Posted by Tagged with Family travel, family US roadtrip, Theartistsway Posted in Uncategorized

Take a Risk or Play it Safe?

#1. Are you a risk taker?

#2. What’s the most dangerous thing you’ve ever done?

My answer to these questions before this year would be

# 1 – NO

#2 – I don’t believe in doing dangerous things!


Then came the decision to travel for 6 months. We moved out of our house of 10 years and hit the road with a rough plan, but many details yet to fill in. I struggled with how people would react to this choice we had made. It seemed reckless and crazy. It was out of character from the play it safe environment I had been raised in. What would people say about us? Would we fail, and come running home to a chorus of “I told you sos”. Would our younger kids resent us for taking them out of school? How would our older kids react to not having a home to come back to on breaks? What if there was a crisis or things didn’t go like we expected?

We packed up our van and hit the road on November 1st, 2022. I felt confident that this was the year to take this trip, and that God would take care of us and take care of our big kids who were not with us.

I had read that when you know that you are meant to do something and you step out and move toward that idea, things begin to work in your favor. That’s exactly what began to happen. People got excited for us and began to give us gifts, introduced us to people they knew, and offered practical suggestions.

“Leap, and the net will appear” is a phrase originally penned by James Burroughs, and re-quoted in countless other places. I clung to this phrase in the days before we left when I felt scared or unsure.

Oftentimes when we take a chance, others respond with help, and circumstances align in our favor. Julia Cameron in her book The Artist’s Way calls this synchronicity. The miracles of everything falling into place to support our travel vision cannot be denied or dismissed as luck. Many times during the trip, we have seen God open doors for us to stay in places we weren’t expecting.

If we wait until we are ready to do something that seems big or scary, we may never do it. We will never feel ready to take a risk.
Living this creative life takes faith and trust.

I don’t pretend to have it all figured out. I still struggle with fear and doubt, but taking risks gets easier the more I do it.

I’ve been looking at the life of Jesus lately and have been noticing that He never called his disciples to be safe.
If Jesus were walking with me right now, I believe He would not say be safe, but instead, be brave.

Brave means stepping outside my comfort zone. Brave means doing things that scare me. A few examples for me are

  • saying yes to being a guest on a podcast
  • becoming who I want to be instead of who others expect me to be and
  • calling myself an artist and a leader

What does being brave look like for you right now? Is there something you need to step into, but don’t feel ready? Take a couple steps forward. You can do it!

Posted by Tagged with family US roadtrip, national parks, new mexico, White sands Posted in Uncategorized

White Sands National Park

Our 2nd National Park visited was only 3 hours from Carlsbad Caverns, so these two amazing wonders could be seen in one weekend. They are both in New Mexico. We stayed the night in El Paso and then drove the hour to White Sands in the morning.
Nothing can quite prepare you for this park. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. There are over 200 miles of white sand. A road winds through the park and there are several places to stop and park.

In the pictures, you will see that the sand can almost be mistaken for snow. Especially since they give out sleds at the visitor center for visitors to slide down the massive sand dunes.
We didn’t see many other people there in January. It was a bit chilly and we needed our winter coats, but the sun shone brightly so it was comfortable. We spent about 2 hours wandering around, just us and the sand…..miles and miles of it. I could see how it would be easy to get lost since there are no paths and everything looks the same. The only landmark is a paved road winding through the center of the park.
The kids said it wasn’t as fun as sledding in snow – of course! We wrote words in the sand, took deep breaths in and out, and just enjoyed the peace of this sacred place. Here are a few videos to give you a glimpse of the grandeur of this magical place that looks like snow in the desert.

It’s nothing like sledding down and icy hill. It’s SAND. At the bottom of the hill Malia yelled, “that was leisurely!”
Posted by Tagged with Carlsbad Caverns, Family travel, family US roadtrip, national parks, new mexico Posted in Uncategorized

Carlsbad Caverns

Three months into our USA road-trip, we finally visited our first National Park.
Carlsbad Caverns is located in New Mexico and is home to an incredible cave that you can walk down into and explore. Millions of bats live in the back of the cave and fly out at sunset. The bats stayed well hidden on our walk through. I watched videos ahead of time, but nothing could prepare me for the massiveness and wonder of this cave.
After reserving an entrance time online and paying your entrance fee (free with a National Parks pass) we took the 1.5 mile path down, down, down into the cave. There is an option to take an elevator down, but we opted to walk down.

