We bought a new Airstream adventure van!

After two years with our Airstream Basecamp travel trailer, Kelly and I decided to go back to van life in a big way, and we traded it in for a 2023 Airstream Interstate 24x adventure van.

So, for some context, right now me and Kelly are in Spokane, Washington, on our annual western adventure trip. This year our plan was to travel through South Dakota and Montana to get to the Oregon coast, meet the kids and hang out. After that, it was me and my sons in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming for a week of camping, and then me meeting fishing buddies in Wyoming for the last leg of the trip.

Since 2021 our camping platform has been an Airstream Basecamp 20x - a pretty rugged tow behind trailer. I like it. It’s cool, comfortable, and big enough for us.

As much as I loved the Basecamp, I hate towing. Kelly says it makes me grumpy. There’s this constant nagging anxiety that something will go wrong, there’s lots of alarming sounds, and multiple points of failure.You have to be very careful where you pull in to. Driving is harder and slower. Backing it up is difficult. And you have two units to take care of.

I have a complicated relationship with towing that began when I was 12 and lost a load of hay driving a tractor on Voyles Road. It just sort of escalated and I’ve never been thrilled about it, culminating in my total destruction of our first travel trailer a few years ago with a stupid mistake. I think there are some people who were meant to tow and some people who shouldn’t. I’m one of those who shouldn’t.

So somewhere between the Badlands and Montana I started seriously considering another platform and a return to the van life that we enjoyed some much a few years ago.

As we navigated this trip the problems with mobility and the worries you are driving down the highway and see your trailer in the lane next to me convinced me that we needed to go another direction. By the time we got to Missoula I knew I was going to go in a different direction, and I thought “why not just do this now?”. There are way more Airstream dealers and options out west, many of them along our route. If we could make it happen, we’d have the new platform for the second half of the trip.

I was already familiar with most of the options out there because this thought had been nagging me for awhile. We did more research and decided on trying to stay with Airstream because of the quality and high resale value. We researched and test drove different rigs in Missoula and the Interstate 24x was the clear winner. The combination of off road ruggedness and comfort seemed perfect for us.

It drove like a dream with great visibility and road control. Nothing like the other rigs that I’ve tried. The Sprinter chassis is amazing.

We didn’t like the deal that they were offering in Missoula and reached out to a dealership in Spokane. They gave us a much better price right away. That day we visited, looked at the unit, and pulled the trigger.

It’s not easy to make a purchase like this on the road and at the last minute. We had to hunker down in Spokane for four nights while the paperwork was being processed and the van was getting prepped. But somehow it all worked out and we made the switch. Now we’re out on the road headed toward Portland.

When we bought the Sportsmobile 4x4 van almost ten years ago I never regretted it. We saw every corner of the West and the freedom it gave us was the best feeling in the world. This is just like that and . . . More.

I won’t lie. . . The price was steep. People might say I’m crazy for doing this. But I’ve been on this trip every year for 11 years and it’s the highlight of my year. Sometimes life moves fast and you have to be decisive. You only live once. We’re looking forward to exploring every nook and cranny of the beautiful wild places that are out there, family weekend camping, fishing trips, music festivals, secret city boondocking, and maybe spending a few months out there one day.

So far, so good. The van needs a name, and we’re open to suggestions. It’s been amazing and I don’t regret it for a second. We’ll keep you updated, and I’ll have a few walk through videos as time goes on. Make sure to visit our travel blog, SchadPad.com, for updates, travel tips, adventure stories, and random musings.

The Witch, the Warrior, and the Wanderer

I saw an old acquaintance on the street last night. He told me that he missed my stories and posts about travelling, and he asked if I still travel. I said I do, but I don’t write or post about it anymore very much. He told me that’s too bad, that he looked forward to hearing about adventures.

Doug, thanks for getting me thinking about this.

People need to hear about adventures. It makes the world a bigger and more interesting place. I guess I put almost all  of my creative energy into music. Music hangs in the air for a moment and then it’s gone. I love the way it’s in the moment. But it’s also time to write a little bit.

