A monk without a monastery

I was thinking just the other day that I should have been a monk. The things that I love to do are traditional favorites of the monks. I have learned to travel alone on the road while gardening and making beer. So, just call me a vagabonding monk.

Solitude
While you don't have to live in solitude to pursue a relationship with God, solitude sure makes it easy to concentrate. Monks would stay away from the general population by living in a self sustaining abbey. They felt that being alone with do away with any concerns about how people saw them and left them with only the though of how God saw them.

Modern church members still like to get their members away from the daily distractions of life but they call these trips a retreat. However, as with many activities in the US, a retreat these days comes with restaurant food and staying in a hotel. Neither of which is conducive to getting back to the basics of relying on God to provide. Embarking on a 14 day trip to the desert with nary a soul around except your own is a really good way to concentrate solely on God. You don't have to go with just your clothes but the less you take, the more you rely on Him.

Gardening
I like to grow my own food and even have been known to forage for some of it. People are always generous with the vegetable gardens because they plant way more than they can eat. I never turn down free vegetables and can often go foraging to find many people willing to share.
In my limited space, I take the chance to grow what ever I can fit into a pot and carry with me. Since I never travel far between destinations, I just put the pots in the back of the pickup for transport.

Beer
Ah, one of my favorite past times is brewing my own beer. Monks would produce and sell goods to provide income for the monastery. Since they were not forbidden to drink, they produced alcohol for themselves and sold it for income. The first wine produced in the US was produced by Spanish monks in what is now Texas. Monks are also responsible for some of the best beer including the Trappist ales. I have had the pleasure of traveling to Belgium and tasting one of their ales.

Bread
Grains or flour, sugars, and yeast are the key ingredients. Beer has been called the liquid bread so there are a lot of similarities with making the two. This is also a stable of the abbey that monks would produce for their consumption and sell to provide them income. Bread is the best thing to add to a meal when outdoors. It goes great with those stews or soups. I even make tortillas over a wood fire. When you have more time to do your own activities there is more time for cooking a good meal.

God's beautiful night time symphony

I was just thinking that I seem to feel closer to God when I am not inside a building that is located in a city. Could it be the man made structures that somehow block my thoughts because I am not seeing God's own handiwork? On the other hand, I never fail to feel close to God just by simply walking outside in the dark and looking up at the night sky. The sky is awash in the symphony of God's wonderful display each and every night. I don't know the real reason he created all those stars but for me it is a testament to his awesome power

When I am out in the wilderness or at a desert site in the Southwest, I can only feel the presence of myself and God. I then wonder how Adam must have felt when he was walking with God alone.  It makes me wonder if Jesus went into the desert so it was just him and God alone. God must love to commune with man alone because we don't have anything else to distract us. If you are feeling a distance from God and wish to have a closer relationship, try taking a few days alone and find him among the things he made in nature.

I now live very frugally with no extras. Living this way means I have more time to spend just admiring his handiwork in nature. Each and every time I hike through a forest or experience the solitude of the desert, it draws me closer to Him. An experience I would not give up to go back to my complicated life filled with wealth. I truly regret spending too many unsatisfying years chasing wealth. It never made me happy and yet a few minutes out underneath a  night sky alone in the wilderness does.

Free BLM camping

I like to stay on BLM land but not at the campgrounds. You can stay on a BLM site but you generally need something more than a tent to camp there. These are free areas to park your travel trailer or motorhome for boondocking. Rarely will you find anything more than a vault toilet except in some of the Long Term Visitor Areas( LTVA) in the southwest. One of the most well known is near Quartzsite Arizona. It attracts quite a crowd each January.  Check out this LTVA page for more information on the these LTVAs. LTVAs do have rules that require you to have a toilet with a black water tank of 10 gallons but the price to stay is cheap.

I plan my stays for 2 weeks. According to the rules, you have to move every 14 days so 2 weeks worth of supplies is a good place to start. How much water you need to be carrying varies with your personal needs but the bare minimum you need is 1/2 gallon per person. This does not include any water for taking a shower. If you take a navy shower(2 minutes) which is designed to conserve water, it takes an additional  3 gallons( 1.5 gpm)  per shower. So you need a lot more water and even more to take a normal shower.

