WARNING: This is an incredibly long post, the size of a book chapter. It’s a slice of our relatively challenging lifestyle; the part where we hunted for a different camper for months and pretty much every lead failed. Only proceed if you are curious about how our current, time-consuming and not-so-straightforward camper purchase occurred.

In a previous blog, I mentioned that Mark and I bought a Cirrus 820 truck camper in Vermont last summer (2021) and that this was not our top choice. When in Baja California, Mexico, a month before we sold our Sprinter Westfalia campervan Zesty, we decided to switch gears – from a van to a truck camper – and created a list of our top brands. The number one was a Northstar Arrow U. The Cirrus was our second choice. 

Northstar Arrow U, seen in New Hampshire

Northstar Arrow U for sale

We had seen neither in person. On our long drive to check out the Cirrus 820, we stopped at a dealership in New Hampshire to peek into an Arrow U, which was not for sale. After this quick encounter, we were even more convinced about our preference. We liked the layout, bigger tanks, and affordability of a used one. 

Then, we visited the Cirrus 820 with a private party in Vermont and – for reasons mentioned in my previous post – we decided to go ahead with that purchase. We called the camper Temp, because we would keep looking for a used Northstar Arrow U. After finally finding a heavy-duty pickup truck (in Rhode Island) and retrieving the Cirrus, we equipped both for full-time living and traveling. In mid-September 2021, we – once again – left New England for our migration west, and south, to the Baja peninsula. 

Inflation hit, fuel became much more expensive, our living costs rose, and we found ourselves postponing our winter trip to Mexico with six weeks, to make extra money in Arizona. You can read about that fiasco here. 

Settled at Leaf Verde RV Park, Buckeye (Phoenix area), in December 2021, we were still on the lookout for a Northstar Arrow U, which we felt would be the perfect camper to take to South America. But the prices of that model – and others – had gone up so much that older years were selling for more money than what we paid for our 2017 Cirrus 820 in the summer. This would defeat the purpose of changing over! We realized then and there that going for a much older – and therefore cheaper – camper offered more advantages.

Mark did a random search on Craigslist for truck campers, when he noticed a Lance 830, without a pop-out tent in the back. Its side entry stood out. We researched this model, which was made for five years, from 2008 until 2012. Some models came with a fold-out tent in the rear. Mark contacted the owner, who was asking $18K for this unit. High, because of the inflated “Covid prices.” The camper was sold already, within a week of posting. We had seen it too late and didn’t know enough about this model yet. 

Strangely, another Lance 830 came on the market within days and it was located in Phoenix, 20 minutes down the road. This one had a hole in the side and delamination at the front. Not good. The unit was listed at $7,000. “Who would buy something in this bad of shape?” we wondered. We contacted the owner to have a look at his 830, just to get an idea of its layout and if this model would work for us. He replied the unit was sold; he hadn’t taken the listing down.

We left the US in the middle of January 2022 and spent 3.5 months in Baja, Mexico, keeping a loose eye on ads for certain truck camper models whenever we had reliable internet. 

When camped in Cabo Pulmo, Mark noticed a parked Lance nearby, which had a side entrance. He took the binoculars out and deducted this was a Lance 830. We immediately walked over, but the owner wasn’t home. The next morning, we had an early start lined up to go on a day hike with our friends, Duwan and Greg. I hoped the owner was awake by eight, as he might be gone when we returned from our hike. 

Lance 830 with tent, spotted in Baja.

Monte’s Lance 830 in Cabo Pulmo, Baja California Sur, Mexico

I noticed movement inside and knocked on the door. We were greeted by Monte, a friendly, welcoming man from Oregon. He invited us in for a look. We debated as we didn’t want to inconvenience him. He insisted, so we had a quick tour of his Lance 830. From then on, we were convinced this was our future camper. But, where and – more importantly – when would we find one?