Bare Naked Brain Fodder

Tons of people want to know… “What’s it really like to live in a RV?”. I get asked this question all the time, so I figured I’d take a few moments and blog about it.

Living in a RV definitely has it’s ups and downs. Let’s start with the negatives and get those out of the way.

Obviously, I don’t have room for my pool table or my luxurious massage chair. Those are long gone. There always seems to be repairs that are needed. I’ve had pipes break in the plumbing, issues with the fridge, water spraying everywhere when I broke the handle in the shower, and don’t even get me started talking about the grey water tanks getting funky.

Right now my muffler and mud flaps in the back are being held on by zip ties and wire coat hangers. I’m just too lazy to take it down to Camping World to get it fixed right now. And anyone who’s followed my travels since the beginning a few years ago will remember the front tire blowout on the freeway during my first few hours of travel. Oh what an experience that was.

I’ve had battles with ants, shitty internet reception, diesel gas is 4.37 a gallon, I smashed my side view mirrors against some trees, cops pulled me over and accused me of smuggling narcotics, blew multiple fuses and spent hours troubleshooting them, and more. However, the worst of the worst is dealing with emptying the sewage, also known as the black water. One royal screw up with the black water and you really learn your lesson.

Despite all those pitfalls and many others I’m forgetting at the moment, the positives far outweigh the negative. Living in a RV truly is an incredible way to experience life.

First of all, if you don’t like where you are living, you can pack up and leave at a moments notice. Screw having to give 30 days notice to a landlord. Turn over the key, pull in the slides, lift the hydraulic jacks and hit the road. It’s incredibly liberating to know that you can bounce at any time you want.

While it’s not comparable to living in a 4000 square foot home, it’s actually quite spacious once you have all 3 slides extended out. Think of it like a studio apartment with all the amenities. It’s even equipped with a washer and dryer! Score.

One nice bonus is that I no longer am forking out $4000 to $5000 a month to have a roof over my head. In fact, my rent can be as low as $400 to $500 a month and even cheaper if you really want to get frugal. I could essentially live for free if I really wanted to, but I do like to spoil myself and enjoy staying at nicer spots.

The people I’ve met at various RV parks are a trip. I get to spend lots of time with very cool, experienced and wise elderly folks. There’s some nut jobs too. But overall I’ve loved meeting such a wide variety of people that have decided to live on the road. They are a eclectic bunch of travelers and adventure seekers who really know how to experience more out of life than your average neighbor you’d meet in a suburban cul-de-sac.

I tend to wake up really early while in the RV because my dog Webber wants to go outside to piss on everything. While it’s tough to get out of my cozy dark den, it’s good to wake up early and see the sunrise. I’ve quit watching tv as well. I could get a satellite dish, but I’ve found that I get way more things done by eliminating most tv from my life. If there’s something I really want to watch, I’ll just DVR it at my girlfriends house.

Another bonus is that I’ve found that I work quite a bit more while staying in the RV. I think it may be because I have less room to wander around like a ADHD style lab rat. When I’m staying in a house I’ll often find myself wandering from room to room and then wondering what the hell I”m doing or what I’m looking for? In the RV, I’m pretty much stuck in the same place and seem to be able to focus a lot more.

I don’t have to do yard work, pay a gardener, and housekeeping is way easier. I listen to a lot more radio, play my guitar more often, and am getting in the flow of writing much more often. I spend more time with my dog, take him on more walks and get to interact with more animals in nature than I would living in a city home. Right now I’m camped out on a lake and there are tons of species of birds, fish and other random animals in the area.

The main thing I think I enjoy about RV living though is that there is really little sense of worry. Once you learn to grasp and accept the fact that things are going to go wrong in the RV, and it will periodically need repairs and maintenance, you start to adopt a calm that is much different than normal house living. It’s a freedom that most people will never understand. It’s luxurious camping. High life vagabonding. Care free cruising. You simply have to experience it to understand.

I’m not sure how long I’ll stay in the rig. I’ve thought of renting a house again. But the idea of signing a 6 month to year long lease freaks me out. And considering I just sold or gave away all my furniture and much of my belongings, I’d just have an empty house anyways. Truth is, I really don’t care right now. I’m enjoying myself and that’s all that really matters.

I’ve been more productive than I’ve been in a long time, making really good money, staying relatively sober and am in really good company. I really couldn’t ask for much more at the moment. Life is good.

So that’s what RV living has been like as of lately. I’m sure I’ll have some more updates/adventures soon.

Peace

Jason

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I’d say it’s time to cue “On The Road Again” but I don’t really have any plans to do any significant traveling at the moment. Instead, I’m hunkered down near the lake and working on a bunch of projects from inside the RV.

