One of our favorite things is a warm chocolate chip cookie. In fact, we already have a healthy chocolate chip cookie recipe on the blog, but we took it one step further. Chocolate chip protein bites!

The chocolate chip protein bites are, obviously, protein packed, with no added or refined sugars, and they’re the perfect little 2-3 bite snacks that we can choose as a healthy alternative when we are really wanting dessert or a sweet snack during the day. If you’re someone who would gravitate towards a handful of candy, a sugar packed granola bar, or even some ice cream, these bites will be perfect for you to help cut out some of that added sugar from your day! Not to mention, they’re super easy to make!

If you like oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, then you will love these bites! We make these almost every weekend for the week ahead, and I can definitely say that I get genuinely excited when it’s that time of the day to snack on a bite! But then again, I get really excited about food in general, so go see for yourself! What’s your favorite sweet treat when you’re on a bit of a health kick? We hope everyone has a great weekend!

Our 10 month long Airstream living road trip basically turned into a nearly year long vacation mentality for us. We don’t regret it at all. We let ourselves enjoy food. We let ourselves skip a workout if we didn’t feel up to it. We didn’t have any strict parameters around what we could eat and what we had to do. It was extremely freeing and a period of time we will never forget! That being said, Chad and I both care about our health and fitness in our core. We love food, but also want to be healthy. We love lounging, but also love to be strong. So, to kickstart our healthy habits, we’ve committed 30 days to resetting our health and fitness mindsets.

There are a few things we are doing to really redirect our habits without getting so extreme that it’s unrealistic to be able to adhere to the guidelines. Our hope is that if you are trying to break through the barrier of creating healthy habits, these few things can help you too! Let’s all be healthy together!

• Healthy Food Habits: There are so many ways to make food healthy without food having to be boring. We are obviously big foodies, and we don’t want our healthy food to have to be plain. So, we have found a few food groups that we can really make flavorful and satisfying!
  • Protein: Chicken can be seasoned in so many ways! Stick with chicken and ground turkey instead of more fatty proteins like ground beef. But, still treat yourself to beef once a week if you love it!
  • Veggies: All the greens! We love brussels sprouts, broccoli, green beans, asparagus and spinach! Find ways to season them all differently. We then basically add onion and bell pepper to anything to add flavor. Both high in nutrients and super tasty! Get creative with your vegetables and how you combine them!
  • Still Eat Carbs!: Go with whole wheat options. Whole wheat cous cous instead of white rice. Brown rice & Quinoa instead of pasta. You can even do whole wheat pasta which is a healthier and more nutrient dense option than regular pasta. You don’t have to give up carbs entirely to be healthy! Just choose better ones.

We love food, and so many combinations of the basic food groups above can be satisfying. Make a ground turkey burrito bowl with brown rice, ground turkey, black beans and lettuce! Make entire sheet pan meals with seasoned chicken, sweet potatoes and roasted veggies! Make whole wheat pasta with turkey meatballs, an organic pasta sauce (with no added sugars) and a spinach salad! Healthy food doesn’t have to be boring, it’s just about eating fresh foods with lots of nutrients!

• Reasonable Workout Schedule: You don’t have to work out every single day to be healthy, but you do need to be active as many days a week as you can be. We are shooting for being active 5 days a week. Active to us can be going for a long walk, doing a 45 minute cardio workout, lifting weights, going for a run, or even a 20 minute yoga session. You don’t have to be at the gym for hours a day to get stronger! Give yourself a reasonable goal for fitness so you feel like you are attaining your goals and feel more excited to continue the habit! Expecting yourself to work out heavily 7 days a week is most likely unreasonable and can burn you out before you’ve even begun!

• Mental Health Awareness: Check in with yourself daily! How are you feeling? If you feel tired, plan for more sleep. If you feel stressed, find things that help you relieve stress. For me, I like to put my robe on and drink a cup of tea and mentally let go of things I’m holding onto. If you feel like your motivation is low, set small goals that can lead up to larger accomplishments. Read motivational or inspirational reminders to recharge your energy. Mental health is just as important as physical health! Don’t ignore it!

Between healthy eating, and building physical and mental strength, you can feel and function so much better! Obviously we aren’t nutritionists or doctors, but these things are really helping us get back to having healthy habits. We are following these guidelines for 30 days and will be documenting the changes. Physical changes are one thing, but my bet is that how I feel will be the biggest improvement! Feed good into your body and your body will do good for you!

