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 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. If you like it, sign up for the email list, or subscribe to the RSS feed.
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 and there’s more about me on the about page
# Dear Internet Commenter url: /dear-internet-commenter status: True We are fellow denizens of an especially lovely planet full of wonder and beauty. Okay, it's true. It's also full of ugliness and horror. But let's focus on the positive for a minute. That the good news. The bad news is that even in the best case scenarios we only get to ride this lovely planet around our sun some seventy-five or so times. That's assuming we're well fed, clothed, sheltered and in good health. Most people of the world are none of those things. Some of us are, which is incredibly fortunate for us. I say this mainly to offer some perspective on why I have elected not to engage in a conversation with you. It's nothing against you specifically, but here's the thing: most likely you disagreed with something I wrote and want to express that. I understand that desire. But remember, my thoughts and opinions don't have to match yours. Yours are equally valid. And not only do these topics not really matter in the grand scheme of things, I don't matter in the grand scheme of your existence and there's nothing to gain by pretending otherwise. This doesn't mean we shouldn't care about each others' opinions, it just means that, given the constraints of our existence here on earth (it's very time limited), we probably both have better things we could be doing -- walking in the sunshine, playing with our kids, watching the sunset from a mountain top, making coffee by a fire just before sunrise, eating tacos, or what have you. There are a lot of amazing things to do out there. Arguing on the internet is not one them. # README url: /readme status: True ##Overview Luxagraf.net is built using the [GeoDjango framework](http://geodjango.org/). I don't serve up the pages directly with django though, instead the Django app spits out static html page -- pretty much like Moveable Type did back in the day. The static pages are then served up by Nginx. There's a couple exceptions where Nginx hands things off to [uwsgi](https://uwsgi-docs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/). Everything is served over https for your browsing privacy. Haha, just kidding, it's served over HTTPS because Google rammed that shit sandwich down the internet's throat as a way to raise the barrier for entry and keep the riffraff out. Fuck you Google. I wrote most of the Django apps that I use, but I do use a few reusable apps written by others, namely: * [django-contrib-comments](https://github.com/django/django-contrib-comments) * [django-extensions](https://github.com/django-extensions/django-extensions) * [django-gravatar2](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/django-gravatar2/1.1.4) * [django-taggit](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/django-taggit/0.12.2) * [django-typogrify](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/django-typogrify/1.3.1) * [django-bleach](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/django-bleach/0.3.0) I also rely on quite a few Python modules , some of which have their own dependencies (not listed): * [Markdown](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/Markdown/2.5.2) * [Pillow](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/Pillow/2.7.0) * [bleach](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/bleach/1.4.1) * [html5lib](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/html5lib/1.0b3) * [psycopg2](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/psycopg2/2.5.4) * [python-dateutil](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/python-dateutil/2.4.0) * [smartypants](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/smartypants/1.8.6) I'm also deeply indebted to a vast array of geodata that I've downloaded over the years, including the world borders data set, a U.S state borders dataset (whose origin I've now forgotten), U.S. national park borders (thanks to Obama adding several new parks, mine are now out of date, but the latest versions are now available from [data.gov](https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/national-park-boundariesf0a4c)). I'm also currently building some new apps with BLM GIS shapefiles, but so far that's not public yet. # Offline url: /offline status: True Sorry. It looks like the network connection isn’t working right now. But you still have something to read:
*Être fort pour être utile*
Luxagraf is [written and published](/technology) by Scott Nathan Gilbertson.
I write about our travels, along with thoughts on life and how we live it.
Since 2017, my wife, our 3 children, and I
have lived mostly outdoors, in a 26-ft long [1969 Dodge Travco motorhome](https://luxagraf.net/1969-dodge-travco-motorhome). We call it the big blue bus, or home, for short.
### Follow Along
I have two newsletters:
[***Friends of a Long Year***](https://luxagraf.net/friends/): travel // bird watching // slow life (biweekly)
### What's it like to live in a 1969 Dodge Travco Motorhome?
Lots of people ask some variation of this question -- they want to know what it's like for two adults and three kids to squeeze into 90 square feet for years on end. Some people seem predisposed to think it's all an endless epic adventure. Other people clearly have images of us living in the proverbial van down by the river.
Neither of those are entirely accurate. If you really want to know what our life is like, [read the site](/jrnl/). Sign up for [the email list](/newsletter/) or [subscribe to the RSS feed](/jrnl/feed.xml) to get notified when I post something. What I try to record here is what our life is like.
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.
To answer a few random questions that pop up regularly in conversations with curious people: Yes it's crowded. No we don't mind that. Yes, we are close. No, our kids aren't perfect. Yes, there are days when I wish I lived some other way. Being sick in the bus is awful.
Most of the time though, we're not in the bus.
When you live in a small space you invert your spacial relationship with the world. You spend your time outside rather than in, and that was one of the main reasons we did this, to be outside more. To be part of the larger world. I wrote about this at some length for a travel magazine, in piece about [why we live in a vintage RV](/essay/why-a-vintage-rv).
The best part of the way we live is waking up in the morning and stepping outside. I'm outside from the minute I wake up until I go to bed. We cook outside, we work outside, we eat outside, we learn outside, we play outside. Only the weather drives us inside.
I think it's worth pointing out that everything is not always sunsets and adventures. We struggle the same as anyone living in a house. Our challenges and struggles are just different. For example, when we owned a house I had to mow the lawn and clean the gutters. Now I have to change the oil and maintain an engine, not nearly as much work as it is to maintain a house, but still something I have to regularly attend to.
