Where’s Nico?

We mentioned in the ‘Who’s Nico’ post that we’re planning a six month adventure together. The trip won’t start until March, once Kristen and I both retire, but a lot is already underway to make this trip possible.

The first big step we took was buying a travel trailer back in December. We got a 2020 Flagstaff Micro Lite, which is now resting in our driveway. This is a new world for us – Kristen and I have done a lot of tent camping together, and as I mentioned in the last post, we did rent an RV in 2023 to try out the lifestyle, but having our own travel trailer and hauling it around is a new experience for us.

Fortunately, Kristen’s mom Janet, and her boyfriend Dick have been retired for a few years now and has been spending most of their time on the road in their trailer setup. They’re been a good resource for us, and of course the web offers a ton of knowledge.

Kristen, I should mention, has a background as an electrical engineer, which she’s already putting to use. She’s already working on an energy budget for our trip, to ensure we have the resources we’ll need. We purchased four used solar panels off Facebook Marketplace that we mounted on top of the trailer, and Kristen set up a cubby underneath the kitchen sink in the trailer to handle the inverter, the lithium ion batteries, and a bunch of wiring.

I will say, I have no clue at how to back up a travel trailer at this point. Prior to this whole adventure, I’ve been driving around in a 2004 Prius with 291,000 miles on it. We did just get a 2019 Silverado 2500 to do the hauling, and I’ve got some practicing to do (yes… we’re that stereotypical Prius/Silverado family now…).

Luckily, a family friend will be staying at our house while we’re gone, which gives us a lot of piece of mind, and we have a bunch of great neighbors who will keep an eye out for us whenever we’re away.

It’s a lot to work through, and we’re really enjoying the work, because we’re so excited about the trip!

– Ken 2/13/24