Camping and Living in an Isuzu Trooper SUV

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This video (embedded below) by Bob from Cheap RV Living is an interview with Dave, a retired Greek Orthodox and Episcopal priest who is now a Buddhist priest that leads clients on vision quests in the wilderness. He took the back seat out of his 1991 Isuzu Trooper and laid a wooden platform in the back, and that gives him a surprising amount of space inside the vehicle. He also took out the passenger seat to give himself and his dog even more room. He has a metal divider between the front and back sections of the vehicle that he uses to hang gear. I love the headroom and large windows that the Trooper offers.

Dave’s approach to living in his SUV is very minimalist:

“My style and approach to living from … the Isuzu Trooper is more of a mountaineering/backpacking approach, so the gear that I use and the mindset I use tends to be a mountaineering/backpacking/expedition-type mindset. So I cook outside as much as I can. I tend to use backpacking equipment, and so the Isuzu is what carries it from one place to another. But I like being as close to nature as I can and having really good gear, so that if it is blowing a blizzard, even if I’m in a tent, I’m warm, I’m safe, I can make hot coffee, I can cook.”

To which Bob replied:

“Instead of having to fit it all into a backpack, all you have to do is fit it into an Isuzu Trooper.”

As a mountaineer and backpacker myself, this is definitely something I can relate to. If backpackers can spend 5 months walking with everything they need on their backs, you and I can certainly fit everything we need into any vehicle.

The first half of the video is Dave telling his story of how he came to be living in an SUV. If you want to skip all of that, the SUV talk starts at 16:35.

(Again, click here to view the video on YouTube if you can’t see it above.)

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I was going to leave on my trip this morning, but there are snow storms a few hours south of here in the mountains, so I’m putting it off for one more day. Ugh. But I am definitely, definitely leaving tomorrow (Friday). Definitely.

Gas-Powered “Solar Generators,” Battery Banks, and More

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I just saw via Gear Junkie that Goal Zero, the company that makes “solar generators” (i.e., portable battery banks) and solar panels is making a gas generator. The thing is, it’s not a traditional gas generator. You don’t plug things into it directly but plug your Goal Zero battery bank into it. The generator then charges the battery bank, and you run all of your electronics from the battery bank. According to the Gear Junkie article (go there for pics and more info), this setup is 20 (!) times more fuel efficient than a traditional generator.

The knock against Goal Zero stuff is always that it’s expensive compared to what you could make yourself, but for those of us who don’t have much interest in cobbling together our own battery banks and charging setups, I think they remain a good solution.

While we’re on the subject, I’ve been eyeing this enormous battery bank by Anker. I’ve used Anker battery pack products in the past and had good experiences with them. This particular battery bank can charge a laptop 15 times, and that’s exactly what I’d use it for. It’s also much smaller and lighter than the Goal Zero equivalents.

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In other news, my trip down to the desert has been delayed by a couple of days because of the weather. It’s snowing outside right now as I type this (we’re getting an uncommonly high amount of snow this year in northern Utah), and I want to wait for the snow to stop and the roads to clear a bit before I make a run for it. And if you’re not already doing so, consider following my new @SUVRVing account in Instagram.

I’m Leaving Soon on a Trip (and More)

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I’m leaving in a few days for a month-long road trip, and I’d really like your opinion on what kinds of videos you’d like to see from me. And while I’ve already been to the areas that I’ll be visiting, I’m always open to hearing about lesser-known things to see or do. In the video below, I also talk about a few new pieces of gear I bought for the trip. (Click here if you can’t see the video.)

In addition just started a new Instagram account for SUV RVing, and you can find it here: http://instagram.com/suvrving. I’ll definitely be posting lots of pics from the upcoming road trip.

This Map Shows Where It Is and Isn’t Snowy Right Now

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I live in northern Utah, where it’s currently very cold and very snowy. I’m leaving next week for a monthlong road trip through southern Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California, and I wanted to know how far south I’ll have to drive until I’m out of the snow. I did some searching and found this great website that features an interactive map of snow cover around the United States and southern Canada. Looks like I’ll be snow-free once I hit St. George in the southwestern corner of Utah.

To get a more complete picture of the snow situation, here are two more websites that have snow cover maps:

These are great websites for SUV RVers, vandwellers, and anyone else looking to escape the snow this winter.

I Made a Portable Camp Toilet. Here’s a Video of It.

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When I couldn’t find a portable camp toilet for my SUV RVing adventures that was compact enough for my liking, I made my own. The video below shows how it works. (Click here if you can’t see the video.)

(And if you’re wondering if all I’ll ever do from here on out is post videos and never blog, rest assured that I’ll be back to blogging here soon enough.)

A Video Review of the Lantern I Use in My SUV

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This is a basically a video version of this review about the lantern I use in my SUV when I’m sleeping in it. I use it instead of the vehicle’s built-in lights to make sure I never run down the car’s battery. I’ve had the lantern for a year and a half now and think it’s a really great thing to travel with. I never leave home without mine. (Click here if you can’t see the video below.)

This isn’t a sponsored review. No one is paying me to review this, and I bought the lantern with my own money.

Let me know what you think. Thanks!