Category: Daily Life

Categories
Giveaways Homeschool

Learning the Guitar with jamstik+ & Four Chords {Plus a Giveaway!}

There are many perks to the traveling lifestyle, but there are also a lot of activities and hobbies we have put on hold. When we were selling the house and most of our stuff, I looked longingly at the guitar I had bought 6 months previously. I had every intention of learning to play, but naturally life got in the way and I never found time to dedicate to practicing. I grew up playing the piano and love to have music in our lives which is something we’ve definitely missed!

Last summer, Sam found a company called jamstik+.  We don’t have room for a full size guitar, but the jamstik+ is small, compact, and lightweight and comes with an app to actually teach me to play. We contacted the company and they graciously sent us two jamstik+ guitars so Rachel and I could both learn how to play.  Over the last 6 months we’ve written about our experience in three different posts for their blog (Part I & Part II), but I figured it was time to post over here as well!

The Guitar

The jamstik+ connects to our devices via Bluetooth, so there are no cords between the jamstik+ and the device we are using. Its also smaller than a normal guitar, and a bit harder to hold in your lap. We’ve found using the included neck strap helps keep it in a more comfortable position.

When we’ve gone back and forth between a regular guitar and the jamstik+ over the last few months, we have noticed the difference in fret board in size. Also, friends that can already play the guitar take a minute to get used to the smaller fret board and fingerings! Overall we’ve had success transitioning between the two and Rachel has already asked for a “real” guitar once we settle down somewhere.

Where to Buy: On Amazon or use code “CurrentlyWandering on jamstik.com for 15% off your order (more color choices here!)

The Lessons

JamTutor is their lesson app. Its easy to get set up and the lessons progress fairly naturally. The lessons include picking single notes, strumming, chords and introduce “Arcade Mode” which is a fun way to play with background music. Kind of like “Dance Dance Revolution” video games where you have to step on the correct arrows as they scroll down the screen. Arcade Mode is Rachel’s favorite and she spent close to an hour one day just going through the different challenges.

My favorite part about the jamTutor app is that we can start and stop as needed. I realize that for some that may be de-motivational, but for me it’s a perk. Sometimes life gets crazy busy and there is little time to practice. Not having the guilt of paying for lessons is such a blessing! Granted, it can be hard to get started again, but we’ve found that repeating a few lessons or arcade challenges brings us up to speed very quickly.

In a small space, it is also nice to have a guitar with headphones! Rachel can play right next to Sam while he’s working and both are able to accomplish their tasks. Occasionally I’ll have her practice without headphones just so I can hear her progress, but mostly she will have them in.

Learning Songs

Rachel has far surpassed me in skill as she is assigned practice for school and I get, well, lazy. Distracted? Otherwise engaged? She’s been fairly diligent and has learned to love and look forward to playing. I’m so proud of her.  I love listening to her sing and even our other two kids will sing along with whatever song she’s playing.

She now practices songs mostly using the FourChords app. From their website: “FourChords Guitar Karaoke is the fastest way to learn new songs! The songs are displayed in adjustable karaoke-style display with easy chords, an acoustic backing track and lyrics. Songs are re-arranged into easy versions, no knowledge of tabs or sheet music needed. Each song includes chord charts.”

Her current favorite songs are: “Eye of the Tiger”, “Gironimo”, and “Pompeii”. Using the app, she’s easily able to filter songs by chords. She can choose to exclude the pesky B chord, for example, and only look through songs she knows the chords for. She loves there are culturally popular songs as well as achievement awards that keep her motivated to practice! She’s also learned a few strumming patterns (something not included in jamTutor right now) and can easily switch between chords as she plays. I’m very jealous.

Last week out in the grasslands we utilized Sam’s video skills and put together a little music video of her playing. Notice the drone footage. Yep. More on that later!

The Giveaway!

