travel – Tiny Adventures of Elisa MG

the mini-apple – moving back

October 27, 2026 ElisaMG

“Where Do We Go From Here” Acrylic on Canvas.

The last twenty years of my life have really been about embracing all of the tiny moving parts. So much is unkown, and we keep marching forward. For the last four years I have been letting myself dream, thinking about where do we go from here. Comparing different cities that I might want to get old in, watching facsim rise in my country and debating living the last third of my life in my other country. (I’m honored to also be a Canadian Citizen.) I’ve been meditating on what kind of work I could do now to make life meaningful. Deciding who I wanted nearby as I find my way to being a little old lady. The universe has taught me to be patient and let things unfold when they will. And a lot has unfolded this last year. Some years one just remembers and 2026 will be one of those. Here I’ll talk about a few memories.

I’ll always have fond memories of my time in Portland. Some will be about silly little things. The “Tiny Magic Box” is one of those little things. The “Tiny Magic Box” (the elevator), was one of the things Dudley loved about living in the apartment building on Broadway. It was one of the things I could have lived without, but I just don’t do stairs the way I used to. That definitely had me missing my big silver bullet (Airstream), where I could step down one step and be in my backyard for the day, typically on a creek, or river or somewhere scenic. Dudley on the other hand loved the thrill of seeing who we would meet each time, from great big dogs to so many wonderful belly rubbers. It seems silly to write about it, but its a small detail of apartment life that I want to remember. It was how we got to know each other in our building and built some semblance of community in the apartments at a time where community was so needed .

With Cousin Canada. We connected affter discovering each other through ancestry.

Getting to experience having a real studio at ADX I will forever be grateful for, especially sharing the space with my two painter friends. But ironically, once I had my own art studio I would find myself going their gathering up my canvas and materials and bringing it home to paint.

I’m also grateful for my art friends at the troutdale art center, ford pdx gallery with all of the wonderfully currated shows, The Hatfield Hall employee art shows which gave me exposure to over 10,000 theater patrons a night, Nalu Kava Tea House – my favorite quaint small scale place to show, Art Design Exchange in Central East Portland Oregon – which introduced me to over one hundred creatives all in community, Brenda who became a dear friend through my trailer park life and a strong supporter of my Open Studios experiences, and…my cousin Canada and her family for getting me to the PNW in the first place and inviting me to go along on her family explorations around Portland and the PNW.

There are so many things I will miss about Portland, Troutdale and the PNW in general. I made a lot of good friends there. There was nothing like my side gig at the Portland 5 Theaters, working with all of those creatives from film makers, to actors, writers, painters and more, all enjoying a side gig that supports the arts while pursuing their artistic endeavors. Being of service to the patrons coming and going gave us a lot of comic material to laugh about. We even had fun with one of our own, a film director, who decided to make a mocumentary about front of house ushers and all we experienced. This led to a short conversation with Josh Johnson who we thought of us talent before he blew up big, but we were a little too late for. We had a good laugh about that. I met a lot of good people here and will miss them, but am betting we will stay connected in our own ways.

With Friends at The Troutdale Art Center… my Ordinary People exhibit behind us

I will also always treasure my time in Troutdale with the Troutdale Art Center and the artists there who welcomed me in. I was a stranger who stalked them on facebook and then snooped around and got invited in. It taught me I will always love being involved in creativity within community. My final art show in Portland featured the ordinary people I was meeting out and about doing such a variety of great resistance work. There were people working against book bans, fighting for affordable good health care, defending immigrant rights and the right to free speech, connecting community for democracy defense, fighting for our trans sisters and brothers and Portlands historic Black community along with other vulnerable populations and more. I’m honored at how much I learned from you all and work towards finding my place here in Minneapolis.

The Portland Metro is full of wonderful places to hike in the woods, delicious high end restaurant food carts that formed for survival during the pandemic, a dynomite improv commedy scene. I truly am a river girl and so obviously loved the rivers, the woods, the mountains and volcanoes, the ocean, the creeks, and even the urban hikes through all of the unique neighborhoods. Public transportation in Portland was a fabulous way to see a lot of the city. Plus the city is so walkable, and bikeable that there is no reason to not get out and about. There truly is so much to see and do that it would be easy to stay put, but that was not what was in store for me.

It all narrowed down to staying in this wonderful place in the Pacific Northwest, or going home to Minneapolis. All of my life I had never “gone back” anywhere. I was always moving on to the next new adventure. This time it was different.