I love being in this RV. Her name is Mary J, and she’s a gem. Last night I drug the cable wire in through the window and caught the last 5 innings of the World Series while lounging on the couch and petting my dog Webber. What a game!

My stint in West Hollywood lasted about 7 months, and it was good. I met a ton of great people, got to perform some comedy, ate like a culinary champion and experienced the worst traffic snarls known to man. I won’t miss the latter at all. It’s time for a new chapter and I’m really pumped about it.

Last week I either gave away or sold about 70 items on Craigslist.com and seriously downsized my belongings. I don’t know why I always end up accumulating so much stuff, then just give it away. I’m weird like that. However, it feels very liberating to lighten the load at times. I don’t need the majority of that stuff anyhow. Who really needs 12 guitars? Not I. I’ll stick with my Strat, the Taylor acoustic, The Warwick Bass and the always fun Ukulele.

I’m thinking about purchasing a stand up paddle surfboard and riding that baby on the lake each morning. I really need to work on my core strength to support my lower back issues in my L2 vertebrae. I have a feeling SUP-ing around the lake will be perfect for that and help me get back into the water for some surfing. Boy oh boy do I miss surfing. I really need to get back in the water asap.

Fishing in a kayak sort of sounds fun too. Maybe I’ll give that a try. A boom box with some country tunes, a cooler of cold beer and some good ol sunshine on the noggin while paddling around the lake sounds like a groovy time to this kid.

Anyhow, I’m just thinking out loud and letting y’all know what I’m up to. This blog should get a lot more posts in the near future, but I always say that every few months and then slack off. So we’ll see if that really happens. It so easy to get distracted by social media sites like Facebook, Google +, Twitter etc and abandon our own web properties which I think is a dumb move. I love Facebook as much as the next person, but all the time and effort on there doesn’t do much to build your own site and establish more pages in the search engines. So I’m making it a priority to focus on my own site instead of folks like Zuckerbergs.

So wish me luck, and please do come back and read often. I got a few tricks up my sleeve that have been in the works for a long time and they are WAY OVERDUE.

Love, Peace and Bicycle Grease!

Jason

PS: Speaking of bicycles, I’m about to grab my fancy Jeep bike off the back of Mary J and give her a good spin down to the local pub called Lucky’s. It looks like a super dive. Just my kind of joint.

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I’ve got a Foreigner song stuck in my head. Okay, I really don’t. I just needed a smooth intro for the title of this blog post.

So I picked up the RV from storage at Campland By The Bay. It’s been sitting still for almost 6 months now. The house batteries have been drained. She’s severely in need of a good wash, and requires a few repairs. The Norcold fridge has another recall, and I did a bit of damage to the side mirror when visiting Mike Morgan in

Coeur De’Alene last 4th of July. I don’t recommend 4×4-ing and navigating through narrow trees on a dirt road in a 38 foot diesel rig. Learn from my mistakes.

Since I hadn’t driven the RV in many months it was a bit nerve racking to jump back in the drivers seat and crank over the engine. At first, it appeared if it wasn’t going to start. Oh no! Dead battery? Thankfully after a couple of chugs if fired over like a champ. I adjusted the mirrors and hit the gas. Off we go!

It only took a couple seconds and it felt like old times. I was back in the saddle. The nerves went away quickly, but they do serve as a great reminder that I’m driving a really big vehicle and with that comes a lot of responsibility. I don’t take that lightly, especially when I share the road with other people.

I drove the RV to my place atop of Mt. Soledad and parked it out front. It feels nice to have my baby at home with me. I’ve missed her.

Once I had her parked I dialed in an extension cord from the garage and plugged in the shore power. Time to recharge. I also had to fill the batteries with some distilled water as they were pretty dry. Thanks to the help of a turkey baster it makes the process a bit easier. I kind of have a feeling these batteries may be towards the end of their life, but I’m unsure. I’ll have the mechanic check it out when I get the fridge recall fixed next week. The part is ordered and on the way.

While I had the rig charging, I couldn’t figure out how to turn the lights and a few of the other electronics on. It was weird. The fridge, television and microwave worked, but not the radio and any of the lights. I was puzzled. I couldn’t figure out why they weren’t working.

Then I remembered the master power switch. Duh! Yeah, it really did feel like the first time again. After a while I familiarized myself with everything and I felt like an experienced RV’er again.

I’ll be moving the rig up to Santa Clarita area north of Los Angeles. It’ll be stored in a safe lot and it only costs $95 a month. Hard to beat that. I’m thinking of doing some northern Cali trips this summer. That’ll be fun. Lana has never seen the Redwoods and I’m sure she’d love to see their beauty.

