A Nomadic Winter in the Books

My first experiences of nomadic living during the winter months

During this past winter, I went into a hibernation of sorts. Except instead of finding a cave to dwell in, I found a cozy spot in Southern California to bunker down in Debbie [Debbie is the name of my Airstream]. Instead of sleeping the winter away, I put my head down and diligently went to work. So far the hard work has paid off, as it always does.

Here’s a quick recap of what I’ve been up to since my last post.

December – A Fizzled Dream

San Diego seemed like the obvious place to stay for the month of December, so I reserved a spot at an RV Park on Mission Bay. I was originally planning to stay for the month of January as well, but it was not what I had expected…

A few years ago, I daydreamed about living in San Diego, and so I imagined 2 months there would be like an appetizer for what it would have been like moving there. However during my month there, I realized just how much I’ve changed since starting this trip, because those dreams frizzled quickly.

Some likely think I’m insane for not being absolutely in love with San Diego. But for me, the congestion of the city made me feel trapped and claustrophobic. After spending a week in the wide open desert, I couldn’t stand staying at an RV Park anymore, especially in a city.

Having neighbors right next door, having no privacy, having a million rules, not being able to let Pumpkin explore, endless traffic, artificial noises and lights, was all too insufferable. After spending 5 months or so mostly in RV parks, I realized I couldn’t live that way anymore. I needed open spaces, fresh air, mountains, trees, more nature and less people!

And so began the work to achieve my next dream! That dream was to have the freedom to work remotely without needing to hook up to “the grid“. I spent hours doing extensive research in how to upgrade my electrical system to make this dream happen.

What to buy, how to hook it up, where to put the pieces, etc. Once all the parts arrived, I made arrangements to head back to the wide open desert where I had met some amazing people the month before.

January – Home Away From Home

Once I got back to Joshua Tree and had time to relax and recharge from the many toxicities of the city, I put my head down and went to work. It took me 3 weekends and a few week days to get everything torn out, unhooked, and all of the new equipment installed.

I made at least 10 trips into town for parts or tools I didn’t already have,.. some trips requiring purchases from 3 different stores. For 2 nights I didn’t have heat or lighting, and that was all the motivation needed to complete this major project as quickly as possible.

For those interested in my solar build, here’s what I installed:

Lithium Battleborn Batteries – replaced 2 AGMs
Victron Smart Shunt – monitors the batteries
Victron Lynx Distributor – fancy buss bar for all the electrical connections
Victron Multiplus 2000W Inverter/ Converter – unhooked the stock converter
New shore power plug running to converter – out of necessity for not being able to remove existing cables to existing plug (was not expecting this part, but accidently had the parts on hand)
90W Zamp solar panel – BasecampX comes with 2, this gave me a total of 270W
Lots and lots of wires – I got all of my wiring diagrams and kits from Explorist.life. I highly recommend them! <3

I did about 95% of the install myself, with some help along the way with random things. Looking back, I’m still so impressed with myself for completing such a huge project!

Honestly, electrical work isn’t all that hard. There are a few basics points to understand:

Make sure there is no power going in whatever you’re working on
Make tight, solid connections
Don’t cross your wires (like connect a red to black, or sparks will fly)
Understand what wires go where
Bonus points: Understand how the overall system works

This last one really comes in handy in the future when something stops working. You’ll know how to test it, what to look for, and better yet, how to fix it! If you understand one build, you can likely help your friends when their system goes wrong, because the same overall flow applies.

You don’t want to be that person who has someone else do all the work, and when something goes wrong you fly off the handles and panic when you’re alone in the middle of nowhere. Turns out, most things are a lot easier to do than you think, and doing things out of your comfort zone builds incredible amounts of self confidence and self worth.

February – A Culmination of Events

It’s an indescribable feeling to complete something successfully, and then experience the reciprocity afterwards. It’s like having your cake and eating it too, and everyday thereafter since you got your cake.

The high of achievement I felt when I physically completed the install didn’t last long, because the next challenge began immediately.

After the install was finished, I needed to learn the new language of power as a resource and understand the system constraints in a real world setting. Basically – how long can I use X before my battery drops too low? and how many things can I have plugged in at once? and also will I ‘earn’ enough energy on a cloudy, rainy day to work all day?

Side Note: The other resource languages are water, black tank, and trash. Your world completely changes when you must be cognizant, by requirement, to analyze your resource usage.

The month of February was spent finessing my routines so that I always had my computer and phone charged, and didn’t have to worry about my heat running all night. That’s where the real excitement has been for me… being able to park in almost any environment without worrying about a thing.

For me, these upgrades have been the biggest expansion of freedom I’ve experienced. I don’t need to plan my travels based around reservations and finding decent RV parks.

If I absolutely love a certain place, I can decide that day I want to stay longer and not have to worry about cancellation fees or if there’s still room at the park. If somewhere is lame, I can leave immediately and find somewhere I love!

Once the dust settled with my upgrades, I was able to take on the next task at hand… which was being Van Life‘s Camp Host for the month! As Camp Host, I was responsible for planning and hosting weekly activities, cleaning, and touring around the new folks in exchange for a free month stay and a few other perks – totally worth it.

Since I was hosting so many group activities, which is draining for a introvert like myself, I spent my free time doing things for myself. I got back into painting and drawing, I picked up a QiGong class, I read a few books, and thoroughly enjoyed meditation in the gym sauna.

By the end of the month, I think I was a few percentage points more on the extroversion scale.. and at this point, it’s hard to claim that I’m one without the other. I met so many amazing people that month, and truly felt like I was at home.

I haven’t had a home base since leaving Virginia back in August of last year, but this was the closest to home I’ve felt anywhere since.