The great room on the bottom of the cave is 750 feet below ground, so it is quite trek down. It was not very busy the day we were there, so it was dark, quiet, and eery. Ivy, our 8 year old, was scared and had a hard time enjoying the cave. I can imagine those with high anxiety in dark places may want to take the elevator. It was quite a workout on my leg muscles since the entire path was a steep downward slope. Once you are in the great room at the bottom of the cave, it is well lit and the ground is all flat. To walk through the entire cave it can take about 2.5 hours – it’s HUGE. We skipped the final mile loop so spent about 2 hours total from start to finish with lots of breaks to rest and drink water (bring a water bottle!)
Here are some photos of the cave. I highly recommend visiting this natural wonder. It is truly a work of art that far surpasses the beauty of any church or cathedral I’ve ever visited. It almost felt like a holy place.

The road into this National Park is about 7 miles long. When we arrived it was so foggy we couldn’t see much more than a few feet in front of us. By the time we left the park, the fog had lifted and we were able to see the beautiful landscape leaving the park. As we drove from Carlsbad to El Paso, Texas, we had the most gorgeous views of the Guadalupe Mountains.

Posted by Tagged with Corpus Chrisite, Family travel, family US roadtrip, Houston, San Antonio, Texas, traveling homeschool family Posted in Uncategorized

The Road is Long

We have been traveling now for almost 3 months. Our travels have brought us into 12 different family’s homes to spend the night and many others for a meal or short visit. We’ve also stayed in a cabin, a tiny house, a beach house, several airbnbs, and a handful of hotels.

Our shortest stay has been for one night and our longest stay for one month. The trip itself has not been physically exhausting. We have had very few responsibilities other than homeschooling, scheduling upcoming stays, and phone calls for Mark’s business.
What HAS been exhausting is the emotional toll of packing and unpacking so many times, battling our own doubts about the trip, and talking through all of the constant changes and unknowns as a family.

When you don’t have a familiar HOME to come back to, then wherever we are becomes home. I’ve even caught myself saying “let’s go home now” on nights we are staying in a hotel. Home has been the resting place at the end of the day, wherever we find ourselves.

Three months has felt like a marathon as we continue to trust that this is the best path for us. It has been incredible to see how the road has risen up to meet us. As we have asked people to host us or simply prayed and asked God to lead us, the next steps have literally appeared.


Just last week I was feeling discouraged about being alone for a weekend while Mark flew back to Minnesota to DJ multiple events. I got a text from my friend Ami in San Antonio saying her family was gifted a beach house in Corpus Christi for the weekend and with only one days notice, she asked if I wanted to join them. Her family and friends’ company was refreshing, and I came back to pick Mark up from the airport at the end of the weekend feeling refreshed and ready to move forward.

We are spending most of January in the BIG state of TEXAS. From the freeways with more lanes than I’m used to, to the vehicles with waist high wheels, to the gas station, Buc-ees, with 200 gas pumps – everything’s bigger in Texas.


Tex Mex is everywhere. Tacos, burritos, fajitas, oh my! It would be hard to be vegetarian or vegan here….or a Democrat!

I don’t think I could live here year around simply because of the heat. We are fortunate to be here in January. We went into downtown San Antonio yesterday wearing shorts and someone asked where we were from. Apparently people from Texas don’t wear shorts this time of year because this is winter for them.


The highlight for me in Texas has been seeing new and old friends. We don’t have to stay in any hotels in this state. We have friends and family willing to host us.
Here are some of the people we have stayed with or spent time with so far.


Houston, TX.
Carson and Alicia Clark and family Wes and Lesley Patterson and family

San Antonio – Week One
Eric and Autumn Lundquist

Corpus Christi Beach House Weekend – Van and Ami Teodosio and family

San Antonio – Week 2 is off to a great start. Teodosio and Chouravong Family


Thanks to all of our past, present, and future hosts for welcoming us! Let me know if you are interested in seeing us as we head West to Arizona and California in February and March.

It’s been quite a ride, and it’s not over yet!

Posted by Tagged with Family travel, family US roadtrip, NewOrleans, NoLa Posted in Uncategorized

New Orleans

We were told “You Must go to New Orleans!” I didn’t know much about the city, so I polled Facebook friends for ideas. The most common advice was “Eat ALL the food!” This city is famous for its jambalaya, seafood, po boys, red beans and rice, etouffée, and beignets. I was excited to try a few.

