Category: Travel

(April 13, 2019)

Video Transcript:

Hey y’all.

So, I sinned.

And I got some Subway and that’s just all there is to that.

(holds up ~A&W)

Got me a root beer, and it’s about to be on.

Essentially what I’d like to say is that I have gotten some sun exposure today.

Like, you know the slight smell of burnt skin when you go to a tanning salon, you can smell everybody’s nasty skin burning, that’s what it smells like.

And I can feel the feeling of having been a little bit sunburnt. Y’all, I don’t get sun exposure, it’s just something that doesn’t happen in my life. So I got some sun exposure, and the sun is hot. And it’s not just because I’m dressed warm for the area of the world that I’m in. That’s not the reason why I’m so hot.

If I wasn’t wearing all these clothes, the sun would be burning me even harder.

eats

It’s fairly likely that I’m gonna have to move along cuz it’s gonna be even hotter tomorrow.

And the issue is you can’t just sit around all day with your air conditioner on. Birtha doesn’t like to idle, Birtha likes to move. If she’s gonna be on, she better be going somewhere. She likes to power. She doesn’t just wanna sit there and provide you some air conditioner.

Birtha and I, we don’t use air conditioner. It’s gotta be like 100 degrees for me to turn the AC on.

I crack the window and that’s it. So when I turn the AC on, Birtha’s like, “What’re you doing?” and
I’m like, “Girl, I know.”

Birtha pressures me, she lets me know.

And there are like flies and stuff, y’all.

gets out foot long sub

I’m a bad girl, like bad.

Look what I done went and did.

I totally am sunburnt, I can feel it. It was one of my goals to become sunburnt. I wanted it all over my body, and I’ll get it, don’t worry.

So the guy at the Subway was pretty hot dude, he looked kinda like one of my first loves, like one of my hardcore crushes. He had long hair and he tied it back in a ponytail and he was fine.

And I always get a turkey with extra American cheese. And it kind of got to a point where he was getting frustrated with the extra cheese.

He was arranging it in a pattern or whatever and it was intensive and he got tired of it. But he was super nice, it was never a problem but I could just tell he was like, “This fuckin’ bitch and her extra cheese, dude.”

And then I went up to the counter and I bought this A&W from the guy up there, and I was like super nice to him, winkin’ at him and shit. But not in like an all out pure and total flirting kinda way, cuz that’s just the way I treat people sometimes. But he thought it was about to be somethin’, you know what I’m sayin’? It was great.

He was getting hassled by his female co-worker though because she could tell I was kinda flirting with him and he was kinda liking it and she just wasn’t having it.

This heat done has me frazzled today, if you were me, you’d be wearing this hat right now too. It’s hot and bright out here and it’s hardcore. I don’t know how people put up with temperatures 20 degrees hotter out here. That’s the reason the camprground host yanked the sign and the covered bench down. They’re about to leave this place because it’s gonna get super duper hot.

I came at the very end of the season.

Let me tell you one thing about me…

I like to eat, okay?

There are times when I don’t eat, and I eat very little. I have a sordid history. But I fuckin’ like to eat, okay I do.

The shadow from this hat is like the matrix lattice all over my face and neck, I’m lowkey turnt by that, that’s my shit right there.

I digress, this is so fuckin’ good…

eats

And you know what?

I could have just gone all day on the soup. But the heat forced me to go into town and just do what I saw a lot of other people doing, which was sitting in their vehicles idling with their AC on.

Or they just go and hang out in the gas stations, stores and fast food places because they have AC.

And I’ve seen a guy cruising town in this very memorable van. That’s what he’s doing all day. He’s going around all day running his AC and parking it up at night.

I can’t do that, if I’m gonna drive Birtha, I’m gonna drive Birtha out of some shit. I’m not just gonna cruise around or sit around and run the AC all day.

It’s a happy medium. It’s a hard balance to strike, it’s hard to find somewhere that is a perfect temperature during the day and a perfect temperature at night. Or just bearable, something that you can put up with.

I was thinking, well it’s to better to deal with a little bit hotter weather during the day than to have to deal with colder nighttime temperatures. I don’t know about that. Now I’m thinking it might be better to go somewhere with better nighttime temperatures that are a little bit too cold for my preferences to have temperatures that are better during the day.

If I wanted to sit in my car with the windows open and stuff, it wouldn’t be too hot to do that.

Dude, these flies…

sigh

And it’s like, I could pitch a tent and hang out in the tent. And that was my plan, admittedly.

But…

shakes head

It’s hot as balls, you guys.

I wish I could drive Birtha around and just never stop. Just never stop driving. Just keep driving. Forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever.

Heaven is a place where I drive Birtha all fuckin’ day, and then I stop at an interstate rest area, and then I repeat again the next day.

And sometimes every now and then, just for a little variation and a little bit of a variety, sometimes we leave the rest area in the middle of the night because things are a little bit weird. And we drive on to the next rest area and stay there for the rest of the night.

Heaven is a place where I just drive Birtha all day, just drive it. On the interstate. And select desert roads.

I love to drive.

eating, thinking

This is how you learn. What works, what doesn’t work. What’s feasible and what’s not.

