

You can buy one from a cooperating Mercedes dealer (they call it a Getaway) or order a Weekender from Mercedes-approved upfitter Peace Vans. If you want a new camper van like this one, you have two choices. Acceleration from the 208-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four is, yes, a little lackluster, and the seven-speed automatic transmission stumbled once or twice over the mountains, but the Metris makes for an excellent road-trip steed.

The Metris's ride is smooth for a van, the steering as quick as you'd ever want in a tiny RV. Momentum can work to your advantage, too. I navigated the exit ramp, made a right turn, passed straight through an intersection-mercifully, the light was green-and went right again at the station entrance, coming to rest at an open pump. But I was only a quarter-mile from an exit that promised a gas station, so I stayed off the brakes, turned on the hazards, and crossed my fingers. When the engine went silent and the dash lit up 40 miles later, a vision of Lentil and I trudging down the highway, lugging fuel cans, flashed in my mind's eye. The night before, I'd driven 60 miles after the light came on, so I wasn't worried. We'd been on the road for a few hours the next day when the low-fuel warning light came on.

Ahead of Thanksgiving, I spent weeks waffling over whether to attend the multifamily dinner that was in the works before deciding to err on the side of caution, coronavirus-wise. Last year presented plenty of opportunities for well-considered bailing. I've never been on the kind of adventure that could end with my dead body getting its own Wikipedia page, but I've tried to absorb the message. You know Green Boots, the man whose frozen corpse is a landmark on the northeast route to the summit of Mount Everest? That's about the worst possible outcome when you make the wrong decision. It's the idea that if you've spent a lot of time, money, or energy trying to accomplish a goal, you'll be inclined to keep at it even if quitting is the wiser move. If you're going to have an adventure, you'll want to be familiar with sunk-cost bias.
