"Everyone knows you have to wait at LEAST two weeks before you tell someone you love them!" I declared to an audience a few weeks ago at the Apalachicola Ice Company. 

"Two weeks!?" someone contested. 

"At LEAST two weeks -- but not more than three!"

It was kind of a joke... but kind of serious. 

When you're a woman, men perceive everything you do as "flirting."

Smiling politely instead of scowling = flirting.
Making eye contact instead of staring at his shoes = flirting.
Nervously playing with your hair because this dude is standing way too close = flirting.  

It's ALWAYS better not to be with the wrong person.

I'm not too much. You're too little. 

Friends! Because we aren't actually friends.

If I'm in front of you, it's because I got here first — and I'm not going to prioritize your enjoyment over mine. Image: @TheHappyTalent

For the past 15 months, I have been full-time RVing with my puppy, my truck, and a 29-foot fifth wheel. It's been one of the most epic (and involved) experiences of my life. 

I've learned a lot. I can back into almost any space now. I'm a YouTube electrician and mechanic (though, fortunately, I am not a YouTube plumber — yet). And... I have learned that there are certain songs I just cannot endure in or around my RV. 

So I met Thomas Jefferson the other day. 

Not literally — literally, he was a costumed interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg. But in my heart, in my imagination, in my mind, it felt like I was really, truly meeting Jefferson, writer of the Declaration of Independence, defeater of pirates, drafter of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom... and subject of my original song, "Jefferson."

It is a happy talent to know how to play...

But in order to play safely (and without having your time usurped by people you don't like) in this world, especially as a woman, you need to be good at assertiveness and boundary-setting. That is something I'm good at — and it's the reason I've able to been spend literally years abroad as a solo, female traveler.

Lately, it's also the reason I've been able to spend the last 13 months on the road as a solo, female RVer.