Another Around the World Tacoma

And, as it always goes, the day has arrived. It always seems unreachable, and then time invariably does its thing, and you find yourself just 1 day away from doing this thing. This thing you started planning for over two years ago, and have been actively building since November 2021, has finally arrived.

Tomorrow we fill the truck up, while organizing and emptying out where we are currently living.

I've been taking care of small things here and there, making it easier for tomorrow. We have a slight reprieve this weekend from the very high temps experienced this past week, so we have that going for us as well.

I also have been working on increasing my mountain bicycle knowledge, both general info about them, and how to service and tune them. It's fun.

So, yeah, here we go.

 

After 10.5 hours of organizing, packing, donating, and cleaning, we finally departed Phoenix, signifying the start of our adventure.

September 1st, 2023 @ 4:15 PM with 22,734 miles on the Tacoma.

Week One by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

The three day weekend was full of activity in Central AZ.

Lower Sun Bear and Miyagi Canyons in Sedona:

Week One by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Week One by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

We rode bikes, floated the Verde River for 7 miles, and went on three hikes. It felt great to be outside in the sun.

Week One by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Our first two nights we were hit with pretty substantial rainfall, and a nice fog filled the air in the morning:

Week One by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

For reference (200w solar on roof) this is as good as my setup will currently do:

Week One by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

The 12.3 amps from the panels is impressive, highest I've seen. This was on a clear day with the panels oriented basically perfectly to the sun. Another panel may be in the works though. The charger can handle 25A from the panels, and we do see some battery drain as the workday progresses. We also have the room on the top of the tent, so it makes sense to add another panel.

We are spending this first week at Stacy's sisters property. We built two sheds here last winter. It is way hotter than we want (90-100 degrees), but this place has a second internet source (Starlink as well) and one shed that has a wooden table in it. We figured we might as well deal with the extra heat, but have that safety net for our first week of work.

Week One by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

So far so good.

On Friday we meet up with our twice yearly adventure group to spend 8 days with them all at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We are very excited about that and expect to have a plethora of awesome photos to share after the trip concludes!

Observations thus far:
- The truck carries all of our things so easily. We literally left almost nothing behind (a file folder of important paperwork, and a bunch of tools that I didn't want to part with) and everything else just tucks away in the truck. We don't have to set a single thing on the ground, or move anything around, to do our day-to-day activities.
- It's fairly easy to accept the new lifestyle, mentally. It does feel weird at times though.
- Just like the Fremen on Arrakis in Dune who practice water discipline, we too have to practice sun discipline. The heat makes it harder, as wanting to wear a long sleeve shirt or hat is undesirable.
- The setup on/in the truck is great. So fluid and convenient.
- Sleep quality is steadily improving (Garmin watch tracks all that) as the days go by.

 

Awesome adventures ahead for your two, have fun and make memories.

 

Safe travels and have fun!

 

Will do Bob.

 

Many thanks!

 

Congratulations on a good start to your adventures.

 

Congratulations and enjoy! Look forward to your updates.

 

Thank you! More photos of the setup incoming after this weeks trip. I know you wanted to see it loaded out.

 

Thanks Les!

 

Cool seeing this modded out, purpose-built custom rig with nice camper, high end suspension, off road bells and whistles, everything thought out and for a reason, riding on FACTORY STOCK trd off road wheels!

 

Hahaha much appreciated! They are here to stay.

 

Yes please!

 

So you got a link to the YouTube channel?
Trucks looking awesome glad you guys are living the dream! Sorry I didn't make the trip this year, looking forward to seeing some pics. Are you planning on doing a trip report?

 

Congrats on full time life on the road! Look forward to more updates.

 

Haha not at the moment Chris, though we think we did come up with an online handle for an Instagram account. Still working on the script for the full walk around video of the truck but that is a ways off I bet.

Yeah, we missed having you there, I'm sure you had fun with Danny but you would have really enjoyed this trip.

Yes, I'll do a trip report here in the near future. Waiting on Brent to finish his photos first.

 

Thank you! It has been absolutely fantastic thus far. My only problem is figuring out how to share/represent the experiences we have been having. Living and traveling like this is so unlike regular camping or even long trips, it's hard to wrap my mind around it all.

I'll do a catch-up post here today.

 

Alright, where to begin.

We left off leaving Cornville, heading towards Flagstaff to adventure for 9 days with our twice-yearly adventure buddies.

I will have a trip report in the near-ish future typed up for this, so I won't go into too much depth apart from the fact that it was a wonderful time, and the locations I picked were beautiful.

Here is the Tacoma leading the others:

NRGC - Sept 2023 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

We hiked to the Colorado River, an absolute love of mine, on the second day. (4) of us jumped into the quick flowing, 64 degree water.

