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Hi! Let me help you become a nomad!

Kristin Hanes, Publisher of The Wayward Home

I spend half the year in a DIY Sprinter van camper, and the other half on a sailboat. I want to help you achieve your nomadic living dreams, whether that's with van life, RVing, sailboats or tiny homes! Join my email list for van life tips and advice, remote work ideas, personal stories and anecdotes, and more!

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Featured Post

Vote! Are you into boondocking? Yay or Nay?

HeyReader! Any moment now, we will push out from our marina here in Puerto Penasco, Mexico and head down to the Sea of Cortez for a couple months of cruising. I love this time on our sailboat, when we are exploring the islands off Baja. Someone once asked me: do sailboats boondock like vans and RVs? And the answer is yes, but in the sailboat world it's called gunkholing (referring to the anchor getting stuck in mud). Both have a similar vibe: away from hordes of people, absolute solitude,...

14 days ago • 2 min read

Hey Reader! After a much-needed weekend away from the boatyard, Tom and I made a big decision! We are tired of endless boat work, bouncing around in rough seas, barfing over the stern of the boat, and getting caught in ferocious blows. We are also exhausted by van life: digging holes, showering outside in the wind in sub-zero temperatures, swatting mosquitos, and generally living in the dirt. So we decided to sell both the sailboat and the van and upgrade our lives to..... A CAMPING AIRPLANE....

about 1 month ago • 1 min read

Hi Reader, Just a couple of days ago, I ate my very first grasshopper tostada at the outdoor Oaxacan market here in Puerto Penasco, Mexico. Visually, it was strange to see all these tiny insects sprinkled all over my tostada like they belonged there with the cabbage, onion and avocado. Grasshopper tostada! They tasted fine, though, like crunchy nuts or chips with a little protein, LOL. The tiny legs are what got me, though: when we were done, I wondered if one was stuck in my throat. I've...

about 1 month ago • 2 min read

Hey, Reader! When I tell people I am living in a boatyard in Mexico, I think the typical reaction is to feel sorry for me. "When are you getting out of there?" "That must be miserable." "It must be so dirty and loud!" "Sucks you have to be there for so long!" I'll tell you a secret right now: I am ENJOYING living in the boatyard. You must find that to be a strange confession. I haven't had a "real" shower in two months (instead, we take solar showers behind the van). I have to use a communal...

3 months ago • 1 min read

Hey, Reader! When we were traveling in Europe with a campervan rental, I brought this bright green bag called a Scrubba wash bag. I didn't have any big expectations for this bag as we typically do laundry in laundromats. But the Scrubba wash bag was a GAME-CHANGER. For 5.5 weeks, we did all of our laundry in this bag, using dry detergent strips and hanging the clothes from a portable clothesline. We liked the convenience and how this method was gentler on our clothes. Plus, we didn't have to...

5 months ago • 1 min read

Hey, Reader, You might not know this about me yet, but I REALLY love coffee. In fact, I am borderline obsessed with coffee and NEED it every morning. You better not talk to me until I have my coffee! Did you know that caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive drug in the world? I have a system in place: A hand-grinder where I grind whole beans. A tiny electric hot water kettle. And a simple pour-over method that results in delicious coffee. Then I sit and read the newspaper on my iPad as...

8 months ago • 2 min read

Hey Reader! As June creeps forward, we both feel like it's time to get off the boat here in the desert of Mexico and into our campervan and the forests of the Pacific Northwest. I'm craving cool night temperatures, hiking in the woods, windsurfing in the gorge and seeing my friends and family in Oregon. That means we are closely analyzing the weather, trying to avoid crazy winds in the north sea (sometimes 30 knots), while getting safely up the coast of Baja. ----PAID AD---- I'm really...

11 months ago • 1 min read

Hello Reader! How is your week going? We are currently anchored in front of the town of Loreto in Baja, getting ready to provision, do laundry and pick up a family member at the airport for a one-week visit. That being said, I am so excited to tell you about a new, Italian-made RV that's just as cute as can be. Have you heard of the Wingamm yet? Wingamm has been producing motorhomes in Italy for the past 45 years, and now an American company called W Motorhome Sales North America is working...

11 months ago • 2 min read

Hello Reader! I am currently writing this email as we sail slowly south down the Sea of Cortez in very light winds and flat seas. I just pulled a loaf of sourdough out of the oven, and this morning we saw the spouts of a couple whales! How cool! When we’re out on our sailboat like this I am often thinking about trash. We have to rinse out, crush, compress and store our trash, sometimes for over a week - and then carry it to shore in a dinghy or on a paddle board. It’s an annoying process that...

about 1 year ago • 1 min read

Hello Reader! I have so much to share with you today! So I'll get right into it. Here's what's going on personally: We are currently anchored in the beautiful Bahia de Concepcion in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico. We sailed right to anchor last night with all three sails, and I am so happy that a fellow sailor took a video of us sailing in! Click here to check out the video on Facebook. Another sailor took a different video which I posted to Instagram, so hopefully you can check out one or the...

about 1 year ago • 1 min read
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