Smokey Da Vardo?

No, I haven’t just bought an extravagantly painted and decorated Romani vardo wagon to tow behind my van and live in while giving up the motorcycle I previously carried there. This belongs to my buddy and campmate Jenn, who just bought it yesterday. Her Jeep is not yet equipped to tow, but with some difficulty (specifically, removing my motorcycle carrier), my van is, so I towed it back to camp for her after she did the deal (my very first time towing with this van, by the way). It’s pretty darn cool. I’ll let her show you around.

I’ve picked out the parts she needs at eTrailer.com to hook this up to her Jeep. She’s ordered them, and I’ll install them when they arrive. It looks even easier than on my own van, which was pretty easy in itself with Trisha’s help. The Jeep Wrangler has a pretty low towing capacity due to its short wheelbase, but the vardo is relatively small and light, particularly with its canvas roof. I could barely feel it behind my van, so her Jeep should handle it just fine.

I haven’t traditionally focused much on other people’s rigs here, but this one is so awesome I have to give it some virtual ink, and possibly a video as well if she’s willing. I’ll be particularly interested in showing it off once she’s made her updates and changes before she hits the road again in two weeks. She plans to stick with the basics for now, then add more sophisticated things like a solar/electric system piecemeal over time as she can afford them. But this is proof that you don’t need anything sophisticated like I have in order to live and work on the road.