This week’s Question of the Week was, “What do you do to pass the time while traveling in your truck camper?”. Here are the responses.
“We listen to books on tape or I catch up on magazine reading. We also like to follow along with guidebooks and maps. Lonely Planet is our favorite.” – Joan Berger
“I do most of the driving. Lorinda drives occasionally. For me it’s listening to the blues on satellite radio while driving and enjoying a cup of coffee. For my navigator, Lorinda, it has been everything from needlepoint, crossword puzzles, reading, and, more recently, using her iPad. If I am not driving, I am probably snoozing in the passenger seat.” – Bill Tex
“Hi Angela. And hi to Gordon and Harley. While we are traveling, I often read aloud to Keith. Sometimes it’s a book we picked up at the most recent stop on history or nature. Other times it is the travel books I purchased prior to the trip for research. And sometimes it’s just a book we brought from home that we both enjoy. There is also knitting en route (thanks to the North-East truck campers inspiration to start knitting again). And there’s music!” – Nancy and Keith Rivers
“My wife has a serious problem with driving for more than about two hours. She listens to books on CD from our library, or downloads books to her Nano iPod through a free download service through the library.” – Philip Tron
“To pass the time while driving with my wife sleeping or while camping, I have amateur Ham radios installed in the truck. I have a Kenwood D700 doing APRS and for accessing VHF/UHF Repeaters. I have a Yaesu FT857 set up to do HF communication. I have had many a conversation across the United States and a few international conversations on the HF system. When in camp, I usually set up better antennas but still use the same radios with a remote face plate kit.” – Leonard K. Pennock
“Sue and I read a lot of pocket books. It’s hard to read while you are driving though. Our solution has been talking books from our local library. We can check them out for three weeks, which is great for vacation trips, but not long enough for our winter trip to Texas. We have permission from our local library to make copies of the talking books for our own purposes as long as we erase them when we are done and not pass them on to others. Some of these books are so good we don’t want to stop driving so we can hear the end of the story. Happy traveling.” – Bill and Sue Billyard
“I have a little XM radio that also subs as an MP3 player via a 16 GB chip that holds my favorites. It provides all the entertainment I need. I would never drive across country again without it. There is a wide selection of music, talk, comedy, and old-time shows. Can’t beat it!” – Tom Surles
“Watching the scenery and the sound of a hard working diesel pulling a heavy load always does it for me.” – Doug Wilson
“We often like to listen to country music. But as we drive into unknown areas, I like to take in the sights, sounds, and even the smells.
We try to avoid going on the interstates as much as possible, which gives us a chance to enjoy where we are. This also allows us to have the windows down. I don’t like going 65+ with them down.
My wife likes to read, but often has to stop because I will spot something of interest that I think she should see. To which she will reply, “That is nice, now keep your eyes on the road!” I guess those sights, sounds, and smells are not as much of an interest to her as they are to me.” – Albert Cerf
“Marylou and I love audiobooks! If there’s a talented reader with a riveting story, we almost hate to park the truck at the end of the trip!
Our latest five-star read is the FarSeer Trilogy by Robin Hobb. Read by Paul Boehmer, one of our favorite readers, the Farseer Trilogy is epic fantasy at its finest. Marylou also does needlepoint or studies vintage fashion from the 1860s. I concentrate on keeping the rig on the road.” – John Wells, Pennsylvania
“I tried audio books, but got too distracted! Then I found free podcasts on multiple subjects. I can listen to these and still pay attention to what is going on around me. It passes the time quite nicely. Sometimes, I find myself taking a little more time getting to the destination so I can finish what I started listening to!” – Tim Burk, Washington
“I search for Public Radio stations. Otherwise I just drive and enjoy the ride.” – Phil Kaufman
“As I drive alone, I usually listen to audiobooks. I find them relaxing, interesting, and they seem to keep me from getting irritated with traffic or poor drivers. I also listen to Classical FM radio stations.” – Cheryl Lane, New Hampshire
“If the trip involves both of us, we usually listen to books on tape or talk. Evon will, as I put it, crochit a.k.a. crochet. If the trip is just me, I will listen to books on tape, find local stations on the radio or play my music, besides checking out the scenery.” – Marc and Evon Swanson
“Linda and I do not plan our ventures so it’s plan as we go style. We are always trying to travel the United States highways with very little Interstate Highway traveling. It’s a bore to us.
We have made three trips of over sixty days and 7,000 miles each leaving Florida and heading west/southwest all the way to the Pacific. We rarely travel the same roads and make very few reservations anywhere because then we feel the pressure of making that stop and not enjoying the travel and sights. Being a Naval Air retiree, we utilize numerous FamCamp’s which is what the military calls their campgrounds.
Since we installed a Yamaha 2400 watt generator on the front of our traveling home it gives us several more options of overnight stays. We are constantly talking about the sights and the information from others on what to visit. We take numerous pictures but then the conversation of food is one of our big things. Being the extrovert I am, I will stop in small towns and introduce myself to any local folks and inquire on the best family/home cooked food places and then enjoy and make notes.
We have had RVs since December of 1977. Truck camping is by far the best way to see our beautiful country. Truck campers are special people for sure.” – Bob and Linda Robinson, Florida
“Hello Gordon and Angela. My husband usually does the driving (lucky him), so we have been downloading books to iPad. My iPad has a car charger so I use an auxiliary plug in and get the sound from the car speakers. We also get books on DVD from the library and play them while we drive. I am an avid knitter so I usually get quite a bit of knitting done on the road. This seems to pass the time quite nicely for us.” – Rich and Denise Snyder
“Angela – When all else fails, we stop for ice cream and pull out the iPad.” – Nolan Sturgeon
“I have XM radio and usually listen to that. I also look at the scenery. The kids have played Punch Bug before and I usually end up with the sore arm.” – Jeff Hagberg
“On short trips to familiar places, it is usually just listening to music and looking for anything new along the way to explore. On long trips to new places, when Alf is driving (which he prefers), I spend a lot of time digging through my bin full of maps, guidebooks, and all the tourist brochures we pick up at information centers along the way. I look for any weird and wonderful places to stop and visit like the Spam Museum and the Minuteman Missile Site in South Dakota.
We like places to sample local foods like seafood on our British Columbia coast and pasties in Upper Michigan (I always thought they were things strippers wore). But I admit, when it’s endless miles of corn or grasslands, we do listen to Blue Collar Radio.” – Orian Hartviksen