The thought of selling the RV has occurred to me and I did place a Craigslist ad offering to trade it in exchange for a down payment on property in Hawaii. I got a couple of leads, and a really good offer on a cute house in Chehalis Washington, but I really didn’t follow up that well with them. If I really wanted to sell it I guess I’d put it on eBay as that seems to make the most sense.

However, I think I’m gonna keep the baby. No, that was not a Madonna lyric. The RV is here to stay.

Anyhow, I just wanted to give a brief RV update because I know a lot of you enjoy following my travels and reading the stories I share. I’m pretty sure I’ll have some more stories and travels before the end of the year. I still need to see a bunch of the states in the northeast part of the country. And I’d like to do the entire Florida coast as well.

Cheers,

Jason

PS: My buddy and former RV traveling companion Randy Primm AKA The Road Bandit has just set up a new campaign to try and raise some money to get back on the road. He’s using a cool service called IndieGogo that uses a thing called Crowd Funding to support each persons personal mission.

Randy’s mission is to get back out on the road and to film the next season of Road Bandit. If you have a business or person that needs exposure, wants a commercial made, or just wants to watch a kid on some crazy travels check out his IndieGogo campaign and flip him a couple of bucks!

You can check out Randy’s campaign for the next season of Road Bandit at http://www.indiegogo.com/roadbandit/

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The adventure is getting closer and closer. In one day, I’ll be on the road like Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, Willie Nelson and Randy Primm!

Who’s Randy you might ask? I’ll tell you more about him in a moment.

Anyhow, I finished up my second day of RV Orientation at Camping World. The folks at the San Marcos branch were just phenomenal. All of them. They couldn’t of been more helpful and patient with me.

We fixed the leaks in the plumbing system, got a new water filter and repaired the blown out hoses in the propane lines. I’m afraid of propane myself. I learned how to turn on my heat (yea) and how to get hot water into the shower (double yea). I’m pretty confident I can make it out on my own, but I may book another Camping World RV orientation in Oregon just for the hell of it. It’s only $49 and there is a branch about 10 blocks from my parents house.

So, the rig is pretty much ready to roll. The only major thing missing is a bad ass GPS system and satellite tv. I ended up getting one of those Mifi cards from Verizon for internet connections. Verizon by far has the best coverage across the country. Sadly, their internet plan blows like vampire toothed hooker.

For $59.99 you get 5G’s of transferable bandwidth. Being a video guy and all, I could suck that up in a day. If you go over the 5 G’s, you pay $50 per gigabyte of transfer. Talk about a rip off. Apparently the days of unlimited Verizon connections are gone. I’d pay good money to have one of those grandfathered accounts. So, it appears I’ll be stealing Wifi where I can along the way.

Everyone keeps asking… “Jason, where are you headed first”?

Here’s the sort of plan… Tuesday evening I’ll begin the trek north on Interstate 5 to Oregon. I figured I ought to spend some time with my folks for the holidays since I only see them about once a year. Then, I’ll head to Bothell Washington (just outside of Seattle) to see my biological father whom I’ve spent minimal time with in my life. From there, it’s open road.

I will be in Vegas around January 15th or so. And while there I’m really excited to meet up with a particular guy. His name is Randy Primm, aka “The Road Bandit“.

I somehow came across Randy’s site while perusing the net for crazy RV’ers. The moment I saw Randy’s videos I instantly dug the guy. “What a great idea” I thought to myself. I got hooked on his videos and proceeded to pretty much watch them all.

But then I got kind of bummed. Randy hadn’t been traveling much lately. Mostly due to financial woes. After seeing the enjoyment he had on the road, I imagined he was pretty bummed being holed up in his class C RV in Vegas parking lots.

So I had an idea…

We need to get this guy back on the road.

I noticed he had great video shooting and editing skills. Surely he could parlay that into some money on the road. Maybe I could help him out in some way? Maybe I could use a video guy like Randy on the road? I have been hinting at the idea of a RV gang. Or, maybe I could become a Road Bandit with Randy?

I’m not sure what is going to happen, but I’m very open to letting the universe provide me what is necessary on this adventure. Regardless of what happens, I know Randy and I can be an asset to each other. He has road experience, and I have hustling experience that can keep the gas tanks filled and the fridge stocked with grub and cold squeezers. It will be interesting to see what pans out. Either way, both of us are going to have some exciting times ahead.