For me, maintaining the Travco is more challenging, and therefore more fun and rewarding, than mowing the lawn. I'm not an engine expert. I can't listen to a knock or ping and figure out what's going on right away. I have to spend more time thinking it through, asking people more knowledgeable than me. But I'm learning, and that's what I enjoy in life, being challenged, learning, solving problems, getting outside my comfort zone so I can expand it.
Still, the bus is our home and when it breaks down, well, sometimes we camp on a mechanic's driveway.
Or I spend hours at the side of the road listening to the radiator boil over or getting covered in power steering fluid, transmission fluid, brake fluid. To live this way you have to be able to let go of the idea that there is anywhere else you need to be, anywhere else you *can* be. More than anything else, a vintage vehicle will teach you patience. Or you will lose your mind and sell it.
### You don't have to be rich.
The other question everyone asks is *how can you travel all the time*? What am I some kind of rich asshole? Trust fund kid? Thankfully I'm neither. Most of the trust fund kids I've known have been pretty screwed up people. We're not rich, we're comfortably lower-middle class I guess. But as noted rock climber Eric Beck once quipped, "there's a leisure class at both ends of the economic spectrum."
Which is to say that if you discard the value system of upper middle class America, you can find an amazing amount of time and money that you can use to do more interesting things than buying stuff. Yes, you need some money to live the way we do, but not much really. We live on about $36k a year. That's not much within the spectrum of US earning possibilities.
I do recognize that the ability to make that kind of money while traveling is not available to everyone. There are more opportunities to do it today than at any point in human history, but that doesn't mean it's possible for everyone. I happen to be a writer and computer programmer, both which can be done from just about anywhere, so that's how I do it. And no, we don't have much in the way of insurance. We have some money set aside to cover the basics, but if something catastrophic happened, we, like many of you I'm sure, would be in trouble. These days I'm not sure that would be any different even if I had an office job. Either way, like I said earlier, living this way is not for everyone.
For most people the difficult part of living this way is letting go of that value system that says you need to own a house, have amazing health insurance, a nice car, a bunch of stuff, and a huge savings for some perfect future when you can stop working. For me that ideology never really took hold for whatever reason, so I never had to escape it, but I watched others escape it and it did not look easy or fun.
I've spent a good bit of time trying to figure out why I never cared about that stuff. Maybe I read Thoreau too young. Maybe I listed to too much punk rock. Maybe it was that I took those people at their word, that I accepted their values at face value: that complaining does no good, you do what you need to do, and you do it yourself. You do it yourself so you can do it exactly the way you want, the way that works best for you, not the way someone else thinks you should do it, and in the end it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks so long as you're able to look yourself in the eye at three AM and know that all is well.
It's hard to write about these things without coming off like a jerk to some people, but I suppose that's okay. You can't please everyone. I'll assume since you've made it this far that you're good with it.
The problem is a lot of people see other values as a comment on their own. Like I am somehow sneering down at people from the top of the #vanlife heights here. Again maybe this doesn't come off right, but really: I don't care how you live. If you love living in a house, that's awesome. I am glad you have found what makes you happy. If you hate living in a house and want to escape it, well, I guess to some extent I'm here to say it can be done. Maybe.
### Why live this way? Because the worst part is going home.
The why part two: I wanted to give my kids something close to the childhood I wish I'd had.
Which is not to imply I didn't have a good childhood. I've had an incredible life. I have to pinch myself sometimes to make sure this isn't a dream (which now maybe you're thinking oh god, what an asshole. And I know, I know it sounds cliche, but really I have nothing to complain about. My life has been grand. If I die tomorrow, I will miss my family, but I would at least feel like I had lived deliciously well).
I grew up traveling a lot, something I'm very grateful to have experienced because those were always my favorite moments. Mostly I remember camping and hiking. The mountains, the beaches, the deserts. I remember being outside, the smell of pine needles, the dust in your nose as you step out of the tent to see what was for breakfast. I remember living outside for a week, sometimes two, and then going home. It was always such a drag to go home.
I wanted my own kids to have that life. I wanted them to live outside, but I didn't want them to have to go home. I wanted to spare them the pain of watching the real world fade in the rear windows as they headed back to suburbia. I wanted to go out into the wilds and never come home. I wanted that to *be* home.
The Travco was a way to give my kids that.
### The 1969 Dodge Travco Motorhome
Really, do you care that much about me? Probably not.
Let's talk about the bus. It's way cooler than I am. Let's face it, we live this way because of the bus.
They do not make vehicles like this anymore. I never even liked motorhomes until I saw a Dodge Travco. The sweeping curves, the 1960s electric blue, no other vehicle ever made was quite like this. Even the Travco is really only the Travco from 1966 to 1970. I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow this thing got made and a few survived.
I spend just about two years gutting and refinishing ours. You can can checkout an older post on [how it looked when we got it](https://luxagraf.net/jrnl/2016/12/1969-dodge-travco) (complete with Velvet Elvis). In the end we had something vintage on the outside and livable on the inside. All the wood paneling inside and vinyl seats coverings are new, but the layout, shape, design and cabinets are original.
To say the Big Blue Bus, as our children named it, stands out is an understatement. There is nothing else on the road that even remotely compares.
Ours is not pristine. I hit a tree stump in northern California and did some damage to the fiberglass on one side. Fortunately it's low enough that you don't notice it unless you're really looking. The paint is faded in places, but it has that nice, vintage patina that things get after 50 years in the sun. We've talked about repainting it, but so far that's not made it to the top of our list.
As cool as the outside is, the inside is my favorite part. The way the sunlight streams in the windows in the mornings, there's a warmth to the wood and the curve of the window and the pine trees on the other side of the window, it gives you a kind of joy I've never had from any other home I've lived in. We live in a magical blue and white tube basically. I mean, who doesn't want that?
