Kerouacs Cruising | Where Off-Grid Living Meets Soulful Awakening

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Podcast by James & Cara Kerouac | Adventure Podcast Hosts

Kerouacs Cruising | Where Off-Grid Living Meets Soulful Awakening

Off-grid life. Spiritual growth. Honest stories from the road. Join international best-selling authors James & Cara Kerouac as they travel the U.S. with their dogs, sharing raw conversations about healing, presence, self-worth, and freedom. Through real talk, off-grid adventures, and soul-expanding interviews, Kerouacs Cruising invites you to wander freely, heal deeply, and live awake. ✨ Off-grid living tips ✨ Spiritual & emotional growth ✨ Stories of awakening + aligned living ✨ Guests who challenge the norm and break the mold New episodes weekly—wherever the road takes us.
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Latest episodes

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21 July 2026

Grow Out of Fun, Grow Old | Idaho Summer, Rock Climbing & Baby News

We gently told a friend that we didn't care what she thought about the water slide. We meant it.

We're two and a half weeks into our Idaho summer, and it's already full. The paddleboards we bought back in Iowa finally got wet, we started rock climbing on a bolted route behind our son's house, and we watched our grandson fall completely in love with a battery-powered Little Blue Truck. But the thread that actually runs through this whole episode is permission. Somewhere between the water slides and the rock climbing, we landed on the same idea we keep landing on: most of us quietly stop having fun the second someone implies we're too old for it, and we're done doing that. We also crack the door open on something new: a mindset-shift series we've been sitting on for months.

What You'll Hear in This Episode:

  • Why we finally got to use the paddleboards we bought in Iowa, and the permit and life jacket rules nobody warns you about
  • Sharpening our skills: rock climbing, and belaying on a bolted route behind our son's house, mossy holds and all
  • Fourth of July, the 250th birthday of the United States, and watching fireworks with our grandson from the Overlook
  • The mechanical marathon of repairing James's son's Toyota Sequoia, one sensor at a time
  • Watching a two-year-old fall in love with a battery-powered Little Blue Truck and a camo rubber duck from Wall Drug
  • Why we think most adults quietly give up on fun, and what we said to the friend who wouldn't go down the water slide
  • What's coming this summer: solo trips for both of us, a 40th birthday in Dallas, Red Lodge, and grandbaby number two due in August
  • A first look at the mindset-shift series we've been sitting on, and why the science behind it deserves more attention than it's getting

Resources and Mentions:

  • Kaniksu National Forest, Idaho (current camp)
  • Lightning Creek, Idaho (favorite spot, reportedly flooded out over the winter)
  • Beartooth Pass / Beartooth Mountains, Montana (original paddleboard destination)
  • Sawtooth Mountains, near Ketchum, Idaho (possible scouting trip)
  • Own the Day by Aubrey Marcus
  • The Little Blue Truck book series
  • Wall Drug, South Dakota

Everything in this one keeps pointing back to the same idea: you can't build a different life with the same patterns of thinking that got you here. That's the whole premise behind The Reinvention Project. If the water slide thing, or the mindset thing, or just wanting more play in your own life is landing somewhere in you, come find us when you're ready. https://thereinventionproject.podia.com/the-quiet-reinvention-workshop

However you found your way here, we're glad you did. The blog, the YouTube video, our socials, and how to reach us are all linked.

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14 July 2026

I Didn't Want to See It | Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills

James handed Cara the keys. She hadn't driven in months. The tunnel was 8.9 feet wide. The truck with mirrors out is 8 feet. You can probably guess what happened next.

(To watch the video version of this episode, go here: https://youtu.be/ds8J93h1c5E)

This is our whirlwind recap of the last leg of the trip: from our two days in the Black Hills, through Mount Rushmore, across Montana, and into Idaho. We drive Needles Highway through Custer State Park (Cara drives, James films, nobody comes out of the tunnel unscathed), we end up at Mount Rushmore for the lighting ceremony we didn't know existed, we get called out at a day-use-only campsite in Montana, and we find one of the best $18 campsites of the whole trip completely by accident. Plus: the honest truth about what it felt like to actually stand in front of Mount Rushmore when we weren't sure we wanted to be there at all.

What You'll Hear in This Episode:

  • What actually happened in that 8.9-foot tunnel on Needles Highway, and what "holy bejeezus" sounds like when it's not planned
  • Custer State Park: bison, deer, wildflowers, spire rock formations, and one of the most beautiful drives we've done
  • The honest truth about Mount Rushmore: why we almost skipped it, what we actually felt standing there, and the reframe that changed how we saw it
  • The nightly lighting ceremony we had no idea existed, and almost missed
  • Montana: headwind, three miles per gallon, a motorcyclist who confirmed we weren't imagining it
  • Thompson Falls State Park: $18, right on the Clark Fork River, one of the quiet wins of the whole trip
  • The Missoula pizza vs mango addiction debate (both parties believe they are innocent)

