This blog of our travels, our life really, came to fruition as we planned to drive the PanAm Highway. For two years while still in the planning stages we fully embraced the lightweight ease of our Palomino pop-up. The first two years of our “freedom plan” found us loving the adventures of life on the road in our Adventurer truck camper named Tequila but now in our slightly less transient life, we call home a Lance trailer, AKA Taco with a slightly bigger footprint.
LIFE is complicated. Don’t try to find answers because as soon as you find answers LIFE changes the question~
At the time when we decided our next REALLY big adventure was going to be to drive the Pan American Highway, we spent hour upon hour discussing what would be our vehicle of choice. After discussing several options, the shopping began.
We immediately loved our 2007 Palomino Bronco pop-top, and for two years averaged over 40 nights a year sleeping in her. And yet, something told us our search was not yet over. As incredibly comfortable as the camper was in the summer, we camp year-round, and it was simply cold in the winter. Did we really want to cross the Andes with this camper? And so, the hunt continued.
With the purchase of our next camper, we have found what we were looking for. Our 2012 Adventurer 80SK is wonderful. The size was very similar to our Palomino, still fitting perfectly in the back of our Toyota Tundra, but the layout and materials used are of much better quality than the Bronco. With greater storage space everything had its own place, and it still retained the large fridge and counter space we had with the Palomino Bronco. Significantly more comfortable in the offseason, we added some 12Volt fans for warm-weather camping. With a back and side awning, and, my dreamed about screen door, we LOVED this camper!
When life called us back to the USA for part of each year we found a fantastic little 20′ Lance trailer. Taco has proven to be up to the task. We are now two years + into living full-time in our little Lance trailer and although we occasionally miss the freedom to hit the back roads in the manner a truck camper allows, the trade-off of greater living space during inclimate weather has paid off.
Even as we have no big plans for a change soon we still often discuss what is next; a Sprinter type van to resume our PanAm dream perhaps? The only certainty is our path is never certain.
It feels so good to be lost in the right direction~
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I am glad to find someone contemplating this trip with a 2007 Tundra. Funnily, I too have a 2007 Tundra with 4.7 L V-8 and for the past few months have been wrestling with what to put on top of it…i.e. Pop up vs. Hard side? Wanting a shower/toilet?
The problem always is that a washroom inevitably adds that 2-3 foot overhang at the back.
I notice the overhang on your rig and am wondering how you are going to add some gizmo at the back in spite of the camper overhang to accommodate extras i.e fuel, tools,jack, bicycle, spare tire etc.
Consequently, I am searching for a regular camper that would fit my 6′ 7″ bed..the only one with a washroom is Six-Pac D650.in the used market.
Any suggestions.? I am getting ready to leave sometime in December.
Thanks for the question. Our camper sits near the edge of our tailgate so not really a problem. We do not have a washroom, just a port-a-pot that slides under the settee. Our spare tire sits under the truck and we are adding a rack for a jerrycan for extra water and fuel but don’t see any issue with having it stick slightly out. We won’t be taking our bike rack on our trip to South America so we’re not anticipating any issues w/ having a slight overhang off the back. Good luck finding the perfect camper! If we hadn’t found our particular camper at a good deal we were checking into the Adventure series, but there are certainly a lot of choices.
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On another note, where in India did you travel?
Hey Ian! Thanks for following along. We were in India for nearly 3 months so covered a fair amount of the country… starting in Delhi and doing the whole Rajastan loop… then down to Kochi, south to the very tip, back up to Kochi and inland to Kumily/ tea country, etc… then up the coast to Goa and Mumbai. Next time up, we head to the East coast!
Perhaps not surprisingly, age has mellowed them even further, and this album’s one rocker, “Travelin’ Man,” seems forced next to the warm melodic roots and country twang that otherwise dominate.
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Hey there! Fellow 80sk owner here. Looking to do Pan Am once things “open up”. Question tho… I’m overweight in my f150 truck. Did you guys ever weigh in? If so wondering what you were at and if y’all did anything to beef up suspension… airbags extra leaf springs etc. Any advice would be awesome. Thanks! Sean
Hey Sean….Excellent! We did quite a bit to beef up the Tundra with custom leaf springs and hearty tires. Our big advice..work hard to get rid of weight. Although we didn’t have any issues during our 1 1/2 years full time on the road we ended up having to replace our tires much earlier than hoped because of the wear and tear (make sure to rotate more than you think you need to) and have since had to replace the bearings in the front. We also had airbags which certainly help. Have fun!
Thanks guys! Sorry I’m in the Navy and not always around my computer. Can I ask who did the leaf spring work? Did you add a leaf or do a whole new pack? Thats funny you mention that because it is the exact route I am looking at going…just talked to a shop today! Also do you wish you would have gone f250, chevy 2500 etc, or were stoked on the tundra? Sweet rig she was!
No sure if my last reply posted…sorry for the delay! Can I ask what sort of custom leaf springs? Add a leaf? Helper spring? Who did them? You guys are awesome really hoping to make this work!
The leaf spring, combined with air bags, worked great. Still really important to keep the weight down but we were pleased with the results for sure. We were happy with our Tundra and she’s still going strong!
Thats awesome! Did you go with a custom leaf pack? Or a helper spring? Curious as I am now looking at all options! Thanks :)))