We’re back with a fan-favorite format: Road Trip Table Topics! From moody family members (spoiler: it’s not who you think) to UFO stories, favorite cities, dream souvenirs, and the greatest athlete debate—this episode is a fun, honest ride with plenty of laughs and a few surprisingly deep moments.

💻 Watch this episode on YouTube: @KerouacsCruising

📸 Blog & travel stories: KerouacsCruising.com

💬 Instagram & Facebook: @KerouacCruising

📧 Email: J[email protected]

✨ Support our journey on Ko-fi: Every little bit helps us keep creating from the road! https://ko-fi.com/kerouacscruising

If you enjoyed this episode, the kindest thing you can do is like, subscribe, and leave a review. It’s a small action that makes a huge difference in helping us keep the journey going.

💚🩷💚🩷 Thank you for being here — your presence means everything.

What do you do when a botched surgery leaves you without an Achilles tendon… and a therapist tells you you’ll be “compromised for the rest of your life”? In this episode, author and hiker Jo Giese shares how she clawed her way back to the trail, one waterfall, lucky stone, and hopeful step at a time.

When a “routine” Achilles repair went horribly wrong, doctors told Jo Giese that life as she knew it was over. The Achilles died, infection set in, and even a trusted PT told her she’d be compromised forever.

But Jo refused to accept that story.

In this conversation, Jo shares how she went from barely able to walk to becoming what doctors now call a medical outlier — the 0.01% of people who recover function without an Achilles tendon. With brutal honesty and a lot of humor, she talks about rebuilding strength, finding the right medical team, and why killing someone’s hope is one of the worst things we can do.

We also dive into:

• Why some people succumb to injury while others overcome it
• How waterfalls, wild places, and “waterfall medicine” became a big part of Jo’s healing
• The importance of community: doctors, therapists, friends, and the people who simply show up
• Why Jo is firmly against hiking alone in remote places — and how to find safer ways to adventure
• The joy of lucky stones, “walkie talkies” walking groups, and discovering that your pace doesn’t define your worth

Jo’s upcoming memoir, You’ll Never Walk Alone: A Hiker’s Memoir of Adventure, Tragedy, and Defying the Odds, releases February 10, 2026 — and this conversation is a beautiful preview of the grit, vulnerability, and awe packed into her story.

🎧 Listen if you’re navigating injury, burnout, or big life change and need a reminder that your body — and your spirit — might be capable of far more than you’ve been told.

💻 Watch this episode on YouTube: @KerouacsCruising

📸 Blog & travel stories: KerouacsCruising.com

💬 Instagram & Facebook: @KerouacCruising

📧 Email: J[email protected]

✨ Support our journey on Ko-fi: Every little bit helps us keep creating from the road!

If this episode moved you, the kindest thing you can do is like, subscribe, and leave a review. It’s a small action that makes a huge difference in helping us keep the journey going.

💚🩷💚🩷 Thank you for being here — your presence means everything.

The shifter disconnected on a remote fire road in the Idaho backcountry — no phone signal, no reverse gear, three dogs in the back seat. What happened next is very on-brand for Kerouacs Cruising.

On a routine drive through the Idaho backcountry to scout campsites for an upcoming hunting trip, James and Cara's truck shifter disconnects — leaving them stranded without phone service, unable to move, on a fire road with three dogs. What could have been a full breakdown becomes something else entirely: a reminder that this life requires resourcefulness, humor, and the ability to zip tie your way out of a problem.

This episode covers the repair in real time, the honest reality of finding dispersed camping in Idaho amid wildfire closures, and the quiet gratitude that closes it all — because the broken linkage that got James underneath the truck accidentally revealed a slow transmission leak before it became something much worse on the road.

What You'll Hear in This Episode:

• The moment the shifter disconnects mid-drive on a fire road — no phone service, no reverse, three dogs in the back
• How James diagnoses the problem from underneath the truck and gets them moving again with a zip tie
• The "blessing in disguise" — how the breakdown revealed a slow transmission fluid leak that could have caused serious damage down the road
• The honest reality of finding dispersed camping in Idaho right now — wildfire closures, trashed sites, and roads that look accessible on the map but aren't
• How wildfire smoke is complicating Ryan's upcoming hunting trip and closing off the areas he'd been scouting
• The real skill set full-time camper life quietly builds — resourcefulness, problem-solving, and the ability to stay calm when things go sideways

Resources & Mentions:

• O'Reilly Auto Parts — transmission linkage connector
• Thermal bypass valve — transmission cooling component (DIY campsite repair)
• AAA — mentioned as not an option on dirt roads
• Idaho dispersed camping — wildfire closure challenges

Note for Clarity: This episode was recorded during Cara and James's late summer/early fall 2025 Idaho stretch, approximately 3–4 months into full-time camper life. Ryan and Deidra (James's son and daughter-in-law) are referenced as family they were visiting and camping near during this period.

