Solo Car Camping in my Land Cruiser *birthday alone*

This is the setup. I just got this Land Cruiser as many of you saw and it's my birthday this week. I'm turning 30 so I wanted to take myself out on a little off-grid camping trip and of course I don't have a build-out yet so we're just gonna Tetris it together. I got a cooler just totally stocked with food. I've got my battery bank. I've got a mattress folded up. All the stuff for the dogs. Now I just gotta fit me, a 40-pound dog, and a 140-pound dog in here. Wish me luck. Wanna load up? Good girl. Alright big boy. Nice job buddy. Let's go camping, huh? Okay the family is packed. We are on the road and I might be very ill-prepared for this. I just threw in everything that I thought we needed. So, oh there we go. But yeah I'm used to camping in the bus. That was so well planned out. I mean you guys saw that whole build-out process. So now going back to getting rowdy. The weather is not supposed to be great. I really wanted to be camping on my birthday but we're going out a day or two early. The weather will be a little bit better. Even though the weather is gonna be bad and I'm a bit chaotic right now, we're gonna make the most of it. Sometimes you just gotta let the adventure take you. I guess it's kind of poetic that the last few hours in my 20s are just pure chaos and adventure and not knowing what's gonna happen. I think that's pretty reminiscent of my decade. The magical thing about this life is that every moment we're alive is a moment to start over. At 29 I feel like I've already lived a thousand lives. I've seen a thousand places, reinvented myself a thousand times over. Age is a poignant reminder that we're not supposed to stay the same and the more I change the truer I feel. Change of plans. Check out that valley behind me. Oh my gosh. Well it's getting quite windy. It's actually a BLM campground up here and the host said that we're expected to be getting 35 to 40 mile-per-hour winds. My plan was to be camping down in the valley but the sand and the dust kicks up so bad down there that I think we're just going to be up here. I mean why not? Check out this view. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. So we've got the valley, the Land Cruiser, the babes. There's also some trees which is nice shade for the pups because it is warm in the sun. And then check out that mountain view. I don't think this is too bad for an accidental campsite and the fact that I got up that road that I was too scared to go up in the bus. So Land Cruiser livin' baby. Now the real fun begins because I have no idea how to set up camp. This will be the first time. You might need to take refuge in the Land Cruiser sooner than I thought. This is chaos. Alright well I think it's time I give you the grand tour. Gotta have yourself a good pair of camp shoes okay? Gotta have it. So this just lives outside as well as the camp stove. I haven't set up the kitchen because it's all gonna depend on which way the wind is blowing. Alright so this is it from my view. You can see the whole valley this way, the mountains this way. Welcome to my humble abode. I know it's not ideal for most but for me it feels quite cozy. Oh sorry you guys can barely see everything. I have to have the camera inside because the camera keeps blowing over. 50% of this you can't really see but it's just empty because Koji boy is gonna need somewhere to sleep and he's a very big boy so half of this is just left open for Koji. The other half I have this almost twin-size mattress. On this side of me I just have books, extra blankets. I think it's gonna be about 30 degrees. I have no idea how warm the dogs and I are gonna stay in this. On this side of me by the door are just little weapons, my water bottle, etc. Up here, oh you can't even see, I've got my little solar light. Here I've got my headlamp ready to go. Gotta have a headlamp and weapons ready to go at all times. I also made these very quickly but I just got a roll of Reflectix and cut them out to fit all of the windows to just to better insulate, have some privacy. And then this zone is my power bank, my whole tech space. So everything I have is plugged in right now. I've got my speaker, my laptop, I've got a cord for my phone. I even have my Wi-Fi router. She's right here. Yeah, girls got Wi-Fi. Yeah, this is the most chaotic this build will ever be because the bed's not raised which means I can't use any of it for storage underneath and I don't have any pull-out drawers. If I can make this work tonight, with the two dogs, I think I'll be able to make it work with a build-out for sure. Up front I just have a bag of my clothes and stuff. That's a big no-no for me. Usually when I live in the bus, driver's seat is always available, right, in case of emergency if I need to get up and go. I feel like one bag that would be pretty easy to move around. Keys have a special hiding spot that are also ready to go. Right behind me is a bag of kitchen stuff and I can access all the kitchen stuff from this side door. And then Rio's bed is right up here in the passenger seat. I also have this little Mr. Buddy for emergencies in case the dogs and I need it tonight. Worst case scenario, I can just crack one of these back windows and get some heat going. Don't worry, I do have Reflectix for these. I flipped my life upside down. Almost six years ago now, I had hit rock bottom in life and the way I started picking up the pieces of my life and putting them back together again was living in my car. Living this simply. It just puts things into perspective. 