january 29, 2014
it's finally starting to warm up!! we woke up in the camper (!!!) this morning to sun. the grass is green!! i'm still wearing a hoodie and a toque, but no jacket! things are looking up - and it's only supposed to get warmer as the day goes on.
we had a really nice visit with jenna in dallas last night. went out for mexican food (again. i'm not complaining, it's spectacular food) and drank some wine and chatted for hours. it's so lovely to see familiar faces when we are so far from home :)
today we are heading for houston, a short day of driving. we are going to do some last-minute running around before heading to mexico in the morning. going to pick up a few things like crocs (MOM - i realized i left mine in calgary, heh, sorry for making you look for them!) and a tarp. we're also hoping to find a central/south american road atlas - we bought a canada/usa/mexico one for $7, but central/south america seems harder to come by. our GPS has started working (we assume it was protesting the cold weather earlier), however we do not have 100% of the maps for central/south america, and would like to have a hard copy just in case something happens to the GPS again.
update: our heroes of the day are the folks at key maps, on alabama st in houston! i called to ask if they had the maps we need, and they did, however the lady said they wouldn't stay open after 5:30 - it was 5 and we were about 35 minutes away. we went anyway, but got bogged down in traffic and didn't arrive until almost 5:40. well, i guess the lady we talked to left for the day, but the other employees had stayed, and even pulled out the south/central america maps for us so that we wouldn't have to search around for them. we got detailed road maps of mexico and south and central america for just under $40 - money well spent, considering our GPS doesn't have full maps, and hasn't been the most reliable creature thus far.
as i write this, we are driving through rush hour traffic in houston - heading to do our shopping, then to stay with my lovely friend leaha and her family. mike says that houston reminds him of futurama, with all the huge freeways and buildings. i don't know if it's because we have been skirting all of the big cities so far, but houston seems gigantic! it's the largest city in texas, anyway. we have started seeing both palm trees and mega-churches, so i guess we're at net zero for cool things today.
we're still a few hours from the mexico border, so we're going to actually set an alarm tomorrow and get up early, so that we can be sure to arrive at the border nice and early in the day. tonight we also need to cross reference our GPS with the information about places to camp, so that we know where we can stay in mexico tomorrow night. we want to be prepared and not end up somewhere sketchy! we're also going to get the camper all organized - i did a lot of that back in the warehouse in toronto, but we've acquired more things since then, and as of tomorrow we'll officially be living out of it.
Wednesday 29 January 2014
day 3
january 28, 2014
woke up in forrest city, arkensas (not much of a city, if i do say so myself) around noon. we didn't get in until 3 am due to the impacts of american family radio on our giggle-drives.
this morning, we have made our first travel smoothies. i have to say the magic bullet was a superb investment for this trip. we have a power inverter rigged up in the camper, and with some wal-mart bananas and frozen fruit, along with powdered soymilk and chia seeds, we made ourselves a delicious breakfast.
as i write this, we're headed towards little rock, then on to dallas. apparently the cold is following us - we woke up to ice in the hotel pool today, and we heard on the news that texas is preparing for a once-in-a-lifetime ice storm. what the shit?!?
the roads here are populated with many old, non-rusted cars, and lots of churchy billboards. with the heat in the truck blasting, we can almost believe this is the south, however the freezing air outside is making us wonder. we are really ready for some warm weather. bring on mexico!
update: made it to dallas, and visited with my friend jenna, who has recently moved here from calgary. we're trying out the camper for the first time tonight, despite the cold snap. it's cold enough that we can see our breath, but it should be 16 tomorrow!! we are confident that with cozy clothes and the king-sized duvet we brought, we should be quite comfortable.
tomorrow, on to houston, and last-minute shopping (we want to do this in a country in which we speak the language), then the next day, mexico!!
woke up in forrest city, arkensas (not much of a city, if i do say so myself) around noon. we didn't get in until 3 am due to the impacts of american family radio on our giggle-drives.
this morning, we have made our first travel smoothies. i have to say the magic bullet was a superb investment for this trip. we have a power inverter rigged up in the camper, and with some wal-mart bananas and frozen fruit, along with powdered soymilk and chia seeds, we made ourselves a delicious breakfast.
