Renting the house

Our biggest victory over the last month has been finding tenants for our house (rental income = gas money). I’m grateful to my parents, who have a rental property, for sharing their expertise and legal documents. This was invaluable in helping us get good tenants in place. Side note: while it may be a terrible time to sell a house, it’s apparently a great time to rent one out. We were flooded with calls from prospective tenants from the first day we listed our house for rent.

Rather than waiting to move out of the house all at once, we’ve spent the last few weekends boxing stuff up and moving things into storage a little at a time. We hope this way “moving day” won’t be as strenuous. Speaking of moving day, we have to be out by the end of May, so we’re focusing all of our energy on moving and getting the house ready for the new tenants. We’ll be shacking up with my parents between the time we move out until June 13th when we hit the road, and we’ll use that time to get the RV ready.

Getting a towable car

We want to tow a car along on our trip, but my beloved 2009 Scion xD was not flat-towable due to its automatic transmission (to tow with all 4 wheels on the ground almost always requires a manual transmission).

After hunting high and low and test driving 3 different cars at 2 different dealers, we found exactly what we needed: a 2008 Scion xB with a manual transmission that had NOT been smoked in. It’s great, we love it, and it’s been fun driving a stick again.

Selling stuff on eBay

It’s been nice getting rid of stuff and getting some extra money (~$3000), but eBay is hard work, and I’m tired. I’ve got my last few things listed right now, and after those are sold, I’m done. I may try Craigslist for few remaining things, but I don’t think I can bring myself to box and ship another item.

Buying more stuff

I’ve been disheartened by the seemingly endless stream of purchases that I’ve had (and will have) to make to be able to do this trip. Some examples:

2000 watt inverter ($1200): I have to rewire the RV’s entire electrical system, but once installed, this converts electricity from the batteries to give us 120v AC power without being plugged into a campsite or running the noisy generator.

Supplemental braking system ($600 used on eBay): This is a contraption that sits on the driver’s side floor of the towed car and presses its brake when I press the brake inside the RV. It’s a safety thing, but in most states is required by law. I have no idea how to install this yet.

Tow bar (~$300; not purchased yet): This is what connects the towed car to the back of the RV somehow.

Possible future purchases, as needs dictate and funds allow:

• Solar panels (~$500 – $2000?)
• More batteries (~$1000?)
• Satellite for internet (~$1,000 – $5,000?)

Ok, so now that I type that out I can see that the list is not “endless.” But still, I thought that having the actual RV was the only real requirement and the rest would be minor details. Not the case. In addition to the financial hemorrhage, there’s also the research time up front and the post-purchase installation that each one of these items require. On the positive side, there is an immense amount of satisfaction when these hurdles are overcome and we feel one step closer to hitting the road.

In an upcoming blog I will post a full accounting of our RV trip preparation expenses, from idea to departure. That should be interesting.

This is the scene Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings from 6:30am to 7:30am where we plan the trip a little piece at a time.

1. Get a towable car.
   Since we are going to be gone for a year, we have decided to tow a car for maximum flexibility. However, we don’t want to mess around with trailers or tow dollies, so we’re only interested in flat towing which just means that all four wheels of the car remain on the ground. Only certain cars are built for this type of towing, and our little Scion unfortunately isn’t one of them. We need to sell the Scion and find a car designed for flat towing.
2. Figure out how to flat tow.
   Once we get the right car, I’ll have some hardware to hook up to both the RV and the car to make it all work. I don’t know if I’ll still be able to use our bike rack, or whether our 5 bikes can go on top of the car. We’ll figure something out.
3. Figure out connectivity.
   I HAVE to have internet to run my business. I’ve got a little Verizon device that provides reasonable broadband speeds using the 3G network, but this only works where there are cell towers. I’d like to also get a satellite connection in case I need to get internet in the desert.
4. Rent the house.
   We’re not wild about becoming a landlords, but it seems silly to let a house sit empty for a year. Plus, we need the gas money.
5. Figure out schooling.
   While there will surely be no shortage of teachable moments for our girls (figuring gas mileage, history lessons, relevant books to read, etc.) we like the idea of having some structure and accountability. For that reason, we’re looking at virtual school options to supplement home schooling. We will be researching and choosing one of these options in the coming months.
6. Find a temporary home for the cat.
   We actually have a pair of cats, the eldest of which is a geriatric incontinent cat nearing the end of the line. A sad day awaits for her and us. The other, though, is a healthy 2-ish year old female Chartreux that is actually pretty cool and in need of a good temporary home (hint, hint).
7. Install an inverter.
   Installing an inverter would allow us to use the outlets and other smaller A/C devices without needing a campsite’s electric hookup or needing to run the generator. I’ll have to do a bit of rewiring to the electrical system, but it sure would be nice to be able to watch a movie, reheat leftovers, or recharge our phones even when we’re driving down the road.

We’ll be plotting this list out with deadlines on a shared Google calendar so Amy and I can stay on schedule. If anyone has any experience or advice regarding any item mentioned above, we’re all ears.