10/23/2026
No matter where my babies and I are, we’re home!!! 🚐🏠
After dreaming for 15 years of one day living full time on the road, learning as much as I could, planning, and challenging myself beyond my own mental and physical capabilities, I’m finally living my dream. But DAMN, what a ride it was to get here!🤯😂🤷♀️🥰🥹
Life on the road WITH my birds and not having to worry about my life and theirs every single year during hurricane season. I’ve told everyone for over two decades, unless I can fit every single bird, duck and chicken into my vehicle, I will NOT evacuate and abandon them like thousands of people did during hurricane Katrina. I evacuated with my animals and kids back then. But once Kasia's Ark Bird Rescue had more resident birds than room in any vehicle, I became a sitting duck, and my nervous system was in fight/flight mode for the entire hurricane season. That does a number to the human body!
Today, I simply start the van, and drive my house to higher land, or wherever I damn well please. Camping for a week? I can! Pet sitting? No problem! Visiting all our nature preserves and national wonders of nature? I can! Having that peace of mind, alone, is PRICELESS. Not having to imagine every which way we were all going to die together if we did have another big one, is a huge weight off my shoulders.
Taking my birds on the road to educate the public has been my dream for 22 years. Now I’m finally doing it, locally at first, because the van is still not fully road ready, and figuring out storage for everything I own, especially all the bird stuff, has been a challenge. I don’t want a cargo carrier on top, or behind the van. I’ve seen those things come loose, so I’ve been minimizing my already extremely minimalist life even more. I love challenges, and since every inch in the van is precious real estate, square storage containers in a round bubble don’t work. I’ve tried bags, sacks, now shelves…I’m getting there, slowly but surely. The majority of my personal earning go towards the birds, as 3/4 of them are special needs and have special requirements, including my newest baby girl, so I’m getting what I need a little bit at a time.
I need to find someone willing to install my solar panels on top of my van, as there are some things my petite frame cannot do. The solar panels are bigger than I am, and I have no ladder, or roof rack.
I know how to do it, I just don’t have the strength to physically lift them up over my head without risking breaking them. I had no idea they’d be so huge and heavy! PLUS I don’t have any tools. Not one.
Sometimes, dare I admit, it would be nice to have a man 😳 around to do the van things. 😂🤷♀️