Every year is different from the one before, isn’t it? Some are easier, some are harder, some feel longer, some fly by. For me, 2023 was all those at various points in the last 12 months. And it ended with me pulling the Alto into a storage yard and settling into a beachside winter condo. I didn’t quite see that coming in January 2023.
At the end of each calendar year of my vagabond life, I look back at facts and figures, highs and lows, and see what I’ve learned. (You can see previous year reports by clicking on Yearly Reports up in the menu bar.) Let’s get started…
Highlights
I really wanted to see more friends in 2023, and I definitely accomplished that goal. I camped with friends in March, April, and May, and also attended a gathering of Alto owners in upstate New York the end of May. By July, I was in Quebec, celebrating the 25th anniversary of Safari Condo (my trailer’s manufacturer) with dozens of other owners, many of whom I count as friends.
August was catching up with friends in Massachusetts and in the Hudson Valley, both of which made my heart so happy. Seeing old friends after a long time apart was a joy, especially that evening at a winery catching up with sailing buds from the 1980s. In September, I not only camped with friends, I traveled to California for my 50th high school reunion (gasp, 50 years ago!!) and really enjoyed seeing how we were all getting on. October was the annual return to Watauga, camping with friends on the banks of the river and getting in a few kayak paddles as well.
Lowlights
Smoky skies from fires up north put a damper on my travels in May and June, with some days so smoky that the air around me was yellow and the sun a dim light in the haze. Ugh.
The other lowlight was harder to quantify, a general ennui about pretty much everything to do with packing up every few days, driving in whatever weather presented itself, and then doing it all again a week later. I kind of knew I was nearing the end of my constant traveling, but in the meantime, I literally had nowhere else to go, so I kept my reservations and just kept plowing ahead as I worked to figure out what I really wanted, and needed, at this point in my life. I ended 2023 by signing up to spend four months in a rental condo at the beach in South Carolina, which I wrote about a while back. (Now that I’ve been there 2.5 months, I’m actually getting excited about traveling again. Note to self: take a break next winter, it’s a good thing.)
By the Numbers
I have a Spot Trace device and one of the benefits is that I can map where I’ve been, for various timeframes. Here’s all the places that Breeze and I went in 2023. As you can see, I was firmly based in the eastern part of the continent, from Gainesville, FL (my home base) all the way up to Quebec, Canada. I enjoyed getting back to Canada, my first time camping in Quebec since 2018.
I camped at 65 places, from Florida up to New York and Quebec, then back down to Tennessee and the South. Most of them were state parks or US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) campgrounds, both of which generally provide good value for the price. USACE campgrounds are usually half off with the National Parks senior pass, so I tend to look for them when I’m planning trips. I stayed at more than a few RV parks this year, weighing the additional cost against the pleasure of hanging out with friends, and the friends won out over the budget.
Seven Year Summary
Yeah, I’m kind of a data nerd when it comes to tracking mileage and the cost of gas and lodging. The first few years I tracked everything (groceries, insurance, books, etc.) but I got less detailed-oriented as the years passed. Here’s a snapshot of the big stats across seven years.
In general, the cost of gas is up, as is the cost of lodging, whether it’s a state park or an RV park. 2023 has the highest lodging since I put in the two months of condo rental ($1300/month) to round out the year. Less gas, though, so that helps a bit, but 2023 was still my most expensive year.
For fellow data nerds, and Alto owners who wonder about reliability over time, my Alto has gone over 64,500 miles since I picked it up on May 2, 2016. In all that time, I’ve never thought of trading it in for a different rig; it suits my traveling style just fine. And in that seven year period, the only things that have broken were a roof fan, a front window, a fridge fan, and a propane regulator, which makes the Alto a very reliable and well-built trailer. Would I buy one again? Yes, in a heartbeat. It was worth the money ($34K back in 2016), which works out to about $5K a year. Add $5K/year to the lodging costs in the above table, and my seven-year average of $15k/year for total lodging costs is still cheaper than most rentals or house payments would have been during the same period.
What About 2024?
I know where I am till end of February, in that winter condo, watching the ocean out my window. In March, I’ll be doing a slow roll towards Indiana to see the solar eclipse in early April. I’m working on logistics for a trip across the pond in May and June. After that, I’ll hit the road for a summer adventure, destinations TBD.
and my story isn’t ended.
it keeps going.
even if I don’t always
know in what direction.
ND Stevenson