Hector and I are a happily married couple who went on a full-time RV adventure shortly after celebrating our 35th anniversary. We traveled with our canine companion and best friend, Angel, a Keeshond and possibly Husky mix.
Both of us were born in the Caribbean on nearby islands. I was born in Puerto Rico and Hector was born in Cuba about a year and a half later. We both left our homes for the United States as young children – Hector’s family left Cuba to escape the Castro regime, and my father took me to New York in search of a better life after we lost my mother to cancer.
Hector’s journey as a child included Atlanta, Georgia; Springfield, Missouri; and then Miami, Florida. My journey took me to Brooklyn and Queens in New York then to Miami, Florida. We first met when we worked together as teenagers. Hector left town for awhile and we reconnected after a chance meeting when he returned. We were married about three years later. It always amazes me how our journeys intersected after all of those moves and changes in our lives.
Our careers – his in the communications industry and mine mostly in the travel industry – provided opportunities to travel. Both of us loved travel and were open to moving to different places. We moved to Atlanta, Georgia and then to San Juan, Puerto Rico. During our time in San Juan we enjoyed many fun vacations throughout the Caribbean islands, which are still some of my favorite places to travel to.
Both of us traveled extensively to South America on business in the 1990’s. Hector also had a work assignment in Mexico City that required him to live there for 13 months. This provided another opportunity to travel during our vacations, this time throughout the beautiful country of Mexico. What made these travels especially meaningful was meeting and working with so many different warm and interesting people.
In 2001, we moved to Denver, where Hector had another career opportunity. We’d traveled several times to Colorado on ski vacations and had long wondered what it might be like to live out West. I left the corporate world to work in the non-profit industry, a very positive change in my life. We lived in Colorado for eleven years and spent time exploring the west, an area that is also very special to us.
We adopted Angel in 2009 from the Peak to Peak Keeshond Fanciers Rescue in Denver along with her “brother”, who’d been raised with her, Rags. They were about 7 and 8 years old, respectively. Sadly, Rags, our sweet and loyal boy, passed away in 2011. We wish he was with us on our journey and miss him terribly.
Our beloved Rags
Angel
Angel, like most rescue dogs, had been through a lot in her life. She spent a total of nine months first in a shelter, then in foster homes before we adopted her. She had some major health issues and several surgeries in the last few years of our time together. Angel was a fighter and a fierce girl. She was a fun companion during our travels together, even while battling illnesses.
After three years and nine months of our adventure, we purchased a home with a lovely view of the Sandia Mountain range in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
We sold Island Girl and focused on enjoying our little Adobe home. About a year later, we lost our beautiful Angel. She was about 15. It was devastating. We had just purchased a Winnebago View and left our home for a month after we lost her.
Our nomad spirit was awakened, and In the next two years, we took several long trips in the Western U.S. culminating with a dream trip to Baja California, Mexico for two months.
In 2018, we concocted a plan for a new adventure. We would move to Mexico, renting long term while moving around the country. We have now moved to Playa del Carmen, in the state of Quintana Roo in the Yucatan Peninsula. New discoveries await.
~ Brenda
Hector & Brenda: Happy Anniversary! JR & I just celebrated our 36th – we were babies when we got married. I am reading your blogs and am looking forward to following your adventures. My Friend’s Son and his wife are “fulltimers” — She was an Exec at ATT and left for the “good life”. They love it too…. Take Care – Krystal
Love the blog but I find it hard to follow. The rss gives this error on your site:
XML Parsing Error: junk after document element
Location: http://www.islandgirlwalkabout.com/feed/
Line Number 3, Column 1:
^
And you don’t have a way to contact you other than comments. Perhaps put up a contact form and a valid rss button, please?
Thanks very much for the kind words and for catching the RSS problem. Not sure what caused that but we are still debugging our new hosted site so your help is really appreciated.
And I like the suggestion on a contact us feature. THANKS!
Please install a way to follow you by getting an email notification when new posts are up. I don’t use social media and hitting your site daily would become unnecessary.
