Monthly Archives: May 2015

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Wanderlust

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Four friends bought a bus and are renovating it to take a trip around the country in roughly 10 weeks, starting in Maryland traveling northwest towards Vancouver then south through the Midwest and East again towards home (in Maryland).

They have created a website that can be found here to follow them and their journey across the country: http://roughinitblog.com/

I emailed the four friends a questionnaire to explore more about their intentions of completing this adventure. The whole thing started off as a joke about getting a van to drive cross-country, but then they actually started researching vans on Craigslist and bought one on impulse from Philadelphia. They are currently still fixing it up. They have added wooden flooring, and plan to add a set of 2 bunk beds to accommodate them. They see this adventure as the opportunity to explore: “to learn about other places, other people and other customs; to be inspired, to be happy about life and escape the worry of needing to know exactly what you’re doing it”. This group of young men enjoy filming as well so they plan to create videos of their travels. They also enjoy outdoor activities and plan to go mountain biking, hiking, surfing, etc.

This trip will certainly be a great expense. In the questionnaire, most answered that they had been saving up their own money to pay for this trip. One of the guy’s father gave them a loan in order to initially buy the bus ($3500). They also plan to be working on a few projects of making soap and skateboards to sell on the road to maybe get some extra cash.

When initially mentioning their idea to travel cross country, several friends are excited that it is happening and want to even join them. One said how his parents laughed at the idea but then once the bus was bought, they realized it was more of a serious thing than anticipated and mainly became concerned about money, planning and food. Another guy said how his mom still does not fully believe that they are going on this trip.

Another questioned I asked was what is their one fear about going on this trip. Several answered that they are concerned about any of the other guys getting injured and therefore inhibiting the full experience that they are all seeking. One guy in particular told me that he has not shared this with the others but that he actually hopes that they get stuck out there for a few months longer from a flat tire or busted engine (etc), but that he of course would not intentionally sabotage the bus, but genuinely wants the survival thrill.

Their main purpose for going is for new experiences and the unexpected. One says he wants to talk “to owners of great big farms and owners of small town shops” and also to explore “places we’ve found thanks only to word of mouth (not easily found on the internet)”.  One of my personal favorite lines that he says is that he wants to sleep “outside under the stars and feel super small in relation to the entire universe”. That is one feeling I enjoy having; there is just something about knowing that there is an infinity out there waiting to be discovered.

While my questionnaire was brief and I barely even know this group of guys, I am incredibly inspired by them and cannot wait to follow their journey as it embarks.

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C. Raia Synthesis Paper

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CASEY RAIA

MICRO-MOBILITY

PROFESSOR REBECCA HENN

SPRING 2015

 

The Survey.

Looking back on my initial syllabus is actually laughable, the schedule I provided was not even remotely close to what happened. My first idea was to make a survey, revise it once, and then send it out to various schools over the Internet. And as the semester would come to a close, I would have a stockpile of useful statistical data. Little did I know that five revisions were going to be made on numerous types of programs / available survey software over the course of the entire semester and has yet to get sent out for real…

At first glance it looks like it took way more time to complete than it needed to, and maybe that is true, but I think it was all for good reason. A younger, more naive, Casey Raia thought survey making was much more straightforward than it actually is. I never would have guessed I would learn so much about survey making. Turns out my initial questions were worded improperly, placed out of order, or leading my potential survey pool to answer untruthfully. Turns out I am awesome at leading questions. Hopefully the product I have now is a good testament as to just how far I have come since the initial survey. I am proud to proclaim that this latest version is finally ready to be sent out and recollected for feedback and analysis.

The survey will be sent out in two ways. The first is it will be dispersed to various schools by friends on Facebook. The second is that it will be posted to Reddit to be filled out by people exploring similar subjects. The only problem I can think of at this point is when to send it out. Although I would love to do it as soon as possible, the summer months are officially here for many colleges around the country, leaving students desiring freedom from schoolwork. I am a little skeptical as to if students will even give two seconds to fill out my survey if they are already mentally checked out of school. I will ask my peers and see what they suggest, send it now or potentially wait until the fall 2016 semester is upon us.

With the final groupings of questions finished and compiled, the main objectives of the survey can be boiled down to these points:

  • Preferences on traveling (duration, destination, methods)
  • Opinions facing Rotational Training Programs and the living conditions along with them
  • Micro-mobility’s influence on this generation of people taking on the working world
  • Find if there is any useful demographic information as to who is interested in micro-mobile culture.

The final survey will be on Google Forms within a few days. Just having the questions looked over one last time before it is 100% complete.

 

 

Additional Work.

Along with every week’s presentation of the latest and greatest version of the survey and the strides I was making towards perfecting it, I wanted to supply at least one article or fun fact that I had found between meetings. To be honest, I did not dig too deep finding this supplemental information, most of the time these articles or topics found me instead of the other way around. Additional research of course had to be done after initial contact with an article, but I think it is important to acknowledge that discussions about RVs and trailers were not uncommon in places where one may think otherwise, like Yahoo, CNN, and The New York Times.

Every day for the past six or so years, whether it is for two minutes or two hours, I visit www.autoblog.com. This automotive news website has kept me as up to date as possible with the latest updates in the car world. And when I say world, I actually mean world, it isn’t just news from the United States that this website reports on. I would estimate that everyday they upload between 10-30 new articles, videos, or links that talk about what is going on today in the wide world of cars. Normally my eyes and heart would go straight for the fun stuff (new Ferraris, large trucks, important lawsuits), but during this independent study I realized just how much micro-mobility was present in the news. My personal blog post about John Mayer and the company Earth Roamer https://sites.psu.edu/micromobility/2015/03/24/a-small-expensive-step-in-the-right-direction/ started here. The Range Rover / Airstream tag team arctic testing https://sites.psu.edu/micromobility/2015/03/25/land-rover-and-airstream-joint-arctic-circle-testing/ started here. Although this may not be the primary reason for this website’s existence, topics surrounding micro-mobility do show their face every once in a while. These articles feel right at home along side other auto news.

