Seeking Advice for Weekend Warrior Adventure Truck

 
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The Gist

My wife and I want to sell my car (2002 BMW 525i) and buy a pick-up truck. Aside from the usual reasons for owning a truck, the biggest reason is that we want to sleep in the bed while we camp and travel, so that we’d avoid airfare, rental cars, and hotels. Spending time in the mountains is HUGE for us, especially at this point in our lives.

Stage One: KISS

Money is tight so stage one is to simply buy a truck with a bed cap/cover to sleep under.

The Usual Suspects

We’re currently considering early generation Toyota Tacomas and Tundras. 

It seems there are a lot of 4 door Tacoma trucks out there but they really have held their value, which is both good and bad. The bad is that it’s just outside of our price range. Also, the length of the bed is a major concern as I’m 6’2”. Anyone that tall sleep in the bed without going diagonally?

The prices of Tundras are more reasonable but the lack of a decent backseat (in the Access Cab model) could be a concern. We do hope to have kids and I’ve heard mixed reviews on getting a car seat to fit. I don’t truly mind the lack of fuel economy, and it may also come in handy if I ever need to carry or tow something heavy.

Note: We are very much of the mindset that we should "buy once, cry once” and I’ve heard so many good things about Toyota. However, I’m completely open to other ideas as we won’t be doing any kind of difficult off-road driving where a winch or a buddy may be involved.

Planned Use

For annual travel, we plan on spending two weeks in Colorado and one week in New Hampshire in a “camper” setup. At home, it’ll stay in a daily setup as a regular pick-up truck.

Needs

  • Pick-up truck
  • Reliability
  • 4 doors
  • 4x4
  • “Quickly” go between a daily truck setup to 2-week camping trip setup

Wants

  • Hitch
  • Can accept larger pop-up style camper later

Price

There’s is where it gets a bit hairy due to our extremely tight budget.

We’re entertaining ideas in the $10,000 and under range. Even that’s stretching it, and it will also depend on how much I sell my car for. 

What do you think?

Update 01: As I’ve done more research, I’m all but completely settled on an 04-06 Tundra Double Cab. Check out this video where a family of 5 (small kids obviously) traveled and slept in the bed of the truck for over 4,000 miles. There's hope.

Update 02: Well, we did a thing. Stay tuned for further updates on our new [to us] Tundra Adventuremobile. Or is it a Fundra? Either way, we're really looking forward to traveling this upcoming year. 

Smartphone Use in Movies

This is a completely unscientific study but it seems that in just about every movie I watch, not a single character is constantly checking their phone like I see many of us do. No one is scrolling through Twitter or Instagram, no one is playing Clash of Clans or Super Mario Run, I don't think I've ever even seen anyone just browse the internet. Smartphones tend to be hidden unless they're a plot point.

So what are these people doing? They're simply living their lives. They’re talking to people at coffee shops, they’re reading books, they’re sitting on the couch, listening to music. Instead of keeping up with what their friends or "followers" are doing, they’re the ones doing the "doing."

You may say that’s unrealistic. I’d say you’re right. Look around and it's obviously not how we operate in the real world. But in Hollywood, things are idealized, and that might not be a bad thing in this case.

I can understand how movies might a bad rap on account of them being extremely well-produced stories and not exactly a reflection of real life, but maybe we need to adopt this trait from them. Just a thought.

// Click here for more incomplete thoughts.

Bonus: Have you noticed that when people in movies need to communicate something to another character, they actually use the phone like a phone? Never a whole lot of texting or messaging going on.

 
 

A Brief Review of GentScents

 
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I'm a sucker for a free trial and I'm also pretty good about canceling them in time to keep from getting billed, so I'm not too scared to try out new things. Except for that one time in college that I forgot to cancel the free Gevalia subscription. They got me pretty good.

Anyway, one of my latest trials was found through an Instagram ad for GentScents. The short version is that GentScents is a car air freshener that both smells better and is easier on the eyes than the standard tree-shaped or plastic vent clip air freshener. 

