The Overland Expo was an excellent way to kickoff my travel adventure. As excited as I was to get out of the mud pits of Mormon Lake, the end of the expo meant that it was time for me to figure out what was next. Let’s just say it's been a learning experience. But, for as many things that went wrong, a lot of random things turned out much better than I expected.
Here are some things I learned:
1) Camping on US Forest Service Land is free (if you can find it)—If I had my way, I would spend the majority of my nights camped out on Forest Service (FS) land because it’s free, beautiful, and rather private. However, there are a couple problems with camping on FS land. The first main problem is that even though you are driving along roads clearly within national forest boundaries (based on my Rand McNally roadmap), you can’t just camp anywhere. I’ve learned that there are a lot of privately owned areas within designated national forest that you can’t just pull off into. Most of it is fenced off. There are specific maps which show you exactly where dispersed camping is allowed within each forest. This leads me to the second problem: you can’t depend on your phone being able to display the maps that the FS has online. So, it’s extremely challenging to find free sanctioned camping on the fly while in remote areas.
2) Not knowing where you’re going to sleep by nightfall is stressful—I now have a personal rule to know where I’m going to stay the night as early as possible.
3) Make sure all your belongings are strapped down and that the interior of your vehicle is in ship shape before deciding to drive off road—It’s incredible the distance things can travel inside your vehicle after you’ve been bouncing all around on rough roads. Also, that one thing in your car that’s been clinking on and off for the better portion of your drive will become the bane of your existence in an off road situation as it will soon start clinking as furiously as a woodpecker millimeters from finding food.
4) Always ask about the status of the wifi before ordering a drink—Free wifi might as well be synonymous with unreliable wifi and in some instances non-existent wifi. One day, I went to three different establishments before finding wifi I could use. In the process, I had one lemonade, one order of chips, and had slotted $3 for parking. Needless to say, by the end of the day, I’d spent enough money to afford speed of light internet for the full two hours I used it.
5) Never run your gas tank below 100 miles left on the tank if you can help it—On my way to the Overland Expo, I was running short on time and decided to drive straight to the expo instead of filling up in Flagstaff. I calculated I would have plenty of fuel to drive into the Coconino National Forest and back into town as long as I was conservative in my fuel usage. There was still a good 60 miles left on the tank and I only needed 20 to get back into town. On the way back into town after the expo, the Forest Service had shut down an entire segment of the road. They were flying several people via helicopter out of the forest and there was no knowing how long it would take for the emergency vehicles to clear out. The only way around was to drive the opposite direction about 50 miles before turning back to Flagstaff…the closest gas station was 40-50 miles away based on the traffic director’s estimate.
6) Keep all paper materials in a moisture sealed container—Sleeping in an enclosed space on cold nights causes a lot of condensation to form inside the truck. Books are a magnet for all that hot air you’re exhaling. Once the two meet, never shall they part.
Here are some things that worked out better than anticipated:
1) Couchsurfing is a lifesaver—I arrived in Tucson, AZ midday thinking I’d have plenty of time to find internet and research my next place to sleep. I quickly realized it was too hot in Tucson to sleep in my truck and it was about 1-2 hours to the nearest National Forest. Remembering my failed attempt at finding a place to sleep near Show Low, AZ, I knew camping was not an option. Thankfully, I found Yasmin through Couchsurfing last minute. She was a most gracious host and even invited me to join her in Albuquerque, NM that weekend where we stayed with her friends.
2) Meetups—I never went to a Meetup in Minnesota, but I happened to find a meetup happening in Phoenix the very night I was there. It was a movie night and I got to see a comedy and meet an interesting group of women who gave me tons of info on traveling in CA, AZ, and NM.
What are some of your travel tips?
