I wake gently to the sound of birds chirping. The morning air is crisp and clear. My horses raise their heads and nicker softly as I open my door. The sun is rising over distant mountains. The fog begins to clear from the meadow as they graze. I take in the glorious view of snow-capped peaks and breathe in the smells of the pine forest at my back. A crystal clear stream gurgles hypnotically as I go about my chores.
Okay, I know what you’re thinking. Is she for real? The answer is: sort of. Not every day can be this idyllic but many are. That’s why we love living as full-time nomads with our horses. In case this is your first time reading our blog, I’ll give a short synopsis of who we are and what we’re doing.
Our Story
I’m Jess. My partner, Byron, and I have been traveling the US with our horses since 2018. We live in a 28 foot travel trailer. We tow it and our horse trailer (separately) with a three-quarter-ton pickup truck.
Byron and I have been a couple since 2012. It has been our shared dream to escape the “rat race” since our first date. We love traveling and the idea of being nomads was always appealing.
Our passion for rock climbing has taken us around the world, and the idea to take up this nomadic lifestyle was heavily influenced by the rock climbing community. We knew of climbers living in their vans so that they could camp at a crag and climb every day. Byron thought this would be awesome! When he proposed the idea, I promised him I’d do it as long as I could take Mackenzie (our only horse at the time). That launched me into a flurry of research to see if it was possible; indeed it was!
Greece 
Italy 
Mexico 
Thailand 
Cayman Brac
So now that we’re living tiny and mobile (with horses), what’s life really like?
Well, it’s pretty… normal. We sleep. We eat. We work. We play. It’s just how we do those things that’s a bit different. Let me explain.
The first major difference between our life and everybody else’s is that we live in less than 300 square feet. That’s about the size of an average American living room. Prior to getting our travel trailer, I was very skeptical of our ability to coexist in such a tiny space. We had to get rid of the majority of our (or more accurately, my) belongings. This process took years and happened in stages. Here’s how we did it. After some initial growing pains, we worked out our systems and routine. Everything has its place so that we can keep the trailer tidy and limit the “have you seen…” questions. Clutter inevitably creeps in but it’s quick and easy to tidy up. We get along well as a couple, so living in close quarters hasn’t been an issue. If we ever feel like we need space, we just go outside.
I’m a person that thrives on a routine. You’d think that moving every few weeks to months would destroy any semblance of normalcy. It doesn’t and that’s one of the great things about living in an RV. Our view is always changing but our home remains the same.
We maintain our personal routines in spite of our dynamic living situation. I’m an early riser and enjoy savoring my coffee in the morning. The sun is usually coming up when I’m finishing my first cup. That’s when I run outside to feed the horses. Byron wakes at the same time, but prefers to stay in bed as long as possible. He works remotely so, although it might look like he’s being lazy, he’s actually being productive.
The horses’ care takes up a good portion of time. They are fed 2-3 times a day. There’s always manure to be cleaned up, water to be refilled, and grooming to be done. We love exploring new trails so they are ridden frequently. I take River and Mackenzie out by myself if Byron is occupied.
Morning is my most productive time so you’ll usually find me on the couch (my work station) producing my podcast, writing, or doing research. Sometimes I pick up a side gig that occupies my day.
Household chores take up a significant amount of time as well. We primarily boondock (primitive camping with no amenities) so collecting water is a very important chore. We have some water storage capacity but with each horse consuming at least 10 gallons a day we run out quickly. I usually go in search of water every 2-3 days.
We get power from solar panels when we’re boondocking. The charging station is set up each morning and broken down each evening.
For recreation we primarily enjoy rock climbing. If the opportunity presents itself we might go biking, rafting, swimming, or some other outdoor activity. Pre-pandemic, we played disc golf and went dancing occasionally when near cities.
Hiking in Yosemite NP California 
Climbing in Nevada 
Kayaking in New Hampshire 
River Tubing in Montana 
Hiking in Utah
Byron loves computer games and has tried to get me into them. There are some that amuse me but I always lose interest and turn to books instead. I’ve always loved reading. My huge book collection was one of the hardest things to part with when we moved into the trailer. I’ve gone digital now to compensate.
If the weather is nice, I’ll do some yoga outside. Although, if I’m being totally transparent, I find it hard to motivate myself to do any exercise that doesn’t involve riding. Lately, Byron’s been working out with his brothers via video-conferencing a couple times a week.
Pull ups 
Yoga
Meals are cooked inside on our three burner propane stove. We cook for ourselves almost exclusively, so we can always eat exactly what we want. This is also a great way to keep our expenses low. Our refrigerator/freezer has a 7.5 cubic foot capacity so we only need to restock every 7-10 days. Running to the grocery and feed stores can be a full day endeavor if we are out in the boonies. I frequently drive over an hour to shop for necessities.
We love TV so we always watch shows or movies in the evenings. Occasionally we connect with friends for virtual game nights or video chats. We read or do crossword puzzles until falling asleep around 10 p.m.
