Ideas for mobile worker

[fezzek]

I'm not as adventurous as I used to be. My long trips are 4-5 days. Off grid is fine. Need to be able to do computer based work and have enough power either end of the trip. Ie. Drive close to where I'm going. Stealth sleep somewhere with cell signal. Work. Finish work and short trip to park/boondocking for 4 days then reverse the trip.

Any ideas for mobile working? 6.5ft bed. F150 with powerboost engine. Need a way to sit comfortably for 8 hours at a desk type position.

Martin

 

[ThundahBeagle]

No sure how old you are or what condition your back and knees might be in but I'm early 50's and I use a standup desk at work. Adjustable, really, but I stand more than 90% of the time. So I drive in 50 miles, an hour and 15 minutes to work, stand all day, and drive back 50 miles, an hour and 15. Unless traffic really sucks, then it's a longer drive. But I got to stand all day instead of sitting 8 hours plus 2 and a half more of driving.

I'm sure you don't want to bring an electric powered stand up desk with you, but if you purchased a "Vari-Desk" it might work if set on your open tailgate.

The VariDesk is a less expensive way to give employees a standup option if they have a stationary desk. It sits on the desk and with two spring loaded levers on either side can be raised and lowered probably a foot or two. Set your laptop on it and power from the truck or whatever.

 

[fezzek]

Almost 50. Stand up desks are ok. Too old to sleep on the ground any more though. Was looking at alucab so I could have some head room and maybe putting in a rollover couch seen in rv setups. Ie convert from couch to bed for stealth sleeping.

I like the powerboost for the built in 1500w of battery. Will probably add a 1500w goal zero in addition to 250w of solar.

If I can drive to national park entry points during the week nights and have long weekends on the parks or in remote camp sites elsewhere I'd be happy. A bit of luxury would be nice so fridge and cassette toilet and hot water would be great I think given it will only be short trips I can a bit of extra luxury and not be too worried about space.

Martin

 

[fezzek]

I even thought about mounting a 2nd monitor on the back door and being able to stream downloaded Netflix movie to it in the evening. Lol.

 

[PNW EXPLR]

I guess it depends on your budget. You mentioned an Alucab, so I am assuming the budget is pretty high.
Have you given thought to instead of building a truck mot do it all you just buy some gear that will allow you to get your work done? Like a larger tent with a cot, folding table and chair for work, a portable power source and solar panel, starlink....you could set up a pretty plush base camp for the fraction of the cost of an Alucab.

 

[John and Mandi]

We have a jack-knife sofa in our van and in a pinch I can use a tray table as a desk and work. It is slower going as I only use the laptop and forego the second monitor. It does make using the rest of the van difficult and since I don't travel alone I usually just use the tray table outside with a camp chair. If I were in need of a rig that was to be a mobile office some of the time I'd probably just get a four wheel camper and use the dinette. We know of many that work fulltime and they are either in a Fourwheel camper or a van. We prefer a couch over a dinette but for working the dinette does seem to be the way to go.

 

[fezzek]

I looked at 4 wheel camper and the supertramp option. They are nice, and certainly more compelling for office/living/working than a more overland focused option. I have a mental block in going to something that nice and that expensive though. Part of me is still clinging onto the "Walking in the wild and bivy bagging" phase of my life for weeks at a time, and the ice climbing/frozen waterfalls/high altitude climbs I used to do.

If I can accept that those days are fully behind me, then it would probably be the best option.

Martin

 

[John and Mandi]

I looked at 4 wheel camper and the supertramp option. They are nice, and certainly more compelling for office/living/working than a more overland focused option. I have a mental block in going to something that nice and that expensive though. Part of me is still clinging onto the "Walking in the wild and bivy bagging" phase of my life for weeks at a time, and the ice climbing/frozen waterfalls/high altitude climbs I used to do.

If I can accept that those days are fully behind me, then it would probably be the best option.

Martin

For a long time before the recent boom in options, the FourWheel was the U.S. overland truck camper of choice and they have travelled all over the world. Personally, it makes a great base camp for you to still explore on foot or climb and remain in both worlds (or take up surfing, kite boarding or whatever else). We have many friends that have double cab trucks, using the extra cab space as a gear locker, and a pop-up truck camper as the home. While we have only driven the Americas, the FourWheel camper held up the best compared to everything else coming out of the U.S. until the price point jumps considerably. There are a lot more options today so that limits our experience. If you were considering going fulltime or even setting off on a multi-country trip, it's worth the consideration. We are van people but the FourWheel definitely impressed us. You could always shop around for a used one or buy the shell only and build it out yourself.