Now to the REALLY good part! We’ve teamed up with jamstik+ to give away a guitar, travel case, and a 1 year subscription to the Four Chords app! We are super grateful for their generosity and can’t wait to get this instrument into one of our reader’s hands. Use the widget to enter below. Contest ends on February 5, 2017 at midnight Mountain Standard Time. Good luck!

jamstik+ & Four Chords Giveaway

Categories
Daily Life Faith Mommy Diaries

I’m Just Not Good Enough

I sat outside on my yoga mat with my eyes closed and just breathed. It was cold outside in south eastern Arizona, but the sun warmed my upturned face. The kids were off in the grasslands playing in their “fort” and I could hear them laughing in the distance. For a moment I was content to just be me.

For so long I’ve kept an unhealthy pace. Not content to simply write about our adventures and traveling from a journal perspective, this blogging adventure morphed into more of a business.  In order to be a “blogger” I created a laundry list of items to check off my list. Work with brands. Acquire advertising revenue. Make money. Gain followers. Attend conferences. Grow my audience. Somewhere along the journey I lost track of our original goal: Help and inspire families through outdoor adventure and travel. Soon that goal was buried under a pile of “supposed to’s”.  [perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”What if we are normal and quiet and happy? Does that count?” -Brené Brown[/perfectpullquote]

Page after page in my personal journal over the last year talks of unhappiness, discontentment, and an overwhelming feeling of not being good enough. I’m not a good enough blogger. I don’t have enough time to keep up with all the projects in my head. I’m a horrible wife. I’m not a good enough mother. I’m a terrible at traveling full time – I can’t even keep things together. I paid too much attention to social media and somehow the majority of my self worth was determined by how many followers I had, or how many likes a particular photo received.

Its not a healthy way to live.

Last December I decided I was done. Done with pretty much everything. I was upset, depressed, and really just couldn’t get things together. I desperately wanted things to change and I finally had the courage to start saying “No”.

Its amazing the peace that a little two letter word brought into my life. Facebook came off my phone (I can’t even begin to tell you how angry it makes me), I put one of my Instagram accounts on hold, I left a group the core group of amazing women working on the 365MileChallenge project. While I still have companies and brands I love and plan to work with, I stopped soliciting new ones and have been more selective of the projects we take on.

We invented a card game. I can’t tell you how ridiculously excited I am about that.

I decided to focus my blogging more on telling our story. I carry my Kindle with me everywhere in an effort to read good books instead of mindlessly scrolling on my phone. I’ve made an effort to exercise regularly again, eat healthy, and we’ve slowed our travel pace considerably. 18 days at McDowell Mountain in Arizona was a balm for my fracture soul.

[perfectpullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”I give myself permission to slow down. I’m finally succumbing to the fact that I don’t have to DO and that I can just BE.” – Kelli France[/perfectpullquote] But, most importantly I turned my heart back to the Lord. With all my new free time I’ve concentrated on beginning my day with scripture study. Even if its just 10 minutes before I get up and get the day going, I feel more at peace and focused.  I make sure that I pray every day.  We are working hard as a family to keep the Sabbath Day holy. One of my good friends introduced me to an online institute class that is sponsored by her stake in Utah. Sisters in Scriptures is taught by truly inspired women and I’m grateful they’ve made their classes available as podcasts. Learning more about the Doctrine & Covenants through this class has also enriched my Sunday study of the same book of scripture.

Slowly but surely I feel myself pulling back from the black void I felt was imminent in my future.  Looking back I feel that perhaps I overreacted. It really couldn’t have been that bad, could it? Its amazing how easily our mind adapts and glosses over the bleaker portions of our lives. It WAS that bad, but now instead of listening to my gremlins I take time to remember what I’m grateful for. When my inner demons tell me I’m not good enough I can respond with “Yes I am. I am enough. I don’t need to prove myself to anyone.”

Categories
Airstream Accessories Daily Life Homeschool

Our Favorite Board & Card Games for Elementary Kids

Looking for great board or card games for kids? Check our list of educational, fun, collaborative and creative games to play with your children!

We live in 188 square feet of space, but we definitely make room for games! Whether they are educational or just for fun, playing games is a fabulous way to spend time together as a family.

With kids in the 6-11 range, sometimes its hard to find games that will appeal to everyone. We have some we play all together,  but we also play teams or even do one on one with an older kid.

Collaborative games like Castle Panic or Desert Island are great for younger kids because everyone is working towards the same goal!

