Hello and welcome to my blog, The Happy Little Bird.
My name is Carolyn Quan and I am a full-time RV dweller and digital nomad as well as an award-winning, internationally-collected fine artist. I travel the country throughout the year showing and selling my artwork at national juried art festivals, produce art events on Maui and in the San Francisco Bay Area, and produce this blog.
…with the knowledge of photography that I gained combined with many life lessons, I gradually learned to “see” the world differently through the lens of my camera…
Meet Gypsy Rose. She is my beloved 25-foot motor home that I purchased in 2016 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In 2018, after two years of hands-on experience living part-time on the road and experimenting with the idea of living full-time in her, I decided to sell my little mobile home (as in one that was permanently in a mobile home park – without wheels) in the Napa Valley and embark on a journey as a full-time, digital nomad and traveling artist.
It was a 9,600-mile cross-continent road trip in the summer of 2017, that included 8 art festival shows in Chicago, that took me to 15 different states and 2 provinces, and from Napa to Montréal, that made me realize that I wanted to become home-free and live full-time in Gypsy Rose. There wasn’t a single moment during the 4.5-month trip that I said to myself, “I can’t do this” even when I was posed with challenges. As a matter of fact, all I kept thinking about was how incredible and freeing it was and how I didn’t want the trip to end. That’s when I made the final decision to get rid of 80% of my belongings and go simple and tiny and on wheels.
It was a 9,600-mile cross-continent trip in the summer of 2017, that included 8 art festival shows in Chicago, that took me to 15 different states and 2 provinces, and from Napa to Montréal, that made me realize that I wanted to become home-free and live full-time in Gypsy Rose.
Photography has been a passion of mine since I was a teenager. I studied it as a minor in art college. From darkroom to digital, with the knowledge of photography that I gained combined with many life lessons, I gradually learned to “see” the world differently through the lens of my camera (and my iPhone). I had dreams of becoming a photojournalist when I was in my early 20s and now, thanks to technology, I feel that I have the opportunity to journal with photography and writing and share it with a wide audience. I also love writing and sharing information and have always pursued various methods of self-expression, something that I feel is vital for all of us to be able to communicate and understand one another.
As I develop this blog, my hope is that you will find inspiration in living with freedom, self-expression, creativity, and love in your life.
Thank you for coming along on this Happy Little Bird journey with me!
2020 Update:
After a number of synchronistic events, and after being posed with the challenging situation of living in 100+ degree temperatures in a 200 sq. ft. space inside of Gypsy Rose during the first two months of the pandemic, I was presented with an incredible opportunity to purchase a lovely home and art studio in the beautiful and magical high desert city of Sedona, Arizona. Gypsy Rose and I are now traveling only on the very rare occasion until the pandemic is over. We are happy and safe and enjoying life in a different light at this time. Hope you are all well too : )
(Photo of Carolyn by Mark Gebhardt Photography)
The Happy Little Bird 
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