If this conversation resonated with you, you're always welcome at our campfire. For photos, reflections, and the companion blog, head to KerouacsCruising.com/blog. To follow along in real time, find us on social @KerouacsCruising. To support the journey, visit Ko-fi.com/KerouacsCruising. And if something here made you think, feel, or see your life a little differently, we'd love to hear from you in the comments or at [email protected]. However you choose to be here — thank you for being part of this. 💚🩷

We are grateful for all of our friends, family supporters and everyone joining our journey, as we figure out this thing called life together! We hope you have a wonderful weekend, see you next week for our next adventure episode 💚🩷

What if the real magic of travel isn’t the views, but the people you meet along the way? In this episode, we sit down with traveler and memoirist Melissa Rodway to talk about backpacking Southeast Asia, travel fatigue, leech-filled jungle treks, and why some of our most authentic selves show up far from home.

Canadian traveler, writer, and podcast host Melissa Rodway joins us to share the real story behind her travel memoir The People You Meet: Luxury, Leeches, Love & Lao-Lao with a Host of Interesting Characters in Southeast Asia.

Her love of adventure started early—moving from small-town Canada to a bush community outside Perth, Australia as a kid. Years later, a four-month trip through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and China became the backbone of her book and completely changed her relationship with travel, writing, and herself.

In this conversation, we explore:

• How a “once in a lifetime” trip turned into a raw, funny, and honest travel memoir
• The jungle trek in Laos that went very, very differently than expected
• What travel fatigue actually feels like—and how to know when it’s time to go home
• Why the people you meet matter more than the places you see
• The strange freedom of being more yourself when you’re far from home
• Why it’s never too late to start traveling (or to finally write the book that’s been tugging at you)

If you’ve ever dreamed about backpacking Asia, traveling solo, or simply reconnecting with your authentic self, this episode will give you both permission and a gentle nudge out the door.

All Things Melissa:

The People You Meet

Instagram: @fly_travel_media

Website: https://flyrodway.com

Facebook: FLYTravelMedia

💻 Watch this episode on YouTube: @KerouacsCruising

📸 Blog & travel stories: KerouacsCruising.com

💬 Instagram & Facebook: @KerouacCruising

📧 Email: J[email protected]

✨ Support our journey on Ko-fi: Every little bit helps us keep creating from the road! 

If this episode moved you, the kindest thing you can do is like, subscribe, and leave a review. It’s a small action that makes a huge difference in helping us keep the journey going. 💚💗

We finally made it to North Idaho — and this week, we’re taking you with us as we tour a remote one-acre property deep in the mountains. The road is wild, the views are unreal, and the reality check hits hard. Is this the spot where our new life takes root… or not?

After weeks on the road, we’re back in North Idaho, the place that already feels like home even though our roots aren’t in the ground yet. In this adventure episode, we take you along as we check out a remote one-acre lot tucked deep into the mountains near Lake Pend Oreille.

From rough forest roads to steep terrain, from big hopes to big reality checks — we walk through what it’s really like to try to build a home base while living full-time on the road.

Along the way, we talk about:

• what we’re looking for in our future homestead
• challenges of off-grid access in winter (hello, snowmobile-only roads)
• the pros + cons of remote land
• how our three pups (including sweet Jewels in this video) shape every decision
• the behind-the-scenes chaos of travel days, Starlink glitches, laundry hunts, and keeping the camper functioning
• surrendering to the unknown and trusting the right place will reveal itself

We also share updates on:

• the Arizona homestead sale
• the next property we plan to tour
• how we’re navigating decision-making while still living on the move
• our setup, our workflow, and the truth about what this lifestyle really takes

If you’ve ever dreamed of relocating to the mountains, buying remote land, or building a simple life on your own terms, this episode offers a real, unfiltered look into the early stages of that journey.

