Category: A Little Lost, A Little Found

Thoughts, stories, and tips from our van build, about autoimmune disease, healthy recipes, a mish mash of things really.

Categories
crafting/creating Just for Fun travels/travel nursing

Chase the Voyage

Available as a PNG download without watermark at Etsy – https://www.etsy.com/listing/897260143/chase-the-voyage-seek-adventure-digital?ref=shop_home_active_9

At first, this might seem – oh, I dunno – cliché? forced? derivative? But, “chase the voyage” isn’t meant to be slouch-y. This phrase is meant to inspire and motivate.

I was working on some products to add to my Etsy Shop and thought, “What do I want to wear? What designs do I like?” This might seem ego-centric to be sure, but the questions came from a podcast called Creative Pep Talk. He suggested that whatever art form you create, you should use/wear/enjoy yourself. Specifically, he said he started wearing the t-shirts he designed. He agreed that it felt selfish and awkward at first, but he now finds immense joy in wearing his own designs — because he likes what he makes! So, I’m taking his advice to heart and designing things I like.

It’s simply too hard for me to guess at what other people will buy and enjoy. There’s a million and one websites encouraging you to “do market research” and “find your niche”. I’m not sure what’s wrong with me, that just feels overwhelming right now. So, I’m starting small. My decision was, “If I like it, there’s got to be someone else out there that will like it too.” And, I like the phrase, “Chase the Voyage”.

Voyage felt appropriate, because it best describes this thing called, “van life”. You might accidentally find yourself on a “journey”, but voyages are taken with forethought. As for “chase” – I wanted to encourage myself (and followers) to chase that voyage with certainty, effort, and passion. Interestingly, the french word for “to hunt” is “chasser” – very similar looking to “chase” and a good reminder that chasing involves intent & destination & hopefully success.

The bottom left corner of the design is a silhouette of the Tetons in Wyoming, the cactus silhouette comes from our voyages into Southern Utah and Nevada, and the night sky was inspired by the vastness of stars we saw in Idaho. These adventures didn’t happen by accident, it took effort (as chasing something does). We chased these voyages and marveled at the wildernesses and beauty of the American West.

So, now I have an adorable tote bag with my own design, which I love. It’s ready to go as a reminder to myself to keep chasing my voyages – because, I have yet to regret any of them.

Want your own tote bag too? Tap the picture to head to Etsy!
Or click here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/951434804/chase-the-voyage-tote-bag-with-original?ref=shop_home_active_2&frs=1

Happy voyaging,

Hanna

Categories
A Little Lost, A Little Found health journey recipes

The “Trick Yourself into Eating an Avocado” Smoothie

Maybe you like avocados, maybe you don’t. Let’s jump into the recipe and I’ll explain the rest later.

How to Make It:

This recipe can make anywhere from 12-20 ounces of smoothie, depending on what you add in. I find myself grabbing handfuls of this or that and tossing it in. I tried to be more precise here for you.

Pour the water into your jar first. If you add the optional ingredients, increase the water to 1 cup. The more water you have, the runnier – so, you can decide the consistency you enjoy most. The splash of stevia just gives it a little sweet bite, like a cherry on top.

Then, toss in the sliced and diced ingredients and blend it up!

This is an easy way to get all the nutrients of an avocado without actually tasting the avocado, which I do not enjoy. The more berries and fruit you add, the less you’ll taste the avocado. Even if you do blueberries alone, they’re tasty enough to cover up the avocado. This treat is a great way to give you tummy a break from it’s hard work digesting, while also getting some good nutrients in your day. Just think, a whole avocado!

Variations:

Smoothies generally taste better when they’re cold. So, you can make the smoothie and put it in the fridge overnight. Or, you can freeze at least 1 of the ingredients, I’d suggest either the avocado or blueberries.

I’ve been learning that smoothies don’t have to be precise like baked goods. Go heavy on the things you really like (i.e. blueberries) and make sure there’s enough water or milk to keep the consistency smooth.

So, this could be a three ingredients smoothie: avocado, blueberries, water. Or, it could become a morning fruit bowl! : avocado, blueberries, raspberries, lemon juice, apple, banana, etc.

Usually, I keep it to the basic recipe. Today, however, I added in a little apple and a little banana, because they were lying around in the van kitchen.