First Month Adventures by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

We all worked together on three separate dinners. Shared, communal meals are becoming a more and more common occurrence on our trips together.

First Month Adventures by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

We camped at the best sites I have ever camped at. I'll call that a success. I'll link to the trip report once I finish it, for those interested in the whole story.

I will call this week of adventure as truck life light, as we used our setup each day, but we were in the presence of trusted friends, all of whom were well prepared and happy to help us out (which we didn't need) if the need presented itself.

That adventure eventually came to an end, and while everyone else piloted their trucks back towards their stationary homes, Stacy and I ventured into Kanab, UT to try our hand at our first of many weekend chore runs.

Finding potable water was a breeze. We ended up spotting a hose behind a local cafe, and I kindly asked the owner if I could get 15 gallons after we finished eating the burritos we ordered from her. She was happy to oblige, and we filled our tank in just a minute or two.

Small towns have less things, but we were able to find a hardware store, where we picked up a collapsible 50 foot water hose. We learned the importance of this tool at the Visitor Center on the North Rim, where if we had the hose we would have saved a bunch of time. So we picked one up our first weekend back in civilization. It rolls up semi-tightly, and gets tucked right by the water pump.

Grocery shopping was done at a local grocery store. We prepped our meals under the awning, in the parking lot of a laundromat, as our clothes were cleaned inside. $5 in quarters got our laundry done in about 90 minutes.

We topped off gas and then headed right back to the North Rim. We were lucky enough to find a very suitable place right near the edge at Locust Point. We pointed the truck due south (for Solar) and the area behind the truck, to the north, was open enough for Starlink to work pretty well, with just a small amount of obstruction.

We parked the truck less than a foot from the Rainbow Rim Trail. A 5 second walk had my butt parked in one of our camp chairs, directly at the edge. I spent most mornings sitting there, just letting my mind wander. The temps this first week were a bit low, but the location made up for it. High's in the 60's, while sitting idly in the shade, are a bit cold. I will say, in the mornings, the more intense cold, with no way of escaping it, focuses the mind. It provides some clarity. You feel alive, sleeping and rising with the sun.

One of the things about our setup is that we are forced to live outside. This is not an oversight, I knew this as I was building the truck. And I have to say, I love it. I have less, but I get more. It's hard to describe. You just feel alive. And I can't begin to describe how awesome it feels to always, throughout the entirety of your day, have distant things to gaze upon. I think it is intrinsically human to use our eyes to gaze far and wide, a thing desperately lacking in my prior life. And now I get to do it basically every moment that I am not on my computer. Suffice to say, I am already addicted. Cold, heat, bugs, dust, to hell with it all. Peanuts relative to how good I feel.

Surprisingly, I have an easier time working out of the truck than I did indoors. M-Th go by easily. Our work day routine is already being established. So far, we have camped at places with decent to semi-decent cell phone service, but the Starlink is really worth its price. We tested the speed on a Sunday night, and we were very concerned. We were getting abysmal speeds, but come Monday morning, we had plenty of service (60-80 mbps). Every test on the weekends has been pitiful (1-3 mbps), but of the dozens of tests I have run from 7-5 M-Th the slowest I have ever seen was 23 mbps, which is still plenty. Our confidence is this form of internet is growing day by day, no complaints at all.

On to other things, Stacy and I think we may have finally come up with an online handle for our particular lifestyle: Tacoma Makes Three.

Let me know what you think. The name is supposed to reflect the fact that the three of us (Stacy, the Tacoma, and myself) are all vital parts of our adventure. If any of the pieces weren't present this lifestyle would not be possible. The name also makes the Tacoma the most prominent, as it really is the one doing the heavy lifting. It is also wayyy cooler than me, hence all the photos of it, compared to the very few of me and my mug. Haha

I have no immediate plans for this name, apart from an Instagram to keep friends and family up-to-date on our adventures. I have no idea how 'exciting' our adventure will end up being (for others) as we do limited driving, and spend a lot of time hiking/biking on the days that we aren't sitting still for 4 days working.

Since we set off a couple of weaknesses presented themselves:

- First was the filter on the water system. Our use-case means that the filter cannot survive as long as the manufacturer claims. This presented itself as poor flow from the spigot, and I even went as far as ordering a new pump to install, which didn't solve the problem. So I ordered (4) new filters, and I will just plan on changing them out way more frequently than I thought.

