The Car and the Challenge

Welcome to 3 Men on the Bummel (I completely stole this name from a book written by a little known English humorist who lived at the turn of the century) in which I will share the tales—both majestic and questionable—of the road trip that I and two of my closest friends will be taking over the next year across the 48 contiguous United States.

First and foremost: no, none of us are millionaires, independently wealthy, living off of trust funds, or being funded by parents or others in any way. I just have to get that out there because everyone seems to be jealous of my decision to just live on the road and usually their first excuse for not doing the same is because they are way too poor. I worked as a mover for the past three and a half years and had an income well below the poverty line—it hasn’t stopped me. Just saying. All it takes is a little will power to consistently save some money and some guts to be willing to give up the normal life, live out of a car, sleep in tents, eat foraged and hunted food combined with cheap canned beans and vegetables, and a desire for something new and different in life.

Now there are some certain tools that can make the prospect of a yearlong road trip without money for hotels a bit more appeasing, and one of those is the car you choose to take.

Forewarning: I am about to go on a rant as to how I believe my car is just about the most perfect road trip vehicle in existence. Despite this being the case I am in no way sponsored by Honda (but I feel like they should at least give me a little bit after what follows… Honda? You out there?) and in fact did not even have the vehicle gifted to me, I just love it.

Just look at it! Doesn’t it just look like a little puppy that is all ready to see you with its CB antenna sticking up into the air like a happy little tail? Okay, that was taking it too far. Sorry, I get a bit excited over it, but enough about the way it looks, that really means nothing as far as it being a perfect road trip tool goes. What does matter is the fact that it has All-Wheel Drive, which any Subaru owner will tell you is just about the best thing for driving around a car in the snowy mountains. But those Subaru’s never have a full-size spare tire on the back, and, well… I do! Haha you Subaru suckers! I’ve blown enough tires or had them punctured by stray pieces of metal or nails to know that sometimes that tiny little doughnut spare is just not going to do for getting me to the nearest tire shop. If you have a full size spare along then you don’t even have to pause the adventures. You can get the tire fixed whenever you run into the next town that has a Discount Tire.

While we’re on the subject of spare tires might as well throw in this little addendum. Through all of my tire havoc I have always fortunately had tires from Discount Tire (once again, no sponsorship, though I think they might want to consider it too). Sure they cost a bit more, but then you get free rotations, air-checks, repairs, balancing, and (if you get the certificate) replacements from any of their several shops across the country. There is some pretty cool fine print to that certificate as well, if they do not have a tire shop conveniently close they will reimburse you whatever you end up having to spend on the replacement tire, and if it doesn’t match the set they’ll remount the originally purchased type of tire for completely free! Sorry, just geek-ing out about that a little. Anyone who has had as rough a time with tires as I have will get it.

So full size spares, not only are they incredible useful, but they also give one the opportunity for a little self-expression.

The artwork is entirely credited to my little sisters, and for those Sherlock Holmes fans out there, yes I know it should be 221 B Baker Street, just haven’t had the chance to add the 1.

Another great thing about the CR-V is the space that you get. Most all-wheel drive vehicles are sedans or hatchbacks, which can give a person space for luggage but there is no extra space for sleeping or for additional passengers. In the CR-V I can load everything I need to survive for a year and still be able to load in 2-3 passengers—and that’s with seat belts on. Not to mention the seats can all be folded completely flat, leaving space for a nice little sleeping area. Once again I had to add some personal touches.

Gotta love that Colorado Pride! The dragon on the left is perching on the Welsh flag, which is the country where about a quarter of my heritage comes from. When you’re an American mutt you pretty much get to open a catalogue of heritage and pick out the top three contenders to throw in with.

Having all of this space is usually equated with a drop in gas mileage, not at all the case with the CR-V. The engine is the same 2.2 liter straight 4 cylinder that you find in the EX and LX Honda Accords, which means that you get great gas mileage and have all of the horse power you need to pull you up the side of a mountain. For those of you that just fell asleep, that means cheaper to travel and you’re also not going to end up cruising on the side of the highway with the hazards flashing while everyone else races by.

Despite all of the amenities that come stock with a 2000 Honda CR-V there were a couple things that needed to be added, such as an am/fm radio receiver with Bluetooth and a CB radio. A CB radio is a radio that you can receive and broadcast on that is used by semi-drivers on a day to day basis. The CB stands for citizen band, because it runs on the radio wavelengths specifically reserved for the use of the public. That is what that big ol’ white antenna is attached to, and this is what the receiver looks like:

So I’ve got the most essential tool of all primed and ready to go along with a few thousand dollars saved up in the bank. Now all that remains is to listen to the wisdom of  Yoda:

I hit the road tomorrow for my own short little road trip before being joined by the other two guys come the first of September. The next post should be up within the next three days. I’m looking forward to having you all along for the ride.