Cy_5th
Well-known member
I have reached my one year anniversary of, van life "bay-beh". Fulltime boondocking and staying at campgrounds.
I will celebrate by getting my first tattoo. It would be of Half Dome Yosemite with clouds outlined in the lower foreground, resembling a marine layer fog bank, encompassing the base- it's blank for future tatts. I have to have the Van in there.somewhere, with Chester the dog. Any artists out there that can draft something, a design, to give to a tattoo artist , I will buy it. Anyway, I just wanted to keep it short and sweet, thanks for reading. Lets go for another year.
Since I am still working, a hybrid work schedule, I follow a routine that has been working for me and the dog Chester. We are doing well. And having fun while we are at it, lol. I don't know who is having more fun the dog or me lol. Having fun is a must and has been a part of this routine. Working remote is real fun. I've remote worked at cafes, breweries, casino parking lots, rv parks, state parks, campgrounds, national parks. When it came to work, the pandemic, probably, was the best thing that ever happened to this hard working individual who worked since the age of 18, career mode - full time in office.
I only get four days of off the grid status basically then I have to go back to the office and boondock. So I can't go too far unless I let the cool bossman know. But that is an ace up my sleeve I will use when I need to.
This is nothing new to "nomad" life. I shower and work out at my work gym. They have great facilities for all that. I just wish they had a laundry room. So I take care of that either at RV parks or laundromats. Laundromats are expensive. Glad I am a minimalist.. I don't have alot of stuff., two - three light loads at the most. Add a load for the dog stuff (towel, dog sweater, rain jacket, bed cover ) which is not washed all the time.
For water I have a few options. A community center which has a handle on the spigot. A church which doesn't so I have a key for that. I am just trying get some holy water god. Or, country fill my 5 gallon jug at this grocery store for $2.50/ 5 gal. The places I boondock , so far law enforcement has not given me any problems. I have gotten a warning/sticker to move my van which was boondocked near work. I called the officer explained my situation and then he told me what to do to reset. Never got a sticker since. Been at the same place.
Next, thank god, for this free rv waste disposal site I go to once a week. I only have a 12.5/gal black tank. And when I first started going there I found out it was just recently built/constructed. It's a 20 min drive from where I usually work. The drive, I get to recharge my house battery. So it works out. There is another disposal site but that would have cost me an expensive toll fee to get to every week crossing a bridge. So I guess this is destined to be. I think I am destined to this.
So that mostly takes care of the necessities.
The Van. No problems so far. On the mechanical side got all the required maintenance done. Looking forward to do my own oil change this year lol. Because this was a new van I understand why I had to tighten up the hose clamps on the coolant hoses on the inlet and outlet sides of radiator which was leaking where the plastic meets the rubber. I am just glad I had the tools. No leaks since I done this. The sliding door bug screen that they put into this van is poorly designed. They used cord instead of wire and its not smooth. I used it alot. The cord started fraying which made the screen inoperable. Getting it replaced this month.
The outlook for the future. Looking forward to Yellowstone (few months), Joshua tree, Pinnacles (this year). Fishing more too (already). A visit to Quartzite.
Also nothing to do with van life but an Amtrak trip, Zephyr train, to Chicago is now on the radar for this year.
I would like to give a shout out to the chat crew who I chat with on tues, friday, and Sunday nights. Very knowledgeable, insightful, listeners, alot of LOLs across the screen.
-Cy
I will celebrate by getting my first tattoo. It would be of Half Dome Yosemite with clouds outlined in the lower foreground, resembling a marine layer fog bank, encompassing the base- it's blank for future tatts. I have to have the Van in there.somewhere, with Chester the dog. Any artists out there that can draft something, a design, to give to a tattoo artist , I will buy it. Anyway, I just wanted to keep it short and sweet, thanks for reading. Lets go for another year.
Since I am still working, a hybrid work schedule, I follow a routine that has been working for me and the dog Chester. We are doing well. And having fun while we are at it, lol. I don't know who is having more fun the dog or me lol. Having fun is a must and has been a part of this routine. Working remote is real fun. I've remote worked at cafes, breweries, casino parking lots, rv parks, state parks, campgrounds, national parks. When it came to work, the pandemic, probably, was the best thing that ever happened to this hard working individual who worked since the age of 18, career mode - full time in office.
I only get four days of off the grid status basically then I have to go back to the office and boondock. So I can't go too far unless I let the cool bossman know. But that is an ace up my sleeve I will use when I need to.
This is nothing new to "nomad" life. I shower and work out at my work gym. They have great facilities for all that. I just wish they had a laundry room. So I take care of that either at RV parks or laundromats. Laundromats are expensive. Glad I am a minimalist.. I don't have alot of stuff., two - three light loads at the most. Add a load for the dog stuff (towel, dog sweater, rain jacket, bed cover ) which is not washed all the time.
For water I have a few options. A community center which has a handle on the spigot. A church which doesn't so I have a key for that. I am just trying get some holy water god. Or, country fill my 5 gallon jug at this grocery store for $2.50/ 5 gal. The places I boondock , so far law enforcement has not given me any problems. I have gotten a warning/sticker to move my van which was boondocked near work. I called the officer explained my situation and then he told me what to do to reset. Never got a sticker since. Been at the same place.
Next, thank god, for this free rv waste disposal site I go to once a week. I only have a 12.5/gal black tank. And when I first started going there I found out it was just recently built/constructed. It's a 20 min drive from where I usually work. The drive, I get to recharge my house battery. So it works out. There is another disposal site but that would have cost me an expensive toll fee to get to every week crossing a bridge. So I guess this is destined to be. I think I am destined to this.
So that mostly takes care of the necessities.
The Van. No problems so far. On the mechanical side got all the required maintenance done. Looking forward to do my own oil change this year lol. Because this was a new van I understand why I had to tighten up the hose clamps on the coolant hoses on the inlet and outlet sides of radiator which was leaking where the plastic meets the rubber. I am just glad I had the tools. No leaks since I done this. The sliding door bug screen that they put into this van is poorly designed. They used cord instead of wire and its not smooth. I used it alot. The cord started fraying which made the screen inoperable. Getting it replaced this month.
The outlook for the future. Looking forward to Yellowstone (few months), Joshua tree, Pinnacles (this year). Fishing more too (already). A visit to Quartzite.
Also nothing to do with van life but an Amtrak trip, Zephyr train, to Chicago is now on the radar for this year.
I would like to give a shout out to the chat crew who I chat with on tues, friday, and Sunday nights. Very knowledgeable, insightful, listeners, alot of LOLs across the screen.
-Cy