After using writing to meditate on choice it became crystal clear, that in spite of it all, I needed to be back home. In spite of this beautiful Pacific Northwest, with ICE and its hatred on our Portland Streets I felt a strong pull to be back with family and what I call 40 year friends. Ironic that right after I made the decision and started telling my Portland peeps that I had decided to head back to Minneapolis where it felt safer in terms of the national scene, all hell broke out in Minneapolis. So you know I got some interesting stares.

I had made the decision so now I had to figure out all of the moving parts of how to do it. Someone told me once decision making really isn’t that big of a deal because you can make a choice, and then each new minute in life you can always make a different choice. This philosophy helped me traverse moving oneself and all of my belongings all the way across the country without the help of an employer relocating me. I’m happy to say I made it. And I learned a lot about going with the flow and the art of letting go. I learned how to take the next indicated step. In my next post, I will talk a little about that and also get into my story on my journey into climate activism work as an ordinary person.

Yes, my road dog Dudley is still traveling with me and I’m grateful for all of you still following along with my ramblings. ❤️

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Sticks and Bricks: Rebuilding Community is Resistance

April 18, 2025April 18, 2025 ElisaMG

With all of the mayhem going on I’ve decided its best to wait on loft ownership. I’ve entered back into sticks and bricks life, establishing community in a rental. With everything going on in the world, or should I say the United States, right now it seems smartest to not spend a dime, keep saving and turn my focus to building community and making art. I did not come to that decision in any kind of logical, rational way. It was as most of my better decisions, a little voice within guiding me step by step.

You see on the day I made all of my big moves I literally woke up chatting with one of my cousins in Alberta, Canada. I was making my plan to finally live in Canada, honoring my Canadian citizenship, that had been gifted to me so many years ago.

Anyhow, a friend had been telling me how her brother, a very established artist, had moved back from New York and gotten into an art studio on the Central East Side of Portland. She thought it would be such a good idea for me. Her brother has shown his work worldwide and actually was represented by someone in town who is one of the who is who of the art world. It is common to feel like a fraud as an artist and I found myself back there, along with feeling poor, so I laughed at her everytime she mentioned it. So instead she tricked me into visiting ADX studios by telling me she wanted me to meet her brother and see his show. Of course I said yes.

Yikes I need a trip to the salon. But who has time when there is painting to do.

Once we arrived she started showing me available studios and had the owner/curator/representation telling me the details of each space. I laughed and said I was a bad bet for commitment since only this morning I was planning my escape to Canada. The landlady’s response was even though the lease was a year, she would allow me to give two months notice and leave with no penalties. I thought that was a little intriguing. But then I came up with another excuse… it’s too expensive. She said I could share it. I was surprised at how excited my artist friends from my open studio were to say yes and jump at the chance. It dawned on me that I had access to a tool of resistance, making art. And that I needed to stay in the fight. So I stayed. We were in! A community of over 90 artists, working together, meeting together supporting eachother. It is a very diverse group from woodworkers , to performing artists, to architects, painters, and more. The space we ended up with is a lovely space in the loft with a glimpse of the outside world natural light via the adjoining studio. I’m excited to dive back into painting as a real commitment again with a dedicated space. I’m plodding along on my current theme, which will be better named down the road, but is all about raising funds to help the environment. If Dumpy deystroys the environment nothing else will matter. We have to take care of this place we call home. The more I learn about environmental issues, the more I want to paint and finish this series as well as change my own day to day practices. I’m not perfect, but I know there is a lot we can do and get it right still.

**“Petrichor”** a sneak peak at my upcoming abstract series speaking to environmental issues.

At the same time, I knew it was time to get my own space to call home, big enough to ditch my storage unit. After intentionally looking long and hard, I wasn’t coming up with much. Everything in Portland is overpriced and nothing was very impressive. It made me miss the freedom of my small trailer space. At least there it was beautiful and there was no trash outside, or people sleeping in my front yard. And if I didn’t like something, I could get up and go.

The pillows are ridiculous. But at least I’d found another use for them outside of the trailer.

It was the end of the day and I decided to check out one more apartment building. It was a big coorporate kind of place where you are supposed to schedule appointments for viewings. The last corporte apartment I looked at, I had scheduled a viewing and the landlords never showed up for the showing, so here I wasn’t expecting much. The front office person you could tell was tired. Her demeanor spoke of putting up with a lot of stuff on her job. She explained I needed an appointment. I’m not sure what I said but all of a sudden she said she could show me a couple of places. I can’t explain it but I walked in and it just felt like home. So I figured, I’d figure out the expenses and make it work.

