Full Speed Ahead

It’s 9:00 a.m. on Monday, September 2, 2019—Labor Day—and I’m recharging after a fast-and-furious summer that included trips to Belize, New Mexico, Colorado, South Padre Island, and most recently a five-day excursion to the East Coast with stops to Acadia National Park in Maine, Mont-Orford National Park in Quebec, and Lake Placid in upstate New York.

I completed my revised outline while vacationing in Belize at the end of June and sent a copy to my writing coach, Blake, to review. The outline is a 30,000-word road map that breaks down each of the 63-chapters of my novel into individual synopses. My novel is told from multiple points of view and includes a large cast of characters, so having a reliable outline was necessary to stay on track and avoid getting lost. It’s a venture that took the better part of a year to complete, but an investment of time I believe will pay off once I start writing again this fall.

For years I’ve tossed around the idea of traveling across country to national parks and discovering inspirational settings to incorporate into my book. I had initially planned to hit the road back in 2017 but things never lined up like I had hoped. With my road map now officially in hand, I decided it was time to revisit this idea, upgrade my vehicle, and find something better suited for such a journey.

I knew I needed a large vehicle that would give me the freedom to work remotely, so after weeks of research and countless test drives, I finally purchased a 2018 Ford Transit van on July 5. The 148-inch wheel base, medium-roof Transit will be my home away from home with livable space measuring a whopping 70 square feet! It might not sound like much, but it’s enough room to comfortably fit a bed, kitchen, work station, sit-down shower and compost toilet.

Next, I located a company in Colorado that specializes in van conversions and drove my 20-foot cargo van 800 miles north. I left Dallas on Wednesday, July 17, and along the way camped in Sugarite State Canyon State Park in Raton, New Mexico, and Cheyenne Mountain State Park in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The few days I spent on the road helped me familiarize myself with the van’s capabilities and become more comfortable driving it.

Over the next 60 days, the van company is scheduled to install insulation, laminate flooring, cedar paneling, hard-wood counter tops, cabinets, lighting and plumbing. My van will be self-sustainable for off-grid living and will feature a propane system for cooking, a dual-fan setup for climate control, and batteries and solar panels for electrical independence.

I flew back to Texas on Sunday, July 21, and spent the following week with my family in South Padre Island celebrating my 36th birthday. I feel like the older I get, the faster the years seem to speed by, which is another reason why I decided to take this next leap of faith and purchase the van. I can’t imagine looking back five years from now and wondering what could have been.

It’s also the reason I flew up to Maine on August 11. As much as I wanted to visit the northeast, the real truth behind the trip was to spend time with a woman I met while camping in central Texas. She and I clicked from the start, and when she told me about a trip she had planned to the northeast, I decided there was no better way to get to know someone than spending five days together camping in the wilderness.

And to top it all off, when I returned, I received the following email from Blake regarding my outline:

“My response to the outline is overwhelmingly positive. You have done so much to improve and bring this story to life, and the fact that the outline is so complete and stamped with great characterization and plot is a testament to that. You've added so much to a narrative I already had very positive things to say about when I read the first draft in book form almost two years ago…YOU ARE READY!... Finishing the outline was the hardest part. You have your roadmap, now all you have to do is trust yourself and get out of the way. Don't overthink. Just write…”

Follow me on Instagram at @Joshua_Maven or @HonchotheVan, on Twitter @MaventheRaven or Facebook at Facebook/TheLastImperial.