Before (Cirrus 820)
After (Lance 830)
Curious about a previous ten-year chapter in our nomadic lives, which includes eight years aboard a 35-foot sailboat in the tropics, check out the travel/adventure/personal memoir I wrote:
Roaming About
A Life Less Ordinary
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May 25, 2022 at 23:06
The After isn’t as pretty on the outside as the Before but I’m sure she is going to end up being perfect.
May 25, 2022 at 23:14
You are certainly right about the first part of your statement, Duwan. Hopefully, about the second one as well. 🙂 The Cirrus was looking sharp, modern, and special. We will miss the comfort and luxury of that one, but we have more living space in our “beater upper”. Can’t wait to give you a tour this weekend. Of course, we still have heaps of work and – at the moment – it’s not organized at all yet. We have one more day for this…
May 25, 2022 at 23:16
Now if you can just figure out how to beat the gas prices. I got a kick out of the people back east and the Midwest complaining about their $4.15 per gallon gas. We’re paying $6.49 these days in California.
May 26, 2022 at 09:03
For us, the only way to beat the gas prices is by 1) staying stationary for long(er) periods of time, 2) taking the bike to stores (which we are doing now on Mark’s e-bike as we sold mine already), and 3) moving to a different, cheaper region (which we plan to do in the fall).
May 26, 2022 at 09:50
Definitely cutting back on driving at those prices, Pete (I’m in SoCal).
June 1, 2022 at 17:47
Time to use the bike more often. 🙂
May 26, 2022 at 00:09
Did I miss something or have you been in the market for a new camper? Hope you are happy with it!
May 26, 2022 at 09:08
Hi Lexie! So much has been going on in our lives that I didn’t have a moment to write a decent blog post in the last three weeks. Hopefully next Wednesday. I should get a breather then.
Ever since we bought our “fancy” Cirrus, we kept an eye out for a different truck camper, as we didn’t really want to keep it. We bought it last summer, because we had sold our van and needed a home. The Cirrus came up in Vermont at a decent price in a crazy market. We liked it, but aimed for something cheaper at some point. That’s why we called our initial truck camper “Temp”. We finally found a replacement in early May and have been working non-stop on this “fixer upper” to get it ready to live in.
May 26, 2022 at 14:51
Oh, yeah, I sort of remember you had that plan. Hope the fixing up is going well!
June 1, 2022 at 17:50
Hi again, Lex. We have some major issues and projects to deal with. My estimate to get everything fixed and done is three months. Also, because we have other things going on that require us to abandon our projects for six weeks in total. We truly hope to leave the US sometime in the fall still.
May 26, 2022 at 00:45
Ditto for me. Did you just replace the one that replaced the last one?
May 26, 2022 at 09:10
Hi Luisa!
We kept the black truck (which took us five months to find, last summer) and bought an older, cheaper camper for on top. The first one, the Cirrus 820, is a state-of-the-art camper, very fancy, pretty, and modern. We wanted something that we didn’t mind “beating up” in South America the coming years.
May 26, 2022 at 03:35
I’m sure changing truck campers isn’t as easy as changing shoes. Like :”Lexklein” and Luisa I’m a little confused, so I’ll return to find clarification in comments. The truck surely looks beefy enough, Liesbet!
May 26, 2022 at 09:13
Hi Marian!
We love our truck, which we bought last summer. I didn’t have time to write a longer blog, so opted for a wordless Wednesday. Sorry for the confusing.
We’ve been looking for a different camper since we bought “Temp”. That’s why we called it “Temp”. Now, we have to make the transition. It’s been chaos with everything else going on. I hope to write a personal update here, next week. It’s something I rarely do, but feel will clarify a few things.
And, you’re right. Swapping campers is not the easiest thing when you are a nomad without a house. Especially when the one you just bought is a project camper!
May 26, 2022 at 16:18
Got it!
June 1, 2022 at 17:50
🙂
May 26, 2022 at 07:29
Looks like a good replacement, I like it. But I guess it is not just about looks, but space and comfort are the most important. I am looking forward to knowing more about your reasons behind this change.
May 26, 2022 at 09:16
The replacement is about ten years older and needs heaps of work, Gilda. But it fits better in the budget and for the beating up we will do with it in South America. We loved our “fancy” Cirrus, but it was always a worry in Baja, since we didn’t want to scratch it up and needed to keep it in pristine condition to be able to sell it again for a good price. With the new camper, those worries won’t exist. 🙂
May 26, 2022 at 10:58
So the comments have answered my questions and I don’t need to ask them now!
June 1, 2022 at 17:48
Thank you for reading the comments as well, Anabel. Luckily they exist when my post is wordless. 🙂
June 1, 2022 at 17:54
😀
May 26, 2022 at 13:46
You got it done, hooray! Here’s hoping it works for you exactly as you planned. 🙂
June 1, 2022 at 17:49
Yeah… about that. When does anything ever go as planned, right? We are facing some serious renovations and conversions. Sometimes I think we might as well have bought a fixer-upper house!
May 26, 2022 at 17:27
When is Annapolis on your route?? We miss seeing you! Isn’t it time for a wedding anniversary party here?
June 1, 2022 at 17:53
Hi Connie!!
Thanks for chiming in. Love your wedding anniversary party idea, but Mark and I don’t seem to celebrate much, these days. Except successful camper projects. 🙂 Annapolis is not on any route at the moment. If we would have found our replacement camper on the East Coast that would have been a different story. Whenever we do return to your wonderful town, you and Jim will be notified! 🙂
May 27, 2022 at 09:56
A great choice, Liesbet–the living space is so important! Happy trails!
June 1, 2022 at 17:54
Believe it or not, Terri, but these two campers are day and night in several ways. I hope to post some photos about the differences one day… Thank you for the trail wishes. I’ll hold on to those until the fall. 🙂
May 30, 2022 at 19:01
Yikes looks like a gas guzzler! 🙂 x
June 1, 2022 at 17:55
It is a gas guzzler. The truck is the same one we already have and that took five months to find and acquire last summer. We do hope that our fuel economy improves a tad with this Lance camper as it is lower. But, wider as well and less streamlined than the Cirrus. Time will tell…