Jump to content


Photo
- - - - -

Traveling Trio

traveling trio full time four wheel camper couple traveling

  • Please log in to reply
26 replies to this topic

#1 rystjohn

rystjohn

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 92 posts
  • LocationHome is where we park it

Posted 20 April 2015 - 06:08 PM

TravelingTrioAbout.jpg11155070_961872637179644_732076665040472

Hey everyone! I've been lurking here for quite some time, and I've been a tad active as well when I've had questions or comments. I wanted to give back to the community by sharing our story and hopefully giving and gleaning information for other full and part time campers. 

 

As a backstory, my girlfriend and I have both traveled pretty extensively, but usually seperately. After coming home from my last solo-cross country trip on a motorcycle, Beth put her foot down and said that she wanted to travel across the country with me this time, and that she wanted to do so in a van or otherwise. Plans were made, and we dreamed of doing this for a year, or to become indefinitely on the road - we tossed ideas around for forever, and finally decided upon a 1997 Dodge Ram 2500 with a Cummins Turbo Diesel, and a 2007 Four Wheel Camper Grandby. 

 

11026172_948056421894599_665590151662286

 

Since then we've spent nearly every second of free time and every extra penny into getting the truck fully maintained and the camper ready for full-time life. 

 

You can read about both of these decisions on our website here if you'd like:
http://traveling-tri...dventuremobile/

http://traveling-tri...arlene-grandby/

http://traveling-trio.com/grandpy/

 

We've been on the road for a month as of today - we're on Ocracoke Island, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where I grew up. We're working here until May, when we'll start heading West. Our plan is to mosey around the US, Mexico and Canada, supporting ourselves through odd jobs, design work, photography, and anything else we can do to keep fuel in the tank and food on our plates. 

 

We'd love to keep you all up to date and participate on the forums here, sharing what we've done, and gaining insight to problems or issues we have, or helping to solve other people's issues. My big question to all of you right now - would you rather: A) read about it here through a short synopsis of what I've written on the website, B) have me provide links and/or subscribe to our blog C)have me copy and paste the posts to the forum

Let me know, we're just looking to become more involved in the community and meet a few of you along the way! 

 

By the way, we'll be at Overland Expo West with all the FWC guys if any of you will be there too! We'd love to meet up! 

 

Yeager, Beth & Alfredo


Edited by rystjohn, 20 April 2015 - 06:13 PM.

  • 0
A man, a woman and their dog. Traveling the Americas living in a 1997 Dodge Ram with a Four Wheel Camper Grandby in search of a new American dream. Promoting overlanding, sustainability, enjoying life and following your dreams. Tag along with us as we traverse the continent in search of adventure!
 

 


#2 GroovyDad

GroovyDad

    Senior Member

  • Members
  • 765 posts
  • LocationReno, NV

Posted 20 April 2015 - 08:16 PM

You trip sounds like a blast.  Let us know when you get to the northern Sierra as there are a lot of us in this neck of the woods.


  • 0

"I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." —John Muir. http://aimlessroamer.blogspot.com/

 


#3 kmcintyre

kmcintyre

    Senior Member

  • Members
  • 1,379 posts
  • LocationBoise, ID

Posted 20 April 2015 - 10:24 PM

Very nice.  Good luck and have fun!


  • 0

Boise, ID

2022 Chevy 3500 HD

2023 FWC Flatbed Hawk


#4 Edgewood

Edgewood

    Senior Member

  • Members
  • 206 posts
  • LocationBellingham WA

Posted 20 April 2015 - 10:42 PM

Living the dream bro.


  • 0

#5 ski3pin

ski3pin

    Belay On

  • Site Team
  • 15,255 posts
  • LocationSierra Nevada Range

Posted 20 April 2015 - 11:16 PM

Best of luck with your travels and life! We have subscribed to your blog and look forward to keeping tabs on your adventures.


  • 0

2003 Ford Ranger FX4 Level II 2013 ATC Bobcat SE "And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."- Abraham Lincoln  http://ski3pin.blogspot.com/


#6 mitch h

mitch h

    Senior Member

  • Members
  • 317 posts
  • Locationbrazil,in.

Posted 21 April 2015 - 01:24 AM

Truck and grandby looking good. You and Beth have a great time and safe travels. Give Beth another hug for me and Ida. I,m glad you guys are living the dream while your young. 


  • 0

#7 mitch h

mitch h

    Senior Member

  • Members
  • 317 posts
  • Locationbrazil,in.

Posted 21 April 2015 - 01:28 AM

Wish I did'nt look so scuffty in that pic.but we were busy. lol


  • 0

#8 rystjohn

rystjohn

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 92 posts
  • LocationHome is where we park it

Posted 21 April 2015 - 04:58 PM

Thank you so much everyone! We have been honored to have such support from not only this community, but nearly everyone that we tell our story to. I'll continue to do my best to keep everyone updated on here, and thank you to all who have subscribed to our blog!