So, who’s currently working on their healthy habits? What do you do to to get to a healthy place?

If you’ve been paying attention to any of our social media outlets, you’ll have seen that we moved into a house. This was a decision that was beyond bitter sweet. Bitter because we absolutely loved our time in the Airstream and how much it felt like home. Sweet because the pets have space and we feel like we’ve finally started some roots in our new city.

We had started talking briefly about wanting to search for a house at the beginning of the year, but we never thought the process would go as quickly as it did. I had set up Zillow notifications on my phone for any new house that came available for rent in a very specific area, with a very specific budget, thinking that the availability within those parameters would be rare. Then…the next day…a listing popped up. We decided to go check it out, just to kick start the search, but little did we know the search would end there. It was the perfect next step for us. Two bedrooms. Two bathrooms. Big backyard. Within our price range. Perfect neighborhood. Character. You name it, the box was checked.

A few weeks later, we moved in. And I have to say, the moving process has been a lot more difficult than we expected. I mean how hard could it be moving from a 180sqft Airstream to a house? Hard. It has taken us quite a while to feel settled in, which we still aren’t totally there. We live in a half empty house because we sold a majority of our belongings before we moved into the Airstream, which takes away a little bit from the “homey” feel. But, we are starting to fill it back up, little by little, and it’s been so much fun! As cliche as it is, living in an Airstream really does make you so much more intentional with what you bring into your home! We are excited to fill our new home with meaningful and useful pieces that bring us joy!

Also, for everyone asking, our pets are super happy! Millie is loving running around in the backyard. She has already made friends with the neighbor dog. Ace is loving all of the big windows that he can look out of, and has a cardinal friend that sits on a tree right outside his favorite window. They have room to play with each other, sprinting through the house on the daily. So, we are all settling in quite nicely and are excited for all the adventures to come with our new house as a home base!

And to answer the most frequently asked question, ROCKY ISN’T GOING ANYWHERE! He is happily parked in our backyard, ready for more adventure, but first we will be doing a few touch ups and renovations to make him even better! We still can’t imagine ourselves getting rid of Rocky anytime soon. We have too many adventures planned with him to even think about that, so although we aren’t full time RV living, we will still be full time RV owners!

So, that’s our life lately. We now have a permanent address for the first time in almost 10 months, and it feels good! Now we just have to furnish and decorate, and you better believe we will be taking you along for the journey! It won’t be quite an Airstream renovation, but we have plenty of projects planned that we will be sharing with you all! Also, be sure to stay tuned to our YouTube channel for a house tour coming soon!

You would think that living in an Airstream would mean that we would drive south for winter, but Chad and I are winter lovers. We love the cold. We hope for the snow. We thrive in the fresh crisp air. That being said, basically living in the outdoors in an aluminum box in the winter has its challenges. So over the last month of cold weather, we’ve figured out the necessities for surviving winter in an RV!

95% of those necessities involve Dr. Bronner’s products. If you’ve never heard of Dr. Bronner’s, I’m glad you’re reading this post because you absolutely need to know about this brand. Their chapstick has saved us during all 20,000+ miles we’ve driven this year, because we all know that your lips get SO chapped when the AC is blasting on your face 24/7. But, their chapstick isn’t the only amazing winter survival product they have. Below are our top 3 Dr. Bronner’s must haves for winter:

1. Chapstick
2. Organic Magic Balm
3. 18- In- 1 Hemp Citrus Pure-Castile Soap

Hydrated lips: Check! Hydrated hands: check! Hydrated skin: check!

Living in a tiny home can sometimes seem like you have to give up the comforts of living any other way, but that’s not true! You can still use all of the same self care products, take care of yourself just as much, and commit to your health and wellness just as if you lived in a big house. We have found this to be even more important in winter. Making sure to have a set skin care routine, with products both Chad and I can use (space saving), has been a huge necessity for us and Dr. Bronner’s has provided us with that solution!

Other necessities include ways to stay warm! Obviously. We have a stash of super cozy blankets, all from Home Goods (they have the best throw blankets for the best price). Each pet has their own claimed blanket and Chad and I each have our own as well. Not only are they functional, but something about blankets just make moments and spaces so much cozier! One tip would be to get a throw fleece blanket the size of whatever bed you have. It really helps to have a fleece blanket that covers the full bed for an extra full layer of warmth!

