Hello, everyone. It’s Joey. Though Tom will be providing most of the narration for our adventure, Sarah and I will be poking our heads up every now and again to offer a different perspective. I don’t know if my posts will be as easy on the eyes as Tom’s but hopefully most will be just as substantive. No promises.
After weighing fuel efficiency against car space, Sarah and I decided that we would be taking my Nissan X-terra. Every time Tom suggested that we take his car we just sort of looked at him and delayed the conversation until he realized that planning would stop until he submitted to our competing priorities.
Doing so allows us many luxuries that a smaller car would not provide. This includes sleeping on the move, bringing a variety of camping and possibly hiking supplies, planning for a wider array of weather or event types with a greater variety of clothes, and bringing more food and having a greater choice when eating. We will also sit a little higher and can use four wheel drive if necessary. On top of that, my car has a nice aftermarket stereo, amplifier, and speakers as well as a loud out-of-tune horn.
However, all of this pales in comparison to the opportunity I am going to get to trick out my car like an ludicrous space-car from the future. That’s what I really want to talk about. The portion of this post above was just to get you caught up. The list below is the real meat and potatoes of this blog post. If you were lucky enough to skip to this paragraph ignore everything above. These ideas are all conceptual at this point, and some of these items may not turn out to be useful enough to justify the time or money that they would require. Then again, we are obligated as human-beings to err on the side of awesomeness, so I might install them anyway. Without further delay:
The Car To-Do List
1. Install a camcorder mount near the driver to be able to capture the experience while driving. Also install a microphone somewhere inside the car.
2. Install an enclosed roof rack and hitch mount carrier.
3. Add in secure, enclosed shelving units or some other (possibly hanging) storage system to take advantage of in-car vertical space.
4. Semi-permanently position a cooler to act as a limited refrigerator—explore cooling systems as well as ice packs.
5. Install a computer desk/mount. I was thinking an adjustable TV mount may do the trick. It is important that it is accessible without posing a safety hazard.
6. Explore mobile internet laptop cards to allow for continued blog and video posts.
7. Install a citizens’ band radio (CB) possibly carry a handheld ham radio.
8. Install a power inverter to accommodate the charging of cameras, computers, and any other electronics –or– find suitable adapters for 12 volt charging of each of these components.
9. Add additional and reorganize current pockets and storage areas in the car to allow for the greatest number of needs to be met with the limited amount of movement and distraction.
10. Install a water storage area somewhere in the car, possibly inside the cooler, and attach a water pump and hose for easily accessible drinking water and light hand or face washing. The hose should come out some place unexpected. There would also have to be some provision to catch the used water.
I’m extremely excited. I will keep you updated.
-Joey Salvucci