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| first smoothie of the trip, you guys!! |
as i write this, we're headed towards little rock, then on to dallas. apparently the cold is following us - we woke up to ice in the hotel pool today, and we heard on the news that texas is preparing for a once-in-a-lifetime ice storm. what the shit?!?
the roads here are populated with many old, non-rusted cars, and lots of churchy billboards. with the heat in the truck blasting, we can almost believe this is the south, however the freezing air outside is making us wonder. we are really ready for some warm weather. bring on mexico!
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| happy roadtrip harmo! |
update: made it to dallas, and visited with my friend jenna, who has recently moved here from calgary. we're trying out the camper for the first time tonight, despite the cold snap. it's cold enough that we can see our breath, but it should be 16 tomorrow!! we are confident that with cozy clothes and the king-sized duvet we brought, we should be quite comfortable.
tomorrow, on to houston, and last-minute shopping (we want to do this in a country in which we speak the language), then the next day, mexico!!
Tuesday 28 January 2014
JESUS RADIO
somewhere around the illinois-missouri border, we discovered a spectacular radio station. american family radio: constantly spewing hateful christian drivel. it was actually very amusing, though also wildly depressing.
anti-abortion commercials. anti-trans commercials. anti-jewish commercials. pro-gun commercials. anti-divorce commercials. anti-evoloution public service announcements. american family radio truly has it all. there was a spectacularly biased discussion about obamacare, in which the only liberal-leaning caller was shushed and interrupted by the host. there were literally dozens of moments that we burst out laughing in response to the absurdity of the views expressed.
realistically though, it's terrifying that this is what people are listening to here. it was even scarier when we started channel-surfing and discovered an abundance of such stations - this is not an anomaly. eep.
we were on the verge of pulling over for the night when we stumbled across this poopnugget of a radio station, and it's kept us so amused that over 2 hours later we're still driving.
we can't wait for texas radio.
day 2, part 2
about 20 minutes after we got the trailer wiring fixed, i noticed that the back passenger-side window was down about a centimeter. i asked mike to put it up, but it turns out that it was propped up with a piece of wood inside the door, and doesn't actually work (just like serenity!). we tried pushing it up, which did nothing. straight away mike said "well, at least it didn't..." THUMP. window down. all the way. it was like -20.
luckily, the person who propped up the window didn't do a top-quality job of putting the door panel back on, so mike was able to pop it off and fix the window in the time it took me to go to the bathroom at a gas station. whew. crisis averted!
we stopped in mt vernon, illinois for dinner. the only place that looked harmony-friendly was agave mexican restaurant which the sign said was closing in 10 minutes. we'd have been happy with takeout, however they happily sat us down at a table with free chips and salsa, and fed us a spectacular (and huge) meal for a whopping $18. i'd highly recommend it if you ever find yourself in mt vernon (though why would you?).
we're debating camping out tonight - it's already 1 am, but it has warmed up quite a bit since we hit missouri, and is now hovering around the freezing mark. how brave are we? we're super excited to use the camper for the first time, and we did bring a duvet...
in other exciting news, we saw a cross that was literally 200 feet tall, as well as more adult superstores and strip clubs than we can count. we also just passed a town called cooter (mads!!). what a country.
Monday 27 January 2014
day 2
january 27, 2014
today has been fairly uneventful thus far. mike's phone started ringing off the hook at 6 am, but we managed to sort of sleep until about 10. we've spent most of the day driving through indiana, and should be into illinois soon.
the roads here are not as good as i thought they would be, considering we've spent the whole day on the interstates. the northwestern US has spectacularly paved and maintained roads, but that doesn't seem to be the case here. it's also looking a little too much like saskatchewan for my liking - flat, snowy, boring. there has been progressively less snow, however i would prefer none, and palm trees, please and thank you. it's also very cold - it's supposed to be -14 tonight, and that's farenheight (not sure what that translates to in celcisus, but TOO cold, regardless).
as i write, mike is out in the cold working on the camper light situation. he says he's making progress, but i haven't ventured out into the frigid air to see for myself... i guess i should go do that!!
