Because I am a Speaker and Author that have written 26 non-fiction books at AngelsPress.com about many areas of my life, one day I will probably pen a book about living my Nomadic life, and even about my ‘Spiritual Journey,’ but I am in no way ready to do it yet.
I want to experience more of this lifestyle first, therefore, I will just keep documenting my journey with pictures, videos, and blog posts and will keep journaling about my experiences.
-My First Year on the Road, #VanLife
I left Senior apartments in Orlando, FL after one year to start my Van Life Journey on Oct. 1, 2019, and 6 days later I celebrated my 62nd birthday in Atlanta, GA with my daughter.
New Home State: One week later on Oct. 14, I bought a brand new Dodge Ram Promaster 3500 Cargo Van and five (5) days later I headed to Livingston, TX. Once I registered the vehicle and signed up for the Escapees.com mailing address, I made Texas my NEW HOME STATE for my Nomadic life. This meant not only would I receive mail from this Texas address, but as a Veteran, I would also receive my yearly doctor’s visit from Texas.
Made It to the RTR: My goal was to make it out to the 2020 Rubber Tramp Rendezvous (RTR) to learn more about living a Nomadic Life. However, since it took 82 days for my tags to come in from Atlanta to Texas, I barely made it to this event. Once I received my new permanent van tags, I had about 2 days to make it to Parker, AZ, which meant I had to drive up to 10 hours for two days to arrive at the event on time.
First Sickness On the Road: Once I made it to the event after the four (4) day Women Rubber Tramp Rendezvous (RTR), I got extremely sick after having dinner with a friend at the Casino in Parker, AZ.
Getting sick on the road especially initially was hard because you had to make sure you were in a ‘self-contained’ vehicle, which I was and you had to be parked in a spot where you did not have to move for a few days so I was at the Casino in Parker, AZ so I was set to just rest to try to heal my ownself before seeking out help.
Once I spent days resting, drinking a ton of water, eating Chicken Soup, Crackers and taking over-the-counter decongestant medications, I realized that I was not going to be able to heal myself so I sought out help from the VA.gov in Phoenix. Once I got on the 5-day z-pack, I started feeling better within 48 hours.
I Chased the Weather: In my first year, I also chased the weather and tried to stay in climates that were mild and comfortable. When I did end up in harsh hot climates, I sought help from other Nomads online who suggested I buy sleeping bags and long johns to stay warm and move to a mild climate to stay cool. They even suggested I go to Flagstaff, AZ, which was one of the coolest spots in Arizona.
How I Powered The Vehicle: In my first year, I mostly used ‘battery-operated’ inside fans (at least 5) to cool down the vehicle. Because then I had no solar or fans on top of my vehicle during my first year, I only used the 2500 Jackery to power the vehicle so I mostly powered my vehicle by riding around with my Jackery plugged into my vehicle.
Eventually, I bought the solar panel that went with it, but it took hours to charge the power box. This made it hard for me to use my laptop, steamer, and blender, which took up much of my power from the Jackery but I made it work.
My Number One Goal My First Year: As a Holistic and Natural Healer and author of six (6) health books, my first year on the road was uplifting, however, my main goal was to get rid of the ‘heavy metals’ in my system that I got from smelling all the cigarette smoke for one year while living in Senior apartments in Orlando, FL.
This meant eating good clean, organic foods, foods especially that go rid of heavy metals such as cilantro and engage in regular detoxifications out here on the road. It wasn’t easy especially since I chose to stay at Walmarts and Truck Stops in my first year on the road, which had a lot of car, van, RV and truck traffic, which meant I would be exposed to more toxic fumes.
-My Second Year – Best Year Ever
Found My New Favority Way of Parking As a Nomad: By the time my second year rolled around I was done with staying at Walmarts and Truck Stops so staying on BLM.gov, National Forest Land also called “Dispersed Camping Land” had become my favorite way to travel.
My Most Healthiest Year on the Road: My second year by far had to be my most healthiest and happiest out here on the road because that is the year I was able to completely explore the state of Colorado for over 2 months.
Hard Lessons as a ‘Solo Female Traveler’ on the Road: However, it would also be the year that I had a hard lesson to learn because that is also the year that I chose to do this lifestyle as a “Solo Female Camper” after camping out with and moving into the state of Colorado with other campers that I found out wasn’t a good fit for me.
Here Come the Arizona, Colorado, and California Fires: That would also be the year that we will forever remember the Arizona fires that ran all Campers and Nomads off BLM and National Forest Land. Many Walmarts, Cracker Barrels, Truck Stops and other locations were packed with Nomads just trying to wait out the fires. After I went to Colorado to get away from the Flagstaff Fires, after a few weeks, I also had to leave the state of Colorado because of the Colorado fires.
In Search of More Power: Once I made it back to Flagstaff, I had planned on driving out to Portland to pick up a new power box, my 2nd power box after graduating from my 2500 Jackery (www.Jackery.com) and I just did not know what to expect on my two-day drive from Flagstaff to Portland.
