We are Changing our Instagram

For the last year we have been living a Keto lifestyle and I have been maintaining an Instagram account to showcase the foods we eat and how to best live Keto. Well, I still plan to do that but I am expanding it to be more about our travel AND Keto.

I would love if you would take the time to come and follow our Instagram account @theburkhartsabroad - it will allow me to post more pictures about our travel. This blog only gives me so much space for pictures and we take a TON of pictures...

While we are at it, you can also follow me @tarahburkhart or Keith @retired.early.pruvin.it

Hope you'll follow us and let us know if there is something you would like to see.

Good Morning from Ocala

HomeExchange in Florida

When we decided to leave Mexico for awhile, we signed our home up for HomeExchange and Love Home Swap. I wasn't really sure what to expect but I did know a few folks who used both sites and loved the experience.

To say we have been thrilled with it to date would be an understatement. It has allowed us the opportunity to travel more than originally planned without having to pay for hotels. 

Recently, we traded our Mexico home for a condo in Ft.Myers Beach for two weeks. The owner of the condo will be headed to our home a bit later in the year for the same amount of time. I had reached out to several places in the area a few months ago in hopes of finding someplace for us and the dogs to go so we could visit with friends for longer than a weekend. The only person who was interested owns a really cool condo right off the beach. Sadly, dogs weren't allowed so we had to leave them with my mom, which thankfully she didn't mind. 

Here is a tour of the new condo we get to stay in for the next few weeks!

As of right now, we also plan to visit Amsterdam in July and Paris in September through HomeExchange and Love Home Swap. I can't wait to see what else we do this year and next!

Where else should we go?

As Willie Put it... On The Road Again

Cheers, love!

We have been bitten by the RV camping bug, that’s for sure. We got back to Ocala after a week in Myrtle Beach and we’re instantly planning our next outing. Joining Thousand Trails has been a game changer as it’s allowed us to just reserve spots in campgrounds nearby for “free”. It’s suffice to say it’s already paid for itself. 

We are planning an outing to Universal Studios with our friends, Rob and Kris, in April. Being FL residents, we got a great deal on 3 days versus 1. So, after a few days in Ocala, we decided to go stay closer to Orlando so we could start using those days. We had been given 2 free nights at a campground 45 min from Orlando to go listen to a timeshare sales pitch. We went! 

The pitch was the usual 2 hour deal, we said no thanks and collected our free lunch, $50 gift card, $25 Cracker Barrel gift card and vouchers for 2 nights elsewhere and 21 days of free camping. Not too shabby!

We had hoped to stay one more night for free to go to the park but were told it was $45 a night (we didn’t buy, after all) so we looked up Thousand Trails and booked 3 nights for $0 which is 30 minutes from Universal. Winning!

We packed up the pups and we are heading to Orlando for some roller coaster fun! See ya soon! 

Visiting Friends in Ft.Myers

Keith and I have been staying with my Mom for several weeks so we decided to give them a break, and us, and head South to see friends for the weekend. The dogs even came along... Gotta love La Quintas!

We arrived on Saturday afternoon, checked into our hotel and then headed straight to Hector and Tricia's house to meet up. Their daughter Naomi had a dance competition all weekend so we decided to tag along. We had no idea what we were in for... LOL! 

We met Michelle at the school and grabbed seats for everyone. The competition had over 300+ girls dancing to various styles of dance. I believe the first night was mostly solos, but I'm not positive. Naomi did an amazing contemporary dance solo - we were so proud of her! 

After all the dancing, we headed back to their place to chill out, socialize while enjoying pizza and wine. Michelle's boyfriend, Rafael, met up with us and the night turned out to be a lot of fun! FYI: I have known these ladies since 4th grade!!

Sunday we headed to Cape Coral to see Michelle's new home, which is beautiful! Then back to dance competition. It was groups on this day and there were hundreds of performances... Naomi's last was was number 410. Her team won several platinum's and did an amazing job! 

After dance we all just went to dinner and ended the night with tons of hugs and pictures. We love those guys so much - we look forward to seeing them again in late March for 2 weeks.

Ocala Life is Slower Than We Are Used To...