And, last but ABSOLUTELY not least, is a space heater. This has been a game changer for us in the Airstream. It has warmed us up in temperatures in the teens, kept our pets cozy, and given us really great peace of mind to not have to use our propane furnace or worry about electrical space heaters. Ours is the Pelonis Ceramic Portable Space Heater, which is a ceramic space heater with an automatic shut off to prevent overheating or electrical fires (and it’s only $27 on Amazon!). We have had several fellow RVers tell us to keep an eye on overheating of the outlets, and knock on wood, but this space heater has used a low level of power and still produces amazing heat! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

So, for any fellow RVers who are living in a cold location, hopefully some of these tips and products help! We are loving this season of RV living, and that’s all with a little help from some winter necessities! We would love to know the ways in which you stay warm during the winter, so comment below!

It’s my favorite time of the year! I absolutely love the month of December for a lot of reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is the coziness that this season brings. Between the Christmas lights and the smell of freshly baked cookies, no other month competes on the cozy factor. Oh and don’t even get me started on the Hallmark Channel.

So, to kick off the holidays, we have officially decorated the Airstream, drank some hot chocolate, baked a first batch of cookies (thank you Betty Crocker), and watched the first two movies on our must see Christmas movie list!

I am not a huge sugar cookie fan until it comes to this time of the year. Mostly because I like anything that’s festively shaped like a Christmas tree or a star or a gingerbread man. And I also usually only make cookies from scratch, but when Chad showed up with a Betty Crocker sugar cookie kit, how was I supposed to resist? The answer to that question, I didn’t resist. We spent the afternoon baking some cookies, using our new Hearth & Hand master cookie cutter, and then making a little bit of icing to add to some of the trees!

Fun tip: If you want a quick icing, just mix powdered sugar with a little splash of milk and you’ll get the perfect sweet addition to your cookie! I like to add a dash of cinnamon to mine to break the over sweetness.

After we baked the cookies and ate one too many, we obviously laid on the couch and didn’t move for a few hours. Every year I have a list of movies I absolutely have to watch in order for it to officially be December. The first two we checked off are Love Actually and The Holiday. Honestly I watch The Holiday all year long and it fuels my desire to live in the middle of nowhere in England. Next on the list is Elf and then The Grinch! But don’t worry, I’ve also been watching the Hallmark Channel and every episode of Holiday Baking Championship, new and old. What’s on your must watch list this time of year?

I just love the holidays! Now all we need is a little snow and I could officially say I was in the holiday spirit!

Below is the video we made showing how we decorate our tiny home! It’s a little different than what I’m used to, but it feels just as festive and cozy as apartments past, and I just love having our tiny home all decked out (in a functional way) for the holidays!

And if you want to check out our holiday baking from last year, click here!

One of the main reasons Chad and I decided to travel via an RV was because of our undeniable obsession with our pets! If you follow any of our social media accounts or our YouTube channel, you’ve heard this once or twice before, but we treat them like they’re our children. We wanted to be able to travel and see new places without always having to leave our pet children behind. So, the obvious solution was living with pets in an RV!

At first I thought the worst. Millie our dog wouldn’t have enough room and wouldn’t get enough exercise. Ace our cat wouldn’t be able to hide and play like he loves or he would get confused on the meaning of “home.” Call me crazy or paranoid or ridiculous, but all of these possible thoughts were swirling through my head. Would we put too much stress on them by having them on the move all the time. Would we make them hate each other since they would be confined in a smaller space together all the time. Would they be in danger of getting lost or running away. Like I said, they are basically our children, so my fear of the possibilities was relatively high.

We took all the precautions and luxuries necessary to make our tiny little home the perfect little home for them as well. A special spot for Ace’s litter. A big enough bed for all of us to fit on. A dog bed plenty big enough for Mill. Plenty of food and toys for both of them. And safe doors and windows for my own peace of mind. The key was making the new space as familiar to them as possible. It was so important to us to bring in their usual blankets and a few of their toys they already loved, to make the Airstream something they already recognized.

While all that attention and consideration may seem over the top to some, it has paid off for us a million times over. Our pets have been thriving in their new tiny home! Millie gets more exercise than she did before because she goes for daily walks and weekly hikes! Ace has his own spot in the front window that he has claimed as his and his only. They both run and play between the bed and the living room. They have seen states from California to Florida, and live a life full of adventure and PLENTY of love!