THEY WORK!!
today has been fairly uneventful thus far. mike's phone started ringing off the hook at 6 am, but we managed to sort of sleep until about 10. we've spent most of the day driving through indiana, and should be into illinois soon.
the roads here are not as good as i thought they would be, considering we've spent the whole day on the interstates. the northwestern US has spectacularly paved and maintained roads, but that doesn't seem to be the case here. it's also looking a little too much like saskatchewan for my liking - flat, snowy, boring. there has been progressively less snow, however i would prefer none, and palm trees, please and thank you. it's also very cold - it's supposed to be -14 tonight, and that's farenheight (not sure what that translates to in celcisus, but TOO cold, regardless).
as i write, mike is out in the cold working on the camper light situation. he says he's making progress, but i haven't ventured out into the frigid air to see for myself... i guess i should go do that!!
THEY WORK!!
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| navigating! |
Sunday 26 January 2014
day 1
january 26, 2014
after having to boost the truck off of my mom's car, we finally got on the road around 1 pm. my mom was ever so proud and took a bunch of pictures :)
the weather in ontario was total crap, snowing and blowing all afternoon. we finally crossed the border into the usa around 6 pm. somehow this cost $5? it was very unclear why, however we were just glad they didn't harass us or demand to search the camper, which would have been a huge pain in the ass. so we paid happily. i got the impression it was for some sort of toll, but there was no previous warning that a toll would be required.
upon getting to detroit, we beelined for sushi. i had found a good place that was very well reviewed (fishbone's they serve sushi and just about everything else under the sun) however it was downtown detroit, which posed interesting parking problems. the first place we went they wanted $20 for an hour (!!!), but we found another that let us park for $5. they seemed to take issue with the fact that we are in a large truck with a camper hanging 2 feet off the back. regardless, we found parking and had very good (though fairly expensive) sushi. i also discovered that leather moccasins were not the most practical shoe choice for the stupid slushy northern states. i have a pair of wellies in the camper, but they are sadly inaccessible, and i didn't want to bring actual boots out of a sense of denial that winter is a thing still, despite the fact that clearly we were not going to make it to mexico overnight.
as i write this, we are in a wal-mart parking lot in oregon, ohio. the running lights on the camper have stopped working, and though we thought it would be an easy fix, it appears to be an issue with the "professionally" installed wiring in the truck. in the mean time, we have stuck two of those little magnetic LED lights into the light housings (glad we invested in those the other day!) so the issue is not too bad. the brake and signal lights still work fine. it's midnight, so we're heading back into wal-mart to buy wine and cheese, and then finding a place to stay the night.
after having to boost the truck off of my mom's car, we finally got on the road around 1 pm. my mom was ever so proud and took a bunch of pictures :)
the weather in ontario was total crap, snowing and blowing all afternoon. we finally crossed the border into the usa around 6 pm. somehow this cost $5? it was very unclear why, however we were just glad they didn't harass us or demand to search the camper, which would have been a huge pain in the ass. so we paid happily. i got the impression it was for some sort of toll, but there was no previous warning that a toll would be required.
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| honey bear took a turn at driving. very helpful, this bear! |
as i write this, we are in a wal-mart parking lot in oregon, ohio. the running lights on the camper have stopped working, and though we thought it would be an easy fix, it appears to be an issue with the "professionally" installed wiring in the truck. in the mean time, we have stuck two of those little magnetic LED lights into the light housings (glad we invested in those the other day!) so the issue is not too bad. the brake and signal lights still work fine. it's midnight, so we're heading back into wal-mart to buy wine and cheese, and then finding a place to stay the night.
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| our first sunset on the road |
the trip has officially started!
so this was our start the day, dead battery. we're going to stop in the states and get a new one.
however, we're officially on the road! So exciting!