📍 Watch the full episode for the views, the honesty, and a few laughs.

📍 Visit the blog at KerouacsCruising.com for detailed notes & resources.

📍 Join the conversation on Instagram & Facebook @kerouaccruising.

If you enjoy the episode, please consider liking, commenting, subscribing, and leaving a review — your support helps us reach more people walking the same path.

What if trash could build schools, students could fight poverty, and real democracy began in 7th grade? In this profoundly moving interview, we sit down with Matt Paneitz, founder of Long Way Home, a nonprofit turning 550+ tons of waste into a sustainable Hero School campus in rural Guatemala.

 In this powerful and uplifting conversation, we talk with Matt Paneitz — paramedic, Peace Corps volunteer, educator, builder, and founder of A Long Way Home, a nonprofit in Comalapa, Guatemala, transforming trash into resilient classrooms and turning students into community problem-solvers.

Matt spent two decades proving that purpose can truly be built from the ground up. His Hero School model, recognized by UNESCO, blends green building, indigenous Kachikal traditions, democratic education, and community empowerment. The result? Students who don’t just learn about change — they create it.

We talk about:

 ✨ How 550+ tons of trash became a sustainable K–12 campus

 ✨ Students solving poverty using what they learn in school

 ✨ Bamboo trusses, earthbag domes, eco-brick walls & tire foundations

 ✨ Matt’s intense origin story — from a small Texas town to the Peace Corps to hitchhiking through Guatemala

 ✨ The unseen realities of poverty and resilience

 ✨ How one volunteer idea grew into a movement

 ✨ Why democratic education could change the future of entire countries

 ✨ What Matt hopes to bring to the Secretary of Education

 ✨ The power of purpose, passion, and “la lucha” — the shared struggle

 ✨ Our own reflections afterward about chasing purpose even when it looks “crazy” from the outside

If you’ve ever questioned your path, your purpose, or the impact one person can make — this episode will move you.

Support Long Way Home

 Volunteer, donate, or learn more:

 🔗 lwhome.org

 📞 Matt’s direct number (he insisted!): 978-992-2333

Follow Us & Join the Journey

 Blog & photos: kerouacscruising.com

 Instagram & Facebook: @kerouacscruising

 Email: [email protected]

 Support our work on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/kerouacscruising

From a sketchy canal in Nevada to a dreamy lakeside spot in Oregon, this leg of our journey had biting flies, blown-up Starlink, surprise mice, and a whole lot of dog hair. We’re towing our 26-foot trailer with three dogs, chasing cooler temps, and trying to keep our truck alive while we inch toward Idaho and grandbaby smoochies.

You’ll also see our sweet girl Jewels all throughout this episode—this was filmed before she passed, so this one is extra special to us. 💛

In this adventure episode, we roll out of the Yosemite/Virginia Lakes area and start making our way toward Idaho with a few memorable stops along the way:

• Humboldt Wildlife Management Area near Lovelock, Nevada – including why we wouldn’t let the dogs in the water, how biting flies + mosquitoes changed our minds, and what it’s like crawling down a washboard road at 10 mph with a trailer.
• Antelope Reservoir, Oregon (near Jordan Valley) – a beautiful free camping spot with swimmable water, big skies, and first-come-first-served lakeside sites that fill up fast.
• Spring Creek Road (Forest Service Road 21) near La Grande, Oregon – high pines, Oregon Trail history, Labor Day side-by-sides, hunting season, and how we handled the heat when we really just wanted a quiet few days in the woods.

We also talk honestly about full-time RV life with three dogs (Jewels, Bella, and Norman):

• laundry math when you haven’t washed clothes since you left Arizona
• dog hair avalanches every time you crack a window
• managing an elderly dog’s incontinence on the road
• why we keep snap traps on board for surprise furry stowaways 🐭

On the “logistics & life” side, we share:

• our truck upgrades (that new transmission cooler and why slowing down on mountain passes changed everything)
• a weird AC thermostat glitch in the camper (hello, Celsius)
• Starlink reality when clouds roll in and your upload speed disappears right when you’re trying to deliver a podcast episode
• the emotional roller coaster of selling our Arizona homestead and the excitement of possibly buying a small treed acre in Idaho near the lake—just enough space to park the camper, fence the pups, run shore power, and build a big “dog house” shed.