#### The 318 LA Engine
I would call the Chrysler 318 the best engine ever made. But then, I'm biased. Still, almost every person who asks, the conversation goes like this:
*What's that got in it? 440?*
*Nope, 318.*
*318?! Damn. That's a great engine. Bet it's slow up hills though...*
*It is.*
And it is, but it's a nearly bullet proof engine. I've dragged its 50-year-old self over 16,000 miles across the United States and all the way to 10,000 feet. We did blow a head gasket once, which destroyed a cylinder and required quite a bit of work. Otherwise though we've replaced the things you'd expect to replace driving an older engine around for years.
One of my favorite parts about the 318 is that you can walk into just about any auto parts shop in the western hemisphere and find nearly every part you're going to need. The only thing I've ever had the hunt down in a wrecking yard was an exhaust manifold.
### Conclusion
I'd be lying if I said I loved every day in the bus. I love almost every day though, and as long as the view from the front door looks like this:
Or this:
And as long as my kids continue to love calling it home, home it will be.
[^1]: For the record, [this](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uZPXfg8VAxM/TgVMHIlVNKI/AAAAAAAAAok/rvpcY_OCqzA/s1600/caravan%2Bside%2Bdoors.jpg) is the first image I ever saw of Travco. Yes, I remember it.
# Currently Working On
url: /now
status: True
We are currently in the northwoods of Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Superior. Working on cooking over an open fire, jui jitsu, building out a school bus as a home, and hiking around the woods.
This page is inspired by Derek Siver’s [now page](http://sivers.org/nowff) idea.
# Le Blog Roll
url: /blogroll
status: True
Remember when everyone had a 'blogroll' and that was how your discovered other cool sites? It's a shame that got lost somewhere along the way. I think it's still an awesome way to discover cool sites and meet new people.
Maybe it's the nature of today's internet. Time was people wrote about how they looked at life. I liked that time. Now it's all about how your life looks, and I'll be honest, I don't give a shit what your life looks like. Luckily there are still some wonderful people out there recording their journeys and sharing how they see them in creative ways. Here's my reading/watching list:
---
* [Bumfuzzle](http://www.bumfuzzle.com/) -- Discovered this by chance when researching Travcos and it's become my favorite travel blog -- sailing, racing, driving, you name it, they've done it.
* [Vagabond Journey](http://www.vagabondjourney.com/) -- I first started [following Wade Shepard's site](http://www.vagablogging.net/the-future-of-vagabonding-and-long-term-travel.html) back when I was [editing Rolf Potts' Vagablogging.net](http://www.vagablogging.net/vagablogging-alumni.html). If my math is right, Wade has been traveling continuously for over 15 years now. There is not much about travel that he has not figured out.
* [Inhab.it](http://inhab.it/) -- I can't remember how I found inhab.it (I think we have a mutual friend maybe?) but I'm glad I did. Click this one too.
* [PMags](https://pmags.com) -- I believe Paul Magnanti is a kind of thru-hiking folk hero, but I just like hearing about his weekend trips around the southwest.
* [Erik Normark](https://www.youtube.com/@erik_normark/videos) -- Erik Normark makes the best hiking/outdoor videos I've ever seen. Better than the "professionals" in my opinion. All my videos owe a heavy debt to him.
* [Sam Holmes Sailing](https://www.youtube.com/@samholmessailing/videos) -- Most of YouTube irritates me, but Sam Holmes somehow manages to be endearing. Probably helps that he's a great sailor.
* [Holly Martin (WindHippy Sailing](https://www.youtube.com/@WindHippieSailing/videos) -- Like Sam Holmes, Holly Martin is one of those rare people who is able to tell their story in video without being annoying.
* [Sailorama](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCirYAT7CafNatSyJH3-O4pQ) -- if you like repair and boats, this is a good channel to follow. It's always entertaining.
* [Beau Miles](https://beaumiles.com) -- Beau Miles makes these gorgeous films about his adventures in [getting to work](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysgH_rkfGSE), [sleeping in trees](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysgH_rkfGSE), and [eating beans](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYsTlfhDSDY). I know that *sounds* boring, but trust me.
* [Shifter, Dan Milner](http://shifter.media) -- I discovered Dan Milner from Charlene Winfred's site (which is no longer here because she doesn't use it anymore). There's a lot here to love, even if you aren't a photographer.
* [Alex Soth](https://www.alecsoth.com/photography/) -- If you want to learn more about photography, especially photography of America, Alex Soth is one of the best resources out there.
* [Early Retirement Extreme](http://earlyretirementextreme.com/) -- Jacob Fisker stopped blogging a while ago, but everything he wrote remains good advice for anyone looking to extract themselves from the consumer mindset.
* [Expeditionary Art](http://expeditionaryart.com/) -- I love this site and am wildly jealous of the amazing artistic talent on display here.
* [Low Tech Magazine](https://www.lowtechmagazine.com) -- Kris de Decker's solar powered website on forgotten and overlooked tech. I mean, look at the name, of course I read this.
* [Ben Falk](https://www.youtube.com/@wholesystems) -- If we ever end up on a piece of property it will because I finally watched too many of Ben Falk's videos and went out and bought my own land.
* [Slowdown Farmstead](https://www.slowdownfarmstead.com) -- Another farmer whose writing I enjoy.
# Buying Used
url: /buying-used
status: True
I very rarely buy new electronics. I can't recall the last time I bought something new. We almost always buy electronics used, mostly off eBay. We also rarely buy new books. We generally pick up books at used bookstores around the country, but when we can't find what we want we use Thriftbooks.