And I definitely feel like right here right now is almost not feasible.

I can kick it right here for the rest of the day and the rest of tonight, but it’s hotter tomorrow and I can’t take it.

I’m such a contradictory motherfucker, cuz I’m sick of cold, I want heat. But now it’s like too hot.

I’m still sick of the cold, still wanna be warm. But it’s a fine line.

(April 13, 2019)

Video Transcript:

Mornin’ everybody!

It’s time for breakfast…

(holds up can of ~Campbell’s Chunky Old Fashioned Vegetable Beef soup)

Not feeling too adventurous about flavors today so we’re just going for something tried and true, definitely good, can’t be bad right? We’re gonna find out.

It’s a nice morning. Gorgeous.

eats

Yeah, see now that’s good.

nodding in approval

It doesn’t even need to be warmed up.

Mmm, damn!

Breakfast of the gods.

I have my camera ~Velcro’d to my car right now, I love Velcro. One of the greatest inventions ever.

studies soup can

Mmm, damn.

continues eating

Starting to get kinda full.

I have to say, what would be nice right now would be some coffee, but…

There’s really no way for me to do that. I do have a little alcohol camping stove. And a pot. And I could heat up some water and make some coffee if I wanted to make some coffee.

But I really just got that for emergencies. I don’t think I’d willie-nillie just be pulling it out and using it all the time.

Some coffee would be nice though.

drinks water

First time I’ve ever used this camping chair. It’s orange. I like orange.

Should probably take a walk.

I put the empty soup can in the trash bag and I guess the trashbag had a hole in it and some of the liquid leaked out on the towel I keep on the seat. So I had to wash the towel off and put it over my camping chair to dry a little bit.

It just got me to thinking, beans don’t do that. Beans are pretty clean. I just get the little miniature cans and that’s plenty for me in one meal.

It’s all a process of refinement. Yeah you want variety but it comes at a cost and it’s not really worth it.

I love these areas where you can walk around and there are all these random bushes. I feel spiderwebs everywhere though.

I really love these boots because they make me feel safe from snakes. They come up high enough to protect me when I’m aimlessly walking around out here aimlessly not really paying attention to the appearance of the ground.

Yes, this my first time BLM camping but I have a feeling it’s gonna be hard to top this. I have a feeling that this is as good as it gets. It can’t get much better than this.

Everybody in the United States should be taking advantage of the intense freedom of this and what it represents. Take advantage of it and do it now.

There’s like green wood on this tree. Is that like a family of cactus or something?

Are these bigass cacti really cacti or are they trees? Is there a difference?

I feel like they are just really big cacti.

So are there any tarantulas out here? I’m just wondering what kinda spiders these spiderwebs are coming from.

Is the lighting better if I walk backwards? I should just walk backwards.

You know, I really love expansive, flat land where you can just walk a long way but you don’t really get lost. As long as I can still see my car, I’m good.

That’s like my gauge. If I can’t see it anymore then we’ve got a problem.

The cactus looks dry, it’s dry out here. It’s too dry for a cactus!

He does look parched though.

Hey, I made friends with that other cactus over there, do you guys know each other?

Awww, look at the little baby cactus.

That’s a really pretty cactus, you’re pretty tall. It is what it is. Anyways, I’m partial to my other cactus over there. First cactus I ever met and he’s just got me feelin’ some type of way.

These look like the cacti that have a clique.

They’re like the clique and yeah they’re gonna treat you like shit, but they’re still parted enough for you to stand in the middle so you asked for it.

What’s up you guys? Awww, me and the cacti. I love cacti.

Low key, lost sight of my car. There it is. Wow, see now it’s over there. It’s like… that’s how it goes out here. You turn around and turn around, and then you’re like where the fuck am I?

There’s another cactus up here I wanna see and then I’m gonna turn around. Aww, hi butterfly! I think that was a moth, but whatever.

God dude, this cactus up here, whew, damn dude. I’ll show you in a second. This is an attractive cactus. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trifilin’ on my cactus but, this one… the grass is always greener isn’t it? The cactus is always greener. I know who butters my bread, but I’m just sayin’ this is a pretty good lookin’ one right here.

Looks like it’s having a hard time down here though, what’s up with that? Is that just what they look like?

poses in front of cactus

Cactus got me turnt!

Feel like I need to go right back this way and just retrace my steps. Cuz I didn’t bring a bottle of water with me. It’s not like I’m on a very long walk, but I’m not gonna be going very far off if I don’t have some water.

This is the life right here. Just camp in a place that is stunningly, ridiculously beautiful. You get up, you get out and you walk around. And this is what life is supposed to be about. This is what we’re supposed to do. Just travel and walk.

My towel I spilled soup juice on is just drying out here.

All my gear is basically black, my luggage and what not. My window coverings, the car itself. Everything is dark colored. That’s how I like it cuz it doesn’t attract a lot of attention, you can’t tell very much by looking at it.

All you can see is the flashes of red and orange I have lying around. Cuz it’s warm, and that’s what I like, warm colors.

And that’s kinda why I’m here, cuz I really wanted the warm tone of the desert. It makes me feel good.