86% left and this thing's been on for like 10 hours, so I probably won't even need to plug it in until tomorrow. Maybe when I hit the road again tomorrow and the power bank is charging, I can just plug my cooler in. The whole family's here. We're figuring it out, huh guys? Yeah. Aww, I love you guys. I wrote a poem this morning and if you'll indulge me, I'd like to read it to you. I started praying to the stars, but they only ever say one thing. This moment is all you have. This is all you have. You have it all, so be free. I don't know what this life is supposed to mean, if it's supposed to mean anything at all. All I do know is that when I indulge my life moment by moment, I feel the most alive and the most in love. Loving harder seems to be the equivalent of living harder and vice versa. I am so proud of this guy. He just chills right out of camp. I don't have to worry about him wandering. He just watches and hangs out. Huh? You like the camp life, bud? Live it up, baby. Live your best life, sweetie. A friend of mine and I once made what we called fancy grilled cheese when we were out camping, and now it just feels like a camping must, so I thought my first meal would be fancy grilled cheese. We've got sharp cheddar and gouda cheese. I've got poblano pepper, onion, and mushroom. I like to fry up the mushroom first. And then I usually add arugula, but I only grabbed spinach, which is just not the same. And then we have roasted red pepper in tomato soup. Okay, so the mushrooms are on. I'm gonna add a little bit more pepper. Slap on the gouda on top. Try to hold it all in there. First one done. Making that second one. I always make two. It makes me feel less alone. I feel like a friend can be close by. Oh my god, I might have to eat both right away. The second one. The second one, though. Get those hops, girl. Go on. Hold up. Whoa. Basically, we're gonna make a bunch of these by the creek, or as some people call it, the creek. You're shrimping. I love when he does that with his feet like a shrimp. You're shrimping. You're so cute. You're so cute too, sweetie. Well, we attempted to film outside, but that didn't go according to plan. It is crazy cold and windy. It's about 32 degrees before the wind chill. I had eggs and peppers and avocados planned for breakfast, but uh-uh. I don't want to be cooking out there. I think it'd be hard to keep a flame. Honestly, I might just get dressed. Maybe just hightail it out of here. It is my last official day as 29 years old. It's my last day of my 20s, and I know like my 30th birthday is a big deal, but heck, I've got 365 days left of 30 starting tomorrow. I've only got one day left of 20 of my 20s, so I think we're gonna try to make it count despite the weather. Maybe we can try to find some off-road trails. We'll see how comfortable the dogs are off-roading, huh, Ria? She does not look amused. Last night we did okay. Like in terms of temperature wise, we did fine. Put the heater on a little bit right before we went to bed, and that was perfect, and then I put it on a little bit right when we woke up, and that was fine too. The only person who didn't do so great was this big guy. Poojie doesn't usually sleep through the night. Even just when we're at home, he usually wakes up a few times throughout the night. He'll go from like my bed to sleeping at the front door to sleeping at the back door, and I think this is a bit of an adjustment for him, so we'll see how he takes to it, and we'll find ways to make him more comfortable. Honestly, it went pretty well. The mattress was comfortable. We're gonna make the most of it. We're gonna go find some off-road trails, hopefully. I've never been off-roading by myself. This will be interesting. Hey, handsome boy. How you doing? Sure is pretty out here. All right, Ria, you ready? Let's go for a little walk, huh? Yeah. 69%, and this thing has been just going off its battery for now more than 24 hours. That's sick. Oh my gosh. This morning is chaotic, to say the least. Dogs are eating their breakfast. I'm eating my breakfast. See, this is why you make food for your imaginary friends, because if they don't eat it, you can. Just as good. Look at me. I am a mess. This is the not-so-aesthetic version of me camping. The bus is aesthetic. This is real, baby. Fang's all packed up. Let's get to it. See if we can turn this day around to find adventure, How you doing back there, Koji? burning the notion of who I was supposed to be. I did my best to burn it all, and in the ash, I found peace. I found me. My 30s will hopefully be a time of building, building a life that means something to me, building community, friendships, a family of my own, building a little old house in the Rocky Mountains. But if none of that happens, maybe it will, maybe it won't, at least I'll have the stars to remind me that I still have it all. I really am one of the lucky ones. Oh, that was so anti-climactic. I made some pancakes. I never could have imagined waking up 30 and this being my life, not in my wildest dreams. I had a lot of good times. I had a lot of good times. I'm very proud of myself for that. Oh, baby. I sure know how to treat myself. Look at that, you guys. It sure is a pleasure to walk into this next decade of my life. My 20s were a freaking ride, and I can't wait to see what I get up to in my 30s. We're off to a good start. Cheers to loving radically and embracing the unexpected to come. To 30. Good job. This is what 30s like. I could get used to this. Break the silence, and if you don't love me now, you'll never love me again. I ran out the door to get her. She was holding hands with Trevor. Our hearts are free, so tell me what's wrong with the feeling?