 

[OTH Overland]

I do commercial building design and work from home, as such it allows me to travel as long as I can meet my deadlines. At home I use a conventional workstation with multiple monitors, but while on the road I use an ultral light LG 17" laptop with a 15" Asus USB secondary monitor (monitor plugs in with a single USB C cable to my laptop for both signal and power) laptop and monitor are right at an inch together when stowed, the monitor stand becomes a screen protector for travel. I typically use an adjustable height 2x4 folding table with a front runner chair for my workstation either in the roof top tent annex or a ground tent for working. otherwise can quickly set up in a motel, coffee shop or anywhere else. Not so good trying to work under the awning as the screen often gets washed out by bright light. A pop up screen room over a picknic table can also work if its not too bright out. Biggest issue so far is getting enough cell signal to hotspot, in the process of adding a weboost to the Jeep, and If we can get Michelle to a point where she can work full time out of office, we will likely add a Starlink setup to the mix.

 

[69machguy]

I'm not as adventurous as I used to be. My long trips are 4-5 days. Off grid is fine. Need to be able to do computer based work and have enough power either end of the trip. Ie. Drive close to where I'm going. Stealth sleep somewhere with cell signal. Work. Finish work and short trip to park/boondocking for 4 days then reverse the trip.

Any ideas for mobile working? 6.5ft bed. F150 with powerboost engine. Need a way to sit comfortably for 8 hours at a desk type position.

Martin

I have a Super Duty SBCC with an AT Habitat. I regularly work remote in my truck and, though it's a very well equipped "minimalist build" compared to a Four Wheel Camper, it does everything I need for both work and offroad fun. I can shoehorn my family of four into it for camping, but more often it's just my remote office or my son and I overlanding. Your F150 SB has nearly the same size bed as mine, but you didn't clarify cab configuration which is a factor for space/planning. Regardless, I agree with what others have mentioned 1) Four Wheel Camper and OEV are the bomb if you want plug and play, have the budget, and your payload can handle the weight, otherwise 2) examine some of the many great hybrid (self-build) options ... AT campers, FWC Project M, Alucab, GFC, poptop_overland, etc. and lastly 3) practice buy once cry once and design/fab your own stuff as able. Good luck!

Wally

 

[Boort]

No sure how old you are or what condition your back and knees might be in but I'm early 50's and I use a standup desk at work. Adjustable, really, but I stand more than 90% of the time. So I drive in 50 miles, an hour and 15 minutes to work, stand all day, and drive back 50 miles, an hour and 15. Unless traffic really sucks, then it's a longer drive. But I got to stand all day instead of sitting 8 hours plus 2 and a half more of driving.

I'm sure you don't want to bring an electric powered stand up desk with you, but if you purchased a "Vari-Desk" it might work if set on your open tailgate.

The VariDesk is a less expensive way to give employees a standup option if they have a stationary desk. It sits on the desk and with two spring loaded levers on either side can be raised and lowered probably a foot or two. Set your laptop on it and power from the truck or whatever.

This sounds like my old days. Had a Good manager about 10 years ago who got those of us that wanted them all Vari Desks (when they could no longer source a replacement tall chair for my permanent standing desk for a reasonable cost.) Took no time at all for me to get addicted to the Vari desk. So much so that when we al got sent home on short notice in 2020 I only went about 2 months W@H before I tracked one down on Craigslist that would fit my desk at home. Still stand 90% of the day but no longer have the 50+ min drive each way. :D

Another friend uses one of the Vari Desk Laptop models both when she is working at home and when she travels for her photography. (Makes a nice camp table too as we have it set up and rolled out the snacks while waiting for good light on some of our camping trips.)

Boort

 

[grubworm]

Ideas for mobile worker

all i know is twenty bucks is twenty bucks...

Mobile Massage Apps: The Complete Guide for Therapists

Mobile massage apps are growing rapidly in the U.S. and across the globe. A number of companies have launched in the massage-apps space.

www.massagemag.com