It started as a blog that morphed into an identity and is now a way of life.
My life as Mrs. Padilly and Donna Marie intertwines my past and present by combining my worlds of travel, art, design, and storytelling through the pen and lens of Mrs. Padilly.
I’m a creative professional, and from 1995 to 2011, I taught visual communications for a college near Houston, Texas.
I am also a traveler at heart, so in 2012, I launched MrsPadillys.com and began blogging about Texas Travel under the pen name “Mrs. Padilly.”
In 2014, to expand the reach of this original blog, I launched MrsPadillysTravels.com and began posting about the makeover/glamping of an old Casita travel trailer. This popular makeover series still brings new visitors to that site today.
But blogging took a backstage in 2020 when COVID hit. Just months after moving from my beloved Texas and relocating to Florida, along with my husband, Mike, our dog, Roxie, and our old cat, Mario.
We now reside on Florida’s west coast near Tampa, with many beautiful beaches, islands, and coastal towns within miles of our backdoor. We also have a new passion.
Meet Mokupuni
Our Island in the Sun.
It is a fact that camping has been an essential way of life for Mrs. Padilly since 2012, but boating has become even more essential.
For my husband Mike (aka the Captain), it has been a way of life for him since he was a child racing sailboats with his dad, Rex, better known as Pops.
This is a close-up of a watercolor painting I did of Pops sailing Seabird, a wooden boat he helped Mike build. With a prayer to God, He helped me capture Pops perfectly.
Because of the love of boating Pops instilled in Mike and Mike in me, my Captain has bought and sold no less than a dozen boats over the last 20+ of our marriage.
His boats have gone from big to small, too tiny, to way too big, then back to small again. We are now someplace in the middle (upper middle) with our new Ranger Tug 27 we call Mokupuni ~ Our Island in the Sun.
Mokupuni is our new happy place. Our camper on the water. A beautiful tug that is genuinely our Island in the Sun as we cruise along Florida’s coast, exploring turquoise waters and coastal towns.
And that is why I, Mrs. Padilly, am rebranding myself from a Glamper to the First Mate for Mokupuni.
Fair Winds and Following Seas,
Mrs. Padilly
Traveling and living creatively is a way of life for me.
MrsPadillys.com is my fun little thread on the web to share my latest travel, art, photography, and musings while cruising in Mokupuni.
Thank you for stopping by, and I’d be thrilled if you followed along. It’s always nice to travel with friends.
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(last updated January 15, 2023)
*Mrs. Padilly and the Padilly logo is a trademark of MrsPadillys.com.
Mrs. Padilly (aka Donna Marie Johnson) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mokupuni 