Vehicle living

Time goes by fast and even faster when you have much to do by a deadline, writes Mochagypsy.   My energies have been scattered between organizing my belongings, moving into my home on wheels, and being hit with the first Nor’easter of the season!

I’m happy to announce that I am now a full time RV-er!  I intended to write a climactic entry the night before my big move (the last day of October), but a hurricane Sandy came along and knocked out my Internet connection.  I will not complain too harshly since compared to many others in my region, I got off easy.  It’s somewhat strange for me to think about how I had an idea to change my life only a few months ago and now I’m writing this entry from the inside of my new home.  I guess life really is that simple.  It’s only the stops we take along the way in our journey that makes change seem so complicated.…

A group of scam artists have launched a web site selling a solar powered bicycle. But the only thing it will end up powering is their bank account.

Be careful – they will take your money, a lot of it, and deliver a bike, but it will not be solar powered in any sense that you or I recognise. And it will not go faster or longer than you can go under your own power.

Solar powered bikes have intruiged inventors for decades now, but have you ever wondered why there are none on the market?

Its the battery stupid

Bikes are incredibly ergonomic. You push the pedals, this turns the gears and the power from your legs is amplified many times over into the speed of the wheels. The main thing that slows you down (apart from your own weight of course)? The weight of the bike. …

The Prolite Suite is a travel trailer small enough to be towed by a Smart car but large enough to sleep two< With their ability to pack a bedroom, dining area and kitchen into a small space, travel trailers are a great idea. But their convenience has traditionally been offset by their substantial weight; most require full-size cars, trucks, or minivans capable of towing them. The Prolite Suite has rewritten the rules on travel trailers. Although it can sleep two people and comes with a double bed, table, mini-fridge, and portable stove, the Prolite Suite only weighs 250 kilograms (550 pounds). That's light enough to be towed by a two-seater Smart car, which is how Roulottes Prolite (www. roulottesprolite.com) likes to showcase this Lilliputian home on wheels. …

National Post profiled a couple from Calgary who are quitting their lives in the city and building a tiny house on a trailer.  They told the magazine they are doing it because the system has not really worked for them – they worked hard all their lives but have nothing to show for it – no home and  no savings. So they want to get off the merry-go-round, and start having some fun. 

“Being attached to society hasn’t really served us,” says Kirsten Shaw.  “We don’t have money in the bank, we don’t own a home. We don’t have any retirement money saved up. Quite honestly, at our age, that’s something we need to take seriously. If we can reduce our monthly expenses by $2,000 that is money that can go towards our children having fun and a retirement fund.”…

For mobile broadband in the UK, Three is the best network. That is the result of a 250-mile comparison test from Broadband Genie – a comparison web site. Off-Grid is seeking partners to carry out a similar comparison in the US (contact news@off-grid.net).

According to the release, Three provides the best mobile broadband experience on the move. Six dongles are taken on a 250 mile round trip by rail from Cambridge to Exeter, pitting them head to head in a series of challenges along the route which saw Three come out on top.…

Johan Huibers, a carpenter, has built a full-size replica of Noah’s Ark in Dordrecht, in the west of the Netherlands.

The vessel will be opened to the public on Monday. Then Huibers plans to sail it across the sea and along the UK canal network to the London Olympics. Like Dr No in the James Bond film, he plans to live aboard his creation.…