Hi Trace,

Ahh, your reality sounds so familiar!! I don't have to travel as often for work as you do, only a few times a year, but still have the full time day job.

This might be an encouragement for you as you head West, I actually find moving easier when we're in the Pacific time zone. Like you, I'm tied to my laptop and phone most of the day, being in the West, working with lots of people in the East and Central time zones means my day starts early, but then again, it ends early. We've been able to start some of our relocations at 3 PM, drive until 7 PM, and get set up at the next location. So yes, distances can be greater out West, but timing is sometimes easier. Thus far we've only had about 2 months in the Central Time zone, but have spent approximately 40% of our time in Mountain time zone, and the rest in the Pacific time zone.

We have found staying 2-4 weeks in a location is a good length of time, gives us time to explore the local area, get caught up on laundry, chores, run errands, etc. Thus far this year we've been able to stick to at least 2 weeks wherever we've landed. That's getting ready to change as Dale has back to back art shows the last 2 weekends of March that are 100 miles apart so we'll be moving on a Thursday mid-day which always creates some work challenges for me, but that's where having only 1 vehicle has been a blessing. My laptop will be in the truck and I will work as he drives.

April will be a month of more moving / exploring and covering 800 miles to the next destination to be set up for the May art shows. Our goal this year is not to have any full weekends of travel, been there, done that, don't want to do it again. OK, we did it when we had to be at an art show or had to travel due to family circumstances, and would do it again if we had to, but as you know, working M-F then traveling the entire weekend doesn't leave you feeling like you've had much time for anything fun or any down time. Our current plan is if we need to move further than a 1 day drive, we'll leave on Friday afternoon and drive until early evening and Wally dock or Casino camp for a night and then finish the drive on Saturday. Another advantage to being in the Pacific time zone, I can usually free my schedule up by 2 or 3 PM and we can get 4-5 hours of driving in on Friday afternoon / evenings.

So, in keeping with our goal of not having any full weekends of driving we're trying a new plan for April. We'll drive on Saturday, spend Sunday exploring, M-F working, the following Saturday exploring, then drive Sunday. Spend almost 2 weeks at the 2nd location so we have a weekend, then spend the following Saturday driving to the 3rd destination which leaves the first Sunday and the following Saturday to explore and then travel again on the following Sunday. So we'll be alternating between spending 8-9 days in one location, 2 weeks in the next, 8-9 days in the next giving us more weekend time to explore. And I have no reservations for that entire month, just locations of good boondocking locations that have good data / cell coverage on BLM land.

One consideration for the times we plan Friday relocations is the checkout time at the campground. Many of the parks have noon check out times which means we're pulling out of our spot at noon or shortly thereafter, by the time we hit the dump station, etc. we're still a little early for me to call it a day so we've pulled into truck stops / Wal Marts, etc. and I've gone back into the rig, worked another hour or two and then we get moving down the road. Adds a little more stress as we juggle things around, nothing like having the slide moving in and the power being disconnected while I'm trying to finish up a conference call!! I've asked for late checkout several times and if the park is not full or if they have no one slotted in that evening, it's usually not a problem.

I don't have to travel as much as you do for work, but I keep that in mind as we plan our stops. Right now I know I'll be close enough to the Las Vegas airport or the Fresno airport if I had to travel.

Once we hit our destination in California we know we'll be there 5 weeks before we move north again, so we are balancing moving around a lot the last part of March and most of April with then sitting still for a few weeks and we'll continue to do that all year.

Due to Dale's art show schedule, I actually do plan out for 6-10 months ahead of time, maybe not with reservations for all of that, but if we're in an area that I know will be busy, like Tempe AZ in March, I make reservations to make sure we have a spot close to the art show he's participating in. With MLB Spring training / snow bird season / spring break etc. in March in AZ, gotta make plans ahead of time.

Good luck, we all have different realities to deal with, but it's a wonderful life. Despite all the time spent working either my job or the weekends at art shows, we've still hiked more miles, bicycled more trails, visited more museums and botanical gardens, and enjoyed many more sunsets in many different locations down the road then we ever would have with our lifestyle in the S&B house.

Manycats, Can you not use a VPN?