Check out our list and then leave a comment below with YOUR favorite family game!

hanabi

 

Hanabi: This is a cooperative card game. As a group you are trying to launch a spectacular firework show, only its so dark you can’t see your own cards! You have to share information about other players’ cards and figure out the right order to play them in. Cara (age 6) struggles with this one and usually plays on a team. Definitely more difficult than it sounds!

noggins

Professor Noggin: There are many versions of Professor Noggin’s games. We have Ancient Civilizations & National Parks. They are a great trivia game and easy to play ever for smaller kids. Does include reading, but its easy enough to help younger kids read the questions for other players.

dominion

Dominion: This is our current favorite game and the kids have asked for more expansions, which makes the game even more fun. You choose 10 sets of cards to play with and build your own deck as you play. The goal is to end up with the most victory points at the end of the game. It took Cara a bit to get into it, but she holds her own and wins more often than I do! There are plenty of expansions to extend play and make it exciting! We also have played Intrigue, Seaside, Alchemy, & Prosperity. Some are full sets and other just have the Kingdom Cards.

brain-quest

Brain Quest: We were given this game by a fellow traveler who had finished with it. We adjust the rules as necessary depending on how much time we have to play. Great all around knowledge. I was super excited when my kids could correctly identify a preposition. Score for for home school!

gubs

Gubs: Every time we visit family my niece asks if we brought GUBS.  Whimsical with great illustrations, this game is a fast, easy one. Players try to collect the most GUBS while defending against Lures and even the Gargok Plague. Not a lot of strategy or reading involved.

castle-panic

Castle Panic: This is another collaborative game. Players defend the castle against invading monsters. There’s less strategy involved and it was a little too easy to win every time. Which I believe is why there are expansions for it.

wizards-tower

Wizard’s Tower: Adds the elements of a friendly wizard who can help defend your castle with his magical spells. We don’t have this one… yet.

dark-titan

Dark Titan: This is the first expansion we bought, and I wish we had done Wizard’s Tower first. Dark Titan felt fairly complicated and we really struggled figuring it out the first time we played. I think it takes some getting used to.

dragonwood

Dragonwood: Bought this one on a whim for Rachel’s birthday last September and we love it! Play is simple – you roll dice in order to capture monsters. Some cards give you extra abilities and the game ends when both dragons have been caught.

ticket-to-ride

Ticket to Ride: I’ve loved this game for years, but its been fun to introduce my kids to as they get older. We typically play open hand so I can help the kids plan their routes (especially Cara). I have to try really hard not to block them once I know where they are going!settlers-of-catan

Settlers of Catan: My two oldest (ages 11 & 9) have played this one on their own. I’m fairly terrible at Settlers, so its not my favorite game but the kids love it.

zingo

Zingo: We got this one for Cara (age 6) to help with reading. It takes practice to get good at calling out the letters, so more often than not we take turns choosing a letter instead of racing. There area a few different versions including Sight Words & Bingo.

scrabble-jr

Scrabble Junior: Our older two will play this, but its not much of a challenge. I honestly like that I don’t have to think up words. Instead the board is preset and we have figures to move around the edge of the board as we score points. If you finish a word that’s the same color as your token you get an extra point!

forbidden-desert

Forbidden Desert: This is our favorite collaborative game. As a team you are stranded in the desert and must fight off thirst, sand, and windstorms in order to collect the pieces of your ship and get home! Our kids are actually pretty good at this one, and because its collaborative play all our kids join in.

forbidden-island

Forbidden Island: Similar to Forbidden Desert, but this time you are stranded on a sinking island! As a team you have to collect the four treasures and make it to the take off point before your island disappears completely.

trekking

Trekking the National Parks: We found this one at a National Park last fall and have enjoyed playing it. Gathering trek cards allows players to move across the map and claim valuable park cards. If a player is the first to visit a National Park, they collect that park’s stone, which award bonus points at the end of the game. The visuals on the board & cards are stunning which helps make the game even more fun to play!

enchanted-forest

Enchanted Forest: My mom owns this one and I have played it since I was little. Its a fun memory match game that is easy enough for even young kids to play. Roll the dice and round the board, sneaking a peek at treasures hidden in the Enchanted Forest along the way. Be the first player to find the treasures the king seeks and the kingdom is yours!

cant-stop

Can’t Stop: Players try to win three of the eleven number columns as quickly as possible. During their turn, players may roll the dice as long as they wish-provided that they can place or move at least one of their runners (each player has 3). If, after rolling the dice, a player is unable to do so, his turn ends immediately and he loses everything that he achieved during that turn.  You have decide if you are going to roll once more or stop when its safe!

