Welcome to
Tims Traveling Circus
I’m a retired Deputy Sheriff and professional (a long time ago) photographer. I travel all over North America on my motorbikes and in my Mercedes Sprinter van I converted into a nice camper. Home is wherever I park for the night, week, or month! Join me as I wander and enjoy.
BTW…I skip around a lot and this blog is not fancy…that’s the way my brain works 🙂
Quick Navigation
The higher page number is the latest post, enjoy.
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Questions or comments….timtew@icloud.com…or click the link at the bottom of each page to leave a public comment, thanks!
How Did I Get Here
When I retired in 2014 I had all kinds of things…two homes…properties in Florida and North Carolina…and all the trappings many of us have. All accumulated over 62 years of working, saving, and building. One day in 2018 I was sitting on the porch at my home in NC and realized I really wasn’t that happy. I was spending tons of money supporting everyone but myself…the insurance people, yard people, tax people, roofing people, people and people and people. All so I could maintain and keep all the stuff working. That’s when I decided to cash it all in and start supporting myself. I had Social Security income, a nice pension from my time in Law Enforcement, savings, and investments (I’m an Apple stockholder among others). And…most importantly I was completely out of debt. Everything that didn’t make me happy was sold, given away, or thrown away. When I was all done it felt wonderful. I only kept the condo in Fl as my Legal Domicile as the taxes there are a well under control. I bought a brand new van, converted it into a nice camper (the link to the build is below), and hit the road…life is good.
Travel Videos and Stories
- My Youtube Channel (lots of videos and more on the way)
- 2019 Travels
- 2018 Travels (Alaska again)
- Coffee and New Friends
- 2017 Alaska
- Tiny Bike to Alaska 2016
- The Mercedes Sprinter Adventure Van Build
A bit about the van. I bought the thing as a basic cargo van and spent 4 months doing the conversion myself. I learned as I went and had tons of help from good knowledgeable folks. It has most of the features you’d find in a home…bedroom, kitchen, toilet, living room, and entertainment center. There is no proper shower installed (takes up too much room) but I do have a hot water heater with a separate pump and shower head I can hang off the rear doors to shower out in the boonies. Here is a link to the complete van build….Tewster’s Adventure Van Build
https://3stephideaway.com
A Few of The Bikes (I’ve owned tons but these are some of my favs)
Morning Coffee
Several hundred thousand of you folks have asked about my morning coffee routine. I HATE pouring hot coffee into a cold mug so….here’s what I do.
- fill mug with water to measure the amount of water
- pour water into Jet Boil Zip…heat
- pour hot water back into mug to warm it up
- while mug is warming put coffee in filter and drip thing
- pour water back into Jet Boil…mug is now hot
- pour 2.794 oz of milk into hot mug
- re-heat water then pour into drip thing and let sit for 3.78 minutes
- while coffee is brewing put small spoon in pocket to warm it up so when I stir the coffee to mix the milk it doesn’t cool off
- enjoy the coffee….easy
- No…the mug and dripper are not being heated by the stove 🙂
Keeping Clean On The Road
It’s really easy to keep clean on the road. I do have a shower system installed in the back of the van I can use when needed…but…showers are everywhere!
Truck stops like Fying J, Pilot, and Loves have wonderful showers and do cater to the traveler. The showers are cleaned between each user and include fresh towels. All you do is go to the fuel desk, ask for a shower, give them $12, and they will give you a number. When your number is called, go to the shower with your number, enter the code on the door, and proceed to get clean and pretty…easy. No time limit and plenty of hot water!
Many State, County, and City Parks have showers. If you’re staying there you’re set. If you’re just traveling though you can stop by and ask if you can use the shower facilities. Most of the time the attendant will say sure go ahead…sometimes they may charge $5 or so to help keep the things clean.
