Feb5

Changes for 2018

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New years tend to bring change, and 2018 has been no exception for me. We’re one month in, but things have been happening while posts I scheduled in late December continued to pop up while I’m busy with life.

I helped run the RTArt Camp within the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous from January 10th through the 19th (updates on both the RTR and the art camp are coming up soon), but decided not to stay in Scaddan Wash for the women’s RTR. I was tired of the wind and the dust and the crowds and sitting in the sun for hours a day. Maybe I would have enjoyed meeting new women in a more intimate setting, but honestly, I was worn out from talking to strangers.

I left Quartzsite to move towards one of the biggest changes my life has seen in the last five years. After more than half a decade on the road, I now have a home base in the desert.

At the end of November I was offered a great deal on a 40+ year old fifth wheel. It’s in good shape for its age, and the price was right. Solar panels provide enough electricity to run a radio and lights and to charge my laptop and phone. A hose connects my little home to a water spigot, so I have running water, and a nearby bath house provides flush toilets and hot showers.

Because I’m way out in the desert, staying in the fifth wheel year round is impractical. That’s not a problem though, because my job on the mountain takes me away during the five hottest months of the year. I have the best of both worlds because I can winter in the desert and summer in the mountains.

I wasn’t seeking  this kind of change, but I’m grateful the opportunity fell in my lap. Being a full-time van dweller was fine, and I had a good life, but I’m looking forward to having a home base. Simply being able to store things and not having to travel with every possession I own is going to vastly improve my life (not to mention my gas mileage).

This new year is bringing changes to this blog too. I’ve decided to go to a three-day-a-week publishing schedule. Publishing every day or even every other day makes it really difficult for me to find time to create collages and do other art projects. I’m also hoping that publishing thrice a week will open up time for me to get to work on the next book I’m going to write. The new schedule will have posts appearing on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with the possibility of extra posts on special occasions or when I have a particular lot to say.

Wednesday’s posts, while I hope of interest to everyone, will be geared specifically to nomads, boondockers, rubber tramps, work campers, and van dwellers. On Wednesdays I’ll share my tips for getting work, finding places to camp, having fun, staying safe, and generally holding it all together.

I hope long-time readers will continue to join me as my adventures unfold. I hope folks who enjoy this blog will invite their friends to share in the fun. I hope more readers will leave comments here and on the Rubber Tramp Artist Facebook page. (You can also follow me on my Blaize Sun author’s page on Facebook.)

Thanks for reading and being a part of my world. Here’s hoping 2018 treats all of us well.

Filed under My True Life and tagged , , , | 10 Comments

About Blaize Sun

My name is Blaize Sun. Maybe that's the name my family gave me; maybe it's not. In any case, that's the name I'm using here and now. I've been a rubber tramp for nearly a decade.I like to see places I've never seen before, and I like to visit the places I love again and again. For most of my years on the road, my primary residence was my van. For almost half of the time I was a van dweller, I was going it alone. Now I have a little travel trailer parked in a small RV park in a small desert town. I also have a minivan to travel in. When it gets too hot for me in my desert, I get in my minivan and move up in elevation to find cooler temperatures or I house sit in town in a place with air conditioning I was a work camper in a remote National Forest recreation area on a mountain for four seasons. I was a camp host and parking lot attendant for two seasons and wrote a book about my experiences called Confessions of a Work Camper: Tales from the Woods. During the last two seasons as a work camper on that mountain, I was a clerk in a campground store. I'm also a house and pet sitter, and I pick up odd jobs when I can. I'm primarily a writer, but I also create beautiful little collages; hand make hemp jewelry and warm, colorful winter hats; and use my creative and artistic skills to decorate my life and brighten the lives of others. My goal (for my writing and my life) is to be real. I don't like fake, and I don't want to share fake. I want to share my authentic thoughts and feelings. I want to give others space and permission to share their authentic selves. Sometimes I think the best way to support others is to leave them alone and allow them to be. I am more than just a rubber tramp artist. I'm fat. I'm funny. I'm flawed. I try to be kind. I'm often grouchy. I am awed by the stars in the dark desert night. I hope my writing moves people. If my writing makes someone laugh or cry or feel angry or happy or troubled or comforted, I have done my job. If my writing makes someone think and question and try a little harder, I've done my job. If my writing opens a door for someone, changes a life, I have done my job well. I hope you enjoy my blog posts, my word and pictures, the work I've done to express myself in a way others will understand. I hope you appreciate the time and energy I put into each post. I hope you will click the like button each time you like what you have read. I hope you will share posts with the people in your life. I hope you'll leave a comment and share your authentic self with me and this blog's other readers. Thank you for reading.  A writer without readers is very sad indeed.

10 Responses »

  4. Lots of people this year, my, to busy for me. All the cameras/drones…..yes kinda weird.
    Housing and rents have increased the attendance, along with the promise of utube glory and less responsibility I suppose,,, . Folks should know this life is difficult full time, not easy, especially after 60. The new utubers glorify it repetitively, being in denial somewhat, I suppose, calling it house less by choice. If S and B’s were cheap, the attendance would still be around 40. Wells does right to invite new tramps, those wanting friendships, those without choices. Us lifers got an eye full, and left for happy haunting grounds early. Lots of younger folks too, can’t say as I blame em for bailing,
    hope they are like me, thick skinned, and still liking it after a couple decades.

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    • Thanks for your insights, Johnny S. I agree with you on a lot of points, especially that living the life of a full time rubber tramp is not always easy, much less sexy. All choices require compromise.

      Thanks for reading and commenting.

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    • The home base is working out really well. It’s great to be able to cook inside! Also great to not have to set up the table and the stove and the propane and carry all the pots, pans, and food out of the van every time I want to cook something. It rained last week, and it was SO NICE to have a home to keep us dry.

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