Jerry
Hi Jerry! It is on the home page. On the right margin, below the “where is island girl today” item and the link to our photography page there is a place to subscribe to our blog via email. each new post will clog your inbox!
Hi to Miss Jean!
H
Hola : somos Angeles y Enrique de Vidania, de España, que estamos haciendo un recorrido por los USA en autocaravana, y hoy martes 25 de noviembre esamos en Tucson , como ustedes.
Desearíamos conocerles personalmente. Estamos en el Rincon Country RV Resort.
Tenemos un cache pequeño así que no hay problmas de transporte. Esperamos su llamada.
Pd. Tambien tenemos una web del viaje : usaenautocaravana.com, no tan buena como la de sutedes , pero leible……
Brenda, just read your blog and loved it.Your writing is excellent and very readable and,of course,Hector’s pictures are fantastic.I just returned from a 3 week trip on a friends trawler and posted a daily e mail and a few photo’s,nothing like this! Of course, being a boater,I don’t understand this whole “camping thing” but looking forward to hearing more about it when you swing by Fort Myers,Fla. next month. Have a safe journey.-Marc
Marc,
Thanks so much! If I already sent you a message (I thought I had), hi again. We’re still learning our way around this blog stuff, but I’m really having fun with it and we’re having a wonderful time on our journey. SO looking forward to seeing both of you. Take care, Brenda
Hi K! Thanks for the good wishes. We are having a blast. Only bad news to report is we miss everyone back home. Congrats on your anniversary. Choosing well makes all the difference 🙂
Dear Brenda and Hector: Congratulations on your new journey/lifestyle. I find it so exciting!!! Can’t wait to read more about it. Ramon and I have always talked about renting an RV with the girls during a summer vacaction and go to Yosemite or Yellowstone or any other National Park. You will be our contact to give us all the tips. What a nice surprise has been to find this blog!! Miss you and hope to see you in one of your future destinations. Cariños, Blanca y Ramon
Love your new lifestyle! Let us know when you are passing through ATL. Looking forward to seeing you and catching up. Happy NewYear! Sandra & Mark
Hi there! See you in the spring … april or so we think 🙂
Hector and Brenda,
Plannng on dinner in ATL for the gang on Sunday, April 28th. Please plan accordingly…
See you then!
Mark and Sandra
Brenda and Hector,
I just caught up on most recent travels. The photos of family, wildlife, and nature are so beautiful. You made such a wise choice to take this journey and create lifetime memories. Missing you and loving how much life you are embracing.
Hugs,
Joyce
Hi, Joyce. This is turning out to be even more rewarding and enriching than I ever expected. Missing you too! We plan to be in Denver for a (short) time early November, hope to catch you while we’re there. Big hug, Brenda
How wonderful that everything is better than expected. Please know you have a lunch/dinner invitation when you are back in Denver. I realize you will have soooo many people to see please be sure to include me.
Hugs to you both.
Joyce
Hi Brenda and Hector its Ivan we are really looking forward to your visit – my son Joey wants to know what kind of dog is Angel ?
Thanks see you on Sunday
Angel is a Keeshond Husky mix. And a very sweet girl. See you soon. Brenda
Tito Brenda and Hector….so great seeing you and now after reading your blog I feel a tiny bit of the journey. Hope you come back to New York in your travels. My cousin Angel is one lucky dog!
It was great to see you too, maybe we can meet up somewhere along the way. Big hug, Brenda
It was great to meet you in beautiful Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Just for the record, I bottled another 10 Strawberry Vinegar this morning! :>)
Oh, my, if Hector finds some more room in the motor home, he might drive back to the market Saturday from Halifax to get some more! 🙂 It was wonderful meeting you too, we’re having a rainy day here, doing some chores and working on the blog a bit. Will be posting about our time in Southern Nova Scotia within the week. Take care, Brenda
Hi Brenda, I don’t think so…………..LOL. But – we will be in Wolfville tomorrow afternoon. Gaspereau Winery is hosting a Muscat & Mussels event from 1 – 5, so we are taking a little trip to a variety of places in that area as a treat just for us. Margo
Brenda and Hector,
So, what a journey. You are clearly having a remarkable experience. I’m thrilled for you.