(shows bungee cord hooked onto car door handles with towel hanging over it)

This is my bungee cord laundry line idea and it works perfectly as long as you lock the doors, cuz it could potentially pull on these handles to the point where they open. That won’t happen if they’re locked.

Look how great that is, I’m just stoked. It’s the little things.

(April 13, 2019)

Video Transcript:

I mean it’s like, think about this…

If you have a car, it’s just sitting in your driveway for most of its life with you not in it and nothing going on in it. And there’s nothing in it and it’s just sitting there.

That would be lonely. Your car, it’s so…

Nice, right? It’s got seats, and it has a roof and stuff. It has windows! There windows everywhere. Some people’s houses don’t even have as many windows as cars have.

You car is just like… there for you. But you’re probably not in it that much, and it’s just sitting there. Nobody in it, nothing going on.

I just realize, I wake up IN my car, and I start looking around and I just feel it. If I wasn’t in here, it’d be sitting somewhere being comfortable and welcoming. Being shelter. Being nice. And pretty. But there would be nobody there to enjoy it.

I’d be sitting in a fuckin’ house or another building, rotting away, slowly dying. While my car is just out here doing the same thing, only like, alone. I love waking up in my car. There’s so much natural light that’s constantly coming in.

And it’s nice. It’s like a little cocoon of rest and rejuvenation.

If you have a comfortable bed in it, it is absolutely a safehaven cocoon of solitude.

Cuz you’re alone in here, ain’t nobody else fitting in here with you, thank God.

Everybody should have this. Everybody should have the individual space and solitude.

We can come together with one another after we’re rested and we’re ready to come together.

But at the end of the day, everybody needs their space. So that they can be restored.

And that makes coming together so much better too.

I’ve never been a huge fan of the saying that “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” It kind of pisses me off a little bit, even though I’ve just said that everybody needs time apart.

I just feel like you can have the best of both worlds. You can have your individual living quarters made for one, and then you can come out and play with people and experience togetherness.

We can have both. You can have it all.

I wake up in my car and I’m so comfortable and so glad to be where I am, because I know that I’m amidst this insanely beautiful desert kind of landscape.

Tomorrow, I could be somewhere else if I wanted.

You can’t do that in a house.

Why do we have houses? We have houses so that we can be sheltered.

I don’t understand why your shelter needs to be all that many times bigger than your body is.

You’re just trying to shelter your body from the elements. Why would you need a big house for that when you could have a small vehicle that provides that shelter.

If you live somewhere in a house that has extreme weather that you have to protect yourself from or else you’re gonna die…

That’s not a problem with a mobile lifestyle because you can move around with the weather.

If you were hella determined about it, you could do that. It would be possible.

The United States has plenty of variation in that way. You could find somewhere it’s warm when it’s winter everywhere else, it’s doable.

Think about your car. Is your car lonely? If your car is lonely, you should probably live in it.

(April 13, 2019)

Video Transcript:

Kingman, Arizona is one of the most agonizingly beautiful places I’ve ever seen in my entire life.

When I say that Kingman has some hotass dudes, in no way do I jest and in no way am I exaggerating. They are EVERYWHERE.

So I’m at the Kingman WalMart and I’m not even gonna lie, it’s a little bit more a shitshow than it was the last time I was here.

Seems kinda crazy. I mean, IT IS Kingman you know, it’s a bigger town. Of course there’s always the chance that it’s gonna be kinda weird. But IT IS kinda weird.

I’m really looking forward to eating because yesterday I didn’t eat anything except one of those little bags of ~Cheetos that is complementary at Subaru while I was waiting,

(holds up bag of ~Tostitos Cantina Style Tortilla Chips)

I’ve been saving my chips and dip for a special occasion wherein I am incredibly ready for it.

(Holds up ~Fritos Mild Cheddar dip)

I’ve gotta eat a lot of this because I can’t refrigerate it.

eats chips, giggles in enjoyment

Heaven is a place where Tostitos Cantina Thin & Crispy and Mind Cheddar are in my fuckin’ mouth.

guzzles water

Okay, I think I’m ready to fuckin’ definitely get the fuck out of here.

Back home now on my BLM land. I gotta say this is…

pans camera

Amazing.

(shows ~Ariat Heritage R-Toe boots)

So I got some righteous boots at Boot Barn today…

I was just thinking today, the shoes I brought with me are not working. I was getting sharp, sticky things all over my ankles walking around out here.

I actually threw those shoes away because they were like useless to me at this point. That’s not the only reason I threw them away though, I would not throw away a pair of shoes for no reason. I threw them away in a gas pump trashcan at Quik-Chek Market in Quartzsite, AZ.

The beauty that I witnessed driving through the Kingman/Lake Havasu City area, and Lake Havasu in general is just insanely beautiful. The water was so blue and green and they’ve got palm trees around there.

I just thank God when I’m driving through these areas that I’m blessed enough to be there and see it, because the beauty is just indescribable.

So more about the campground host… I drove by there again when I just came back here, and his camper and truck is still there, but the campground host sign is gone.

And I’m just like, was it broken? Why is the sign gone? The sign looked fine.