Yum, Yum:

Now for the background. I can’t believe how easy this recipe is. I used to make it everyday for breakfast and would think to myself, “I’m eating a whole avocado. There’s no way I’d be doing that otherwise.” Avocados are gross! I don’t like the flavor or consistency. When I get a little chunk in my smoothie, I grimace and choke it down. However, it seems to absorb all the other flavors around it. So, while the original recipe I found calls for 1/4 cup of berries, I always find myself dumping in a bit more.

On the other hand, avocados are nutritious! I want to consume them, I just struggle finding a tasty way to do so. Here are a few benefits of avocados (which I briefly summarize from Healthline.com):

  • Vitamins B, C, E, & K
  • Small amounts of magnesium, manganese, copper, iron, zinc, phosphorous and vitamins A, B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin) and B3 (niacin)
  • Potassium
  • Soluble Fiber
  • High [healthy] fat, low carb
  • Helps increase the nutrient absorption from other foods your eating it with
  • Antioxidants
  • Some other great things are might be true like fighting cancer and helping you lose weight

This morning, I was fighting a bout of insecurities and feeling brain fog when I felt my body screaming, “Feed me real food!” As opposed to the cheese and crackers I had been eating.

While we should be careful not to use food as a crutch, hero, or reward – sometimes, our hearts and brains are crying out for real nutrients. And this morning, this smoothie hit the spot and made everything seem all better.

So, if you’re an avocado hater – don’t give up yet, just give this smoothie a try and add in extra berries or coconut milk!

Let me know if you give it a try! And if you do, let me know if you like it!

Final Note – The approach I take to my recipes are always with colitis/autoimmune disease in mind. It’s very difficult to find sugar free/grain free recipes, so I’m on the hunt to find and share them here!

Sincerely,

Hanna

PS – Want to keep this recipe and my other treats for yourself? Grab a copy here!

Categories
A Little Lost, A Little Found health journey

Saying goodbye to the med’s

One year ago, I had several thoughts swirling around in my mind:

“I’ve had strep twice just this year, what if I get something worse?”

“I’m stressed out and want to eat everything in sight.”

“What if the Remicade fails? How long do I have with it?”

“What if there really is another way?”

Prior to this particular season in my life, I wasn’t ready to shake off any medications. I had made that mistake once and ended up hospitalized twice. Three years of infusions with zero side effects or symptoms, why would I want to give that up?

My two bouts of strep were awful and I saw for the first time what it meant to have a suppressed immune system. It just clicked: I have this disease no matter what, I’m only treating symptoms. I’m not actually healing. So, not only was I not getting better – I was adding risk that I would contract another serious illness.

My doctor warned me this could happen: people start feeling better, then stop taking their medications. “Don’t do that.”

Obviously, I did.

I wanted to at least try this “natural path” I’d been hearing of the last few years. Either a medication would control my immune system, or maybe I could. Presumptuous? Maybe. Probably.

After looking around online for a local practitioner who looks at the whole body, I settled on a DC (doctor of chiropractic) in Bountiful, UT. With years of experience working with gut related illnesses, I decided to give it a try. After my first round of blood work, he sat down with me for nearly an hour explaining in detail what every line meant and how it related to my body’s overall function.

We looked at thyroid, kidney, adrenals, gut, protein uptake, and other stuff I can’t remember. He also discussed functional ranges: these are the ideal ranges for your body’s optimal functioning. Typically, when you get blood work back and it’s high/low/normal, that’s in comparison to other people getting blood work done at that lab. Since sick people are the ones getting blood work done most often, your high/low/normal ranges are in comparison to that batch of people.

My GI doctor is so intelligent and great at his job. But, my current sentiment is that the hospital is wonderful for acute care. I got in, got in remission, got out. But, there must be another way to whole body, ongoing health – beyond band-aids that suppress symptoms.

When I thought I was “healthy”, my blood work showed that I was not. We had some work to do before I could start skipping infusions. The protocal laid out for me was 3 vitamin infusions for 3-4 weeks, 1-2 UBI’s for 3-4 weeks, NMT, and a whole list of supplements. The target here was to get my body in true recovery: lower inflammation, improve gut lining and nutrient uptake.

The vitamin infusions were amazing. I want to do another round again. This is something readily available. Certain “cocktails” need to be prescribed, but you can get doses to boost your body at local clinics. The infusions bypass your gut and get right into your body. My body wasn’t absorbing my nutrients appropriately, that’s why this was prescribed for me.

