Hi, We’re Mindy, Curtis & Koda

Adventure, Freedom & From-Scratch Living

We decided a long time ago that we weren’t going to wait until retirement to start living. So we went. National parks, wide open spaces, ranch country, mountains, desert, wherever the road points next. Our dog Koda comes on every adventure.

Koda Kingdom is where we bring you along for the ride. You’ll see the breathtaking days, the hard ones, and all the practical stuff in between that makes a free life actually possible.

Where It Started

I grew up on 80 acres in Washington with horses, goats, chickens, and more animals than I can count. My brother and I turned an old apple cart into our own amusement park, build tree forts, rode horses, joined 4-h and so much more. After I turned 7 years old, my family moved 8 more times after that. I was born in Washington State but grew up in Arizona. I didn’t know it then, but that’s where I learned to make a home out of almost anywhere.

Then, I left home at 17 and moved into a loft above a friend’s barn, paying rent by mucking stalls. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was something I could call my own.

A few years later (2016) I took a drive from Arizona to Washington with almost no money and no plan. Windows down, nowhere to be, no one to answer to. It was the first time I ever felt truly free, and I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since.

That October I pulled into a free campground in South Dakota after dark, nearly broke. It snowed so hard I slept in the car with the heat running. The next morning I woke up to a lake and the neighbors offering to take me fishing. We caught trout after trout, and by that night while enjoying dinner together, they’d offered me a job on their cattle ranch in Nebraska. A couple of hunters at the next campsite invited me on my first Antelope hunt at 4am. We cooked antelope and rattlesnake over the fire afterward. The antelope was incredible. The rattlesnake was very chewy.

Show up, say yes, figure it out, eat well. That’s still pretty much the whole plan.

Then Came Curtis (and Koda)

I worked calving season on that ranch, then summers at a state park, living in a tent and cooking every night on a two-burner camp stove. One night I went to the bar to meet friends who never showed up. A guy from maintenance had gotten stood up too. I had seen him around the state park, but this time was the first time we actually sat down to talk. His name was Curtis.

That turned into campfires, fishing trips, and bowfishing for carp by headlamp after a full work shift. I was completely hooked on the life and on him.

In 2019 we bought a school bus and turned it into a home with our own hands. Wood cabinets, solar panels, a wood stove, and water pumped from jugs under the sink.

Koda joined us in 2021. She slides down snowy hills on her belly just so she can run back up and do it again. She’s been on every adventure since, and yes, this whole place is named after her because she loves the outdoors just as much as we do.

Curtis proposed on a hike overlooking a valley in New Mexico, and we got married in 2022.

The Honest Part

We’re not finished, and I’m not going to pretend we are.

Over the years I’ve tried MLMs, an Etsy sticker shop, print-on-demand t-shirts, and a handyman business with Curtis. Most of it didn’t work. All of it taught me something. We’ve worked ranch jobs, park seasons, and campground management to fund the next adventure. One summer we finally saved enough to take the whole thing off and explored 16 national parks. It’s still my favorite trip, and it still wasn’t long enough.

Now we’re building toward full-time travel for real: work we can take anywhere, so we can go wherever we want, visit whoever we want, and never have a date we have to be back by. I’m growing this blog, working with freelance clients, and figuring it out one step at a time. You’ll see all of it here, including the parts that don’t go to plan.

What You’ll Find Here

• Adventure Living: the real version of life on the road. Seasonal work, keeping costs low, national parks, and the honest in-between.
• Pantry & Self-Sufficiency: a pantry that travels with us, whether we have a full kitchen or a two-burner camp stove.
• From-Scratch Recipes: dry mixes, seasoning blends, sourdough, and camp-ready meals made from real ingredients.

Come Along for the Ride

If you’ve been saving your life for someday, you don’t have to. The best place to start is the free From-Scratch Pantry Starter Guide. It’s the system behind how we eat well wherever we end up, so we spend less time worrying about food and more time living.

Want everything in your pocket? The Adventure Inspired Recipes app has our from-scratch recipes and pantry tools on your phone. Try it free for 7 days.