I’m thinking that the host is just like, “Peace, y’all. I’m out.”

I feel like it’s not even a thing right now, I feel like you just come and stay and then you leave after 14 days. And they don’t care. I think that’s what’s going on. I find that so interesting.

On most BLM there’s not a host, is there? I think basically the reason there are hosts around here is because it’s a massively popular RV area.

I’m just taken aback by how stunning and amazing the view is where I am right now.

If you can come in stay in these areas for a few weeks at a time…

Why would you live any other way? Why would you stay in a house in one area when you could go around to these areas indefinitely? You stay for 14 days and you move along 30 miles away to another BLM place.

After 28 days passes, you can come back.

Why would you ever stop doing that?

If you have the money to do this, not even live in an RV, live in a van or whatever your method is…

If you have enough resources to sustain that lifestyle, I just don’t understand why you would ever stop living the mobile lifestyle.

I don’t understand why you’d ever just go ahead and live in a house in one place. I don’t care how nice the house is. It’s in one place, it ain’t going nowhere. The surroundings are what they are.

Over time, situations change, neighborhoods and general areas go to shit. You’re better off being able to move around, keep moving. See and experience new things, new climates and air and all of the elements that are just different in different places.

Another thought on RVs is that they are pretty slow, especially the old ones. I got behind one today and he was doing max 55, and you could tell that’s as fast as it could go. A lot of the time he was down to 45 on a high speed limit road.

There was a line of traffic and I was just thinking man, I wouldn’t wanna be the people in that RV doing it that way. I wouldn’t wanna be the people in nice RVs that can maybe go faster.

You always see RVs on the side of the road with the people inside of it coming out and standing around and looking at wheels and… you know, I mean there are just so many problems.

Of course any vehicle can have problems, it’s just…

There are better ways.

And anybody who’s still stuck on the idea of an RV, a tiny miniature house, where there’s a different room for everything, tables and benches…

It’s just not necessary. And it’s a lot of trouble.

If you’ve got an RV and you approached it that way, you might come out with a negative perspective of mobile living. The happiest day of a boat owner’s life is the day he buys it and the day he sells it.

You’re better off having an effective vehicle that you can not only drive around like a normal vehicle, but you can also live in it.

I think vans are the best way. And they don’t even have to be high topped. They can be passenger vans, just take the seats out. Plenty of room.

The idea is not to be in the vehicle. When you’re sleeping is the only time you should actually be in it.

shows scenery

Why wouldn’t you be out there? That’s all I’m saying.

There are cacti everywhere, I’m about to go take pictures and walk around in my bitchin’ boots.

This is amazing.

What I really love about this area I’m in right now is that there are a shitload of owls around here. All day and all night you can hear them, it’s just so magical.

Check it out…

(standing next to huge cactus)

I made a friend.

I don’t think I’ve ever been this close to such a big cactus. It’s kind of amazing.

Wow, look. There’s the moon.

stares at cactus in wonder

Damn, dude, this cactus is the shit. I’d say I’d like to take it home with me but…

We’re home.

(April 11, 2019)

Video Transcript:

(showing car)

Scratches…

ON TOP of the car.

The scratches on top of the car, that’s what really…

Just kind of drives the point home.

I mean…

Birtha done been right through the shit, y’all.

I have an appointment with Subaru today just to make sure everything is okay, get an oil change, etc.

(shows scratches on top of car)

Just about lost that mirror.

Yeah, um, ya know, hmm, about that BLM land camping thing…

Don’t do it wrong.

I’m just like…

Yeah, I was there.

But I still wonder…

How exactly the top of the car got scratched?

Down the length of it?

(shows scratches on roof of car)

I mean…

Y’all.

What the fuck?

mindblown

I love you Birtha.

I love you.

And I deeply apologize.

So…

I don’t want anybody out there getting the idea that I’m not a good driver, okay?

I am not a bad driver, that’s just it. I’m really not, honestly.

I’m actually pretty decent at driving.

The issue was not that I’m a bad driver, the issue is that I went off-road, something that I’ve never done anyway. And I just had no fucking experience with that. Coupled with the fact that I just lost track of where I was. And then when I realized I’d lost track of where I was and stopped to try and plot a course out…

I didn’t know what direction WAS out. So I just took a path that I scoped out a path that was kinda clear and drove through that. And then once I drove through that, a few things came up, and then…

laughs

I navigated around those “few things” and then eventually was totally off the reservation.

I was legitimately off the reservation, at the worst of it, I would see a couple trucks and campers in the distance.

And I’m like well okay, there’s gotta be a way to get over there, right? No.

I was lost in THE SHIT.

I was like if I could just get over to those campers…

And later, I figured out the camper and truck was the camphost’s camper and truck.

It’s easy to lose track of where you are if you’re not ON A ROAD.

It sounds obvious, sounds common sense, and it is once you learn the REALLY HARD and WILDLY DANGEROUS way not to do it.

(pans camera)

Look at this totally clear and safe area that I managed to navigate to in a more acceptable BLM setting.

So Birtha went to Subaru and she got a clean bill of health. They even shined her up a little bit.

