11 Things I’ve Learned From Life on the Road

1. Organization is crucial

I have been on the road for three months at this point, and it was about a moth and a half into this trip when I finally started to figure out an organization system that worked for me. When I was packing up my car to hit the road, I thought I had this organization thing in the bag! However, I learned very quickly that I was all wrong and had to reorganize everything about three hundred times since then!

I have learned, though, that the state of my car is often a reflection of my mental state. If my car is a hot mess with stuff everywhere, both dirty and clean clothes sprawled about, and three different backpacks open all containing the most random assortment of items…that also typically indicated that I am as well, also a hot mess, frazzled, and stressed…….and usually smell bad.

Keeping my car clean and organized has become something that is totally essential to me to keep myself at least a little sane on this absolutely insane journey that I have started!

I have had to come up with specific locations to place specific items every single time they are used. If I lose that tortilla that I am about to make a pb&j wrap with ONE MORE TIME I’m calling it quits!!

2. We take so many things for granted

After 6 days on the road, days filled with hiking, camping, and sleeping in my underwear to try to reduce the amount of profusive sweating, I’m gonna save yall the details……..but I smelled. Bad.

I had taken a few wet-wipe showers, but they just weren’t getting the job done, sadly. I embraced the smell and told myself I would shower when the opportunity arose, not letting myself get too stressed out about it.

When I arrived at my campsite at Rhea Springs in Georgia, first off, I fell in love with its beauty and excitedly jumped straight into the water. After swimming around for a while, I walked back to my site and headed to the bathroom to get changed. When I walked in, I realized there was a shower in the back! For free!

I had never realized the ease of washing dishes in a sink until I had to wash dishes outside, with no sink, limited water supply, and dirt all around threatening to re-dirty all my freshly clean dishes. When you need your water for cooking, bathing, drinking, and cleaning, you definitely can’t use as much as you’d like to for all of the above.

Just being on the road has opened my eyes to how many small things I have taken for granted over the years. Every time I have the opportunity to wash my clothes, or dishes, or take a shower, it genuinely makes me appreciate them so much more due to the sheer lack of them living out here.

3. Life is all about the little things

Some of my absolute favorite moments on the road so far have been those simple moments, after a long day of exploring, and just sitting by the fire, cooking dinner or playing my guitar, with the stars glistening above me. And I have to take a step back and just realize how unbelievably blessed I am.

It’s those simple, little moments when you don’t have phone service or other modern conveniences when you can truly be away from all the distractions and realize how unbelievably beautiful life can be. The world presents us with so many distractions and those tend to take away from the simple beauty that life really is. I feel like we need to stop making everything so complicated and just appreciate all the little beauties of this amazing thing we call life.

4. You have to be okay being on your own

This was one that I thought I would struggle with the most. I have always been such an outgoing person, never missing an opportunity for hanging out, partying, or just being with friends. I’ve always had a hard time being alone.

However, this trip has showed me that I’m kind of more of a loner than I ever realized! I have genuinely fallen in love my time on my own where I can play guitar or journal or stare at my celling for two hours because I can’t figure out what I want to do with my day.

There are times where I am extremely unproductive and inefficient because this is a lifestyle of constant learning and figuring things out and sometimes it takes me a heck ton longer than it should. But I have kind of loved that it has been something that I have had to figure out on my own.

Just like everything else though, it has been a learning curve. While I have mostly loved being alone, there have definitely been a few times of true loneliness and just wanting the companionship of friends or a travel buddy. However, it has been those times where I have experienced the most growth in myself of learning to get past the loneliness and just being present in the moment and learning to enjoy my own company and focus on my own personal needs.

5. Reflection, meditation, and journaling are so important

I have learned more about myself in these three months then I ever thought was possible. I have changed so much in the past few years and it’s been a constant learning curve of figuring myself out, and figuring the rest of the world out.