No offense Ocala, but I can see why some call you Slocala. There really isn't a ton to do here. While you have beautiful horse farms and lots of acreage, there really isn't much to do besides going out to eat, seeing a movie, swimming... 

Keith and I have been trying to stay busy these last few days while getting a lot of errands checked off our list. Get trailer registered, check. Get car registered, almost checked. Oil change, check. Car inspected, check. Get hair done, check. Spend time with Mom, check. Get out of the house and move, check. Watching a puppy, check.

We still have several items on the list not completed and we are hoping to get a few more checked off today before we head to Ft.Myers to see friends.

I have been an avid Groupon user these last few days trying to find a few fun things for us to do next week and not spend much money. Right now we have a winery visit, golfing and massage scheduled. 

Yesterday, we went to the RV show here in Ocala that runs through the weekend. Being that we went during the week and on the first day it was just $5. For 3 hours we looked at tons of RV's trying to see if we could finding something that would work better for our little family since our current RV is a wee bit too small for all of us. We are actually thinking of leaving the dogs in Ocala for the 2 month journey so they won't be uncomfortable/we won't be uncomfortable. I made a video... of course.

So yeah, Ocala is a bit more on the slow pace side and more errand driven but only a few more days till we hit the road again and head to Myrtle Beach. Adventure awaits!!

We Made it to Ocala

We spent a total of 5 nights in the trailer and figured out real fast that 1. it’s too small for the 4 of us, 2. it needs more counter space, and 3. the shower is too small. We are already talking about upgrading... 

First off, after we left Nashville, we headed to Destin to see daughter Tristian. She was there for a modeling shoot camp. We were able to see her each day, which was really nice. We even got to have dinner at the house and meet some of her friends and the organizer of IBMS. It was nice to see what it is she loves doing.

After visiting with her, we packed up and drove to Ocala to my mothers home. We have been there getting our affairs in order (tags for the car and trailer, setting up a few appointments and hoping to attend an RV show in a few days). You know, important stuff. Keith did add a decal to our trailer - I’m working on posting that video shortly. 😉

I’ll try and update the blog when interesting things happen. We may head to see friends this weekend in FL. Then in a few weeks we head to Myrtle Beach to see friends Rob and Kris in the RV. It will be our first RV road trip with friends! 

The Maiden Voyage

Packing for 15 Months isn't Easy

Keith and I have been working on a big trip for 2019/2020 and it has finally come time to start packing and getting ready to leave. Our plan is to leave towards the end of January and drive 4 days across Mexico to the USA.

Chance was NOT having it - clearly he doesn't realize he is going with us on this trip. I can't blame him though, most days we pull out the luggage result in him going to doggie daycare or staying with someone else. He's not a dumb dog.

We have altered our condo to have more storage space for us to lock up anything we plan to keep here. We are hoping to rent our place while gone but HomeExchange has actually resulted in us finding several folks to swap homes with us on our travels. I am kind of obsessed with their website!

We are staying in a home in FL for two weeks, Amsterdam for 1 week and Paris for 2 weeks as of right now. We did find a renter for 7 months and several friends plan to rent our place here and there so we are happy to have it being used by folks we know. If you are interested, let us know. Here's the listing.

As for Mexico - we drive from Akumal to Villahermosa where we stay the night. Then we are on to Puebla for a night. We drive around Mexico City and stop at Saltillo for a night (my birthday!). Then we will drive to Laredo, TX to cross the border and head towards Austin to see friends for a few nights. We hope to see a few more friends on our way to Lake Ozark but will depend on their schedules if they are in town. Should be a fun road trip! (This is ONLY the beginning)

We will try and post about our travels, take lots of pictures and even a few videos. Come back and check it out!

A Death in the Family Takes Us to Seattle

My favorite photo of all of us!

With Christmas approaching, Keith and I had planned to spend a very low key holiday in Mexico with friends. WE didn't even decorate... Sadly, we were called on the 20th and notified of the passing of Keith's mother, Carole. She hadn't been doing very well for the last month but Keith had been checking in on her often and even flew up to see her in November. With this news, we decided to fly to Seattle for the holidays and take care of anything/everything needed. 

