(upbeat music)
Oh, no. She love this.
(laughter)
I'm Amber and in 2017,
I sold my house and everything I owned
to live out my dream life as a full-time digital nomad.
I started in a 26 foot RV
and within a year I downsized into a 20 foot van.
I've been traveling in an RV for the last three
and a half years around the US, Mexico and Canada.
But, I think we can all agree
that this last year has brought about many challenges.
(rain patting)
2020 has been filled with some major ups
and downs and definitely challenged me
with traveling between States and countries.
I'm just grateful that I can still travel.
While I make some French toast
for breakfast and snickerdoodle cookies for the holidays.
I like to talk with you more
about owning less and being happier.
And then, we'll break into the festivities.
It's the end of the year
and we're celebrating the holidays.
During this time I always find myself reflecting
on the last year of my life.
How have I changed and improved?
Have I lived a happy life?
What adjustments do I need to make
in order to live a happier life?
As I wrap up the year and enter 2021
I find myself thinking about happiness more and more
and how owning less makes me happier.
I started this journey
of story chasing by traveling full time
to gather more moments of deliberate happiness.
This is what makes me happy.
Living with less and traveling.
This is my dream.
Yours can be something entirely different.
The one thing I believe any
of us can do no matter what path you're on
for creating more happiness,
is to live with less and adopt a more minimalist lifestyle.
It all started when I downsized my living space.
When I moved to downtown Seattle in 2014
and into a 480 square foot apartment.
I got rid of the excess and only kept
what I really needed to live,
like a bed, a couch, a desk to work from
and all the bathroom, kitchen and clothing essentials.
I even downsized decoration
so that I wasn't moving things
around all the time to clean and dust.
The freedom of owning less
and living more simply in a minimalist life was thrilling.
I had this feeling of abundance
and peace that I don't think I'd ever felt before.
Fast forward to 2017.
When I bought an RV and set out on the road,
I again felt this complete sense
of freedom of calm and extreme happiness.
I realized the thought of downsizing so much
can be challenging to our minds,
but once you start it becomes addictive
because you start to live without the clutter
that causes stress and anxiety
and sometimes even more money to maintain.
I began to shift my focus from acquiring things
to focusing on relationships, my self care, exploring lands
and enjoying this amazing beauty around me.
My mind began to get clear as
if the physical stuff had been taking up space in my head.
The clutter was replaced with moments, with stories.
Stories of traveling, stories of people I met on the road.
Stories of hiking, biking, motorcycling,
whale watching and so much more.
I got off the hamster wheel of buying stuff
and instead I traded it in for living
in a van that's 20 feet long and about 80 square feet.
This van is my mode of travel.
It's the only thing I own in this world.
Along with the contents inside
it feels so nourishing to me, knowing that my little van,
my home on wheels allows me
to shift my focus to creating more stories.
This may seem like extreme minimalism to some
but you don't have to go to this extreme.
This is how I chose to declutter downsize
and live a happier life.
You can start to downsize and declutter
in your own space now.
what are you hanging onto that doesn't serve you
or add value to your life even more important?
What are you keeping around that is toxic
to your life and doesn't provide space
for you to live a happier, more fulfilled life?
Look at that buddy.
Oh, Kerby.
Oh man. We're gonna have some fun.
Literally this is for you.
Come on.(indistinct)
Oh, no. Oh, you love this.
(laughter)
(indistinct chatter)
Ooh, it's a rope.
It's a rope buddy. Oh, yeah.
Settle down, buddy. Let me help you.
I can't (indistinct)
(indistinct chatter)
Bring your bowl.
(indistinct chatter)
There you go again.
(wind whirring)
If you bounce it he'll jump in here right back.
(dog clomping)
(dogs groaning)
AMBER: Kerby. (indistinct chatter)
Kerby. (kerby growling)
(dog clomping)
(Kerby growling)
(Amber laughing)
What you got Kerby?
What you got? (Kerby whining)
Merry Christmas!
AMBER: Well, we're out here in the desert
and look at this feast we have.
So, Scott made spaghetti.
Meat spaghetti with a garlic bread and mozzarella.
And then Dave has...
Go ahead, Dave.
I have my own vegan meatball, meat sauce.
AMBER: Yum. That looks good.
And some peppers.
AMBER: Yeah. And we have a Caesar salad.
So yeah.
Merry Christmas everyone.
Well, I made it over here
to the Ice Center in Yuma, Arizona,
and I think I actually forgot to tell you why I'm here.
So, I drove over here from Quartzsite, Arizona
and I've been camping over there
for a little while and I got something in my eye.
I have no idea what's going on with it
but it just feels like there's an irritant up here
in the right corner of my right eye.
And there's like this little pinprick
it's kinda like a raised bump.
It's been there for about seven days.
I had super, super, super irritating.
I got on a Teladoc call with a doctor yesterday.
If you're not familiar with what that is
it's a service that's provided
through my healthcare provider and I can do an online call
or a video call with a doctor.
And so I got all that set up yesterday and did that.
And I didn't really expect
that they would be able to do very much
for me because it's my eye.
But, they basically just said,
" You really need to go get a more professional opinion
with an eye doctor.