So I’ll tell you about the witch and her warrior  that  I met while camping alone outside of Yellowstone in 2017 under the full moon.

I was in the  van travelling alone after driving down from Alberta to meet up with my friends Tom and Todd. I had no agenda, no plans  -  just wandering. I ended up at Carbella Recreation BLM area outside of Livingston, Montana, not far from the park.  It’s in the Paradise Valley. The area where we all ogle at on the show “Yellowstone”.

Back in those days BLM land was a free for all. First come, first serve, no reservations, no marked sites. It was stretched all across a few hundred yards of the Yellowstone River. Rafters and fisherman would put in at the boat ramp and campers would just park wherever. There was a field of rocks so bumpy that even the Sportsmobile had a hard time there.  

Normal night. I had a fire, was watching the sun slowly set. You could hear the river gurgling, the sound of people in their camps. I had a glass of bourbon and my guitar out.

It started as it always did – a man, Joey, walked over to check out the van and I ended up making him a drink. He was in his 30s, with a shaggy beard. He had been deployed in the Army overseas. Seen combat. There is a special joy in letting your beard grow after you leave the service. We toasted to it. He was friendly but his eyes also moved quickly. I could tell that he had seen things.

His girlfriend wandered over to find him. Paige. She was his counterpoint. Barefoot, smiling, open, in a hippie dress, smelling of patchouli. Probably in her early 20s. Everything about her was right out front. She liked to talk. The pretty young girl and her older protector – it’s an age old pattern that repeats itself over and over.

Paige was a witch. She told me so. She studied herbs, and energy, and healing, and other stuff that she was coy about. They were living out of a red van. On their way to Oregon where she would apprentice with another witch on a commune type place, and where Joey would farm and fix things.

I asked Joey if he was a warlock. “F—k no”, he said. “But I know there are things I can’t explain, and I love her, so I keep the van running and she keeps my nightmares away.” I don’t know about magic, but that seems close enough to me.

We say there playing guitar and drinking and talking. The golden hour ended, and it got to twilight, and then real dark. The wind got cold. There was more drinking to do but the day was gone.

And then I began to notice something.

This weird light began to fill the air. Like daylight was gradually returning, but not golden daylight. It got stronger and stronger with no  explanation. I wondered  if it was an eclipse, or the bourbon, or something else that they put in my  bourbon. Pretty soon it was the most illuminated I have ever experienced at night. But you couldn’t see the moon.

It had been hiding behind the mountain and gathering steam. But it was as strong and full as any mood I’d ever seen. When it began to peek out from behind the peak I could not believe how utterly huge it was. Like it filled up all of that big sky. And we were in BIG SKY country.

When it was fully up you would not believe how it changed the landscape. I asked Paige how any self respecting witch could not see this coming and she had no answer. “Nature is a mystery”, she said. Any one of us could have solved the mystery with an almanac, but it could not have possibly done the prediction justice.

We sat and drank bourbon for a very long time that night. Eventually the moon went behind the other mountains. I learned all sorts of things about Paige and Joey that I couldn’t remember the next day because of the booze. Or maybe it was a spell. I think at some point I drank something that they gave me, I don’t know what.

Maybe it was the night or the potion, but I’ve never seen a night like that. We walked to the river and waded. It looked like liquid silver mercury rushing by, but when your feed splashed it was as dark as ink underneath.

The next morning the red van was gone. I hope they found what they were looking for. I wonder where they are when I go back and look at my old journals. The world needs more witches, and kind warriors, and even a few wanderers.

Wookie Footage - Live from the enchanted forest

Some archival footage of my band Wookie playing the big stage at Floyd County Brewing Company.

Ambient Sketch

I’m experimenting with drone footage from my 2021 trip to Montana, and recording my own background music. This was primarily done on my Strat using a Hologram Microcosm pedal.

Catching up in 2022

Blog: Catching Everybody Up in 2022

Most of the time it’s not easy keeping the SchadPad adventure community updated. But I’ve let the site languish for a while, and it desperately needs a facelift and some new blood. When I came back to revisit the site it was surprisingly pre-covid, and it forced some reflection on how the last two years have impacted everyone’s adventure travel. 

