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 ...).

BASECAMP 07.26.15 ... " From SEA to SEA to SEA "

... and all those places in between, we shamelessly promote travel and adventure in CANADA!

The Gate, South Nahanni River, NT

BLOG Layout

A number of text files that I had created to improve navigation in this Blog Layout have disappeared. Those files were located on the left and right sidebars. Apparently, text gadgets, unlike other types of gadgets are NOT automatically backed-up by the BLOGGER application ... something I just found out.

The only solution presently, is to recreate all those text files as new gadgets and this will take some time. I apologize to anyone following the blog. Anyone who is using BLOGGER, take note and create your own backups of text documents in case you need to restore ... I know I will be!

UPDATE 1: The problem has now been reported through a blogger community forum and I understand has been escalated to a development team. Hopefully a solution can be found.

UPDATE 2: Text gadgets can be created once again. However, I was unable to recover any of mine. I have recreated them all, saved them as Word files in case the problem re-occurs and restored the original Blog Layout. Big, thanks to the blogger techs!

Crusty ... feeling better now

BASECAMP 06.26.15 ... " Pre-trip Trans-Labrador Highway "

WE'RE going for a drive to ...

We've completed some service and upgrades on the truck and camper. Helen's preparing the food supplies and packing while I'm assembling any gear we'll be taking with us this trip. We have a few responsibilities to attend to, but I expect we'll get away within the next 10 to 14 days. 

BASECAMP 06.24.15 ... " My THIRD Epiphany "

WE took occupancy of an unfinished home in August 2007 and in May 2015, after painting out the trim in the Audio Video Room, we had officially completed it ... close to  eight years later! 

New Facebook Group - Canadian Truck Camper Owners

We love to travel in our truck camper, to share our travels, experiences and ideas with others. 

We have joined various truck camper associations/groups/meetings and thoroughly enjoy being part of the discussions. However, we feel the need for a group with a more Canadian perspective on travelling in a truck camper/RV.

Did you know that Canada is the second largest country in the world (2nd only to Russia), yet has a population of just under 36 million (less than the population of California at 38.8 million). Therefore, owning and travelling in a truck camper is very different than elsewhere. 75% of our population live within 161 KM (100 miles) of the Canada/US border, leaving vast areas of under-populated wilderness to explore. These facts alone change the way we live and travel in our truck campers.

Seeing Things: Part 2B - PEOPLE (Children)

This is the a continuation of my blog series dedicated to taking the time to stop and see the amazing things that go on around us, this time it is children. 

I have always found children fascinating to listen to and to watch.  I love the honesty, the curiosity, the imagination, the laughter and the trust.  Going through our photo collection the other day, I came across many pictures of children, that made me remember other times, situations or made me chuckle.  Here are a few that I think are worth sharing.

The Dreamer  When my niece was 5 years old we had a family gathering in Tennessee.  While everyone else went hiking, I took her and her older sister & friend,  to Dollywood (yep, the home of Dolly Parton).  After riding the 'big people' rides, I asked Trestin if she'd like to go to the 'younger kids' section.  Off we went to the carousel, where she carefully eyed all of the horses, elephants & assorted creatures going round and round.  She picked a beautiful blue dragon to ride.  As I stood beside her, she looked at me with these huge eyes and declared in a very serious voice "I have dreamed of riding a dragon my whole life".  At five, her life was now complete.

Homestretch

On November 8th, 2014 ... I  S t o o d , sheltered and protected, in a small grove of tall, majestic Eastern White Pine.

I was just outside the front door of our house.

It was late in a Canadian Autumn ... I was understandably nervous.

 And ... I was alone.

A solitary snowflake floated innocently past my left eye. 

And ... I panicked!

I quickly shut that eye and stumbled (almost) blindly into the house. 

.

.
I re-emerged 12 hours later ... but, I was cautious!

Thankfully, LOAF was already fully serviced and outfitted. We left CANADA, early that morning. It was a clear day, we slowly worked our way south and we left that snowflake well behind us. We followed the suns' warmth and wandered, mostly in Florida, for the next 107 days.

