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Home » Blog » Stories » What is Propane and Bourbon?
val and j holding cocktail glasses by campfire - propane and bourbon

What is Propane and Bourbon?

We accidentally became full-time RV-ing nomads. Propane and Bourbon is that story.

A series of unfortunate events

Our intent for the past several years was to build a home on our bare property in the high desert of Northern Nevada. That didn’t go as planned as you probably puzzled out.

We owned a house in Dayton, Nevada and put it on the market in anticipation of the building process and to maximize for the real estate market that was topping out in our area. Our house sold waaaay faster than we expected leaving us with nowhere to go. No problem, we thought. We’re very experienced travelers. We already own a toy hauler. We’ll just go on the road until we can get the house built.

Life decided to put that “simple” plan to the test as we set forth on that adventure. We’ll have more of that backstory to come, but for now, we’re moving forward, for better or worse.

What’s in a name?

Our name emerged out of a joke about what we go to town for most often.

Driving to town for supplies from our campsite, we were laughing about our situation and what we were trekking into civilization for—yet again. Within a few minutes, the inspiration for this site emerged in a flurry of pain-tinged laughter. Ideas came gushing forth with the force of a firehose. That little seed grew into a sapling, and beyond, at lightning speed.

j returning to camp with propane and bourbon
J returning to camp with, yes, propane and bourbon.

When life hands you lemons, start another website

Obviously we didn’t set out as full-time RV-ers with the intention of becoming RV bloggers. We already had more than enough on our plates to handle. But when life on the road presents such rich content and you’re storytellers at heart, suddenly you realize you have a lot to share.

We thought we might do this nomad thing for awhile in the midst of building out the property. Since that hasn’t played out as we would have liked, we found ourselves on the road indefinitely, houseless, and with experiences and stories to share.

We’re no strangers to sharing our stories. We already have well-established presences on Val in Real Life and Sierra Mountain Passes. But we realized early on that our screwed up and utterly non-deliberate path is a story that deserves its own space.

Yes, this is different. This is in-the-raw experience and storytelling from a two-person perspective of life as nomads that doesn’t fit into those other outlets.

Not your average RV blog

We’ve done almost everything wrong. Even as experienced outdoor travelers in so many other contexts (motorcycle camping, backcountry camping and backpacking, road-schooling, front-country camping, family camping, etc.), life on the road as full-time nomads has been our nemesis.

We have no notions about being the how-to gurus. That’s not our gig. There are plenty of how-to sites out there run by folks who are way the hell savvier than we are. And clearly we’re not very good at this so far.

So we’ll be less “how-to” and more “why-to” here. We will share some of our triumphs as we’ve figured out solutions to our challenges. We’ll also share our campfire stories, struggles, mistakes, fumbles, recoveries, and grudging successes with honesty. Maybe you can benefit from our mistakes. Or at least laugh along with us—one happy hour at a time.

Cheers!

Update:

After 19-1/2 months, we called our full-time adventure done. We settled down in Silver City, New Mexico and re-embraced the travel adventures we’re actually good at—motorcycling, camping, exploring the outdoors.

We still have an endless supply of stories to write, full-timing foibles to confess, and now, a new set of adventures to navigate as we renovate our small fixer-upper house. 

Life on the road may be over, but the need for propane and bourbon is not.

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Written by:
Val Weston
Published on:
December 18, 2020
Thoughts:
17 Comments

Categories: Stories

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Bernardine

    December 20, 2020 at 11:11 am

    So happy for this! Cheers to new adventures!

    Reply
    • Val Weston

      December 20, 2020 at 2:38 pm

      LOL, what a ride. Thanks for following along. You get the merit badge for being our first commenter. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Brent Miller

    December 20, 2020 at 11:28 am

    I am looking forward to hearing your stories.

    Reply
    • Val Weston

      December 20, 2020 at 2:38 pm

      Thank you, Brent! No end to the stories this adventure dumps in our laps. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Dale Distasio

    December 20, 2020 at 12:19 pm

    Excited for your new adventure. Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, healthy New Year.

    Reply
    • Val Weston

      December 20, 2020 at 2:36 pm

      Thanks, Dale! Love to you and Mike! Hopefully I’ll be able to get back east for some TSW fun next year. 😀

      Reply
  4. Tess

    December 20, 2020 at 12:51 pm

    Definitely following! Love your stories! Cheers!

    Reply
    • Val Weston

      December 20, 2020 at 2:35 pm

      Aw, thanks Tess! Big hugs to you!

      Reply
  5. Harmon Zuckerman

    December 20, 2020 at 1:06 pm

    This is pretty effin’ cool, guys. Looking forward to adventuring along with you.

    Reply
    • J. Brandon

      December 20, 2020 at 2:42 pm

      Thanks, Harmon. We’ve got an endless supply of stories.

      Reply
  6. PJ Walsh

    December 20, 2020 at 1:32 pm

    Go for it! Be safe!

    Reply
    • Val Weston

      December 20, 2020 at 2:34 pm

      Thanks, darlin’! We’re trying! 😛

      Reply
  7. Lori Hines

    December 20, 2020 at 2:10 pm

    Can’t wait to read the stories!

    Reply
  8. Nancy Patterson

    December 20, 2020 at 3:32 pm

    You just know I’m with ya! There’s no other couple that I’d rather bumble along with. This is gonna be a hoot!

    Reply
    • Val Weston

      December 20, 2020 at 6:10 pm

      Hahaha! Love you so much. Just think of when we bring our P&B action to visit you in Colorado. I’m pretty sure the authorities will be involved. 😉

      Reply
  9. Marcy Guyer

    December 20, 2020 at 4:43 pm

    Looking forward to hearing the stories of your adventures. I’ll be living vicariously through you, lol.

    Reply
    • Val Weston

      December 20, 2020 at 6:13 pm

      Hahahaha! Oh darlin’, you may want to shoot a little higher. Living vicariously through us?!? That’s some 2020 malaise right there. ‘Cause we have messed this up six ways to Sunday. Big love to you and the fam, babe.

      Reply

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Propane and Bourbon

An adventure blog, by
Val Weston and J. Brandon

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