Winter evenings are a great time to settle down and play games around the table as a family! Its too dark or cold to be outside, and I we can hardly put our kids to bed right after dinner. Games are staple around here and we would love to hear what some of your favorites are in the comments below!


Categories
Holidays & Bdays Outdoor Adventures

Choosing to Opt Outside For Black Friday

Excited for Thanksgiving? Instead of shopping after the meal, consider Going Out with Us! Check out how we are dodging consumerism and spending time together as a family outdoors instead.

Thanksgiving weekend also means the start of Christmas. We are pretty diligent about not listening to Christmas music or putting up decorations before turkey day is over. However, I’ve grown increasingly sad with how stores are pushing the consumerism of Christmas. Do stores really need to be open on Thanksgiving Day?

In 2015, REI started the#OptOutside movement and it spread like wildfire. Their message was simple: Use Black Friday as a day outside. They put their money where their mouth was, closing all 149 of their stores, processing no online sales, and paying employees to take the day off and go outside.

At Currently Wandering, we fully embraced this idea as well! We already disliked the idea of spending an entire day centered around food.  We were far from family and I had no desire to cook a turkey in our Airstream oven. Instead we took #OptOutside to the next level and spent 3 days backpacking at FDR State Park in Georgia over the holiday.

“We knew we wanted a Thanksgiving that was less about food and more about spending time together, and backpacking as a family does the trick.

Its hard to describe the feeling of accomplishment, satisfaction and pure happiness after two days out on the trails with our family. We did 7.8 miles over three days so it wasn’t hard, just lots of time unplugged with each other.”

fdr-state-park-ga_10

It worked so well that we’ve decided to do it again! This year we are in California and plan to camp on Channel Islands National Park. We have a kayaking/snorkel trip booked , day hikes picked out, recipes planned, and books ready to read.

On this holiday of Thanksgiving, we have much to be grateful for. We love our family, our faith, and our friends. We also feel very grateful for this opportunity to travel, to restructure and re-prioritize our activities and circumstances in pursuit of a simpler life.

I hope that along with family time & eating yummy food you’ll consider “Going Out With Us” on Black Friday! Make sure to visit REI’s #OptOutside page and create your own graphic to share on social media.

Categories
Airstream Accessories Holidays & Bdays Outdoor Gear

25 Gift Ideas for Adventurers, RVers, and Families

Looking for gift ideas? Check out our top gifts for the Outdoor Adventure enthusiast, the RVer, or even your own family!

Its time for the holidays! While we are avid “no Christmas tree before Thanksgiving” kind of people, I also like to get my shopping done early. Notably, I do most of my shopping at Amazon which is why you’ll find many of these items. No joke. Even as a traveler. We tend to be near friends or family for the holidays and its super easy to ship all our stuff a few days before.

While we have most of this gear already, there are a few I wouldn’t mind seeing under the tree this year. If you are looking for holiday gift ideas for an Outdoor Adventure Enthusiast, an RV traveler, or even your family we are here to help!

This post contains Amazon & REI affiliate links which help to fund the blog in a small, small way. Thanks for helping us out by clicking through to shop!

gifts-for-the-adventurer
Gifts For the Adventurer

1. Oru Kayak: I got to play with one of these at Outessa. They fold up into the size of a suitecase but are sturdy enough for any paddler.

2. SHREDLY adventure clothing or Zoic Bike Clothing: I just wrote about SHREDLY a few days ago, and Zoic is another company I’ve purchased bike clothing from. Both are great brands!

3. KEEN Hiking Shoes: Our whole family is decked out in KEEN now and we love promoting their fabulous shoes and great family values.

4. Nite Ize Radiant 250 Rechargeable Headlamp: We were just sent some headlamps to review this last week and are already blown away by them. These suckers are BRIGHT. Love that they are rechargeable so we don’t need more batteries floating around.