Buying used has several advantages over buying new. The obvious one is that it's almost always cheaper. But beyond that there are other appealing aspects. Buying used means you're not contributing as much to the waste stream of modern economies, and you're (potentially) removing things from that waste stream by finding a use for them. Used items, especially electronics, tend to be functionally superior to new ones[^1] both because they are farther back on the curve of [diminishing returns](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/law%20of%20diminishing%20returns) and because they have stood the test of time. There are exceptions of course, but buy and large last year's model is as good, and sometimes better, than this year's model.
Buying used also enables you to take advantage of little curiosities of time. For example all the really good low-noise sound recording devices seem to have been made between 2007-2016. Why? No idea. But everyone who needs low noise recording seems to agree, and high end recorders from that era sell for more than they did when they were new. Which is to say that buying used isn't always cheaper, but when it's not it generally means you're getting something superior. And not something that the manufacturer thinks is superior, but something the people using it the most think is superior.
This is why the only affiliate links on luxagraf.net lead to either eBay or Thriftbooks, my two preferred marketplaces for buying used stuff.
Anyone using affiliate links is trying to sell you something -- that includes me -- and you should always be suspicious about that. I know my motives are simple, to make some money to pay for this website and maybe some tea for myself, but you have every right to skeptical. Really though, I don't want you to buy anything you don't need. But if you do need something, please buy it used. And if you're going to buy something I've recommended based on my experiences with it, then the affiliate links will help support this website.
[^1]: The odd mixture of capitalism and our culture's worship of "progress" means that new things must constantly be released, but the law of diminishing returns suggests that newer/bigger/better/faster eventually fails to deliver any meaningfully improvement. This is most obvious in software, where the most feared phrase in any software user's heart is "please restart to update", but this lack of improvement over previous versions is increasingly painfully obvious in hardware as well.
# Code
url: /code
status: True
Driving gives you plenty of time to think. Somewhere in that thinking I decided I needed to clarify my basic approach to life. To know what I was doing and why. I hesitate to call these rules because it's not like I know what I'm doing and I modify these all the time as I learn and adapt. Anyway, this is mostly for me, but I mentioned them in a post once and someone asked me to write them down. So here they are.
###1. Everything is a Practice
There is no finish line. There's no winning, no losing. Not in human terms anyway. Individual projects may come to an end, but the practices that made them possible do not. Most things worth doing do not have a stopping point. There is no point where you've written enough, you've worked out enough. Everything is a practice. Embrace it. The practice is never done, which means you get to keep improving. [Full essay, *Everything is a Practice*](https://luxagraf.net/essay/everything-is-a-practice)
###2. Safety Third
We saw sticker on the sign to the Henry Miller library that said, "Safety Third". This became our antidote to the endless rules of public spaces. It was a good family joke. Whenever we do something other people might frown on, one of us will invariably shout, "safety third!" before plunging ahead. But safetyism is a real problem that we all struggle with. I think you beat the safety game by playing a different one. You play the personal responsibility and risk management game. You go slow, you learn your limits, but then you keep playing. You push your limits. You do things that scare you because they also call to you. You keep expanding and growing. You can read more in the essay [*Safety Third*](https://luxagraf.net/essay/safety-third).
###3. Do It Yourself
It's probably cheaper and easier to buy most things, but when I can I'd rather make things myself. What else are you going to do with your life if you aren't making stuff? Watch TV? Stop buying stuff and hiring people for everything. Give yourself a chance to solve the problem first. Contrary to what it says on the label, professionals and experts aren't necessary. They'll do it faster and better than you will, but you'll learn and improve every time you do it yourself.
###4. Adapt to Your Surroundings
No matter where you go you will not fit in when you get there. The climate will be different, the people will be different, the food will be different. Don't expect the place to adapt to you and don't get bent out of shape when it doesn't.
One great way to do this is to simplify your life. Depending on a lot of stuff makes it hard to adapt. My favorite practical example is air conditioning. If you depend on air conditioning you aren't able to adapt to climate changes as well as someone who doesn't. As Jakob Lund Fisker [succinctly puts it](https://earlyretirementextreme.com/manifesto.html) "Comfort is having the sweat glands and metabolic tolerance to deal with heat and cold. It is not central heating or air conditioning which may fail or be unavailable."
###5. Make Something You Like Everyday
In the world as it once was I think this need to create was fulfilled by hunting and to some extent farming. With those gone we're left with kind of a void[^1]. I have found that filling that void with creative endeavors is very satisfying. Other people find that studying something in detail fills that void. For me it's making stuff.
Digital stuff (like this site) is okay, but I prefer to make tangible stuff most of the time. Could be a delicious meal, could be some little thing around the bus, could be a paper airplane for the kids. *What* doesn't matter so much as the practice of making things. See also, rule 1.
###6. Retain Agency
Retaining agency means rejecting the passive. In some ways this is what you get when you practice rules 2, 3, and 4. You are the driving force behind your thoughts and actions, do not outsource them to others without carefully considering what you're giving up.
Agency is not control though, it is not bending the world to your will (see rule 3), it is merely ensuring that one's ideas and tools are one's own[^2].
###7. Avoid Waste
The only thing in short supply on this planet is time, do not waste it. Fuck entertainment, it is a waste of time. You are not on earth to be entertained.
Similarly, fuck stuff. Make good financial decisions and get by with as little stuff as you can because money takes time to earn, and that is time you will never get back.
Waste is not natural (read up on ecology if this idea is new to you), avoid it in all things.
###8. Prefer the Analog
I find that the digital world isn't very satisfying. I have a rather outlandish theory about why. I think it lacks the rhythm of the natural world. I believe your body and spirit know the difference between the rhythms of the world they evolved in and the more recent additions. Don't get me wrong, I love the rhythm of a piston-driven engine, but I also think that the truly great engines are the ones that manage to mimic natural rhythms.
