It's a little hard to place this blog in the correct genre, since it's a hybrid -- or "bastard" if you prefer. RV, travel, camping, doggie outdoor lifestyle, walking/hiking and bicycling are all accurate phrases, but it doesn't fit cleanly into any of these pure categories. All in all, this pleases me. I can't imagine a better way to camp than with a smaller and less expensive RV, a dog, and a mountain bike.
While readying my rig to start traveling again, it was profoundly satisfying to arrange the contents of my cargo van, yesterday. It was probably the same primal satisfaction that any animal gets when they rearrange their den or nest. So why didn't I ever experience that satisfaction when I owned a regular stick-and-brick house?
Most of the water that I use when boondocking is carried in the standard 5 gallon jugs you would buy at Walmart. Memories certainly came back when I started to fuss with these water jugs again; more effort is expended with getting water and using less water than just about any other issue, when backcountry RV camping.
This effort never bothered me. In fact it always seemed completely healthy to value water and conserve it accordingly. What a difference there is between RV boondocking and the water-use habits of ordinary life in a house: washing the car, watering the lawn, blasting dishes at the sink, using a gallon of water to flush the toilet, etc. Which of these examples is the reductio ad absurdum?
Somebody living in a small space such as a boat or RV has to relearn so many habits. Generally, I liked doing this. But one habit was my undoing: call it the One Hand Syndrome. I was always locking or unlocking, zipping or unzipping something with my good hand, the left, while carrying something in the right hand. For five minutes I would piss and moan about the damn zipper or lock not working right, before I would put the object in the right hand down, so that both hands could be used. This frustrated me for years; I never conquered it!
While readying my rig to start traveling again, it was profoundly satisfying to arrange the contents of my cargo van, yesterday. It was probably the same primal satisfaction that any animal gets when they rearrange their den or nest. So why didn't I ever experience that satisfaction when I owned a regular stick-and-brick house?
Most of the water that I use when boondocking is carried in the standard 5 gallon jugs you would buy at Walmart. Memories certainly came back when I started to fuss with these water jugs again; more effort is expended with getting water and using less water than just about any other issue, when backcountry RV camping.
This effort never bothered me. In fact it always seemed completely healthy to value water and conserve it accordingly. What a difference there is between RV boondocking and the water-use habits of ordinary life in a house: washing the car, watering the lawn, blasting dishes at the sink, using a gallon of water to flush the toilet, etc. Which of these examples is the reductio ad absurdum?
Somebody living in a small space such as a boat or RV has to relearn so many habits. Generally, I liked doing this. But one habit was my undoing: call it the One Hand Syndrome. I was always locking or unlocking, zipping or unzipping something with my good hand, the left, while carrying something in the right hand. For five minutes I would piss and moan about the damn zipper or lock not working right, before I would put the object in the right hand down, so that both hands could be used. This frustrated me for years; I never conquered it!
Comments
Your timing is great in that summer lies in wait... no wintery limits on where you can go before settling in somewhere in or near the desert southwest.
But even if you don't get our of the four corner states, it will bring a fun and new perspective to your blog, and maybe even a few of those touchy feelly "postcards" of loathsome scenery.