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I left Bradenton, Florida 31 days ago on May 19th, bound for Idaho where I had a series of conferences lined up to keynote. My journey since then has covered 10 states and a dozen towns, driving as far west as Portland, Oregon before swooping back over to northern Idaho.
This is a first for me. There are road trips like those I took last year, the longest of which was 20 days driving out to explore Arizona and back. Now here I am a full month since I left Florida, with two conferences left and months of life on the road to go.
It hasn’t always been the most comfortable trip. Sure I’ve stayed with friends along the way, and I have a hotel for all the conferences, but outside those, I’m camping. Yep, me and my little Kia Soul, with my life stuffed inside, are hopping from place to place camping along the way.
I’m writing this on a table at my current campsite up on the shore of Priest Lake, Idaho, 35 miles directly south of the border with Canada. I’ve camped in National Parks and Monuments and in little off-the-road sites, sometimes as a rest stop, sometimes because I can spare the days, like right now, where I’m on a week-long break between conferences.
I look back at some of the events of this trip and realize just how long ago they are becoming. Sandia Peak and Albuquerque? Nearly a month. Sedona, Arizona, hosting sidewalk astronomy? I left 11 days ago. Heck, it’s already been three days since I left my friends’ in Portland, though it feels like yesterday. And for Florida, where I once called home…31 days.
I’m one of those weird people who doesn’t like being at home. Granted, I spend all my time on sidewalks doing science experiments and showing people astronomy, so getting home at weird hours is my personal MO. But going beyond that, “home” makes me restless. “Home” makes me want to be anywhere else. I’d rather get out and stay out. I often tell my friends, “I’m someone who just needs a place to sleep and occasionally shower. Everything else, I can do on the road.”
Adding to that, I don’t exactly have a workplace. In theory, I can be anywhere…as long as there are people passing by to look through the telescope! Combined with my science-fiction books and nature photography, so long as I have access to people, I can make ends meet.
You know what makes that hard for me, though? Paying rent. My rental house in Florida cost me $1600 (just my half!!) every month, and I rarely spent any time there. Unless you’re really making bank, having more than half of my monthly income go to rent is a one-way ticket to getting stuck, missing bills, and always wishing you were in a different situation. For me, who wants to travel and teach astronomy everywhere I go, while spending as little time indoors as possible, I need fewer expenses each month. During planetary season, when I can use the telescope every single day of the week without being dependent on the Moon, I can make $1,000 – $1,500/week. Out of planetary season, when it’s only the Moon out for 7-10 days per month, I can bring in about half that. But when you’ve got bills AND you’re dropping $1600 on a house you’re never in, things needlessly add up fast, and it’s almost impossible to save money for anything else.
Which I why I don’t think I want to stop this road trip for now. I planned for 111 days, from May 19th to September 6th, but I’m enjoying this, a lot, and astronomy season is on the way. Right now I’m using the American West to my advantage: we get about 10 days per month with the Moon visible at reasonable hours, so as long as I can gather the tips and make the sales I need in those 10 days, I’m fine. Heck, this past cycle in Sedona, it was only 4 days due to nighttime rain, and still generated enough revenue to recover more than the hotel and food expenses I had that week.
What are my next steps? Short term, camping and occasional hotels. But I’ve been looking into camper vans and larger trucks, and have a few saved that, when the time comes in a few weeks, I might be able to pull the trigger on. Having a mobile place to sleep will save a ton of money, and my food expenses are sitting at about $100/week. Plus, after the Idaho conferences finish, I simply won’t be driving as much; I’m certainly having fun touring the country right now, but I’m going to slow down a lot once I return to Sedona at the end of June, meaning I’ll also save a ton in gas that I haven’t quite saved most of this trip.
To put it in perspective, when I was in Sedona at the beginning of June, I used less that 1/3 of a tank of gas in 6 days. I’ll still be traveling after the conferences, but I’ll be much slower about it, while generating income.
So, that’s my current line of thinking. Slow down. Focus on astronomy and photography. Get a camper van or truck (probably sell my car in doing so, too). I’m not someone who has a lot. I have my telescopes and the books and photography stock for sales, but really, that’s it in terms of “excess” items I’m carrying outside food, clothes, and equipment.
I think I can make this work. I really do.
This world is beautiful.
Alex
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