Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 75270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
I tap on one to enlarge it. “How about this right here… a complete chapter on how to customize your vehicle?”
Mollie leans toward me, resting her head on my shoulder and studying the picture on my screen. I can feel the smile in her tone. “My van is pretty badass.”
“You brilliantly plotted out how you wanted to convert it, then made it space and energy-efficient. You could probably do more than one chapter on travel vehicles.”
“That’s actually really good,” Mollie exclaims, sitting up straight and putting fingers to the keyboard. She types that out before demanding, “What else?”
I flip through more pictures until one strikes me. It’s of a grilled fish she’d caught, then cooked over an open flame with a steel grate. I enlarge it. “This one right here… how to make meals on the road. You could probably do a recipe book one day but, for now, how to smartly shop and prepare with the lean amount of equipment you have is ideal.”
“Brilliant,” she says, fingers flying over the keyboard.
She and I spend about an hour going through her IG account, letting it create ideas that can be translated into advice for those who might want to travel the way she does. I love the enthusiasm she has for the project now that her creative juices have been tapped, and I enjoy helping her with it.
Love being a part of her career, the way she’s become a part of mine.
CHAPTER 26
Mollie
“This is the life,” Clarke sighs as she leans back in her folding chair. We have a small campfire going, the sun has set, and the stars are hanging low. She lifts the beer to her mouth, then takes a sip.
I only smile at her comment. It truly does say it all. Tonight sort of epitomizes one of the things I love the most about traveling and blogging. A scenic drive to get here to Bulldog Canyon about forty miles west of Phoenix, a good meal cooked over an open fire, and a cool, starry night. I could write pages about the beauty of this one experience.
Yesterday while hanging out with Clarke at her bookstore, we’d been talking about the troubles I was having getting traction on my travel guide. I’m organizing and coming up with more ideas every day, but it all feels like such a struggle. She asked me questions about my experiences on the road to help with additional ideas, and then a thought had struck me like a lightning bolt.
“How about we take an overnight camping trip? I’ll show you what it’s all about,” I suggested.
She was instantly enamored of the idea, being a spontaneous kind of woman. She arranged for her best friend, Veronica, to watch the shop, then we packed up and hit the road with Samson. The Vengeance was in town for back-to-back home games, so we each respectively hit up our men and informed them about our plans. I found it hilarious that neither one of us asked… we just sort of said we were hitting the road and would be back tomorrow. Because our men are cool, they wished us a good time and told us to come back safe.
“I can see the appeal to living this way,” Clarke says dreamily as she stares at the fire. It’s so peaceful out here right now, and the night blankets me with calm. She thumbs over her shoulder at the van. I’d shown her how easy it was to fold the kitchen away to convert the center space into the bed. “It all looks so easy.”
“I put a lot of work into designing this van, then having it converted,” I reply, pride in my voice. This wasn’t an endeavor I went into lightly.
Clarke laughs. “When Kane said you were a travel blogger who drove a van, I had this image of you in one of those seventies-style VW vans.”
Chuckling, I nod. “That’s more my style… all bohemian, but not practical at all.”
My van is a used Mercedes Sprinter Crew Hightop Turbo Diesel that I got at a great price. My parents helped finance my start-up, and it cost nearly as much to modify it to the way I wanted as it did to purchase it. But within two years on the road, financed by a trendy travel blog that made me an influencer, while getting paid endorsements, I was able to pay my parents back for their belief in me.
“I imagine you’ll have a lot to say about the mode of travel,” Clarke murmurs. “I mean, not everyone needs a van like that. They can just have a regular vehicle and tents to camp in.”
“Exactly. All have different ways to travel.”
She turns my way, tipping her chin in question.
“What?” I ask, feeling her scrutiny.
Clarke gives a slight shake of her head. “I just… I thought I heard something in your voice that sounded distinctly like… disappointment.”