We flew to Seattle on the 22nd and didn't leave until the 29th. For the first two nights we had the pleasure of staying at the Cedarbrook Lodge, which was amazing and cozy. After that we moved to more affordable  accommodations since it was the holidays and we were just there to sleep... We packed up Carole's belongings and donated a lot of items to friends who needed them. Keith did really well but I know it was hard on him having to say goodbye to his mother. She will be greatly missed.

Friends in Seattle at Din Tai Fung

We were very thankful for friends who were able to make time to spend with us while we were there. So many reached out but sadly we were very limited on free time. It really helped seeing them to not lose our Christmas spirit - thank you Andrew and Shelby for feeding us on Christmas and opening your home to us.

It was a quick trip, but thankfully we were able to wrap up everything for Carole and we are hoping to have a little ceremony for her in Lake Havasu in April of 2020. Keith wants to make sure her ashes are scattered with her late husband, Ron (Keith's father). We know she wanted that.

Rest in Peace Carole, we love you and will miss you tremendously!

Our Big 2019-2020 Adventure

Soooo, it's official. Keith & I are the owners of a new travel trailer for our big 2019-2020 road trip. We realized some of our most enjoyable times together have been in a car traveling somewhere... So, we found a very light 21' travel trailer to tow up and down the East Coast. My Dad was a huge help in helping us figure out what to buy and making sure the process was very smooth!

We have been in Mexico for over a year now and decided we wanted to head to the US to explore more of the Old Country, all the while, renting out our condo in Mexico. Then we plan to spend the holidays in our new Lake Ozark condo. We will miss our friends but we are excited for a big year of travel and seeing several friends in the US.

If you're wondering about our US itinerary, here is the first draft:

Ocala, FL

Savannah, GA (3 nights)

Hilton Head, SC (3 nights)

Cape Hatteras, NC (1 nights)

Williamsburgh, Virginia (7 nights)

Washington, D.C. (3 nights)

Philadelphia, PA (3 nights)

The Hampton's, NY (1 night)

New Haven, CT (3 nights)

Rochester/Plymouth, RH (3 nights)

Martha's Vineyard, Mass. (day trip)

Boston, Mass. (3 nights)

Portland, ME (3 nights)

Boothbay Harbor, ME (2 nights)

Bar Harbor, ME (3 nights)

Woodstock, Vermont (3 nights)

Niagara Falls, NY (3 nights)

Charleston, WV (1 night)

Charlotte, NC (3 nights)

Jekyll Island, GA (3 nights)

St. Augustine, FL (1 week)

Ocala, FL

We do have two cruises on our agenda as well - it's going to be a jam packed year! Our Mexico adventures aren't over yet... We are just adding in more travel!

#nowearentcrazy #welovetotravel #yesthedogswillbewithus

What Do We Have Planned for 2019?

Here's a sneak peek of our the start of our 2019 plans... Stay tuned...

Buying a Home in Lake Ozark, Missouri

Keith and I have been looking to find a home in the US ever since we left. We loved Seattle but it was too expensive for us to keep a home there and retire. We have been watch the Netflix show Ozark and they mentioned Lake Ozark has more coastline than California. That intrigued me.

I have been doing a ton of research on rentals in the area and how they perform and it seems, even though seasonal, they have a high % of rentals that perform rather well. We went to visit the area and REALLY liked it. The people are seriously some of the nicest I have ever met... and I'm originally from the South! Plus, we could afford a nice condo right on the lake, which is what we were hoping for.

So, after much searching, we found a condo we liked, made an offer and we closed on November 2nd.

We flew up for the closing and started on the place before the ink was dry. Keith had to fly back to Seattle to help his mother with a few things so I was left, with my father, to paint, decorate and get the place in order. We pretty much got everything done, except for a few things we plan to do in January.

Our plan for this place to to do the reverse snowbird so we can enjoy both locations. Plus we will be renting our Mexico place and the Lake Ozark home on Airbnb. Are you looking for a vacation?

Right now only our Mexico penthouse is listed on Airbnb as we are still working on the Lake Ozark condo. We do have a facebook page for both as well with lots of pictures and information. Check out La Casa Morada (Mexico) and the Blue Cat Condo (Lake Ozark).

