About Me - Soles of My Traveling Shoes

The weekend before I got laid off, I bought a Jeep Gladiator and an R-Pod.

The Jeep Gladiator and R-Pod at a campsite, mountains in the background — *At a campsite outside of Sedona, Arizona*

I already knew it was coming. COVID layoffs, a severance package on the way, all the practical signs telling me to sit tight and save the money. I bought a truck and a trailer instead. Looking back, I still don’t know if that was the smartest thing I’ve ever done or the dumbest. Probably both.

This blog didn’t start with any of that, though. It started in 2013, when I was traveling constantly for my past job, bouncing from city to city, and I started putting together travel guides for my coworkers. Detroit first, then Austin, then a handful of other cities. I’d send them out and people started using them, then sharing them, then asking me for the next one. I was also the person emailing everyone the latest Delta coupon code or mileage run, because half of us were chasing points and miles anyway. The blog grew out of that—not a plan, just people asking for more of what I was already doing.

Two women laughing and posing in front of a Microsoft event backdrop — *Sarah, my coworker, and me at a Microsoft event in Jacksonville, Florida*

For a long time that meant planes, hotels, trains. Then I had my daughter, and I wanted to bring her along and show her things the way I’d been shown things. Around the same time Frankie got older, and RV life meant he could always be with us too—no boarding him, no leaving him behind. That’s when the trailer stopped being just a leap-of-faith purchase and became how we actually travel now. We lived in that tiny 150 square foot box full-time for a year and hit 27 states.

Small gray shaggy dog lying in the shade next to an RV — *Frankie resting in the shade next to the R-Pod at a beach campsite*

The other reason we made that jump has less to do with logistics. In the space of about a year, my husband’s mom was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s before 60, one of my best friends died of liver cancer at 35, and my husband went into septic shock and almost died when our daughter was five months old. I stopped waiting for the right time to do the things we actually wanted to do.

Man, woman, and baby smiling on a hotel balcony with a beach and ocean behind them — *Chad, our daughter, and me on a beach vacation in Florida, not long after Chad got out of the hospital*

So here’s what you get from me. I’m picky. I don’t recommend gear, campgrounds, or routes I haven’t used myself, and if something’s mediocre, I’ll say so. I know a lot about points and miles systems from my tech job years, I know RV logistics inside and out at this point, and I know what actually works for traveling with a toddler and an older dog, because we’ve done all three, a lot. I’m also good at breaking down what went wrong and why, which is most of what you’ll find here.

These days we’re back in our house, doing shorter trips instead of full-time RV life, with more planned and still figuring out exactly what this next stretch looks like for us. Either way, my husband, our daughter, Frankie, and I are still out there regularly, and this is where I write down what we’re learning as we go.

Want to Work With Me?

If you make gear, run a campground, or have a travel product you actually stand behind, I’m open to talking. I only recommend things I’ve used and would buy again myself, so if that’s the kind of partnership you’re looking for, reach out at via my contact page.

Find Me Elsewhere

Instagram: @solestraveling
YouTube: youtube.com/solestraveling