Joyce
Thank you for stopping by. Guess what we are right on your tail. If things work out we are heading into the Maritimes in two days. Who knows our path will cross somewhere. Currently still in Bangor and our first stop will be St.John. NB
-MonaLiza
Wonderful, we’re on route to Prince Edward Island tomorrow but will be returning to New Brunswick in 10 nights. We’ll be in northeastern New Brunswick in Kouchibuguac National Park for a week. Would love to meet you if you’re anywhere nearby. Happy trails, Brenda
We will be in PEI on the 17th-21 at Campers City RV in Moncton. If you are still in the area at that time would love to meet too.
Oops wrong info..we will be at Marco Polo Campground 17-21 in PEI; Moncton on 14-17. Does sharing stories about Alaska over wine sounds good to you?
For a minute I thought there was another Moncton on PEI :). Wine always sounds perfect. btw, if you like farmers markets and you can squeeze it in, you must visit the Dieppe Market (www.marchedieppemarket.com) just on the outskirts of Moncton on Saturday. It’s one of the most fabulous ones we’ve visited – awesome cheeses from the area, artisan chocolates (expensive but worth it), great oysters and clams at Joe Cassie seafood and tons of other stuff, Definitely worth a couple of hours.
We’ll be in PEI starting tomorrow through the 21st so it’s perfect timing to get together. We’re staying at the Crystal Beach Campground north of Summerside, not very far from Cavendish, where you’ll be. We’re happy to host if that’s easier for you, but are also happy to meet you at Cavendish, we’re totally flexible. We just read that Wi-Fi can be sketchy there, so it may take us a couple of days to respond to messages if that’s the case. Looking forward to meeting you!
Brenda
Excellent, just got into Moncton with internet service 🙂 here is my email address mslowe@mac.com and that sounds good to us too. We will email again when we get there to firm up our plans.
What an interesting journey you two have had. May you have many more!
Thank you and welcome to our blog!
Brenda
What a lovely share .. after reading that I almost feel as if I’ve known you both for a long time… I’m going to enjoy your travels with you both…..
Thank you and welcome to our blog! The blog is also a new experience for us and we’re enjoying writing it and sharing.
Brenda
Hello. I found your blog online through random rv blog searches. My boyfriend and I are beginning travel nursing. Every three months we will move to a new location. We are very interested in purchasing an RV instead of moving from apartment to apartment. Our only concern is .. How difficult is it to find somewhere to park our rv ? If we work at a hospital do we have to park at the closest rv park or can we stay in a parking lot ? Also , we will mostly be working in the city. Will we be able to find parking easily. How do te laws work with Parkin RV s. I would love to pick your brain. If you have time please email me ! Rfiror1@gmail.com Any suggestions would be so appreciated. Thanks ! Becky
Hi, Becky. You have a lot of great questions, and it’s very important to learn about all of these before purchasing an RV. I will e-mail you some information on these shortly.
Brenda
Hector and Brenda,
Hope all is well. Judging by your photos, y’all are still getting around! Awesome. We have a favor to ask you which is to have a copy of the photo y’all snapped of us in the swamp in our canoe (the one pictured on your blog on the Okefenokee). We are getting married on June 21, 2014, and would love to be able to use the photo for a wedding card.
Take care.
Wick and Andie
WOW! Hi guys. I would be so happy to have the smallest of roles in your upcoming wedding so yes of course we’ll send you swamp pics! Love that you would consider a swamp pic for a wedding card …
Look for an email from us.
Hector
What a beautiful girl you have! We have a Keeshond and a Sibe, both girls! They are a joy in our life!
Thank you so much, she’s quite a character too – mix of the Keesie sweet companionship, the howly “talking” of the husky, and a little stubborn streak from somewhere…and welcome to our blog.
