Written and Illustrated by Mama and Papa of AmericanFamilyNow.org.
ISBN 9781480016415
104 pages available in paperback or kindle.
I found AmericanFamilyNow.org through the weekly homeschool hop linky at Hip Homeschooling Mom. I was so excited to find their blog and I have been following by email ever since.
See, I have this dream in my own head of living in a camper. Not necessarily like Mama and Papa and family do, with the camper in a stationary place, but living in a camper all the same. I have so enjoyed following along with their adventures through their blog.
When I seen the blog post that they had published a book, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it to read. I am happy to bring you this review.
A Year in a Camper begins with a letter to the reader, written by Mama. The story starts in the Spring of 2011. Other chapter are: Summer 2011, Fall 2011, Winter 2011-2012, Spring 2012. The book ends with Me with You with Ukelele and an End Note.
The book is intermixed with past memories, future hopes, and what was happening right then.
Strung throughout the books are some of Mama's journal entries. Sprinkled throughout are pictures, drawn by Mama and Papa.
The back of the book reads:
Ever daydream of letting go everything that keeps you tied down?
Of abandoning a traditional lifestyle for a more unique, adventurous experience?
We did, and we wrote this book as a window into the journey of our first year untethered.
(My answers were yes, yes, and I can't wait to read it)
My thoughts:
I truly loved reading A Year in a Camper. It brought several things to life for me that I hadn't really thought about in my own dream.
Among those was basic survival. Mama and Papa are stationary. They have gardens, and a chicken coop, an outhouse, a well. (I asked my hubby if he would know how to build a well, to which he told me yes)
Another thing that was on my mind, was how would it be when you, or others are sick--particularly to their stomach. Here at home I can hide away from the sick person, or hide myself if I am the one sick. Mama touches on that in the book, but not much more than to say that she had worried about it, but that it wasn't really that much different than when the family was sick in their house.
One thing that wouldn't happen to me-----I wouldn't get pregnant like Mama did :) They adapted to it quite well, including giving birth with a midwife at the camper, just as they had done so with their first 3 children in the house.
Preparing to leave their house, renovations on the camper, building and more changes to the camper once they were set up, storage, eating, entertaining, education, and more are all written about.
This book is a keeper for me. I intend to look in to it quite often. My middle daughter is really wanting to homestead, so I will be allowing her to read it and give me her thoughts. It's more of an eye opener to me than a lot of websites I've visited, because it's a true story on a personal level.
All proceeds from the sale of the book are going to Mama and Papa building a permanent home on the land.
Click the top photo for more information on purchasing the paperback version.
Click the bottom photo to buy A Year in a Camper in Kindle
Disclaimer: I was sent a complimentary copy of A Year in a Camper for the purpose of this review. I was not compenstaed in any other way and all opinions are my own.
Sounds like quite a read and a great adventure.
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