They made her new scratches look a little better. A little polish in the scratches, can’t go wrong with that, pretty good.

The other BLM place…

I still haven’t been able to get ahold of the host, he’s off duty every time and I’m starting to think he’s like…

Dead in there. What if he’s legit dead in his camper. I’m really starting to wonder because like what the fuck?

This is like the third day. Tomorrow is Friday and temperatures are pretty good here, so if he’s not out then? I’m just afraid the guy’s dead cuz honestly, these campground folks are like elderly as fuck. They could easily bite the big one in there and nobody would know, cuz who comes and checks on the campground host?

It is absolutely gorgeous. This will be my second night out of 14 nights that you can stay.

Still haven’t registered. It bothers me, I like to go by the book. I’ll try again tomorrow. But I’m getting tired of driving up there. Like, where IS he??

With more experience now, navigating the BLM lands, and with Birtha in tip-top condition with an oil change…

I’m ready to stay here for a while and see what it’s like.

It’s totally a rock. I feel like it’s a meteorite. Or like a big huge pile of shit, or a giant bee thing? It’s not cuz there are other ones laying around…

(shows rock)

Look at that shit, what is that?

Every time I start to navigate this shit, Birtha’s like, “Bitch.” And I’m just like, “Relax. I’ve got this.”

(April 10, 2019)

Video Transcript:

So allow ME to tell YOU…

laughs

What Annie learned about car camping on some BLM land today.

(pans camera around)

So as you can see, I’m in a hotel.

And what I’d like to say foremost is hotels…

I’m gonna stop talking shit about them because they’re good when you need to recover from an incredibly traumatizing experience.

So let me just show you my shoes…

(shows shoes with dirt and bits of outdoorsy material)

This is what my shoes look like today after my experience.

(kicks shoes off; sockless feet also dirty)

This is how I dress…

(shows outfit in mirror)

I don’t think you can tell, I’m like, dirty.

Let me just unequivocally say, I had a legit near death experience.

laughs

I’m not kiddin’ y’all, it was fuckin’ BAD.

It was bad in a lot of not good ways.

And I gotta be completely real with you…

sighs and plops down on bed

There’s a way to attempt to camp on BLM and it’s NOT the way that I initially went about it.

sighs again

Birtha. My car. That’s her name. Birtha Love.

She got that name on our 2016 solo roadtrip out west where I saw Devils Tower for the first time and it was fucking amazing. That experience is just in my heart as one of the most amazing things that I’ve ever done. Driving out there by myself and seeing that.

So Birtha and I, we done been through some shit today.

Some shit that I don’t ever want to repeat, and I know how not to repeat.

God bless Subaru. God bless, okay, because…

Had I not been in a Subaru, I would be stuck in the middle of some fucking treacherous as fuck, boulder-ridden BLM shit right now. And I just about did not make it out. I just about didn’t. Understand that.

Was only by the grace of God that I found my way out of that shit.

We had a harm time.

Birtha was lowkey angry with me. And we have an amazing relationship. She’s ride or die. She’s a tough bitch and she’s on my side, but today?

I pissed her off worse than I ever have or ever will again.

Out of ignorance, out of just not knowing what I was doing because I had never done it before.

Now that I have, I know better. But Birtha was angry. And she powered through and did the best that she possibly could.

It was a terrible situation, you guys…

And I know you’re looking at me right now like, “No shit.”

But you gotta understand, if I hadn’t chosen the path that I did, it would have been totally fine.

If I had just stayed on the beaten path, it would have been fine. That’s the truth.

But as I said in the other video, when I got there, there was that guy there and I recognized that guy and I know what he was about. And I’m not saying that he would have done anything… but I recognized him as an archetype, as a situational marker. And I should have known right then and there that this was not what I needed to do, this was not where I needed to go.

And I kinda did know that, but I didn’t know the severity of the situation.

It was a learning experience, as fucked up as it was. And it was about to be so much worse. But as fucked up as it was, it was a learning experience that was necessary for me.

To be honest, the camping stuff, the driving stuff, and just life in general…

Has these learning experiences that, at the time, are just fucking heinous.

Things that you have to understand are necessary for your development and your knowledge base.

And that was one of those situations. In the future I’ll recognize these situational markers, and I’ll know that I’m on the wrong path.

I feel like that host guy kinda knew this could be bad. He was also thinking about that guy, talking to him while I was leaving, but that guy was super old. What’s he gonna do? What will be will be. But I think he kinda knew inside some shit was gonna south here. And it fuckin’ did.

But I survived and nothing horrible happened. But it just about did.

Like, wow y’all. Fuckin’ wow, like…

laughs

God bless Birtha. Dust was flying. Birtha got scratched by some shit. Birtha drove over some shit that she NEVER, EVER would have chosen to drive over.

I’m so fucking sorry Birtha.

I feel like my car is like, an entity.

And you don’t wanna fuck up with her cuz if you piss her off and get on her bad side and give her bad experiences, she’ll be hurt over it.

I don’t think we reached that point today, I made it right with her.

When we finally navigated out of that fucking heinous atrocity, I went STRAIGHT to an auto shop, covered in dust. My hair is covered in dust and dirt and all kinds of shit.

