In 6 Months I Go Mobile, Touring the USA for a Year, Detecting and Fishing

AusTexDude

AusTexDude

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Aug 12, 2013
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Garrett AT MAX
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All Treasure Hunting
I bought a 1989 GMC conversion van back in 2007 for the purpose of turning it into a solar bugout van and touring the country. Over the past 2 years I have just about completed it.

Im starting in Corpus Christi for a couple months, then heading to the Grand Canyon for a month, then up to the Northwest, across the country on the North East side during the summer, heading down to Florida for the winter, then back up to Maine and that area for the next summer.

This is the project I have been planning for over a decade and it's why I took up metal detecting not long ago so I could get skilled in it before I set out on my adventure.

The van is loaded... more than any other van I have seen in person yet. I went all James Bond on it. I will be good for long stays away from electricity with the 400 Watts of solar.

I'm psyched!

Maybe I can meet some of you along the way.
 

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Have fun.. I an sure that van has been a labor of love that past cpl of years and when you finally get it to where you want it you will feel kind of empty because it was so enjoyable working on it and it's finally done.. Working on it and making sure you have all the comforts and backup systems you think are necessary makes the project not only challenging but fun. I am sure you will plenty of people in awe of your van and aside from that you can go metal detecting anywhere you please.

The best part about retirement is enjoying what you do and doing what you want when you want. Last summer I went on a 15000 mile road trip that covered 26 states and threw in some metal detecting to boot. Didn't find anything significant but it's all about the hunt. This fall I am headed to AZ and NV to detect for gold but more because I love wandering through the desert.
 

Normsel said:
Have fun.. I an sure that van has been a labor of love that past cpl of years and when you finally get it to where you want it you will feel kind of empty because it was so enjoyable working on it and it's finally done.. Working on it and making sure you have all the comforts and backup systems you think are necessary makes the project not only challenging but fun. I am sure you will plenty of people in awe of your van and aside from that you can go metal detecting anywhere you please.

The best part about retirement is enjoying what you do and doing what you want when you want. Last summer I went on a 15000 mile road trip that covered 26 states and threw in some metal detecting to boot. Didn't find anything significant but it's all about the hunt. This fall I am headed to AZ and NV to detect for gold but more because I love wandering through the desert.
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I'm not retired... I'm 49. I will be working part time along the way. I look at it like this... It's actually cheaper to stay at camp sites than it is to rent a place so why not be a gypsy for a year or so and see the entire country.

Yes, it has been a labor of love. I have enjoyed most of it; except for the window tinting I hate tinting windows. I did everything myself from making the curtains on my sewing machine to building the 350 small block and slapping it in. It took me months of research into just solar to do it right. It's really hard to fit an entire house worth of stuff into a van.
 

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Hope you left some room for the metal detectors and fishing rods!
One humble suggestion from a recently retired biologist who has transported live fish for decades is to skip the fish tank idea and use artificials only. Live fish need dissolved oxygen and cool temperatures. You could use an oxygen tank for the O2 but cooling the water is tough. Aerators and agitators just don't give you enough oxygen - a common mistake made by poorly run fishing tournaments. Also, without a biofilter, the waste products build up quickly.
Please keep us posted.
 

Megalodon said:
Hope you left some room for the metal detectors and fishing rods!
One humble suggestion from a recently retired biologist who has transported live fish for decades is to skip the fish tank idea and use artificials only. Live fish need dissolved oxygen and cool temperatures. You could use an oxygen tank for the O2 but cooling the water is tough. Aerators and agitators just don't give you enough oxygen - a common mistake made by poorly run fishing tournaments. Also, without a biofilter, the waste products build up quickly.
Please keep us posted.
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I am buying a 8x10 enclosed trailer that I will be using to carry all my stuff in. Yea I'm pretty familiar with transporting live bait and shrimp. I estimate that by the time I was 18 years old I had fished well in excess of 10,000 hours... and I'm 49 now.
 

AusTexDude said:
I am buying a 8x10 enclosed trailer that I will be using to carry all my stuff in. Yea I'm pretty familiar with transporting live bait and shrimp. I estimate that by the time I was 18 years old I had fished well in excess of 10,000 hours... and I'm 49 now.
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Feel free to PM me if you have questions when you design your fish tank. I published in Progressive Fish Culturist about transporting difficult species. A few suggestions: round or oval tank is best (no corners), dark color calms the fish, a touch of salt reduces stress. Already mentioned oxygen (our hatchery used medical grade rented bottles but you can purchase too).
 

Megalodon said:
Feel free to PM me if you have questions when you design your fish tank. I published in Progressive Fish Culturist about transporting difficult species. A few suggestions: round or oval tank is best (no corners), dark color calms the fish, a touch of salt reduces stress. Already mentioned oxygen (our hatchery used medical grade rented bottles but you can purchase too).
Click to expand...

I appreciate it but I'm not making a tank... I have special bait buckets I made. One for salt water and one for fresh. When I transport bait it is usually not for more than an hour at the very most, then the bait gets used.

Shrimp is a little more complicated to keep alive... they require cold and LOTS of O2 or they die quick. My newest shrimp well will have an inner compartment for the shrimp and and outer one for ice to keep them nice and cold.
 

Nice build. If for some odd reason you pass through the SF Bay area I'd be down for a meet and greet.
 

Obsessive said:
Nice build. If for some odd reason you pass through the SF Bay area I'd be down for a meet and greet.
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Just so happens the Golden Gate bridge is something on my list to cross... My only beef about coming to CA is the gun laws... I live in Texas where it's totally legal to carry in your vehicle and I don't wanna be traveling around unprotected. I don't particularly like being told I have to be defenseless.
 

This is awesome, wish I could do it. You have planted the seed in my mind.

Send me a PM when your going through Georgia to Florida. I'm at Fort Benning, Columbus GA.
 

ecmjamsit said:
I would seriously consider a 12 volt rooftop evaporative cooler. I cool my whole house with an evaporative cooler window unit, granted it is an 115v unit. They only work in extremely dry climates. Way cheaper than than central A/C unit the house came with. example is below...

https://www.amazon.com/Trailer-Turb...41&sr=8-8&keywords=12+volt+evaporative+cooler
Click to expand...

Can't... whole roof is taken up by solar panels. There is a window unit in the back window that cools it down very nicely in there.
 

Awesome project! :occasion14:

Enjoy the adventure of a lifetime!
 

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Going through my "junk" coins, found a THE key IHP.

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