This is the Shorts, and you're listening to The Dirtbag Diaries, a duct tape

and beer production, with support from New Belgium Brewing, Kuat Racks, and Patagonia.

To all wilderness wanderers, summer is the peak season for road trips. A time

of endless possibilities, when long sunny days and splitter weather beckoness

into the backcountry. When the mountain passes are free of snow and alpine

crags are accessible, we flock to the hills for some much-needed recreation.

For some of us, our vans, station wagons, and trucks are not just our modes of

transportation. They are our only refuge from the elements. Although hipsters might

gather around your van or refurbish truck and comment fondly on your lifestyle,

using terms like simplicity and minimalism, when you live on the road for a few

years, it's harder to romanticize the situation. Some undeniably splendid

moments occur on the road, yet every up has its down, and the lifelong camper is

no exception. For every eastern Sierra Sunrise, there are an equal number of

dinners cooked in Walmart parking lots. Evening spent lounging beside glassy alpine

lakes and counting stars next to hot springs, are offset by showers and

denny's bathrooms, and the stench of forgotten burritos under the passenger seat.

Life on the road can be great, but it is by no means glamorous. For those who

call the road home, gas money is among the highest fiscal priorities. Going out

to the bar on Friday night is rarely an economically viable option. While the

list of basic needs can be kept short, food, or good food rather, seems to be

among the first things to suffer from the squandering dirtbag's budget. But

there is a solution that lets you drink cheap beer by the fire and make living on

...