I walk into this auto shop and there’s a guy standing there waiting at the counter.

I was like, “Is anybody here?” and he’s like, “I don’t know, I haven’t talked to anybody.”

So this poor dude…

I just told him some shit. He was standing there like, “Oh my God.”

I had to tell somebody cuz I mean, that’s kinda the nature of trauma, when you’re ready to talk about it, whoever is there is gonna hear it. And it’s something you never forget.

That guy was super nice, but he was like, “Oh my God, this bitch is WHACKADOODLE.”

Then the auto shop guy comes out and he’s like fucking amazing, I told him the story. I was like, “Dude I just about got into a really bad situation on some BLM land, and I need you to look at the undercarriage and the tires. Because that shit was not good.”

So there were like a ton of people there, these people were swamped dude. And he was like okay, I’m gonna go get it and pull it around and I’ll call you back. So he called me back, and he took me under it and we looked at everything.

He was like, “I don’t see anything wrong with it, the tires look fine. There are some little scrapes from where you ran over some rocks but there’s nothing wrong it.”

And I said, “Wow, I’ve never seen her from this angle before.” He kind of laughed and he said, “I’ve seen way worse and it’s fine.”

And that guy was wearing some blue contacts. I said, “What color are your eyes?” and he was like, “They’re brown.” And I was like, “Brown eyes are beautiful,” and he was like, “Meh.”

laughs

I tried to encourage him cuz I felt like he felt some type of way about himself.

So he pulled it off the rack and I took off.

One of my subscribers dear to my heart said, “Look, you should just get a hotel and get your bearing straight.” And I was like, you have no idea right now. I said yeah, that’s what I’m gonna do cuz I need to charge some things while I’m here and I need to take a shower now. I was planning on not taking a shower, like ever, but it’s necessary.

If you have to get a hotel room every now and then just to do some shit, there’s nothing wrong with that.

The essence of the matter for me is…

We need an abundance of designated places that we can park up and that we can stay 24 hours or pay for longer.

And BLM land is great, don’t get me wrong, most of it is developed. You don’t get in the shit if you don’t do what I did.

Not all BLM land is created equal. There is an abundance of BLM camping areas where I am right now, and the one where I was yesterday is much better quality.

As far as the quality and the vibe it attracts, it’s totally excellent. Easy to access, easy to navigate. Nothing treacherous.

BLM land is fine, just don’t be a fucking idiot like I was and will NEVER, EVER be again.

National Forests, tsk…

They’re not AS good in my opinion because in a lot of them you have to stay in a designated, numbered camping spot. Which I will probably do throughout the course of this journey…

But it’s not my preference. My preference is BLM land. My preference is interstate rest areas. They don’t freak me out at all. If you’re not near a city or any fucked up areas. If you’re anywhere in the eastern United States, like no, don’t.

You CAN, don’t get me wrong, but a lot of them over there are 4 hour limit stays and they don’t allow overnighting. It’s just not welcoming.

The western states are where the rest areas are the fucking shit.

Paved rest areas with amenities…

Are my favorite thing, and I would stay at them all the time except that you’ve gotta move along to the next one.

Doing that requires traveling vast distances and it’s not efficient or economical to move that way or travel that way.

You can believe that if I were to do it in the way that makes me feel the best and really fucking gets me going, I would stay at NOTHING but interstate rest areas.

That’s the truth.

And so that’s the goal, we’re aiming for paved areas, designated areas made for sleeping overnight in your vehicle with the option of paying to stay longer.

That’s the type of infrastructure that is going to be required for mobile living.

Not everybody wants to be out west where there’s an abundance of BLM land.

Not everybody wants to stay out in the wilderness and forests and shit.

Some people would really prefer to stay near civilization and they should be able to do that.

There should be places where they can do that.

Big areas. Why can’t we get shopping mall sized areas to do this?

It’s my belief that we will.

But that doesn’t exist right now, and it needs to.

Until it exists, we have to stay in the areas that are already being used to accomodate this lifestyle.

As I learned today, you’ve gotta be smart about it. You gotta stay in the developed areas.

More progress needs to be made on this, and I hope the right people in the right places with the power to do it will make this dream a reality for us.

Because I’m one of so many people who truly want this.

But for now, I am in a hotel room and you had better believe I am gonna be making the most of this.

(April 10, 2019)

Video Transcript:

Alright so I’m trying to use this fuzzy microphone to see if it’s any better, and if it’s not and the wind is still bad, there’s nothing I can do about it so you’ll just have to deal with it.

Y’all…

The campground host at the other place literally never came out and I was like you know what, I gotta talk to a campground host.

So I went to another BLM campground and talked to the host there. And we was like, “We get two days off a week.” So maybe those were his two days off.

And I said if I can’t sign in then I don’t feel right about it and I don’t wanna do it. And he was a super old dude. So I signed in here.

While I’m signing in, this guy comes along in a regular car. Like the kind you can’t really sleep in. And he’s like, “Is there a fee to camp here?” And I was like, “No, you just gotta sign in.” This guy was probably living in his car homeless.