Both Dudley and I love it here and have found so many things about it that we didn’t even realize we’d like. I have ten foot ceilings, and hardwood floors. I can put in ceiling fans and avoid having to use AC, and we are over a New Season’s grocery store. Literally nobody lives below me. It is so quiet. My view looks out at a quiet block of old homes as we are in a neighborhood surrounded by several old Portland neighborhoods with beautiful homes in them. I got a one bedroom because everybody was going for studios and they couldn’t rent one bedrooms so they offered them at a better deal, which I suppose could catch up to me one day and bite me in the behind. But for now we are loving it. The layout is perfect. I had to buy a few things but were able to find quality furniture pieces we love at very inexpensive prices. And the cool thing is there is so much around me, I could literally go carless from here. I step out on the street and their are buses that will take me to the doorstep of most of the places I like to go and more. And someday I’ll be riding that electric bike as this is one of the best walkable, bikeable cities.

From 200 Square Feet to 600 Square Feet.

Sullivan’s Gulch Neighborhood in Portland is surrounded by beautiful landscapes everywhere.

Today, I got bold and went to a building social making some new neighbor friends. I’m the old lady in the bunch, but that’s ok. Many times in life I have been the young gal befriended by the older lady, so I guess I can pay that forward. Right now, with all of the chaos and hate, it feels good to get to know people in new circles, and to get closer to people in the circles I’m already in, bonding together, and standing up, even in small ways to an America going in the wrong direction. It feels good to have joined an art community where I will be able to resist through my art. It feels good to have some roots, doing something counter to what my fears make me want to do. It feels good not to run, to stand my ground and fight in my own kind of way. I’ll still have time in my life to enjoy that Canadian citizenship. For now I need to be here fighting to build something better especially for our Canadian friends and neighbors.

“Your Hair Sucks!” Photogrpher, unkown protester

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Goodbye Beast. Hello Mr. Frog!

February 14, 2025February 15, 2025 ElisaMG

Airstream Life helped me downsize finding my Artist LIfe.
Artist Life called me to say a Bitter Sweet Goobye to my Airstream. My Tiny Adventure Continues!

A lot has happened as those who follow me on social media know, but I’m actually still living tiny. Just in a way I did not expect.

We love our snuggly space with grandma’s old loungers to watch TV.

Exit plans are all good, but things never really go as planned. There really was a lot of thought, journaling, researching and waiting in leaps in jumps to transition out of Airstream life. I had to think what comes first? Do I sell the Airstream and then find an apartment? Do I find an apartment and then sell the Airstream? Can I sell the Airstream myself? What do I need to fix on the Airstream in order to sell it? What if I sell my truck first? How will I move my Airstream? It was a whirlwind of thoughts, ideas and possibilities. What comes first the chicken or the egg?

And as for exit plans, so much has changed even since I started writing this post I have been battling in my head exit plans on a larger scale. So I thought I better get to catching you all up on the first leap from the Airstream to city life, so that in a near future blog I can catch you up on possible country leaping as well as studio news!

We love our little Mr. Frog who jumps us all around Portland getting to know the city landscape. Our next goal is an electric bike, and public transport to cut back on our use of fossil fuels.

A view of Portland from Nob Hill. Maybe a future condo, if not back in the Mini Apple.

What I ended up doing was selling “Beast”, my truck, first. A diesel truck actually holds its value quite well. At least my Dodge Ram 2500 4×4 did. (I like saying that. =] )I lost a little money on the fact that I chipped up the paint job during that last winter ice storm banging on my truck to get the ice off so I could get to my generators when the power went out. Oh well, such is life. I was still able to get a good price and walk away with enough cash to turn around and get Mr. Frog, my new Honda HRV. When I saw that car on the lot my thought was wow, that’s a jazzy car! Funny because it actually looks like every car out there, but I do love it. Its small, the gas mileage is worlds better than a diesel truck and I’m able to whip around town learning the city much quicker than I could before. When it came time to tow my trailer out of the park, my car salesmen brought his truck, also a Dodge Ram 2500, over and helped me tow it. However, I do know that my ultimate downsize tiny move will come the next round when I go completely without a car. Living in Portland, the city is completely walkable and I will feel better not contributing to the demise of our planet with a car. Oh one last thing about my new car… the seats fold completely flat, my matress its in the back and I can easily car camp in it, which is lovely! I took my first car camp trip to Half Moon Bay in San Fransisco and had a good time!

We still love road tripping to the coast and across the country. Car camping frees us up to be more spontaneous and have more fun.

