Date: Sat, 8 May 2004 00:08:26 -0400
Reply-To: Joy Hecht <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Joy Hecht <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU>
Subject: Re: Road Haus Two - about being on the road,
not so much about vanagons
In-Reply-To: <000501c4331c$5c39a8c0$1c11bb3f@earthlink>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Hi Chuck,
Sorry, I've been reading three days worth of old emails in backwards order -
I just got to your original post. I've interspersed a few more answers (in
addition to my previous one about cellphone service) below.
Warning! Long email ahead...
First - re that camping gear on the poptop racks - I'm carrying about
(guesstimate) 80 pounds on my poptop - fifty-pound kayak, perhaps ten pounds
for the racks, and a bag of paddles and other long skinny stuff that might
be another 20 pounds, maybe a bit less. I could raise the poptop along with
the boat, with some conniving (i.e. at around sixty pounds), I can't
possibly do it with the bag as well. With me and a taller, stronger male
person it's pretty easy (I'm not shy about asking for help). One guy I
asked said he would do it himself, and he couldn't. Make sure you can raise
your poptop with the gear on, if you're going to want to do that!
Did you see that Larry is selling his Thule gear compartment to put on the
racks? For a good price, too. Do remember (I speak from experience!) that
ANYTHING on your roof will probably get wet, unless you have it in drybags
(totally waterproof bags made for canoers or kayakers - can be immersed
without leaking). In a downpour anything else will leak. Though I suppose
those roof rack boxes like Larry's Thule thing must be properly sealed. My
vinyl bag sure isn't!
> We have our packing list isl complete...the only really issue is the roof
> rack...the plates are attached to the pop top...I have cross bars...just
> need to get the risers...all the estra camping stuff is bought...
>
> Big concerns and things we could use some help with:
> 1. Laptop on the road
> 2. Mac or PC...heard that Mac was much better at handling
> images...(pro/cons)
I've always used PCs, use the software that came with my camera (Fuji
FinePix A300, I think) to download it, and photoshop to tinker with it. I'm
not a graphics geek and my photos are each 600K. No problems with my setup.
I've been using a 3.5 year old Toshiba Safellite 4090 laptop. It's quite
outdated and seems to be almost at the end of its useful life, alas. Having
my poptop leak onto it in a downpour accelerated that process. Until that,
it worked fine. In my experience (5 or 6 laptops since 1988) they last
around 3 years, by then they are too slow for the software you need to run.
At least if you need to be compatible with the rest of the world, which I do
for work reasons. I've just replaced mine (today!) with a Toshiba A45
series S151. Laptops now are MUCH cheaper than at any point in the past
when I had to buy one - the one I just bought cost less than half what I
have ever paid before ($1200 vs. around $2500 in the past). They no longer
come with the software you need (MS office in my case) but that's relatively
cheap ($150). They pretty much all come with rewritable CD drives, so
storing photos on CDs is trivial. They also all seem to come with modems
(of course), wifi (internet access that only is useful if you also had a
satellite dish so you could communicate that way) and ethernet connections
(not useful on the road).
Macs are definitely the choice of high-end graphics people, but not
necessary for everyday work with photos. They are less susceptible to being
attacked by viruses - because they are less commonly used, the hackers don't
bother writing viruses or worms to go after them, it being easier to do more
damage going after Windows xp-based PCs. I've never used Macs - their users
swear by them.
I definitely don't carry my laptop around wherever I go. It's way heavier
than I want to carry all the time. Though sometimes I put it in my bike
paniers and ride off to a coffeehouse where I settle in and work for a few
hours - it's not too heavy for that. (perhaps 9-10 pounds including the AC
adaptor) I make an effort to leave it someplace not visible, though that
depends on where I'm parked. I guess I'm taking my chances. Stupid of me.
You'll need the hardware to connect your laptop to a 12-volt battery, don't
forget that. They run around $80-$100. Make sure you get one with a
connection that fits your laptop. Sold wherever laptops are sold.
> 3. How to get mail while underway
Several strategies are useful. First, you can get most of your financial
stuff electronically - bank statements, bills, etc., and pay them via the
web or by mailing checks. Second, make sure you know what bills come when
and how much. If they are always the same amount, bring a copy of an old
bill and simply send in your payments on schedule without getting the new
bill. Or arrange for automatic debiting for bills so you don't have to
worry about them at all. Cancel magazine subscriptions unless you want them
to pile up. Third, don't give people your address - tell them you don't
have one and they have to reach you by email.
Will you still have a home address, or are you dissolving your current
residence altogether? If you still have a home base, the best is if you can
have a friend go through your mail, discard the junk, put aside the routine
bills that you are already handling, and email you about the rest. That's
pretty much what I'm doing. My friend also has the info to deposit checks
in my bank account, like my tax refund and the rent (she rents my house).
You can receive mail at any main post office at "general delivery" plus the
city and zip code. (Small branch post offices don't do general delivery.)
They will hold it for you until you come pick it up. So if you know you're
heading someplace, you can have your trusted friend forward mail to you.
If you won't have an address at "home", there are a number of commercial
services that will provide you with an address and mail handling services
for a fee. I met some nice folks who had been living and traveling in an RV
for seven years, and they gave me a newspaper called Gypsy Journal -
www.GypsyJournal.net. They mention various such services, or clubs that
offer mailing addresses. One that they mention is the Escapees RV
Club -www.escapees.com, I think. Another is Alternative Resources, 3700 S.
Westport Ave, Sioux Falls South Dakota 57106. I don't know if you have to
have an actual RV to join. I thought they had mentioned one in Colorado,
too, but I'm not finding that. Gypsy Journal it pretty helpful on logistics
of being on the road, though the stuff specifically about RVs is not
applicable. They also publish a guide to free camping places, and other
useful things (for a modest fee).
