What a wild, wild year 2019 was.
I’m truly struggling to come up with words because I still, after 2 years of conversion and nearly 2 months of living, can’t quite comprehend the magnitude of our choice to literally sell everything, including our home, and move into our self converted school bus. Obviously moving into our home on wheels was by far the biggest, craziest thing we’ve ever done and because of that nearly everything else that happened last year feels like it’s been overshadowed by our massive lifestyle change. Which, is why this exercise of looking back on the year is so important. If you haven’t already I encourage you to do the same. Take note of what worked, what didn’t, what brought you joy and what drained you so that you can intentionally live out the year ahead in a way that brings you abundant happiness. Now, without further ado let’s dig into my highs and lows of 2019 and talk a little bit about what I hope to achieve in 2020.
2019 HIGHS -
Winter -
I started the year by committing to a monthly goal in lieu of a single yearly resolution, which I love and highly recommend. January’s goal was to not drink alcohol which ended up lasting through March and even then my previous habit of “needing” a glass of wine with dinner each night never resurfaced. I’m happy to say I reserve drinking for occasions when I feel like celebrating and gone are the days I wake up hung-over. I’m only now realizing what a huge accomplishment this is as I write it out (again, the exercise at work, YAY!)
True & Co. sent me underwear in exchange for literally nothing. I know I should probably say this was my first sponsored post, but it wasn’t. Yes, they gave me product but they didn’t ask for a single thing in return, they only HOPED that I would create a little content for them and I did because I genuinely fell in love with their bras. You know a bra is comfortable when you get into bed for the night and completely forget you’re still wearing it. I’ll never go back.
Spring -
March + April were CRUNCH time to get the bus in “livable” condition for our first trip. In May we took the bus on it’s maiden voyage to Arizona for our best friends joint bach party in Scottsdale. We stopped over in Valley of fire and witnessed my favorite sunrise of the year over the jumbo rocks in Joshua Tree. This trip taught us SO MUCH about what we did right and what we still needed to add/fix on the bus.
I also did something I’ve never done before - I reached out to a brand in hopes of getting product in return for my services. Guys, this IS SO UNLIKE ME. I’m someone who strrrruuugles believing that my skills are worthy and needed. It’s actually a problem, one that I’m very aware of and intentionally working through daily. Well, on this particular day and because of the particular circumstances I had a break through. I offered my photography services in exchange for my absolute favorite chocolate treat and guess what? They were immediately game! Not only did I get A BOAT LOAD of Cobbs Cups in return for my photography services but, I grew to have an even deeper appreciation for the people and product that is Cobbs Cups. P.S if you haven’t tried one yet, WHYYYY?!!! Go support the kindest small business and enjoy literally the most delicious chocolaty nut butter cup you’ve ever tasted!
Summer -
Our friends moved in with us to begin work on their own bus build. Although wedding season kept me from spending as much time with my bestie as I would have liked I’m so grateful for the brief period we were able to have together. Cooking farmers market dinners and indulging in way too many late night (vegan) ice cream dates at Vanilla Jills together was a highlight of my summer.
Wedding season really does get better each year but 2019 was extra special to me. I officially entered the world of paper goods and was able to create invites and menu’s and save the dates that I’m so, so proud of. I realized that my love for working with wedding planners runs DEEP and having the opportunity to create along side Manda of Mae & Co Creative, as well as Taylor, Jordan, and Ashley of Bixby + Pine is a dream. They bring incredible ideas to the table and allow me to simply be me in the work that I create for their clients. The opportunity to work with them and their couples is a dream that I’m so dang grateful for. On top of that I was able to create for an abundance of ideal clients on some of my favorite projects to date like the Wild Standard Flag collaboration and so many bridal jackets I’m still obsessing over.
We celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary and 7 total years together in the Oregon outback with a few thousand other people at Descend on Bend. The annual event we’d been talking about going to since we started the bus build ended up happening on the same weekend as our anniversary and although it wasn’t ideal timing (to me) we did it and ended up meeting some amazing people who we’ve since seen and continued to stay in contact with.
A late anniversary trip took us to Banff in early September where we spent a weekend with close friends experiencing the vast beauty of the area.