Meditation and journaling have become a crucial part of my life especially on this trip. I feel like we aren’t truly able to process things until we get them out of our heads and out into the open, whether it’s talking about it or writing it all out. Through daily reflection, I have been able to work through so many jumbled up thoughts and emotions constantly running through my mind.

Meditation has helped me to become more mindful and truly being present wherever I am and accepting and working through every thought, feeling, and emotion that has presented itself. Again, I feel like the world is constantly full of distractions and it can be so hard to process whatever you’re going through when you can barely get a single second of silence or alone time. But, giving yourself that daily time of reflection, meditation, or journaling can help you to become significantly more in touch with yourself as well as the world around you.

6. Be patient with yourself, this is not the easiest lifestyle

This is one I have really been working on daily. I have been noticing that I sadly use an incredible amount of negative language towards myself. When I’m stressed or overwhelmed or I can’t find my tortilla that I literally just took out of the package to cook dinner with….I tend to get so angry and frustrated with myself, talking myself down and telling myself that I am not capable of this lifestyle…

I’ve been talking to my counselor a lot about this (thank the universe for skype therapy!), and we talked about how when things go wrong, it is basically human instinct to find someone to blame. Since I’m out here doing this all on my own, I’ve got no one to blame but myself. However, she put lots of things into perspective for me which has helped me handle my stress in a whole new way.

I am out here, on this completely bizarre journey, taking myself away from the comforts of my home and “normal life” and throwing myself into a lifestyle that is basically surrounded by discomfort. It is extremely valid that I get stressed and overwhelmed (especially since I literally have no plans ever), so I need to understand that I am putting myself in a not-so-easy or comfortable situation and it is hard and I need to realize that and be kinder to myself.

I know that eventually, I will find that tortilla that I know I put right there on the pan, but when I spend the time looking for it, I have learned to change my language and not get angry with myself, just embrace the hecticness and craziness of this lifestyle and roll with all that comes with it!

I’ve also had to realize that it is completely my choice to be out here. No one forced me to go on this crazy journey, so I have to take it for what it’s worth. While, this trip has definitely come with hands down, some of the most stressful moments of my life, it has also come with some of the most beautiful and fulfilling ones as well. Yes, it can be hard, but the good times FAR outweigh the bad ones.

7. You have to be self-motivated

Being on my own, I don’t have anyone telling me to get out of bed early and start being productive. I don’t have anyone telling me to go on a 12-mile hike up three mountain peaks or drive an hour and a half out of my way to include this one town in a travel guide I need to write. It’s all up to me. I have to be the one getting myself out of bed; I have to be the one pushing myself to keep going when I’m on mile 7 and I’m already exhausted and want to quit. I have to be the one to make a weekly schedule of what I need to post on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube.

Trying to make a full-time income off of a travel blog is no small or easy task. It takes an insane amount of work, heart, passion and motivation. If I don’t put in the effort to post a new YouTube video, or follow new accounts on Instagram, or send emails to brands to make collaborations, I will not make the income that will allow me to continue to travel. It’s as simple as that.

Some days, I’m exhausted and don’t want to drive anymore or don’t want to walk around any more small towns or edit any more videos, but I have to remind myself that I am trying to make a business out of this, and that’s not gonna happen just overnight or at the snap of my fingers. I have to find ways to keep myself motivated and passionate about this to allow myself to be able to accomplish this huge dream of mine of traveling full time.

8. Know where you’re going, but leave room for spontaneity

Basically about 97% of this trip so far has come from having no plans and just going with the flow and seeing what comes about. You have probably gathered (from earlier in this post or my YouTube videos) that this is NOT always the best way to go on a trip. It can be extremely stressful and frustrating.

BUT it can also lead to some amazing adventures!!! When I left at the beginning of August, I knew generally that I was making my way up to Maine, and then getting to Utah by the beginning of October. All the stuff in between has come from waking up and just seeing where the road takes me or meeting some amazing people that I end up spending a few days hanging out with or asking the locals what the best things are in the area.

