Life on the Road – 3-Month Review

• 644,969 Steps Walked
• 6,561 Miles Driven
• 9 States Visited 
• 10 National Parks
• 24 Books
• Blood Pressure – back to normal
• 100s of pictures – check some of them out right here!

My plans for the first few months were cut short, so I am back in Texas for a little while trying to survive winter months.  Soon I will head back west and then north to Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana for spring and summer. 

Here is a quick summary of my first 3 months.

RV – My house on wheels

I’m very happy with my choice of RV (why I chose this model?

Also check out my first RV mistake (picking the wrong rig)

It does a great job in steep mountainous terrain, it’s well insulated to keep the RV warm in the cold temps or cool in the heat. I am averaging a 15 degree difference between inside and outside temperatures.

Examples:

• On a cold 37 degree night my RV is at 52 without turning on the heat
• If it’s 100 degrees outside, it’s around 85 inside the RV

July through October the temperatures were very moderate and I have used minimal AC (just in August at Zion National Park in Utah) and no heat at all. Even on the colder nights I relied on my super warm wool blankets and down comforter. Here are a few screenshots from the temps I experienced from July 27th through October:

e-Bike

Next, I absolutely love my Gazelle Arroyo C8 electric bike. It seems the battery lasts forever, it gives me multiple support options from Eco, Tour, Sport, and Turbo modes. The 500Wh Bosch battery has a 100 mile max range!!! I don’t know whats the max speed, the most I have done is 26.8 mph!!! I always wear a helmet. After my fall a couple years ago I even bought knee and elbow pads, I’m just too embarrassed to put them on. 🙁

At 55 lbs it’s a bit of a hassle to load on the bike rack, but I now learned how to do it with minimum effort.

Solar

I have 2 x 180 watt monocrystalline panels installed on my roof, connected to just two – 100ah batteries. There were a couple places where I was not able to get ANY solar due to very heavy tree cover and/or clouds and had to run my generator for about an hour a day. But that was the exception. For the most part (99% of the time) I was able to capture enough to power my electronics and lights. I don’t have much inside of my RV that absolutely requires power. My fridge, stove and water heater all use propane.

Victron monitor died on me completely a few weeks after is was installed and the other controller that allows for switching between invert, off and charge is not dead, but also not working. I am very disappointed in those two components considering they were not even touched and only installed for a couple months before failing. I need to look into warranty for those products and have them replaced. Just another headache.

Aesop

Stuff & Storage

To my own surprise I dont miss anything I sold at my estate sale. Sometimes I wish I had a car, but have been managing without one.

I have too many kitchen gadgets and am thinking about sorting through evening to get rid of anything that hasn’t been used in the past 3 months.

Same with my clothes and shoes; I have more than enough. I only wore about 25% of the clothes I have in my RV. It seems that I have my favorites, and once I wash them they are in the front of my closets and I wear them again and again. I am also considering going through my clothes and donating.

Sheet and towels are same as clothes. I seem to rotate the same 2 sheet sets and haven’t even gotten to the ones stored in my sheet and towel bins. I might take them back home (to my mom’s) next time I go. I have way more than when I need.

It’s very surprising how little we actually NEED in comparison to what we have. And how simple life is when you have less choices.

Consumption

I’ve noticed that my waste footprint is much smaller now. When purchasing anything I now consider:

• Do I have the space?
• Is there a smaller version of it?
• Is there a product with less packaging?
• How much does this weigh?
• Can it fit in my small cabinet, closet or fridge?
• And lastly and most importantly – Do I REALLY need this?

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Quick Stats:

644,969 Steps Walked

6,561 Miles Driven

9 States Visited 

Texas ∙ New Mexico ∙ Arizona ∙ Utah ∙ Idaho ∙ Washington ∙ Oregon ∙ California ∙ Nevada ∙ Arizona ∙ New Mexico ∙ Texas

10 National Parks

Grand Canyon ∙ Zion ∙ North Cascades ∙ Olympic ∙ Mt. Rainier ∙ Crater Lake ∙ Redwood ∙ Yosemite ∙ Death Valley ∙ Petrified Forest

24 Books (with my star-review)

Fear by Bob Woodward ★★★★☆

Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin ★★★★★

A Secret She Kept by ReShondda Tate ★★☆☆☆

The Boy by Tami Hoag ★★★★☆

Ayiti by Roxane Gay ★★★☆☆

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters ★★★★★

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter ★★★★☆

1984 by George Orwell ★★★★★

3 Day Effect by Florence Williams ★★★☆☆

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood ★★★★☆

Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss ★★★★☆

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin ★★★★★

Sugar by Bernice McFadden ★★★★☆

The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens ★★★★☆

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert ★★★★☆

The Darkest Child by Delores Phillips ★★★★★

Queen Sugar by Natalie Bazile ★★★☆☆

The Sisters by Dervla McTierman ★★★★☆

The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B Du Bois ★★★★★

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? By Caitlin Doughty ★★★★☆

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin ★★★★★

The Ruin by Dervla McTierman ★★★★☆

Ann Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Ann Frank ★★★★☆

13 Hours by Mitchell Zuckoff and Annex Security Team ★★★★☆