From there to here...

2017 was a big year...

Last year we went to San Francisco, Amsterdam, Spain, the Grand Canyon, and Burning Man. Plus, we came to the decision to live on the road in an RV for 18 months, and we bought one!

On Joe's birthday in February last year, we went to check out a RoadTrek camper van in person for the first time ever. The model Joe selected after many hours of research was available in New Jersey, about two hours away. Ashleigh approved.

In April we traveled to San Francisco for a conference, and while we were there, arranged to see a very reasonably priced, used 2016 RoadTrek CS Adventurous that matched our exact specifications. It was perfect: in great shape and priced to sell. We made an offer.

In May, we closed the deal and bought it! Our friend Jerry, over the course of two trips, drove the RV from San Francisco to Phoenix. Since Joe had to be there for a tech conference in June, we planned a trip to the Grand Canyon. After the trip, we stored the RV in Phoenix.

Independence Day fell on a Tuesday last year, extending the first weekend in July to four days, presenting an opportunity. Joe flew to Phoenix, got the windshield fixed (a water truck's tire had kicked up a pebble into our windshield on the way to the Grand Canyon), and shuttled the RV to store it in Reno so it would be ready to go for our next trip: Burning Man!

In late August we took the RV to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada and camped out for ten days at Burning Man. We then journeyed through Lake Tahoe and by way of Angeles National Forest to L.A., where we cleaned our RV and placed it in storage. The RV sits in L.A. as we write this, patiently awaiting our return. We are in Connecticut, excitedly planning for our departure – and for our big move into life on the road!

To top off a year of steady progress in realizing our dreams, last month we rented out our new home on wheels to another couple for two weeks. Even after the rental listing website took their cut, and after paying our friend Micah to facilitate the rental in Los Angeles, our profit covered a few months' worth of RV expenses. It was great to go through that process and validate the plan to rent it out and make money, both before and after our upcoming road trip.

Yep, 2017 sure was a big year, alright.

...and 2018 is sure to be even bigger!

Our Van

4x4 Mercedes Sprinter camper van

Our Van

2016 RoadTrek CS Adventurous

• 600 W solar
• 800 Ah Lithium battery
• underhood generator

More info and pics.

Namago Yoga Man

Photo of Joe by Ben Larrabee

Hi, I'm Joe – Namago Yoga Man. Ashleigh is my wife, the educator and yoga instructor.

And this is our new endeavor, Namago.Co!

Why Namago?

I used to have a joke at the end of yoga class, when an instructor would sometimes draw out the process of bringing the class out of a particularly lengthy savasana:

"Slooowlly, begin to bring your attention back to your bod-dy. [Long pause.] Lift the fingers on your left hand slow-ly one-by-one off of the mat, and start to use your left arm to lift your hand very gently, while starting to pick up your elbow as you slow-ly lay your arm across your bod-dy. [Very long pause.] When you feel ready, take your time whilst twisting your torso as you start to shift your weight to your right side and prepare to roll, slow-ly onto your right, side."

[To Do: Hire a real writer and commission six paragraphs of David Foster Wallace-style prose describing in exacting detail each individual instruction sent to the musculoskeletal system.]

The joke was that after all of the gentle yet drawn-out instruction, the teacher would say, at last, "Namaste."

And I would say, "Namaste? Namago! I've got some email to do..."

The joke may be unoriginal, but I found it amusing enough to ponder for awhile. One night I wrote the moniker: Namago Yoga Man, realizing it was a palindrome – and boom.

Plus, the .com domain was available, so of course I registered it! (Namagoyogaman.com).

But I've always been partial to short domains, so I also registered namago.co while I was at it.

And thus, the idea was born... well, actually it was just the domain at that point, and I wasn't really sure what to do with it for awhile.

Meanwhile, Ashleigh and I have been wishing to “take the show on the road,” so to speak. We've been following nomadic couples, families, and individuals on YouTube who make videos about living full-time in their RV, van, truck camper, overland adventure vehicle, or boat.

And as of this New Year, we have decided to do it.

We're going to begin at the beginning – by documenting the beginning. The part when it goes from idea to action.

And so we needed a site on which to document our journey, and Namago was sitting there waiting for us. So, here we go!

Introducing... Ashleigh & Joe: Namago.Co!