Brenda
Hi Hector and Brenda,
This is an awesome web site. I tried to call but the numbers said you had changed them. So I was wondering how your clothes are fitting? were the adjustments ok for you??
I signed up to receive your news letter so I can keep up where you are going. Its a lifetime dream for so many of us and your living it!! WTG.
Huggs from your new friends
Gregg n Annie
Hi, Annie. The clothes were great, thanks! Our phones are still the same, but we’re in a campground that has no cell service but does have Wi-Fi. So you can comment or send us an e-mail and it should work. So glad you’re following the blog!
Take care,
Brenda
What a great blog about traveling around North America. Such a helpful topic and, strangely, not very common.
Thank you! There are a number of other great RV blogs around, I’ll be adding a blogroll to my home page soon.
Brenda
Hi Hector and Brenda,
I work at Sequoia National Park as an interpretive Park Ranger. As part of my duties I need to develop an evening program and I wanted to do it on some of our birds of prey here in the park. I will talk about Peregrine Falcons and how some are nesting on Moro Rock, and wanted to check with you both about using one of your pictures of the rock for this program.
Please let me know if this will be possible.
Jean Paul Cortes
Hi Jean Paul, we are huge supporters of our wonderful national parks and are happy to help. Let me know what image(s) you are interested in and I’d be happy to send you a higher resolution image than what is on the website. We had a great time at Sequoia and only regret that we didn’t spot one of the falcons while we were on the rock!
Hector
Hi Hector & Brenda. Our longtime friends, Dave and Sharon Chroman mentioned you when contacting us. We lived in Dunedin, Florida for many years. In 2003 I sold my swimming pool business, we bought a motorhome and hit the road. We were ‘workampers’ for many years, but now we manage a RV resort in Washington state. David mentioned you may head this way. If so, look us up at The Cedars RV Resort. We are off I-5 at exit 263, about 12 miles from the Canadian border (British Columbia). Joined your blog today, but would love to meet you in person. Wishing you safe and fun travels….Rich & Kathy Host
Hi! It’s so nice to hear from some of Dave and Sharon’s friends. We are headed up the Oregon and Washington coasts and I think the closest we will be to you is La Conner. We plan to stay at the Thousand Trails park there from June 29th until July 7th. Just in case you ever cross the border, we’ll also be in Vancouver from July 28th until August 4th. In between those two, we are planning to spend some time on the Olympic Peninsula and on Vancouver Island. We’d love to get together and are very flexible. And welcome to our blog!
Brenda
Hi Hector and Brenda! We are a young couple who recently began full-time RVing. We are enjoying it very much. I have loved combing through your blog, it is so well put together! I hope to see you both out on the road some time. Safe travels!
– Megan and Brandon
http://www.Roaming-Free.com
Hi, welcome to our blog! Congratulations on full-timing. I hope we cross paths along the way!
Brenda
Hi Hector and Brenda! It was great meeting you at the Balloon Fiesta and we hope our paths cross again!
Jase & Lauri
http://www.wanderwasi.com
It was great to meet you too! Enjoy life as full timers and we hope to cross paths again as well!
Brenda
Nice meeting you today!
Nice to meet you too!
Is there a way we can get your permission to use one of your Hatteras Lighthouse pictures on the Buxton, NC Visitor Guide website?
Thanks Dave, I sent you an email separately to discuss.
I was visiting with you when you came to Kathleen lake lodge and used wifi and ate pie and I am amazed at how much you two have done
It was so nice to meet you! We are very fortunate to have had all these great experiences. Enjoy your summer in this beautiful country.
Hello Hector and Brenda. Way out of touch! Where are you? Still on the road?
Or have you settled down. Update please.
Its been a year since your last post. Can you post an update when you’re free? Its always strange when blogs you follow just stop but its understood. Life happens and hope all is well. Love your blog and photography.
Hi Mike – we are alive! Look for a new update on the blog soon. We bought a house in Corrales, NM (Albuquerque) and life certainly changed when we lost our pooch Angel. But all is well. The blog went on the back burner as you can tell. But I have plans for it. Thanks for asking and please keep following!