Our sticker map – a gift from Bruce and Trish – is not the only way we are tracking our journey

It’s been about a month since we left my family home in Salinas California and embarked on our big journey which we’ve dubbed Follow the Sun.  With our trusty stead Tramp we’ve already had a lifetime of fabulous memories and visited some amazing places but we’ve also had to adjust to a unique lifestyle of life on the road.  We’ve learned a few things along the way but so far there’s no regrets.

Not everyone gets off on spreadsheets but if you do you know what I mean

First of all, some statistics for those (like me) who like spreadsheets.  In our first 30 days we covered 5,217 miles (8,450 kms) which is an average of about 170 miles (275 kms) per day.  This is a bit higher than what we think will become the norm because of some huge distances we had to cover in New Mexico and Texas.

Our average cost per day is about $125 (A$165) and this includes every item, including new tires, our occasional splurges, souvenirs, a few restaurants, the lot.  We know we could do it cheaper by camping in Walmart parking lots, siphoning gas and skimping on food but this is not a dry-biscuit-and-brown-water tour.  We want to be able to enjoy ourselves along the way.  Gas for Tramp makes up about 21% of our total costs, accommodation – which is usually just camping fees, if any – are about 12.5%.

Tramp briefly resting next to some beautiful sand dunes at White Sands National Monument

Speaking of gas, which I’ve now trained myself to say instead of petrol, the highest we’ve paid for a gallon is $3.25 (A$1.13 per litre) in Coalinga California and the lowest is $2.05 (A$0.71 per litre) in Port Arthur Texas.  That’s a huge range in cost but we were told from the beginning California was expensive because of all its taxes.  In any case, it’s all dirt cheap compared to Australia so we’re happy.

Tramp posing proudly with some beautiful saguaro cacti in Arizona

Overall Tramp has performed very well for us and is a reliable team member of Follow the Sun.  We know that the camper is too heavy for the Colorado and we’ve spent some big bucks to boost up the shocks and suspension to cater for the extra weight.  But even with these changes we can feel that sometimes ‘the ride’ is not perfect – the steering can be somewhat sluggish and the brakes a bit heavy.  In San Antonio the Colorado went in for its first 5,000 mile check-up and was given a clean bill of health so that was a relief.

Here’s a very sophisticated mapping of our journey so far – follow the vague black line from the upper left hand corner to the bottom right

We now know from painful experience that the tires that came with the Colorado are not up to the job of carrying Tramp around the world.  We’ve already had two punctures which never should have happened to new tires.  Our plan is to get as much life out of these tires as possible while we are still primarily driving on good roads but probably before going to Alaska we’ll have to replace all of them with strong ten ply tires.  That won’t help the budget.

Our first flat tire back in Colorado was a warning for things to come

Tramp is really the star of the show and I couldn’t count how many times we’ve had to explain our camper to people we meet.  At every campsite, every car park, at toll booths, at stop lights and everywhere else we are constantly stopped by people who start to ask questions about Tramp.  The most common question is how does it open and we explain it pivots open on its front ‘axle’ much like a clam opens up so that we can open the back door and climb in.

Tramp with his top up, the three solar panels in action and our skylight open for maximum ventilation

Many people are impressed with the 300 Watts of solar power and I add to that the fact we carry more water (27 gallons) than gas (21 gallons) which – combined with the 4WD Colorado – makes us totally free to go wherever we want.  People have asked to look inside (a little intrusive) and how much it cost (even more intrusive) and I’ve even had to pose for photos in front of Tramp.  Overall its been great fun, even if it slows us down a bit at times, and we’re very proud of our Tramp.

Julie and I have found in previous travels that we very quickly get in a routine around the camp that supports each other and helps us work as efficiently together as possible.  Our typical day starts with me getting up first and putting the kettle on but we generally spend about two hours in the morning in camp from first rise to pulling away.  We enjoy a leisurely breakfast between coffees, maybe check out the maps for the day or do some reading.  Tramp has a built-in Wi-Fi hotspot (how good is that!) so anywhere we can get phone reception we are also connected to the world (great for blogging!).

Where are we? The first coffee in the morning usually involves maps and plotting a course for the day.

During the day I tend to have only two tasks – drive Tramp and take photos (almost 2,000 so far).  Julie does all the rest – she’s our chief navigator, researcher, day planner, shopper, master chef and cleaner-upper.  At night I also build the fires, do the barbecuing and occasionally help with the clean ups.  We try to allow ample time at cocktail hour or around the fire at night to chill for a while, talk about the day, take it all in and relax a little so it doesn’t become a continuous blur.  So far so good.  And best of all, we have fires more than half the nights we camp which is very important to us.

Julie is the master of our travelling kitchen; we have three ways to cook – inside, outside on the propane cooker or on the open fire

One of the great travelling pastimes is people watching but in our case we enjoy RV watching.  Americans are great domestic travellers and their favourite form of travel is a huge recreational vehicle, or RV.  A whole industry has emerged to support these travellers and their massive vehicles and we’ve been amazed at how people tend to just bring everything with them.  These RVs plug into the campsites so they have full power, water and sewage.  They frequently also pull a ‘toy trailer’ to carry their ATV, bicycles or motor bikes, kayaks, barbeques, fencing for their dogs, the lot.  Almost every RV that is not a trailer will also pull a secondary car so that they can park the behemoth in an RV park for a month or two and still drive around in their car. And they all have dogs, big ones, little ones, in singles or in herds, but its all about the dogs.  Dog walking is the only RV camp activity there is.

A flash red RV with a matching red jeep and matching red outdoor chairs. In America size does matter.

We didn’t expect the weather to be great during our first month since it is so early in the season and to that extent we haven’t been disappointed.  We caught quite a bit of snow up in Colorado and parts of New Mexico (we temporarily nicknamed the trip Follow the Snow) plus many cold nights when the temperatures hovered around freezing.  As a result we cooked most of our meals indoors, which has been surprisingly good and sometimes passed those evenings watching a TV show on our computer.  As we’ve moved east it has gotten warmer so we’ve moved outside, which is good, but the bugs have started to attack, which is bad.

We have had snow in California, Colorado and New Mexico – all part of the experience

What makes a good day for us?  If we are going to new places, learning new things, having new experiences, meeting new people and ending the day in a quiet place to camp where we can build a fire and toast the day then that’s a great day.  We seem to meet almost all of those conditions every day.

Dusty the crocodile has been a loyal traveller with us for many years but on this trip he has been joined by Simpson the emu, a going away gift from our kids

Finally, we miss our kids and other family and friends a lot.  We try to keep in touch with WhatsApp, emails, phone calls and the occasional Skype which is good.  We have experience in this with our years in Bangkok and our extended travels around Australia but, well, family is family.  Every day is a new adventure and we’re always excited about what it might bring when we pull out of camp each morning.  In fact, we’re about to pull out again right now…

Our kids and their partners seem to be having fun back in Australia without us!