Saturday 25 January 2014
BAM, winter
so, of course, the day we're supposed to be leaving, i wake up to this:
yeah, that's my moms car under there. i looked out the window and thought her station wagon had been replaced by a van because it's 2 feet taller now.
yeah, that's the forest behind my parents' house, looking like a god damn christmas special.
clearing off erin's car. it took an hour to dig it out.
none of the streets have been plowed, and there's at least 2 feet of fresh snow everywhere. i've heard they have called in the army. wtf?!?! i thought the deal was that it could snow all it wanted AFTER we leave. this, my friends, was not part of the plan! apparently it's taking people 5-6 hours to make it from toronto (where mike is) to port hope (close to me). so... we'll see what happens.
yeah, that's snow almost up to my waist, out the front door.
yeah, that's the forest behind my parents' house, looking like a god damn christmas special.
clearing off erin's car. it took an hour to dig it out.
none of the streets have been plowed, and there's at least 2 feet of fresh snow everywhere. i've heard they have called in the army. wtf?!?! i thought the deal was that it could snow all it wanted AFTER we leave. this, my friends, was not part of the plan! apparently it's taking people 5-6 hours to make it from toronto (where mike is) to port hope (close to me). so... we'll see what happens.
Thursday 23 January 2014
camper craziness
we finally got to work on the camper today (er, yesterday now. yawn). a few days later than we hoped, but ain't that just the way of life sometimes? updated departure date of saturday, january 25th - 10 days after our (very optimistic) original goal of the 15th. i'm totally happy with this, and feel that the extra time has given us the ability to be really ready, and not rushing out the door too quickly.
anyway... check it out! first off, the trusty truck (i'm thinking of names - perhaps voyager? as long as i don't have to be janeway). yes, that's duct tape (but hell, we've heard that the poorer you look, the less likely you are to be robbed, so that's a plus)
and finally, the camper!! it's about as old as me, but has been well taken care of, and you can't really go wrong with a $200 camper. muhahah! we gave it a good cleaning, and mike wired in the power inverter (yeah, we're bringing a blender and a toaster oven!) and put new locks on it while i loaded all of my (very well organized) housekeeping stuff.
kitchen... (little door on the left has space for hanging coats and putting boots, etc)
breakfast nook (can i call it that? yeah, i'm calling it that.)
bed!
little shelf under the bed. all of our travel guides and books fit perfectly in this space. how magical!
this space in the kitchen looked like it was built for a lady's makeup and crap. instead, we have spices (much more useful)
little coat/hat/boot closet
our wee calender, with all of the statutory holidays of every country written on them (did i mention i'm organized?)
so, that's the tour! our little home on wheels.
i'm sooooOOOOOOoo excited and feeling more and more ready to get going. whoop whoop.
anyway... check it out! first off, the trusty truck (i'm thinking of names - perhaps voyager? as long as i don't have to be janeway). yes, that's duct tape (but hell, we've heard that the poorer you look, the less likely you are to be robbed, so that's a plus)
and finally, the camper!! it's about as old as me, but has been well taken care of, and you can't really go wrong with a $200 camper. muhahah! we gave it a good cleaning, and mike wired in the power inverter (yeah, we're bringing a blender and a toaster oven!) and put new locks on it while i loaded all of my (very well organized) housekeeping stuff.
kitchen... (little door on the left has space for hanging coats and putting boots, etc)
breakfast nook (can i call it that? yeah, i'm calling it that.)
bed!
little shelf under the bed. all of our travel guides and books fit perfectly in this space. how magical!
this space in the kitchen looked like it was built for a lady's makeup and crap. instead, we have spices (much more useful)
little coat/hat/boot closet
our wee calender, with all of the statutory holidays of every country written on them (did i mention i'm organized?)
so, that's the tour! our little home on wheels.
i'm sooooOOOOOOoo excited and feeling more and more ready to get going. whoop whoop.
Sunday 19 January 2014
Saturday 18 January 2014
costs so far...
international driving permit $25
vaccines (typhoid, hep A, yellow fever) malaria and upset stomach pills $540 including prescriptions (per person)
first aid stuff (pepto bismol, sunscreen, band aids, immodium, etc) $65
gear: money belts, maps, lonely planet guides (second hand) $100
organizational stuff (file folders, labels, photocopies of passport, driver's licence, vaccine records, etc) $25
these are only my costs so far... mike has been dealing with truck/camper stuff, tools, GPS, etc.