First of all, I recognized him, he was an archetype. He’s an archetype of the type I’m familiar with, and I KNOW this mofo. He was curious about what I was doing. He was having thoughts. That’s all there is to it.

So I start driving out here and I’m like, I need to find a place where nobody can really see, you know what I mean? Because that guy… yeah, you don’t wanna camp too close to him or have him see where you are.

I drove out here a ways, over some shit that really should not have been driven over. It’s gonna be a miracle if my car can actually not lose a tire.

This is living on the edge right here.

Pure fucking insanity.

Do not get me wrong, I believe in this but in the same token, I know that it’s crazy. I understand that.

Girl.

You crazy as hell.

Crazier than crazy.

This is the fucking wilderness. It’s the desert-ish kinda wilderness, so it’s not trees everywhere and you can’t see shit, but it is the wilderness.

I’m just trying to figure out how to maneuver out of here.

Sometimes, attempting to run away from what you perceive as potential danger can actually land you in a situation of real danger.

It’s like yeah, don’t be an idiot, but. Really? You can end up in a worse situation attempting to run from danger than if you just didn’t.

I will completely admit to you that I have no fuckin’ idea where the road is or how to get out. I can hear it, so it’s over there. It’s just that I need to plot a course that I can drive through here to get back to the main road.

And it’s fine, it’s mostly driven through here, people drive through here and stay in this whole area a shitload.

But dude, it’s crazy. This is crazy.

I’m walking through this shit with no socks on.

If I could get up to here, it seems like a good area.

It is some crazy shit to be doing this and I’m aware of that.

I just want everyone to know that I’m aware that what I’m doing is crazy is fuck.

Back where I am though, I actually did see another camper within view.

People do come out here off the beaten path, but… I gotta get my freakin’ car over here.

Oh my God, Annie, you are a crazy bitch.

(April 10, 2019)

Video Transcript:

If you’re watching this and you want to live this mobile, traveling lifestyle…

Do it now, do it right now, take advantage of it as soon as you possibly can.

Because we need to show society and the existing public lands people that this is a thing that people want to do, that people are gonna have it.

And we’re not gonna put up with encroaching, restrictive measures against it either. All of these regulations clamped down on everything in this world, cameras everywhere, surveillance, no…

That’s not okay, we’re not gonna settle for that, we’re not gonna let it happen.

Right now while the getting is good, you need to start doing research, watching videos, reading resources about campground areas. Read all the information, everything you need to know about what you need to do this.

I have a rechargeable jumpstarter battery, a tiny tire inflator machine, a small solar panel array, window coverings…

Just learn about all the things that are required to make it comfortable and safe to live this way.

Start getting ahead on it and do this, because now is the time and we need to show the world that this is what we want. This is what is best.

It’s just true. Be the change you wanna see. That’s what I’m trying to do out here. To set people free and to show people that you CAN be free. You have to set yourself free. In this day and age, here in America, freedom really is a choice. It’s a choice. You have to choose it.

And they don’t encourage you to choose freedom. They encourage you to go to college and get into insurmountable debt that keeps you awake at night that you can’t even get past your mind in order to do anything in life. That’s what they encourage you toward.

They encourage you to become tied down, bogged down, weighed down and enslaved.

But you don’t have to do that. So show them that you won’t do that. Show them that you know there’s another way.

And when you do that, slowly, it frees people and shows people that they can choose freedom.

These kind of changes are not overnight but they start with people going out there and fearlessly pioneering the new way to live.

And you don’t have to travel around in a vehicle. I realize there are old or disabled people out there who can’t necessarily navigate around in a vehicle. But even for the people who can’t live this way, I still think there’s a better way to live than the way we’ve been living. In climate controlled boxes, slowly decaying and dying.

Yeah, when you’re living like this, you’re still slowly dying. But your perception of time and reality is altered in a way so that it makes life seem longer and fuller. Which is inherently more rewarding.

I’m an advocate for tiny homes because I think…

You can only live in one room at once. There’s no reason to have a massive house. More shit, more worries. It’s just that simple.

That’s why I loved the idea of Peace Pilgrim, who was a woman who walked around the US/Canada/Mexico for like 30 years. She didn’t have anything besides what she carried with her. She depended on everybody else, as she walked through town, people would offer her food.

She didn’t have any money, she didn’t carry any money. I’m not hardcore like Peace Pilgrim, there’s no way I’d just walk around everywhere and depend on other people to offer me food. It’s not my style. But the concept is great.

If you look up Peace Pilgrim’s talks, she’d say, “I have nothing but my body and my clothes, and what’s in my pockets, and I’m free.” And that’s her message. And you can do that too, but you can do it in your own way.

If living in an SUV is not your speed, than get yourself a van or an RV. But make sure you have enough resources to sustain whatever choice that you make because RVs are incredibly expensive, and a vehicle in and of itself is very expensive.

You’re very limited in an RV, you can’t just park anywhere. You have to be where you can dump your stuff in special places, and that was the beginning of the movement. Which is decades old at this point. Somebody had the thought, “Well you know what, we’re gonna make a home that is mobile. On wheels. It’s gonna have a kitchen, a bathroom, countertops.”

