3,000,000 Thanks….And More To Come!
Today marks the day that my little ‘ol blog has passed the 3,000,000 view mark!! I’m totally amazed & mighty humbled that something that I started as an off-hand experiment for friends and family almost 5 years ago has grown to this level. It took me just over 3 years to reach 1,000,000 views and only 17 more months to add another 2,000,000 views to that. Who knows what craziness will happen next? Seriously though, I want to thank each and every one of you who reads, comments and contributes to my blog both in person and through our Amazon affiliate link. The interaction and community that has developed through this blog over the years is what keeps me motivated to continue blogging and sharing our adventures. And the steady trickle of “wine fund” $$ that come through are a pretty darn nice bonus too 🙂 It’s a true partnership.
And it’s not just a one-way thing either.
My writing and photography has developed, thanks to the blog, and I’m sharing (and receiving in return) so much more than I did when I started. Deep musings, tips, romantic rambling (yes, I’m a total sap), boondocking….topics I never even thought I’d write about and thoughts I never imagined I’d publicly share. Despite the time it takes to put it all together (blogging is work, my friends) I enjoy doing it (go figure!) and find it both therapeutic and rewarding. It’s truly a gift, in all ways that such a thing can be. I don’t know how long I’ll keep blogging (or even how long we’ll keep RVing), but the journey of doing so has been so much more than I ever imagined.
So, a deeply, humbly, profoundly felt 3,000,000 thanks to you all!
I’ve got lots of new posts planned for the next few weeks including a thorough update on our health care plans (and the difficult situation for pre-Medicare RVers in South Dakota), more RV recipes, Christmas gift ideas (not until after Thanksgiving), how to reward your favorite RV bloggers this holiday season, a round-up of our 2014 travels and more. Here’s to the the next 3 million!
Hearty congrats on an amazing milestone – justly deserved
Well, it’s certainly easy to understand why the view count took off so nicely. You put in a decent effort, you take nice photos, there’s some pet action for the animal lovers, and you’re kinda cute.
Trying not to give you too much of a swelled head here, which is why I’m using words like, “nice” “kinda”.
Don’t want to overdo it.
Nicely done.
{{blush}} well thank you 🙂
Nina
Hooray! Congratulations Nina! Glad to be able to contribute in our small way on your Amazon link.
Cheers to 3000000 more!
Thanks MonaLisa. We do the same with our blog friends too. I like to think we all share the love.
Nina
WOW Nina – awesome!! And a true testament to your engaging personality and wit. You inspire many of us and I know what you mean about the exercise of blogging – it’s something I get a lot out of too.
Hi and congrats!
I have to say thanks for opening up a whole new world to me. Your writing and pictures make for wonderful reading, thanks so much for doing this.
I follow a lot of sites, your site is our favorite. The info is great, blogs interesting and fun. We have installed MCD shades, solar at AMSolar and other items because of your site. 3M is likely just the start. We also like your personal touch of replying to our comments…. Your blog has made you and Paul famous!
Steve
Well, I don’t know about “famous”, but we sure do know alot of RVers now LOL. Glad the blog has been helpful & interesting.
Nina
Congrats, Nina! We’re now in our seventh month of full-timing it (hit the road in May, sold the house in July), and my wife uses FB, emails and text messages to keep the lines of communication open to family and friends. Enjoy reading your blog very much – thanks for putting forth the effort!
Congrats on your 7th month. You’re right around the timeframe that we really started enjoying the liefstyle (the 1st 6 months were sometimes touch and go). Here’s hoping you get many more glorious months on the road.
Nina
You have the unique distinction of being the only non-daily blogger on the long list of websites I visit daily. Despite this annoyingly lazy part-time attitude of yours, I cannot wait to read what you’ve written next! Congrats on the three million.
Good one…a fine compliment indeed 🙂
Nina
Congratulations Nina! Your blog is definitely 1 of a handful of “go to’s” that we frequent for all things RV’ing. Pictures are terrific, writing is detailed, informative and often – hilarious! Onward and upward to – your book!
Congrats on your view hits!! Terrific.
Congratulations- well deserved.
I can’t wait to see what you share with us next.
Thank you for enriching our life with knowing, meeting and following you and Paul and all you have done in the rv world and written about..….and congratulations for the three million mark…
It is obvious that you have a knack for blogging just by reading all the comments that come…glad buying Amazon adds to your wine fund…here is hoping we can add to it in person…
Congratulations Nina. Keep blogging and logging those miles. I really enjoy your writing and get ideas for our full time lifestyle from you. We are 3 years on the road with no end in sight. It is so wonderful to be foot loose, fancy free and living the dream.