Wednesday 15 January 2014
Tuesday 14 January 2014
pre-trip checks
it's getting to the point where i fear i'm packing too much stuff. ok... i don't actually feel like that's the case, because we're going to be living out of the truck for months...
however while i'm only bringing 2 pairs of pants, 4 t shirts, 1 jacket, etc, i have packed 26 different spices. is this unreasonable? i really love to cook, and my personal (not super extensive) experiences in central/south america have led me to believe that if there's something i REALLY want to have, i should bring it with me. in my world this DOES include more than one curry blend, emergency chocolate, nori, etc.
i am also a vegetarian with a few food allergies/sensitivities, and we are planning on doing most of our own cooking as opposed to eating out. i feel that bringing a little too much food is better than not enough... but i'll reevaluate this position as we go along and let you know how it turns out!
the only things that i've packed that i would really describe as recreational are some wool and knitting needles (and i plan on making dishcloths to give to people we meet as little gifts), and a few books (some national geographics i plan on reading then giving away, and the heir to the empire trilogy by timothy zahn (star wars) (*nerd alert*)).
everything else is cooking stuff, emergency gear (duct tape, extra fuel for the stove, tarp, etc), toiletries (baby wipes, vitamins, hand sanitizer, first aid stuff, bug spray), travel guides, and the afore mentioned basic clothing.
as well, i have been on something of an organizational spree. i have all the different categories of things (books, bathroom, kitchen, clothes, etc) in different bins around my living room, and have created a filing system for all information about the countries we're visiting, border crossings, receipts, and personal documents. i told mike yesterday that he'd laugh at me when he saw it, and he replied "well, it's not like you've bought a label making machine and labelled everything in your world.... right?". i plead the fifth. (fyi i didn't ACTUALLY buy a label maker. i made my own labels. don't judge me.)
however while i'm only bringing 2 pairs of pants, 4 t shirts, 1 jacket, etc, i have packed 26 different spices. is this unreasonable? i really love to cook, and my personal (not super extensive) experiences in central/south america have led me to believe that if there's something i REALLY want to have, i should bring it with me. in my world this DOES include more than one curry blend, emergency chocolate, nori, etc.
i am also a vegetarian with a few food allergies/sensitivities, and we are planning on doing most of our own cooking as opposed to eating out. i feel that bringing a little too much food is better than not enough... but i'll reevaluate this position as we go along and let you know how it turns out!
the only things that i've packed that i would really describe as recreational are some wool and knitting needles (and i plan on making dishcloths to give to people we meet as little gifts), and a few books (some national geographics i plan on reading then giving away, and the heir to the empire trilogy by timothy zahn (star wars) (*nerd alert*)).
everything else is cooking stuff, emergency gear (duct tape, extra fuel for the stove, tarp, etc), toiletries (baby wipes, vitamins, hand sanitizer, first aid stuff, bug spray), travel guides, and the afore mentioned basic clothing.
as well, i have been on something of an organizational spree. i have all the different categories of things (books, bathroom, kitchen, clothes, etc) in different bins around my living room, and have created a filing system for all information about the countries we're visiting, border crossings, receipts, and personal documents. i told mike yesterday that he'd laugh at me when he saw it, and he replied "well, it's not like you've bought a label making machine and labelled everything in your world.... right?". i plead the fifth. (fyi i didn't ACTUALLY buy a label maker. i made my own labels. don't judge me.)
Saturday 11 January 2014
LIST
in case anyone is actually interested, this is my packing list. i assume that unless you're planning a similar adventure you won't be, however if you are, maybe it will be helpful!
non camper related post
aside from the camper-based excitement, there is lots of other excitement happening as well.
i went to a travel clinic on thursday and got vaccinated against hepatitis A, typhoid and tetanus (the result of which is two insanely sore, useless, weak little t-rex arms that are driving me crazy). i'm also hoping to get a yellow fever vaccine, but i have to get allergy tested first because it's an egg-grown vaccine, and i'm sensitive to eggs (not like throat-closing-up sensitive, but they make me quite ill, and that's from eating them, who knows what will happen when i'm injected with them...). i also have to pick up a prescription for malaria pills. hopefully the allergy testing and vaccines will be taken care of this week, and we can leave the end of this week or next weekend. that's the goal!!
