Is that thing homemade?

Amazingly the wording of this question rarely changes.  The answer:  basically, yes. The RV had extensive water damage when we got it, so we ended up having to tear the trailer down to the studs and essentially rebuild it back.

Why is your RV named the Toaster?

It's square, silver and shiny. C'mon, it looks like a toaster! Read the full story here.

What do you mean when you say the Toaster is 100% solar powered?

We don't have anything that runs off propane installed in our rig. We also don't have a generator. So everything in the Toaster is powered by our solar panels.

How much solar power do you have?

We have 1,220 watts of solar panels.

How many batteries do you have?

The Toaster has a 1,000 Ah LiFePO4 battery that we designed and built ourselves.

How long have you been on the road for?

We left Asheville on March 21, 2015.

How long are you going to be on the road?

Until we decide to pursue something else.

What do you do for work?

Ching is a freelance writer and Jerud does freelance technical editing. We also occasionally do seasonal work, like at a ski resort for the winter season. Our living expenses are minimal because we boondock for free the majority of the time.

What inspired you to make this lifestyle change?

We didn’t want to wait until we were older and retired to travel and play for more than a 2 – 4 weeks vacation period. There was a strong feeling of urgency to make this lifestyle change. We were scared that if we didn’t do it now then we would wake up 15 years later still talking about doing it. Failing is better than regretting.

What is a fifth wheel?

A fifth wheel is a recreational vehicle (RV) that hooks up to a hitch in the bed of a truck.

What does boondocking mean?

Boondocking is when you stay somewhere with your RV that doesn't have any connections to electricity, water or sewage services. Boondocking is also sometimes referred to as dry camping. Sometimes boondocking sites cost money, ex: at a state park campground, and other times those sites are free, ex: BLM land. We typically stay at free boondocking sites.

What does your fridge run off of?

It's a standard apartment-size residential refrigerator that’s powered by solar panels. Read more about having a residential fridge in an RV in this post.

What is your travel itinerary?

We don’t really have one. It seems to change day to day. What guides where we go is great places to play in the outdoors that’s close to where we currently are and has the right season for the activities we want to do.

How do you recycle while living on the road?

All of our recyclables are kept in a small plastic bucket until we get to town where we properly recycle everything. You can read more about how to find places to recycle when living on the road in this post.

How do you do your laundry?

Mainly laundromats. Sometimes at friends and families. We also have a 5 gallon plastic bucket and a plunger that we use to wash our clothes if necessary.

How do you empty your Air Head composting toilet?

Our composting toilet has two separate containers - one collects the liquids and the other the solids. The liquids get dumped into any toilet, which happens ~3 - 4 days. The solids tank will get emptied into trailhead parking lot toilets since they are typically composting toilets on a larger scale. But because the solids is being composted, we don't need to empty the solids tank out often.

Does your truck still run off waste vegetable oil?

Unfortunately we had to make the hard decision to stop running our truck off waste vegetable oil. We talk about why we made that decision in this post.


We love questions! Email us at and we're happy to answer them!