###9. Don't Report Stories, Live Them
I have no training as a journalist. I studied religion, photography, and literature, but somehow I ended up writing for journalism outlets. I have no real problem with journalists -- the few left who actually do journalism, almost none of whom are published by major publishers -- but I also have no desire to be one.
The stories I tell are ultimately about me because that is what I know. The idea that you can tell other people's stories seems fundamentally wrong to me. They are not your stories, let other people tell their own stories.
###10. Novelty Wears Off, Routines Carry You Through
The novelty of new places, new people, new food, new whatever doesn't last long and ultimately isn't that exciting. It has an addictive nature too. If you always need the new something has gone astray I think. I think the novelty of travel lasts about two years, and then you look around and start thinking, well, now what?
My experience has been that the answer to *now what* means reaching back to your old life and finding the things that made you happiest there and bringing them on the road with you. Doing your thing becomes your routine that you bring to a new place, and now you have something to offer that place: you. You're no longer just traveling to see the sights, you become, in a small way, for a short time, a part of that place.
###11. Live Small, Venture Wide
I stole this line from Pat Schulte of [Bumfuzzle](https://www.bumfuzzle.com/). The basic idea is that I am happiest owning very little and living in small spaces, which makes it easier to move through the world.
###12. Try Everything Twice.### {: #twice }
As the Aussies would say, "have a crack at it." There are two parts here though. The first is a call to experience. Try it. But recognize that some things suck the first time you try them, so you might want to have a second crack at it.
[^1]: To borrow some ideas from Jacques Ellul et al, humans need goals, they need to put forth some effort in pursuit of those goals and they need to at least occasionally attain them. Ellul, and later Ted Kaczynski, have fun splitting hairs about what should fulfill these needs. I don't see much point in that, but I am going off personal experience here and, again, you might find otherwise.
[^2]: Matthew Crawford's *[Shop Class as Soul Craft](https://bookshop.org/books/shop-class-as-soulcraft-an-inquiry-into-the-value-of-work/9780143117469)* very much influenced my thinking on this subject. Crawford digs into why people like to repair things and concludes that this need to be capable of repair is part of a desire to escape the feeling of dependence, to reassert their agency over their stuff. He calls the individual who prizes his own agency the Spirited Man. This becomes a kind of archetype of the antidote to passive consumption. Passive consumption displaces agency, argues Crawford. One is no longer master of one's stuff because one does not truly understand how stuff works. "Spiritedness, then," writes Crawford, "may be allied with a spirit of inquiry, through a desire to be master of one’s own stuff. It is the prideful basis of self-reliance." Exactly.
# Get a Postcard From Us
url: /cards
status: True
It's true, we'll send you a postcard. How many? How often? I don't actually know. This is just something I thought sounded fun so one night I built a little form to hold addresses and here we are. If you're interested, write your name and street address in the box below, press send, and wait. And wait. And probably keep waiting, But we'll send you something eventually.*
[**Update 12/2023**: this has proved more popular than I ever imagined, which makes me very happy, but has put me bit behind. Also, quite a few international requests, which is fine, just make sure you put the full address as your postal service uses it.]
# Easy35 Film Scanner Reference Images
url: /easy-35-film-scanner-test
status: True
Example files related to a review of Valoi's Easy35 film "scanner". You can [read the review](https://www.wired.com/review/valoi-easy35-film-scanning-kit) on Wired.
Image was shot on Tri-X 400. A stormy early morning in the Outer Banks, NC (that's the moon in the clouds).
[Download the RAW file (43MB)](https://luxagraf.net/images/samples/Easy35-scan-nikon-60mm.ARW)/[Download XMP](https://luxagraf.net/images/samples/Easy35-scan-nikon-60mm.ARW.xmp)
[Download the RAW file (43MB)](https://luxagraf.net/images/samples/Easy35-scan-sigma-70mm.ARW)/[Download XMP](https://luxagraf.net/images/samples/Easy35-scan-sigma-70mm.ARW.xmp)
Both Easy35 images were shot at the same light temp and brightness, with just about the same settings applied in Darktable. I did have to up the contrast a bit on the image from the Nikon compared to the Sigma (not surprising, the Sigma is a sharper lens), but overall I don't see much difference between the end results. The Sigma just makes the whole process easier and faster, with less work in your RAW editor.
---
# 1989 Jeep Grand Wagoneer
url: /1989-jeep-grand-wagoneer
status: True
The Jeep is not a showroom piece. It's a daily driver type of car, not a perfect time capsule from its birth. That's what we wanted, but it's not what everyone wants so know that up front. The wood paneling is long gone, someone repainted it white and didn't do a great job, but I thought/think it looks great, much older than it is since the previous owner put on the "rhino chaser" front end. The original front end and square headlights are in the back of the Jeep as well if you prefer the 1989 look.
It has a brand-new-to-it transmission that had 50k miles on it. We pulled it from a pick a part, had it rebuilt and installed in late summer of 2023. I put new brakes on the front (disk) in spring of 2023 and changed the oil every 3,000 miles.
The engine needs a rebuild. I haven't spoke to the mechanic yet to get the details, but definitely a new cam (flat tappet or convert to the rolling), probably a new oil pump. The valves seemed in good shape. New pistons wouldn't hurt. The water pump, power steering pump and alternator are all new within the past two years and could be re-used. Or you could swap something else in. People do diesel conversions, I've heard of people putting in hemis and all sorts of things.
These are the only photos I have, though I am working on getting some more.
She's an incredibly fun car to drive. The best I've ever driven. I love almost everything about it, but it just isn't the right thing for life on the road.
# Financial Self-Dependence for Travel
url: /travel-through-financial-self-dependence
status: False
Once people get over the big blue bus, two questions inevitably follow.
