- Joined
- Aug 10, 2016
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What do I really need?
When I left my first wife, I moved into a run-down 5 bedroom house I was able to rent from some friends, cheap. I was only there to ensure it was 'lived-in'. They were renting lots out and the house just happened to be on the land when they bought it.
I used one bedroom and the bathroom. Yeah, it had all the rooms available to it, but they usually ended up just collecting stuff my friends would leave there because they didn't have room at their own places.
When I moved to another city, I rented a one-bedroom apartment. It had the standard bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and living room area. I slept on a camp cot in the living room, next to my computer desk, the only furniture I ever had in the place. Somehow, stuff started gathering in the unused spaces, and I had to get rid of most of it before moving in with my then-girlfriend (now wife).
I think some of us aren't really comfortable with having too much space, or we just aren't used to it. I lived in the tiny sleeper of a semi-truck for over 2 decades, and that was all the space I needed. Showers, entertainment, etc. weren't a problem. Showers usually came with every fuel purchase, and my primary means of entertainment was in books. Even that has lost most of its bulk, with most of my current library residing in my e-reader. (I still have quite a few physical books, but only a few I'd keep, in a paring-down)
Now there's Youtube and other forms of entertainment, but all still residing on that tiny electronic wonder. I can also work my full-time job between a laptop computer, a cellphone voip app, and a decent internet connection.
I've caught myself waffling between my HHR and Suburban. I don't have many other options, for reasons I don't care to relate in public. The idea is to sell one and keep the other. The HHR can't tow much, rated at 1000/100 (trailer/tongue), but has been reliable over the last 6 years, and is decent on gas.
The Suburban is a lot thirstier, but can also handle a trailer that would be downright luxurious to me. Fuel mileage would be mitigated by not driving 60 miles round trip every day like I did before we virtualized our office.
However...
In my last trailer, a 16' Panther, I fell back to my Trucker mode, and only really occupied the bed itself. If I wasn't outside doing something, or working (drove water trucks for oil companies), I'd just hang out on the bed. The dinette got no use... the bathroom had been gutted, so I used the gas station nearby for that. Cleaned up with stored water in the camper, and was able to shower on a fairly frequent basis at the truck terminal. I had a propane stove installed and checked out, but I didn't use it. I warmed food on a folding sterno stove, and ran a space heater on an extension cord (with permission from the land owner).
So... what's all this leading up to? I'm not sure. It's tempting to find a trailer for the Suburban, sell the HHR to help fund, and just go with that. I still may.
But there is a LOT of pull to lead a more monastic-nomadic lifestyle. It's kinda like I used to joke about when I rode a motorcycle every day, and later when I rode my bicycle everywhere... Can't have a junky car if there's nowhere to put it all.
You don't really even need an air conditioner if you are able to follow Bob's advice on seasonal movement, as the weather out west is usually dry enough that a tiny swamp cooler will take care of most cooling needs, and of course, much has been written about portable heat.
Even if not a "rest of my life" mode, I think it would be a good way to live for a while, just to get clear of everything and be myself. The options would be limited with an HHR, and that might be a good thing. I'd probably go for a Runaway, as these fall within the tow limits of the car, and the car itself has a surprising amount of space inside for what it is. The camper would be larger inside than most of the truck sleepers I had, some of which didn't even have headroom enough to sit up.
As with any of my earlier posts, this is more an outlet for my thoughts than an actual plan. It helps to get it on screen, just to keep everything in order. If you have input, it is, of course, welcome. Negativity, for the sake of negativity, can be left outside.
I've lived a very nomadic lifestyle for a couple decades (truck, no home, used my parents for mail), so this ain't my first rodeo... it's just a new way of doing it, which will allow me to actually visit all those places I had to pass while in an 18-wheeler.
When I left my first wife, I moved into a run-down 5 bedroom house I was able to rent from some friends, cheap. I was only there to ensure it was 'lived-in'. They were renting lots out and the house just happened to be on the land when they bought it.
I used one bedroom and the bathroom. Yeah, it had all the rooms available to it, but they usually ended up just collecting stuff my friends would leave there because they didn't have room at their own places.
When I moved to another city, I rented a one-bedroom apartment. It had the standard bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and living room area. I slept on a camp cot in the living room, next to my computer desk, the only furniture I ever had in the place. Somehow, stuff started gathering in the unused spaces, and I had to get rid of most of it before moving in with my then-girlfriend (now wife).
I think some of us aren't really comfortable with having too much space, or we just aren't used to it. I lived in the tiny sleeper of a semi-truck for over 2 decades, and that was all the space I needed. Showers, entertainment, etc. weren't a problem. Showers usually came with every fuel purchase, and my primary means of entertainment was in books. Even that has lost most of its bulk, with most of my current library residing in my e-reader. (I still have quite a few physical books, but only a few I'd keep, in a paring-down)
Now there's Youtube and other forms of entertainment, but all still residing on that tiny electronic wonder. I can also work my full-time job between a laptop computer, a cellphone voip app, and a decent internet connection.
I've caught myself waffling between my HHR and Suburban. I don't have many other options, for reasons I don't care to relate in public. The idea is to sell one and keep the other. The HHR can't tow much, rated at 1000/100 (trailer/tongue), but has been reliable over the last 6 years, and is decent on gas.
The Suburban is a lot thirstier, but can also handle a trailer that would be downright luxurious to me. Fuel mileage would be mitigated by not driving 60 miles round trip every day like I did before we virtualized our office.
However...
In my last trailer, a 16' Panther, I fell back to my Trucker mode, and only really occupied the bed itself. If I wasn't outside doing something, or working (drove water trucks for oil companies), I'd just hang out on the bed. The dinette got no use... the bathroom had been gutted, so I used the gas station nearby for that. Cleaned up with stored water in the camper, and was able to shower on a fairly frequent basis at the truck terminal. I had a propane stove installed and checked out, but I didn't use it. I warmed food on a folding sterno stove, and ran a space heater on an extension cord (with permission from the land owner).
So... what's all this leading up to? I'm not sure. It's tempting to find a trailer for the Suburban, sell the HHR to help fund, and just go with that. I still may.
But there is a LOT of pull to lead a more monastic-nomadic lifestyle. It's kinda like I used to joke about when I rode a motorcycle every day, and later when I rode my bicycle everywhere... Can't have a junky car if there's nowhere to put it all.
You don't really even need an air conditioner if you are able to follow Bob's advice on seasonal movement, as the weather out west is usually dry enough that a tiny swamp cooler will take care of most cooling needs, and of course, much has been written about portable heat.
Even if not a "rest of my life" mode, I think it would be a good way to live for a while, just to get clear of everything and be myself. The options would be limited with an HHR, and that might be a good thing. I'd probably go for a Runaway, as these fall within the tow limits of the car, and the car itself has a surprising amount of space inside for what it is. The camper would be larger inside than most of the truck sleepers I had, some of which didn't even have headroom enough to sit up.
As with any of my earlier posts, this is more an outlet for my thoughts than an actual plan. It helps to get it on screen, just to keep everything in order. If you have input, it is, of course, welcome. Negativity, for the sake of negativity, can be left outside.
I've lived a very nomadic lifestyle for a couple decades (truck, no home, used my parents for mail), so this ain't my first rodeo... it's just a new way of doing it, which will allow me to actually visit all those places I had to pass while in an 18-wheeler.
).