I ended up dealing with the California fires going in and out of Portland, OR and California, but was lucky to have been able to complete that trip in a timely and safe manner.
-My Third Year – My Sickest On the Road
My third year was my sickest on the road. I had always told myself the only reason I would probably leave this lifestyle was due to sickness, so I never thought about leaving this lifestyle, but it had been my sickest year on the road to date. I had also got sick when I first arrived in Arizona during the RTR, but after getting on antibodies from the Phoenix VA.gov system, I quickly recovered.
However, what I had going on in my 3rd year on the road was totally different than what I had in my 1st year. Yes I tried getting on the anitibodies, the Z-pack, but it did not work.
What I had going on during my third year on the road lasted for months, which resulted in me being weak, having vertigo, and pain throughout my body, and sometimes I could literally feel my heart beating through my chest.
What had happened was when I went to Texas for my VA.gov physical in 2021, I was ‘super energetic’ and ‘high energy’ like usual. I was going into the gym 4 to 5 days a week and even two of those days, I went in twice a day.
So I was energetic when I got to Texas but by the time 4 to 5 months rolled by, I was feeling weak, sluggish, and out of sorts. I was able to engage in my weekly or monthly enewsletters, but my body had started to show symptoms that I don’t usually have to deal with.
I even sought out help from my doctor’s office, but since I had refused to take the COVID test, my doctor who had treated me for 5 years when I lived there, REFUSED to see me. I had gone to the emergency department before talking to her nurse but they both had refused to see me unless I took the COVID test.
Since I was due to leave Texas within a few days I just left and came back west to Flagstaff. Once I got back out here to Flagstaff, my weakiness and slugginess continued but because I had a fallout with a dentist in Austin, I wanted to see another local dentist so I promptly started going in and out of a dentist’s office when I got back to Flagstaff.
Military Gave Me the Old Dental Fillings that Contained ‘Heavy Metals’: My goal was to have the old dental amalgam fillings that had been in my mouth for 40 years, since I was in the Military, removed along with doing more work in my mouth. I was set to use my current Dental Insurance to have the procedures done so I proceeded to have several things done to my mouth in Flagstaff.
After several dentistry office visits, I felt even worse and was not able to make the connection to my weakness or slugginess until I got back to Austin, months later, for my yearly VA.gov physical. My doctor was all hands-on after turning me down for treatment because of my refusal to take a COVID Test the prior year.
Diagnosed With Hypothyrodism: This is when my doctor told me my thyroid numbers were high, which meant I had ‘hypothyroidism’, which made sense why I had felt so bad for months and why I could not even go to the gym.
The doctor said if I got on Thyroid Medications, then I should feel better instantly, but I had never been on any Medications, except depression supplements in the workplace, and I knew that I did have hypothyroidism in the past and cured it with natural supplements so I chose to go on natural supplements again.
As a Holistic and Natural Healer, I thought about the sickness and researched it again extensively and found out that Dental X-rays could cause hypothyroidism to occur so it all made sense why I ended up having hypothyroidism mostly because of the two dentists that had given me these prolonged X-ray examinations.
Too Many Dentistry Office Visits: I probably could have easily recovered if I used just one dental office, but I ended up going to two dentistry offices, which took all of these dental X-rays on me and probably fried my thyroid. This is also when I remember when I lost my voice for about 2 to 3 weeks. All of it just made sense now why I got hypothyroidism in the first place.
I felt really bad as a Holistic and Natural Healer and asked myself many times how come I did not catch it because not only had I had hypothyroidism before but I had written articles on it. However, I vowed as a Holistic and Natural Healer, that I would take measures in the future to make sure that this particular illness just doesn’t seep up on me again.
-My Fourth Year – Recovery
My 4th year was about recovering from my 3rd year. After having the hypothyroidism diagnosis and making my way back out west to the Flagstaff, AZ area, my number one goal was to get fit and heal.
My goal was to get fit, strong, vibrant, and back to my high-energy state again like I had felt many times before with my holistic and natural lifestyle. What everyone needs to understand is “Getting Old Doesn’t Make You Sick” but “Getting Sick Does Make You Old.”
I had to watch what I ate so that I did not purposely give myself parasites because I knew a majority of the foods had parasites, which meant I would have to shut down and do regular detoxes. I slowly started exercising again. I made it back into the gym, but my favorite way of working out because going out to BLM and National Forest Land.
Spiritual Researcher and Author: In May 2023, shortly after arriving back out west, I stopped writing the dark long enewsletters that I had written for 3 years. It was just time to give it up so I could concentrate on getting well again. However, because writing brought me such pleasure, I started writing Spiritual Newsletters, https://cathyharrisinternational.com/spiritualnewsletters/ which again brought me pleasures.
The Long Hot Summer: My fourth year on the road had an excruciating long hot summer. As a matter of fact I had not experienced a summer like this since my first year on the road but I believe I got caught up in it because I was healing from last year. Had I been paying better attention, I would have chosen to be out more on BLM or National Forest Land and even travel to other cooler areas like Colorado. But by the time I thought of all of this, the heat was actually dying down, but it was a lesson for me to never get caught up again.