Home on the Range
When I got home from Harper's Ferry with a few weeks to kill, I started planning a way to use this time as a potential lifestyle transition. Inspired by Strider's success at van life, I set out to turn my car into a platform for working and sleeping on the road. Potentially I could live in my car permanently, stopping just long enough to do my remote job and get enough exercise to be happy.
To get my feet wet in this world of off grid life, I did just enough work to create a drop-in sleeping platform for my car without any modifications to the interior. I cut out some plywood to fit snugly on the passenger side with about 26" of width at the narrowest, to fit a typical "wide" backpacking air mattress. A wonderful Exped Luxemat (which I got to try at Abby's apartment in Harlem) fits perfectly and with supreme comfort at this size. The back seat behind the driver still operates for passengers.
The next DIY project was cutting out window shades from Reflectix for privacy and sun reflection. Then I filled a couple of totes with camping and backpacking gear and hit the road.
My first stop was Nashville. I wanted to catch up with my brother's family and get my post-trail haircut. Here I observed that, in some ways, parenting can be just as intense and joyful as thru hiking. You're surrounded by people you love and you're working all day, except you don't get to quit if you decide you don't like it.
My next destination was visiting Strider for a car camping trip on the weekend of her birthday. I chose to cover the 674 miles over the course of three days, with two nights in the car to shake it down.
The first night was at Bird's Blue Hole in Missouri. I stopped at Fort Defiance to admire the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, then parked by a boat ramp after dusk and set up shop.
The second night was at Little Scotia Campground in the Mark Twain National Forest, also in Missouri. I arrived at around noon, went for a walk to the nearby lake, then napped and slept well.
I met Strider at Pottawatomie Lake in Kansas on Thursday night and stayed for the weekend. We cooked in her instant pot powered by a portable battery power bank. Trail away from trail, except with better food.
Friday morning we went to Tall Grass Prairie Reserve for a hike. Here we were treated to a close encounter with bison.
Something about the atmospheric dust and high altitude clouds make Kansas sunrises and sunsets spectacular.
The charm of life on the road has not worn off yet. There's also a practical appeal to my specific needs. I don't engage in my usual time-wasting activities because either they are not available or there is something within walking distance more interesting to engage in. Everything is always in reach. My space can be cleaned with minimal effort. I have few possessions with me that I don't need or use regularly.
Even if I stay in a nice hotel, hostel, or AirBnB one night a week for road relief, it's still cheaper than my mortgage. I now have networks on both coasts and the Midwest for friend visits. If I can figure out how to function at my remote job from the road, it could be the right lifestyle for me, at least for a while.
My next destination is Michigan to visit Pickup, who started a new job and bought his first house right after finishing the trail. Strider will also be driving up to exercise her return to road life.
