Back In Berne

The year had already been one of my favorites in full-time travel. I kicked of 2024 by heading down into Baja, Mexico and spending 3 months caravaning around the peninsula with my new Baja Crew. I returned to the States and worked a few funemployed gigs in Santa Barbara and the east coast, then I met up with my WordCamp Crew in Italy, explored Serbia, and spent another 2 months with my drinking and running friends in Bulgaria, and it was only September! I landed back in the States and unpacked on the family farm in Berne, Indiana, stoked for what was in store over the next 2 months.

But first, as always when I’m in Indiana, I had some house maintenance to get done. I’d borrowed my brother’s Starlink satellite for internet access in Baja and it worked so well that I bought my own. Hard mounting the dish to the roof of my camper would give me unlimited wifi anywhere I went but to power the new Gen 3 system I needed to upgrade my old lead acid battery to a 200Ah lithium battery. And as always, a seemingly simple idea ballooned into a behemoth of a beast and a total replacement of the electrical system.

While I was replacing the battery in the truck bed I took the opportunity to clean out under the camper and add insulation to the floor. I really don’t like taking the camper off the truck but when I do I try to be as productive as possible. It was a lot of work, and frustrating to say the least, but later on I’d be glad that I got all the upgrades completed.

Back inside the camper the electrical system was finally coming together. With my SOK lithium battery and Victron components I was able to consolidate everything into the lower cabinet and would be rolling out with a better, more dependable power system.

While back in the States I worked at another Spartan Trail Race, flying out to San Jose and joining some great friends to mark the course, manage the event, and clean it all up in less than a week.

Just a month after returning from Europe I was already packing for another international trip. I drove the truck camper out to Colorado, parked it at my brother’s house in Golden, and dusted off my backpacking gear. As the plane took off I had to pinch myself as my next funemployed destination was a once in a lifetime place, although this was actually my third time heading to the Kingdom of Bhutan to be part of the Snowman Race. This was going to be incredible.