Our first stop was a walk through Jackson Square. A brass band was playing and we stopped to listen for awhile. There are street performers all over the place in the French Quarter. I soon realized that if I gave a tip to every musician, I would quickly run out of money. If you visit New Orleans, definitely bring some extra cash along to tip the musicians.
Our quest to try new foods began at a place called Nola Po-Boys. Here is a video of us trying these delicious sandwiches and the famous gumbo that everyone was talking about.

After trying the po-boys we moved onto another most recommended spot, Cafe DuMonde, home of beignets. These tasty little square pastries were quite reasonably priced. 3 for $3.85. They were served hot and covered in a mountain of powdered sugar. I enjoyed mine with an iced coffee.


There are a lot of artists displaying their work on the street corners and plenty of galleries and shops to walk through. We loved looking at all the Mardi Gras masks that were for sale.


We stayed at a hotel where we parked our car overnight for $40 and then took the streetcar around the city. We found it hard to find parking and were told it wasn’t safe to park our car overnight most places because of the number of break-ins. I’m not sure if this was entirely true, but we decided to go the safe route this time.
For dinner, we chose a place called Gumbo Shop. We wanted a sit down place where we could try a bunch of things but not break the bank. This place had a combination platter dinner so we ordered two and shared them between the four of us. Each dinner included either a salad or soup to start, an entree, a side, and a dessert. Mark ordered gumbo, etouffée, mashed potatoes, and a praline sundae. I ordered a salad, a combo plate that included red beans and rice, shrimp creole, and jambalaya, mashed potatoes, and chocolate cake. It was such a feast and we loved every bite.

The girls had very strong opinions about New Orleans. Ivy didn’t seem to like it much. She said it smelled and too many people were smoking everywhere we went. She also said it was too loud and overwhelming. We were only out until about 8pm, but the minute the sun went down, the streets kind of felt like the midway at the state fair. It is obviously a place people go to drink and party. We were there on a Thursday, and not close to Mardi Gras. I can’t imagine what Mardi Gras is like.
On our 2nd and final day in New Orleans, we went back to Cafe DuMonde for another round of beignets and then drove around the garden district where we had the most amazing bagels at a coffee shop called Rabbit’s Foot.

My final thoughts on New Orleans were the food was great, the music was great, but the atmosphere was not ideal for those who get overstimulated by noise and crowds. Mark LOVED it. He is more extroverted than I am. He liked striking up conversations with the street musicians and capturing them on video. Here are a few short clips.

Join the Postcard Club!
Posted by Tagged with family US roadtrip, familytravel, Florida, Naples Posted in Uncategorized

Florida Sun ☀️

After 44 years of cold Minnesota winters, I’m experiencing a new climate this December. Wow! It makes a huge difference in my mood and outlook.

Ocala, FL
We left Georgia on December 10th and headed south, stopping for one night in Ocala, FL at a cute farm called Enchanted Oaks. As we drove down the long gravel driveway the girls squealed as they spotted goats, horses, and a zebra. The property had a half dozen or more glamping tents and a rental house which is used as the bridal suite on the days the property hosts weddings. We stayed in the rental house. Big thanks to one of my piano families, the Bierwerth’s, for their air bnb gift card for this stay.

Enchanted Oaks was one of my favorite places we have stayed so far. I would have loved to sit under those glorious giant oak trees all day, but we had to hurry out the next morning.
We were scheduled to meet my piano teacher friend, Anna Fagan, in Arcadia, FL for lunch.
I met Anna on Instagram through another piano teacher.

One of my hopes on this trip was to connect with a few piano teachers on the road. Anna is literally on the road since she teaches online lessons to about 30 students each week from her RV. It was fun to hear how she and her husband decided to sell their home and become full-time RV travelers.

Naples, FL Our next stop was Naples. We stayed at the home of Joe and Barbara Wall for a little over a week. It was such a relaxing stay. I enjoyed having a large kitchen to cook in and the kids loved staying somewhere with a pool. Mark flew back to Minnesota for 4 of those days to DJ a wedding. He got a taste of the snow again, but left before it dipped below zero.
Some of the things I liked about Naples besides the weather were

🌴The sandy beaches

🌴The consignment shops

🌴Sitting outside drinking coffee in the
mornings

🌴Seeing all the palm trees and flowering
tropical plants.

We loved one of the outdoor restaurants we ate at called Lakeside Diner. We had lunch there with some new friends, Lynnea and Ken, after attending Grow Church and again with our friend Dale after playing tennis.

The sunsets and the sound of waves were by far the highlight of being near the gulf. It was like having a front row seat to a masterclass with the painter of skies.

