Perfection is kind of a funny thing I guess… they look as good as the digital files did, hows’ that? I was a bit worried, in that the template for the cover design recommended that I do not put any text, titles etc on the spine, since the book was so thin. Apparently 100 pages is thin now!

The book is only about 1/4″ thick, as opposed to the chunky 300+ book I wrote for Desert Storm Diaries. But with that said, my spine text is perfectly aligned… so… happy dance for me right?

So, with that said, the book is now LIVE and available for order now, at CreateSpace.com, hit this link -
https://www.createspace.com/3408109

It will be available on Amazon eventually, probably before Christmas. I’ll be sure to post a link to it there when its listed. But buy it here instead, it will get shipped to you faster… and I’ll make a bit more off each copy too!~ Ha! How’s that for transparency?

From 2009-Amtrak Twitter Urban Camping

Thanks for reading and supporting independent artists and authors!

But first, I need your help testing the process out.

What is supposed to happen, when you click that pretty yellow button, is after the end of the check out process, it will send you to a page where you can download the book. I just can’t test it myself, because I have to log into my account to check out, but its my account, so it won’t let me pay myself!

So go buy the book, read it, and then send me some glowing reviews, so I can post them and then everyone else will buy the book too.

Or, if you can’t make the download work, or the internet explodes, or the book just sucks, let me know that too, and I’ll get it all fixed up for you ok? Of course if the internet explodes, I’m not sure I’d be able to fix that, so we’ll just hope for the best ok?

And, since you’re still reading this far, I’ll even sweeten the deal. If you are completely unhappy with the experience, I’ll even refund the $3 to your PayPal account. And you can read the book for free. Sweet?

Anyway, over the weekend I got the writing done, and edited, and designed the cover, and submitted the files, and had them approved… and drum roll….. Today I ordered the first 2 copies of the book, as proofs.

Oh, but wait, it gets better! My excellent peeps (or perhaps the robots?) over at CreateSpace.com have already printed and shipped the book! This time, yesterday, the book wasn’t even finished yet! It is really mind numbingly exciting how fast this can happen now.

I’ll be sure to post links and instructions on how to buy it as soon as I’ve signed off on the proof. I promise!

But in the mean time, I’ll give you some of the juicy details…

Its 106 pages long. This time I decided to go slightly smaller format, the book is 8″ x 5.25″, the cover is in color, the inside has some gray scale illustrations, maps, etc from the trip. I thought briefly about doing some color pages, but that would have pushed the price up, and its just easier to post all the pictures here on the blog instead!

So, do you want to see the cover? Really? Ok, here it is:

Oh, I can tell you this, the book is much less expensive than the other one. That makes sense, because the book is shorter, and to be honest, I didn’t really want to make a big deal over this book anyway So the price is $9.95, vs $17.95 for Desert Storm Diaries.

Anyway, I should be able to go “LIVE” with the book sales very soon, with any luck by end of this week!

Stay Tuned!
Carlin

Ticket Stubs from the trip. It only cost me an extra $46.75 to go from San Luis Obispo to San Diego, so I figured that was a good idea! The return tickets are a bit misleading, in that the total cost from San Diego to Los Angeles to Tacoma, was $93.50. I wasn’t charged that twice.

The Wi-Fi at Motel 6 was not free, it cost me $2.99 per 24 hour period. But it did work great, so I thought it was worth it! The Trolley Day Pass, at $5 was well worth it too. I would have taken much more advantage of that, except I had so much crap with me, I didn’t feel like getting on and off all the time. That pass also worked on the MTS Bus, and some of the other commuter light rail trains as well. Not pictured is the Coronado Ferry ticket stub, which was $3.25, quite amazing for such a cool experience and an unbeatable view from the bay!

From 2009-Amtrak Twitter Urban Camping

That pretty much covers the West Coast! About 1200 miles from Tacoma, WA to San Diego, CA. San Luis Obispo is label ‘B’ on this map.

From my house in Tacoma to the AMTRAK station is about 3.3 miles. I walked, carrying about 80 pounds of gear for the trip. I didn’t have my cart yet, then.

