DiploStrat
Expedition Leader
Our driveway has never been the same since Jim left. Y'all come back, hear? 
Jim the Truck - a mercedes 1823
- Thread starter nick disjunkt
- Start date
nick disjunkt
Adventurer
Our driveway has never been the same since Jim left. Y'all come back, hear?
Would love to, and I've contemplated looking for employment in the US many time since leaving. The main thing which puts me off is the vacation allowance most companies offer. America is one of the greatest countries on the planet to travel and explore, but you can't see much of it with 10 days a year!
DiploStrat
Expedition Leader
Used to be a great country!
US labor practices, including pay and vacation time, are getting worse and worse. Any further comment would require adult beverages and get us banned. ;-(
US labor practices, including pay and vacation time, are getting worse and worse. Any further comment would require adult beverages and get us banned. ;-(
nick disjunkt
Adventurer
Hi Anton,
Yes we're living in London again. We have a house in Tottenham, which fortunately came after the purchase of Jim. It took a while for the estate agents to realise that we were not talking about a Hilux sized vehicle when we said that we wanted parking for our truck. We ended up telling the estate agents that we would only consider houses with parking beside the house, or road access to the rear. They showed us a lot of houses with narrow alleyways to small rear garages, and many of the houses had enough space but insufficient area to manoeuvre the truck into it.
It was a massive struggle finding a place with space to accommodate a large truck, but we eventually landed on our feet and found somewhere with road access to the back garden. We just replaced the rear fence with a gate and put some gravel down. Jim occupies about half of our back garden, but it's preferable to having a front drive, as he would no doubt attract a lot more attention.
There are not many areas in London where we could have parked Jim on the street without it blocking the road or being major source of complaints. At any rate, most local authorities with parking permit schemes will not allow you to register anything bigger than a small 3.5t van for a permit, and unrestricted parking is becoming harder to find.
Getting onto my drive can be a struggle depending on where people have parked on the street.
Iain_U1250
Explorer
We found the same problem when looking for a house in Melbourne, eventually found a house where we could park the truck next to the house. Having an truck does make things difficult some time
loonwheeler
Adventurer
So very true! We are in the very process of building a house on a piece of property we bought. A big part of the decision to go in this direction was parking for our truck.
nick disjunkt
Adventurer
I've uploaded a final blog post on our trip
http://jimthetruck.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/lochs-beinns-and-heading-south.html
I wish we'd had longer to spend on this trip, there is a lot to see in the highlands, and we didn't even touch on the Cairngorms or the east of Scotland.
The highlight of the trip for me was the Loch Torridon area. It is quiet and beautiful in a classically Scottish way, and view from Beinn Alligin over the loch and beyond was mesmerising.
Jim did great. We now have to work out what modification are required to cope with an additional family member as we have a kid due in January. The front doors are more of escape hatch than an easy way of getting in and out due to the modifications Jim got in his life as a cash-in-transit truck. There is therefore no easy way to fit an additional seat in the front as we need to be able to climb in and out of the cab between the seats into the back. We have a side facing belted seat in the back, so it may be that we fit the child seat to the passenger seat in the cab, and Naomi sits in the back. I've no idea how a child seat will work with the air seat in the cab, but I can dump the air out and have it sat on the base if necessary.
http://jimthetruck.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/lochs-beinns-and-heading-south.html
I wish we'd had longer to spend on this trip, there is a lot to see in the highlands, and we didn't even touch on the Cairngorms or the east of Scotland.
The highlight of the trip for me was the Loch Torridon area. It is quiet and beautiful in a classically Scottish way, and view from Beinn Alligin over the loch and beyond was mesmerising.
Jim did great. We now have to work out what modification are required to cope with an additional family member as we have a kid due in January. The front doors are more of escape hatch than an easy way of getting in and out due to the modifications Jim got in his life as a cash-in-transit truck. There is therefore no easy way to fit an additional seat in the front as we need to be able to climb in and out of the cab between the seats into the back. We have a side facing belted seat in the back, so it may be that we fit the child seat to the passenger seat in the cab, and Naomi sits in the back. I've no idea how a child seat will work with the air seat in the cab, but I can dump the air out and have it sat on the base if necessary.
nick disjunkt
Adventurer
Back in the mountains, this time a few miles off the Susten Pass in Switzerland. Spot the truck?
nick disjunkt
Adventurer
Back in France in the haute Jura area
nick disjunkt
Adventurer
nick disjunkt
Adventurer
Hi all,
It’s been a long time since I posted anything here, as my travels have been less and less frequent.
Jim has spent the last year being dormant and it’s taken me that time to sum up the courage to put him up for sale.
FOR SALE PAGE
Having converted the truck myself, and having never been in the market for a ready-to-go vehicle, I have no idea what it is worth. I have listed it for £30k, but I would be grateful for your opinions on whether you think I am asking too much or too little.
It is a specialist vehicle in a niche market and I realise that it may take some time to sell, even if I price it correctly.
Here's a photo of Jim under a glacier in Switzerland last year, to keep this post interesting.
Many thanks for any advice.
Nick
It’s been a long time since I posted anything here, as my travels have been less and less frequent.
Jim has spent the last year being dormant and it’s taken me that time to sum up the courage to put him up for sale.
FOR SALE PAGE
Having converted the truck myself, and having never been in the market for a ready-to-go vehicle, I have no idea what it is worth. I have listed it for £30k, but I would be grateful for your opinions on whether you think I am asking too much or too little.
It is a specialist vehicle in a niche market and I realise that it may take some time to sell, even if I price it correctly.
Here's a photo of Jim under a glacier in Switzerland last year, to keep this post interesting.
Many thanks for any advice.
Nick
Last edited:
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