In order to be frugal, I plan meals for 2 weeks without a including a refrigerator. If you need a refrigerator, include the cost of a 20 lb bottle of propane just to run the refrigerator for 2 weeks. Some of the things I take fresh vegetables that will last, dry beans, assorted canned fruit, canned vegetables, dry rice, 5 lb potatoes, pasta, canned milk, dry milk, peanut butter, eggs, assorted spices, tortillas, chips, canned meat (tuna, chicken, spam, and salmon), margarine, cheese, mayo, mustard, flour, cooking oil, olive oil, nuts, hard candy, crackers, coffee, and tea. I developed my list from cooking recipes at home. I had a cabinet that contains only the items I take in the travel trailer. So, I looked for recipes that I could modify to take only those ingredients. Experiment a little to find those meals you can cook while boondocking.

Extras to take when being a frugal vagabond

Here are a few items I use on my trips and some I would like to add soon.

I like to cook over an open wood fire when wood is available and this is a good tripod for doing that. All my campfire cooking is done with cast iron cook wear. They are easy to clean and never wear out. I built this wood stove from a coffee can. I use it to heat water with just a few small sticks or if you like charcoal cooking it can be used as a chimney starter.

One of my favorite things to cook when I have eggs is the Camping Omelet which is cooked with boiling water in a freezer bag. I learned from my sailing friends that eggs don't really have to be refrigerated if you turn them each day. Be sure and check them to see if they don't float in water before you use them.

Two things I always want to have working is my radio and my flashlight. Both of these use a mechanical wind up charger so I never have to worry about batteries. I also take one of those folding  portable camping toilet that use a bag just to have in an emergency. It stays in my truck as a backup or when I am away from the trailer. In the back of my truck is a 5 gallon container for gasoline plus I have a hand siphon. The gasoline is not just for the truck but for my camping stove that uses it also. My camping stove is a backup in case I don't have any propane. Sometimes, I like to take my tent and hike away from the trailer. The camping stove goes with me.

I keep a folding bicycle in my trailer and use it when I can for both exercise and to save on gasoline. It doesn't take up much space and works well for short trips to pick up food or get to some place just a little to far to walk. I keep a folding shovel for bathroom duty and a thermometer because I like to know the temperature. A few of things I would like to add is a canoe, outside shower, and a wind generator. The canoe I haven't been able to justify yet because I am not around water that frequently. I am gathering my parts for wind generator.

I purchased a black garden sprayer that I fill with water and leave out in the sun. You may also purchase a white one but spray paint it black. The sun heats the water for my shower. I then put on my swim suit, spray myself, soap up, and then rinse off. I really need to add a shower cabana but most of the time I am alone where I camp.

As you travel around, you too will add some items. Just remember everything takes up space and too many extras takes you away from the simple life of not having to worry about anything but the basics.

Potty Patrol and the Throne away from home

When your decision is to stay away from the city for 2 weeks at a time, you will need a toilet unless you are comfortable taking a stroll in all kinds of weather whenever the urge hits you. Some campgrounds will have at least a vault toilet but even these may be locked at certain times of the year. Once you decide on a toilet, you can investigate the various kinds. The three types are portable potty, cassette, and RV toilet attached to a black water tank.

The campground toilet is a simple portable potty that will have a capacity of 5 gallons or less. It is an all in one type of arrangement. Some come with water and a black water tank. Others, are just a 5 gallon bucket with a toilet seat attached to it. The simplest camping toilet uses a metal frame with a plastic bag attached for later disposal. All of these are available and can be very frugal. If you are living alone, either of them will work. If you want to use them outside, a pop up cabana is an added convenience for weather and privacy. The cabana can also be used with an outdoor shower.

The RV toilet is either connected to a black water tank or to a cassette. The cassette is removable for dumping into another toilet or using a dump station. The black water tank of course must be dumped at the dumping station. Cassette toilets contain the fewest uses before you have to worry about emptying. Black water tanks on the other hand vary so much. You can have anything from 10 to 30+ gallons depending on the size of your trailer. The lightweight hybrid that I have contains a small black water tank. Dumping stations are readily available although in a pinch you may be charged a few dollars.

