Van Life with Scout: December 2023 Recap

A high level of what we’ve been up to in December! (More detailed daily sharing usually happens on our Instagram stories, though we were pretty inactive in the digital world this past month. It was nice. 😉)

TLDR: Top December highlights

• We spent so much time with our family and friends. Getting into the holiday spirit, laughing very hard, enjoying plenty of humans-only activities along with dog-friendly ones too… Sean, Scout, and I are all quite introverted, so I’m proud of how we balanced social time and “charge back up” time.
• I got corrective vision surgery! I’m writing these words without wearing contacts or glasses or holding the screen up approximately two inches from my face 😎
• Scout had her first annual vet appointment with our new Wisconsin vet, who does house calls. She is a reasonably healthy creature and I loved the team.

Van life: We stayed in one state the whole month?!

For the very first time since moving into Hermes last January, we barely covered any ground. We welcomed December in my hometown of Wausau and ended it just a few hours away in Madison (after plenty of back and forth within the area to see loved ones, of course, and enjoy our own private forest reprieve immediately after my eye surgery).

A full roundup of where we slept:

• 23 nights parked on private property visiting family or friends
• 5 nights on public land
• 3 nights street parking

Van logistics in December:

• Drove about 700 miles in total going between my parents’ house, Sean’s parents’ house, friends, and the northwoods forest
• Because we spent so much time visiting people — sleeping in the van but using their bathroom and shower facilities — I didn’t keep track of our freshwater, gray tank, and pee jug stats this month.
• We were also spoiled with opportunities to do our laundry for free.
• Basically: December was a weird month for van life stuff! We still lived in Hermes these last weeks… but it looked a lot different (read: much calmer, less work on our end) from when we’re out on remote public land or visiting a new city miles away from our support network.

What’s new with Scout specifically this month

A little “by the numbers” glance

• 12 suburban neighborhood walks (5 walking with other dogs)
• 10 off-leash forest romps
• 6 rounds of play in the yard alongside my mom’s dog
• 2 nail trims
• 2 vaccines, 1 blood draw
• Lots of time decompressing in her van

We had our first house call veterinary appointment

I loved our vet in Florida, but when we moved into the van we decided it would be easiest to handle everyone’s medical care in Wisconsin. Scout had her first annual appointment with our new veterinary team on December 18th!

Since our heeler gets easily overwhelmed in unfamiliar environments (especially if they smell like other dogs) I had high hopes about a house call approach. I was not disappointed! While she still did not enjoy being handled by a stranger, she recovered almost immediately. And then we got to shake off stress with some fetch in the yard!

Health wise:

• Weight, teeth, and general appearance all look good. She’s gained a few pounds but is still a 5/9 on the body condition scale (which is what I’ve pegged her as myself, since we don’t regularly have access to a scale). We might try to cut her back just a little for the sake of her joints, but her waist is still really nice.
• Bloodwork results to check her liver function (since she’s on a twice-daily anticonvulsant for her epilepsy) were normal too!
• We’re still a bit concerned about physical pain. Muscle and joint soreness are partially normal as she ages, but the sensitivity we’ve seen to petting even by me and Sean — and her occasional yelping when just standing up on her own — could indicate an acute problem. Nothing stuck out to our vet at this check, so we’ll do more follow up and are considering prescription supplements rather than the over-the-counter we’ve been doing.

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“Core memories” with family made me extra thankful for our focus on play

Scout spent plenty of time resting alone in the van while we enjoyed our families. She got to get in on some action too though! The experiences we had this visit made me happier than ever that we’ve spent so much time focusing on play. Building her confidence via tug specifically — and practicing cooperating in states of high arousal — has done wonders for her ability to handle herself around commotion.

Our Play blog category and this article about my evolving take on wanting my dog to be “calm” compile some more info here.