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[nature lover]

#VanLife - i’m not one of the beautiful people, I’m nearly 70 years old and dealing with medical issues that actually put me in a nursing facility for a year. If I went in all the details About my health and fitness, you would agree with most of my friends and family that I should not be living in a van and traveling. But I am. And loving almost every moment of it. i’ve just been watching some of those “why I hate van life” or “why I left van life” videos. They do talk about some of the realities. I do worry about mechanical breakdowns that’s a big thing for someone with an old vehicle and a tight budget. But for the second time in the 18 months I’ve been full-time and I had the worst van life problem ever. I know you all want to talk about it. It’s called diarrhea. Of course I poop in my homemade potty chair with a small bucket lined with Walmart bags and I pee in a jug. Even under normal conditions this is not the most convenient way to do it. But being old and having some medical conditions and medications to take can get messy; Not like that tiny little girl who eats a very sparse vegan diet. She don’t know what I’m talking about. Taking a bath in a basin or just freshening up with “handiwipes” it’s fine most of the time. Don’t worry about it I’m not gonna go into the details. But some of you know exactly what I’m talking about. Disposing of it, cleaning myself up, getting to the laundromat and where to store the laundry before I go to the laundromat, and then scrubbing the van, and ventilation? Oops I went into too many details. For those of you who have experienced this reality you know exactly what I’m talking about. (By the way this post was written as an attempt at humor, sometimes you just have to laugh to get over at all)

God bless the nomads especially when “**IT happens”

 

[crofter]

Time for a pressurized shower, nature. Some use the hand pump sprayer, others a more water hog mini pump. Also prevail wipes ordered from carewell are the very best wipes.

Has anyone tried the white kitty litter for absorbency?

We did have someone on here who solved this but would have to dig deep to find the posts.
-crofter

 

[gizmotron]

God bless the nomads especially when “**IT happens”

I can relate. I'm also 70 and need a very quick bathroom at times. That is why I put a 31 gallon blackwater tank in my van build. It has a short height, low profile, RV toilette on top of it. It has a Maxxfan above with an air source forward in the living room / bedroom space. I placed a shower pan where your feet go and it drains out the back of the van on the ground or into a 7 gallon tank for capture. The entire surface of the bathroom / shower is surfaced in FRP and white silicone calking so that it is completely water proof. I'm building that section only as a pop up so that I can stand up in the shower. When I wash my hands in there I use that water from washing in the toilette for flushing and sealing the bottom valve. If I have to, I bring the gray water around and dump it into the toilette. Everywhere is different on what to do with gray water that never goes into a tank. There is a garden hose out the back of the van for showers that drains directly from the shower pan. I have a 30 gallon water tank just for toilette and shower needs. I only drink bottled water for coffee or beer.  I built the back of the van beyond the bathroom into a tailgate kitchen. There are three main themes to my design. I wanted a place to sleep, a place to cook outside, and a place to quickly go. I got my outdoor shower inside as a bonus for the design. I can cook inside on a folding table if caught in the rain for days. It's my tent on wheels that has everything.  I can stop, set the brakes, and go to sleep without having to put my rig together. I used to have a home made pop up trailer and lived in it for almost 3 years. That is how I know what I wanted. "Form follows function."

 

[maki2]

The way these things are getting written up makes it sound way more complicated than it is. Try using a bullet list instead of long paragrapjhs and sentences. Example

Toilet: bucket with sawdust plus pee jar
Cooking: portable camp stove

 

[gizmotron]

• I can relate.
  
• I'm also 70 and need a very quick bathroom at times.
  
• That is why I put a 31 gallon blackwater tank in my van build.
  
• It has a short height, low profile, RV toilette on top of it.
  
• It has a Maxxfan above with an air source forward in the living room / bedroom space.
  
• I placed a shower pan where your feet go and it drains out the back of the van on the ground or into a 7 gallon tank for capture.
  
• The entire surface of the bathroom / shower is surfaced in FRP and white silicone calking so that it is completely water proof.
  