The first is, *so, what do you do,?* This is the polite American way of saying, *how the hell do you afford to do this?*
The second thing people ask is what the kids do for school. That requires a much more complex answer. Let's stick to money. Money is simple. Well, compared to education.
### Set a Goal
Before you figure out how you can afford to travel you need a goal. What is your goal? Is it to travel somewhere specific? Some specific means of traveling (e.g. RV, boat, AirBnB, etc)?Is it some specific amount of time (e.g. a few months between jobs, during a summer break, etc)?
It's important to have a concrete goal in mind before you start trying to arrange your life in a way that carries you to that goal. I hate to sound like a life coach, but if you don't have a goal you'll never find your path. Without a clear path you won't go anywhere.
For example, the first time I went on a long term trip I had general destination in mind (India and Southeast Asia). That allowed me to research to costs of getting to those places, the likely costs of life there, and then I could work backwards to figure out how much I need to save. I had a concrete number in mind ($10k, which I expected to last me 6 months), and I started saving until I had enough and I then I left. When it ran out I came home. I was young enough then that I just crashed on friends couches until I landed a new job, if that's not an option be sure to set aside a fund to re-enter normal life.
This isn't the only way to do it though. I met several people on that trip who went the opposite direction, they saved up a chunk of money and then figured out where they could make it last the longest. That's another way to do it.
And finally there is what I do now, which is working on the road. I only recommend this if your goal is to travel indefinitely. And for the record, neither I nor anyone I've ever met traveling left home planning to travel indefinitely. That tends to be something you decide when it comes time to end a long trip. You start thinking, *I want to keep doing this forever*, and that sudden pressure (the thought of going back) tends to lead to the creative thinking you need to develop if you do indeed want to live on the road.
### Get Rid of Everything
The first step to affording to travel is to get rid of everything you don't absolutely need. I actually think it would be easier to get rid of literally everything, head out the door and just buy things as you need them, but no one has ever taken this suggestion seriously so the best I can say is: if everything you doesn't fit in two bags, you're going to run into problems.
Get down to two bags. If you need to add things down the road, that's fine. For example, if you end up traveling with your home, like a van, RV, boat, or whatever, you're going to need tools, you can add those in later. But for the most part get rid of everything.
This is important literally, as an act, but also as a process. It will teach you things. It will teach you how remote your wants are from your needs. Get rid of your wants along with all the debris those wants have brought into your life. Focus on what you absolutely need. If you want nothing you will not need as much money. Needs turn out to be pretty cheaply met. Find a dumpster and throw your TV in it. That alone will do more to get you on your way to having enough money to travel than anything else on this page.
Don't worry if this is really hard or insanely time consuming. It's that way for everyone. I've written about this elsewhere, but it is astronomically easier to let stuff into your life than it is to get it out.
Stuff costs money and takes up space, neither of which you have future traveler. Life on the road is one of necessities (food and shelter) and great views, not endless wants fulfilled and Amazon deliveries. The less you want the better off you will be financially. Yes, you can take this too far, but very few people do so don't worry about that.
One trap to beware of, having less doesn't mean you have to have the best. I see things on the internet from people who profess to be minimalists because they have only one fork, spoon, and knife, but those utensils are $40. That's not what you're after. Let go of the need to impress if you can, it will save you a ton of money. And none of us out here traveling will be impressed anyway.
### Become Financially Self-Dependant
I stole the phrase Financially Self-Dependant from the good people at Wanderer Financial because it captures something key that no other way of putting it does: you're in control. There are myriad ways this can be achieved depending on your skill set, but one thing I can absolutely promise you is that it won't mean having a traditional job. Can you travel with a full time job? Sure. I have several times. It sucks. It doesn't suck because you have set hours, though that's part of it, but mostly it sucks because you are not in direct control of your income. Worse, you only have one source of income.
Lose your job at home and it's a big deal.
I hate to tell you this, but the truth is we saved up for a long time before we went traveling so that we would have a good cushion of money should anything go wrong.
Speaking of which, if you're like me you got no financial education. You're going to need to fix
# Resume
url: /work/resume
status: False
content is in template file cv.html
# 1969 Yellowstone Trailer
url: /1969-yellowstone-trailer
status: False
Travel trailer fans, "glampers" and classic rv lovers, this is the deal you've been waiting for.
We're selling our vintage 1969 Yellowstone Trailer. It's a one of a kind sure to turn heads in the campground, though it does need a full restoration.
I've done quite a bit of research on the web and I've never seen another Yellowstone in this configuration with the bump up front, which makes it possible for a nice bunk bed on the inside (see pics below) and the rear door. So far as I can tell from using Search Tempest, there has not been another one like this for sale in the U.S. in over a year (probably a lot longer than that actually).
####The Good
Seriously, look at that thing. It's amazing.
It'll sleep six if you put in a folding couch across from the kitchen.
The frame is solid, the axels are good. I recently towed it 30 miles without a problem though one of the tires has some dryrot and should be replaced (I replaced one already, but I could not get the other one off without an impact wrench. Buy it and plan on towing it to a tire shop post haste).
Everything on the outside is sealed and there are no leaks that I know of.
####The Bad
There's a good bit of water damage in the interior panels, though in the six months I've had it it hasn't leaked so while there is damage, things aren't getting any worse. The exterior is in good shape, but the interior needs some love.
My plan was to strip it back to the frame, repair things a bit, then redo the insulattion, plumbing and wiring and then put some nice 1/8 wood paneling back on.
#### The Sale
So why am I selling it? We decided to get a vintage RV instead.
Our loss is your gain.