i've been researching for the last few days solid, it's all i do now. it's a good thing i don't have a job!
i've made note of all the different currency exchange rates for every country in central and south america. obviously these things fluctuate, but this way we'll have at least a rough idea of what the exchange should be so that we can ensure we're not losing tons of money when we change it at borders.
as well, i have spent countless hours on this wiki http://wikioverland.org/ compiling a document with basic information on every country in C/SA with border crossing procedures, road conditions, etc. it has been endlessly helpful.
we need to make copious amounts of copies of our passports, drivers licenses, vehicle registration and insurance and etc. apparently many borders require 1-4 copies of these documents, and handing over copies also means corrupt officials can't bribe you to get back your originals. oh, the things i am learning!
we have also decided that we'd like to take some spanish lessons. i have a very basic understanding of spanish (i can order beers, ask where the bathroom is, say please and thank you, etc) but mike knows absoloutly no spanish, and mine is not really sufficient for a trip like this. i've pretty much settled on oaxaca, mexico as the place to do this. it seems to be a lovely city with lots of interesting things around it (ruins, art and museums, etc), and has many spanish schools to choose from. i've taken down the details of 6 different schools, but we're not going to book in advance, we plan to just find a place we like once we get there. we are also interested in taking a mexican cooking class, and a few offer those as well! our decision on a school may also be dependent on them having a safe place we can park the truck, etc. there is one school that is very close to a sushi place, and i'm not going to lie, it's swaying me.
i've also made the decision to bring my tablet. there's a risk that it will be stolen, but i suppose there are always such risks in life, and considering how handy it will be, i think it's worth it. as well, i got it second hand for about $150 so if it does grow legs it won't be the end of the world. i'm going to pick up a little keyboard to go with it, to make writing emails and blog posts easier. this also means that i'll be able to do such things on the road, and then simply upload them when i have an internet connection, as opposed to sitting in an internet cafe for hours transcribing from my journal. this also means that i'll be able to bring a few precious movies and things, haha! i've clearly got star wars on there, and firefly and die hard. gotta have my priorities straight.
i went to a travel clinic on thursday and got vaccinated against hepatitis A, typhoid and tetanus (the result of which is two insanely sore, useless, weak little t-rex arms that are driving me crazy). i'm also hoping to get a yellow fever vaccine, but i have to get allergy tested first because it's an egg-grown vaccine, and i'm sensitive to eggs (not like throat-closing-up sensitive, but they make me quite ill, and that's from eating them, who knows what will happen when i'm injected with them...). i also have to pick up a prescription for malaria pills. hopefully the allergy testing and vaccines will be taken care of this week, and we can leave the end of this week or next weekend. that's the goal!!
i've been researching for the last few days solid, it's all i do now. it's a good thing i don't have a job!
i've made note of all the different currency exchange rates for every country in central and south america. obviously these things fluctuate, but this way we'll have at least a rough idea of what the exchange should be so that we can ensure we're not losing tons of money when we change it at borders.
as well, i have spent countless hours on this wiki http://wikioverland.org/ compiling a document with basic information on every country in C/SA with border crossing procedures, road conditions, etc. it has been endlessly helpful.
we need to make copious amounts of copies of our passports, drivers licenses, vehicle registration and insurance and etc. apparently many borders require 1-4 copies of these documents, and handing over copies also means corrupt officials can't bribe you to get back your originals. oh, the things i am learning!
we have also decided that we'd like to take some spanish lessons. i have a very basic understanding of spanish (i can order beers, ask where the bathroom is, say please and thank you, etc) but mike knows absoloutly no spanish, and mine is not really sufficient for a trip like this. i've pretty much settled on oaxaca, mexico as the place to do this. it seems to be a lovely city with lots of interesting things around it (ruins, art and museums, etc), and has many spanish schools to choose from. i've taken down the details of 6 different schools, but we're not going to book in advance, we plan to just find a place we like once we get there. we are also interested in taking a mexican cooking class, and a few offer those as well! our decision on a school may also be dependent on them having a safe place we can park the truck, etc. there is one school that is very close to a sushi place, and i'm not going to lie, it's swaying me.
