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diff --git a/books/forest-unseen.txt b/books/forest-unseen.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..234a99f --- /dev/null +++ b/books/forest-unseen.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5 @@ +We haven't had a chance to test Apple's 2019 update to the base model iPad, but we're confident that it's going to be best buy for most people. It's mostly the same as the 2018 model, which topped previous versions of this list. It even, somewhat disappointingly, has the same A10 Fusion processor as the 2018 model. It's plenty powerful enough for most use cases, but if you're planning a lot of photo editing, you may want to look into the iPad Pro models. + +We like the small .5-inch bump in screen size, which makes this latest model half an inch taller, and the Smart Connector hookup that lets you use an Apple Keyboard (Amazon). + +Our only real gripe remains the same as last year's model -- the larger air gap (space between glass and screen) than what you get with the iPad Air, Mini, and Pro. For this reason, it isn't our top choice if you're planning to make heavy use of the Pencil, though it is compatible and does work just fine. diff --git a/guides/coffee.txt b/guides/coffee.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ed09186 --- /dev/null +++ b/guides/coffee.txt @@ -0,0 +1,39 @@ +A good cup of coffee is less a thing than a collection of things. There's the taste, but also just as important the sound of the brew, the gurgle of the pour in your mug, the sight of the heavy black liquid, the smell,at least have the "taste" of coffee actually comes from the smell, the tang like creosote, the dark smoky richness reminiscent of chocolate. + +Coffee is also a state of mind. Or a way of establishing a state of mind. I mean beyond the strictly biochemical action of caffeine. Coffee implies a readiness. It's an open gesture for the day. For those of us that love it, a great cup of coffee is as necessary and reliable a thing as the rising sun in the east. + +The hissing boil of a mokapot as it finishes brewing. + +The metal click of the stove grating heating up. + +The curling splash as it hits the bottom of the cup. + +Though I rarely do it, the best cup of coffee is made over an open fire. Coals banked over night and then stirred back to life, I couple of extra pieces of wood perhaps, not so much of the coffee as for warmth. A percolator, nothing fancy, one of the blue speckled enamelware percolators that every outfitting store in America sells. There's something about the clatter of enamelware on stones early on an otherwise silent, still morning that speaks of great things to come. The smoke of the restored fire, squatting or standing, hands out stretched to warm over the fire, the fog of your breath in the air, waiting. I think maybe it's that waiting, the anticipation, that almost as good as the coffee. And of course the coffee coming out of the enamelware percolator is not the best tasting you've ever hand, but it's the best cup because the experience is greater than the sum of its parts. This, you know as you sit there squatting by the fire scalding your tongue on that first sip, this is how humans were meant to live, this is how we were meant to start out days, outside, part of the world, enjoying the fruits of the world around us. + +Even living as we do in an RV, outdoors, I'll confess I very rarely stir up a fire first thing in the morning. I almost never make coffee over it when I do. I fire up our trusty tattered but still great green Coleman stove and make coffee in the somewhat fancier mokapot. The mokapot does not make the best coffee I've ever had, but it's combination of good enough coffee, simplicity of brewing and clean up, make it the method I return to. + +### Which Moka Pot should I buy? + +I've tested dozens of ways to brew coffee for WIRED. Some of them costing nearly a $1000, which is would be an absolutely insane amount of money to spend for coffee, but in the end, after all that stuff is available, nine times out of ten, I make coffee in my trusty moka pot. + +Every mokapot I've tested produces more or less the same good, strong, but smooth cup of coffee. The one I happen to own is this [stainless steel model ($20)](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07K2ZVJC7/ref=psdc_14163721_t1_B0744CQYJD){: rel=nofollow}. It brews what I would call two cups of coffee, but what manufacturers call six cups. + +If you want something a little larger, [this $25 model](https://www.amazon.com/Stovetop-Espresso-Machine-Stainless-Electric/dp/B07XD8YG1R/){: rel=nofollow} looks about the same and probably a better deal. If you hate having so much money in your pocket and love shiny things, this [bonVIVO Intenca](https://www.amazon.com/bonVIVO-Intenca-Stovetop-Espresso-Stainless/dp/B0744CQYJD/){: rel=nofollow} is a very handsome moka pot. If you're a traditionalist you'll want the original, the [Bialetti moka pot](https://www.amazon.com/Bialetti-06800-stove-coffee-Aluminum/dp/B000CNY6UK/r){: rel=nofollow} that started the whole moka pot thing back in the 1950s. + +### How to brew the best cup in your Moka Pot + +I've seen at least half a dozen ways to brew moka pots, but here's what I find to be the best: cold water in the chamber, fresh grounds on the cup, put it on a low flame, or if you have electric, only half way on the burner. The lower and slower you brew, the better the results in my opinion. + +That said, some people swear by hot water in the chamber and hardly any time on the stove heating up. This method is not for me, but worth trying to see how you like it since it does make a faster cup of coffee. Though I'm not sure you should rush coffee. + +The best results will come from the best beans. When I can I get beans Jittery Joe's roasting company in Athens GA, specifically the [Wake-n-Bake](https://jitteryjoes.com/collections/blends/products/terrapin-wake-n-bake?variant=41287296589) blend. I've known Charlie, who roasts all of Jittery Joes beans, for twenty years now and his coffee is some of the best you'll ever have. + +I've also tried a few roasters on the road. The best has been [Fahrenheit Coffee Roaster](https://www.yelp.com/biz/fahrenheit-coffee-roaster-mancos) in Mancos, Colorado. The espresso blend roast are the best beans I've purchased in the United States in two years of traveling. A close second would be the French Roast from [Catedral Coffee Roasters](http://www.cafecatedral.com.mx/) in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. There was also an excellent roaster up in the UP, Michigan, but for the life of me I can't remember the name or find it online. + +Coffee is the most widely traded commodity in the world. Chance are, wherever you happen to live, there's a good local roaster. Get your beans from them. Not only are you supporting a local business, but you'll (probably) get fresher beans. The more freshly roasted your beans are, the better the coffee you'll brew. That said, sometimes it's hard to find good coffee on the road. In that case I tend to get [Cafe Bustelo](https://www.amazon.com/Bustelo-Espresso-Ground-Coffee-Packaging/dp/B01ERBUCM8/){: rel=nofollow}, or if you can find it, [Medaglia D'Oro](https://www.amazon.com/Medaglia-DOro-Italian-Espresso-Coffee/dp/B01M5B4Y34){: rel=nofollow} (I find Latin American groceries are the best place to look for both of these). + +### Worthwhile coffee accessories + +Once you've purchase a moka pot, some good beans, and are happy with the results, there are two thing I highly recommend you get to go with your new moka pot. The first is a good insulated mug or thermos. The Moka Pot is a great way to brew coffee, but it's a terrible way to keep it warm. + +burr grinder. diff --git a/guides/expert.txt b/guides/expert.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..580534f --- /dev/null +++ b/guides/expert.txt @@ -0,0 +1,17 @@ +If you grew up in modern industrial society like I did you were conditioned to seek out and respect authority. We were conditioned to want someone to tell you what to do. This is simply the way our educational systems are currently designed. That doesn't mean there aren't well-meaning people within those systems, but in the end most of us end up spending our lives looking for authorities to shape them. + +I like to call this system what I once heard Noam Chomsky call it: "the star system". Assign special value to certain "stars" and do whatever they do. + +This is very comforting to us, being told what to do. It removes the burden of choice from our minds, and that can be a huge burden. + +If you're planning to live on the road though, this system is going to cease to work for you. There are not enough people doing this to have enough stars to assign things too. + +If you're planning to live on the road, and I mean really live on the road, not just drive around for a few months posting selfies, which, if that's your goal (posting selfies), by all means, do it. I have nothing against people who treat life as a performance, but if you are this sort of person, the rest of this post is just going to make you uncomfortable and angry, so skip it. Here's [a cool place you can take a selfie](https://utah.com/zion-national-park/angels-landing){: rel=nofollow}, head for that instead. + +The rest of us, those of us who are planning to live on the road full time because we don't for whatever reason, really fit into the various molds that are available for fitting into these days, have some work to do, unlearning that need or desire to give our decisions up to someone else, someone we think is a "expert". + +There's a good chance that you came here because you thought I was an expert. I do have some experience and I am always happy to share that (it's why this site exists really), but I am not an expert. + +More importantly, we all need to stop looking for experts. We need to start being experts at our own lives. I wish there were some formula I could give you for becoming an expert in your own life, but there really isn't. Or rather there is, but it's so far outside the realm of acceptable discourse in our society I am not putting it on the internet. If you're really truly interested, email me and I will send you some links. + + diff --git a/guides/heater.txt b/guides/heater.