If you want to sum up the year 2021 for us in one word, it would have to be: CHANGE. We sold our RV. We bought a house in Oregon. And we transitioned back to a more traditional lifestyle so Finn could attend high school.
Contrary to what most people might assume, this massive change away from nomadic living didn’t do much to hamper our travel adventures though. The past year was just as busy as ever! In fact, we drove nearly 15,000 miles and had a ton of new experiences in 2021. The only real difference was we now had a “home base” to come back to rather than continuously traveling with our home.
So without further ado, here’s an overview of the year 2021 in review.
OUR BEST OF THE BEST LIST
- Favorite family adventure in 2021: Hiking and fishing on the beautiful Oregon Coast
- Most memorable weather: Being in Houston during the ‘Texas freeze‘ in February
- Most expensive adventure: Buying a house
- Scariest adventure: Finn breaking his arm while bike riding
- Number of bones he broke: 2
- Pieces of metal permanently placed in his arm: 12 (two plates & ten screws)
- Best new food we tried in 2021: Onigiri (Ume Grill in Eugene, OR)
- Best dessert: Wild blackberries growing near our new home
- New microbreweries and cider mills we visited this year: 17
- Favorite new finds: This is What Space Smells Like (Hazy IPA) and Cranberry Squall (Cider)
- Paty’s favorite memory: Hiking to the summit of Mt. Whitney
- Keith’s favorite memory: Catching his first wild salmon
- Finn’s favorite memory: Starting high school
TRAVEL TRIVIA
- Where we started the 2021: Monroe, NJ
- Where we ended the year: Eugene, OR
- Total number of states we visited in 2021: 28
- National Parks visited: 2 (Hot Springs Natl Park, Redwoods Natl Park)
- Miles driven in the RV or on road trips: 14,755
- Number of road trips longer than 1,000 miles: 7
- Longest road trip: 2,985 miles
- Number of additional trips taken by air: 6
- Number of deer hit while traveling: 1 (in a rental car!)
- Days our campground was without power and water during the Texas Freeze: 9
- Beach house rentals in NC’s Outer Banks: 1
- Lodges we stayed in while visiting the Adirondacks: 1
- Number of times a squirrel chewed its way into our tent while camping: 2
- Highest elevation town visited: Leadville, CO at 10,151‘
HIKING TRIVIA FOR 2021
- Trails that Paty successfully thru-hiked: 3 (Oregon Coast Trail, Mt. Whitney Trail, Timberline Trail)
- Miles hiked during her Oregon Coast Trail thru-hike: 400
- Number of 14-ers summited in 2021: 2 (Mt. Whitney & Mt. Elbert)
- Highest elevation Paty hiked up to: 14,505′
- Longest night hike: 8 miles (Black Mesa, OK)
- Times that Paty jumped into a river to save her backpack: 1 (here’s why)
- Number of hiking guidebook authors Paty met up with: 2
- Number of dedicated trips taken this year just for highpointing: 7
- Number of new state high points visited in 2021: 18
- Number of high points where Finn got lost: 1 (Maryland)
- Paty’s high point tally at the end of 2021: 43 states complete!
- Keith and Finn’s current high point tally: 30 & 26 states (respectively)
- New outdoor skills Paty acquired: NOLS Wilderness First Responder Course (80 hours!)
FISHING TRIVIA FOR 2021
- Number of fish that Keith & Finn caught in 2021: 720
- Different species caught: 33 (including 3 new species for Keith)
- Biggest fish caught in 2021: 12.5-pound Chinook salmon in the Umpqua River
- Number of seals who stole hooked salmon right off Keith’s line: 5
- Other local seafood we loved catching: Dungeness crab & Red Rock crabs
- Number of times Keith hooked himself: 1 (hook in the hand)
- Number of times Keith (or his his phone) fell into the water: 2
- New fishing kayaks purchased: 1
- State fishing licenses Keith purchased: 5 (click here for our fishing advice for nomads)
- Months living in Oregon before we qualify for an in-state fishing license: 6
WHAT’S AHEAD FOR 2021?
Transitioning from a completely nomadic life our RV to a stationary home in Oregon seemed simple (on paper), but it required us to take some big leaps of faith.
The housing market was insanely competitive in 2021. So we bought our house from afar — completely sight unseen (thank goodness we had a realtor we trusted). At the same exact time, we found a lovely couple in Kansas City who eagerly wanted to buy our RV. But the quick sale of the RV left us without any home whatsoever for nearly a month while we waited for the sale on our new house to close!
I’m not sure we would have had the courage or willingness to take so many big risks at once if we hadn’t lived through the adventures of the past three years. But living on the road forced us to face the unknown nearly every single week. We refined what was important to us, and where we were willing to compromise or accept discomfort. And that perspective helped us shape the outcome.
We’ve now had half the year to settle in and explore our new home state, and we’re definitely ready to take on some big adventures in 2022. What’s penciled in on our calendar thus far?
- A winter golf trip in Florida for Keith, his dad, and his brother
- A spring thru-hike of the 800-mile Arizona Trail for Paty
- Early summer climbing trips up Mt. Hood, OR and Mt. Rainier, WA
- Attending the Highpointers Convention in Pennsylvania this June
- A bikepacking trip on the 335-mile Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Towpath
- A summer thru-hike of the 500-mile Colorado Trail for Paty
- A couple’s trip to Hawaii for Keith and Paty’s birthdays in the fall
However, the biggest item on our 2022 bucket list is buying another RV. We tried out some of adventures last summer in our tents and rented spaces (i.e., beach house, lodge, AirBnB), but we really missed having the creature comforts of an RV when we’re out traveling. So we have our eyes on a small (20′) towable RV, and hope to add it to our inventory soon!
WE HOPE 2022 FINDS YOU equally EXCITED FOR LIFE’S ADVENTURES!
Are you curious to see how 2021’s travel, hiking, and fishing compares to our prior years? Check out our other YIR (year in review) posts:
Aw, this was an extremely nice post. Taking the time and actual effort to generate a really good article… but what can I say… I hesitate a lot and never manage to get anything done.
Thanks! Just get out there and take the plunge!