UBI’s are pretty neat. It stands for Ultraviolet Blood Irradiation. It was developed prior to vaccines, but when pencillin came around we just didn’t seem to need UBI’s. But, the process is effective. You take out some blood into an IV drip. It can be infused with oxygen. Then, it’s run through ultraviolet light that kills off any bad bacteria/viruses. The blood is returned into your body and shows your immune system what’s healthy and what’s not. It’s kind of like retraining the immune system on what to attack.

NMT – stands for NeuroModulation Technique. I’m not 100% sure on this yet, but I’m not totally critical of it either. It’s based on an understanding of the mind-body connection, that the mind and body are communicating in the background all the time. The is idea that energy is constant throughout time and space, so my energy can communicate with your energy and with that connection a practitioner can learn what is aligned or misaligned in the mind-body connection. Then, the practioner can essentially retrain the patient’s mind-body conection to behave appropriately. I think I’m hitting the main points here, but here’s the website if you’re curious.

We used NMT to help identify what my body felt like it needed to work on. My body indicated I needed help with my immune system, some allergies, the link between mind-gut, and a couple of other things. It’s a tool in the toolbox that goes alongside the infusions, UBI, and supplements.

Finally, I started a whole host of supplements like Omega-CO for important fish oils, vitamin b, vitamin d, a round of K, pre-biotics and pro-biotics, and some digestive support blends. All that in conjuction with cleaning up my diet.

Is it enough? How long can remission last? Then again, how long can a certain medication last?

I don’t know the answers to those questions. I do know that I went to dinner with 4 friends in April and they all got COVID except me.

So, for now, I’ll go celebrate my one year of natural remission! ONE YEAR! I’m cautiously optimistic and still check my stool everyday for signs of the disease.

This one year mark is significant, because it shows that it’s possible. But, it’s also an accountability marker to remind myself that I still have the disease and absolutely cannot relax on my diet or supplements. So, I better get off and go order some more.

If you’re thinking you want to try the natural path, do NOT stop taking your medication yet. Find a provider you like and trust first.

If you’re curious about my experience, go ahead and comment or email me. I’m always happy to talk about it.

And, happy new year!

Hanna

Categories
Amazon Reviews van build

Amazon Product Review

Euhomy Mini Fridge with Freezer, 3.2 Cu.Ft Mini refrigerator with freezer, Dorm fridge with freezer 2 door For Bedroom/Dorm/Apartment/Office – Food Storage or Cooling Drinks(Silver).

This post contains affiliate links – we may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Welcome back for another Amazon review of the products we used in our van build. Today, I wanted to briefly review the refrigerator we selected for our mini kitchen. Before going over the pro’s and con’s of this specific model, let’s go over a things to consider before buying any fridge for your build. 


Things to Consider Before Buying any Fridge: You’ll want to consider each of these things altogether, like a circle rather than in a line. 


Energy Consumption vs Budget

As you shop different models, you’ll want to keep a close eye on the energy consumption of the fridge. The more expensive models have more efficient compressors, so they’re easier on your electrical needs. One day, we’d like to upgrade to something like this from Dometic or this from Whynter. However, this was an area where we decided to save on the budget for now and consider an upgrade at a later time.
I’m not super knowledgeable about the voltage/consumption/watt hours, but Ivan figured that if we could not recharge our batteries for some reason, we’d last about 3-4 days with the fridge running. So, you’ll want to carefully consider how you plan to recharge your batteries and how much fridge you actually need.
On the one hand, we have a less efficient fridge – but on the other hand, we’re using propane for our heating and cooking so we have a bit more electricity to give to the fridge.


Space

In the midst of determining your budget and energy needs, you’ll have to visualize your space. We built our van from scratch, so we knew we could essentially build around the fridge. We settled on the Euhomy model and basically built a cabinet area for those dimensions. If we ever do an upgrade, we’ll have to reanalyze the space and possibly do a little construction to fit it in. 
We decided to go with the cheaper, simpler option for a fridge. We got the 120volt. You have to take into account how much energy it uses, the cost, size. This is why we are using propane for things like heating and cooking, so we can give more electricity to the fridge. 
There are so many options and a lot will depend on your layout. Do you buy a fridge to fit the layout? Or, build your layout to fit the fridge?

We decided on the Euhomy 3.2 cu foot mini refrigerator with a freezer from Amazon. We purchased it at $199.99, it’s currently available for $189.99. I’ll briefly run through the pro’s and con’s. 