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..aca05ed --- /dev/null +++ b/guides/heater.txt @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +I always called this the "Mr. Buddy heater". When I sat down to write this review, I cranked it up and noticed it's actually called the "Buddy heater" and it's made by a company called Mr. Heater. + +Whatever you call it, it's an awesome little heater to warm up your RV when you're boondocking or otherwise off-grid. + +That last point + +The Buddy heater runs on propane. If you hate money you can use the little green propane canisters, but you'll only get around an hour of heat out of each one. The far better thing to do is get a decent size refillable cylinder. I like this little [10-lb cylinder](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KOLF1IQ/?tag=lxf0d-20){: rel=nofollow}. You'll also need [a good hose](https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Heater-12-Foot-Assembly-F273702/dp/B00005LEXM?tag=lxf0d-20){: rel=nofollow}, and [a filter](https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Heater-Portable-Heaters-F273699/dp/B000HE8P2O/?tag=lxf0d-20){: rel=nofollow} (the filter keeps the oils in the hose from clogging the heater). + +It heats just like the heaters I've had in houses everywhere from Athens GA to Brooklyn New York: It ignites propane and uses the heat to warm a ceramic element that then projects heat into the room. In my experience that heat projects about eight, maybe ten feet in front of the heater. Some direct heat also comes out the top and back, so you end up being able to quickly heat an RV with no trouble. + +One Buddy heater can warm our 27-foot RV in about ten minutes on high and keep it at a nice temperature while on low. There are of course drafts -- windows are your biggest thermal loss so if you want to stay warm, cover them, see my [guide to keeping your van or RV warm]() for more details -- so the heat is not entirely even, but for the most part the Duccy heater gets the job done. + +If you're rig is longer, I would probably suggest two. Or start with one, see how it does and then consider adding another. In a larger RV your most efficient move is to only heat part of it. T + +One thing to bear in mind, I would say the Buddy is really a last ditch effort to keep warm when some weather catches you. It's not a good solution if you're planning to live in cold for an extended period of time. + +I would not run it overnight (I doubt you'd be able too unless you have a massive propane tank). I would never run it unattended; it's effectively an open flame. It does have a very effective auto-shutoff mechanism that activates whenever you bump it or move it, which makes it reasonably safe, but at the end of the day, it's an open flame in an RV. Be extremely cautious. + +My other tip would be to never put it directly on a surface you care about, like say, your floor. It gets hot in front of it, plenty hot enough to damage the cheap flooring found in a lot of newer RVs. I keep ours on a small foot stool. This also helps get the heat higher up into the room. Also beware any flamable surfaces around it. We have a fairly narrow hallway in the rear of the bus and it gets the wood very hot if I put it back there. It's never actually damaged the finish, but I try to keep it more in the kitchen near the oven, which won't be damaged by heat. + +It takes about ten minutes for the heating element to fully cool so you can safely store it. + +4,000- to 9,000-BTU radiant heater for spaces up to 225 square feet. Approved for indoor/outdoor use; clean-burning; nearly 100-percent efficient +When operating the heater at altitudes over 7,000 FT above sea level the heater may shut off. +Auto shut-off if tipped over, if pilot light goes out, or if detects low oxygen levels. Fuel Consumption/Burn Rate (Gal/Hr) at 4000 BTU = 0.044 Gal/Hr, at 9000 BTU = 0.099 Gal/Hr diff --git a/guides/portable-coffee.txt b/guides/portable-coffee.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..487829a --- /dev/null +++ b/guides/portable-coffee.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5 @@ +For coffee lovers the day does not just begin with a good hot cup of coffee, it seems almost impossible without it. It's not only the dose of caffeine, though that does help, it's the ritual that surrounds it—the smell, the sound, even the wait, are all part of how coffee gets the day started right. + +Every coffee lover has their favorite method of brewing, and every coffee lover feels lost without it. To keep you from the depths of gas station coffee sorrow, or worse, the complete absence of coffee when you're traveling, we've rounded up some of our favorite ways to brew coffee while you're traveling. + +Whether you're hitting the road for the holidays, flying half way around the world, or just want an easy way to make great coffee at the office, there's an option here for everyone. diff --git a/guides/women-alone.txt b/guides/women-alone.