You’ve got mail — or do you?
If you take the plunge and become a FULL-TIME occupant of your RV, life goes on. It still rains, snows, sleets, and hails. (And in our case, it now also leaks.) You still need to receive mail from time to time.
Of course you can always keep a post office box in your hometown of choice. Many full-time RVers establish a residence in South Dakota for a variety of tax advantages. There are probably more South Dakota RV plates than there are actual residents of the state.
In our case, we maintain a brick-and-mortar home in the Deep South. We are “part-time full-timers,” doing the majority of our RV travel in the summer. So, no South Dakota P.O. box for us. And anyway, even if you DO have your own shiny metal mailbox somewhere in North America, you will still find yourself in need of packages.
Many campgrounds — especially those that cater to full-timers — will be happy to receive mail for you. If you need to receive a package via a private carrier like Fed Ex or UPS, you can often just have it delivered straight to the campground office.
When we hit the road for a hearty dose of full-time travel, we often travel with no set itinerary or agenda. Weeks may pass without us remaining in one location for more than a few days. Often we may know which town we’ll be visiting, but not which campground.
So we use post offices to receive packages.
The magic words are “general delivery.”
For those of us who are hardcore nomads, the logistics of arranging a “general delivery” package are sometimes tricky. Before using a post office as your general delivery address, YOU MUST CONFIRM WITH THE INDIVIDUAL POST OFFICE THAT IT IS POSSIBLE. Some post offices are so small, they don’t allow general delivery.
For example, our video was shot mostly in Illinois. I needed to receive a package. I chose Fargo, North Dakota as the destination where we’d receive said package. After making a few phone calls, I settled on a post office in nearby Moorhead. It’s not that big a deal, but it’s certainly more involved than just strolling down to your front doorstep.
Sean, FYI. FEDEX Express and Ground shipments can now be sent for hold at FEDEX Office (A.K.A. Kinko’s) locations. Check out http://fedex.com/us/services/hold.html. Full disclosure, I work for FEDEX.
Thanks Steve, that’s good to know! I will incorporate this info into a future version of the video. (Fed Ex is a great company, BTW.)
Sean SEan SEAn SEAN, what was in the box! I think it was a lens but not sure. I was like cool what’s in the box homes!!! The story of general delivery sooooo took a back seat to WHAT WAS IN THE BOX!!!!!! Pleas please please could you tell us! when you at the last scene looked at the camera and mouthed WOW I was soooo captured I thought you were going show it. I’m like a 6 year old kid I can’t wait. PwEAAASA as Roger rabbit would say.
LOL Matt, my mistake! I guess I should have told what was in the box.
It is a Cavision 0.5x wide angle adapter lens for my Sony EX1. The EX1 lens has a pretty wide angle of view already, but this will double it! It will really help with shooting the interior of the Airstream and other tight spaces.
I just took delivery of it last week in Los Angeles. It seems I am always getting something from B&H Photo Video delivered to a different address.
Actually I was very lucky to find one of these adapters in stock. It is not usually a stocked item and B&H states it “ships within 6-10 weeks” — so I would have been out of luck. We never know where we’ll be 6-10 weeks from now!
OH OH OH I so want your toys!!!!!!!!. Damn that way nice. I can’t wait to see what you shoot with it! Congrats on the new tool.
Matt, I must say that after TWO YEARS I am still enjoying the EX1 immensely. I still find myself exclaiming, “Wow – what a camera!” First acquired it in November 2008! (The old Thanksgiving episode, ha ha)
The only drawback to the EX1 is size & weight. That new lens adapter, for example, clocks in at over a pound by itself. By the time I load up the camera with assorted goodies, it weighs 6 or 7 pounds. Nevertheless, I have used it quite a lot on our travels this year.
I think it might be time for small HD cameras for point of shot cameras. Man I do love spending other peoples money! B&H here you come!