So, instead of talking about this dude, why don’t I just share a video of his with you. It kind of breaks down the Road Bandit story. It’s entertaining, fun and inspiring. Inspiring enough for me to contact him and be willing to help him accomplish his goals. He seems like a great guy.

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If you read the last story about me parking the RV you’d know that things didn’t go so well. Battling a sloped uphill driveway in a 38 foot diesel pusher isn’t the wisest idea.

The thought of backing it out the same way it came in wasn’t too grand of a visual either. Surely the trailer hitch would dig into the street and with momentum traveling backwards, I couldn’t foresee a good future in that approach. We needed to turn this rig around.

So, my new Craigslist buddy Brent hopped in the driver seat and proceeded to back that baby up like an old school bus driver. (Stoked to have him there). He turned the RV around in a dirt field abutting the driveway and headed back down the sloped runway.

We knew the trailer hitch was going to scrape the cement again, it was just a matter of how much. Luckily, it wasn’t much. A few scrapes. However, this damn beeping noise would just not stop. I had to drive home for 30 minutes with the annoying sound of … beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep… I think you get the point. It almost sent me to the crazy house.

Half an hour later I was just glad to get the rig home. From there, Brent showed me how to work the power, the generator, inverter, heat, AC, the tv, vcr, and… the “water system”. I put “water system” in quotes because we had a little problem with our friend Mr. H20.

While connecting the hose to the public water spout on the RV things seemed fine. Until I heard the scream. “Turn it off, turn it off” came the screams from inside. Apparently the water filter under the sink has some corroded o-rings, or something like that. It started leaking liquid and black charcoal all over the floor.

Good thing the floor is tile. And super good thing I had a bunch of towels in my car a few feet away. (Bonus of being a surfer. Lot’s of towels). So, I need to get a new water filter thing. Hopefully Camping World can help me out with that. I have a appointment for “RV Orientation” day next week. I want to learn all I can, and it’s only $49! Cheap  :)

We also got the annoying beeping noise to go away. When I scraped the wires on the electrical hookup last week, I think it blew some fuses. The brake lights were out, along with a few other fuses. Once we changed those, the ride was back to normal.

It sure is a whole new world learning about these things. But after today, I feel much more confident about my abilities to navigate and live comfortably in this home on wheels. And when you see the Stevie Ray Vaughan VHS tape play on the TV, you wanna crack a cold one and chill.

Much to learn. Much to see. And much to be thankful for.

Cheers

Jason

PS: Good Sams Club contacted me today after I ranted to them about denying me as an affiliate. Smart move Good Sams Club, smart move!

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Arggg.

So I’ve driven the RV a total of about 60 minutes so far. Both times while trying to park I’ve created a bit of damage.

Nothing major, but it sure is a hit to the ego and confidence.

First issue… I was trying to back into a super tight space between two other rigs. It was too small for me to comfortably make it. While exiting the spot, I nudge against the top of a camper.

No damage to the camper, and just a minor paint blemish on my rig.

2nd fiasco…

I decided to park the RV out in Vista for a few weeks. Paid a guy $250 off Craigslist (I said I was in deep with cops in the ad so it would scare away tweekers) and drove it out to his place.

The first mistake was pulling over on the side of the road with a bunch of trees overhead. The branches beat against the roof and I’m sure had a hayday with the Satellite receiver.

Crap!

Then, as I was pulling into his driveway there was very little room to wiggle between the cyclone fence. Add that to the fact it was a steep incline and things got really tough.

While going up the drive way, the backend went so low that the trailer hitch was digging into the cement of the road. In fact, I ripped out a 2 foot by 4 inch gash in the middle of the asphalt.

While the hitch was digging up concrete, the back wheels were spinning and burning rubber.

Shit!

Finally, I backed it out, drove up the road, made a crazy back up move and turned the beast around.

Once again I tried going up the drive way. This time with success. At this point I was unaware what I had done to the street.

The air was ripe with the smell of burnt rubber.

Double shit!

Then, I realized I couldn’t get this damn beeping sound to go off while the rig was running. If it was in drive, or reverse, the beeping kept going. Only putting it in neutral would stop it.

Triple shit!

It was after this I realized I had excavated the country road with my trailer hitch and in the process I ruined the portion that you connect the electrical to when towing.

Gonna need to bring out a RV Expert too teach me how to run everything.

And oh yeah, the radio stopped working.

Quadruple shit!

And oh yeah, sometimes the generator will start. Other times it won’t.

I don’t even know how to say 5 shit!

O, what a long strange trip it’s been. And it hasn’t even started!

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For the last two weeks I’ve been on a mad hunt for a RV. I’m trying to be patient, educate myself, and make the wisest buying decision.

