Rig of the Week: Hand-Built Truck Camper

by | Sep 5, 2022 | Truck Campers

MANY PEOPLE KNOW LOU BROCHETTI as the guy with the cool vardo-style trailer he built himself. In his past life he had built hotrods, wooden boats, and experimental planes. He’s a skilled craftsman. Although Lou enjoyed nomadic life, what he really wanted was piece of...

Weekend Photo 31

by | Sep 3, 2022 | Colorado, Photography

Pond pleasure — 28 July 2017 — San Juan Mountains, Colorado style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7662527707655081" data-ad-slot="8472325861" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7662527707655081"...

Something Is Better Than Nothing

by | Aug 31, 2022 | Vandwelling Philosophy

I GREW UP among people who insisted perfection was the only acceptable goal. Anything even one molecule shy of perfection was a distant second—so distant it was indistinguishable from utter failure. Ironically (or predictably) the only thing these perfectionists did...

Do You Really Want to Cook Outside—All the Time?

by | Aug 29, 2022 | Cooking

WHEN I STARTED MY NOMAD LIFE nine years ago I swore I would never cook inside my van. I didn’t want an open flame in the middle of so much combustable stuff. I didn’t want the added heat (I had started out in summer). I didn’t want the steam. I didn’t want the...

Figuring Out What I Actually Use

by | Aug 25, 2022 | Organization & Storage

MY TOOL BOX weighs about 30 pounds. I know I’ll never need to use some of my tools, and it would be nice to lighten my load a little. The trouble is, I’m not certain which tools are unnecessary. But I’ve realized there’s a way I can get a hint. Half in the bag Ever...

The Sounds of Silence

by | Aug 23, 2022 | Boondocking

BOONDOCKING WAS AN ADJUSTMENT FOR ME. It wasn’t the alone part that bothered me. I’m an introvert, so solitude was pretty much my natural state. What freaked me out was the silence. That was an unfamiliar experience. Like nearly everyone, I had grown accustomed...

Sunday Short: Better Than a Bug Out Bag

by | Aug 21, 2022 | Survival

THE PREPPER-SURVIVALIST-TEOTWAWKI FOLKS talk about bug out bags — the thing you grab when you need to flee in a hurry. It supposedly contains everything you need to survive for a while in case of a disaster or the collapse of society. Ah, but we nomads do much better...