As for selling my trailer, that was a learning process. In the end I found it way to difficult to sell myself, and I’m good at selling stuff. The marketing was the hardest part. I was dropping $100 here and $100 there to advertise in all of the right places. The responses I was getting were only coming from facebook marketplace of all places. It was dragging on and I didn’t want to go through another winter making it less valuable. Airstream was not great on information but eventually I figured out that I had a couple of options with them, I could either outright sell it back to Airstream, where I would get a little less, or I could consign it thorugh Airstream. Of course they found thousand of dollars of work that needed to be done, which was bulloney. I knew the dollar amount for the work that had to be done, but there is no way to argue with them. And if I chose to consign it it woldn’t get sold until next spring. So I took the route that got me less money back but actually probably saved me money as I was able to wipe out all of my debt immediately, sell all of my extra gear instead of gift it for another chunk of money, wipe out interest payments since all debt was paid off, and simply be done with a bunch in savings. Outright selling her back to Airstream was the best deal.

I hadn’t been a roomate in over 30 years so moving in with a colleague from my theater side gig was a leap of faith too. Hopefully she enjoys the company as much as I do. I live in the upstairs of my friend’s house which technically is the attic. There are two finished rooms up there and a doorway that leads to the rest of the attic. The rent is kindly priced unlike anything else in Portland, allowing me to save up for that condo or loft where my studio is in my living space. And because there are two rooms I have had a studio in the second room which works out. And I’m still living tiny. I haven’t actually measured but I’d guess the space to still be around 200 feet. Although I do share a shelf in the fridge in the kitchen and the bathroom downstairs. I have a huge redwood right outside of my window and incredible backyard garden that takes me back to the rivers and creeks I have been living on. Once in awhile Dudley and I drive back to our old stomping grounds and “smell the Redwoods”.

We enjoy sitting out on the front porch.

I’ve picked up a mentee which keeps me learning. And I’m working on a series trying not to show any of it until the unveiling of the entire show. I’m working in the abstract completely on a theme that is centered around the current climate crisis which has allowed me to learn a lot about living with an even smaller footprint. I’ll share some of the things I’m learning in a future post.

As usual, thanks for the follow. I am no longer on facebook, so you’ll have to catch me here, or see when I post on bluesky (@ElisaMG.bluesky.social) or instagram (@TinyAdventuresOfElisaMG) while I’m still there.

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Where To? Where Next? Part II Finding Home

May 3, 2024October 11, 2024 ElisaMG

If you haven’t seen the writing on the walls, inbetween the lines of the blog or heard it in my voice, that little voice inside me is directing me in new directions. Airstreaming has connected me back with my art and my heart. And now it is time to dig further into making my art. Also the last three years have shown me how important it is to stay connected to close friends and families. That said, Airstreaming has given me the courage to jump knowing there will be a landing. I don’t need to know all of the details up front. I am working my way back into some kind of sticks and bricks where I can have a home studio. This will give me the freedom to paint a little more freely, and not have to worry about space or how much sells or what studio rent will be. Plus, if you have been following me you know how much I love hurricane force wind and ice storms in my trailer. My trailer did well taking me through it all. Now it is time to find something that doesn’t leave me wondering if I’ll make it through or dragging heavy generators out because of power outages. Its time to say good bye to Nefelibata and let someone else have beautiful adventures with her while she is still in good shape. So, yes, my Airstream is for sale. And yes, I’m selling it before knowing exactly where I will land. I have a few landing places in mind, but for now, first things first. I’m focused on selling her.

I didn’t realize how physically and emotionally challenging this part of the job would be. If you are just starting trailer life, have an exit plan, but also have a plan B,C, and D because I guarantee your exit plan won’t go as planned. Anyhow, I thought I use this time to share abit about my Airstream. The add is currently running on Airstream Classified if you are seriously interested.

2018 Globetrotter For Sale

After six years of full-timing across the United States and Canada, it’s time to sell my 2018 Globetrotter and let someone else enjoy her.

My model has the front bedroom queen bed and rear dinette (that also folds down into a bed) with panoramic windows, and two sunroofs for lots of light and wonderful views.

The interior Natural Elm Barcelona Blue

The exterior features the automatic patio awning, automatic stabilizer jacks and automatic front jack. My model has 50 amp and two AC units on the top with a Heat Pump and a full Zip Dee Awning package, plus a microwave oven and televisions in the front end and back end.

Here is a link to the original brochure for all of the technical info….

2018 Globetrotter:

Click to access 2018-Globetrotter-Brochure.pdf

Upgrade that I did (It didn’t need much):

2 six volt AGM Batteries installed 2019

Mattress replaced 2019

New Tires April 2024

If you are inerested, the trailer will be available for sale soon at Airstream Adventures out of Portland. Contact them for more information.

As for my blog and Art…. we aren’t going anywhere. We’ll still see you down the road. As a matter of fact we hope to either have a car camper or van in the future and actually get on the road more than we did in a 28’trailer.