Through it all, we’re just two humans and three dogs doing our best to travel slow, stay safe, and keep things honest—even when the fire pits are full of trash, the temps hit the 90s, and the laundry basket is begging for mercy.

🎧 In this episode you’ll hear about:

• The truth about Humboldt Wildlife Management Area as an overnight stop
• Why we highly recommend Antelope Reservoir (and why you should arrive early)
• Free camping on Spring Creek Road / FS 21 near La Grande, OR
• Traveling with three dogs: hair, heat, and hard decisions
• Our Starlink struggles and website rebuild in the wild
• Truck temps, towing safety, and how a transmission cooler changed our driving style
• Our next chapter: hunting season, baby cuddles, and a potential home base in Idaho

🔗 Places & resources mentioned:

• Antelope Reservoir (near Jordan Valley, Oregon) – free lakeside camping with vault toilets and fire rings (check current fire bans)
• Spring Creek Road / FS 21 near La Grande, OR – dispersed camping + Spring Creek Campground (fee area with vault toilet)
• GC Asian Fusion, La Grande, Oregon – delicious, affordable Asian fusion spot we loved in downtown La Grande

💛 A note about Jewels:

You’ll see our girl Jewels a lot in this video. This episode was recorded before she passed, and we chose to share it as a way to honor her joy out on the road. She was such a big part of Kerouacs Cruising, and we’re grateful you love her too.

📸 Blog companion:

Read the full blog with camping details, tips, and photos:

👉 [Add your blog link here once published]

🗣 Join the conversation:

• Website & blog: kerouacscruising.com
• Facebook & Instagram: @kerouaccruising
• Email: [email protected]

If this episode made you laugh, cringe, or plan your own trip, please like, subscribe, and leave a review. It helps more adventure-curious folks find us and keeps this journey rolling.

If “networking” makes you want to run for the hills, this episode will feel like a deep breath. We’re joined by Nick Shelton—veteran, strategist, stand-up comic, and author of An Introvert’s Guide to World Domination—to talk about navigating the world as an introvert without wearing a mask. We dig into authenticity vs. performance, simple step-by-step social systems (yes, including where to stand and what to hold), re-finding yourself after retirement or a major life change, and why saying “I don’t know” is secretly a superpower. Nick also shares his “Reset Button” framework for auditing your life, releasing old identities, and building purpose through aligned habits.

Highlights:

• The low-pressure way to enter any room and meet one person
• Authenticity > confidence: stop faking it, start systemizing it
• The “reset letter” + burn ritual (honoring past you)
• Cooking/dance/language classes as identity-building cheat codes
• Treating everyone like a VIP (and why it opens real doors)

Links & resources:

• Nick’s site: resettheman.com
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nicholasleonshelton/
• An Introvert’s Guide to World Domination: geni.us/anintrovertsguide
• Our blog & photos: kerouacscruising.com

Callouts:

If this helped, share it with the introvert in your life and leave a review—it truly keeps us rolling.

After our short pause, we're back on the road—and Yosemite greeted us with rain, hail, fog, and a full-on August snowstorm. In today’s adventure episode, we recap our wild entrance into Yosemite Valley, the unprepared tourists scrambling for ponchos, James trying (and failing) to get a tetanus shot, and the breathtaking moment the storm lifted and revealed the valley walls and waterfalls in all their beauty.

This is an honest look at what travel really feels like—messy, unpredictable, hilarious, and healing. And a reminder that sometimes the storm gives you a better gift than the sunshine ever could.

• Rain, hail & 38° August snow 🤯

• Crowds scrambling for overpriced umbrellas

• Why rainy national park days are usually the best

• The chaos of Yosemite Valley traffic

• Lower & Upper Yosemite Falls roaring from fresh storms

• Why the outside areas (Tuolumne Meadows, Tioga Pass) might be even better

• James’s foot injury update

• RV challenges, triumphs & the art of rolling with what is

🎥 Watch the YouTube adventure: https://youtu.be/QsfwPpUffJk

📝 Blog with campsite details & photos: https://kerouacscruising.com/when-the-storm-doesnt-scare-off-the-crowd-our-rain-soaked-and-hilarious-yosemite-valley-day/

IG/FB: @KerouacsCruising

Email: [email protected]