To be honest, I think the real reason they love it is because of the quality time we all get to spend together! In our life before, we were at work all day and they were stuck inside with no interaction. Now our daily activities range from hiking to campfires to lots of snuggles on the couch. We play all day instead of just in the evening. They come with us wherever we go, and that’s what having a pet is all about! Being each others companions! We are a happy little RV family, and wouldn’t change it for the world!

So, if you’re considering taking your pets on the road, DO IT. Bring their bed and their blanket. Pack some treats. And hit the road because they will love it! They are the most loyal creatures and will just love the time they get to spend with you, and all your original worries will fade away pretty quickly when they bust out in a smile or wag their tails!

That’s what having a pet is all about, right?

Do you travel with your pets?

We know there are tons of options when it comes to what kind of RV to purchase. We thought through whether we should have one that we drive or one that we tow. Whether we should buy a large one or a smaller one. Whether we should buy a vintage one or a new one. Whether we should buy an Airstream or some other brand. One question we asked ourselves was, Is an Airstream worth it?

If you’re asking yourself that same question, we have an answer for you. YES. 100% an Airstream is worth the extra investment. Whether new or old, the Airstream brand is manufactured and constructed better than any other option we’ve seen. Our 1977 electrical system still runs, our 1977 AC still works, our 1977 plumbing is still in tact and our 1977 shell is sturdy as ever.

Purchasing our Airstream was our first big investment together, and we wanted to make sure we made a smart investment that we could either make our money back on some day or even make a profit. But, all of that aside, we wanted something that would be safe, sustainable and reliable. That whole checklist combined led us to one brand. Airstream. And our beauty of an Airstream hasn’t let us down since. (Knock on wood because I’m superstitious and paranoid).

We have driven over 10,000 miles, through 17+ states with two pets and two humans in tow. Our Airstream has protected us from storms, kept us warm on cold nights and brought us comfort thousands of miles away from home. We wouldn’t have made a different choice if we had the chance to do this whole thing over again.

If you don’t already follow along on our YouTube channel, make sure you go check out our Airstream travels and our Airstream renovation! We have a bunch of new Airstream videos coming in the next few weeks that profess our love for Airstream even more and show exactly how we turned this 1977 Airstream into the tiny home of our dreams! In the meantime, below is the video we made explaining why we chose to live full time in our Airstream, and why we chose Airstream in general!

Have you ever considered purchasing an Airstream? If you’ve ever had any questions, feel free to ask here! We are an open book!

Okay, now that it actually feels like fall outside, I feel like it’s acceptable to share our fall bucket list! A fall bucket list is something that I’ve been wanting to do for a while. Fall is our absolute favorite season, so I want to make sure we hold ourselves accountable to experiencing everything we want to during this time of year. As much as we love it, I also feel like sometimes we rush it. Rush through to the holidays, count down to Thanksgiving, count down to Christmas and count down to New Years. While I love all of those holidays as well, I don’t want to spend my fall counting down to something else.

So, as with many other aspects of our life, we are being SUPER intentional with our time. I know I will probably come up with 10 other things (like have a scary movie marathon) to add to this list, but for now, here are our must do bucket list items for FALL!

It’s about as fall as fall gets, and I am SO excited to start checking them off! We are heading to the Smokies in a few weeks and will hopefully carve some pumpkins this weekend! HELLO FALL! We are so excited you are finally here!

What’s on your fall bucket list?! We want to hear!

We’ve made tons of variations of protein balls, which is the beauty about them, you can make them different every time! But we thought it was only fitting to make a fall variation. I love the flavors of fall. From warm cinnamon apple to earthy pumpkin spice, I love them all. The flavors of this season are the coziest, and I’m a huge fan of cozy.

I know it’s “basic” to love fall, but there’s honestly no other season that brings me this much joy. From the weather to the activities to the thankfulness that the season brings, I love it. Clearly love is a word I associate very strongly with fall.

As much as I LOVE (there it is again) pumpkin spice, there are already thousands of pumpkin spice protein ball recipes out there, so I’m going a different route. We are going with cinnamon apple protein balls!

One key to a really good protein ball is really good protein. We have been trying so many protein powders trying to find one that would give us the benefits we were looking for, without tasting like crap. FINALLY we found the winning one. The Arbonne Vanilla Protein Powder is honestly delicious. I can drink it straight or mixed with other ingredients and it tastes just as good! Use our link to get 20% off!

