Jennifer and Joe Remling from Atlanta decided in the summer of 2007 to quit their jobs and hit the road in an Airstream. They traveled around the country interviewing people who have also fired their bosses and went out on their own. The end result of their journey is a book aptly named ‘Carve Your Own Road‘.

If you didn’t think it was possible to just get up and leave your mundane and boring life, it’s time for you to get this book. In this recession when many of you are losing your jobs and looking for new beginnings, there is no better time to lighten your load and hit the road. It’s like hitting Control-Alt-Delete on your life.

Check out an interview of the Remlings on the Wall Street Journal Blog or read Jennifer Remling’s blog at CarveYourOwnRoad.com/blog.

over and out,
dan

While I am on a little bit of a boondocking roll, let me share my two cents on this ongoing discussion: Generator or Solar. It is really not a debate on whether one is better than the other. There are plenty of folks who’ve decided to use both technologies. For those of us who are on a budget, the main reasons to choose are the cost and storage availability.

A 120 watt panel mounted atop a late model Airstream

The ‘New-To-Us’ Honda EU2000i Generator

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The standard battery bank on the Airstream consists of two 12-volt group 24 batteries connected in parallel stored just in front of the trailer and behind the propane tanks. Group 24 batteries are designed to hold around 75 amp hours of power each. At a full charge, they store just enough juice for you to run all the lights in the Airstream for about 2 seconds. OK, maybe that is a slight exaggeration, but the power-hungry halogen bulbs Jackson Center, Ohio installed into our 25 foot International are not really designed with boondockers in mind. Bright and warm as they might be, they are very inefficient. Many people have swapped them out for expensive LED versions of these lights bought from Internet sources. The problem with this ‘upgrade’ is that in return of them running forever, you have to deal with these dim little blue lights that makes you feel like you are living in the International Space Station.

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A big part of going full timing is being able to adapt to changing environments. In some of our recent posts, we have focused a lot on the ability for us to boondock. That is because I have been obsessed with getting the Airstream a steady supply of portable power. As much as I would love to have solar panels installed on the Airstream, the cost is much more prohibitive than just getting a reliable generator. I know, I know, there are more ongoing costs with generators not associated with solar power like gas and maintenance, but I just can’t see myself spending upwards of $2000 to get the solar panel I want. It is a much more permenant solution that I would want to do it right when I am ready to spend that kind of money.

After scouring Craig’s List and eBay for the last 6 months, I finally came across a local seller with a lightly used Honda EU2000i generator. He was asking $900 for the unit that has maybe 10-20 hours of use. Relying solely on my negotiations skills, I walked away with it only $775 lighter in my back pocket.

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Towing an Airstream is not a simple task. It can weigh literally tons and the tow vehicle is the difference between a dream and a nightmare while you are on the road. For years I have always wanted a camper van. Having been a surfer for most of my life, I dreamed about road trips in my van with my buddies, packed full of camping gear and surfboards, exploring the coast of Baja Mexico for years on end. Well, Baja Mexico is no longer the paradise it once was thanks to Mexican drug lords, but I finally got the van of my dreams.

I decided on a GMC Savana 3/4 ton Extended van partially because I had $3000 worth of rebates through my credit card. When we were van shopping, we did not know that we would one day be towing our Airstream. The van was just going to be the tow vehicle for our little T@B trailer we owned at the time. The T@B being a small camper, we were glad to have the extra interior space for storage and traveling comfort. It was a complete overkill of a tow vehicle for the T@B trailer as thus, most of the time we would actually forget we are towing the little teardrop. But we sure were glad to not have to upgrade when the time came to move up to the Airstream.

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WiFi hot spots are one way for a road tripper to get online. But there are obvious limitations with it as discussed in a previous post as part of this ongoing RV Web series. One of the more widely available broadband option is likely right inside your pocket as we speak. Your phone.

With today’s smartphones like the Apple iPhone, Palm Treo or Blackberry, many of the Web tasks can be easily and quickly done directly from the phone. Email, SMS, IM and even Web browsing are possible with some of the latest mobile browsers. One of the best features on today’s smartphones has to be mapping tools such as Google Maps.

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Just as with any wireless hot spot, you are only able to get online if you are within about 150 ft of the access point. That’s if the campground has an outdoor antenna broadcasting its Internet signals. At the Shady Dell, the new owners offer free wireless Internet for all of the campers but only if you are within range. It seemed like that the access point is inside the registration office and not really designed for long range transmissions. It would only send a short 50 ft radius around the building.

The Shady Dell in Bisbee is known for its collection of antique trailers that are for rent to visitors nightly. They also have a number of pull-through and back-in spaces for people like us who brought their homes with them. Unfortunately, we are not within close-enough range to get a solid wireless Internet signal. Lucky for us, I came prepared with my own ‘space needle’ wireless antenna.

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