Hello!
I’m Veronika. That other person is Sly.
We are both from Texas (though we didn’t know each other in those days), both lived in SF (where we met), married on a ranch, and lived in the DC area for a few years before moving to South Korea in January 2015. Our 15-yr plan involves living off the grid in a tiny prefab cabin and raising goats (my idea) or having a cat sanctuary (also my idea). We’ll see if that happens.
We aren’t extreme athletes/ “visual storytellers” / influencers / DIY-ers / free people models / trust funders / fashionistas / tastemakers / fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants sort of people. We’re just two old crazy cat people who live normal lives and love sleeping in tents, trying new foods, the sound of a crackling fire, hot coffee, traveling by camper van, and photographing the world around us.
This is my photographic notebook of our travels, kitties, camping, hiking, cabins, and other outdoor adventures.
FAQs
What’s with the name? And why doesn’t the name of your blog match up with the web address?
The short story: when I decided to transfer my old blog to a new platform I used a web address I already owned and used for a project I worked on in the past. I have been journaling since I was about six years old and little green field book refers to my favorite type of journal/notebook for writing/sketching. The green field books were originally issued by the Federal Supply Service and can be purchased through Amazon.
It bothers me the name of my blog and the web address don’t align but maybe one day I’ll get my act together (doubtful).
Why did you start this blog?
I first started blogging “seriously” when I moved to SF over 10 yrs ago and thought it would be a good/fun way to document my dating life, SF life in general, and keep in touch with friends. When Sly and I were getting married it morphed into our wedding blog. Now that we are living in South Korea I use it to keep track of our travels and document life in another country.
What kind of blog is this?
I’m pretty much an old school blogger. I tend to write long (boring), anecdotal, nostalgia-filled sentimental stories (with an obscene amount of photos – fair warning to those who hate blogs with more than 10 photos per post) about our travels, but also food, the outdoors, daily life, and our kitties. I’m not big on writing top ten lists for every single post (someone told me this is called a “listicle”), bucket lists, or the type of clickbait-style posts that are so fashionable these days. I like taking pictures and telling stories through my photos.
I try to include as much info as possible in my travel posts because I have found other peoples’ travel blogs to be extremely helpful, especially here in Asia. I don’t fancy myself to be a restaurant critic by any means but often times blog restaurant reviews are the only way to read/learn about a restaurant in English! (No Yelp in S.Korea!) If some poor soul happens to land on my blog from a google keyword search I hope s/he walks away with some useful information.
Do you make money off this blog?
No. I write this blog for myself/us because I enjoy taking photographs, documenting our lives/travels, and meeting blog friends! I have no problem with people who get paid to blog — I certainly wouldn’t turn down a sponsored trip around the world if it were offered — at this time it’s just not for me, nor is it the reason why I blog.
Any products/restaurants/locations, etc. reviewed on this blog are unaffiliated.
Do you travel all the time?
The thing about social media and blogging is that it can be very curated. It probably seems as if we are traveling all the time because I take a lot of photos when I travel and am the most proactive about posting my travel photos on this blog and elsewhere. We save up and try to cram in as much travel as we can because we know we’ll only be living in Asia for a set amount of time, but also because you can get a pretty good bang for your buck when it comes to traveling in Asia. In between trips, there is a lot of down time. Of course, a lot of that doesn’t make it onto the blog because if I posted photos of my daily life, it would undoubtedly include about 50 photos a day of my cats, which, like most photos of children, is only interesting to the parents.
Can I re-post your content/photos or post them on my blog?
Links back to this blog’s homepage or sharing individual blog posts via social media are okay, but downloading, re-purposing, or re-posting content/photos out of context for personal or commercial use without my permission is not allowed. This includes both content and imagery found on this blog and via its linked image on Flickr. Thank you for understanding.
What’s with all the typos, don’t you proofread your work?
Apologies for the crappy grammar and blatant disregard for using built-in spell checkers. Because I think of this blog as a journal – and a mostly photographic journal -I spend a lot more time editing photos than proofreading my work. I try my best with what time I have and sometimes proofreading falls to the wayside in an effort to let things go in order for something to get posted.
I signed up for your newsletter. Why haven’t I received it?
I’m still trying to figure out how to best integrate the newsletter into my site so that it feels more like a personal update between friends and less like an annoying spam-y email that you’d want to immediately delete. Coming soon!
What camera do you use?
I love experimenting with all kinds of cameras, both film, and digital. Film will always be my first love but the ease of digital photography is something that, as a long-time film user, still amazes me. The most common digital setup I use (besides my camera phone) is Canon 5d MII with a 50mm f1.2 lens. My other favorite camera is my dad’s old Pentax K1000 with a 50mm lens. Sly recently gave me a mirrorless camera for Christmas – a Fuji X-T10 with kit lenses that I plan to start using for travel purposes, as it’s about 1/4 the weight of my DSLR setup. So far I am loving the Fuji and have found that I carry it with me a lot more than my DSLR.
For underwater shots I use a simple setup: my camera phone housed in a cheap plastic pouch and my GoPro that I’m still trying to figure out.
Do you use any “filters” to edit your photos?
I shoot in RAW and edit in Adobe Lightroom. I don’t typically like over-manipulated imagery so I tend to create and use my own Lightroom presets to adjust for color, contrast, etc.
What is the best campground in Acadia National Park?
Believe it or not, people ask me this question more than any other question! I don’t know what I did to become an authority on the matter but my take on the camping in Acadia can be found here. You may want to familiarize yourself with our travel style though before trusting anything I have to say — it may or may not suit your style of travel/camping.
How many countries have you visited and where can I find them on this blog?
I haven’t really counted the number of countries I have visited – an okay amount I guess? I traveled a good amount when I was younger, but a lot of those trips will probably never make it on this blog. Someday I hope to work through my growing list of backlogged (somewhat recent) trips but for now, all blogged travel content can be found under the TRAVEL drop down navigation menu.
Why don’t you provide information on some of the places you have visited?
This is part of a larger conversation about how I think “Instagrammable” places have sometimes ruined otherwise awesome locations, especially in nature. For me, a huge part of traveling to a place includes discovering your own favorite spots and blazing your own trail. For that reason, I do not provide location information for sites that I discovered through word-of-mouth, or that are not otherwise listed in guidebooks.
Do you have any travel advice?
Pack light (something I’m still working on), seek out experiences over bucket list type activities and eat like a local. Most importantly, make the trip your own. Do what you enjoy instead of feeling pressured to check off all the items on a top 10 list or to take a photo of the Eiffel Tower. Our best trips have always found us well off the beaten path far away from tourists.
Also, if you’re in Asia, be especially wary of any place that labels itself as an animal “sanctuary.” These “sanctuaries” are usually tourist traps that care more about making money than animal welfare. If it feels wrong, it probably is wrong. Please do your research and do not support establishments like these. It’s not worth the selfie or Instagram post.
I’m going to ______, do you have any recommendations?
Unfortunately, I don’t have the capacity to provide everyone who contacts me with customized trip recommendations or personalized itineraries, but I am happy to answer any specific questions you may have! One day I hope to design some downloadable city guides but for now, the best way to find info is to do a search on this blog or click through the TRAVELS section. You may want to familiarize yourself with our travel style first as I doubt the way we like to travel appeals to everyone. Otherwise, send me a message or leave me a comment and I’ll try to provide as much info as I know!
What is your favorite place you have ever visited?
To pick just one would be impossible, but Vietnam and Alaska would rank high on our top 5 list.