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e0dad00 --- /dev/null +++ b/guides/women-alone.txt @@ -0,0 +1,34 @@ +metal detectors +kitchen ware: + pans + knives + pressure cookers + juicers +coffee grinders +flashlights +ultralight tents +camp stoves + + +guides: + +Everything you need to find treasure on the beach +how to have a great camping trip sort of thing +How to have a great +Cook great meals outdoors +Sleep in your car +Everything You Need to Turn Your Kitchen into a Cafe +Engineer the ultimate night's sleep +Low cost ways to keep your kid entertained on long car trips +Pro Photo/Video on the Go + + +Look at facebook, if you use it, there's lots of groups for women, e.g. Women who RV 13,000 people + +Women's RV club: Sister on the fly. and RVing Women. Some women organize caravans, travel together. + +If that's not your thing, and you want to stay alone, two chairs outside, make your camp look like there's two people + +Severe weather + +Simple RV living for women - facebook group @@ -1,17 +1,19 @@ -In my usual manner of reading things that have no bearing on where I actually am, I've been sitting in the linger summer heat of Georgia reading Barry Lopez's *Arctic Dreams*. It's one of the finest books of natural history I've ever read and many things have jumped out at me, but one in particular has stuck with me for a while now. +Out here you mark time by space. The land is always present in you. The smell of wet leaves after a rain. The grit of fresh soil under your nails. The glitter of water in noonday sun. The silence of snow. -I have a tendency to always be defending the way we live. This is the last artifact of a long process of shedding certain cultural conditioning. It's a terrible habit in other words, but one I have yet to break. After all, even I can admit that we are a bit eccentric, those of us who make our homes in small spaces we share with engines. +More than the words that describe them, places become real things in which we exist and locate ourselves, our past, our present, and how we measure the scale of ourselves. We speak not of things that happened, but of things that happened and where they happened. Experience gains extra dimensions. Places become a way of locating the self within the world that is either not necessary or not possible when the places in which you exist rarely change. -Why do it? What do we get out of it? +In his remarkable book, *Artic Dreams*, Barry Lopez writes that, for the native peoples of the Arctic Circle, "land does... what architecture sometimes does for us. It provides a sense of place, of scale, of history." -Lopez comes to believe that for the native peoples of the Arctic "land does... what architecture sometimes does for us. It provides a sense of place, of scale, of history." +I have never gotten that from architecture, but I definitely get it from land. -This struck me because whenever we are around non-travelers I notice how much I talk not just of what happened, but where it happened. I have developed a largely unconscious need to locate my past in both time and space. I have to watch out for this because it is annoying to non-travelers. Space, the land around the event, is information they don't want. +But Lopez's idea struck me because whenever we are around non-travelers I notice how much of the stories I tell are not what happened, but also where it happened. I have developed a largely unconscious need to locate my past in both time and space. I have to watch out for this because I've also noticed it can be annoying, even pretentious-sounding to non-travelers. Space, the land around the event, is information they don't want. But those of us who insist on moving through the land are doing the same thing that Lopez identifies in the Arctic natives, searching out our own sense of scale and history in the land around us. -Land becomes paramount to life when you live this way. Where you are is as meaningful as who. Where defines who. Landscapes rise up become more than backdrops against which we live. They are the mysterious aggregations that shape our lives, all our lives, all the time, but out here it becomes so plain, you feel it deep within. It's not something you seek out. It is something that arrives. Slowly, almost unnoticed. Until one day you realize you're not talking to the trees, you're answering them. +Land becomes paramount to life when you live this way. Where you are is as meaningful as who. Where defines who. -You gain a sense of place by merging into it, however briefly, in way that can only be done by giving up familiarity. Novelty sharpens the experience of place. Perhaps because we evolved to be wary of the novel, to be on edge in experiencing the unfamiliar. Now the evolutionary threat is largely gone and novelty becomes the grindstone that sharpens the experience of place until it