Three Months Full-Time Truck Camper

Reflections

Jul 9

Three Months Already!

Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of the Road Life series. In this episode, we're going off-script and just hanging out. I'll share some honest insights into what it's really like living in a truck camper full-time. I can't believe it's already been three months; time has flown by!

In today's Road Life series episode, we'll use an old method I learned years ago and still love. It's called Rose, Bud, Thorn. Roses represent things that went well, thorns represent things that didn't go so well, and buds represent things I'm looking forward to.

Thorns (Things That Didn’t Go Well)

We'll start with thorns because I want to end on a positive note. Number It's full-blown mosquito and fly season, and that's made the evenings a little less enjoyable. They have this annoying habit of flying into your eyeballs and ears, which can be maddening. But overall, it's manageable. I was trying to fight it at first, but I've given up. Any exposed skin is just getting torn up, but that's fine – eventually, it'll heal.

The other thorn is that we're in the middle of a heat wave, so I've been experiencing my first few 100-degree days in the truck camper. Surprisingly, it has been better than I expected. I go to higher elevations at night and stick to the shade during the day, so the evenings and mornings have been quite bearable. I'm good as long as I can sleep at night and the temperature cools in the evening. During the day, I usually try to find a body of water to cool off.

Roses (Things That Went Well)

There's been a ton of roses this month. This lifestyle gives me a lot of flexibility in my schedule. This flexibility allows me to adapt my schedule to my friends' 9-to-5 jobs, which has been great. For example, when I visited my friends in Tahoe, I could spend time with them while also exploring the area on my own while they were working. It was a fun way to travel and connect even more with my friends, and I'm really grateful for that.

Another Rose was going on two backpacking trips in the Sierras. Holy smokes! I understand why John Muir was so obsessed with that area. It is probably one of the prettiest places I've ever seen. I will definitely be going back to the Sierras to do more backpacking. We even did a section of the JMT that was just 10 out of 10. It blew my mind!

I also learned to wake surf on Lake Tahoe. If you don't know, Lake Tahoe is like the Bahamas in the summertime. The water is crystal clear blue with white sand—it's unreal. I'd only ever been there in the winter, so I missed out on what the lake was like during the warm weather.

YouTube has also been a huge Rose for me lately. I'm doing this full-time and working towards monetizing my YouTube channel or securing more brand deals to make it sustainable. Right now, I'm living off of savings I built up over the last few years.

For those who don't know, YouTube is new to me. I started this about two months ago, and it's been so much fun. I've really enjoyed the process of making videos. I have a background in commercial photography, so I've been adjacent to video making for a long time, but this is my first time doing it for myself.

I recently did my first brand collaboration on YouTube for NOC's Provisions. If you're interested, you can check it out here. Spoiler alert: the video has a discount code if you're interested in buying binoculars. Additionally, I had a commercial photo shoot this month, which brought in some extra cash. It's fantastic because it helps me stay on the road longer.

Other than that, the truck has been performing awesomely. I've really enjoyed most things about it, but there are a few minor frustrations and some things I would have done differently. I will make a video about that, so stay tuned for it.

Buds (Things I’m Looking Forward To)

I have a lot to look forward to. I'm excited to continue living this way and improving each day. It feels like the sky's the limit, so I'm pretty fired up about that. I have many more videos queued up to share with you guys, and I have more backpacking planned. Oh, and a music festival with Billy Strings, which is one of my favorites. I am so stoked!

Finally, I'm grateful to those following the journey and for any support I'm getting on my blog or the channel. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. This is helping me make a lifelong dream a reality. I hope everyone's doing well, and I look forward to having more of these chats.