• I'm building that section only as a pop up so that I can stand up in the shower.
  
• When I wash my hands in there I use that water from washing in the toilette for flushing and sealing the bottom valve.
  
• If I have to, I bring the gray water around and dump it into the toilette.
  
• Everywhere is different on what to do with gray water that never goes into a tank.
  
• There is a garden hose out the back of the van for showers that drains directly from the shower pan.
  
• I have a 30 gallon water tank just for toilette and shower needs.
  
• I only drink bottled water for coffee or beer.
  
• I built the back of the van beyond the bathroom into a tailgate kitchen.
  
• There are three main themes to my design.
  
• I wanted a place to sleep, a place to cook outside, and a place to quickly go.
    
• I got my outdoor shower inside as a bonus for the design.
  
• I can cook inside on a folding table if caught in the rain for days.
  
• It's my tent on wheels that has everything.
  
• I can stop, set the brakes, and go to sleep without having to put my rig together.
  
• I used to have a home made pop up trailer and lived in it for almost 3 years.
  
• That is how I know what I wanted. "Form follows function. "

 

[shadowmoss]

 

[crofter]

 

[user 30781]

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[gizmotron]

Wanderingsoul : LOL

 

[user 30781]

I don't know how to make the dot 'bullet'!

Hmm....

• there it is!

Alt 0149 does the trick

 

[Gypsy108]

stars dot the day sky
invisible to the eye
naked in the night


except for the one
that can make you blind if you
stare too long at it

 

[gizmotron]

This thread is entertaining. Who needs a sitcom.

 

[maki2]

...TMI...

 

[travelaround]

This thread defies description today.

 

[travelaround]

Of course, almost anything goes here and I have nothing of any importance to contribute today -- so, carry on!

 

[Gypsy108]

As far as my stupid attempt with interjecting the haiku poetry :

It just came to my mind when Maki suggested using bullets to emphasize important points instead of long discriptions…

A haiku is a concise form of poetry

so….to condense long posts and get to the point is sometimes better than a long winded post explaining … what could better be understood with an emphasis on 
Important points ….

As far as the content in the poem… it’s just what came to me….lol

:s

That’s MY story & I’m sticking to it ….

 

[user 30781]

I'm done signing up for Medicare!! WOOHOO!!

Just have to find a dental plan now. Vision I can pay for at Costco. Hearing is...well....I went to a LOT of concerts in my day, I think I'm screwed. lol

 

[JohnnyM]

Congrats, Wanderingsoul,

You're gonna love Medicare -- it's a whole new way of livin'. If I didn't have Medicare, I literally could not afford to stay alive. I'm just an expensive guy, I guess. (Well worth it tho, he said.)

Johnny

 

[travelaround]

I have nothing nice to say about medicare. I pay out a lot more than I use at this point . . . all on the gamble that someday I'll use more than I'm paying? Is that how it works? Grrrrrrr........... life is so complicated sometimes.

I was happy to do my errands today.
Get propane for the travel trailer, check!
Pay water bill, check!
Start sewer service again, check!
Retrieve the rose buses I saved on my friend's property and return them to their rightful land, check!

The roses are now in the little greenhouse, and my son-in-law paid me back for the utilities I paid.. that made me happy.

I don't know why the water and sewer services must be paid by the land owner rather than the persons who will be living there.

The propane is heating my little travel trailer again now, instead of electricity. Slightly cheaper, I hope. And rain is coming to visit us for the rest of the week.

 

[user 30781]

I have nothing nice to say about medicare. I pay out a lot more than I use at this point . . . all on the gamble that someday I'll use more than I'm paying? Is that how it works? Grrrrrrr........... life is so complicated sometimes.

Yeah, I'm not happy to be paying out the amount I'm going to be paying out either.  But I will feel better about having it during the pandemic if nothing else. 

Now if only the people my son works with would quit bringing covid to work. :/ I'm going to get a Moderna booster on 11/5. Got Pfizer for my original shot and the FDA has just given the ok for 'mix & match' boosters.