Welcome to my blog. If you are at all interested in life on the road in a 16' Airstream Safari Bambi, owned by a recently retired guy traveling with his 2 dogs, read on... If not, don't waste your time.

OK - here's the story... I am facing unemployment for the first time in 35 years in IT. My permanent vacation begins next week when I will turn in my laptop (don't fret - I bought one of my own) and say goodbye to a life of midnight phone calls by people I can hardly understand, with or without the cobwebs of interrupted sleep ** hold on Yeah, I'll get a little politically incorrect at times, so bug out if you're easily offended ** and trying to find out why a client is getting a 404 page when everything looks fine and dandy. Hell, the money was good. Before you soil your hanky, I'm ok financially, so I'm not headed for a freeway offramp (I hear those guys make about $30k/yr - what's up with that?)

I might get back to IT later, but the blog is going to address a dream I've had for some time: Hitting the road with no reservations and no return date. I've spent the past 4 years owning a 2005 Airstream travel trailer and learning how to properly "RV" with minimum equipment and maximum comfort. I'll address my inventory in the next installment.

After I walk away from my employer, I'll fly up to attend my niece's wedding in Washington. Three days later, I'll be back home. Then, when the Bambi returns from the shop (don't want to talk about that), I'll begin planning for the trip. Now, there are different types of RV trips when you have a small travel trailer; First, there's the trip where you plan to camp in an RV park with full hookups and you will be meeting friends. On that type of trip, you pack for entertaining. Then, there's the quick getaway to the RV park. On that trip, you pack the minimum you'll need for a long weekend. Another type of trip is the dry camping adventure. For that, you'll need to manage electrical generation, fresh water loading and waste removal. That requires some additional equipment.

The adventure I'm planning will be a combination of RV getaway and dry camping. I'll want to bring the microwave, my 2000 watt generator, a gas can, my fresh water equipment and the indomitable "turd trolley". I'll get into the details of the equipment later. I'm sure you'll want to know all about the turd trolley.

Well, that's it for today - Bambiman out.