I had grand plans for 2020 travel. We had sold the Sportsmobile and replaced it with a Taxa Cricket, a hip lightweight pull behind with a little flexibility. Even though the pandemic was really picking up on the summer of 2020, we had family planning to go out and give it a go. There were really no other places to go. 

But the night before we were to leave I made one of the most boneheaded mistakes of my life that resulted in the Cricket rolling down my very steep driveway and it’s total destruction before we had ever spent a night in it. 

Gravity. Remind me not to mess with her again. 

Summer 2020

My oldest son Sebastian and I were the only two left who wanted to tent camp out of the truck on short notice, so we headed out to the San Juan mountains in Colorado for a short jaunt. Only 10 days, it’s the shortest trip out west I’ve ever taken, but not going at all would have seemed like an admission of defeat. 

The trip was awesome, reacquainted me with Durango, and left me thinking that if I ever actually bought property out West it would probably be there. Durango has a great combination of a cool unpretentious town, incredible scenery and wilderness within an hour, good fishing, and just overall vibe. 

Winter 2020

Given the lockdown, we decided to go someplace sunny in the winter to get away and work from home, and rented a house in Tucson in December 2020 and January. I’d go back to Arizona in the winter anytime, although probably not to Tucson again. We explored Saguaro National Park, the Sonoran Desert, and most of the terrain around Tucson, as well as a quick trip to Sedona. Sadly, our septic system at home exploded and my dad’s health degenerated, cutting our trip short. 

Summer 2021

The summer of 2021 was a new opportunity. Still light and lean in the truck, my sons and I explored Montana and Wyoming, moving fast from place to place. I’ve never seen the West so crowded. It presented challenges, but I know every place to camp around almost every national park, and we made it work going way off the grid. My mom and Kelly came out to meet me, and I had the chance to show my mom the West. I think she understands me better now. Kelly and I explored new places, including Missoula.  

Kelly and I outside of Big Sky, MT.

All roads lead to adventure.

I thought long and hard about how important this adventure had become to me, and how I wanted to do it in the future. At Red Cliff campground outside of Big Sky I met a wonderful couple in an Airstream Basecamp 20x and asked them to give me a tour. As fate would have it, they had decided to sell it. It was the perfect fit for us, and in September I made the trip to Austin, Tx to pick it up. Looking forward to many years of adventures in the “torpedo”. And I promise not to let it roll down a hill on it’s own. 

Airstream Basecamp 20x

That’s pretty much were we are now. Planning for a big trip to Colorado next summer. It’s never been as important to renew your spirit and feel the road as it is in these troubled times. 

In the winter months ahead I plan to post more photos and videos of the past year’s adventures to get back in the grove. 

Montana Trip Product Review: Natural Wipes

This is the first of several product reviews that I hope to publish with lessons learned from my recent Montana/Wyoming/Idaho/Colorado trip, a/k/a, “Westworld”. In this episode, we tackled the sensitive but important topic of personal hygiene.

Open Mic Season is getting cranked up.

Mickey and I played the first Floyd County Brewing Company open mic of the summer. Great new space. So sad that the New Albanian on Bank Street closed. It was one of the first places I played, and I’ll miss it. Lots of memories. But nothing stays the same.

This video was the first I’ve taken with the Virb 360 action camera. Eventually I’ll be able to have a VR like user interface, but not quite there yet.

Enjoy!

The End of the Sportsmobile Era

I sold the Sportsmobile.

I woke up this morning feeling a lot less badass. As I watched the Sportsmobile’s new owner drive away I couldn’t help but think that a big part of my history was driving away as well.  

The van in all of its adventure glory. So much for packing light.

So many dreams, trips, and adventures in that van. It opened doors to places and experiences that I could never have foreseen five years ago. In a lifetime of buying stuff, it was the coolest and most liberating personal possession I’ve ever had. 

