First Post is First!

This is my blue box on wheel being pulled by my equally blue truck.  I've taken it camping to various places relatively close to home in Maryland.  The picture above was taken at the annual SCA camping event known as Pennsic.

I love camping in this tiny house.  It doesn't have a bathroom but it does have a sink that, when hooked up to electricity, will run hot and cold.  I also have a fridge, a portable stove, and I made a shower tent that I can hang up on any tree.  Any decent campground will have "privies" or some sort of bathroom so not having one hasn't been an issue.

Because I love camping in this so much and because I'd love to see more of North America, I decided to start planning my great American road trip.  The thought process was that I really don't like my current home at all.  I live in a tiny townhome with my cat and the community and neighborhood are just not for me.   The amount of money I'm paying to live in this tiny townhome is also ridiculous.  (It's because I live in decent commuting distance from B'more, Annapolis, and DC.) I figured out that if I sold this townhome and saved up money for a couple of months, I could afford to move to a mountain home up in the Appalachia.  Even when factoring in gas money to get to work every day from there - if necessary- it would be cheaper over all.

I telecommute most of the time.  As long as my cell phone has a signal, I can get Internet access and be at work.  Yes, sometimes I have to go in - but I can also call into meetings.  Since most of the time I'm taking the train up to NYC rather than going into my home office in northern Virginia, it will just mean I have to suffer through the worthless TSA and fly if necessary.

So, what to do during those two or three months before I move to a new home?  Go on the great American road trip of course!  Even factoring in gas, camping fees, and food on the road; it's cheaper to live the nomadic lifestyle than it is to keep living in my current home.  I won't be able to save up quite as much but it will be a lot of fun.

As I'm working on my townhome to get it ready to sell (new countertops, new flooring in the kitchen and 3rd bedroom, and new paint upstairs), I thought I'd create this blog to pinpoint places I'd like to visit as well a solicit ideas of where else to stop by and see.  I really want to stick to mostly National or State Parks - as they tend to have decent and not ridiculously expensive campgrounds.  (If the camping fee is $60, I can get a decent hotel room for that!)  There are a few big cities I'll visit as well (New Orleans is on the list!  As well as LA -  but that's because I have family near both of those cities) but, really, I just want neat places to see that might be a bit off the beaten path.

Once I actually sell the townhome, I'll start out on my roadtrip pretty quickly.  I basically want to go down south, cross all the way over to CA, go up the 101, make my way into Canada, continue up to Alaska, and then come back down probably to Idaho, making my way back across until I get to West Virginia or northern Virginia - wherever I end up buying.  Of course, the last part of the trip will probably involve me spending a week or two at a campground in the Appalachia while I look at homes and try to decide which one I want.  

For those wondering where all my stuff will be for this two or three month break - I have a storage center I've already rented from.  I'm slowly packing up my stuff to put it all in there.   I will be selling some things - mostly costumes or fabric- but much of what I have will go into storage and sit there for hopefully only 6 or 7 months.  We'll see.