My other blog sources of inspiration came from ordinary news based outlets like Yahoo, CNN, and The New York Times. Yahoo featured the article “The World’s Coolest Campers, NOT Named Airstream” which unveiled the Sealander to me https://sites.psu.edu/micromobility/2015/04/07/updated-survey-3-1-the-sealander/. This trailer was one of my favorite examples that I had seen all year, if not my whole life. The aesthetics of the trailer were simple and smart, and the fact that it was amphibious made it all the more magnificent. I think this was one of the most fun blogs I got to write about. CNN and The New York Times lead me to information on what Tesla’s latest endeavors were. How Elon Musk continues to stir the pot in regards to the world’s transportation conventions doing his best to make the world a little bit greener. Granted he gets paid doing all of this (even though he personally made California’s minimum wage last year) I think his intentions are pure and that he will be at the forefront of automotive evolution. These sources also brought me to Harbour Twenty Six https://sites.psu.edu/micromobility/2015/03/25/3-million-miami-boat-slip/, a new style of marina in Fort Lauderdale. It does not help the world as a whole so much but it does prove to be useful in seeing what people with money actually will pay for. This also proved to be helpful if I decide to do something marina/sea based for my thesis which I am definitely leaning towards.

Not only did the articles I write about pertain to our study, but I also think they supplied incite to areas of the culture that are trying to change the norm. Earth Roamer has technology on board their “Expedition Vehicles” that could drastically change and improve the lives of full-timers. The addition of roof-mounted solar panels, extra large batteries, and cassette black water storage, all have the ability to change the current day full-timing ways of life. Why worry about hook ups when there is a chance that one may not even need to? Solar energy is free (the installation and purchasing of photovoltaic panels on the other hand… not so much), but these current day practices do have the ability to change. Tesla’s advances in electric motors and the development of a Supercharging Network can one day find a home inside the frame of other, larger, vehicles like mobile architecture. The days of clean energy is on the horizon and it will drastically affect micro-mobility.

My last post was geared towards tow vehicles https://sites.psu.edu/micromobility/2015/04/22/tow-vehicles/. I thought this post was very important because there is a certain stigma towards tow vehicles that does not have to be true. I think the two common misconceptions are that; A. I need to buy a separate vehicle to tow my trailer or B. my daily driver has to be a big truck / SUV / van in order to tow my trailer when need be. This post gave insight as to what small cars have the ability to tow. I think this probably helped with the Finances aspect of the study more than what I was typically researching but I found it important nonetheless. People can spend money on smaller, more efficient, and cheaper vehicles while still being able to pull a trailer.

 

Aesthetics.

The modern day RV in my opinion is not a pretty sight https://sites.psu.edu/micromobility/2015/02/24/but-why/. Although they are bulky and gigantic, the worst part for me are the added paint jobs and decals. I have ranted about this for a semester now and will assure everyone that it will not stop soon. There is NO NEED for swishes, mountain landscapes, and animal depictions on the side of a vehicle. I have been told, “it is supposed to be reminiscent of wagons moving out west.” This is bullshit. No other industry is so focused on one single event. Items develop over time as technologies and lifestyles change. This is true about everything from cars to telephones. Do we carry around large glass boxes with a sliding door and 4 dollars worth of coins in our pockets because “that’s what they used to do”? No… because now this small rectangle in my pocket can do that AND most things a computer can do as well. Humans are pretty good at letting go of the past in order to progress, it is time to get rid of the swooshes.

Let us compare RVs and trailers to other modes of transportation like cars, boats, and planes. These vehicles are mostly either painted one, maybe two colors, or are left raw for their materials to speak for themselves. I am a firm believer that if RV and trailer companies decided to stray away from the modern conventions of swishes and other nonsense, their customer base would broaden. If lessons were taken from other automotive industries as well as architectural industries, a completely revitalized aesthetic would emerge for RVs and trailers, one that would appeal to a wider audience and cultivate a larger customer base. And people may say that they don’t want this to happen, they like who RVs currently cater to, I think the CFOs of the big companies would most likely think differently.

 

Overall Synthesis of Study.

My classmates told me about this study because they knew I was interested in related fields. I am truly happy that I decided to come on board. It was awesome talking about the topic of micro-mobility with my classmates and professor especially because everyone took a difference stance towards the subject. Different aspects were researched and the information that was shared at meetings I would have never found on my own. The fact that everyone went down a different route made the whole experience a lot more enlightening.

The culture of RVing and mobile architecture has always been interesting to me and with this study it was nice to look at it in a more critical light. It was something I always played around with the idea of doing but never thinking logistically towards it. After this study I can say that my desire to hit the road has certainly grown along with my knowledge of the subject as a whole. The history, culture, and people that live this micro-mobile lifestyle is indeed captivating, but I think the future is what fascinates me most. New technologies in this field are being discovered everyday and these advancements are going to change the lifestyle entirely. From how much money people spend annually, to where they decide to post up for the night. It is going to become more eco-friendly, more accommodating, and hopefully more widely used. I very much enjoyed the subject and people that surrounded this research this past semester.