Van Life and the Art of Staying Still

I’ve been boondocking in the same area for the last three weeks. There’s a couple reasons for doing this. First of all, I have a limited income and gasoline is expensive. Second, I have lots of work that needs to be done and when you are on the road for hours at a time, it tends to fry your motivation to sit down and be productive on anything that isn’t driving. To save money and make sure I’m also getting things done, I have been forcing myself to stay put. The last time I really did this was in Santa Fe. Even then I only stayed put for two weeks before moving on.

It’s winter right now, at least it is for just about everywhere else in North America except for where I am. I’m near Quartzsite, AZ. The area is beginning to fill up. When I arrived, the RV parks were just flat, empty parking lots. Now town is beginning to become congested. Soon upwards of a million vehicles will swarm the area until about mid February. RVs, Campers, caravans, skoolies, boondockers, tent campers, and everything in between. Town only has a few places to pick up groceries, and the nearest large town is Blythe, CA, just over the border and you have to drive through a checkpoint to get there, which is a royal pain sometimes.

Fighting the Urge to Keep Moving

I’m making myself stay put. Gas in CA is over $5 per gallon, which makes travel prohibitively expensive when you get 12mpg at the best. Besides, I have lots to do. I have websites to maintain, content to create, I have a book to write, podcast to produce, and a YouTube channel which takes a lot of creative energy and time to update and build. It’s all a slow burn. My plate is full.

Yet…there are still so many things I want to see out here, but I know that rushing out to see them will blow through my funds in fuel in no time flat. There’s also that little problem of how the rest of the country is experiencing this thing called Winter. Just about 100 miles in any direction from me I’m going to hit the possibility of going up in altitude and running into snow. My bus is not yet a four seasons vehicle. I’m working on getting a diesel heater for it before next winter. In the meantime, I’ll deal with what I’ve got, which is chilly nights that drop down to the lower 50s and days that hit the low 80s sometimes. Honestly, it’s not that bad. It’s just lately I’ve begun to get my fill of cactus, palm trees, and endless sunsets.

Part of me wants to see the coast, forests, beaches, and maybe even grass under my feet. A big part of me wants more experiences. I want to write about more places to visit and interesting people I’ve met along the way. That is hard to do when you are hunkered down in the desert working your butt off and fighting the urge to keep traveling.

This sort of lifestyle requires a little bit of restraint. I still have to work. I still have to make money somehow or build a process to make more passive income. It’s all part of the nomadic lifestyle nobody tells you about. It’s not all pretty pictures on instagram. Sometimes it is driving an hour round trip to get groceries and another hour fighting for a washing machine at the local laundromat. An hour round trip to get fresh water for the tanks. Some afternoons are tearing everything out of the bus and giving it a good cleaning.

Clean Buses Last Longer

Clean buses mean your stuff lasts longer and works longer. The things that have broken are brought to your attention so you can fix them or trash them too. It’s also a good reminder of what and where things have been stowed. Then there’s vehicle maintenance. Checking your air pressure in your tires, coolant levels, brake fluid, oil, and transmission fluid levels. All of these things are essential when it comes to the health of your bus and your ability to go from place to place. Remember, it’s not just your house, it’s also your car.

Limit the Wear and Tear

Also, staying put means you aren’t putting wear and tear on your engine, tires, or drivetrain. There’s a limit to just how far a vehicle can go. As the miles get higher and higher, more frequent oil changes, maintenance, and upkeep like new tires are necessary, and expensive. It’s better to just make camp sometimes.

But I do wonder how long I can keep my wanderlust at bay. Like I said, there’s plenty of places I want to visit. Quartzsite is just far enough away from many of them to make it costly and time consuming to get there. For the time being, I’m here, cooling my heels. Planning for the next place to visit.

So for now, I’ll try to be productive and take pretty pictures of the sunset while I can. Winter will be over soon enough and I’ll be on the move, looking for cooler climates.