And then also, do like an eyewash and some drops
and stuff to kinda help and see if that works."
It didn't really work.
I mean, it cleaned it out and everything
but it's still there.
Since it's been there for seven days.
I thought I better just go ahead and go into the doctor.
So, that's why I'm here in Yuma.
Interestingly, I went into check in
and they do not allow you inside the lobby due to COVID.
They take your name.
They take your phone number
they ask you to wait in your car
and they also take your temperature
and ask you have any COVID sign or anything like that.
So, I thought that was great for social distancing purposes.
That made me feel better about going in there.
I really didn't want to wait in a lobby with a bunch
of other people, and I'm actually gonna probably go
into Mexico for just a moment.
Los Algodones is over here
and Scott needs some medication for doozer.
So, I'm gonna go in and get that.
Okay. So you have your appointment
for the 20th, January 20th.
(door opening)
(Amber panting)
All right, guys.
So, I just got back tired.
My eye are stinging a bit.
It appears that I have assist growth on my eye.
There's actually two little small ones.
And they just gonna give me some drops
that has steroid and an antibiotic in it.
And I have to take those for two weeks.
It's non cancerous.
It's not bad.
Just if it doesn't go away with the cream,
then they have or the drops,
they have to actually remove it via surgery.
And it's just a numbing agent and they do it in the office.
So fingers crossed it, doesn't it?
Come to that but I gonna go pick up the drops.
They call them the prescription already
and then head into Mexico.
I'm so glad that that's not as bad as I had worried about.
I am like that.
I worry a little bit sometimes about these things.
(door closing)
All right.
Time to go.
All right, well, I'm here at the border.
However, I can't get in.
(chuckling)
See, it says there's the parking lot right there
but the gates are all closed.
And the sign back there said exit only.
So, I don't know.
It's weird.
There's cars over there, but I can't get in.
I don't know what's going on.
Maybe it's only open for a certain amount
of time and they close it, but it doesn't say that.
And I know I've been here around this time,
but I mean everything is so different
with COVID these days to go any further.
If there's one more entrance
into the parking lot over there.
But if I go any further
then I will be in Mexico and I can't do that.
This is a place where you actually just park and walk in.
Guess we will not be getting teasers medication today.
And for all you people who were complaining
about me flipping my hair by the way
(chuckles)
it's like always have to address these things.
My hair is very fine.
So, you either get to see me flip my hair.
I'm not wearing a bra. It would look dumb.
My hair is very fine
or I just wear baseball hats all the time.
I'm good with that.
(soft music) (car engine starting)
We've decided to spend New Year's Eve
and like have a Sioux by the water.
What a treat this will be to explore around like Havasu,
which is an Arizona and infamous London Bridge.
(soft music)
♪ Let the first sound you hear ♪
♪ Be a beating heart ♪
♪ Beating bright, beating bold ♪
(car engine roaring)
♪ When your eyes come to me ♪
♪ I'm humbled constantly ♪
♪ A supernova in sight ♪
♪ Mmm♪
(wind whirring)
♪ Is in the rising and fall ♪
♪ Of the mountains and your breath♪
We're in gas stop and ready to hit the road again.
♪ There are dreams, there are dreams ♪
♪ Mmm ♪
♪ Remember yours is the heart ♪
♪ That paints the world the very best ♪
♪ In the colors of your life ♪
♪ Mmm♪
(water splashing)
(car engine roaring)
♪ And as you fall into stars ♪
♪ Find your place amongst the orchards ♪
♪ Know you're perfect as you are ♪
♪ Mmm♪
All right.
Well, that was a bust.
We came all the way to like Havasu went to the state park.
They usually have overflow parking there that we stay at.
And yeah, it's closed all year long apparently.
And our campground is full at the holiday weekend
and there's a little bit of BLM land around here
but we went and checked a couple of spots and it is so busy.
We thought the overflow would be open
and we didn't think anything of it.
So we have made the hard decision
to head back to Quartzsite.
So, what a waste a day.
And here I am supposed to be taken off time, you know
from doing YouTube videos and working and stuff.
So, I can kind of get my goals
and everything together for 2021 and work on my business.
All right.
Back to Quartzsite we go.
At least we get to spend a nice peaceful time there.
It's kinda quiet there.
Internet's great.
And it's New Year's Eve coming up.
Scott and I just booked a campground
in Yuma where I might have to have surgery on my eye.
If that this doesn't go away.
(dog whining)
It's okay.
(Chuckling)
It's okay.
Lily, what do you think?
What do you think?
And by the way, I do like Quartzsite
not the town itself, that much.
It's all right.
But the camping there is really amazing.
It's quite.
Internet it's great.
We just been there for awhile, kinda bopping around.
So, it was just really time to leave
and we wanted to explore like Havasu,
but Oh, well maybe another time.
(fire crackling)
Happy New Year!
(Amber laughing)
It's time for our last fire here in Quartzsite.
Right here we go again, back harder
of Quartzsite and on to Yuma.
Simple living and owning less is what makes me happier.
Do me a favor and leave me a comment below
and tell me at least two things you can do this month
to declutter and simplify your surroundings and your life.