​That's right, we had to leave Maude behind for this adventure. Although her baby body is svelte and extremely maneuverable, we just didn't feel comfortable navigating her through the narrow streets of the city. 

The trade off of leaving our home behind was that we were able to stay with my sister Liana, and her boyfriend Steve in their apartment. Thinking back on it, fitting four humans and three dogs in their place was a bit of a stretch, but we made it work, and boy was it glorious to have rolling room on their pull-out. I practically slept full star-fish the entire time, sorry Vanessa.

Penny, too, was happy sleeping next to her cousin Molly again...
​

We explored the city full force, and didn't leave a stone un-turned. Okay, that's a lie, I turned 31 and those hills are damn huge. BUT, we did do a ton of walking, a lot of exploring, and even rented a car to head up to Sonoma for some wine tastings.

Overall, San Francisco was one heck of an experience. Within half hour you can go from the heart of the city to Muir woods and just be immersed in absolute silence. It's truly incredible. Vanessa and I were there for a total of 5 days, and ended up doing some pretty phenomenal things. It's hard to narrow down some of the favorites from the trip, but alas, somebody has to do it. 

Here are a few of recommendations and tips from The Roamans when you visit San Francisco:
​

 
If we didn't walk everywhere, we wouldn't have stumbled upon these beautiful, weird, quirky spots in San Francisco. It helps to wander off-the-beaten path every once in a while to discover hidden gems that you wouldn't normally find on map. We caught the sunset perfectly at this street above, and were able to see for miles. Cha ching!

Another pointer, pack some decent shoes. Sneakers, perhaps. Because I was the ass who had a bum knee and was hobbling around like an idiot thinking my espadrilles would do the trick. Turns out, nope. Bring sneakers. You'd think I was seventy-five the way I was limping around.

There is definitely a time to watch what you eat, and exploring a new city is not one of them. I'm not saying walk into a doughnut shop and stuff your face full of crullers, but definitely indulge a bit. Don't hold back the way you usually do. TREAT YO'SELF. We had a ton of amazing food in San Fran, but most notably our favorite was ShakeDown ice cream in the Tenderloin area.  If you love small batch, artisan ice cream, then this is your jam. You walk in and immediately are greeted by the warm, sweet scent of homemade waffle cones thickening up on the griddle. Then, you are able to sample to your heart's content until landing on the flavor of choice. What's so cool about this shop though, is that EVERYTHING is made in-house. Even down to the cookies in their banana cookies and cream—in-house. It was truly a delicious experience, and one I have dreamt about may times since. Still kicking myself for not getting the Blood Orange scoop which tastes like a creamy, smooth orange cream ice pop but way better. The flavors are so unique, it's a legit one-of-a-kind shop.

Also, if you can try a California burrito here, do it. Vanessa and I normally like packing stuff into a burrito and devouring it, but this was an all new experience. There were friggin' french fries in my burrito! Holy cow, it was delicious. Mexican food is taken to another level in California and we loved every minute of it. 

I know, these tours are quite expensive. And if it weren't my birthday and my sister taking me out, then we probably wouldn't have done it. BUT, it's worth it to at least check out if you can afford to. We took a Bay Cruise around the entire San Francisco Bay. It was breezy and cool, but I'm not sure we would've see Alcatraz so close, or gone under the Golden Gate Bridge otherwise. Plus, probably the coolest part for my little nerdy heart, was listening to the history and facts of the city that accompanied the tour. 

I've spoken to a lot of travelers before who feel obligated to do all the touristy stuff in every city the go to. And while that's well and good for most, this doesn't have to be you. Don't pressure yourself into seeing all the "obligatory" spots in a new city when you can be wandering along discovering new stuff on your own. Sure, there are some places in a city which you want to go and experience firsthand. But if it doesn't speak to you, or your soul, just don't do it! Also, don't let the touristy stuff be the only things you do.

​Would it have been fun to head up the hill and imagine Danny Tanner and his family in those houses making quips about Stephanie joining a dance troupe, or Uncle Jesse singing a new ballad with the Beach Boys?! Of course. But alas, we didn't need to venture up to see the famed Painted Ladies this time around, because we had some wandering to do. We happened upon both the California Academy of Science and Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park and decided to check out both. Which, by the way, WERE AWESOME. If we hadn't been adventuring on our own terms we never would've stopped by either. 

Vanessa and I often end up exploring new spots on our own, which is enjoyable, don't get me wrong. But when you have the opportunity to explore with city locals, or natives, do it. My sister and her friend Kassandra showed us so many different places in the city, and did so with such enthusiasm, you wouldn't have guessed it was only their fifth time doing it as well! They were excited to see these new things for us, with us, and were troopers the entire time. We cannot thank them enough for their time and excitement during our trip. 

