Travels With Charley: John Steinbeck Was a Full-Time RVer
Learning to Live Small
A major watchword for full-time RVers is “storage.” In an RV, space is at a premium. Whether it’s a bumper-pull trailer, fifth wheel, or Greyhound Bus-size motorhome, you quickly learn your 2,500-square-foot sticks-n-bricks house just isn't going to fit into your 250-square-foot RV.
As Roger and I set out on our first full-time journey, a well-meaning friend gave us cute pictures to brighten our living space. Another friend, just as thoughtful, gifted us an expensive Yeti cooler. And neither ended up in the RV. One required wall space we didn’t have; the other was just too heavy without wheels to lug around.
No disrespect to those precious people, but the best gifts for RVers have one or more of these characteristics: flat, inflatable, practical and lightweight. (Hint: gift cards check three of those four boxes.)
Why Books Still Make the Cut
Thanks to modern technology, one concession I had to make for full-time RV life was less painful than it would have been 60 years ago: getting rid of all my physical books. And Roger’s.
Here’s how it worked for us. First, we realized that Roger’s library, collected over many decades of ministry, contained only four or five books that he frequently referred to. All the others were essentially window-dressing in his various church offices.
Second, although I enjoy re-reading my favorite novels multiple times, I just couldn’t narrow down my selection to a dozen or so. The solution? Loaded Kindles. Online libraries provide free books when I’m not sure they’re worth rereading. Later, I can always purchase the ones I really like. And, of course, the Kindle app lets me read on multiple devices without losing my place. Not only do we save on book weight in the RV; I don't even have to keep track of bookmarks.
Bonus: Today's e-readers mean I can skip a separate (usually awkward) book light. And reduced blue light settings aren't supposed to disrupt my brain’s sleep cycle. Hopefully that’s true.
Discovering Steinbeck’s RV Experience
So last week while browsing my Kindle library when I came across a John Steinbeck novel I hadn’t read yet. I knew Steinbeck from The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men. Both were very good high school reads, but both twisted my heart into pieces. I haven’t reread either one.
What I didn’t know was that John Steinbeck was a full-time RVer for a time, and Travels With Charley is his travel diary of that period of his life. Back in 1960 Steinbeck commissioned a camper to be built to fit a GMC ¾-ton pickup truck for a trip around America, just him and his dog Charley. BTW, that truck now resides in the Smithsonian (see photo).
So Travels with Charley is his recounting of that journey, but it’s oh-so-much more. It’s a description of reconnecting with America through personal conversations with people coast-to-coast. His story reminds us how small the world can become when we don’t break out of self-imposed isolation to reach out, move around, and try new things.
To help spark conversations, Steinbeck painted the name “Rocinante” in 16th century Spanish script on the side of his camper. I didn’t know, and you might or might not be interested in knowing, that “Rocinante” is the name of Don Quixote’s horse in the famous novel by Cervantes. As it turned out, however, Steinbeck admitted in the book that “surely no one ever asked about it.” Nice try, John.
Personal Preference Dictates What Makes the Cut
By page 4, my RVing heart was hooked. It wasn’t his 10,000-mile itinerary that caught my eye, though. It was his packing list.
I simply cannot conceive how Steinbeck fit all the stuff on his list into a camper roughly an eighth the size of our fifth wheel.
Here’s just a few essentials Steinbeck crammed in:
Trenching tool and crowbar
Block and tackle
Emergency foods
Emergency tools
30 gallons of water
Canned goods
Tool boxes
Typewriter (remember, this was 1960. That thing probably weighed 10-15 lbs.)
Reams of paper
Dictionaries
A compact encyclopedia
A dozen reference books
150 lbs of books he planned to read but never did
Bet Steinbeck would’ve killed to have a Kindle. Or better yet, an iPad. Especially when his rear tires proved unable to bear the load long-term.
When I read that list, I couldn’t help but think, I’d never want to keep shifting all that stuff just to make up my bed or set up the table to eat a meal. It’s the same thing I think while watching RVers on YouTube: I’d never put up with having to do all those extra setup and teardown things they do. Storing plants and shelf décor every time we move? Not me! The worst, though, is a YouTube couple who manually tilts their rooftop solar panels up and down. I'd have to be getting top-tier wages to even consider doing that.
We’re Not the Only Ones to Learn from Experience
Then page 14 of Travels with Charley drew my sympathy.
One evening early in his journey, Steinbeck found a New Hampshire farmer who agreed to let him park on his land for the night. In return, Steinbeck invited the farmer to share a cup of coffee after he had a chance to set up camp.
Steinbeck, who knew how to secure things on his boat to keep them from flying all over the cabin in rough waters, apparently didn’t utilize the same skills for properly storing things in his camper. After the day's rough roads, sudden stops, and sharp turns, Steinbeck opened Rocinante’s door that evening to discover “utter chaos” inside.
“The floor was littered with books and papers. My typewriter roosted uncomfortably on a pile of plastic dishes, a rifle had fallen down and nudged itself against the stove, and one entire ream of paper, five hundred sheets, had drifted like snow to cover the whole place.”
My heart went out to him.
Because we’ve learned some tough lessons from experience, too. While we’ve never opened our door to “utter chaos,” we have found ourselves stuck in deep sand once. Another time we gave up a dream campsite because we couldn’t back into it. (Find those stories here: We Got Stuck in Black Sand, and The Rock Won.)
And just last week I dreaded what I’d find when I left an open can of soda on the counter while we drove. (Thank goodness, it somehow stayed put.)
Modern Day Advantages
Thinking about Steinbeck’s RV experiences made me think about perspective (again). He was probably grateful for the 1960s advantages he enjoyed over campers in the 1920s. But he certainly didn’t have many of the conveniences we consider essential today, like auto-leveling and a fireplace in the fifth wheel.
Still, when you don’t know what conveniences you’re missing, you don’t miss them.
So I might gloat over how much easier RV life is today with our WiFi, GPS, and Kindles rather than 150 pounds of books. But chances are, I have no idea what I’m missing that RVers in 2050 will take for granted.
With every new RV, every new truck, we think we’ve got the best of all possible worlds. But next year, the pattern will repeat itself with new innovations and new things to take for granted.
Meanwhile, I can’t wait to get back to Travels With Charley. And I fully expect to enjoy reading about this fellow full-time RVer who was figuring it all out sixty years ago.
What’s in your library? What books or authors speak best to you? I’d love to hear.
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