 

Mitch - nonsense, you look great in that photo! It was 80º and 100% humidity, and we were moving a camper onto a truck - there's no way to not look scruffy, hahah! 

 


 


  • 0
A man, a woman and their dog. Traveling the Americas living in a 1997 Dodge Ram with a Four Wheel Camper Grandby in search of a new American dream. Promoting overlanding, sustainability, enjoying life and following your dreams. Tag along with us as we traverse the continent in search of adventure!
 

 


#9 rystjohn

rystjohn

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 92 posts
  • LocationHome is where we park it

Posted 11 June 2015 - 03:53 PM

Hey everyone!

Thanks again for all the support!

A lot has happened in the nearly three months we've been on the road - we are currently in Sahaurita AZ visiting my father and from here we honestly have no idea where we are going! It's a fantastic feeling that is also terrifying!

We're currently looking for work and hoping that something will pan out - we're a trio and we stick together so if our dog can't come we don't go. I spent the past two weeks working landscaping in the 103ºF heat in Phoenix, and I think I had my fill. I kept up with the other guys but it was tough backbreaking work. Landscaping in the desert consists of shoveling rocks, moving rocks, digging trenches, moving dirt and occasionally planting something. Phew.

Anyhow what most of y'all want to hear about is the adventures! Well I've been busy as I can be and I've written quite a bit over at our website: Traveling-Trio.com which we of course urge you to visit and subscribe if you haven't already! But I also had a lot of requests for me to divulge my writing here, so I'll give you a teaser below to hopefully pique your interest in visiting our site.

If anyone is in the area and needs some short-term work or knows someone who knows someone, we'd love to know!

Cheers!


This post was originally published on Traveling-trio.com, 21 May 2015. © Robert Yeager St. John

SLOWING DOWN

slowingdown.jpg

Darlene sputters, grumbles, and dies. I crank the starter again, she chugs a bit, sputters, gains the tiniest inkling of momentum as I floor the accelerator pedal and dies once again.


Sh!t.


We’re some of the last folks at Overland Expo West and we might be stuck. Beth is off filling water for us before we leave, my mind is racing now and I don’t know what to do.


Words of wisdom gleaned from the previous week come to mind: slow down.


I crank the starter again and tap the accelerator. Darlene grumbles to life, somewhat reluctantly as black smoke billows out from the exhaust under the truck, she stalls for a second and then catches her breath. With a little coaxing she’s purring like a Wookie once more.


This time I wait before shifting her into gear, instead letting Darlene warm her fluids in neutral. The past week was full of rain, snow, sleet and hail. The soft ground where we parked our 4 ton house swallowed the tires a few inches when it briefly became mud; Darelene’s cold transmission was having a hard time delivering the required torque while staying alive.


A few minutes pass and I finally breathe again as, with a slight hesitation, we reverse from our camping spot and are rolling South towards Coconino and Sedona. My mind wanders as Beth rambles on about the past week and Alfredo whines in my ear. I’m paying attention to neither of them – instead I’m focused on Darlene: What if the transmission bands are worn? Do I need to adjust the bands? Is the transmission shot? Why didn’t she want to go? This is supposed to be a tough truck, why couldn’t she handle such a tiny task? What’s going to go wrong next? Are we going to wind up stranded with a broken transmission? Do I smell burnt tranny fluid? Did I mess something up?


I’m exhausted from my internal monologue as the outside world returns to my senses.


A friend who spent the past 18+ months traveling abroad solo shared his words of wisdom with me while we were in Asheville. His advice comes to mind as we wind our way down HWY 89A, “Don’t stress stuff. Big or small. It will drive you crazy. Not worth it. Smile and move on. You’re going to have really good days and really bad ones. Everything works out as it should.


I take a deep breath and control my wandering mind, “it’s ok,” I tell myself. I know I’m right.


untitled-435.jpg

untitled-340.jpg

As of May 20 we have been on the road for exactly two months. We have been more-or-less unemployed for at least one of those months. Things are getting “real” as you could say, and our diminishing budget is becoming apparent with every passing day until we find more work, sell more art, or win the lotto. We’re banking on the first two.


Through all this however, the hardest thing we’ve had to deal with is learning to slow down, to disconnect, to not be busy.


I’ve found myself wearing my watch daily for the past two months, and in these same two months I’ve cared less about the time than I ever have in my life. Upon disclosing this to Beth she responds with the wisdom of a sage, “It’s because we don’t have that structure anymore. We don’t have those markers through the day signaling change. We aren’t waking up at the same time day in and day out, going in and getting off work at the same time. Instead we’re in the now, and on the rare occasions we’ve needed to know when now is, the watch can tell us.”