My husband and I live our dream through your writings until our magic date Oct.31, 2019 when ( Lord willing) we will join the ranks of full timers. You help us plan and know what things to consider. It’s so much fun planning thT I can only imagine we we actually get to cast off. Thank you!
Awesome…. congrats. FYI – you’re the first blog we started following and always appreciate your reviews. Happy trails and here’s to another 3,000,000 views 🙂
We well deserved milestone.. and cheers to many more to come!
Congrats! Your easy reading writing style and your fabulous photographs draw us in like moths to the flames. I’m not surprised at all at your popularity. Keep it up!
I really enjoyed your post about the Trona Pinnacles. I would love to hear about your favorite place in Desert Hot Springs.
We’ve been coming to the same place in Desert Hot Springs for 5 years now…Sam’s Family Spa. It’s a quirky little spot, but we just love it. I’ll be writing more about it in the weeks to come.
Nina
Thanks much for sharing your adventures, photos and new places to visit.
Congrats Nina – I think your zest for living, enjoyment of nature, gift of writing gabbing, and love of animals – are a main reason for your 3M count. Toss in you seem to be good people, and Paul has to be OK too, or the critters would not be hanging around – and you should see 6M within 18 months.
Keep them coming, but do be sure to take time for yourselves…
A sincere THANK YOU,
Smitty
Don’t know you; found you a few years ago bouncing from another RV blog. I live in Oregon and have a house on the coast near where you have stayed. I also own a trailer in a park near the Salton Sea and stay there in February. I know the areas you have written about very well and I am amazed by what YOU see that I never have. I also follow your hubby’s investment blog. You are both very talented writers and I enjoy reading what you have to say. Congrats on your 3 million mark; great achievement. Keep it coming.
Amazing and congrats!! What a gorgeous sunset (or sunrise) photograph. Wish we were there.
It was our sunset last night…love those desert sunsets 🙂
Nina
Congratulations!!
Yours is a great blog and so helpful to all of us that I can totally see why your page views leave everyone else in the dust. I so agree that blogging is a tad too much like work and that without the comments, it would not be worth it (at least for me). CONGRATULATIONS!! Really looking forward to any stocking stuffers you can suggest. My idea machine is empty on that front.
Congratulations Nina (and your muse, Paul). You were the first blog we discovered and because of you a whole new life opened up to us. We’ve enjoyed the time spent with you both (and sweet Miss Polly) and look forward to each and every post you produce.
We’re looking forward to our next chapter on the road and hope we cross paths again soon.
Love, Sue, Dave, Lewis and Sasha
Congrats!!! That’s amazing! I couldn’t be happier for you. You’ve earned this milestone with all of your hard work, great writing, and fascinating photography.
I’d hoped I’d be on the RV road of fulltiming this year or next, but life happens at times, and that affect life, if you know what I mean… But my goals have not changed, and I keep visiting positive upbeat sites that re-invigorate my goals and desires. And I always learn a little more.
So here’s to millions more, and Thanks a Million to you, Paul, and the fur family.
Congratulations! You do a fantastic job and we enjoy reading your blog.
Congrats!! 😀 You give so much hope to does of us that only dare to dream!! You & Paul are proof that dreams do come true!!! Thanks…hitting the road full time on 12/29/14
Your guys deserve every hit! Your RV blog post really deliver!!!
Box Canyon Mark
Congratulations Nina. I have been following you and your blog for quite some time now and I just wanted you to know that because of you and your fellow travelers I am considering full time RVing in the next couple of years. It opened a new world for me. I always thought that You have to be retired to afford it and that I would “need” to be part of a couple to be able to hit the road. Now I can hardly wait. Thank you for all the valuable and humorous information. Blog on….Leigh
Cheers to you, Nina, and your hardwork is a delight to read. We have learned so much valuable information from you. We are actually heading into Superior Tire in Eugene in the morning for some new tires we order through the FMCA. Thanks!
Angela & John
Congrats on the milestone. Was nice to have met Paul and you at Port Blanco in Sept. Your efforts are greatly appreciated, as this is good informations for the likes of us planning an RV life in the near future. Hope you keep the blog going for a long time. Don’t forget if your near Mesa, the offer of those grilled bratwust and brewskis still stands
Congratulations, Nina! You’ve provided a lot of valuable information and entertainment to a lot of people, me included.
Best wishes as you “wheel it” to the four million mark!
You guys are the best!!! My wife and I will be hitting the road within the next 5-7 years. Reading your blog has truly made us “chomping at the bit” as our time for hitting the road full time draws nearer and nearer with each passing day. We can’t wait!!!