comes to the foreground for our lives. +Landscapes rise up become more than backdrops against which we live. They are the mysterious aggregations that shape our lives, all our lives, all the time, but out here it becomes so plain, you feel it deep within. It's not something you seek out. It is something that arrives. Slowly, almost unnoticed. Until one day you realize you're not talking to the trees, you're answering them. -Out here you mark time by space. The land is always present in you. The smell of wet leaves after a rain. The grit of fresh soil under your nails. The silence of snow. The glitter of water in noonday sun. The small patch of gravel where you first noticed your broken axle. More than the words that describe them, places become real things in which we exist and locate ourselves, our past, our present, and how we measure the scale of ourselves. We speak not of things that happened, but of things that happened and where they happened. Experience gains extra dimensions. Places become a way of locating the self within the world that is either not necessary or not possible when the places in which you exist rarely change. +You gain a sense of place by merging into it, however briefly, in way that can only be done by giving up familiarity. Novelty sharpens the experience of place. Perhaps because we evolved to be wary of the novel, to be on edge in experiencing the unfamiliar. All that grass doesn't matter, that one part where it's novel, that one part where there are no shadows when there should be shadows. That's a lion. Novelty is bad in that sense. + +Now the evolutionary threat is largely gone though novelty becomes useful. It a grindstone sharpening your experience of place until it comes to the foreground. You notice what was not there yesterday. It's not a lion anymore, but still you notice. @@ -1,3 +1,11 @@ + +## Maps + +“Some for one purpose and some for another liketh, loveth, getteth, and useth Mappes, Chartes, & Geographicall Globes.” -- John Dee, + +source: https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/oct/20/the-perfect-combination-of-art-and-science-mourning-the-end-of-paper-maps + + ## Immersing yourself In his book, <cite>Written in the West</cite> Wim Wenders talks about improving photography by completely immersing yourself in what you see, "no longer needing to interpret, just looking." I find that it's not just photography that can be enhanced this way, but all of life. All you need to do is let go and look. Let go of any agenda and just walk (or sit) and watch the world around you. The world is endlessly fascinating. Even the parts you don't like, like Texas. Step back from the things you want, the things you think you need, the things you think you should do, and a new range of possibilities opens up. diff --git a/pages/homepage.html b/pages/homepage.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8a97512 --- /dev/null +++ b/pages/homepage.html @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +<p>We’re a family of five who live full time in a vintage 1969 Dodge Travco RV. We’ve been at it for three years now. People want to know <a href="https://luxagraf.net/1969-dodge-travco-motorhome">what it’s like for five people to live in a 26ft RV</a> and <a href="https://luxagraf.net/essay/why-a-vintage-rv">why we live this way</a>.</p> +<p>The short answer is simple: because we like it and we can. If you want more than a soundbite, <a href="/jrnl/">read through the journal</a>. If you like it, sign up for <a href="/newsletter/">the email list</a>, or <a href="/jrnl/feed.xml">subscribe to the RSS feed</a>.</p> +<p>We love the way we live and wouldn’t want to live any other way. But we’re not you and this isn’t for everyone. It just works for us. If you’re interested there’s a guide section with some <a href="/guides/">advice, tips and tricks for those who’d aspire to live full time in a van or RV</a> and there’s more about me on the <a href="/about">about page</a></p> diff --git a/pages/homepage.txt b/pages/homepage.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..594c530 --- /dev/null +++ b/pages/homepage.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5 @@ +We're a family of five who live full time in a vintage 1969 Dodge Travco RV. We've been at it for three years now. People want to know [what it's like for five people to live in a 26ft RV](https://luxagraf.net/1969-dodge-travco-motorhome) and [why we live this way](). + +The short answer is simple: because we like it and we can. If you want more than a soundbite, [read through the journal](/jrnl/). If you like it, sign up for [the email list](/newsletter/), or [subscribe to the RSS feed](/jrnl/feed.xml). + +We love the way we live and wouldn’t want to live any other way. But we’re not you and this isn’t for everyone. It just works for us. If you're interested there's a guide section with some [advice, tips and tricks for those who'd aspire to live full time in a van or RV](/guides/) and there's more about me on the <a href="/about">about page</a> |