If you're in San Francisco, then you need to take a day to explore wine country. Even if you aren't a wine enthusiast, like Vanessa, go. It's pure natural beauty. If you don't know where to start, then check out Groupon, which is what we did. You have access to a variety of tastings for very cheap, which can almost draw a map for your day. We chose two different Groupons, for two different tastings, and got two types of drunky-drunk. Just kidding. But we did taste a slew of wines, plus a bunch of cheese, plus shared a ton of laughs. Sonoma or Napa—it doesn' t matter. Just go. It's worth it.

There you have it, some of the tips and tricks for exploring San Francisco.  From SF we traveled up to Ukiah, California, where Vanessa had a birthday surprise in store.

Until next time...

So, we had a French Press. Actually, we had two. And they were both glorious. They were easy to use, easy to store, and made some delicious coffee on many chilly mornings in our small RV. But there was a problem—I have a sort of superhuman strength that I can't really understand, and I ended up breaking BOTH of the French Presses. The first, I shoved off the counter whilst cleaning. The second, I was adding cinnamon into the grounds in the press, and tapped the cinnamon jar onto the lip of the press to get the contents out. Lo and behold, a slight crack formed, and just kept growing.

Long story short, we threw away both French Press contraptions, the original and replacement, and were out of options.
​

We didn't want to buy another French Press after spending almost $40 in the past two months on two. It just didn't seem like our investment was paying off in the long run. So for a while, we ended up doing things super old school, straining some grounds with boiling water through a filter. It was messy, and we often ended up with coffee grounds floating about, but it did the trick. You can buy a 200 pack of filters for $3, and there's no chance of shattering glass yet again.

But then my birthday rolled around..and we happened upon a coffee shop in Ukiah, California (more on that to come later, because Ukiah was AWESOME). The coffee shop was selling Chemex, something we had always wanted but never could muster spending $39 on. However, this particular coffee shop sent us a 20% off coupon and we thought, YES NOW IS THE TIME.

​And we finally decided to buy a Chemex.

Let me tell you, the hype is real. We absolutely fell in love with our Chemex within the first few days of use.  It is so simple to use, and such a beautiful design. It does take a bit of instruction in order to get it right, but the results are worth it. Our coffee isn't bitter EVER, it's always flavorful and strong. And there is something rewarding about brewing a cup from start to finish. There is a type of "Brewology" to Chemex that may take a bit to understand, but once you have it down, it's a cinch. 

I highly recommend the Chemex to every coffee lover out there who craves a perfect cup of coffee every time. While we cut corners on most other areas of our life financially, a great cup of coffee is always worth it to us.

If you're thinking about purchasing a Chemex (CONGRATULATIONS) then check it out below. Amazon has some amazing deals, not to mention free shipping if you're a Prime member, or if you throw in some filters, too.
​

We bought the 6-cup, but probably could've stuck with a 3-cup seeing as how Vanessa drinks 1/2 of hers, and I drink 1-2 cups. But, then again, now we have a bigger carafe if and when we have guests.

A while back we wrote an article about our monthly RV expenses and broke everything down as best as possible.  Part of our goal in traveling full-time on the road, is to  be as transparent as we can, in order to help promote more full-time RV travel within the younger community. So far, we've received a wonderful response from followers and fellow-travelers in regards to that blog post, who appreciate the transparency. So, we wanted to say....there's more where that came from.

Recently, we were asked to share our thoughts on RV finances for an article being written by Connie Hays of Mobile Home Parts Store. Their hopes in writing this article was to gather as much information as they could about monthly expenses for full-time RV travel, in order to create a comprehensive guide for new RVers and seasoned ones alike. It turned out to be such a great resource, we knew we would have to share it here.

Kudos to MHPS for creating an incredibly thorough resource that we hope inspires more people to get out on the road. Living a life of adventure has been one of the most rewarding decisions Vanessa and I have ever made, and it really did not take us much to begin.

I found some of the answers by more seasoned RVers really interesting, versus the answers by the younger travelers. We've noticed that the older generation of RVers are able to spend a bit more monthly, because they have more in savings due to working so hard and retiring. They've sacrificed years of hard work in order to retire on the road, and more power to them! But younger travelers typically don't have that much in savings, nor can they afford to drop a large sum of money on a rig to start. Vanessa and I didn't have the resources to buy an RV outright, and we absolutely both work on the road to afford our lifestyle. But when you spend your days working from the comforts of your rig with a view like this...

...you'll find no complaints from us.

You can find the article in entirety here. Again, it's a great guide to start inspiring your road trip travels and budgeting out your wants and needs.