Freedom in a Can: Adventures with Hamlet

17/01/2025

We made it to the Grand Rapids Camper, Travel, & RV Show and we'll be presenting everyday from January 16-19 at the DeVos Place Convention Center located in the heart of downtown.

👉 Join us to learn more about some SEMINAR TOPICS we love to teach...

✅ RV Solar 101: Size a System for Your Rig

✅ Tips & Tricks for Exploring America's National Parks

✅ Gourmet Camp Cooking & Baking

✅ 6 Simple Strategies to Reduce RV Travel Costs

✅ Q & A Session for New RVers

🔗 For details about our show schedule:
freedominacan.com/upcoming-seminars (or see our link in bio).

14/01/2025

Well, we may not be able to change the world, but WE CAN repair a flood damaged bathroom!

👉 We've been helping a single grandma in Trade, TN, close to our hometown of Boone, NC. She lost a lot when the mud and the silt covered her floors and filled the crawlspaces of her grandmother's 100 year old farmhouse.

It has taken many hands, and she's a long way from recovered, but she's further along than she was, AND she can finally take a shower in her own home. 🛁

Of course, so many lost more than she and we've got such a long way to go. But these mountains grow 'em tough and resilient, we'll get there. 🌄

🙏Please keep thinking about everyone in Appalachia who is working hard to rebuild their lives.

12/01/2025

😎 Ever wish there was a solar panel that worked well in SHADED conditions? As RVers, we can't always park our rigs in the perfect sunny spot. Unless we happen to be in the middle of a desert, it's inevitable that we'll have shade in our campsite at some point during each day.

👉 We just finished a review Renogy's brand new 200W ShadowFlux panel. We tested it in a head to head match against a traditional 200W panel -- in both flat and angled orientations. Check out our video review to see how it performed. Spoiler Alert! We are pretty impressed with this new panel's performance. 👍

✨ As always, be sure to reach out with your solar questions and use our promo code CANLIFE at renogy.com to save up to 10% off any Renogy components. ✨

Throwing a little shade? not cool when you're living off the grid and your solar panels aren't producing what you expect because of unexpected shading. Whet...

09/01/2025

❄️ WINTER RV SHOW SEMINAR SEASON is upon us! ❄️ Say that 5x fast...

🛣️ For the next several weeks, we'll be traveling and presenting RV Lifestyle & Technical Seminars in the Midwest, Southeast, and Northeast -- meeting and greeting enthusiastic RVers who are excited to join us for a taste of life on the road!

👉 FIRST STOP...Grand Rapids Camper, Travel & RV Show from January 16-19 at the DeVos Place in the heart of downtown.

🔗 Our Seminar Topics & Show Schedules @ freedominacan.com/upcoming-seminars

💡Learn insights from our 12+ years of experience traveling, working, volunteering, and exploring North America!

07/01/2025

NEW YEARS SALE EXTENDED!

✅ Get EXTRA nights! 🗓️
✅ Find Hosts w/ HOOK-UPS! 💧🔌
✅ SAVE 30% on your FIRST year membership before January 12! 💸

🔗 Use promo code FRESHSTART30 along with www.harvest-hosts.com/D9HPQG/2CTPL/ to score the best price of the year!

🦙🦅🐑 Harvest Hosts are a great way to make long RV road trips even more FUN & SAFE! 🍷🥃🍺

04/01/2025

Major progress on the Hurricane Helene flood relief bathroom project... 👍

Wheeeeww, we pulled a long, long work day, but got a bunch done!

✅ Prepped, tiled, and sealed the shower.
✅ Attached all plumbing in the crawl space.
✅ Sanded, primed, and painted the walls.

🎉 We are soooo close to calling it a bathroom again!

Many folks have asked how they can donate to the rebuilding efforts after the flood in Appalachia. Thank you!! 🙏

🔗 We recommend visiting the State Line Resource Station @ https://statelineresourcestation.org for specific donation info.

02/01/2025

As many of you know, we used to live and work in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC. This is where we launched from when we hit the road and started traveling in Hamlet in 2012. While we return regularly, we haven't been back with Hamlet in tow since 2021.

When we heard about the devastation left by Hurricane Helene's path, we changed our autumn/winter plans and returned to volunteer our time. While Boone is nearly back to normal now, the surrounding area is still reeling with devastation.