Pro’s:

  • Decent size fridge area and freezer area. This is a major pro for us. The freezer is a separate compartment with it’s own door. I’m surprised how much we’ve actually fit in there. We currently have like 8 pounds of elk meat and 2 (unboxed) Costco pizzas nestled in there. The fridge area is also decent. I do not think it would be enough if we had any kids or extra mouths to feed, but for the 2 of us we are able to keep quite a few ingredients in there. 
  • Slot for cans – we didn’t drink pop, until we discovered Zevia. So, the designated can area in the door is a nice little perk. It holds 6 cans. 
  • Bar on door – there is a swinging bar on the door that allows are bigger items to be stowed like a carton of milk or a jug of orange juice. I’ve been please a few times when I thought something was too big and then realized it would fit in the door.
  • Good size drawer/crisper on bottom and shelf in the middle. 

Con’s

  • You have to get used to the small size – we’ve lived with “dorm” fridges before, so it’s our first time scaling down from a full refrigerator. If this is the first time you’ll be using a tiny fridge, it’ll take some getting used to. Particularly, eating left overs before buying new food.
  • Not as efficient as more expensive models – Without any solar charging, we calculated that we could run the fridge for maybe 3-4 days on the batteries. This isn’t a major con, just something we keep an eye on.

That said, I’m enjoying our little fridge! Hopefully this gives you some helpful information while you’re shopping for your fridge. Questions? Let me know in the comments!


If you click this link to the oven and end up purchasing something from Amazon, we may get a commission at no extra cost to you. It’s a great way to support us on the road!

Sincerely, Hanna

Categories
Amazon Reviews van build

Amazon Product Review:

Suburban 3206A Gas Range with Conventional Burners – Black w/Piezo Ignition, 17”

This post contains affiliate links – we may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Today, we are starting a series of Amazon product reviews. If you’ve landed here because you are building out a van or just curious about the process, then you might be interested in our experience with the appliances and tools we used on our own build! I’ll describe the product we bought plus the pro’s and con’s of it. Let’s get started with the oven. 

Things to Consider Before Buying any Oven:
Space

Space is always the limiting factor in a van build. Space is constant. You can have more/less water, more/less electricity, more/less propane – not space. Ovens can be harder to fit into shorter vans and stove tops take up your counter space. So, visualize where an oven would go and the opportunity cost of giving up that space for something else.

 Propane

If you don’t want to use propane, this particular oven may not be the one for you. You might put more effort into a good battery/electrical system and then get an induction stove top (as many van builders do) and use a smaller propane tank for a camp burner.ExpensiveOur oven cost $473.23 from Amazon (currently $455 at the time of this writing). Ours is 21x18x16 inches, 54 pounds, gas range with piezo ignition. So, it’s a fairly simplified design, you have to turn the ignition on a separate knob and you have to manually light the oven with a hand held lighter. The ovens with electric ignition are quite a bit more expensive than even this one.We like our oven, but it’s not great at heat disbursement. So, keep in mind your RV oven won’t behave like a full kitchen oven and will take some practice to get used to how it cooks.

Do you even want an oven? 

We almost considered using just an Air Fryer for our cooking, because we were already in the habit of using it for much of our food. But, we figured we would need the oven too often to do without. We plan to live full-time in the ProMaster, so the convenience of an oven/stove combination seemed like a luxury we needed to make the van feel more like a home. Maybe you don’t use the oven often at all. Maybe you want to do a microwave/portable propane stove combo. Just think about how you usually heat/cook your food and what your goals are for the van.


Alright, so here are the pro’s and con’s of our specific oven.

Suburban 3206A Gas Range with Conventional Burners – Black w/Piezo Ignition, 17”

Pro’s:

  • Sleek Black Color
  • Easy to use stove top ignition
  • 3 gas burners
  • Easy to clean
  • I feel like it gives us extra counter space when it’s not being use
  • Compact but efficient
  • Fits an average Costco pizza
  • Easy to hook up to the propane lines – Common size fitting
  • Spots for mounting

Con’s:

  • Small, so pans & dishes need to be smaller
  • Poor heat disbursement (runs down the middle in a line), so we needed to get a pizza stone to help
  • Expensive, but I wouldn’t say it was too expensive for how often we use it
  • Arrive with a dent in the front (common complaint on Amazon too)
  • From other Amazon customers (not us): rusting after 6 months, weak burner grill, paint scratching off

Hopefully this gives you some helpful information while you’re shopping for your oven. Questions? Let me know in the comments!