- Second was the battery and solar situation. Stacy's archaic work computer (which they won't let her replace, and has encrypted software on it, so she can't simply use another computer) needs to be plugged in all day, and it just sucks down the juice. So I purchased (2) more, matching, 100w solar panels, for a total of 400w on the roof. I also purchased another Renogy 100ah LifePO4 battery, which I will install in parallel (stays 12v, doubles capacity) with my current battery. Our wetsuits are actually a bit larger than the new battery, and they are currently stored right next to the existing battery, so I will remove those and put the battery in its place. I briefly researched putting the second battery in the engine bay, but there is no where where it would fit, it's just a bit too large. So, it will be installed in the back, with the other one. These upgrades will be installed when we get back to Phoenix in mid-October. Until then, we have to idle the truck about 30 minutes each day, M-Th to keep the system above the degradation limit of the battery (80% depth of discharge). Not ideal, but not detrimental either. Apparently that is .15 gallons of fuel every 30 minutes, so nothing to stress about.

- Third, a new roof box from Alu-Cab. They released these after I procured my Pelican case, and the current case isn't cutting it as far as storage goes. This new box has an internal volume of 250 liters, roughly 3.5x the size of the current box. It will fill the entire roof rack, and be the same height as the closed Canopy Camper. It also opens from a single latch, not (6) latches like our current case. The new box is still currently in South Africa, so it very well may be December before we receive it. But that's alright.

I'm going to rapid fire some observations now:

Sleeping has been otherworldly. This has been the largest benefit, topping even the peaceful feeling of being outdoors. We just sleep so damn well. The bed is so comfortable, the tent feels very secure/safe, and we are tired at the end of each day. I must expend more energy staying warm, dealing with the sun, doing tasks of daily living, etc. that I wrap up each day ready to go to bed. And the sun is down early, and it is very dark where we are, sleep comes so naturally. Absolutely in love with this aspect of this lifestyle.

Life is so simple now. There is simply a lower number of things to be worried about, so you are less burdened by life in general. Before I had all sorts of stuff to keep track of, and easy means on buying things to fix/update those things. These little things were just always there in your mind. That's all gone now. Yes, sometimes you don't have a thing you want in that moment, and you have to wait until the weekend to run into town, so it isn't always sunshine and rainbows. But hell if it isn't worth it.

Staying clean has been easier than expected, and not that large of a concern really. During the weekdays we don't get dirty, so quick wipe downs with a microfiber do the trick. I've basically only bathed in the Colorado River since we left Phoenix (we went back to the river just yesterday).

The first week we stuck with our normal grocery shopping list, but we found out while out at Locust Point that we need to add some variety to our stockpiles. We went back to Kanab for a second weekend to refill the truck, and this time we bought more food stuffs that can keep us satiated during the week.

We did run out of water our final morning at Locust Point, so we need to keep a close eye on that. Thankfully we had enough in various bottles to fill our backpacks, as we biked the entirety of the Rainbow Rim Trail (18 miles) twice, 19 miles on Friday, in the sun and warmth (a pleasant experience to say the least) and then 17 miles (in the driving rain and cold, 47 degrees, a grueling experience) on Saturday morning, prior to leaving the North Rim.

We spent the rest of Saturday doing chores, before heading over towards Marble Canyon/Lee's Ferry for the week. The storm sweeping through the area was just leaving as we got to camp, so it gave us some good photo opportunities.

First Month Adventures by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

On Sunday we spent the entire day exploring everything in Lee's Ferry. (3) hikes, one of which had 1500 ft of climbing in a single mile, another dip in the Colorado, and the exploration of a dude ranch and orchard, filled the day with beauty and good times.

The view of the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon, and the Vermillion Cliffs from the Spencer Trail Lookout:

First Month Adventures by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Our Trasharoo has begun to bite the dust, the top piece of the lid has started to rip. I need to order another one of these.

First Month Adventures by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

That storm cell we biked through and then drove through has made the truck so damn dirty. Even with the bike cover our bikes got thrashed by the mud, and the truck itself is a mess. I am usually one to keep a pretty clean truck, but that is apparently a thing of the past. We purchased a small brush while in Kanab, and it is handy for getting most of the dust off of some of the surfaces at the back of the truck.

We have the rest of the work week here in Marble Canyon, before we head into Cornville for our wedding. We will do most of our packing up on Thursday night, so that we can leave early Friday morning and hike down to the Colorado one more time before departing this area, for now.

Here are some edited photos I have taken, to wrap up this long and wordy post:

My favorite truck photo thus far:

Week of 9/25 - Home by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

At Crazy Jug point with a great friend:

E5 Ski + TM3 - GC - Sept 2023 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Midday sun at the end of our 9 day adventure with friends:

GC - Sep 2023 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Until next time!

 

Awsome !!! Thanks for sharing your experiences. Your writing style is great,it's like sitting there and chatting with you.

Congratulations on getting married!!

 

@MR E30 sounds like a good shakedown trip. I’m enjoying reading about your adventures. Especially since that not something I’ll be able to do anytime soon.


Congratulations on the upcoming wedding