See ya “out there” in 2020!
Congrats and well deserved! I love your blog and your style of writing. I can’t wait for our BIG trip in 2017 to see and experience first hand all the places (well at least some of them!) that you have blogged about. I don’t comment as much as I probably should but thank you for all your hard work!
Congrats Nina. You do an awesome job and we use you for reference quite often. Keep up the great work!
Safe travels.
I will be retiring in a few years. My wife and I are planning to roam the country in our bus. We are several years from medicare. Health insurance is top on our list of concerns. I am interested to see how you guys handle it in your upcoming article.
Congratulations! Yours is truly a go to site for everything RV.
We can’t begin to tell you how often we refer to your posts for answers to many of our RV questions, and we can’t wait until we can get out west to experience so much of what you have shared in your posts. Please don’t stop blogging, which also means, please don’t stop RVing. It would be a pleasure to one day meet up with the two of you. In the meantime, keep up the great work. As newbies, I am not sure what we would have done without you.
Kind regards,
Bruce and Melissa
Hi Paul and Nina-
We are reading your post at Lost Dutchman State Park, a place we had learned about from Wheeling It. Congrantulations on 3m views. Thanks for sharing your experiences. We are considering heading West and look forward to crossing paths again.
Cheers, Jeff, Deb and our fur kid Sam
Congratulations! Guess I’m not too surprised as your writing style, photos and information are all superb. It is a lot of work to keep a blog going yet I agree, very fun and fulfilling. I’ve met so many wonderful people through blogging, both virtually and in real time. Hope you’ll be on that ‘real’ list sometime.
My first and favorite RV read and still my favorite ten-fold. You cover it all, outstanding style and such beauty in your photography! Thank uou, thank you…an original, the one in the cute pink hat!
Congrats Nina! We have been fulltime Rving for over a year. When it comes to advise whether it’s fixing the rig or where to go, my wife and I say, “What do the Wheelingit’s say?” You are the goto person. I find it easier to get information from you than going through the forums. Like I’ve posted before, we’ve criss-crossed a couple of times this year, but never go a chance to meet. We owe you and Paul several beers or wine. I’ve been religiously clicking on Amazon through your link when I buy stuff from them. You’ve saved us money. For example, we would have never known about the double-data plans the phone companies were putting out if it wasn’t for you. We ended up with the 40g as well. We will connect one day. We are watching you as you travel south. Safe travels.
Congrats ! Well deserved !
Congrats on such a significant milestone! Your blog helped shape my first few months of full timing as I “shadowed” you from Government Wash (my first boondock) all the way up to Dungeness, my first eleven mile hike! A beautiful blog that blossomed into a fine friendship, and I am the richer for it on so many levels!
Thanks for your kind generosity and friendship,
Suzanne
Congratulations, Nina! It’s obvious that you put a lot of thought, effort, and heart into your beautiful blog. Thanks for your generous offerings to all of us who love traveling through life in this unique way.
Congrats, Nina!
Yours is simply the best RV blog out there in my opinion.
I so enjoy your blog. Love your pictures and so very informative. My husband also so enjoys. Keep up the good work.
You sure put together a nice blog with informative and entertaining articles. It’s no wonder you have so many reading it; and it will continue to grow. Congratulations!
Congratulations!! You have done so much with your blog posts for many in this life style and many thinking of joining us:) It is because of your blog that we were able to meet you two and adorable Polly:) Looking forward to catching up again real soon:)
Congratulations! You shouldn’t be so surprised. You’ve earned every sigle view with your excellent, entertaining, down-to-earth, helpful, honest content.
Love reading your blog, Nina. also love your photos and campground reviews. Thanks.
Woohoo! That’s amazing! 😀
COWABUNGA! 3M … What a milestone! Thanks for building such a great resource that is fun to read as well. The sheer awesomeness of your blog explains it all 🙂
See you soon in the desert!
Hector
I’ll add to the chorus of congratulations! Your blog is always a pleasure to read. Keep it coming! I’m so glad you sucked me in with your post on Bandon a couple of years back! I’ve enjoyed your travels ever since.
Nina, your success is well-deserved… You are an EXCELLENT writer (in what is not, I strongly presume, your first language!); you are a very good photographer (as the wonderful pics you took of me and my guitar profoundly attest!); you provide tons of information on so many aspects of the RVing lifestyle – we often refer to your campground recommendations, restaurant suggestions, service provider endorsements, and equipment reviews. (Frederika tells me to tell you your musings are entertaining, inspiring, and useful…) You occasionally probe your way into the profound – and the next thing you know you’re cracking us up… The bottom line is: it IS your job, and you treat it seriously and professionally – how can we not like that? More and greater success (and fun!) to you (and give our best to Paul!) P&F
I always enjoy reading your “ramblings”!