Not everyday has been smooth sailing and glamorous. We’ve had some boring days, some stressful days, and a fair share of screaming and crying from the back seat: “Why do we have to go on this trip?” and “I just want to go HOME!”
The transition days when we pack up and switch from one location to the next are usually the hardest days. Our 19 year old, Tabby, flew from NYC and joined us for the holidays. It’s been wonderful having her along. In my next post I’ll share more about our 10 days together in the Florida Keys over Christmas and New Years.

Posted by Tagged with Family travel, family US roadtrip, Hilton head, southcarolina Posted in Uncategorized

Surprise Sunset

One of my favorite days of our trip so far

Hilton Head, SC

When Mark texted me and said he wanted to rearrange our itinerary to work around the extended forecast, I rolled my eyes.
I may appear spontaneous on the Internet, but the truth is, I hate sudden changes in plans.

The idea came because Mark wanted to see Savannah and Hilton Head on a sunny, 70 degree day instead of a rainy 50 degree day.
Now that I write it down like that, it makes so much sense, but I was worried about so many things. How would it affect our lodging back in Macon, would it be an added cost, and did it practically make sense apart from the weather forecast?


Well, long story short, I flexed with the idea and boy am I glad. It was THE BEST two days of our trip so far. We strolled through the Savannah parks, enjoying the huge trees and historic buildings. I tried some fried chicken, collard greens, candied sweet potatoes, corn bread, and peach cobbler.


We carried on to Hilton Head and arrived just as the sun was setting. It was a race to the beach to get there in time. Seeing my girls experience the ocean at sunset was priceless. We rented bikes the next day and road the seemingly endless shoreline. I got to talk to my older two college kids, Elliot and Tabby, on the phone that day too, which made the day even more perfect.


After we decided to change our plans and stay in Macon for two extra days, we found out that there was a youth tennis tournament on those days. If we would have stuck with the original plan, Malia would have missed that opportunity. It all worked out.

Moral of the story – Stay Flexible and don’t be afraid when plans change.

Do you remember a time when plans changed at the last minute?

Posted by Tagged with Artists, family US roadtrip, familytravel, Georgia, Macon, parenting Posted in Uncategorized

Macon Memories

We spent a whole month in Macon, Georgia. We decided that staying somewhere for a longer period of time would allow us to settle in and live more like locals than tourists.

My husband met Aaron, who works at Visit Macon, through a Minnesota connection. Because of Aaron, we met Paul, who manages Airbnb properties. Paul got us situated in our airbnb when we arrived and made sure we had everything we needed. He brought us some extra household items that one-night guests don’t usually need such as a card table, larger pots and pans, and a crockpot. We settled in and made it “home”. Our favorite TV shows to watch in the evenings were Wheel of Fortune and America’s Got Talent. Living in a small space made for a lot of family bonding time. Since we weren’t busy with homework and regular activities in the evenings, we were able to play scrabble, do puzzles, watch movies, and just talk about life.

Macon is a home to Mercer University. I came to realize while staying here that I love a college town. I saw students everywhere we went. The first weekend we were here was homecoming, and the campus was buzzing with excitement. The pep band played as the football team paraded through the crowds of fans, tailgating before the football game.

There is also a strong arts and music presence in Macon, which you pick up on right away when walking through the downtown. Famous artists who came from Macon include Little Richard, Otis Redding, and the Allman Brothers. You can tour the house where the Allman Brothers lived and the studio where their records were made. Mark dived deep into music history while we were here, taking several tours, and doing a lot of reading.

Here are a few of the places I remember visiting this month in Macon.

The Tubman African American Museum

Amerson Park

Ocmulgee Indian Mounds

Wear Thrift Store

Seussical the Musical performed by Miller Fine Arts Middle School

Reboot Retrocade

Macon Bagels

H&H Cafe (trying grits for the first time)

Fall Line Brewery – great outdoor seating with fire pits

Each weekday started out at the Washington Library where the kids and I spent a couple hours doing our homeschool work. We felt so welcomed by the staff in the children’s department of the library. There were days when the girls were not happy to be on the trip and feeling homesick for their teachers and classmates. I think the routine of going to the library everyday, sitting in the same spot, and seeing the same librarians working was therapeutic (at least for me!)

A few surprises in Macon were finding out Malia could play in a tennis tournament, getting complimentary tickets to a Mercer College girls basketball game, and attending a free Middle Georgia University choir concert. Another great surprise was being invited over to the home of a local family, Joey and Sherry, after visiting New City Church. After our visit, Sherry and her daughter asked me to teach them piano lessons while I was in town.