Hopefully you do have an address to register your van, and that's not an
issue?
> 4. Where to find a reliable msg service.
?? What for? Email. Or messages left on your cellphone.
> 5. Which cell phone company is worth the trouble
See my previous email.
> 6. Is Onstar worth having
What's Onstar?
> 7. Using the power of FREE CAMPING
I distinguish between legal free camping and stealth camping. Most of the
posts I've seen in the vanagon lists are about stealth camping - just
parking somewhere and inconspicuously going to sleep for the night. With
two people and two dogs, that might be hard for you. I haven't tried it -
with a kayak on the roof and a bike on the back, I don't think I would ever
go unnoticed. I also don't like the idea of sneaking around, and I kind of
like some creature comforts. I also don't think it's particularly safe,
though of course with two people and two dogs that's less of a concern.
There are nice legal places to camp for free, like national forests, and
not-so-nice places where you can legally crash for free, like Walmart
parking lots. What's acceptable for you depends on how much you want your
creature comforts (toilet and shower), whether your refrigerator lights
reliably on propane, whether you have a spare battery, whether you carry a
porta-potty, whether you want to have relaxed evenings hanging out by your
van (rather than in it), and so on. If you like your creature comforts and
you want to be connected to the grid for light, refrigerator, or whatever,
you may find you want to pay for campgrounds. If you have a reliable
refrigerator (or you don't carry spoilable food), you have a backup battery
for light (and computer and music and anything else you might like), free
camping is practical. The parking lots that allow overnight parking
obviously lack charm and ambiance and showers (though the stores are open
24/7 so you can access bathrooms) - I regard them as a backup if all else
fails. The Gypsy Journal folks have a directory of free places to camp,
though they probably assume you have your own toilet facilities since they
cater to RVs. If you search on the web you'll also find a lot about places
to camp for free.
Another option you might want to consider, depending on your style, is
joining Servas (www.servas.org, I think). Servas is an international
organization of people who travel and people who live vicariously by meeting
travelers. The latter are willing to host the former in their homes for a
couple of nights for free. You have to apply to join Servas, write an
essay, get some references from your friends, and be interviewed. It costs
around $80 a year, I think. Once you are in (i.e. they have decided you are
not nuts, and not just doing it for free housing but are really interested
in meeting people), you put down a deposit on a book with the names and info
about all the Servas hosts in the US, or any other country you plan to
visit. Then if you want to stay with someone, you contact them a few days
in advance and if they can host you, they do. It's a great way to meet
people on the road. The dogs might be an issue - I'm not sure how that
would work. But I guess if you were sleeping in your van anyhow, then the
dogs would too, and it would be okay. I keep meaning to join Servas but I
haven't yet. I know people who have been both hosts and travelers, and it's
a good organization.
You might want to look at hostels, too. They are no longer called "youth
hostels" - they have more adults than youth these days, and almost everyone
is in a motor vehicle - no longer just bikers and kids backpacking on train
or bus. They are interesting places to meet folks, though obviously not
free.
> 8. Working up a realistic budget
It totally depends on your habits, obviously. A few rules of thumb -
campgrounds seem to run mostly between $20 and $25 - a few are cheaper, a
few are more. Pennsylvania state parks are cheap. Virginia parks are
expensive. I'm figuring at current gas prices that I spend around
$0.10-$0.11/mile for gas - it's one of many reasons why I try not to drive
so much, and move slowly. Of course there are other reasons as well!
Beyond that - do you eat out or mostly carry your own food? How much for
dog food? How much do you expect to do tourist stuff with entry fees? I'm
discovering that they are expensive! $13 to visit Monticello, $15 to visit
Falling Water. But worth it sometimes. Then you'll want to figure out your
predictable non-daily expenses - insurance (car, medical, etc.,), mortgage
if you have one, taxes, cellphone bill, ISP bill, other infrastructure of
living. And it sounds like you still have startup costs - computer, camera,
hardware to access the internet from your van (if you do), start-up repairs,
second battery if you don't have one yet, roof racks, etc.
Then there van repairs on the road and other unpredictable things. I kind
of treat them as a separate category of expense from day to day stuff, and
there's kind of a backup fund for them.
> 9. The biggie...managing digital images on the road (camera and laptop
> suggestions appreciated)
If you're not a serious photographer, I'd go with a low-end camera. I read
consumer reports and basically followed their recommendations, which
happened to coincide with the recommendations of a friend who had recently
bought one. I don't carry a printer - I don't need paper copies of my
photos and it wouldn't be worth the space. Most any laptop you might get
now (new, that is) can handle them with no trouble. The cameras come with
the equipment (software and hardware) to download pictures. They do eat
batteries. Oh, and one thing to bear in mind. Your camera will think your
batteries are dead, and won't work any more, but in fact there's a lot more
life in the batteries. I haven't dealt with a battery charger yet, so I
take AA batteries rejected by my camera as too weak and put them in my
walkman or my flashlight, where they work for a good bit longer. A battery
charger is a better idea, though - battery disposal causes environmental
problems.
I'm copying this reply to the VW van fulltimers list, which Larry created a
while ago. You might want to consider joining - they could be a source of
other useful into (though they tend to discuss the same kind of techie
issues as the vanagon list, alas.) I think you subscribe by sending an
email to vwvanfulltimers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
When are you planning to head out? Where are you starting from, where are
you going, and do you know how long you expect to spend on the road?
Good luck!
Joy
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Joy Hecht
and Matilda, 1989 Burgundy Vanagon
and Henrietta, sad-eyed orangutan who waltzes with Matilda and me
and Bicycle and Kayak, who ride on Matilda
For musings about life and the vanadventures:
http://users.rcn.com/jhecht/gypsy
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