Writing on the Open Road

by Kerri Jesmer

Please welcome Kerri Jesmer to the Writer's Journey Blog this week with her experience of Writing on the Open Road!

Writing on the Open Road

Elaine asked me to write about what it’s like to be a full-time RVer and try to keep up some semblance of writing while living this life. Let me start by saying we have only been doing this since mid-December of 2024. And there is a learning curve.

A rather large learning curve!

Then it was Christmas, which we planned to spend in our home state of Colorado where our child had flown in and was staying with my brother until we arrived.

Immediately after our child flew out, we left for my nephew’s wedding in New Orleans, Louisiana on January 4th. No writing was accomplished during this time. But I thought about it.

After the wedding, we had no Wi-Fi until we returned to Loveland, Colorado. And it was here that we picked up the Starlink we had ordered before we left. Thankfully, the wonderful – albeit expensive – RV Resort held the Starlink until our return. Now we are about to head out around 2 a.m. from Colorado to return to the little town in Utah where our storage site is and where we plan to work on our RV. We need some upgrades. Fortunately, I’ll have Starlink and no problem getting writing assignments or submission calls sent in.

I’ve taken over our dining table here in the middle of the RV. It will serve as the place I do all my writing and any crafting I decide to do. But I have to be honest, there is so little space with my laptop, the larger monitor I prefer (because I can see it better!), and the ergonomic keyboard I use rather than the laptop keyboard, that I think my crafting days will be all but behind me. And that’s okay. Writing is much more cathartic, and I’ll have so much to write about!

I am working on getting a blog started about our travels. It will be titled, “On Hummingbird Wings.” Hummingbirds have a special meaning to us for two reasons. Before we met, Jay was camping and put his sleeping bag outside the tent to see the stars until he drifted off. When he woke in the morning, a hummingbird was approximately two to three inches from his nose!

On our honeymoon, which also happened to be in the mountains of Colorado, we woke up to find many hummingbirds outside feeding around our cabin. It was beautiful and breathtaking. We’ve collected a few hummingbird décor pieces since then and we named our rig The Hummingbird Express.

Most RVers name their rigs. We felt our name connected us to it even more. I’m hoping to be able to use my Cricut machine to add the name on the back of our 5th wheel. Then that Cricut machine goes to our child because it’s too large to keep in an RV and I bought the smallest version from their product line.

This isn’t the longest post today and I apologize for that. But we are dragging ourselves out of bed at 2:00 a.m. to head toward Utah. We are dreading traveling through Wyoming, notorious for high winds and blowing snow. But no snow is expected on our route for tomorrow. Fingers crossed, and maybe a few prayers, we make it well before nightfall. It is no easy task to hook this puppy up in the dark! At least, not yet.

Oh, and on an exciting note, my husband was a trucker for thirty-six years and a certified trainer for six of that. He taught me how to drive the rig! I have my moments of fear and thus far, refuse to drive it through cities, but I’ll get better as I keep practicing. I’m proud that I picked it up so well. He says I’m a better driver than almost all of his former students.

But then again, maybe he just wants a home cooked meal…   

Bio: Kerri is from Colorado currently traveling full time in an RV with her husband and two dogs. She is an author, mentor, and editor. She has been published in several anthologies and ezine publications highlighting multiple genres and was included in, Who’s Who of Emerging Writers of 2020 & 2021, published by Sweetycat Press. She has edited the short story anthology collection, The Wordsmith Chronicles and To Be Or Not To Be A Writer, also by Sweetycat Press, as well as the Journeys series published by Stone Pony Publishing. She writes mainly speculative and literary fiction, fantasy, and magical realism.

Her editing website may be found here: https://kljesmer79.wixsite.com/website

Her author pages on Amazon here:  https://www.amazon.com/author/kerrijesmer