We are working with one of our favorite brands this fall, Modern Oats, and it just so happens that they have an Apple Cinnamon flavor oats cup! They have tons of other flavors too, so be sure to check out their website and use code “touringtastebud” for 10% off your order!

Check out the recipe below and let us know if you give them a try!

Print

Apple Cinnamon Protein Balls

Ingredients

• 1 cup Modern Oats Apple Walnut Oats
• 2 scoops Argonne Vanilla Lean Protein
• 1/2 cup Regular Oats
• 1/2 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1/4 cup Organic Honey
• 2 tbsp Water
• 1 tbsp Cinnamon

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl
• Roll mixture into one inch round balls
• Refrigerate for 1 hour
• Devour!

While traveling from country to country time seems to fly by. It feels like it was just last month that we left for our first trip to BALI but really it was exactly a year ago. We have learned the more you travel and avoid that repetitious cycle the faster time will go. We notice that because we always rushing to get our work done we don’t take much time to slow down and truly take in the beautiful things around us. Remember time is the most valuable thing in the world and you can never get it back.

Beauty and kindness is everywhere

As we are a “slow travel” couple and we stay in each country for one month we really get to submerge ourselves in the culture of each destination. This really helps us see how amazing it is not only about the destination we want to travel to daily, but also all the little things surrounding us. Also, traveling has not only opened our eyes but it does to our mind as well. Most times we get all of our information from social media or western media that has caused us to see things as media wanted us to see. The only way to solve this problem we get from media is to travel and see by our own eyes.

Before we flew to Philippines, we got plenty of warning from friends and family to be careful as western media said Philippines is dangerous, full of terrorists. Well, we decided to go there anyway and turned out to be one of our most favorite place that we actually traveled. So much thatwe could actually live there. There are countless time that filipino helped us passed through the rough situation; either it be fixing our broken motorcycle, drove us to our apartment without asking for money in return.

The true personality will be revealed and fixed

If you are traveling alone, you will truly find out who you are. Especially how good you are at some certain things; how good you are at coping with certain situations along the road. Also if you are traveling with a partner you will certainly see their true colors faster than in any other situation. Over our first year of travel we have learned about ourself to the greatest level. Especially when we travel on budget, there are plenty of challenges along the way.

Frankly speaking, traveling has fixed our bad personality. We have always considered ourselves as self-focused. However travel has shaped us to look at the world as one main unit where we share resources from mother nature, we shared the home called earth, we shared water from ocean. As a result, we are able to see everything in all dimension and we are able to look at everyone with compassion. This really helps us break into each culture and find out what is considered rude in the places we have traveled likeThailandandBali.

Stepping out of 9-5 job and travel full-time truly reveal us the potential that we can sacrifice so much to keep doing what we love which is to travel. When you are stuck in that 9-5 grind, Things become so routine and guided. Therefore you can’t always push your limits to see what you actually love doing. However, as you break out of your comfort zone and start exploring new places, you can find things that really make you happy.

Don’t sweat the small stuff, but cherish every moment.

The power of Now can best describe this aspect we have learnt from traveling. When it comes to traveling especially as first-timers to new destinations, a lot of things can go way beyond the expectation and can also go wrong very quickly. One of the best things is to never let things or situations you can’t control upset you. It take away all the beautiful experience that you can get. This can be very hard for some who lack of patience. If you can take a step back. Think about what you can do to solve the problem before getting upset life will go a lot smoother.

Don’t Need a Lot to Survive, Also you don’t need a lot to find happiness

Before our first trip we packed so much. From our experience, packing so much can cause more problems than it can actually help. After being on the road for a year we have noticed that life itself is so simple. You only need minimal things to live, survive and enjoy. This isn’t only with clothes but it is with anything. We started to realized this lesson greatly on our trip to Malaysia. We decided to cut cost on checked-in luggage by sharing 1 luggage. Eventually, we were really in shock that everything we truly need is able to pack into a small bag. This also apply to happiness, we do not really need much to be happy. Our happiest moment if you ask us to reflect back. It always involve the simple things like laughing with local kids, enjoying local meals, making new friend along the road.

If traveling full-time is something you have always wanted to do you can find out exactly how most Influencer make itpossible right here

We hope these insights help you. If you want to check out all our VIDEO GUIDES they show you and in depth guide to all the best and even some of the most unknown local spots!

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