I didn’t know what to expect of Macon, but I can honestly say that I grew to love it. I know I wasn’t here long enough to learn its downsides (every town has downsides), but I don’t have a lot bad to say (other than the stop lights take a REALLY long time to turn from red to green. Also, I can’t get used to being called “Ma’am” and seeing everyone where jeans and sweaters when it is 80 degrees outside. They all say it’s “because it’s fall!”


Enjoy a few more photos of our time in Macon below.

Posted by Tagged with family, family memories, Family travel, family US roadtrip, familybonding, parenting Posted in Uncategorized

Daily Life on the Road

In this post I will be answering some commonly asked questions we get about our 6 month road trip.

How can you be gone from home so long without an RV?

The way we get around not having an RV is by staying with people that we know. We sent out a letter to a bunch of people that we hoped would host us about 6 months before the trip started. Based on those who responded, we planned our route. We knew there would be a few places would settle for a longer time in an airbnb, but for the most part, we wanted to stay with people.

This was not only a financial decision, but also because it aligned with the vision of the trip. One of our goals was to step into peoples’ normal lives and to see friends and family we wouldn’t normally see.

How is this trip different than a vacation?

We are staying with people we know instead of in hotels. We keep eating out to a minimum and pack drinks and snacks in a cooler when we are on the road. We have a daily routine that includes school, work, and alone time. Each day, the kids and I do school in the morning while Mark does DJ work. In the afternoon we go exploring. It’s not constant excitement. There are plenty of boring days and quite ordinary days.

What does homeschooling look like?

I would say my homeschooling style is “eclectic”. I draw from a wide range of different resources and educational methods My comfort zone leans more towards unschooling, but my kids have come from traditional school and will return to traditional school after this year, so I’m trying to keep the subject content similar to what they are used to.
I carry all our school books and supplies in this one bag. We started with a larger tote, but then realized it needed to be small enough to carry in and out of a the van, a library, or a coffee shop.

This bag was originally my piano teaching bag, but now has morphed into my homeschool bag.
A normal day of homeschool includes

✍️grammar from a textbook

🟰math from a textbook

🇺🇸 study of the state we are traveling through (the girls love to guess the state bird, state tree, population, year of statehood, famous people, rivers, lakes, and mountain ranges)

📖read aloud

✍️Spanish.

🩻Science – the human body

If we do all these subjects it still only takes about 2 hours, so we have lots of time for exploring or visiting with friends we are staying with. Malia enjoys looking for tennis courts to play on and trying new recipes.

You must really like each other?
This question cracks me up. It IS a lot of time together in tight spaces. By the grace of God, we are getting along so far. We have been bonding as a family in a way that we wouldn’t if we were back home. I’m grateful for this time to get to know my husband and kids in a new way.

What has been hardest so far?
The kids have been complaining about missing their friends and schools (especially the first week). I worry about if we are doing the right thing and whether we will regret any of this year. I have felt like I am letting down my piano students by leaving them this year. Not having a regular community of friends and jumping from place to place can be challenging. Being away from our families and older kids, especially on holidays is hard.

What are you most looking forward to?

🌊Being by the ocean in Florida and California.
🏠Seeing friends we haven’t seen for a long time.
📚✍️Extra time for daily reading and writing

🙏🏽Time to focus on God with fewer distractions.

Join our Postcard Club
Posted by Tagged with Chattanooga, family, family US roadtrip, familytravel, roadtrip Posted in Uncategorized

Chattanooga, TN

We stayed with Nate and Rachel Korhonen and their kids in Signal Mountain, TN for 2 nights. They live on the top of a literal mountain. We were told that if they get heavy rain or even a small amount of snow, they close the road. Thankfully, they rarely get snow. It was in the 70’s and sunny while we were there (in November)

Since we stayed on top of the mountain, we were given the tour of all the great overlooks. We even woke up early enough in the morning to go watch the sunrise.


We had the BEST food while we were with the Korhonen’s. Nate showed us how to make salsa and also the ins and outs of how to make the “perfect cup of coffee”.

We went into downtown Chattanooga, walked across the foot bridge, and ate pasta at Tony’s. It was an evening I will remember for a long time. The weather was perfect and the ravioli with sun dried tomato and artichoke cream sauce was impeccable. The laughter of our children as they enjoyed each others’ company warmed my heart.

I really loved this city and loved the Korhonen family. We will be back.


Click here to learn about the postcard club