Bye folks!

[USExplorer]

I haven't been posting here much lately, and I am about to quit altogether. Not because y'all aren't great guys; on the contrary, this is one of my favorite forums, and I've learned a whole lot about van dwelling from here. I have simply decided to enter corporate America and become a paid professional wanderer, e.g. an over the road truck driver. I have hired on with a reputable flatbed company out of Little Rock Arkansas and in a couple weeks I will hit the road with a trainer to learn all in the ins and outs of the industry. In effect I am only upgrading from a home on four wheels to a home on eighteen wheels. Buh-bye, free time.

I want to thank everyone who read and followed my last winter's trip log. I enjoyed sharing my adventures with everyone here and wish them the best in their own adventures.

Sincerely,

Luke (USExplorer)

 

[SoulRaven]

Good luck! I had a cousin that married a guy and he tried so many jobs and nothing stuck. They inherited some money, bought a used cab (truck front part) and started trucking all over the US and they did it for a number of years and just loved it. May you find the joy in it that they did!

 

[Wabbit]

Best of luck and have fun!

 

[jimindenver]

Good luck and drive safe.

 

[Sabatical]

I did enjoy reading about your journeys and will miss your contribution to the forum.
Here's to hoping you enjoy your new gig, have safe travels and good health.
Best of luck Luke!

Scott

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Tapatalk

 

[ArtW]

Good luck, I've thought about doing that myself

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

Hi Congrats on the new job. I got my CDL years ago and the one job i've had with it so far was flatbed trucking. It's my favorite type of trailer because you get the most interesting loads.

Def pop in from time to time and let us know how it's going. I think you'll find you do end up with some free time once you're out on your own with layovers, mandatory downtime, vehicle breakdowns, waiting for a place to open so you can get your trailer loaded, etc.

Me and my Uncle got our CDL's at the same time and he's on his 8th year of OTR. His only regret was waiting til he was 50 to get it.

 

[rvwandering]

Congratulations on your new job! You have what it takes to succeed at anything that you chose to do in your life.
We enjoyed reading about your adventures and also enjoyed meeting you at last years RTR. Come back and update us when you get the time.

 

[TooManyDogs]

I really hope you'll still pop in from time to time and let us know and about your new adventures. I was talking to a neighbor who is a trucker and he showed me the setup in his cab. I'm intrigued by the APU (and how to adapt it to van living) but think it'd be out of my price range. Good luck!

 

[Gigi]

Bye and best of luck!

 

[cyndi]

Wishing you success and happiness in your latest endeavor, Luke. It was a pleasure meeting you at last year's RTR. I hope you'll check in on occasion. I've a feeling you'll reinvent yourself another time or two.

 

[BobBski]

All the best to you!!

 

[DarrinDPrice]

Best of luck. Be safe out there. As a 29 year veteran of the trucking business I can't wait to get out of it. I'm shooting for 2 years from now to hang it up and move to the van life.

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

 

[sephson]

My dad spent a couple of years as an interstate trucker before I was born. Those years held some of his fondest memories.

Best of luck to you!

 

[eDJ_]

You may be in for a surprise once you are out there.   What you've leaned here about Van Travel may translate into your new live in some surprising ways.

You will probably see places along your ways that you will want to take note of and keep in a journal-bucket list.  Then at some later time have a rig to go back and visit.   Thus combining the best of both worlds.

I only say this cause I met one old Teamster who was doing that.   He had an old Chevy pick up in which he had set up a Perkins Diesel engine.   It was set back some distance and he had built a bit of a "dog house" under the dash.  He had an over drive manual transmission.  Don't remember if he had a 2 speed rear axle or not.  On the back of the pickup he had a metal roof that looked a bit like a wall tent.  Had a small pot belly stove (looked like an overgrown fire plug) in there for heat and a cook top.  Bed along the right side.   Painted a rust primer. 

He even had an odometer in the left front wheel hub.   Made it all custom to be a lot like his old 18 wheeler.

And he was dwelling in it in his retirement.   What I got a kick out of was a plywood box with a heater fan blower n it set up on the intake header.   She said he could switch it on from the dash when he got up in the mountains and the air got thin.  His solution to a turbo charger when he really needed one.  Otherwise he was normally aspirated. 

Said he still had some lady friends around the country he liked to visit.  LOL    He was nearly 80 years old.

 

[USExplorer]

Well, I hate to be the one who leaves and then shows up again, but...here I am. I got hired with a great trucking company on the first of January, then got fired on the last of January after not getting along with my trainer. Once again I am on the road. I drove out to Arizona about a week ago; right now I'm just outside Douglas AZ, volunteering on an organic farm.

I've pretty much quit blogging, but I bit the bullet and got a Facebook account. Search for Luke Kraska.

 

[Ken in Anaheim]

. I drove out to Arizona about a week ago; right now I'm just outside Douglas AZ, volunteering on an organic farm.

USEx. was the gig in Douglas thru WWOOF ?  I'm really curious, one way or the other, about how the experience is/was ?
Thanks...............KinA

 

[jimindenver]

Life happens sometimes USE. I thought I had a wonderful gig lined up, then the terms changed drastically.

 

[Gunny]

Welcome back. There are thousands of trucking companies and driving jobs. Finding a trainer that someone gets along with takes awhile. I wish you well

Rob

 

[TMG51]

Well, I hate to be the one who leaves and then shows up again, but...here I am. I got hired with a great trucking company on the first of January, then got fired on the last of January after not getting along with my trainer. Once again I am on the road. I drove out to Arizona about a week ago; right now I'm just outside Douglas AZ, volunteering on an organic farm.

I've pretty much quit blogging, but I bit the bullet and got a Facebook account. Search for Luke Kraska.

No need to feel like you have to leave the forum, either way.

Are you able to perform any kind of skilled labor? There's a shortage of such people in this generation, and there's plenty of money to be had just a bit further west, coastal California.