Cute. Very cute, but now we’ve progressed further than that.

Now we are past the need for running water and countertops. We don’t need that. There are other ways.

So don’t think that you’ve gotta have an RV. And also don’t think you have to live in a van. You can do it your way. Be like Peace Pilgrim and just walk. Whatever calls to you.

But if it calls to you, do it now.

The time is now.

(April 10, 2019)

Video Transcript:

Oh my God, it was so windy all night.

I wonder if it’s gonna be windy like this the whole time, cuz if I pitch a tent, how’s that gonna work?

I kinda feel like I need to put on some “normal people clothes” to go talk to this camp host dude cuz I don’t want him thinking I’m some kind of crazy person or something like that.

I mean not that it’s not totally apparent anyway but.

I’m a car camper, that’s like a level beyond RV people who have running water in their rigs. I’m literally in a car. I don’t even know if that’s allowed. It must be. Is it? I dunno.

I’m just afraid this camp host dude’s gonna treat me all weird and act like I’m some kinda nasty person or something.

I’ll let you know.

(Lipsynching to “Comes So Easy” by Cindy Currier)

I love you, Cindy.

So it is hella windy out here. It dies down a little bit every now and then but for the most part…

(Shows sunroof mosquito netting covering rippling in wind)

That’s my covering over the sunroof, and the wind is not really pulling it out but you definitely have to shove it up in there and make sure it’s in there well enough.

I don’t know about pitching a tent in this kind of wind, seems like a recipe for disaster especially considering the fact that I’ve never done it before and I dunno if I could get it back together again.

I dunno if this is the place I really wanna try it to see if I can do it or not. If it was less windy it’d be totally fine and I could do it here probably.

So I’ve gotta have some breakfast…

(Holds up ~Orgain Creamy Chocolate Fudge Nutritional Shake)

And this is gonna be my breakfast.

drinks and reads container

I’ve got on my Sammy Guevara “Pebszilla” t-shirt.

This is my version of “normal people clothes” with like some black leggings.

I’ve literally just pulled over on the side of the road in this area…

Oh my God there’s a bigass cactus over there.

This area, there are just pull outs everywhere, gravel lots everywhere, so I just pulled over onto one.

I tried to talk to the campground host again. He’s there, he has a truck and a camper, but he’s not out and the sign says he’s still off duty. Of course it is like 8:30AM. Obviously that’s kinda early.

I dunno, I just wanna talk to him and ask him some questions about life. I know he’s seen me come by like twice.

(Crawling around through back of car)

Sorry, I’ve gotta navigate through all this shit I’ve got in here.

I just kinda want the campground host to see that I’m not threatening or anything cuz I feel like he’s seen me come through there a couple times and he probably doesn’t know who’s in the car. So it’s just some weird black car that’s like, what is it even doing, that’s not a camper, that’s not an RV, like who is that?

So now I’m thinking I should change into a girl with a dress on or something. That might be better. I’m gonna try to pull that out of my ass here literally on the side of the fuckin’ road. I’m gonna put up my window coverings and put on something else.

So now I’m just dressed like a regular harmless girl who just looks like a regular normal girl or whatever. I’m thinking this is gonna be better for my presentation.

Maybe I’m just overthinking this whole camphost thing, I dunno. It’s really important to me to make a good impression on people. Not really in general, just when it comes to matter I find serious and personal to me. Like the idea and concept of public lands and being able to camp on public lands. I really value that as a system of freedom.

I just want to do right and show that I care and I’m interested in this. Again, I think the mobile lifestyle is the future so I just want to make sure that I’m displaying and setting a good example. And showing that even people in their cars want to do this and are going to do this.

Living this way is not hard, even the things you might think are hard, they’re really not. It’s really simple, and especially if society would embrace a mobile lifestyle like this… it would be even easier than it is right now.

I want to nurture that and I want that to be the future. I want to do my part to secure that future for everybody.

No matter what, I always keep my car keys pinned to me. I always make sure that it’s on me because that’s one of the most important things when you live in a vehicle, you want to make sure you have access to your keys at all times.

In addition, I recommend getting a small drawstring bag and keeping your valuables in the bag and on your person. This is especially true in other countries and cities, just in case somebody snatches your wallet. Keep your passport etc. in the drawstring bag and pin it to yourself.

(April 9, 2019)

Video Transcript:

The wind is pretty intense right now.

I’ve been getting alerts about a dust storm warning.

So that sounds pretty rad, can’t wait to see what the hell that’s like.

It’s actually really dusty out here, I think I can feel it in my eyeballs.

Anyway, I’m just blown away.

I pulled in kinda late and the campground host was off duty, and the sign said to park and then talk to the host tomorrow.

So I did, and I admit I was really nervous because I’ve never done this on BLM land. The last place as a National Forest.

With wind like this, I’m gonna have to get out my little fuzzy microphone, but I don’t know if it works. I tried it once and it seemed to work. I’ll try it again.

Hell yeah, livin’ the dream baby!

They weren’t kidding about that dust storm, man, the wind is like high.

This should be pretty entertaining tonight, probably be a really windy one.

I like wind.