Brand new Sportsmobile in Yosemite National Park. It never looked better than this. But the beauty of a dirt colored vehicle is that it never looked worse, either.

The van lived up to every promise that it made. We took five trips from Indiana to the West, multiple Florida trips, and countless local excursions. I’m not sure how many nights I spend in it, but too many to count. It kept us safe, warm, and on track. Wherever we went we had the coolest vehicle on the road. People would always come up an introduce themselves and ask questions. Even in the last hour of owning it, as it sat there in my office parking lot, folks were coming up and commenting on it. 

What I loved about the van.

Perhaps the best thing about it was the freedom it gave us to roam. It didn’t need much to get you moving. Once out there in the wilderness, there was no place that it could not go.  All of the options, however remote, were on the table. 

Moving on.

This was a magical night out after getting lost in Colorado. I still don’t know where this was taken, but the van kept my kids safe, warm, and dry.

So, why sell it?  Just as the universe moves from order to chaos, the inevitable progression of travelers is to go from smaller to more comfortable. At 45, I didn’t mind the awkward sleeping and cramped quarters. At 50, and with just a few more creaks, something a little more spacious and homey seems like the right call. The van’s mileage was still within the power train warranty, and it kept its value very well. It does get expensive and time consuming taking care of another full vehicle, with it’s own engine and complicated systems, with insurance and tires and service. 

So, what’s next? 

I have a new Ford F150 Lariat that I’ve modified for some overloading. Also picked up a top of the line 10 x 14 Kodiak canvas tent. For this summer’s trip to Montana and Wyoming I’m going back to the truck camping paradigm. It will probably be more work, but there are definite benefits. The truck is much, much more comfortable and mobile to drive. Then tent, when set up, has a lot more room than the Sportsmobile. I also have some Tent-Cots for quick one night stops.  It should be a good platform for my solo travels, hosting a kid or two, and fishing base camp with my buddies.  Kelly is not so sure about it, but I think the clamping experience can win her over. 

After this summer we are going to look at Airstreams and think about making the transition to spending more time on the road. Perhaps through a several week Arizona or desert trip into the winter to escape these brutal midwestern winters. And, to use a platform during summer trips to escape airBnBs for family vacations and their high cost. 

A part of my heart, soul, and mojo will always be with that van. The new owner is a cool guy, and he will add a lot miles and memories to its lifespan. Charlie, if you are reading this, good luck. Remember - just because the four wheel drive will get you there doesn’t mean that it’s a good idea to try.  

Italian Travel Tips

Ciao from Italy!

My head is swimming with the sights, sounds, and taste of the trip. I have much more to write and tell you about those impressions in some later posts. But first, I have some practical observations about the travel experience that I think will be helpful if you’re thinking of an Italian or European trip.

Verona was a pleasant surprise, my favorite city on the tour.

You can map out any itinerary you want and see all the sights in the world, but these little practical considerations probably have the biggest effect on your experience. So, here we go:

Our view from Genoa.

Kelly enjoys a nice glass of local wine at Cinque Terre.

Hmmm. . .

• Pack light. You carry things everywhere. Each person should have one rolling carry-on size bag and one lightweight collapsible backpack for day trips. Any more than that and you will really regret it. It’s hard to find space on trains in transportation for anything any bigger. There are a ton of blogs about ultralight European travel, all of which will give you great ideas. Whatever it is you’re thinking of bringing, cut it in half. There are plenty of places to pick up other clothes. It’s not the wilderness. You also have to leave room for the stuff you’ll bring back.

• Take care of your feet. You are probably going to walk a lot more than you think you will. Particularly during the days. Make sure you have a very comfortable pair of shoes with good socks. Pack athletic tape, bandaids, and moleskin for blisters.  If you have kids along, make sure that they are checking for hotspots during the longer walks. On non travel days, we averaged about 18,000 steps per day. You are simply going to walk everywhere, all the time, every day. Two pairs of shoes are enough. One for power sightseeing and another nicer pair for dinner.