I have had plans of exploring one state for five days, but end up seeing everything after three. Or vice versa, and staying four days somewhere I thought I would only spend one day at. Some of my best memories from this trip have come from the random spontaneous adventures that I had no idea I would find myself on!

9. Always have a backup plan

This has been a huge one on this trip especially during COVID. Since BLM land and dispersed camping sites are free, there are no reservations. This means that you are taking a chance that there might not be any sites still open when you arrive.

Heartbreakingly, this has happened to me wayyyyy too many times to count. That is why, when I am driving to find a campsite for the night, I always mark other campsites around that area just in case. I have sometimes had to go to my fourth option due to the high demand of all the other spots.

I’ve also been in situations where I don’t exactly feel comfortable at the campsite or parking lot I’m staying at and I always feel significantly better knowing that I have another place to go. It’s also good to have another option if the weather is bad that day, or wherever you’re going is sold out, or just happens to be closed due to COVID.

For any type of travel, it is always a good habit to get into to have a plan to fall back on if the original plans end up falling through. It also helps keep the disappointment low knowing that if things get screwed up for any reason, you are still able to have a good time.

10. Be smart and cautious

Yes, traveling by yourself can be dangerous. But honestly, anything we do in life has some degree of danger to it. It all comes down to just being smart and cautious and what sort of situations you put yourself in.

I can honestly say that I traveled in Europe for three months on my own and I have been on the road for the same amount of time on my own and I have had very few situations where I felt unsafe. In those few situations, I was able to get myself out of them and go somewhere I felt safer.

That being said, while I do post on Instagram and YouTube pretty regularly, I never say where I am at that moment, my posts are usually delayed about a week or two. I try to be at stealthy as possible, not announcing to the world that I am a lone female sleeping in my car, so when I arrive at a place to sleep, I stay in my car and immediately block off all the windows. I also sleep with my hatchet and my pocket knife right next to me, so I’ll be prepared if anything does arise.

The past few years of traveling on my own have also taught me that traveling safely also includes you not deliberately putting yourself in unsafe situations. When I was in Mexico last year, I wanted nothing more in life than to go dancing. I was asking around for weeks to find a place to get my groove on! Since we were staying in very small villages, that wasn’t really ever an option there. We finally reached a bigger town that actually had a dance hall that I was stoked to hit up! Unfortunately, after talking to a few locals, they said that we would stick out like sore thumbs since we would be the only gringos there and there are sometimes armed guards standing at the front. While I wanted so badly to go dancing, we made the decision to not put ourselves in what could be a potentially dangerous situation.

Traveling in any way definitely has a way of teaching you how to be more cautious and how to take care of yourself. It all comes down to just being smart and looking out for yourself and the people around you and not putting yourself in unsafe situations.

11. Live life to the fullest!

Converting my car and living on the road has been a dream of mine for years and I still cannot believe it is currently my reality! I can honestly say that even with the hard times, it has been better than I could have ever imagined! I have loved loved loved this trip more than I could even put into words. It has taught me more about myself and the world around me than I ever thought possible.

It is breaking my heart that my savings is slowly dwindling and I know I will need to hunker down for the winter and find a job soon and my life on the road journey will be put on pause for a bit. However, I am hoping that working enough over the next few months will help me to save up enough to get back on the road as soon as it is warm enough to do so!

This trip has truly taught me that I am fully capable of making all of my dreams a reality as long as I am willing to put in the hard work that it takes to achieve them (read more about that here). I am loving life more than I ever thought possible and I honestly cannot wait to see what other adventures and experiences the road has for me!

If you want to help me stay on the road and continue writing and creating inspirational content, then visit my Patreon to see how you can support me! Thanks so much! 🙂

I am happy out here. Messy hair, dirty feet, and wild water on my skin. Out here with the wild things; this is where I belong.

-Brooke Hampton