If you click this link to the oven and end up purchasing something from Amazon, we may get a commission at no extra cost to you. It’s a great way to support us on the road!


Sincerely, Hanna

Categories
A Little Lost, A Little Found

The End is Near

We are a few weeks away from “the deadline” of completing the van. This week, we changed our layout dramatically and got to work adding in flooring, cupboards, and a bed design.

I won’t take up too much time writing here today, I’ll just add this quickie video with our update!

While we didn’t show too much of our supplies today, here are a few affiliate links if you see something you like!

Euhomy Fridge – https://amzn.to/3kjDTlp

USB Charger Socket – https://amzn.to/36q1n35

Bunk Window – https://amzn.to/36pxaBk

LED Recessed Lighting – https://amzn.to/35fOCJ5

Fuse Block – https://amzn.to/3kepxTn

Red Battery On/Off Switch – https://amzn.to/2JRvTvf

Renogy 20A DC to DC Battery Charger – https://amzn.to/36lfPcR

Vinyl Flooring from Lowe’s

Heat Mat from Expedition Upfitter

Just by clicking one of these links and shopping at Amazon, you are supporting our journey! Thank you!

Hanna

Categories
A Little Lost, A Little Found

No grains, No sugar, No bake cookies

Wow, can you even believe these are a thing? Life changing, really. So, let’s jump right in!

First of all, this recipe comes from Phase it Up – a truly life changing program that educated me about my body’s needs and how to move toward a healthier physique (which, is still a work in progress, but now I know HOW!).

How to Make It:

Melt the butter and almond butter together over medium. This takes a little practice to avoid burning it, stir quite a bit. Then, turn off heat and add in the shredded coconut (the smaller the chunks, the better in my opinion), the sweetener, and cacao powder.

Stir it all together until the dry ingredients are blended and it looks like a pot of melted chocolate.

Then, scoop and shape however you please. I’ve been using a small cookie dough scoop and plop them onto a plate. They lose shape quickly, but flat or round they taste delicious!

Once everything is scooped out, place into a container and slide it into the freezer for the cookies to cool and set. That’s it! So easy!

Variations:

You can use peanut butter instead of almond. I haven’t tried this yet, because I don’t care for peanut butter in general.

I have found it easier to melt and use unsalted butter over coconut butter, but that’s me personally.

If Swerve doesn’t do it for you – go ahead and experiment with other brands you trust for sugar substitutes. Swerve is made from erythritol, a sugar alcohol, it’s calorie free and unlikely to raise your blood sugar.

Yum, Yum:

Now for the background. I can’t believe how easy this recipe is. Plus, the mixture is delicious raw & warm or cold & hard.

I have ulcerative colitis and small food particles like shredded coconut might be hard on the digestive tract, particularly during a flare. This recipe might be better suited to you in remission, when you know those ulcers have healed. At a quick glance, though, I don’t see anything immediately risky for someone like me who’s in remission and has a happy colon.

Final Note – The approach I take to my recipes are always with colitis/autoimmune disease in mind. It’s very difficult to find sugar free/grain free recipes, so I’m on the hunt to find and share them here!

Until next time!

Hanna

PS – Want to keep this recipe and my other treats for yourself? Grab a copy here!

Categories
A Little Lost, A Little Found Just for Fun

The Nomad’s Book Club

Last week I was struck by this thought….

There’s got to be other ‘nomadic’ women (girl-mad, anyone?) out there with extra time on their hands who get a little bored and a little lonely like me. What if we could gather digitally and commune over a shared love of reading?

So, I asked around and about 10 women actually agreed to join my group!

My plan is to hold weekly meetings and while the membership is small, I will be inviting them to participate live in the discussion. My hope is that it will provide each of us with a meaningful social connection.

In the long run, I’d love for this to turn into a membership site providing connection to all sorts of location independent female workers. Right now, we have a few digital nomads with us and a few travel nurse spouses like me.

Our first book we will read is called, The Huntress by Kate Quinn. If you’re someone who gets a little bored and would like to join click here! Have you been in an online book club? What did you like or dislike? I’d love some ideas. In the mean time, I’ll bring some updates about our thoughts on the book!