Ashley Galleher (a former university student of ours) transformed her business, , into the Stateline Resource Center to assist flood victims. She got us hooked up with a single grandma who is raising her grandson in her grandmother's 100 year old farmhouse.

The flood destroyed much of the property, backed up the septic system, rerouted the local creeks, flooded portions of the kitchen and laundry area, and completely wiped out the only bathroom in the house.

We've spent our free time completely rebuilding the bathroom. It's been a big job of removing all the rot, stabilizing joists, and building from the studs up!

We have several days of work ahead of us, but it's starting to look like a bathroom again!

22/12/2024

One of the reasons we've been so quiet lately...

She was many things to many people, daughter, granddaughter, grandmother, niece, friend, student, wife, teacher, banking executive, world traveler, but most importantly, to me, she was Mom.

It's taken me a couple of weeks to finish this, something keeps getting in the way, making me delay. How can I encompass the life of my mother in these few lines?

Three weeks ago, we got the call from my dad, the kind that we all fear. She was back in the ER and her time seemed very near. After a few years of declining health, a Parkinson's diagnosis, and several trips to the hospital, we knew that any visit, any call might be our last. We got a flight, packed a bag, and hurried off to the airport.

Palliative care would make her comfortable... there was nothing left to do but gather, wait and witness. We spent Margaret Hutchison's last week together as a family, my brothers, father and sister all around. We encircled her in the love we all shared, the love she gave throughout her 84 years.

On Friday, December 6th, she took her last breath and passed peacefully with family at her bedside -- can't really ask for anything more, can we?

We remember her as the woman who gave us life, unending love, a passion for travel, a vital sense of direction, and high standards. Her curiosity was infectious and amid our lively dinner table conjecture sessions she'd leap up, faster than Google, and grab the encyclopedia to fact check our wild hypotheses, prove a point, or teach us something.

She was the driver in our family, fighting the good fight against the Hutchison inertia. Whether it was school, homework, music, swimming practice, she always got us started. And once rolling, we were unstoppable.

As a young woman growing up in Lexington, KY, she bristled at the lack of athletic opportunities for herself, but found an outlet through a performing dance troupe and back country camping trips with the boy scouts. Yes, you read that right.

As a swimming Mom of four, she turned her keen eye for detail on our progress in the pool and became something of an expert. She had her opinions, never hesitated to voice them, but always let us find our own way with ourselves and our coaches.

She always showed up, whether it was a swim meet, concert, performance, or conversation over the dish sink chores that we often shared. She showed up for phone calls, and drove through the night to visit her kids scattered across the country.

She was the first person who I called with some small victory to share and the only one that I wanted to talk to when my heart was broken.

She never stopped being my mom, and never will.

I'm at peace for you and your journey, Mom, but just sad for us on this side who have only your stories, memories and the other pieces of your legacy. And just like this small tribute, it will have to be enough.

I love you.

https://www.reynolds-jonkhoff.com/m/obituaries/Margaret-Hutchison-9/Memories

22/12/2024

☀️ Happy Return of the Sun Day!!! ☀️ For those of us who rely on solar to.power our lives, the day after the winter solstice is something to celebrate!

👀 Looking for a long-lasting battery that is designed for overlanding? One that is so small and energy dense that you can double your current battery capacity?

We installed Renogy's 100Ah Mini Core battery in Oregon and are now in North Carolina. Combined with a 400W portable panel and a 50A DC to DC charger, it's probably the smallest and most efficient off-grid system we've ever built. 💪

🧭🚙 We've traveled over 3400 miles and on some pretty gnarly roads while crossing the country...and it didn't miss a beat with keeping us powered up, even in low sun times. With protections like low-temp cut off and BMS stability it is perfect for all season overlanding and boondocking off-grid. 🍂❄️🌷🩴

👉Check out our review and use our promo code CANLIFE at renogy.com to save up to 10% off this battery and nearly everything else you need to live off-grid! 💲

Can a mini battery still pack enough power to fuel your road trip's energy needs? In this video, we take Renogy's 100Ah Mini CORE LiFePO4 Battery for a real...

01/12/2024

While traveling from Oregon to North Carolina over the past month, we were seeking to keep our camping costs down in order to offset our fuel costs, but still explore some gorgeous, natural beauty along the way.