If you watch the show Ozark you should understand the name and the decor... 

Check out our listings, share them with your friends/family, rent a few nights... We'd love to have you!

More About Our Lake Ozark Side Trip

Keith and I have been talking for awhile about buying a place in the States since we no longer have a home in our home country. My parents have been very kind in letting us stay with them every time we come visit. We wanted to find a place on a lake, ideally.

Fast forward a few months and we have been watching the Netflix show, Ozark. It's a great show if you haven't seen it. Jason Bateman and cast do an amazing job. Oddly enough it's about a guy who moves to the Ozarks to clean money for the Mexican Cartel. Being that we live in Mexico you'll see the connection shortly...

When we were in the US recently, we made a side trip to Lake Ozark to look at some properties as we were intrigued by the area. According to Google, "The lake runs 92 miles end to end. At roughly 1,150 miles, the total shoreline of the Lake of the Ozarks is longer than the coastline of California." It wasn't a lie, the lake is HUGE and there are tons of lake front opportunities, most of which are still somewhat affordable. The housing market appears to be on the rise, which is good.

Our realtor showed us 10 places - I think she got a kick out of the fact we live in Mexico as she mentioned the show. We NOT work for the cartel and we aren't cleaning money.

We had originally wanted a house but ended up finding a condo we really liked. All of the homes we looked at needed work that we didn't have the budget for... :( Being that we retired early and live on a budget, it had to be something we could make work. We are hoping to rent it on Airbnb when we aren't using it and have it paid off in less than 6 years. We see this place as being a lovely retreat for us and our family.

As it stands right now everything is pending until all the loan information clears and all documents are signed. We have a closing date of early November and plan to fly back to be there for the closing. The condo comes furnished so we only need to buy a few items to get it ready.

In honor of the show, we will be calling the condo the Blue Cat condo. We'd like to honor the show since we'll be in the area!

Our YouTube Channel

If you weren't aware, we have a YouTube channel where we upload all of our videos of our travels, family, our Keto journey and more... 

Check it out - maybe you'll find something of interest. Please subscribe!

Twenty Day USA Trip Wrapped Up

Keith and I left on September 21st to fly to Ohio to see my family and to go see John Mayer in concert at the Bourbon & Beyond festival.

My wonderful father let us use his car to drive to Louisville on Saturday to see the festival. It had rained the whole day and just kept on raining. Check out this video to see what I mean... Lenny Kravitz and John Mayer were amazing!! The festival ended up being cancelled for day 2 due to the park being destroyed from all the rain. It really was a nightmare in regards to the water and mud - music wise, it was awesome!

My worst nightmare came true at the festival... I dropped my cell phone ON THE FLOOR of a muddy port-o-potty!!! Muddy floor. Toilet. At a festival of 1000’s of people. (My brain was screaming bloody murder) 😱 I know what you’re thinking, “are you sure it’s mud, Tarah ?” It’s mud, shut up!!! Besides this horror, we did get back to Ohio and realized the next day someone had hit my fathers car... Our affordable trip just became much more expensive for us as we plan to pay to get it fixed for him. I can't believe someone hit us and drove us... Jerks!

During the trip we decided to make a side trip to Lake Ozark in Missouri. We have been wanting to buy a 2nd property for awhile and with Lake Ozark offering more lake front property than California we decided to check it out. We spent two days there exploring the area and with a realtor. 

We are happy to report we found a place and hope to close in early November! If you haven't been, you should. It's a beautiful area that revolves around lake living. My dream!! I blame my grandparents as they had lake front homes and boats and it was a life I dreamed to have as it was always so enjoyable!

Our adorable grandkids

On the 30th we flew to Nevada to rent a car and drive to Arizona. We were so excited as the grandkids, Alexis and Zavier, as they are in Nevada. We were thrilled to see them and their mother, Miranda, for breakfast. It was so much fun seeing them and catching up. They are getting so big. Alexis has started school and Zavier is so much more chatty than when we last saw him. We miss them so much so seeing them was a highlight of our trip!