She’s right. For the past 27 years of our life we’ve had a societal structure and schedule where attendance was mandatory: wake up, eat breakfast, go to work/school, come home, have time to yourself or with friends, sleep. Lather, rinse, repeat. The more we fit into our daily lives the better, right?


untitled-390.jpg


We’ve broken away from routine and have not yet found our footing in this strange land of idle time.


Technology has seeped into every bit of our life, promising to make our lives easier while keeping us constantly engaged, constantly busy. If I sit on the john, I have my phone in hand, mindlessly thumbing through information. While waiting in line, I remove the phone from my pocket to check some seemingly important factoid a friend has divulged from the depths of human knowledge onto Facebook. Or videos of cats. As I lay in bed the cold glow of the screen illuminates, beckoning me to say goodnight with one more scroll through Instagram or Tumblr. When I close my eyes it’s hollow siren’s song buzzes against the side table – check your email, it might be important!


Now we find ourselves unmolested by obligations. My phone cries out in desperation as it’s unchecked battery dies. The reception bars on our phones act as compasses – if they diminish we know we’ve gone in the right direction. We rise and sleep with the sun, the natural circadian rhythm of our ancestors has come back to us, leaving us refreshed and full of life each day ready for…nothing.


Surely we must have something important to do right now!” our brains scream to us in panic as we sit idly, watching the clouds above drift by as we explore our minds.


In this land of idle time, we’ve found our productivity, quality of life and feeling of fulfillment has increased. We have taken the time to talk to one another, discuss thoughts from deep within and explore our own minds – something that can’t be done by browsing Facebook or rushing from one chore to the next. We sit down and accomplish goals – I write a new article, Beth makes jewelry, Alfredo digs a hole. Sometimes all we do is stare at the campfire in silence, hands clasped save for when we pass the bourbon. All is well in our world.

untitled-495.jpg
untitled-258-2.jpg

This idleness is not a vacation nor vice devoid of meaning. It is necessary for our growth as artists and human beings. It is something we have lost as a culture – time used to reflect, to journey within, to allow moments of pause within conversations rather than waiting for our turn to speak.


Within these idle moments we are granted the opportunity to see the picture of life as a whole. We are allowed to make connections we might not otherwise see, to have moments of inspiration strike us and as odd as it may seem, allow us to accomplish more work.


There is a trap in thinking that by being busy we are somehow being productive. That by filling our time with things to do, we are somehow fulfilling our reason for being and accomplishing more. I beg to differ with this assumption, instead I say that by being idle we produce more meaningful work, that less is more, and that we should measure our life accomplishments through quality, not quantity.

untitled-447.jpg

untitled-439.jpg

I have spent countless hours staring at a computer screen, accomplishing nothing and feeling downtrodden and dejected – “why couldn’t I get more done” I often mutter to myself. Now I find myself staring off at the meadow around me, the tall grass casing a soft earthly glow as they catch the waning sunbeams of the afternoon light. Minutes, hours pass and I’ve done nothing. It feels great. I’m here and that’s all that I need. A hawk passes overhead and I watch his shadow dance around us as he hunts for lunch. My stomach grumbles and I realize that without keeping time I’ve forgotten to eat lunch as well.


The wind whispers through the tall pines around us as birds chatter in their perches. I sit mindlessly in my chair desiring that long lost feeling of Zen I had once before in my life. Waves of discomfort come over me as my mind attempts to find something to hold onto – there must be something I need to do right now or somewhere I need to be!


I ride these waves of discomfort, watch them dissipate and paddle back to my Zen. Slowing down is a difficult thing to do, both freeing and terrifying, but I’m determined.


I take a deep breath and exhale, staring off at the sunset. I have nothing to do, and plenty of time to do it.

untitled-9-24.jpg

Edited by Wandering Sagebrush, 12 June 2015 - 02:15 PM.
Substitute profanity

  • 0
A man, a woman and their dog. Traveling the Americas living in a 1997 Dodge Ram with a Four Wheel Camper Grandby in search of a new American dream. Promoting overlanding, sustainability, enjoying life and following your dreams. Tag along with us as we traverse the continent in search of adventure!
 

 


#10 craig333

craig333

    Riley's Human

  • Members
  • 8,000 posts
  • LocationSacramento

Posted 12 June 2015 - 12:37 AM

Been there with the "whats that smell, is that noise normal?". Can drive you nuts but of course you don't want to ignore something that really is going bad. Glad to see you're adapting. Looking forward to my turn.


  • 0

Craig K6JGV_________________________ 2004 2500 CTD 4X4 FWC HAWK 1960 CJ5






Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: traveling trio, full time, four wheel camper, couple traveling

0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users