If you want to try it out, all you have to do is pay shipping and they'll send one on its way. So, for $3.21, I had one for myself.

Note: I received this back in November of 2017 and it's showing signs of being nearly completely dried out. I should pitch it but if I remove it from the holder and hold it up to my nose, I can still get a little bit of the scent and it's one I really do like. But since I just took pics of it yesterday, it looks a bit dry and old and I wanted to explain why. Come to think of it, I wonder if I'm just smelling the cedar and not the scent...

The block of wood comes in a plastic bag with specific instructions on how to handle it so you avoid getting the oils all over your fingers or the car, but it's relatively straightforward. 

The scent was good but didn't last long. They know this and they say they're working on getting more life out of each block but again, I'm happy to try it out for a few dollars. 

Since keeping an air freshener subscription in my budget was not something I was interested in, I quickly started the cancellation process. Their FAQ says:

IS IT EASY TO CANCEL?
Sure thing. You might question your life choices after, but all you have to do is log in to your account to cancel. 

But when you log in, there's no sign of being able to cancel.

I ended up having to send an email requesting my account be closed and two days later, I received an email back, signed by the founder. I'm almost certain it's just a canned email because it doesn't actually come from an email address that specifically matched the founder but you never know. And I get what they're going for, making it feel more personal and all.

Hey Mike,

I'm sorry to see you go. You're order has been cancelled. We'd love to get your feedback since we are just starting up.

Thanks,
Christian
co-founder

In fact, even though I thought for sure it was canned, I assumed that if I sent some honest feedback, then the founder would follow-up with an actual reply. 

Long story short, I sent my reply but never heard back, so I'm pasting it here. 

A couple things I'd recommend looking into/changing is the account creation process and cancellation process. 

I signed up through Instagram for the free trial (which was easy enough, so good job there), but when it came time to check my subscription on the website, I didn't realize that an account wasn't created for me. Luckily I figured out that I could request my password be reset (or something, I actually can't remember at the moment).

When I finally was able to log in, finding out how to cancel was unclear. I know that by nature, you don't want to make it easy for people to cancel but trust me, you'll be much better off if you streamline the process. Customers won't feel locked in like some kind of gym membership they've had for years because there's too many hoops to jump through.

Plus, when you make it easy for people to leave, you get rid of the wishy washy customers and the freeloaders and you're left with the most loyal ones. 

Anyway, that's it in a nutshell. Really did like the scent I got though. Fantastic. Reminded me of my hiking and camping trips to Colorado for some reason.

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I don't think it's worth the money unless the scent is stronger and longer lasting. And even then, how often does the average air freshener user buy new scents? Maybe it's just not for me.

Items of Want 048

I have a few Schon DSGN pens and love 'em but the colorway of this particular pen is just incredible. Really. Wowza. I've also been a fan of Worn & Wound since the beginning and still believe they are one of the best watch blogs on the Net. Worth a peruse if you're of the horology mindset. 

The Ridge Wallet

My Bellroy Card Sleeve has been a trusted companion for many years now but it's starting to finally show its age. While I've never used one of these new-fangled high tech metal wallets, I think I'd like to give it a go. But I really do like the feel of leather...

[Acquired] Seiko SRPC49

I've slowly been realizing that orange and black are two of my favorite colors and when you put them together in a watch, I can't resist. I've seen this watch on various leather and NATO straps and it never looks bad. 

Photo by worn&wound

James Brand x Salomon: The Chapter

Everything about the design of the James Brand Chapter is just perfect. And by now you know that I love the color orange so I don't need to further explain why this collaboration knife is on my wishlist. I was recently gifted one of these knives (a standard Chapter) and it's by far my favorite knife ever. 

Kodiak Cakes Flapjack On The Go

My household is permanently stocked with a big box of Kodiak Cakes (thanks to Costco) but I recently had a chance to try this instant variety of Kodiak Cakes. I'm no food critic but these turn out just fine and are especially tasty if you're in a rush.

— Check out past Items of Want —