After seeing them we drove to Lake Havasu City where Keith grew up. He showed me his high school and the house he grew up in. We also were able to see several of his high school friends for dinner, which was really nice. While there we also saw our Pruvit team members, Chris and Dani Webb. They are so inspirational and they really do live a life of health and wellness, one we'd like to emulate. 

While there, it was our 2 year wedding anniversary (October 1st). We decided to go to dinner at Shugrue's. We've had the most amazing time together in these 2 years of marriage - I can't wait to see what the next 40+ years bring!

We wrapped up or Lake Havasu trip with breakfast with Lester, Keith's HS buddy. We then drove to the Grand Canyon to stay with another HS friend, Sara, for 2 nights. She and her husband live and work in the park. First night there we met Sara for sunset over the Grand Canyon - I had never been there before so it was quite the sight. I knew it was big but it is BIG!!! So glad I was able to experience it!

Our last stop on this 20 day tour was Phoenix. We had found out the Foo Fighters would be performing there and Keith has always wanted to see them. We were lucky enough to see one more HS friend, Tiffany and her husband, for dinner. the next night we met with another Pruvit team member, Shelley, she also was an inspiration. After this trip we feel so empowered by this company and are looking forward to building our business. That night was the Foo Fighters concert and it was GREAT! 

I fell in love with Arizona and can't wait to go back!

We flew home on October 10th during hurricane Michael so our flight was a bit delayed - thankfully we were able to get home safe and sound. The dogs were happy to see us after being gone so long - we really did miss them!

Can't wait till our next big trip!! :)

Our Best Friends Wedding

Keith and I had the pleasure of being apart of two of our favorite people getting hitched - Tricia and Hector. I have known Tricia since 4th grade so being there for her was very important to me.

They decided to get married on September 8th and we wanted to be there for them. Come to find out, Keith is ordained so he was asked to perform the ceremony. You have no idea how honored he was. He loves Hector like a brother so it was a very special moment for him. 

Pruvit Supplies

We flew to Florida a few days early so we could go see my Mom and spend some time with her and her husband. We were excited to see we had a huge stash of Pruvit delivered as our stash was running low and we needed to bring more back with us.

To stay on track we went for a long walk to stay active and managed to eat Keto while visiting. My mother is also doing the Keto diet with us and is in lobe with Pruvit - she loves the orange cream flavor the best and makes a shake daily!

After a few days, we drove down to Ft.Myers to meet up with our friends and get settled in our Airbnb we rented on the beach.

The wedding was on Saturday in Cape Coral and the weather cooperated perfectly for them. It was an awesome ceremony and I am so happy for both of them. We hope them a lifetime of love and happiness!

We were lucky enough to steal them for 2 nights in our Airbnb so we could spend time catching up and just enjoy our time together. Thanks guys for spending your honeymoon with us - we love you two so much!!

Barcelona - The Bucket List Item

Keith is a HUGE Barcelona soccer fan - he LOVES Lionel Messi. We decided to stay one extra night in Barcelona so we could explore the area since he'd never been. I decided to buy us tickets to go do their stadium tour, Camp Nou. 

As we arrived we stopped in the shop and bought him a jersey and some fund Barca items. Then we went to start our tour and were told "sorry you can't see the main field today as we are preparing for a game tonight" WHAT?! We had no idea there was a game - no game was listed when we looked it up before this trip. Oh hells yes, we were going to that game! Keith can now check it off his bucket list!

After our tour, we bought tickets and then headed off to find food. Keith was on cloud nine!

Funny thing in Spain, their games don't start till 10pm... Needless to say we decided a nap was in order. I managed to squeeze in a manicure at the spa while he slept. ;)

GAME TIME!! 

We got to the game a bit early to watch them warm up. We decided dinner would be at the stadium. I was curious to see what they ate at games as we tend to have hot dogs and hamburgers. They did have those but they seem to enjoy eating sandwiches more than we do - like ham and cheese. Most people seemed to bring their own from home. We decided to break our Keto diet and opted for ham and cheese sandwiches.

As for the game, it was awesome. They won and Messi scored 2 of the 3 goals - see for yourself!