The more I look around, the more I’m confused. There are so many questions to ask yourself…

1. Class A RV or Truck with a 5th Wheel?  I’m inclined to think RV, preferably a Diesel Pusher.

2. Buy something in the $40,000 to $60,000 range, or go Big-Pimpen with a rig in the $120,000′s? I took a look at some in the low 100′s today, and they were gorgeous. I’m really leaning towards one of the really nice ones, but need to be somewhat wise about it financially. After all, I may not even dig being in this thing for any extended amount of time.

3. Is no Washer & Dryer a deal breaker? This is a tough question. I really want a washer/dryer aboard.

4. Can I really watch TV on a 13 inch in the bedroom? Probably not since I’m used to having 3 huge plasma/lcd TV’s in the house.

5. If I have a lady friend in the RV, can I drop a deuce in the bathroom without grossing her out? Important question.

6. Should I tow a vehicle behind me?  I’m thinking yes one minute, no the next. Maybe the best thing is to start out with no vehicle and if it’s a major bitch, I’ll just buy one on the road.

7. What if you get stuck in some shitty dead end spot and can’t back up?  Yeah, that’s freaking me out.

8. What about California? I love Cali. It’s my home. I’m not leaving this place for long. I’ll be back all the time (can’t give up surfing). San Diego is my home. I’ll just be away from home some weeks.

9. Will my dog have a blast on the road? I sure hope so. I started reading Steinbeck’s “Travels With Charley” per a John Carlton recommendation. I’ll probably reread Kerouac’s ”On The Road” another time as well.

10. I could probably write another ten questions in here, but lastly I’ll ask myself… “How long are you gonna tour in the RV?”  No idea at all, and I don’t want to put many restrictions on my travels.

So here’s the rig I’ve been thinking of getting…

It’s got less than 20,000 miles, and looks really clean inside.

The price of this rig is fair and something that is on my list of ones to really consider.

In about an hour I’m heading up to San Juan Capistrano to look at another vehicle. It will make about the 15th I’ve looked at today.

I’m not sure it’s what I’m looking for, but I’m just trying to be open minded.

So, being open minded I’m all for some advice. Have you ever traveled in a RV?

Any tips?

Is it a huge hassle to dump human waste? Do the bathrooms get nasty? Any places to avoid? Any places I must see?

Cmon RV’ers, let me know what you know.

Thanks.

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On the road again
Just can’t wait to get on the road again
The life I love is makin’ music with my friends
And I can’t wait to get on the road again
On the road again
Goin’ places that I’ve never been
Seein’ things that I may never see again,
And I can’t wait to get on the road again.

Damn, I love Willie. He’s such a stud. Every time I hear that song I start itching for a road trip. But get this… I’ve never really done much traveling.  Sure, I’ve pinged back and forth along the west coast like a pinball stuck in bumpers, but I’ve never really seen much of the United States, or the world for that matter.

So, for the last few months I’ve been reliving the dream of packing up a motor home and touring the country. I just can’t stop jonesing to go do something. And I’d love to meet up with all my friends on the internet that I’ve met over the years.

However travel of this sort possesses a few problems. Problem number one is this house I live in. I love this place like no other. It’s beautiful, conveniently located on the beach, and more then I ever imagined. Leaving this place will be tough. I don’t want to do it. Yet I’m still itching to screw off and experience new stuff. Stuff like Austin Texas!

Then there’s all these material possessions I’ve accumulated.  Storing everything seems like a huge hassle. Good thing I’m not emotionally attached to most of my physical stuff.

Hardest of all is my girlfriend is not keen on the idea of aimlessly bumming around in a RV. I don’t blame her one bit. It’s just not her thing and I wouldn’t try and force it upon her.

So deep down I have this nagging urge to go do crazy adventurous stuff. But to do so means leaving so much that I’ve worked for. Damn you Willie Nelson song!  Mix in the fact that I change my mind about stuff every three hours and this travel bug is even more confusing.

I love San Diego California. Love my girlfriend and friends here. I have the greatest life of just about anyone I know. So why the hell do I always want more?

Anybody else get restless like this? I can’t be alone.

I want to snowboard in Colorado, see Glacier National Park, go to the Daytona 500, see the new Cowboys Stadium, wrestle a alligator, go back to Wrigley Field, perform magic tricks on the streets of New York, surf the East Side, and on and on and on.

Maybe I can mind melt my girlfriend to love RV-ing.  Or maybe my friends Ron & Tina Lorenz can help me hypnotize her into it. They’ve been RV-ing for some time and love it.

Ah damn you Willie Nelson song

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