• Try as best you can to get outside of the cities. Everyone plans their European vacation with cities as the base camp and the countryside as an afterthought. The cities are crowded and will wear on you. There are tourists everywhere standing in lines. If you can stay in an agriturisimmo for a day or so to break up the constant urban pace you’ll thank yourself. I would also recommend a guided day tour by bus into Tuscany. We did one with four stops during the day culminating at winery tasting that was fantastic. I regret not staying in the Tuscan countryside.

• Set aside the entire evening for dinner. It’s the best part of the day. People begin to have a late evening cocktail or spritz about five and usually don’t start eating till seven. I found that every meal I had in a hot tourist location or on the photogenic square was too expensive and bad quality. Get to the side streets for the best food. Pizza is good everywhere. You don’t have to walk far to get to a good restaurant. If you see someplace you like during the day, call and make a reservation.

• Phone Data. When everyone in your party gets on the plane make them turn off their cellular data signal. Data overages are brutal. I have AT&T and they offered a 1 GB international travel plan for $60. It was worth it. When we touched down I went to a cell phone store the first day and got an Italian Sim card with 30 gigs of data for about $15. It works in a regular iPhone. You are going to need it for directions and access.

• Bathrooms. The Italians seem to have a grudge against bathrooms. They are hard to find especially in tourist areas. If you have anyone who is sensitive to those issues, you sort of need to get some Street layouts so you know where the public restrooms are. They are very hard to find. I found it a little ironic that a culture so focused on what you put into your stomach was so contemptuous of its inevitable consequences.

• Emergency Prep. Make a separate emergency packet that another adult keeps with additional credit cards, copies of your passport, important phone numbers, and other stuff in case you lose your phone or your documents. No one person should be carrying all of that stuff at one time. Use your credit card – not your debit card – for your purchases. You get a better exchange rate and don’t run the same fraud risks.

• Take Trains! Train travel is great. It’s how people get from one place to another. The upgrade to first class is usually not that much money and worth it. We took several high-speed trains and travel first class and it’s a very easy way to travel. You can download the Italian train app and buy your tickets online.

• Learn some Italian. You hardly ever need to speak Italian but it makes it more fun if you do. English is really the international language of Europe. But you miss something when you don’t try to speak the language. Italian is a beautiful language and not that hard. I took some in college, and my professor was fond of saying that “everyone is a speaker of Italian in their heart, you just have to let it out”.

• Journal. Everyone should keep a handwritten journal. Especially kids. Write down the sensations you experience every day, little things you would normally forget. Make sketches. Keep train tickets and museum tickets and paste them in there. Print some of those cell phone photos when you get back and put them in there. Keep a shoebox for the trip. There’s something wonderful about how tactile sensations bring back memories.

• Clothing. In researching and packing, I discovered the joy of merino wool clothing. It is warm, also cool, and does not smell after a few days. I would recommend only taking two pairs of long pants. Dark jeans look good everywhere. You will definitely need a jacket. It can get cold. Italians love their dark puffy down jackets. The Patagonia nano puff hoody is my first choice. It also makes a great pillow. Dark colors are more European. Take a scarf or a buff for windy days.

• Airports. If you can possibly avoid it, try to stay as close to airport as possible if you have a flight the next morning as possible. We had several very early travel arrangements and it made for brutal travel days. I would avoid flights earlier than 10 o’clock next time at all costs.

• Italian beer is surprisingly much better than you would think.

• You will climb an enormous number of stairs.

• Careful with liquids. If you have anything liquid that you were packing, make sure you put it in a Ziploc bag because it will probably explode on the flight. Take bar soap and shampoo. (That’s right, there is such a thing as bar shampoo).

• You can now download Netflix on your ipad  prior to boarding the plane. It’s the best way to make a long plane ride go by. Invest in one of those small power supplies that store power in a lithium ion battery for your devices.

• Lastly, and most importantly, don’t get so caught up in checking off the list of places to see that you forget to take time doing the things that make Italy so special like strolling with your gelato, having a morning coffee outside while the city wakes up, or enjoying a nice long dinner.

Arches National Park

Some quick video from the summer 2018 family trip to Moab.