It was a great trip and I am so glad Keith was able to finally get to Barcelona and see his favorite team.

Our European Cruise was AWESOME

Look at us looking all cute in France

We thoroughly enjoyed our 12 nights at sea with our friends the Chillihead Beach Bums! With this being their first cruise we were excited to show them all a cruise has to offer.

Our trip began in Barcelona where we boarded our boat. Once we set sail, our first stop was Nice, France. We explored the French Riviera and Monaco - talk about money!! I have never seen such large yachts! #lifegoals
I had no idea Monaco was it's own country, so I learned something new. Did you know that?

Pisa/Florence, Italy was our next stop. We took the day to see the leaning tower of Pisa, of course! Surprise, surprise, it was leaning. 

Rome was next and we decided to do an all day tour of Rome and the Vatican. Keith was just in awe of Vatican City as he grew up Catholic. Our tour was a skip the line tour and it was by far worth the extra money as those lines are LONG. As morbid as this is, the most interesting thing to me was seeing the dead priests they have laying inside the temple. It was so interesting seeing how they have preserved the bodies to honor them. 

The Amalfi Coast

The Amalfi Coast is beautiful and was next on our stops. I have been there before so I was excited to go back. We did a tour of the whole coast which was great as we were able to see so many cities versus just staying in one. Ravello is still one of my favorites as it is such a cute town with a spectacular view. The roads are long and winding but we managed to snake our way through the hills and enjoy a lovely lunch with wine. 

Croatia was our least favorite stop as we weren't sure what to expect - I had heard it was beautiful but we just didn't see it there. Split is a very touristy area and we just didn't really see it for what the rest of Croatia probably possesses. We did a tour of the area but after it was over we headed back to the ship for lunch. We just weren't feeling it.

St. Marks Basilica

Venice was the one stop we all were looking forward to. The ship stayed overnight so we spent two days there instead of the typical 1. We did a ton of walking all up and down the streets. The best tour we did was a food and wine tour that took us to obscure places tourists wouldn't have visited. We loved it! Venice really is a great city to just get lost in - you can find so many cool buildings and streets. Keith and I really want to go back there for at least a week next time. The food we found for dinner was ok but I think we would have rather stayed up till the wee hours of the night and gone to a more local stop, but we were all starving by 5pm... Seems the locals eat more around 10pm. Next time! The next day Keith and I ventured off on our own for a local walking tour of hidden places - our tour guide was amazing and we found ourselves still finding more hidden places to eat and shop. If you haven't been, go! It's a city worth visiting!

Montenegro was our last stop and it was probably our biggest surprise. We didn't know what to expect as none of us had really ever heard of it before. It was amazing! We took a boat tour where we swam and ate and just enjoyed the very salty water of the Adriatic Sea. Floating was so easy but it was chilly. The views were amazing! We did venture into the town for a bit for some gelato and cocktails. It started poring on us so we eventually made our way back to the boat. It was a great day!

As always, Royal Caribbean was a spectacular way to travel and they never disappoint. The crew we interacted with was amazing and took great care of us. Keith and I ended up booking 2 more cruises for 2019 and 2020. Looking forward to those trips.

Keto on a Cruise - Can We Do It?

We leave for a 12 night cruise in a few days and are planning to stay Keto while traveling. It might be a bit tough as Italy has many stops along the way... Oh the pizza...

We did call ahead and request no carbs/sugar free meals. They were more than willing to accommodate our dietary needs. We learned about this on the last Royal Caribbean cruise we took with some friends. Our friend Dawn has some strict dietary needs and they went out of their way to make sure she had the food she needed and wanted. We were really impressed by their willing to go out of their way. Honestly, I am a huge fan of Royal Caribbean. This will be my 6th cruise with them. This is just one of the many reasons why I love them!

If you know me, then you know I am not a fan of Princess/Carnival - especially after our last fiasco that happened in January... We won't ever cruise with them again. They just don't have the level of customer appreciation that RC has.

We are hoping to book another cruise on Royal Caribbean during this trip but we aren't sure where yet. Maybe we will try Fiji again... Where would you go?

We'll post about our trip once we get back. Wish us luck!!