My GF, two dogs and I are moving out of our apartment into our 2 Overland rigs and finished 6×12 Enclosed OL Trailer full time. Ive done the basic research on it all but I would love to see what advice you all have to give about full-time overlanding or extended overlanding. Thanks in advance!
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You might want to check this thread, too, or chime in there as well:
Overlanding"Fulltime"???
As for advice, oh my, here's probably more than you might want.
* The 1st bit of advice I give, after being asked a lot on insta and elsewhere when folks hear I'm out adventuring full-time, is to give yourselves time to adjust to the big changes from apartment living and being in one place with the same roof over your head every night.
There's a two-week thing that happens to most folks--whether starting out on multi-month or year long journeys or just heading out for a few weeks--where they feel homesick, tired of being cold, or having to deal with smaller sleeping/eating/living quarters than they're used to, especially with someone else 24/7 who may not have the same ideas as you. There are any number of things that encourage the "What the holy hell was I thinking?" blues.
One couple wrote with questions. They'd bought a brand new Toyota truck, outfitted it to the max for overlanding, and sold their house. Neither had ever really adventured or camped much before, but were determined to start right out and go straight to full-time. They wrote "We've been out here two weeks and the weather has us on our knees! How do you do it? We can't take it!"
Another pair, mother and daughter going out west for close to a month, wrote and said at two weeks, "I think we're gonna bag the rest of the trip. We might go home. We miss the comforts, having our own space and a way to get away from each other and we want our own beds..." etc.
I told 'em all to stick it out and that they'd be happy they did. The married couple returned straightaway to their home state, sold the new truck they'd just outfitted, bought a big RV and went back out, changing their screen name from an overlanding one to RV'ing. That's okay, that's what they needed to do. The mother daughter stuck it out and had an absolute memory-making blast the rest of their adventure that they still talk about now, years later.
The lesson is, adventuring ain't always cracked up to be what you dream it will be. It isn't all having the blues permanently, either. The ups and downs can seem magnified without the solace of the same place to return to each night. You'll learn how to modulate. Consider it a fun challenge to overcome; a goal to achieve; "What can we change to make this better?" Little things can have a big impact. You'll find yourself enjoying your time on the road much more.
I see the two week blues in myself, too, every time I start back out after being somewhere for a month or two or longer. Around two weeks back on the road I get my groove back and can't see ever going back to sitting inside somewhere again for too long. I get excited to wake up with the sun every morning, pack up and hit the edge of camp and think "Okay...do I want to go left, or right, today?" Or just to get up and out and go walkabout for the day and let it unfold as it will, examining last night's animal tracks in the sand, documenting the latest blooms and blossoms, or whatever piques my interest. That's adventuring, to me.
* The 2nd bit of advice I find really worthwhile I got from a motorcyclist who explored Central America at length.
Slow down.
There's nowhere you really need to be than right where you are. The longer you stay in an area and fully explore it, the less money you spend on fuel and driving time. Are you on the road to explore, or to mostly drive from one place to another?
Slow down and enjoy where you are. The result is being able to stay out longer. AND, more importantly, you really get to know the people, culture, scenery and hidden spots of a place so much better. That's the primary reason I explore and adventure; to fully experience a place and understand it, whether the local flora and fauna that's new to me, the local culture and culinary delights, or whatever it is that intrigues and interests me at the time.
When you slow down and explore an area more, the locals often start recognizing you, nod at you on the street, and invite you into their world. That often means you get to see and do things you never would if only stopping for a night or two or just passing through. I was eating great authentic Mexican food on the border once and some locals came in. I was sitting at a table with the only spots left. They asked if I minded if they sat with me. I said "Sure, sit down!" and a discussion started. One gal turned and said "You're local, whaddya think about that thing planned for this weekend?" I was tickled to death they thought I was from there, scruffy lookin' desert rat that I was that day.
My last big adventure I stayed in a one hundred mile stretch for 17 weeks straight of an eight month long adventure, back country camping by myself, running into one small town or another sometimes 50-60 miles away for supplies, meeting all sorts of people both camping and in town, and had an absolute terrific time of it all.
I don't make any kind of itinerary any more, other than start point and where I want to stop at some point, like to explore the night sky because it's a good dark sky spot. Or a museum to check out a specific art exhibition; those sorts of things. I'm not too keen anymore on scheduling myself to attend big expos or events and commit funds to it either (some are wicked expensive now), because I know something may come up I'd rather be doing, or I may have road repairs, etc.
Same with committing to meet someone somewhere specific at some point in the future. I tell them "Hell, I'm not sure where or what I'm gonna be doing in three days much less later in the year when you're inviting me to drop by!"
* 3rd bit of advice:
You'll fairly quickly learn what is important to keep and what you can dispense with for gear, clothing, kitchen stuff, etc. You'll learn, too, that your sense of how to organize all those things before you left may change dramatically when you get out using it every day. I'm a firm believer in letting your gear tell you where it wants to live, then making a place for it there. Then it will always be where you left it. The less time you spend hunting for stuff, the more time you have to enjoy where you are.
That's what it's all about when full-timing; enjoying where you are to the fullest.
I could go on. . .
Hope you have the time of your lives and hope we meet up someday, somewhere out here.
'Til then, wishing you dry roads and open skies.
~ Road
Roaddude - Traveling Photographer/Writer/Artist On the Road In North America. Gear, reviews, people, places, and culture.
roaddude.com
