Having operated a reasonably successful Steemit blog (
Ever since outfitting my 2011 Chevy Volt with all manner of modifications for camping and road trips, I've been looking for excuses to use it.
Why go to all this trouble? I live in the Pacific Northwest. In my humble opinion one of the lushest, most beautiful natural wonderlands on the planet. To live here but not explore all of the remarkable sights to see would be a crime. The problem with that? Travel is (ordinarily) expensive.
This is a surmountable obstacle however. With a car that can drive 30+ miles on battery power, then getting between 42 and 65 mpg after switching over to an onboard range extending gas generator, the principle cost of travel can be brought down considerably.
Since the wheels are driven by an electric motor, there's very little in the way of wear and tear as the engine only ever connects to the transmission in gas mode, and then only when going faster than 70mph. This is a famously low maintenance car, some having traveled 400,000 miles with no battery degradation or trips to the mechanic.
The second largest cost is hotel rooms. By converting the car into a mini-camper via some custom wood backed cushions and electric blankets, I can have a warm, dry, safe place to sleep.
The fact that it's basically a huge rolling battery means I have ample power to heat the cabin or run the air conditioner as needed, though the heated blankets are much more efficient than heating the cabin air on cold nights.
There's also a 500 Wh lithium-ion accessories battery I can recharge from a 102 watt folding solar array so I can still power amenities indefinitely after the main battery is depleted:
That black box in the window is a 12 volt portable oven we use to prepare hot meals anywhere that campfires are prohibited. This is frequently the case for off-site camping, so being able to cook electrically is a must, since the alternative is to use isopro or similar fuel to boil water for dehydrated backpacking meals.
That's a fine solution if you need to pack light. We don't though. I have a thermoelectric cooler, so we can also keep perishable foods cold until we're ready to cook and eat them. Is this even really camping? That's a fair question.
I'm not in it for the experience of roughing it. For me it's about the destination. I want to see everything this state has to offer, but I don't want to spend a fortune on hotel rooms and gas. If there's a better way to do that, I'd like to hear about it. So far the Steem Mobile has performed beyond expectations.
What can you look forward to on this blog? Infrequent but exhaustive documentation of road trips to sites of beauty and interest around Oregon, Washington and California. Mostly Oregon and Washington, at least initially. I own a DJI Mavic Air drone with which I've captured aerial video of destinations in the past, and will continue to:
You can see how, being that I've dumped a lot of income into equipping myself as ideally as possible to travel cheaply and document the destinations, I basically have to now. Right? Gotta justify that outlay, or what was it all for?
My traveling companion and main squeeze 
We'll visit sites of historical interest to Oregonians, like the house from The Goonies in Astoria. We'll visits sites of purported paranormal activity and other distinctively Pacific Northwest style weirdness. We'll visit unique natural features like the St. Helens lava tubes and you'll all be along for the ride!
Have I talked you into it? Is your interest piqued? Climb into our four wheeled electric spaceship then. We'll fold up the solar panels, buckle in, and get underway towards our next grand adventure! (⌐■‿■)
Stay Cozy!