I found your blog quite by accident looking for campground reviews in NC. And I have been reading and following your blog ever since, your photos, your travel experiences have inspired my husband to plan our own full timing adventure! Love your writing style, wit and humor, keep up the great work and enjoy your time on the road. Thanks for the inspiration….!! Angie K
Many congrats to you and Paul! We are on our 3-year countdown – maybe less – and I, too, plan to blog – probably on general downsizing and travel topics at first and then will expand as the spirit moves me. I forward many of your blog posts to my hubby, usually with a message like – “We need to retire sooner!” Many thanks for all you do and best wishes for many, many more happy miles on the road that never ends!
Congratulations on the 3 millionth view! In my mind, that is quite a huge accomplishment. I believe folks keep coming back because your blog is well written and contains useful and interesting information.
Well done!
You are not only entertaining and educational but truly inspirational. Yours was the first blog I found (through a random Pinterest post), and from that has sprung my own, plus an amazing community of others. Congrats on this milestone, it is as big a deal as it feels 🙂
Congrats on your milestone! Your blog was the first RV blog that I followed and is still one of my favorites. I always look forward to your next post!
Congratulations! I enjoy your blog very much and get a lot of info that I share with my husband (“See honey, this is what we’re going to do when the kids are are grown & out on their own!”). Looking forward to reading much more as you roll on to 4 million!!
Congratulations guys! Your blog rocks! We’ve learned so much and marked out so many places on our map thanks to your posts. You, The Technomads and To Simplify were the first three blogs we started following over three years ago (just before we hit the road) and you’re all still at the top of our list today. So, I think it’s kind of neat that you all hook-up so much throughout the year now. 🙂 Best wishes to you and Paul for a very Happy Thanksgiving!
we love your blogs, we are fairly new to rving . want to boondock soon and your blogs have been very interesting and helpful! thanks for sharing! 🙂 Chiantisun is our rigs name.
Love it!!!! Oh and thanks for holding off on the fat man until after the bird has had his day!!! Happy Thanksgiving to you both!
Congrats on this milestone. Your blog inspires us all to get out there in the RV and explore.
Always fun, informative, and views of your horizons in living color! Thanks for bringing us along.. and making it easy to find a lighthouse.
Wowsers and congrats and see you out there soon!
Bill & Ilonka
NYC~
Congratulations on the 3,000,000 mark! You certainly have the most thorough, interesting information on Rving. We are on our 9th month as full-timers. Stayed at your mall recommendation in Eugene and are currently at Mission Bay RV Park–San Diego. (I lock my bike every time!) In a month or so we hope to visit the Desert Hot Springs area you love so much. I know it is so much work blogging and we
thank you!
It really shouldn’t surprise anyone. This is a GREAT blog which we’ve been reading for over a year. We don’t post much but read everything. Continued success to you! Here’s to another year, Cheers! (Micro brew or good glass of CA wine in hand).
So very well-deserved! Your blog is inspirational and informative to all; old-timers like ourselves as well as all the newbies and wannabes, and those in between. Congratulations!!
Wow…. just found your site tonight and I hate to say it is now almost 2:15 PST and I just can’t bear to shut off the computer and go to bed. I am retiring in 6 weeks time and am just starting to plan my first big trip (Vancouver Island to Arizona)in early Feb. I think I can’t go wrong if I just follow your previous routes and stay everywhere you have stayed over the past few years. You have saved me hours of research!!!
Enjoyed every bit of the last three hours and have learnt so much. Look forward to reading all future blogs/posts. Love your photos.
Congrats!,
I have been surfing the web since 1995 and your blog is one of the top 10 best sites I have ever seen! The links are the most impressive. And the photos of course!
I am going full time next May in a 1993 Toyota Winnebago.
Plan on going to a lot of your places.
Mr. Dana Lucas
I am not at all surprised, keep writing, keep wandering and keep sharing – some of us right now still live vicariously through you! LOL Have a great Thanksgiving you two!
Wow! I never figured 3,000,000 views!! Congratulations.
I really do enjoy your blog – it’s on my tool bar. And thanks to you, I have also discovered – among other things – Sam’s “quirky” little resort – (not so little).
Have a great Thanksgiving, enjoy the warm water, and I’m looking forward to your next post.
You two epitomize generosity. You give so much of yourselves via your blogs and we are eternally grateful. Your writing and photography are both superb. Here’s to 3,000,000 more views. 🙂