Our Rig

It's time that we published a post featuring a very important member of Our Team, meet ...

LOAF

We purchased our Lance 855s truck camper in September 2013. We’ve camped with it, at some pretty spectacular locations with the intention of driving ' The Roads Less Travelled ' ... those places that most folks wouldn’t typically take other types of recreational vehicles to. You can read about all our road trips and overland travel (beginning in 1988) by clicking on LOAFin Around. As of June 2017, we’ve travelled over 66,000 kilometres with this current set-up. We purchased this truck camper because we were looking for a modest hard-side that we could take on rough roads that still had the features, capacities, and storage that we considered essential for an overland expedition rig.

BASECAMP 07.28.15 ... " Living In A Truck Camper "

SERIES Truck Camper Life - PART 4: Pre-trip Preparations

Living in a truck camper can be challenging ...

Short driving trips are easy to plan and pack for but longer ones often require greater effort. We travel in a very confined space in a TC (which most of us share with another person). It is necessary to try and maintain a sense of humour, but I think the most important thing is to be comfortable at all times. This has to feel like home since for several weeks or months at a time, it is. In order to accomplish this, pre-trip preparations are an absolute necessity.

There are many ways to be comfortable; the 'truck' part of your truck camper set-up has to have the things you need. If we spend long days driving we want nice music, snacks, comfy seats, cold drinks, GPS, perhaps portable Internet. You need to know the rig is safe and you are confident in its' abilities. You want to be ready for any emergency (roadside recovery kit, spare tire, flares, fluids, communications devices ...).

SERIES Truck Camper Life - PART 3: Living In A Truck Camper Is Good For Your Health!

Some Healthy Living

We're entering month four of living in LOAF (yep, FOUR) and I've been reflecting on the quality of our lives in this tiny (134 sq. ft) versus our lakefront home.

There are pros and cons to both of those scenarios, but I believe I'm healthier and more active living in LOAF. Being away from Canadian winter plays a large part in that ... but there are other reasons.

SERIES Truck Camper Life - PART 2: Necessary Skills & Mandatory Rules

ONE HUNDRED & THIRTY FOUR SQUARE FEET

Yup, that's what I said ... 134 square feet!

Our house is for sale. Once it's sold, our plan is to travel for an extended period of time. We've compiled a bucket list that includes several international trips, but additionally, a portion of our intended travel will be in this truck camper we call LOAF. We've completed road trips in the past of nearly 5 continuous months, but we've never tested ourselves beyond that. During this current trip we are focusing on and trying to identify any issues that could affect the overall enjoyment of a major lifestyle change like this ... do we have enough space to live comfortably, will we get bored, can we get along in such a small space, can we stay fit and healthy, will we miss family and friends, is LOAF road-worthy, properly outfitted, safe & secure? There are many questions that we need to answer.

SERIES Truck Camper Life - PART 1: Can You Make Gourmet Meals In A Truck Camper

Cooking in a 'wee' kitchen is always a bit of a challenge.  It takes imagination, organization, planning and patience.

Challenge #1 - Storing 'Stuff'.  

With a refrigerator of only 5 cu. feet (vs. your house fridge of between 18-30+ cu. feet), things must be bought in small quantities.  So, you don't buy for the week, you buy for the next day or two.  End result - a healthier lifestyle, you are always eating the freshest ingredients.  It also means less of the common fridge game "Oops Leftovers" better known as 'guess what this green fuzzy thing was'?  The downside is your costs increase and you are forced to buy the tiniest jar of mayo, pickles .... you get the picture.