So there you have it. On any given day we are cooking meals, caring for the horses, doing some work, enjoying our hobbies, relaxing at the end of day, going to bed, and repeating it the next. Sounds pretty normal, right? The Covid-19 pandemic hasn’t affected our daily lives very much. We were social-distancing long before it was cool.
Love this! Have been climbing for 25+ years, but this has succumbed to my passion for riding my horses everywhere I can. They would make great approach vehicles especially here in Idaho, where the approaches are long and the climbing is adventurous. I will watch out for your blog, but would like to invite you to Idaho. This is horse country and a multitude of under developed rock! Please get in touch if travels bring you this way.
Thanks for reaching out, Mike! Let’s keep in touch and hopefully sync up in Idaho this summer.
I’m pretty darn jealous of this lifestyle! I’m fortunate to have a remote job that would be conducive; not sure I could convince the hubby or the kids! Time will tell… until then, I look forward to reading more! Thanks for sharing!
Amazing!!! so jealous of your awesome lifestyle. its so refreshing to see this kind of travel & enjoying horses & nature . you guys are living my dream keep on havin the time of your lives, loving each other & making beautiful memories.
This was my husband and my dream while our kids were growing up. Things changed, the horses slowly died Mike had hip replacement surgery and lost his job.I was working hard til 10 years after Mike retired, I had to retire but I had a nasty lung infection that about killed me so that forced the issue. Lost a lot of strength but I bought a mammoth donkey then got her a standard friend. While I was learning about my girls, Mike’s heart was getting worse.our dream of traveling went into the toilet.Now he is gone, I still have my donkeys but don’t have the strength to hook a trailer and set up camp, let alone get my mammoth not to exit right before getting in the trailer. I really would love to do this but we missed the opportunity. I envy your life style , wish we could have done it when we were your age.
Easy when young and healthy. Life can be unkind . Hug your donkeys, love on them and let their therapeutic magic work on you. THAT is the essence of the dream in a nutshell, doesn’t matter where we are parked.
Lynn, I’m so moved by your story. It makes me value my experiences even more than I already do. My mother lost her life to cancer at 67 before she had a chance to fulfill her dreams. That’s what motivated me to do it now. I wish you peace and happiness. Make the best of every day with your hooved friends.
Outstanding Jess!!
Glad to see you are enjoying life to its fullest… time tends to creep up on one’s self to rapidly.
Alls well on Schooley’s Mountain, though it would probably seem odd to you calling it a mountain now after what your eyes have witnessed and your body has labored over.
Carol and I enjoy the blog and following your exploits. If I could, I’d like to encourage you into another adventure… that being writing a book about these travels. Hope you’re keeping a journal?
Take care… Gary
Hi Gary, Nice to hear from you! A book is in the works.
Living the life! I was fortunate to have 15 years of nomadic life with a home base (Tipi) in Colorado. this brought up a few awsome memories, thanks and happy trails. Of course if ever in southern Colorado give a shout lots of space around here.
We may take you up on that Eric!
What do you do with your horses when you are out climbing or ??
How do you tow the travel trailer and the horse trailer with one truck? I assume you move one and then the other…. depending on your resources/friends and situation.
The horses stay at camp while we are out. I plan on writing about this topic and your other question in more detail in future posts.
Hello Friend!
My wife and myself self sold every thing back in Ohio 3 years ago and have been traveling ever since with 2 dogs 2 horses living are dream we’ve rode in 24 states been coast to coast border to border we spend the winter in Arizona ( AJ) maybe someday we can cross trails and enjoy some trail stories. Happy trails!!! And Stay between the Ears
Bob and Anita
Hi Bob, I know of you from the Road Apple Gang. It would be great to meet you!
What do you do for income?!
That’s my next post topic!
I love your blog so much! And this article really hit home for me. Whats it like for you two to hauling 2 individual trailers with one truck? Whats the set up, travel, and a overall move like?
Do you bring the RV or the horses to a new location first?
As much detail as possible!
Maybe a day in the live of a moving day! That could be a whole article id assume with how much knowledge you’ve gained over the years.
Thank you so much! These questions are great and could definitely fill a whole post. I’ll add it to my list of topics.
Amazing life story. I love how close you are to nature. It must be very inspiring. I’ve always dreamed about a road trip but was worried that I wouldn’t be able to leave my small horse farm in Texas for too long. After reading this article, it doesn’t seem like a big deal. Thank you for sharing!
What a wonderful read! You are very inspiring, I even wanted to buy a big trailer at some point and go on a trip! Thank you for sharing =)
Jess,
What is your solar power setup?
Thanks
We have an 80W panel on the roof and 2 batteries wired in parallel to run our lights and fridge thermostat (it uses propane when off grid but does require some electricity). We have a battery pack with built in inverter that plugs into the solar panel to charge. When full, we use it to charge our computers and phones.