Other places:
Recreation Centers
YMCA’s are everywhere, get a membership for $50 a year
Planet Fitness, $10 month,use the showers and park overnight for free at most locations
Friends places…don’t abuse their hospitality
When you’re traveling in the desert it’s usually cool and dry in the winter. You don’t sweat a lot. Using Wet Wipes between showers is an easy way to stay clean. It’s called taking a “whore’s bath”…again easy. Sometimes I may go several months between showers 🙂
Questions or comments….timstravelingcircus@gmail.com
This is awesome Tim. I am glad your finding your next phase. I will always appreciate your details on adv and your channel, it sure helped me move into my ADV phase of my riding now that I am retired and have more time. I find it interesting that your comment on the 4 wheeler . ” see places off he beaten path that I could never get to or want to try to get to on my bike.” What aspects of the 4 wheeler do you feel are better suited than the bike for more aggressive terrian? I am interested as I am considering to add something like yours to park in Ariz for exploring as well. Cheers brother.
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Hey Stephen, thanks for leaving a comment. I can never fall over and break a bone (well I could but I have a proper roll cage around me) with the buggy…the buggy will crawl over stuff and go through stuff the bike would never be able to do with my ability.
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Hi Tim, likes the way your brain works 🙂 Allways a pleasure to follow your projects and adventures. Keep up the good work and enjoy – as I know your good at…
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Hi Tim. If you were going to do it again, would you do the conversion yourself, or would you just buy a class b or c sprinter rv?
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I’d do the conversion myself…that way it’s built the way I want with the quality I want..you wouldn’t believe the crap construction on some of the factory ones when you look close behind the walls and cabinets.
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Hi Tim, I hope you are well and safe from the pandemic. Awesome you got this website as well as advrider and your YouTube channel ( busy man ).😀
Coffee and new friends is still my personal favourite, but enjoy your work and the feeling it transmits through the screen. Stay in touch, and all the best from me here in Denmark 🇩🇰.🏍
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Hey Claus good to hear from you. All is well here and I’m really enjoying being on the road. One day I’ll see your patch of Heaven!
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Tim, I bought a coffee grinder as well and was hoping for the best coffee ever. I was disappointed. Going back to buying a can of Cafe Du Monde in the Blue can. Much easier.
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This is awesome!! I’m gonna be off from work for a while for surgery. I’ve watched your videos several times. Thanks for letting me know about your blog. If you ever get thru southwestern Indiana, look me up. 😊
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Morning Melvin…hope all goes well with your surgery…thanks for following along…if I get through Indiana one day I’ll give you a buzz!
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I will make sure to have some Snackwell vanilla cookies or some oatmeal cookies. Oatmeal is my favorite. 👍👍
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Haha thanks Melvin!
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I’m curious as to all of the bikes you’ve had, what’s your favorite? I’ve had a few myself. Kinda miss the Hayabusa I had. Right now I have a 2007 Harley Sportster 1200C and a 1983 Yamaha XJ900 SECA. Gotta say the Yamaha is prolly my favorite. It rides so much better and smoother than the Harley.
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My favorite of all was my 1990 Honda VFR750rr…known as the RC30…regretted selling it now for decades.
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Have a question about 3 Step Hideaway. Been thinking about checking it out since I first saw it in your videos. I’d wanna go out in the late fall or early winter. I’d be happy just listening to the crackle of the fire in the wood stove. With them being off grid, how hard is it to check on availability? It would just be me. Sorry if I’m bugging you. My dad traveled and camped a lot while he was still alive. If he got bored and went for a drive, he would end up in South Dakota or something like that. I miss him dearly. Watching your videos time and time again makes me think about his travels. I can’t thank you enough for sharing your journeys.
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You can see everything on their website 3stephideaway.com
They have phone service and internet. You’ll love the place.
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Good morning. Safe travels to Florida. No surgery so far. Been doing physical therapy. Will be stuck home till middle to end of November. Thinking about taking a small getaway for a couple days. Haven’t been anywhere in quite a while. The Smoky’s keep calling my name lol.
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