 

SCUBA Diving & Snorkelling on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef

Journal Entry: Tuesday, March 03 - Wednesday, March 18
Taxi from Akumal to the ferry dock in Playa del Carmen, a ferry to San Miguel and then a taxi to Hotel Cozumel & Resort on Cozumel Island.

 Cozumel Ferry Dock

Brief Stays On MEXICO's Yucatan

Journal Entry: Monday, February 23 - Tuesday, March 03
Nancy and Jim drove us to the Orlando Airport. We landed in Cancun, MEXICO and from there, took a hotel van shuttle into Playa del Carmen. We'll spend three nights there and visit with my brother Tom and wife Peggy, who are renting a condo in the area. There's also a chance for us to see Phil & Rose Fawna when we are there ... I haven't seen Phil since an Algonquin PP canoe trip, probably 30 years ago! 

At Papa Charlies', Playa del Carmen (clockwise lower left) ... Tom   Peggy   Helen   Dann   Phil   Rose

The Forest People

We've Temorarily Split OUR TEAM 

Helen & I will be flying to MEXICO for our next adventure. LOAF will be resting next to Nancy & Jim's park model in central Florida. All his mechanical services will be disconnected, everything that can be locked up, turned off, put away and secured ... will be, and LOAF will be left in standby mode... and, hopefully, will not have another adventure of his own. If you recall the last one, it was when the residents at Rock Creek CG in Florida tried to set him on fire (read about it here), during their 2013 New Years Eve celebrations ... their average age is around 79 and they're a wild,  crazy bunch!

Immigrants, Indians, A Voyageur Canoe Man and Al Capone

As travellers today, we are all so very fortunate! 
There was a time ... not too recently ... when people did not have the opportunity to travel as we can today.

My maternal grandfather lived to be 92 and my maternal grandmother 87. 

Neither, was ever a licensed driver, owned a vehicle or even, drove a vehicle that I know of. 

Seeing Things: Part 2A - PEOPLE (Adults)

This is the second part of my blog series dedicated to taking the time to stop and see the amazing things that go on around us. 

We have seen and met many, many wonderful people throughout our years of travel.  So many, that, today I am just going to highlight the 'adults' (or should I say those over the age of 18 since the term 'adult' implies a certain level of maturity).  I will leave the children until another day.

There are so many interesting people in the world.  If you stop and watch, they will truly fascinate and never cease to amaze you. Here are a few true encounters (or observations):

Talking With Americans

I have been reading a lot of travel blogs lately and a common thread runs through many of them ... that intense interest many Americans have in travelling to Alaska. We have been questioned so frequently during this current trip and over the past several years, about Alaska, that it has prompted me to write this post.

Seeing Things: Part 1 - SIGNS

We are very fortunate that we are retired and have the time to look around us, observe and enjoy what the world and life has to offer. 

There are so many interesting (and funny) things going on that it is often easy to miss them.

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.

... so, YOU Think YOU'VE Travelled? ... HA!

As travellers, most of us probably believe driving a few thousand kms a year or passing through the borders of a couple of the world's countries in any given year is impressive.

On the other hand ... NASA's HMS Challenger, launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida ... flew 10 missions, spent just 62 days in space and travelled approximately 41.5 MILLION kms in that time! That translates into almost 670, 000 kms / day and they accomplished all that in space!

GEAR REVIEW: Montague Crosstown Folding Bikes

We've ridden more than 700 kilometres on these new bikes, so now is likely an appropriate time to do a realistic review.

But, before I do that ... let me Review My Riding Performance on this bike, by recounting yesterdays' real-life experience. 

Downtime

We can't be busy every day all day ... 

Up late, still catching up on a couple of previous, past midnight nights at music concerts in Clearwater. We're not old yet, just older ... any 'partying' time after 9:00 pm takes us days to recuperate. For lunch today ... a big bowl of 'really good' homemade clam chowder at the Turtle Beach Pub and Grill across the street from the campground. We welcomed the hot chowder, it's a little cooler now (high of 18C @ midday) ... brrr!, not Canadian brrr ... just, Florida brrr!

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.