I’m feeling irritable today, restless. The weather has been cool with rain and I’ve been indoors all day—a mistake I should have avoided by doing something away from the camper before the sun went down. The camper is too small a space to contain a person without the aid of the outdoors as a living room proxy.
I think I’ll upgrade my camper this summer. I bought this (used 2016) Rpod 179 (17 feet of living space, 5 of those taken up with a permanent bed) in late 2022 for a few reasons, chief among them affordability and towing weight, but now that I’m finding a groove I’m getting more comfortable with living in a camper, on or off-grid. My finances have also improved over the past few years, partly because I made a commitment to say yes to every freelance writing job that’s come my way, and I’ve stuck to it.
When I bought this camper I had a 2003 Toyota Tundra with far less towing capacity and significantly worse gas mileage than the 2020 Ford with under 40,000 miles that I got last year. So my truck can handle more camper and I’d like more space, primarily for the water storage, a larger kitchen (esp sink), and a larger bathroom with a shower I can actually turn around in.
My thought is that if I’m going to live in a camper for approximately 3 months per year for the foreseeable future, it’s worth the investment, even though by definition an RV, or a boat, or a car (unless it becomes a classic) is technically a money losing endeavor. But then, life is ultimately a life-losing endeavor, so worrying about buying stuff you might enjoy that depreciates in value is no way to live, and if there’s one thing I’ve always been open to spending money on, it’s experiences, and a camper is a gateway to the kinds of experiences I want to have; namely, being able to take a shit with some legroom.
The problem is that many campers aren’t designed with extended stays in mind, and so don’t have adequate fresh water for things like frequent showers and all the domestic chores that come with a semi-hygienic modern life. But as boondocking (living off-grid) and remote-work become more popular with the rise of Starlink and soon-to-be Amazon satellite internet (coming in 2025 or so), the options are growing. Also, I really want to get a dog before next winter, and we’ll need a little more space, I think.
I’m trying to decide whether I should head 150 miles west and see the ocean or or not. Unsurprisingly, I’ve been exposed to very few bodies of water on this trip through the American southwest, a sharp contrast with the land of 10,000+ lakes and rivers I call home. The space that water takes up in your psyche as a human being who throughout most of history has had to live near a reliable source is a real thing, and you notice its absence when it is so very absent, as it has been throughout these hundreds and hundreds of miles of desert.
The only issue is that campsites along the beach in southern California take some planning and advance booking (not to mention $30-$50+ per night), especially for consecutive daily stays, a necessity if you’re working from your site. So it may not be doable, but I started looking today. Otherwise, Death Valley is next, which itself is experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime lake phenomenon, but I may stick with Joshua Tree for another week yet. There are still lots of hikes I want to do.
That’s it for today. I think I’m going to work on some fiction the next few days in my free time because my brain needs a workout. Until then, take care.
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