Until next time,

Hanna

Categories
A Little Lost, A Little Found van build

Consciously Incompetent

When starting a new project, there are several levels of competencies:

Unconscious Incompetence – you don’t know if you’re capable or not, you don’t know where the gaps are in your knowledge. The problem here is that you might not recognize your mistakes. If you’re a person filled with false pride…then this can be a dangerous place to be!

Conscious Incompetence – a humbled place where you recognize, “I have no idea what I’m doing.” This is the place where Ivan started as he jumped into the van build. He pursued the knowledge of others and tried to absorb and apply the things he learned.

Conscious Competence – you’re now able to do the things that seemed impossible, but you still need help and you still need to consciously think through each step you take. Ivan is getting closer to this conscious competence regarding the van build. He has built up experience with plumbing, carpentry, and wiring – but he still needs to tread carefully.

Unconscious Competence – now you’ve arrived! If you can hop on a bicycle and peddle away without second thought, you have unconscious competence. The training has been internalized and you can proceed unconsciously, without making mistakes.

As we began the van build in a state of Conscious Incompetence – Ivan purchase blueprints from Trent & Allie. He proceeded with caution, made some mistakes and fixed them, and planned to follow the blueprints exactly.

However, now that he’s been in the van almost everyday for about 3 months, he’s starting to recognize where he can step away from the blueprints and make his own decision.

Not to be too sappy here – but, it’s a little like that transition from teenager to adult. Day by day, you start recognizing “Oh, I can make this decision myself instead of copying my parents.” Comedian Christina Patsziski referst to this as the “Patsziski Effect”.

Example: Why do I keep moving my dang charging cable around the house, when I could just buy another one?

Or: Hm, nothing is stopping me from buying and eating Pop Tarts for dinner.

In our case: Well, maybe we don’t need a closet here – maybe we want more counter space.

The van really started to feel like our van build when we decided to change the original layout from Trent & Allie’s design. We will now have 1) no closet, but more countertop; 2) a L-shaped couch instead of 2 facing seats; 3) a semi-convertible bed; 4) a sliding pantry inspired by Tio Aventura.

I’m excited about the bed we are doing! It took Ivan quite a bit of puzzling to tease it out into a plan. Half of the bed will be mobile – it will pull out and in. We will attach a harness to the mattress so that when it scoots it, the mattress slides up the wall and becomes a back cushion for sitting.

slide the arrows to see this pushed in/pulled out frame

This bed change allows for extra seating under the bed – hence, the L-shaped couch. The L-shaped couch was inspired, because it helps us maneuver around the inverter and wiring that was set up prior to these changes.

Being able to have the freedom and confidence to say, “I’m doing something different.” makes me feel like we really are part of Van-iverse. There’s nothing wrong with the original design, but it now feels like our van will have more of our personality.

Have you experienced that transition from (Un)Conscious Incompetence to (Un)Conscious Competence? If so, please comment and share!

Until next time,

Hanna

Categories
A Little Lost, A Little Found Just for Fun

They’re not called ‘fur babies’ for nothin’

How do you know when you’re ready for a puppy or dog or any kind of pet? As an adult, I have not had the responsibility of pet ownership and the thought of having a little companion is quite rosy and sweet. Right now, she’s being a good little girl lying next to me on the couch.

Of course, she’s nothing like a human baby – I’m not falling for that. But, wow, is a puppy a lot of work. Between getting up in the middle of the night, keeping a corner eye on her at all times, and the constant wondering is she’s sad, bored, or content, I wonder how a person could do this with a full time job!

Yet, she’s so darn cute! Is it okay if we take a moment to ooh and ahh?

This is Frankie – she’s a girl and particularly adorable when she’s asleep in awkward poses.

I’ve spent a lot of time alone while traveling on nursing assignments. In Florida, Ivan worked 5 nights a week. He usually works 3-4 days a week. A nurse’s shift is often 12 hours long, 13 by the time you include shift change and commuting. Without kids or nearby friends, it’s gets lonely! I didn’t understand loneliness until we started travel nursing.

There are ways around it – go meet people, sit in coffee shops, go to church, sell things at craft fairs – these are things that definitely kept me busy and entertained. But, I’d still come back to the idea that it might be nice to have a furry friend too.

Let’s be honest – we didn’t overthink getting a dog, but we did take our time. I can already see she’s helping me stay active and she gives me just the right amount of stress to be mentally engaged during the day.

All that to say, she’s a lot of work – but good work and we love her so much!

How did you know when you were ready for a dog? Let me know in the comments.

Until next time!

Hanna