Fall -
THE BIG ONE - finishing + moving into the bus. We finally hit the road, officially OFFICIALLY! On November 14th we started our trip east to spend time with family for Christmas in Atlanta, GA. We drove the coastline from Oregon through California, made stops in Death Valley, Zion, Arches, Austin and realized that rushing across the country isn’t ideal. Like I said above, accomplishing this goal was the highlight of the year because the magnitude of this decision really controlled our life and the choices we made since 2017. We sacrificed a lot to live this way but the outcome, although still challenging, has already proven to be especially rewarding.
We paid off the entirety of our debt with the money that we made from the sale of our house. It feels wild to live completely debt free. No mortgage, no car loans or student loans, nothing. We own everything we have outright which feels super liberating.
2019 LOWS -
I spent 3 days in February covered in hives. It was the most bizarre phenomenon that I still can’t explain and damn was it miserable.
We spent the later part of the year basically saying goodbye to everything and everyone we know and love. We sold our house, sold my car, and I cried walking out of the house (our first home) that my business was born in. We said see you later to our closest friends and family and we’ve already missed out on numerous special occasions and celebrations with them. The whole year was an emotional rollercoaster filled with an abundance of feelings, but especially the last 2 month.
Not only has moving into a traveling home challenged my perspective as well as my business operations, but this choice, the one that so many consider #goals (I loath that term) has challenged my marriage more than anything. 2019 was hard on Kyle and I; like, really hard. We argued more than we laughed and there was a huge disconnect between the two of us. I’m not going to pretend like moving into the bus solved everything because it didn’t. Even though I feel more grounded because I’m not living in limbo, we now have an entirely new set of challenges we have to face, together. Like figuring out a new normal that works for both of us, honoring each others needs and space, and, well, just simply living together in only 170 sqft. None of that is easy. But nothing worth having comes easy, right?!
2020 intentions
I’ll be continuing the practice of monthly commitments starting with no alcohol in January.
I plan on taking more baths, even if that looks like soaking in muddy hot springs.
I plan on committing to volunteer opportunities.
And of course, I plan on furthering my sustainability practices. Which, so far has been more challenging since leaving the west coast. Just being honest.
Business –
VLOGGING! This one pertains more to our @roamingrivers account and the goal we have to start our YouTube but as for @kalenrivers I WILL be creating educational IGTV’s for you. It’s something super challenging for me and totally out of my comfort zone which is what makes it so exciting!
By the end of 2020 my goal is to offer services that exclusively use 100% recylcled paper, eco-friendly inks and green cast acrylics. This is a HUGE goal of mine and one that feels SO DAMN RIGHT for me and the direction of my business. I hope to open up the conversation about waste in the wedding industry and encourage others to head in a similar direction. It is absolutely possible to create the wedding of our couples dreams while also doing it in a way that honors our mother nature.
Produce educational content and take a step back from custom work to make it happen. I have so many ideas and content I want to create for you guys but every.single.time I begin work on a passion project, a client project pops up and that time I thought I had gets filled. I want to be more intentional with my time and spend less of it in the trenches of my business and more of it growing my dreams.
SHOW UP MORE. I want to be more consistent and open not just in my captions but in stories. I want to show you more of the things I don’t think you care about because turns out, YOU DO.
Continue sharing about sustainability. I was reminded the other day that even my little voice matters and I should keep using it. So that’s exactly what I’m going to do!
Personal –
Now that Kyle and I are settling in to life on the road and officially have no plans to be anywhere or commitments to honor, we’re excited to just simply BE whenever, wherever we want to be. This year we’re putting our relationship first and focusing on reconnecting. We’re intentionally choosing to grow individually so that we can show up in our relationship as the best version of ourselves.
For me this looks like continuing my health journey. A journey that started from a low point in my life, the lowest point, and I so badly want to share about that but it’s not easy. I hold a lot of shame in my story and although I’ve spent 2 years digging into and trying to make peace with what happened to me it’s still hard. In 2019 I made a massive amount of progress towards physical healing as well as my mental healing, and I feel ready to talk about my struggles – especially if me sharing means there’s a chance I could help or encourage someone else to do the same.
If you read this far I hope you’ll allow me the same honor and let me get to know you better by sharing a goal that you accomplished in 2019 or an intention that you’re setting in 2020. Tell me in the comments below so that I can cheer you on from afar because connecting with you in this way is a true highlight for me! Having you here, seeing your support day in and day out, feeling your appreciation of my work, it all means so much to me. It’s because of you that I’m encouraged to keep going. Thank you for all your messages and your likes and your comments and your orders. I see you, I appreciate you and I’m so so grateful to you for being here!
Happy New Year, friend!
All my love, Kalen
