hello all. i've been wanting to update for quite awhile. i think of this forum often and its value and thus wish to add to it.<br /><br />i don't remember when i left my apartment but its been awhile. i did about 2months at a friends flat sorting thru things and waiting for the next step. i did about a month and a half at my mom's getting my VAN to pass the UTAH safety check and also waiting for the next step. a friend invited me to go to Bear's Lodge (devil's tower) and Deadwood southdakota. this was the sign to get it together and push off shore.<br /><br />i've been out to 2 boondocking spots for about 3.5 weeks. i've spent a week or 2 in denver getting some vehicle stuff done.<br /><br />those are the numbers. the experience has been vast! a big part of my pushing off was a hope that time and space would help give me perspective and i think it does. nothing is fixed, i am me but the freedom of having all day to let things play out has given me new perspectives. i hav also been able to get to many things that hav piled up, like much sewing and reading.<br /><br />so while i'm staring at the insides of my head and its ups and downs i also get to glimpse nature so wonderfully! humming birds have been the scariest because at my first campsite one would fly into my van everyday. at first with my head down and this insane noise right by me i was quite startled but quickly learned that the wild beating of the air singled a friend coming. at my last spot i had numerous encounters with a grey fox. a tree climbing fox like nothing i'd ever seen. i've quickly laid favorites with nuthatches. i love how they meticulously cover all angles of a tree and never care which way is up or down. i am particularly fond of the red breasted nuthatch as they hav a shorter tail and look like the most nimble tank going over every section of a tree. its been about 3.5 weeks but i've seen so much and learned many tidbits like ravens will eat raspberries but only one while deer eat them but appear to take in branch, leaf and all.<br /><br />my quickest lesson happened on the 2nd day out there and it showed it self 2 ways so i would really remember it. my first campsite was littered with litter and many bullet shells. i was only 25miles outside of denver and my mind quickly assumed it to be a trashed area and not too wild. the next morning about 10:30am i went trouncing out on the scorched land and about stepped on the biggest most beautiful bull snake i'd ever seen about 20-30feet from the van. he saw the bullet casings differently than i and his nature still existed and i learned that i needed to be cautious wherever i step if want to glimpse what is there and my assumption of normalacy needs to fade. the second and equally dramatic version of this lesson came later that day as i was cooking on my very small alcohol burning stove. i had removed the pan as the water was ready and i wanted to put out the flame. so i first went to move the aluminum wind guard to get it out of the way for easier access to the flame. i was nonchalant about it and tried to flip it out of the way. what i did instead was flip over the entire stove spilling denatured alcohol and flame onto the floor of the van. instantly a liquid fire! i tried hitting it out with a towel that quickly caught fire and then went about smothering it out some other way that i can't remember. there was very little damage and i instantly learned that i was entering a world that i was no expert at and that being cautious and stepping appropriately would be the route to success. now i enjoy my wanderings in the woods even more being cautious and watching my step to see all i can see. and now when i cook in a small area i hav all i need out before hand and do everything in its proper step. i works well and i benefit from the change.<br /><br />technical things hav gone pretty well. food has been quite fine with no refridgerator. vegetables last about 3-5days then i'm left with garlic, onions, sweetpotatos and all kinds of dried spices. i carry 15.5 gallons of water in a steel keg for consuming and 6 gallons in a plastic jug for cleaning. my 15.5 gallons almost ran out after 10days and this was during a mild climate in the rockies. on my first trip i used almost all of my 6 gallons of cleaning water in a week just doing dishes and bathing. so the next time out i switched to using a spray bottle for dishes which works good and drastically reduces my water usage. i wasn't sure if i'd be interested in digital stuff much once i was in nature but nothing changed. i still want to use my laptop and phone and such so my 2 back up batteries have been nice. my next step is to get a solar panel and a battery charger set up. i shouldn't need a ton of panel as my major use would be my laptop for 2 hours every couple days and charging my phone. i also would think about a cell signal booster because it is nice to get a text message here and there. my first site i had to walk a mile to get a signal and my 2nd site i could get one in the VAN. both were about 25 miles from denver.<br /><br />i'm excited going forward because so much of my life is in my hands. i enjoy contouring my VAN setup more and more and i enjoy experimenting with my lifestyle and out look. one thing that was really neat, last week i fell into the pattern of each evening of wandering into the woods and finding really nice places to exercise. i've been dabbling in chi kung and the like for over 15years and now getting to do these exercises in pristine places has made the exercises seem appropriate not just functional. like the quality of breath i'm taking in is of a greater quality. this is something obvious or something that i probably knew but it was this lifestyle change that allowed me to stumble into its truth.<br /><br />thankyou all agin for this forum and support and good luck to all.<br /><br />
