I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do in the next several years and I know I don’t want to be stationary anymore and I don’t want to live in a place that has miserably hot summers as I do now. I’m not currently in a position where I can leave for an extended amount of time but as far as my work life goes I can work from anywhere I have an internet connection.
My plan is to find a surplus M1079 or M1087 (which has dual slide outs in the box). These are equipped with 4-wheel drive and are extremely capable off-road and moderately decent on-road. I’m planning to use whichever one I end up with as a mobile “base camp” and then tow my Jeep Wrangler behind it to use to get further in the back-country and make runs into town so I don’t have to pack everything up all the time. The Jeep is already kitted I out for me to sleep in it with an air mattress from Deep Sleep for Jeeps which is custom made for the back of the Wrangler Unlimited. I’m fairly happy with that setup for now. I’m 6’7″ tall so it’s not the most comfortable but it works for quick trips.
Both the M1079 and M1087 are only available from government surplus auctions so there are some risks in buying one, namely, they may’ve been sitting around in a motor pool somewhere for a very long time. If vehicles sit around they rot and since everything about these vehicles is big that translates to more money to get them fixed. There are companies that specialize in buying these and basically rebuilding them, but as mentioned that leads to more cost. I’m going to definitely spend money on one that is as mechanically sound as possible. Ideally, it would be turn-key to drive across the country as soon as the paperwork is signed. A good thing about them is they’re very simple vehicles and use commonly available parts. You can pull into any truck stop workshop in North America and find replacement parts. That’s also a plus if I ever decide to travel overseas. I have no plans at this time to ship the truck overseas but who knows what the future holds.
I get really excited planning this out. It’s going to be a lot of work and money, of course. The main goal is to find a 4-wheel drive expedition vehicle that can tow my Jeep and be used as a base camp. The actual vehicle may change down the road but this looks to be the most “budget-friendly” way to get into a very capable vehicle without dropping $250k-$500k.