Epic Navigation Failure! From AMTRAK, I walked North West vs. South West. Added about an extra mile or more! Still carrying about 80 pounds of gear. I’ll buy that cart at Home Depot now, thank you!

‘A’ is AMTRAK station, walk to water, then board Ferry for Coronado, then Walk some more! The Ferry ride was awesome! The walk around the east end of the island, under the bridge, to the beach by Hotel del Coronado was very nice too. Most of that was on a bike path.

The walk from the Coronado Ferry Landing, at the north edge, to the beach by Hotel del Coronado. A better view of the bike path. Highway 75 coming in from the east end of the island is the bridge. That’s a great looking golf course too!

From B, on Coronado beach, to C, at Imperial Beach Trolley Station, is 10 miles. Urg! Long Walk! Most of this walk, going south from Hotel del Coronado, is along a bike path. Then I pass through the bird sanctuary, then follow Palm Ave to the Trolley Station. It was a long, hot walk. Beautiful and so worth it, but long!

Trolley Ride, from ‘A’, go south to Mexico Border ‘B’, then ride north again to AMTRAK Station ‘C’

Shots taken while I was in San Diego

And finally, shots from the train ride home, from San Diego, CA to Tacoma, WA.

Thanks for taking time out of your busy life to gaze upon this blog. I’ll do my best to keep the posts here short and snappy.

What is Urban Camping, you may ask?

I recently Googled the phrase “urban camping” and found a few other websites and blogs, and they had different ideas about what it meant. So for now I’m going to make up my own definition. Think traditional camping, only in a city environment. Homeless people are professional urban campers.

If you could learn to live off the land, how cool would your life be if you didn’t have to pay rent? And rather than living out in the sticks, you’d be right down town. Think of the time you’d save on the commute to your job!

Ok, that’s maybe a bit of a stretch, but consider this.

Earlier this year, I took a trip, from my then current home of Tacoma, WA, by train, down to San Luis Obispo, to shoot a wedding. I “was” a wedding photographer. I say was, because that business pretty much dried up for me. Mostly my fault, but the economy didn’t help either! Anyway, I’m just about finished writing a book based on what I learned from that trip.

I did get to sleep 3 nights in motels, thanks to a friend of mine who didn’t want to see me sleeping out in the street. There were a couple nights I slept on the train. But there were also 3 nights I slept outside, in the open. 1 night in a park, one night on the beach, and the last night in an alley. This was mostly because I chose to sleep outside to save some money. Or said another way, if I didn’t sleep outside, I’d have had to go home sooner, since I didn’t have any money left!

What made that a bit more interesting, is I had about 8o pounds of gear with me, including 2 cameras, 2 laptops, and related accessories for photographing the wedding. I also had to have some nice clothes for the wedding, I had a jacket for the nights outside, and bought a folding cart while on the trip.

There were some long walks in the trip too. I walked from home to the train station, that was the short walk of only 3.3 miles. Then at San Luis Obispo, I walked from the train station to the first motel, should have been a reasonable 3.5 miles, but I went in the wrong direction at first, and managed to add on an extra mile of walking,  through a field, and on the side of the freeway. Not good!

After the wedding I added a couple days in San Diego, so went AMTRAK again, and then got to do more walking, including a 10 mile walk down the Silver Strand from Coronado to Imperial Beach. Then it was a Trolley ride back up to the AMTRAK station, where I slept the last night in the alley, and then a 30 hour ride home.

So, why would I even bother?

I’ve spent years working, trying to keep my business afloat, and never taking vacations. Finally this year, I decided I was going, no matter what. While I can’t recommend this for everyone, I think its worth at least considering! Sleeping on the train is pretty comfortable. If you go with a friend, you’d be a lot safer sleeping outside too. And think of the story you have to tell when you get back.

I mentioned I’m writing a book about the trip. I’ll have it available shortly. In the mean time, I’ll also be putting a lot of content on the blog that will support the book. Photos from the trip, some of my receipts and maps, tips I learned, etc.

Thanks for reading, and Enjoy!

Carlin

PS be sure to follow me on Twitter! @carlincomm