There are truck campers who go skiing for the season in their truck. Skiing all day, lots of warm food in warm restaurants, and a serious sleeping bag.
There are people who live in their truck camper in the swamps in 90/90 weather (90 degrees, 90 percent humidity). No air conditioning. Maybe a fan.
Everyone has their own comfort zone. What’s yours?
Where/how to be reasonably comfortable?
- Test out your levels of comfort. I was fine sleeping at 0 degrees. Not fun for making coffee in the morning.
- Altitude is a great temperature adjuster. You can lose/gain an average 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit for every loss/gain of 1000 feet. I found a great map for elevation data. Just put in your latitude and longitude where you plan to be and the site will give you the elevation.
- Ask questions of others on the road. Listen to the radio. Ask the local librarians, gas station attendants, waiters. Everyone seems more than willing to share climate and weather info.
- To find out if a specific spot will be tolerable check out weatherspark averages. This image below is for the temps in Moab, Utah. There are other graphs for wind speed, humidity, rain/snow, cloud cover, etc.
And know that sometimes you will be cold/hot/wet no matter how extensively you plan.
Enjoy every minute.
Truck Camper Hints 
As long as I have wheels, my thermostat is this.
If you feel you need to run an air conditioner, then you are too far south.
If you feel need to run a heater , you are too far north.
Starting my 22 year on the road, it has never proven wrong.
Boondockboy
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I forgot that Pippa is in Australia, where north means south.
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For me comfort in cold depends on how wet it is too. Living in a camper in the Cold in the desert even down to 4 degrees below freezing is not nearly so bad as hovering around freezing on the Oregon coast in the wind and rain.
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You are so right!
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Many thanks for another useful and informative post. Hope all is going well for you in your travels.
Regards from Australia.
Pippa
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Hope you are traveling Pippa!
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Great post. Thanks for the information.
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Thanks for reading, Chuck.
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Thanks for the links.
One more solution to the comfort problem.
http://www.qsl.net/ve3lgs/temperatures.htm
Regards
Boondockboy
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Thank you Boondockboy! I love that link. Especially the last few sentences: “I found that my tendency was to move north too fast in the spring..So we developed another rule…”When you see the first person cutting grass in the spring, move only 100 miles and you will be on the leading edge of the comfort zone. Then wait there until you once again see a grass cutter. etc.”
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Very informative as well as thought provoking. The journey to minimalism it seems implies a radical change within that adjusts one’s tolerance for discomfort.
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Yup, Fred. Its all an adjustment.
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