"Seems ...Unsafe."
TL;DR - Having the Tacoma in Las Vegas is by far the best thing I've done for exploring, ever. The convenience of not having to drive forever at the start/end of a trip is worth it alone. Icing on the cake is that it's been even cheaper than I originally estimated (which itself was cheaper than driving).
Moving the Tacoma to Las Vegas was the best "adventure" decision ever (for me). Everything I mentioned in my previous review still holds true, but I have a couple updates.
Pros
Cost. Previously I thought the cost of driving back and forth (vs. flying) would be about the same, but it's turned out to be significantly cheaper to fly. Granted, this is on Spirit Airlines (which comes with its own set of pros/cons), but the cost has been - on average - about $75 roundtrip, compared to the $250 I estimated (on Alaska). That saves about $700/month ($8400/year), which has cut my overall adventure expenses in half as compared to last year - $15,500 vs $27,924 - with approximately the same number of trips/nights.
Cons
Photo gear. Flying back and forth means that I don't have everything at home between trips. In general this hasn't been a problem, but it is rather inconvenient for all my photo gear (both the camera and drone). To address this, I've begun to shuttle my camera and my RF 24-240mm walkaround lens home between trips, but everything else still stays in the truck.
In this Series
Hi,
I've been following you for a few years and enjoy your blog. When you leave the Tacoma in Las Vegas, is there a long term storage facility or offsite parking lot that that you use/recommend? I live in Maryland and have a 4Runner that I use out west to explore and leave it at or near airports for about a month at a time between trips but Las Vegas doesn't seem to have any of the standard off site parking facilities that most cities have. Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Andy
Hey Andy,
Glad you’re enjoying the stories, it’s always nice to hear when folks do, and I know I enjoy a lot of other trip reports, so it’s nice to give back a bit.
For storing the truck in Vegas, your best bet is to decide if you want something climate controlled or not. If you don’t, then almost any self-storage place, where you can get a 10x20 unit or something, should work, and you can just park yourself in there between trips. If you want something climate controlled, your best bet it to search for something targeted at RV/boat storage. Those usually have waiting lists (I had to wait ~6mo to get a spot, and I have to maintain/pay for it all year, even though I only use it from Oct-Mar), but are of course a bit nicer. I think I pay about $275/mo for the place I use.
Also, if you have it in a climate controlled space, they often have extra services (shore power, wash, etc.) that you can pay for. In a self-storage place, sometimes you can take a screw-in receptacle that you can replace the lightbulb with in order to leave the truck on a trickle charger.
Here’s a list, and then you can figure out what’s most convenient location wise for your trips. Tacoma Storage in Las Vegas (RV, Boat Storage)
Hope that helps!