Here I am ... Still hanging around in Vancouver working for a silicon chip mega-corp... pining for other things but apparently too afraid to pull the pin and just go.
Yep, I still feel dependent on the income, but I give myself a bit of a break on that front because thats exactly how we are all supposed to feel in order to keep us all being productive members of the economy for as long as possible. So Im being a good little worker I guess.
And at least its being a fairly lucrative enslavement to the man... compared to times past anyway. Im currently being paid more than ever before and the company is also doing very well for its self with very high demand for its range of products resulting in consecutive quarters of record revenue and profits... And the company has been sharing some of those profits with their employees more than they have ever done before in the form of some bonusses. So things are better than they have ever been on that front.
But that doesnt stop me from realizing that money isnt the same as time and at some point, as I get older and have less and less remaining time available, I will decide that my time is more valuable than the money they are offering. And that point is in the near future Im sure.
At this stage, the initial disengagement from work will be July next year when Im taking a few months off as a "sabbatical" and I may or may not do some more work for mega-corp after that at my discretion rather than theirs.
And in the mean-time I've been planning a moto trip to Western Europ next year and started making contacts to buy a moto over in Ireland. And on the home front, Ive been kitting out my Tenere 700 ready for another long ride in the Americas when I get back to that... But therein lies a problem, because Ive basically completed that build over the past summer and Ive little left to do on the bike other than ride it ... which I did do all summer around Vancouver, and it was indeed enjoyable, though not like a big trip. The bike is all set-up with panniers and protection and large fuel-tanks (500Km range at least), and steering damper and improved suspension etc... Just gotta go ride it now.
So Im in need of a new project while I wait for next summers planned big trip and am still stuck in Vancouver working for the man. (Looking for "The Next Big Thing" for me to work on). And like lots of people I go exploring for ideas on Youtube and have come up with "a good one!".
And I did this about a year ago actually but didnt act on it any sooner because I didnt have a solid plan wrt work and travels, and I also had just bought the Tenere as a project at that point, but mostly because the base unit that I would need for this other project was unavailable. Its not that it was too expensive or an impossible dream, its just that these things are very uncommon over here in Canada and none were available for sale... But a couple of months ago one showed up on the local second-hand web site and I enquired and started working through negotiations etc. And this past weekend I closed the deal and Im now the owner of a 2008 Mitsubishi Fuso FG 4x4 truck!
It looks pretty mundane now but its going to be the base of an Expedition vehicle that Im going to "build".
These things are quite common in Australia for overlanding, but as I said they are pretty rare over here in North America and in fact Mitsubishi is pulling completely out of the NA market this year so buying used is the only way to go now anyway. The reason they are pulling out is that they just cant compete with the domestic truck market (things like the Ford F550, and Ram 5500 etc). But that competition is a different beast and does not do what I want. The main drawback of those vehicles is that while they are 4x4 and have big diesel V8 engines etc, they are very long. The little truck Ive just bought is very short because of the "cab-over-engine" format and that makes them great for tight and rough terrain.
Anyway, I now have a 5 tone 4x4 Turbo diesel, and it cost me more than any other vehicle I have ever owned... more in fact than anything Ive bought other than my house! At present it has an aluminium tipper box and a couple of large winches and snow-chains and a bunch of sundry items that Ill be selling off as I convert to a 4-season expedition camper.
Why am I doing this? Because I have learned that I like going on long slow "walkabouts" and that as I get older, solo moto-touring is really quite hard on the body and more than a little inconvenient and uncomfortable for a lot of the time. This "expedition truck" thing seems to me to be a lot more comfortable and similarly able to go to the places I want to... tho it costs significantly more to do it this way (but it also accommodates 2 people pretty well too for when I want company on my travels.)
But this project will be nowhere near as quick to complete as the motorbike (which is a good thing and largely why I chose it) and will also cost a whole lot more too (that is a bad thing, but Im hoping to mitigate that by the potential resale value).
There is a lot of stuff to design and build for this...
1) Wheel and suspension conversion.
2) Camper body design and shell installation.
3) Camper interior fitout.
4) Solar/Battery/Power design/fitout.
5) Water/plumbing design/fitout
6) Heating and Airconditioning fitout
All in all I expect the full build to cost about $130,000 to $160,000 ... Thats a huge amount of money but it would cost probably twice that to try to buy one or haver someone else make it for me to the same spec. And it will not be a single build effort either, where I cant use it at all till its fully done... Im planning to build it in stages and use it in the meantime while I figure out the next build stage. Ultimately, I want it to be a full 4-season camper (That means from fully arctic conditions to full desert to full jungle etc) and I want the truck and camper body to be able to fit in a 40' container for international shipping (way better than shipping as supercargo).
So, Ive now committed to the project and done the first big spend. More spending will ensue and Ill post updates as I progress. First upgrades should be the wheels and suspension, and then the most expensive other single item which will be the camper body... but first I have to carefully figure out what the interior layout will be (much thinking and sketching).
Thats my update for this installment.
Cheers
