Solo Vanlife in the Desert

One Week Apart | Camping near Joshua Tree National Park | Work Trip to NY | January 2024

After we said our goodbyes to Sarah, it was time to prepare for our next week ahead, which we would be spending apart. But unlike in October when Curtis was unexpectedly called out to the East Coast, this was something that we had known about for a while, and had agreed that he should just fly alone for this assignment. When considering all our options, it really made the most sense to go about it this way: we knew we wanted to spend as much time as we could in the Southwest, and aside from this week we had from mid-December to February “off” and could be wherever we wanted. We also knew without a doubt that we did not want to drive the van to upstate NY in the winter. So I was ready to handle another week of solo van life, but this time would be a little more on my terms. I decided that I would feel the most comfortable if I could just find one place to plant for the week, and make it as relaxing and stress free as I could.

We ran a couple errands that morning, then took the scenic route South through Joshua Tree National Park. We entered at the Twentynine Palms gate, then drove South, losing lots of elevation as we drove towards the Cottonwood entrance. This road had been closed during our last visit, so everything here was new to us. We stopped at the visitor center for NPS stamps, then continued on, exiting the park. Hopefully our next visit will include much more hiking together here!

Since I had known for a while now that I would end up being alone somewhere for a week, I had done an extensive amount of research on camping areas. For this week, my priorities were a flat space where I could have a bit of room for myself and Charlie, but I thought that I would feel safer if there were other people around. Obviously I could get that at a campground, but I really wanted to try dispersed camping on public land alone. Of course, since I was alone having good cell signal was a must to make me feel safe, as well as a place where I could drive in and out easily since I would be dropping off and picking up Curtis, and in case I didn’t feel safe, I wanted to be able to leave easily.

All that being said, I had a number of places saved that I thought would meet my requirements, and so on today’s agenda was visiting those places and deciding which one made me feel the most comfortable. As soon as we exited the park, we were in the first area to check out: an open area of public land between the national park and I-10, with several dirt roads running for miles both East and West and plenty of dispersed sites to choose from. Given its proximity to the park and interstate, it is pretty popular, and there were rigs of all sizes spread out as far as we could see. We turned onto one of the roads and found a spot pretty quickly to park and check out the area. And honestly, as soon as we got here, I didn’t feel a need to keep looking. Cell signal was strong even without our booster, it was easy to have my own space but still be near other people, and I definitely wouldn’t need to worry about solar power this week thanks to no trees and a clear forecast. Additionally, if I needed to leave for any reason, the interstate was just South of me so I could easily get away and even head into Arizona.

And so, we took it easy for the rest of the day. Curtis packed his bags and we took Charlotte for walks up and down the dirt roads. If I wasn’t alone, I don’t think this would be the kind of place where we’d stay for long because there wasn’t much to do besides the national park, where Charlotte isn’t allowed to hike, and we tend to prefer places that aren’t this busy. But for tonight, it worked just fine for us.

The next morning, we rose early and drove to Indio. We ran a couple last minute errands so that I would have enough to not need to come back into town for the week, then Curtis got picked up by his ride to the Palm Springs airport. I topped off the gas tank, then drove the 20 miles back East on I-10 to my spot for the week.

I ended up being very happy with my decision to stay here. It was so much less stressful than last time, when I had to drive hundreds of miles by myself with Charlotte and constantly have to plan routes and camping spots. I didn’t even feel bad about not going anywhere else this week, because after over 3 weeks of being on the road during this trip, this break was much needed. Plus, with the way that Charlotte walks, it didn’t seem like it would be worth the effort to drive to different trails only to have her walk a quarter mile at her pace, stopping and sniffing everything, before calling it quits.

Well, that may be the way she walks when we’re on trails….but this week, she decided it was the perfect time to enter her fitness era, and she ended up taking me on multiple long walks up and down the different dirt roads every single day. We ended up walking anywhere from 3-5 miles every day, which is highly unusual for her! She was also extremely focused, hardly even stopping to smell anything. Every time we went out, it felt like we were walking further and faster than before. So while we weren’t driving around and going to new places, we ended up being the most active that we’d been in a long time!

When we weren’t walking, we would spend our mornings outside around our campsite with Charlotte on a long rope, and in the afternoon we would have a few hours of quiet time inside the van. I was able to get ahead on writing blog posts, as well as do lots of reading, journaling, and art projects. I had a good variety of food so that if I didn’t feel like putting the bed back, I could easily make meals or snacks without needing to use the stove. I took a lot of precautions to make myself feel safe, and thankfully there was never cause for concern here.

Honestly, all I wanted was for this week to be truly uneventful, and I can almost say that it was. For most of the week, my only real enemy was the Santa Ana winds that were constantly blowing and rocking the van. However, by Thursday Charlotte decided that things were going a little too well and decided she wanted to spice things up a bit. At some point during the day, I went in the van to grab some food, and while I wasn’t looking she decided to act on her intrusive thoughts and go after something smelly that had been tempting her all week. That ‘thing’ was buried in a spot underneath the van, so she had to get on her stomach, wiggle under the van, and dig that thing up to get a taste. As soon as I stepped outside, I yanked her out of there and hoped there would be no consequences….but at 10pm when I was about to turn out the lights and go to sleep, that ‘thing’ began to exact its revenge. What followed was a completely sleepless night for me as Charlie needed to go out every hour and….well, I’ll leave out the details, but it wasn’t pretty. For the first half of the night I was just progressively more and more annoyed, but then I started getting worried that there was something seriously wrong and I might need to get her to an emergency vet.

At 4am, I called Curtis (who was on Eastern time so it was 7 for him) and told him about every detail of our night, and my concerns that Char was very sick. He was very supportive and did all the googling that I prefer not to do to keep my anxiety at bay. I looked online at vet clinics nearby, and found one in Indio that would accept emergency visits throughout the day, and filled out an online form. As dawn began to break, I finally gave up on trying to get any sleep and just stayed outside with Charlotte. All night she had been trying to take us on another walk, but I had kept her in a small area around where we were camping for safety. I gave in and let her take me on a walk, which ended up being 3 miles long. On one hand, it didn’t seem like a good idea to let her walk so far being so sick, but once she was finally getting what she wanted, she actually was starting to act like herself.

At around 8am, we returned to our campsite and she laid down and took a nap outside. I called the vet just to inquire about their availability for today, and they said that I had until 10am to get her there if I wanted her to be seen today. I talked to Curtis some more, and watched her over the next hour, and finally decided that she had gotten past the worst of it and wouldn’t need medical attention. And within the next hour, she really did seem to be acting perfectly fine…to the point where she got up, pranced right over to the van, and once again started trying to wiggle right under to get another hit of that disgusting thing — which I put an immediate stop to and kept her right by my side for the rest of our time here.

So besides that eventful and sleepless night, things went well for me this week, and I was happy with my decision to stay in the desert and sit this work trip out. Curtis, on the other hand, did get a few blue counties on our joint county map (but nothing that’s new for both of us), and got to go out to eat every night, but was snowed on every day while in New York. I would say that I hope this week opened up new doors for us in that I became that much more comfortable being alone so we don’t have to drive out East all the time, however now all the recent plane crashes have sort of reversed those feelings so who knows if it will happen again. All I know now is that I’m thankful he was safe, and that once he returned we still had a few weeks to enjoy the Southwest together before starting his spring assignments!