5. Darn Tough Socks for Women, Boys or Girls. My all time favorite socks. Period.

6. GoPro HERO5 Session. This is one of those things we could use under the tree from Santa. We have the Hero 3+ right now and the Session would be an awesome upgrade. Anyone?

7. To Live World Map: LOVE this map. We have their My Adventures map in our Airstream, but love this one for the non space constrained.

8. Rumpl Down Puffy Trekking Blanket. These look SO comfortable. I’ve heard great things about them and taken a look at REI. An all around, tough, outdoor blanket. Maybe I’ll get my hands on one to do a very thorough review.


gfits-for-rv-travelers

Gifts For the RVer

9. Audible Membership: We RV or Airstream travelers drive. A lot. Audible books are a great way to pass the time or even to listen to as a family. We’ve been gifted several books (doesn’t even have to be a membership). One of our favorite stories is Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry. Great series.

10. Gift Cards for National Food Chains (like this one for Coldstone): We LOVE getting gift cards. It seems silly, but cards for places like Coldstone, Panera Bread, or Texas Roadhouse go down really well around here.

11. Magma Stainless Steel Cookware Set: If you *really* love your RVer you could get them this pot set. I’ve had mine going on 3 years and couldn’t be happier with it.

12. Cute Adventure Pillow from Etsy: Lots to choose from if you look around! While we are picky about what comes into our Airstream I don’t know anyone that would say “no” to a good adventure pillow.

13. Airstream “Rivet Trailer” Pint 4-Pack: Sturdy, dependable, functional, and who doesn’t love Airstreams?

14. Leatherman Signal Multi-Tool with Nylon Sheath: I met some Leatherman people at Outessa and then again at an Outdoor Blogger Summit. Solid company and really great multi-tools. The Signal is my favorite.

15. Airstream Jewelry: Love this set from Airstream brands!

16. Collapsible Salad Spinner: Collapsible anything really. We love saving space. We also have a collapsible colander, a bowl, and I’ve had my eye on this collapsible tea kettle for quite some time.

17. Kindle Paperwhite & Fintie SmartShell Case Cover: Books are hard to store, and while a lot of our space is taken up by kids books we love having a kindle. Pair it with an Overdrive account at your local library and there’s plenty of easy reading to be had!


gifts-for-the-family

Gifts For the Family

18. Dominion Card Game: We’ve just gotten back into Dominion with all our kids. I love that there are a hundred + different card combinations to play, plus a gazillion expansion sets. Definitely for older kids. Cara (ages 6) does decently well but she’s been trained into it.

19. Woom Bike (any size!): Probably will be on every gift list I ever create. I absolutely love these bikes the company that makes them! Lightweight & good quality. Worth every penny.

20. OgoSport Mini OgoDisk: Remember KOOSH ball? Similar and super fun. We get a kick out of playing around with this as a family.

21. Perky Jerky: Gotta keep your family fueled! This is the best jerky we’ve ever tasted. Snacking, in the car, out on an adventure, you name it. We eat it ALL the time.

22. Complete Book of Chalk Art Lettering: We got into Chalk Art because it was an easy way to be craft without getting too deep. Super fun!

23 So Much S’more to Do with Fireside Forks: We put together gift baskets one year with this S’more book and the ingredients to make a few of them. Add in some Fireside Forks (see our review) and you’e got a pretty great gift!

24. GUBS Card Game: One of our favorite kid friendly games. Easy to play, and it only last 15-20 minutes tops.

25. Scientific Explorer Wizards Only Kit: We had one of these pre-traveling and the kids LOVED it. So easy to learn when they think they are just playing.

BONUS: Jamstik+ guitar: Rachel and I have been learning the guitar this year with jamstik+ and their jamTutor app. Its been super fun and I’ve been really impressed with the portability of this instrument!  **If you are interested in a colored jamstik+ (they only sell black & white on Amazon) use code “CurrentlyWandering” on their website and get 15% off! **


Also check out: Currently Wandering’s 2015 Holiday Gift Guide

If this isn’t quite what you are looking for, check out these other amazing Gift Guides from some of the best adventuring family experts I know!

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