Resources and Mentions:

  • Needles Highway, Custer State Park, South Dakota
  • Bogus Jim Road dispersed camping, Black Hills (not to be confused with Real Jim Road 😅)
  • Dockside Grill — beautiful location, great food, does not seat after 7:00 PM regardless of posted hours
  • Mount Rushmore National Memorial — $10 to park, lighting ceremony every night, park open 24 hours
  • Wind Cave National Park — book way in advance, tours from easy to crawling on hands and knees
  • Hot Springs, South Dakota — mineral springs resort, on the list for next time
  • Devil's Tower National Monument, northeastern Wyoming
  • Sturgis, South Dakota — yes, that Sturgis
  • Firehouse Brewery, Rapid City, South Dakota
  • Spearfish Canyon, South Dakota
  • Deadwood, South Dakota
  • Homestake Lake Pass dispersed camping, between Bozeman and Butte, Montana — free, up to 14 days
  • Thompson Falls State Park, Montana — $18, on the Clark Fork River
  • Munson Creek trailhead rest area, Montana — day use only, sunrise to sunset, do not overnight
  • Pie Hole Pizza, Missoula, Montana — 19-inch pizzas only, right downtown, worth the roundabout
  • Natural Grocers, Missoula — for the mangoes
  • Love's RV Park — easy pull-in, utilities, Wi-Fi, laundry, exactly what we needed

This episode was recorded from our camp spot in Idaho. The video footage overlaying the audio on YouTube was captured throughout the Black Hills, Needles Highway, and Mount Rushmore portions of the trip.

There's something about standing in front of something you've already decided how to feel about, and then feeling something completely different. That happened to us at Mount Rushmore. If that kind of honest reckoning with your own assumptions is something you're doing right now, in your own life and your own story, The Reinvention Project is where we go deeper. Come find us when you're ready. https://thereinventionproject.podia.com/the-quiet-reinvention-workshop

You're always welcome at our campfire. The blog, the YouTube show, social, Ko-fi, and how to reach us are all linked. However you choose to be here, thank you. 💚🩷

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07 July 2026

We Almost Drove Past It | Badlands, Wall Drug, and the Road Through South Dakota

She couldn't sleep. She got up from her nap with one idea, told her husband, and by the time he finished putting up the last sign on the highway, the store was already packed with people. That's how Wall Drug started. And we almost drove straight past it.

We came to South Dakota for the Badlands. We stayed for the story. This episode covers our first time through the western half of South Dakota, from the otherworldly rock formations of Badlands National Park to a Depression-era pharmacy that grew into a landmark by giving away free ice water. We also share an update on our plans (Montana got cut, South Dakota was the surprise), what we learned about the new federal ORV rule change and what it means for dispersed campers, and how the dogs did with real freedom for the first time in weeks.

What You'll Hear in This Episode:

  • What Badlands National Park actually looks like up close, and why it made us feel small in the best way (Watch our footage Here)
  • The geology behind those striated rock formations (hundreds of millions of years of sediment, exposed)
  • James's take on the history of the land and the Lakota people who lived there
  • How we found Nomad View and ended up with one of the best free campsites of the season
  • The full Wall Drug origin story: a 1930s pharmacist's wife, a nap she couldn't sleep through, and one idea that changed everything
  • Why we ended up spending two hours at a place we almost skipped
  • The federal ORV restriction that was lifted in May 2026, and what it could mean for quiet dispersed camping areas
  • A plan change update: why we're skipping most of Montana and heading to Idaho earlier than expected
  • Norman chasing a pronghorn across the Badlands plains... and not coming back for a while

Resources and Mentions:

This episode was recorded while we were still in South Dakota. The Black Hills, Custer State Park, and Mount Rushmore content comes in next week's episode.

If something about this conversation is stirring something in you, bigger than just where to camp next, The Reinvention Project is where we go deeper. It's for people who are quietly wondering whether the life they're building is actually the one they want. Come find us when you're ready. https://thereinventionproject.podia.com/the-quiet-reinvention-workshop

You're always welcome at our campfire. The blog, the show, social, Ko-fi, and how to reach us are all linked below. However you choose to be here, thank you for being part of this. 💚🩷

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30 June 2026

None of Us Are Getting Out of Here Alive | 2 Years Full-Time Travel

James opens this episode by telling us he's already been given a ten year prognosis, and instead of dressing it up, he just says it plain: none of us are getting out of here alive.

We're just off three weeks living inside our friends' lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and James spent part of that stretch in New Hampshire saying goodbye to a friend he'd known his whole life. He came back with a cancer prognosis sitting differently in him than it did a year and a half ago, and we talk about it plainly before we ever say good morning. Then we're in the Badlands of South Dakota, boondocking for free at a spot called Nomad's Lane, watching Norman have a standoff with a pronghorn while Bella chases it and loses badly. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, we realize we're rounding out two years of doing this life exactly the way we dreamed it.

