Because of Sharon’s work at the hospital, and the need to put in vacation requests well in advance, every fall we’ve had to plan our vacation schedule for the following year. Every year we comb through our list of possible adventures, and then pare it down to the bare minimum. Typically we realize we need about 87 vacation days. Sadly, neither of us has such a generous employer. So after many years of scrimping, saving and working hard, our adventures will no longer be limited by the number of our vacation days. In early April we will begin seizing the carp full time!

Early on we decided that the “van life” lifestyle would suit us perfectly. We’ve spent years researching the different options. And now, as retirement looms, we still haven’t pulled the trigger. While Sharon and I agree on the basic concept, we may have a slight difference of opinion when it comes to the execution.

With so many competing interests, so many choices, my absolute hatred of vehicle buying, some uncertainty in the stock market, time demands of work, etc., here we are a month away from retirement sans “adventure van.” What do to? A few years ago we took a road trip to southern Utah in the 4Runner with a sleeping platform in back that I’d built as an experiment. It worked well enough that we’ve made use of several times since. Given the nature of our first road trip visiting lots of family and friends, we decided that with a few minor modifications, our trip will be with “Bumpy” – Oliver’s name for our trusty 2008 Toyota.

This might also be a good time to mention once again how fortunate I am to be married to an amazing woman. Someone who actually prefers to sleep under the stars or in a tent in remote locations. Someone who views sleeping in the back of a 4Runner not as “roughing it”, but as rather luxurious! Yeah – I scored big time!

With the platform, there is quite a bit of storage underneath. As always, inquiring minds want to know…would it be possible to remove the rear seat to add some storage? Eight bolts later the answer is – yes! Quite easily in fact. Thank you Mr. Toyota. That bit of extra space will come in quite handy.

We’re expecting that this trip will yield a treasure trove of information to help us decide which vehicle will best suit us long term. We may decide Bumpy is all we need. It may lead us to expedite our search for a van. Either way we’re looking forward to the adventure. So one more month. Time to give our elder Bumpy a little shop love to take care of some oily incontinence and other age related issues. Time to dial in our gear list and packing plan. Then – time to begin seizing the carp – full time.