Come with me to the Golfe du Mexique and the Redneck Riviera! - Travel Eve

The Eve Afore Travel*
So, I am headed out on a walkabout* and you, dear reader, will be dragged along kicking and screaming.

One of my life goals has been to see more of the country (and the world), and not from the highway, but from the back roads. So, three years ago I bought a 2015 Honda Pilot – that’s the pre-teardrop model, which looks like this:

Fig. A: It’s a box. Get it?


Ok, no, it actually looks like this:

Fig. B: Not much different…

And I got that shipping container of a car because when you fold the two back seat rows down there is enough space to put in a mattress of some kind and supplies and then camp in the car.

THEN, last July, I was lucky enough to be allowed to go part-time in my job (generally working Tuesday, Wednesday and half of Thursday), which means I can actually do some of this traveling!

So here we go! I leave tomorrow morning (Thursday), and I’m planning to be on the road for a little over ten days, and this is where I’m planning to go (red is the trip away from RVA; green is the trip back):

Fig. C: The 1718 de L’Isle Map, but you knew that. And, no, I’m not going to call it the Golfe du Amerika.

Also, I am planning to use Google Maps, rather than the pictured 1718 de L’Isle Map, and a Honda Pilot rather than a covered wagon, so I am optimistic for better results than those poor bastards in 1883.

Once I get to the Golfe du Mexique, I am hoping for some warmer weather than we are experiencing here in Citae du Richemounde, as it is the dead of winter right now.

I plan to “car camp” (#vanlife #nomadlife #itsreallyjustsleepinginacar) at campgrounds / HipCamps / RV parks along the way, with the occasional AirBNB stay for sanity’s sake. I’m not Lewis or Clarke for god’s sake.

(Programming note: Most of my days consisted of two parts: the traveling/poking around during the daylight; and, the camping and exploring once the sun set. So for most days I’ll be recounting each of these in two separate posts.)

Here is my “rig,” which is how us nomads describe our mobile homeless shelters:

Fig. D: So roomy and comfortable

I’m bringing a crap-ton of supplies, including: A small grill and camp cooking stuff, cooler, tire filler, CPAP/BPAP battery, head lamp, laundry detergent, fishing rod & tackle shower shoes, cash in small bills, assorted batteries, toolkit, pocket knife, bear spray (in lieu of a gun), various items of clothing, LOTS of underwear, toiletries, prescriptions, iPad & charger, work computer, books, 14 cans of soup, beer and wine (plus additional beer and wine) and MUCH MUCH MORE. Some of which I’ll end up using.

I also bought an old-school 12x14-inch road atlas to track where I’ve been. It works pretty good, but the touch screen is shit and it keeps falling out of the phone thingy on my dashboard. 

For those wondering whether Stacy is coming on this trip, I’d refer you to Fig. D above and ask, “What do you think?”

OK! Ready? Me neither! Let’s go!

* Moment of Truthiness: I’m already back from my walkabout. In fact, it occurred LAST January about this time. I was going to post about it after the trip, but I sort of ran out of steam. So now I’m going to pretend I’m posting about my walkabout real-time, just like a reality show pretends to be reality.

Take the whole trip! I’ll even cover the gas!

TravelChuckGolfe du Mexique, North Carolina4 Comments