment — which we totally support! He’s a big follower of Erik the Black’s blog and gear recommendations. Maybe I’ll let him — my dad, I mean — update this post with his exact list.

  • 02Oct13

    02Oct13

    Today my mom and I (Tamara) called my grandma in the Philippines. She told us the thing she misses most about the U.S. is Chipotle! (more…)

  • 01Oct13

    01Oct13

    It’s officially day one of our leap year, which began with a leisurely 11 a.m. breakfast with Tamara’s mom and Jay — who made these awesome hash browns. (more…)