We're pricing it to move quickly because we need the driveway space so it's yours for
It came off the line Dec 18 1969:
View from just inside the door (the curtains are included :-) )
The bunk area folds up into those gold l-brackets on the right side of the wall above it:
Some of the water damage around the kitchen window. Note vintage light fixtures and large, single bowl sink:
Light fixture in the corner below the bunk to light the table/bed area
The water tank is under the bed/table area:
Bathroom area includes sink, toilet and shower:
Sink detail:
Shower:
It could just be me, but I love all the little details in this thing, like these old butane lamps. Spent many a night reading by one of these in a 1969 travel queen camper. Anyway, cool details:
Okay, one last exterior shot:
# For Sale: 412 Holman Ave, Athens, GA
url: /for-sale-412-holman-ave
status: False
Welcome. Take a tour of your new home.
412 Holman is 1434 sq ft of bright and cheery Normaltown charm. The house is move in ready with the option to convey washer, dryer and refrigerator. List price: $232,000.
Shown by appointment only, please contact Scott: sng@luxagraf.net or call (706) 438-4297
##There will be an open house Sunday 11-20-2016.
Please enjoy this short video tour of the house. For more details, there are additional images below (click or tap for larger images).
The front door opens into the front living room, a bright spacious area perfect for relaxing or entertaining. There's wonderful natural light here throughout the day.
The kitchen features all electric appliances, ample cabinet space and a central counter area that's perfect for bar stools and conversation.
The back living area has large french doors and numerous windows looking out over the deck and back yard. It's a versatile space that can be used as a second sitting room, dining area, playroom , and more. There's also a large closet for additional storage or keeping a media entertainment center out of the way when you aren't using it.
Both bedrooms are large enough to comfortably fit a king size bed (for size reference, the large mattress in the images below is a king) and both have ample closet space.
The office sits on the east side of the house and is nearly as large as the bedrooms. It could in fact easily become a third bedroom with the addition of some closet space.
The laundry room has washer and dryer hooks ups (the current washer and dryer can convey if you'd like them) and still has plenty of space for folding laundry or creating a sewing/craft workspace.
There's a basement with 6ft of clearance that offers plenty of storage space (there's also probably enough room to move the washer and dryer down there). Access is via stairway that opens into the central hall across from the kitchen.
There's also a large attic storage space above the office area, as well as three extra closets in the main living area, one between the bedrooms, one in the front living room and a very large one in the back living room.
Sitting on a fully fenced .26 acre lot, 412 Holman features large front and back yards, with ample shade provided by pine and oak trees. The back deck adds about 240 sq ft of outdoor living space and built in benches around the whole thing make it perfect for entertaining a crowd. It's our favorite place to watch the sunrise.
There's also a garden on the south (sunny) side of the house that has rough 250 sq ft of developed beds. We've grown everything from heirloom tomatoes to okra using the permaculture gardening method known as hugelkultur (a way to garden without watering, see link for more info). The garden also has two mature blueberry bushes and countless red and golden raspberry canes
It's been meticulously cared for, regularly serviced and recently had the points reset and a new compressor installed so it's purring like a kitten right now.
I also just put two brand new tires on the back.
Almost everything in it is original as far as I remember. At some point in the '90s the stock carburator was replaced. I then had that one completely rebuilt in 2011.
There's very little body rust, but there is some (see pics). Nothing that can't be filed/sanded out and filled with bondo. The power steering gearbox leaks a bit. It can be rebuilt by a handful of places in the U.S., the closest of which is in Michigan. I've never bothered. I just dump one, maybe two bottle of power steering fluid in it a month and live with it. If you'd like to fix it the fine folks at Whelchel Alignment & Brakes here in Athens are familiar with the problem and the solution, you can take it down to them, they do great work.
It has dual tanks for a total of 45 gallons (it gets about 9-16 mpg, depending on the circumstances) but the auxillary tank isn't working at the moment. Pretty sure you just need to replace the switch and it'll be fine.
This thing is one of kind and it's in phenomenal shape for its age. I've been driving it for 25 years now and it's never left me stranded anywhere, ever. My family is too big for it though so it's time to say goodbye.
Here's a few images:
# Exposure
url: /exposure
status: False
| Exposure Value | Lighting |
| -6 | Night, away from city lights, subject under starlight only. |
| -5 | Night, away from city lights, subject under crescent moon. |
| -4 | Night, away from city lights, subject under half moon. Meteors (during showers, with time exposure). |
| -3 | Night, away from city lights, subject under full moon. |
| -2 | Night, away from city lights, snowscape under full moon. |
| -1 | Subjects lit by dim ambient artificial light. |
| 0 | Subjects lit by dim ambient artificial light. |