Just added up our total camping fees for 31 nights and it came to **$143**! This total includes 3 nights in the Grand Canyon in the iconic Lee's Ferry campground (that was our big "splurge")!

We camped by rivers, lakes, on the edge of canyons...and in some pretty unique parking lots along the way. As usual, our Renogy solar equipment kept us powered up so we could continue working and living life to the fullest.

Wanna learn more about boondocking, overlanding, solar power and the apps we use to find inexpensive, fun, and free places to legally park our rig?

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for details: https://youtube.com/

29/11/2024

❄️ Why is winter the best season to GO SOLAR? ☀️ Let us count the reasons...

1. BUNDLE up and save now! 🧣☃️ Over the next couple of weeks, you’ll find some of the lowest prices of the year when you purchase multiple components. 🎁🎁🎁

2. Turn your GREEN dreams into reality now, save later! 🌍 You’ll not only save money on those outrageous electric bills, you can reduce your tax liability by writing off up to 30% of the total cost of the solar equipment.

3. Chase away the WINTER BLUES! 🥶 Digging into a challenging DIY solar installation is a great way to brighten your outlook during the cold, dark, winter months ahead. 🏂 You’ll be ready for that January ski trip at your off-grid cabin this winter or an early spring RV road trip.

✅ Check out our recent BLOG for details, extra special deals, and huge discounts! Use promo code CANLIFE at checkout for extra savings at renogy.com.

Why is winter the best time to go solar? Let us count the ways… BU NDLE up and save now! Over the next couple of weeks, you’ll find some o...

23/11/2024

It's been a BUSY DAY in Hamlet's test kitchen! Snow coming down outside while trying out some favorite holiday desserts in our tiny RV kitchen. 🥧

✅ Chocolate Silk Pie w/ Raspberry Sauce
✅ Bourbon Eggnog Pie

👉 Gotta holiday dessert recipe you want us to try and make using just a 2-burner stove and/or over a campfire? 🍰 We love a good challenge! If we use your recipe, we'll give you credit when it's published in our RV Trader blog next month! DM us with details by Tues, November 26.

23/11/2024

Ok, Mother Nature...YOU win! It went from flip flop season to winter boot weather overnight in western NC! We had forgotten about this crazy rollercoaster ride in the Appalachians.

21/11/2024

Hamlet BEDAZZLED! 😁🤔Found in the Vladem Contemporary Art Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico!

20/11/2024

Our friend and former student ❤️ ❤️ recommended Chimera Cafe for breakfast in Tulsa, OK. He knows us well -- highly recommend! Thought we'd stretch our legs a bit and ended up in Tulsa all day!

🎸Gotta good dose of Tulsa's music scene and history. Enjoyed a few hours at the Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan Centers, then lotdocked at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Definitely go inside and look around at the music memorabilia. Quiet night and they even have a free dump station and water refill for RVers, y'all. 💦💩 Fun stop in Oklahoma for sure!

⚠️P.S. BIG warning for RVers, do NOT drive on Hwy 51 west of Stillwater!! Unbelievably narrow road full of huge potholes and drivers dodging them...all going 75+ mph! 🚛🚚🚒 Absolutely overloaded with enormous trucks carrying wind turbines, farm equipment, and other large everything. Happy to have made it out alive and with everything still rolling forward. 50x worse than the ALCAN by a long shot. Come on OKDOT, y'all can do better! ⚠️

19/11/2024

We FINALLY made it to Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, AZ! This unbelievably spiritual place on Navajo Nation land that straddles the boundaries between AZ and UT has been on our must-visit list for many years. We tried twice in the early 2020's, but it was closed due to COVID as too many locals had gotten sick and/or died.

We explored the valley in between snow storms and in some of the most beautiful late afternoon light that Nihimá Nahasdzáán (Our Mother, Mother Earth) could offer us.

Shari gasped as tears rolled down her cheeks when we dropped down into the valley. These images don't come close to capturing the immensity of the beauty, the historical complexity, and spiritual gifts offered here. The powerful energy and peaceful vibe in this magnificent valley is truly palpable!

Next time we visit (and when the weather isn't so frigidly cold), we'll explore more on horseback with a local guide.

⚠️RVer Alert! Definitely heed their warning and drop your rig in their visitor's lot or at the campground. This 17-mile loop is a 4-wheel drive road. They do offer guided tours if you are in a motorhome and don't have an appropriate vehicle.