What You'll Hear in This Episode:

- Why James opens this episode talking about his own cancer prognosis and a friend's death, not as a downer, but as the whole point

- What three weeks actually living inside friends' lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa looked like (T-ball games, water parks, and a borrowed driveway)

- The excuses we all reach for instead of going after the life we actually want, and why they're good excuses, just not true ones

- James's actual advice: stop chasing the Joneses and start living

- Where we're boondocking for free in the Badlands, and how to find the spot if you're coming through

- Norman's standoff with a pronghorn, and why Bella never had a chance

- What it feels like to round out two years of full-time travel, doing it exactly the way we used to just dream about

Resources and Mentions:

- Pleasant Creek State Park, Iowa

- Palo Marsh, Iowa

- Badlands National Park, South Dakota (Wall, SD)

- Nomad's Lane boondocking, Badlands SD (free, self-contained, no utilities)

- @KerouacsCruising on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube

- Norman and Bella, our dogs

Note for Clarity: James says this rounds out "a year" of full-time travel. To be precise: this is a year doing it the exact way we dreamed (full-time, in the travel trailer). Add in the year and a half we spent traveling before that in a utility trailer, and we're actually just over two years into full-time travel altogether.

If James talking about a ten year prognosis and deciding to go after life anyway stirred something loose in you, that's exactly the kind of thing The Reinvention Project was built to sit with. Come find us when you're ready. https://thereinventionproject.podia.com/the-quiet-reinvention-workshop

You're always welcome at our campfire. Find the blog, the show, our socials, Ko-fi, and how to reach us all linked below.

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23 June 2026

Ticks, Beepers, and a Stick in Norman's Mouth | Life on the Road With Dogs

"Do you want the good news or the bad news?" That's how this one started. Norman, a stick, and a phone call that had Cara convinced something was actually wrong.

We've been traveling full-time with Norman and Bella for a while now, and this episode is everything we've learned along the way that we haven't said out loud yet. The hammock that saved our backseat. The water timing trick we wish we'd figured out before our Kansas debacle. Why we medicate them the same way we'd medicate ourselves after an injury. The tick situation that's still not fully solved. And the beeper collar that quietly became one of the best decisions we've made on the road. Plus: a stick, a spoon of peanut butter, and a phone call that had one of us convinced the worst had happened.

What You'll Hear in This Episode:

  • Why our dogs never learned to hold their bladder, and what that means for road trip planning
  • The dog hammock and cushion setup that saved our backseat (and our sanity)
  • Why we don't feed or water them right before a long drive, and what taught us that lesson the hard way
  • The pain medication mindset we use for the dogs that we also use for ourselves
  • Our ongoing, unsolved tick situation and why we're looking for a better option
  • How the beeper collar became one of the best tools we've added to the road
  • Hot pavement, paw pads, and timing walks around the heat
  • What we've learned about national park rules and campground restrictions for dogs
  • Norman, a stick, a spoon of peanut butter, and the funniest non-emergency of the trip

Resources & Mentions:

If something in our conversations is stirring something in you, The Reinvention Project is where we go deeper. Come find us when you're ready. https://thereinventionproject.podia.com/the-quiet-reinvention-workshop

You're always welcome at our campfire. The blog, the show, social, Ko-fi, and how to reach us!

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16 June 2026

We Stopped White-Knuckling It | Road Life Two Years In

Two and a half years ago we were gripping the steering wheel so hard our knuckles were white. Trying to figure out how to keep this life we'd built from slipping away before it had even really started.

This week... we're not doing that anymore.

This episode is a road dispatch from Kansas and Iowa; tornadoes we almost panicked over, soul people we tracked down in Kansas City, a wedding memory that hit James somewhere tender, and a quiet realization that we've actually, genuinely arrived at the life we were fighting so hard to keep.

We also talk about what it felt like to drop into the grind-pace of regular life while visiting people we love... and how strange it is to live outside that rhythm now. Not better or worse. Just different. And how much we notice it.

What you'll hear in this episode:

  • The tornado that turned out to be mostly in our heads (and the neighbors playing in the rain while we were ready to flee to a storm shelter)
  • Kansas City through the windshield of a 26-foot trailer; six lanes, kind strangers, incredible food
  • Cheyenne (from our Safe Space episode) in real life; her bookstore, her world, her people
  • The wedding James doesn't remember attending... because he was very, very drunk
  • Why Iowa might become a twice-a-year stop on our route
  • What "white-knuckling it" actually felt like in year one... and what it feels like now to just... relax into it
  • Where we're headed next (Montana, Yellowstone, Beartooth Pass...?)

Resources and mentions:

If something in this conversation is stirring something in you, the gap between the life you're grinding through and the one you can feel waiting... that's exactly what The Reinvention Project is for. It's a quiet space to look honestly at what you're building and who you're becoming. Come find us when you're ready.

You're always welcome at our campfire. Everything: the blog, the show, social, Ko-fi, and how to reach us, is linked. We're glad you're here.

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