| 1 | Distant view of lighted skyline. |
| 2 | Lightning (with time exposure). Total eclipse of moon. |
| 3 | Fireworks (with time exposure). |
| 4 | Candle lit close-ups. Christmas lights, floodlit buildings, fountains, and monuments. Subjects under bright street lamps. |
| 5 | Night home interiors, average light. School or church auditoriums. Subjects lit by campfires or bonfires. |
| 6 | Brightly lit home interiors at night. Fairs, amusement parks. |
| 7 | Bottom of rainforest canopy. Brightly lighted nighttime streets. Indoor sports. Stage shows, circuses. |
| 8 | Las Vegas or Times Square at night. Store windows. Campfires, bonfires, burning buildings. Ice shows, football, baseball etc. at night. Interiors with bright florescent lights. |
| 9 | Landscapes, city skylines 10 minutes after sunset. Neon lights, spotlighted subjects. |
| 10 | Landscapes and skylines immediately after sunset. Crescent moon (long lens). |
| 11 | Sunsets. Subjects in deep shade. |
| 12 | Half moon (long lens). Subject in open shade or heavy overcast. |
| 13 | Gibbous moon (long lens). Subjects in cloudy-bright light (no shadows). |
| 14 | Full moon (long lens). Subjects in weak, hazy sun. |
| 15 | Subjects in bright or hazy sun (Sunny f/16 rule). |
| 16 | Subjects in bright daylight on sand or snow. |
| 17 | Rarely encountered in nature. Some man made lighting. |
| etc | Goes up to 23 but you'll hardly ever encounter that in the real world. |
| FILM SPEED (ISO/ASA NUMBER) | APERTURE OF LENS (f/STOP) | |||||||||||||||||||
| ISO 25 | ISO 50 | ISO 100 | ISO 200 | ISO 400 | ISO 800 | ISO 1600 | ISO 3200 | f/1.4 | f/2.0 | f/2.8 | f/4 | f/5.6 | f/8 | f/11 | f/16 | f/22 | f/32 | |||
| 1 | 0 | -1 | -2 | -3 | -4 | -5 | -6 | 4 sec | 8 sec | 15 sec | 30 sec | 1 min | 2 min | 4 min | 8 min | 16 min | 32 min | |||
| 2 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -2 | -3 | -4 | -5 | 2 sec | 4 sec | 8 sec | 15 sec | 30 sec | 1 min | 2 min | 4 min | 8 min | 16 min | |||
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -2 | -3 | -4 | 1 sec | 2 sec | 4 sec | 8 sec | 15 sec | 30 sec | 1 min | 2 min | 4 min | 8 min | |||
| 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -2 | -3 | 1/2 sec | 1 sec | 2 sec | 4 sec | 8 sec | 15 sec | 30 sec | 1 min | 2 min | 4 min | |||
| 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -2 | 1/4 sec | 1/2 sec | 1 sec | 2 sec | 4 sec | 8 sec | 15 sec | 30 sec | 1 min | 2 min | |||
| E | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 1/8 sec | 1/4 sec | 1/2 sec | 1 sec | 2 sec | 4 sec | 8 sec | 15 sec | 30 sec | 1 min |
|
|
| V | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1/15 sec | 1/8 sec | 1/4 sec | 1/2 sec | 1 sec | 2 sec | 4 sec | 8 sec | 15 sec | 30 sec |
|
|
| 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1/30 sec | 1/15 sec | 1/8 sec | 1/4 sec | 1/2 sec | 1 sec | 2 sec | 4 sec | 8 sec | 15 sec |
|
||
| N | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1/60 sec | 1/30 sec | 1/15 sec | 1/8 sec | 1/4 sec | 1/2 sec | 1 sec | 2 sec | 4 sec | 8 sec | T | |
| U | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1/125 sec | 1/60 sec | 1/30 sec | 1/15 sec | 1/8 sec | 1/4 sec | 1/2 sec | 1 sec | 2 sec | 4 sec | T | |
| M | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 1/250 sec | 1/125 sec | 1/60 sec | 1/30 sec | 1/15 sec | 1/8 sec | 1/4 sec | 1/2 sec | 1 sec | 2 sec | E | |
| B | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1/500 sec | 1/250 sec | 1/125 sec | 1/60 sec | 1/30 sec | 1/15 sec | 1/8 sec | 1/4 sec | 1/2 sec | 1 sec | R | |
| E | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 1/1000 sec | 1/500 sec | 1/250 sec | 1/125 sec | 1/60 sec | 1/30 sec | 1/15 sec | 1/8 sec | 1/4 sec | 1/2 sec | ||
| R | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 1/2000 sec | 1/1000 sec | 1/500 sec | 1/250 sec | 1/125 sec | 1/60 sec | 1/30 sec | 1/15 sec | 1/8 sec | 1/4 sec | S | |
| S | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 1/4000 sec | 1/2000 sec | 1/1000 sec | 1/500 sec | 1/250 sec | 1/125 sec | 1/60 sec | 1/30 sec | 1/15 sec | 1/8 sec | P | |
| 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 1/8000 sec | 1/4000 sec | 1/2000 sec | 1/1000 sec | 1/500 sec | 1/250 sec | 1/125 sec | 1/60 sec | 1/30 sec | 1/15 sec | E | ||
| 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 1/15000 sec | 1/8000 sec | 1/4000 sec | 1/2000 sec | 1/1000 sec | 1/500 sec | 1/250 sec | 1/125 sec | 1/60 sec | 1/30 sec | E | ||
| 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 1/30000 sec | 1/15000 sec | 1/8000 sec | 1/4000 sec | 1/2000 sec | 1/1000 sec | 1/500 sec | 1/250 sec | 1/125 sec | 1/60 sec | D | ||
| 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 1/60000 sec | 1/30000 sec | 1/15000 sec | 1/8000 sec | 1/4000 sec | 1/2000 sec | 1/1000 sec | 1/500 sec | 1/250 sec | 1/125 sec | S | ||
| 20 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 1/125000 sec | 1/60000 sec | 1/30000 sec | 1/15000 sec | 1/8000 sec | 1/4000 sec | 1/2000 sec | 1/1000 sec | 1/500 sec | 1/250 sec | |||
| 21 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 1/250000 sec | 1/125000 sec | 1/60000 sec | 1/30000 sec | 1/15000 sec | 1/8000 sec | 1/4000 sec | 1/2000 sec | 1/1000 sec | 1/500 sec | |||
| 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 1/500000 sec | 1/250000 sec | 1/125000 sec | 1/60000 sec | 1/30000 sec | 1/15000 sec | 1/8000 sec | 1/4000 sec | 1/2000 sec | 1/1000 sec | |||
| 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 1/1000000 sec | 1/500000 sec | 1/250000 sec | 1/125000 sec | 1/60000 sec | 1/30000 sec | 1/15000sec | 1/8000 sec | 1/4000 sec | 1/2000 sec |