A brief introduction to who I am and what I'm doing and what the hell you're reading.
I'm Zak, that weird guy you've never heard of from that small town you've never heard of, body piercer, motorcycle enthusiast, sideshow performer and proud nerd. My life is a pretty boring story, so we'll skip the Lifetime special, and get right down to the brassest of tacks.
I'm about to step off the grid. I have a plan, and I'm going to share THAT with you, gentle reader. I've bounced for years from rented apartment to rented house to rented apartment, building a rather normal life, despite my rather abnormal career choices, and what I've found has been awfully disappointing. Being a weird person living a normal lifestyle just doesn't work, so with a little help and a big push from my friends and fellow circus folk, I'm going to change that, and this blog will be the chronicle of that adventure.
The plan, in a nutshell, is to abandon the driveway and backyard house living, and move into something more mobile. I'll be following in many a great footstep, and living my life on the road, by making an RV my permanent domicile.
Here's how I plan to make this work.
I've given myself mile markers to push this goal forward, and the first one is pretty obvious. I'm going to need to buy an RV. I've given myself the rather realistic budget of $3000 to procure the box itself, and given what I've seen in my Craigslist research, that's not going to net me something spectacular, but should get me an RV that more or less works. Buy the RV, get it taxed, titled, licensed and get it to a mechanic to give it a good going over, and I'll have my new home sitting in my driveway.
There, easy part's over. Now the fun stuff. I'm going to want this bad boy as off-the-grid as I can get it, so that my expense for moving it around and making it a home don't kill me. That means making two very clever modifications. One, I'm going to need electricity. This one isn't too difficult, solar panels. I've been pricing solar panel kits for RVs from as cheap as $100 to as (realistically) expensive as $600, and I'm no slouch with power tools, so I should be able to do the installation myself to save a buck or two.
By my estimates (and hopes and wishes), this will put me up to Halloween.
The other living necessity will be water. Normally you would hook your water tank up to a tap and fill up before a road trip, refilling at campsites and what have you, but if I can avoid paying for it, I will, so I've been flirting with a design for a rain bucket. A funnel installed in the RV roof, a pipe running down through a series of filters and into a collection tank, and I have a natural water source on wheels. If I can get this one done by Thanksgiving, I'll be happy.
Now, here in Kentucky, it's cold by this point in my plan. The RV life will have to wait until it starts to warm back up to begin in earnest, but I have other work in my plan for the cold months. Well, one plan really. There are things, objects, toys, in my life that I will not want to get rid of, but won't be able to take into the RV with me. That's where my family comes in. I get my cluttered, collector's nature from my mother, who will graciously (whether she wants to or not) store whatever I decide to not get rid of in my old bedroom at my childhood home. What doesn't go there, goes up for sale, or goes in the bin. Over the winter, I will work to empty my rental house completely. I'll be giving away, selling, or trashing every bit of furniture I have, consolidating my toys and tools into what carries over into the new life, and what doesn't, so that, come spring, I'll be ready to pick my feet up, and get going.
There's more to this plan that this, but I don't want to give away all the surprises. You'll have to keep reading to get the rest. I'll be sure to keep you all up to date on how things progress, and sooner than you think, I'll see you on the road.
-Z
i've met you.
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