i've also made the decision to bring my tablet. there's a risk that it will be stolen, but i suppose there are always such risks in life, and considering how handy it will be, i think it's worth it. as well, i got it second hand for about $150 so if it does grow legs it won't be the end of the world. i'm going to pick up a little keyboard to go with it, to make writing emails and blog posts easier. this also means that i'll be able to do such things on the road, and then simply upload them when i have an internet connection, as opposed to sitting in an internet cafe for hours transcribing from my journal. this also means that i'll be able to bring a few precious movies and things, haha! i've clearly got star wars on there, and firefly and die hard. gotta have my priorities straight.
getting a camper?!?!
our preparations are coming along!!
while the original plan was to just throw a mattress in the back of the pickup truck, and a cap on top, mike is going to look at a little camper that goes in the back of the pickup truck this week, which has sent me into a frenzy of camper-based excitement - i'm making a pinterest page and googling storage ideas like it's going out of style. ultimately if this little space is going to be our home for a couple of months, i damn well want it to be neat and organized and useful. as soon as we get it and clean it out, i'm going to go crazy on it with storage hooks and double sided tape and maybe even paint and flower stickers. mike seems fine with this, although i may be driving him a little crazy sending him questions and excited outbursts every 3 minutes.
this is the pinterest board so far... http://www.pinterest.com/harmonypage/camper-storage/
while the original plan was to just throw a mattress in the back of the pickup truck, and a cap on top, mike is going to look at a little camper that goes in the back of the pickup truck this week, which has sent me into a frenzy of camper-based excitement - i'm making a pinterest page and googling storage ideas like it's going out of style. ultimately if this little space is going to be our home for a couple of months, i damn well want it to be neat and organized and useful. as soon as we get it and clean it out, i'm going to go crazy on it with storage hooks and double sided tape and maybe even paint and flower stickers. mike seems fine with this, although i may be driving him a little crazy sending him questions and excited outbursts every 3 minutes.
this is the pinterest board so far... http://www.pinterest.com/harmonypage/camper-storage/
Saturday 4 January 2014
starting to get excited...
we're making lists, reading other travel blogs, and getting everything in order for our central/south america trip
the plan is to drive from toronto, ontario, canada, to panama city, panama and back. we are also hoping to leave our vehicle in panama city and fly into south america and backpack around for a while.
the driving route will take us through the united states, mexico, guatemala, (possibly) el salvador, honduras, nicaragua, costa rica and panama. we are planning to make it to panama as quickly as possible (with a stopover in costa rica for some friends' wedding, if we can swing it), then take our time heading back north - do some exploring, have some fun. we are planning to drive up the west coast of mexico, the usa and canada, before heading back across the tranny canny (the trans-canada highway) to southern ontario.
really, we have no idea how long this trip will take, however we're seriously considering the hobo life, and this seems like a great start.
here are some of the websites we're using for research and planning!
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_4965.html
http://drivetosouthamerica.com
http://www.drivetheamericas.com/
http://theworldbyroad.com/
http://wikioverland.org/
http://www.southboundtravels.com
http://www.expeditionoverland.com
the plan is to drive from toronto, ontario, canada, to panama city, panama and back. we are also hoping to leave our vehicle in panama city and fly into south america and backpack around for a while.
the driving route will take us through the united states, mexico, guatemala, (possibly) el salvador, honduras, nicaragua, costa rica and panama. we are planning to make it to panama as quickly as possible (with a stopover in costa rica for some friends' wedding, if we can swing it), then take our time heading back north - do some exploring, have some fun. we are planning to drive up the west coast of mexico, the usa and canada, before heading back across the tranny canny (the trans-canada highway) to southern ontario.
really, we have no idea how long this trip will take, however we're seriously considering the hobo life, and this seems like a great start.
here are some of the websites we're using for research and planning!
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_4965.html
http://drivetosouthamerica.com
http://www.drivetheamericas.com/
http://theworldbyroad.com/
http://wikioverland.org/
http://www.southboundtravels.com
http://www.expeditionoverland.com
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