I have learned through sailing friends that it is a good idea to keep extra water to pour into the toilet for smell control. Install a sink sprayer in the bathroom to help clean the toilet bowl. I also have one of the bag style toilets and a shovel as a backup just in case that I keep in the truck. I may even purchase one of the cabanas for showers outdoors and the occasional outdoor use of the bag toilet. There are many toilet varieties available and the one that suits you is mostly due to your gender and comfort level.

Free or low cost camping for RVs

Here are some of my thoughts on what I personally plan to do with my new simple life. My intent is to travel as frugally as I can. After looking at what might be frugal, I settled on volunteering, work camping, visiting, boondocking, working, and long term BLM. Occasionally, I will insert low cost or free camping when available. However, if I move around too much then gasoline becomes a much larger cost.

Volunteering is usually done for government parks but can be done for many organization. I prefer working for one of the parks but not cleaning bathrooms. With volunteering, you can get a spot to camp with some utilities also. What you don't get is much cash if any at all. Check the volunteer site and look for ones with RV hookups. The advantage of a volunteer gig is being able to stay put for months while only paying for your food. It is a low cost way to see some great scenery and give back to nature preservation or your favorite cause. If you perform enough volunteer hours, you may qualify for free admission to federal parks.

Work camping comes in so many flavors that you just have to see what is out there. It usually means being a host and cleaning bathrooms. It is normally set up for a couple to work 20 hours a week each so as a single you would have to work more. From what I have learned, the better compensation is at the places where people least want to be. You can sign up for long term gigs working many hours for nothing more than a camp site so be careful and ask for details. I would consider this if the terms were right but it isn't high on my list.

Don't forget about visiting friends and relatives. A new label for this is "couch surfing". It may be something like staying with your parents for a month while getting hot meals and a warm bed. It saves a month's work of expenses and you get to visit during the holidays. It can also be parked in front of a friends house while being plugged into their electricity. You still have to sleep inside your RV but you might get a free meal or two. Either way, schedule one or two during the year to save money if you can.

Early retirement and living on the road

I spent quite a few hours looking at what I needed to live a simple life on the road. The simplest way to get out on the road is to buy a backpack and start walking. While you take less possessions on the road with this method, you have to procure more basic necessities while traveling. In a previous post, I discussed the basic necessities. These aren't hard to figured out and they are God, shelter, air, food, and water. God and air are easy to find anywhere but you must make plans to find shelter, food, and water.

Before you decide about these three items, you have to decide what kind of transportation you will use to travel. There are many options from walking to driving an RV with walking being the cheapest and an RV being the most expensive way to go. Once you decide on the mode of transportation, you can decide how to meet the basics of shelter, food, and water. I started by ordering the vehicles by cost and size. Walking, bicycle, motorcycle/scooter, car/truck, and RV. Size directly relates to how often you have to replenish the basics on your trip. The car and RV come with quite a few options just by themselves.

The first thing to decide is what are your destinations for travel. Mine are in the US and I mostly plan on staying in places above freezing temperatures. However, I would like to have the option of staying in colder or hotter temperatures occasionally. One of the items I felt like I wanted to have was a shower so I put it on the optional list. A toilet is also optional because if you are in town they're always available for free or in the wilderness you can use the great outdoors. Either one is a whole discussion unto itself because of the varied options available.

So, I started by looking at the advantages and disadvantages of each mode of transportation. I traded off what I could carry versus cost of gas to travel. Quickly, I decided that I didn't want to walk everywhere or ride a bicycle. This left a motorcycle or scooter which gets you there faster at the cost of buying gas but you really can't carry all that much. I began to lean toward a car, which I already own, and an RV.

After looking at the various types of RVs, I eliminated almost all of them due to vehicle cost and gas consumption except a light weight trailer. In order to get the optional shower, toilet, and be able to extend the climate range, it would have to have to weight 2500 to 3000 lbs. Another consideration for me is that I want to stay in places that require a toilet with at least 10 gallon black water tank. Finally, the last consideration that led me to a truck and trailer combination was being able to do volunteer work at national and state parks.

The results of my tradeoff study from all the options was to select a small pickup and hybrid trailer (17-19 feet). This combination is the cheapest option which allows me to stay at least 14 days in remote places like a national forest or on BLM land. In order to minimize gasoline costs I plan on moving no more often than twice a month and much less in areas where I can stay longer. My trips between stops will be kept under 200 miles so my total mileage per month will be 400 miles or less.