4GNomad
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Imperial Shuttle Update - 04/18/16
10 Days In The Van...
So far so good... Besides the initial cold I had the first weekend, I have now fixed the issue as I mention below. I am now working almost full-time relying on outside Wi-Fi sources between Starbucks and our Local Library System during the week. It is quite comfortable and my intention was to never work full-time in the van anyway as I like to stretch out at these places and work in the convenience of central heat/air during the day that these places provide.
I am still in the process of cooking and eating full time from the van. Dinners I have been doing some limited skillet runs with and am looking to do more healthy dishes once I learn some more recipes. Lunches right now consists of Subway's current promo of a $3.50 6" inch sub. They offer a different sub each day of the week at that price. Since I load up the veggies on these sandwiches, it is a pretty good deal.
Overnights have been out on the street in front of my sister's house in Sparks, NV as I know I won't get harassed there. The neighbors and HOA security know my van and where it parks from when I was actually living there. It is a quiet street as long as I get up and moving by 8:00 AM before the suburb wakes up and starts their commutes to work.
I do plan to branch out and start boondocking on weekends at NFS/BLM sites starting later this week. I plan to stay at these Fri/Sat/Sun nights and I'll just drive back into town on Monday to start my work week. I will also dive into some urban stealth camping too. Reno/Sparks has several areas to stay overnight with all the casinos, truck stops, etc. I plan on trying some apartment overflow parking as well.
Most of all, I am having fun! Glad I decided to go full-time when I did.
Second Insulation Layer Installed
I have been enjoying the weather down in Reno/Sparks and it has allowed me to get some work done on the van. I spent last weekend installing and finishing the second layer of 1/2 polyioso insulation on my van walls. It turned out really good and am now deciding if I am going to go another 1/4 inch or not as there is some room still between the van wall and where the side paneling will mount on the sidewall frame beams.
You can see the insulation above and how I still have a little room to go to get to the edge of the sidewall beams. Also bought a Lingerie Dryer bag to use as a veggie holder, complete with a pink zipper.
Light System w/Remote
I picked up a puck light system from Costco a few months back from a company called Capstone. It was made for under kitchen counter spaces, but bought it as it had a remote with dimmer controls. Each puck runs on three AAA batteries and is providing a great amount of light for the van space. I equally spread out the six lights down the sides of top support beam of the van so they were symmetrical and have the one near the side sliding door pointed down to give me light on the step and ground in front of the door. I call it my porch light.
I don't know how long the batteries will last on these, but I usually just run them at the 10% dim setting as it sets a nice ambient light in the van. The video below shows more details on the lights and the dimmer effects. I have velcro on the remote so I can attach it either in the front or back of the van depending on where my head and arms are. Each light also turns on manually so I can just turn on one light to do that "van business" during the night, if needed.
The lighting is just a temporary solution to light the entire van until I get solar and house batteries set up. I can then move these lights inside storage once this is in place.
Cooler Size Reduced
Initially, I purchased a 40 quart cooler to use to store refrigerated goods. I found a lot of empty space was not being used so I reduced my cooler down to one of these 18 pack coolers as seen below. It has enough space to hold my cheeses, Almond Milk, and other items that need to stay cold. I am using those bigger blue freezer bricks to keep it cold so I don't have to use ice. The bricks seem to last longer then ice and don't produce water to make things wet when they melt. For now, since my sister is close I have just been rotating the blue ice bricks using her freezer to keep my ice costs down at the moment. Once I start traveling, my ice budget for sure will increase, but I figure I can get 3 days of ice cold refrigeration using this cooler and a 5 lb bag. I do plan to eventually get a Dometic Fridge down the road.
Manual Water Pump
I also added a manual water pump for my 3 gal bottle for water needs. Between this and my 48 oz Nagaleen bottle I fill daily at the filtered water station at the library, it is filling my water needs for the week.
I did get a new bed as well to move away from the air mattresses I have been using and buying the past year, but I'll share my experiences with it on my next post once I get some sleep time on it.
What's Next!
I hope everyone is doing well and has a great week. I plan on working on the roof insulation next as well as getting the sidewalls put in so I can construct my bed frame. Take care... Live Simple & Enjoy Life!
10 Days In The Van...
So far so good... Besides the initial cold I had the first weekend, I have now fixed the issue as I mention below. I am now working almost full-time relying on outside Wi-Fi sources between Starbucks and our Local Library System during the week. It is quite comfortable and my intention was to never work full-time in the van anyway as I like to stretch out at these places and work in the convenience of central heat/air during the day that these places provide.
I am still in the process of cooking and eating full time from the van. Dinners I have been doing some limited skillet runs with and am looking to do more healthy dishes once I learn some more recipes. Lunches right now consists of Subway's current promo of a $3.50 6" inch sub. They offer a different sub each day of the week at that price. Since I load up the veggies on these sandwiches, it is a pretty good deal.
Overnights have been out on the street in front of my sister's house in Sparks, NV as I know I won't get harassed there. The neighbors and HOA security know my van and where it parks from when I was actually living there. It is a quiet street as long as I get up and moving by 8:00 AM before the suburb wakes up and starts their commutes to work.
I do plan to branch out and start boondocking on weekends at NFS/BLM sites starting later this week. I plan to stay at these Fri/Sat/Sun nights and I'll just drive back into town on Monday to start my work week. I will also dive into some urban stealth camping too. Reno/Sparks has several areas to stay overnight with all the casinos, truck stops, etc. I plan on trying some apartment overflow parking as well.
Most of all, I am having fun! Glad I decided to go full-time when I did.
Second Insulation Layer Installed
I have been enjoying the weather down in Reno/Sparks and it has allowed me to get some work done on the van. I spent last weekend installing and finishing the second layer of 1/2 polyioso insulation on my van walls. It turned out really good and am now deciding if I am going to go another 1/4 inch or not as there is some room still between the van wall and where the side paneling will mount on the sidewall frame beams.
You can see the insulation above and how I still have a little room to go to get to the edge of the sidewall beams. Also bought a Lingerie Dryer bag to use as a veggie holder, complete with a pink zipper.
Light System w/Remote
I picked up a puck light system from Costco a few months back from a company called Capstone. It was made for under kitchen counter spaces, but bought it as it had a remote with dimmer controls. Each puck runs on three AAA batteries and is providing a great amount of light for the van space. I equally spread out the six lights down the sides of top support beam of the van so they were symmetrical and have the one near the side sliding door pointed down to give me light on the step and ground in front of the door. I call it my porch light.
I don't know how long the batteries will last on these, but I usually just run them at the 10% dim setting as it sets a nice ambient light in the van. The video below shows more details on the lights and the dimmer effects. I have velcro on the remote so I can attach it either in the front or back of the van depending on where my head and arms are. Each light also turns on manually so I can just turn on one light to do that "van business" during the night, if needed.
The lighting is just a temporary solution to light the entire van until I get solar and house batteries set up. I can then move these lights inside storage once this is in place.
Cooler Size Reduced
Initially, I purchased a 40 quart cooler to use to store refrigerated goods. I found a lot of empty space was not being used so I reduced my cooler down to one of these 18 pack coolers as seen below. It has enough space to hold my cheeses, Almond Milk, and other items that need to stay cold. I am using those bigger blue freezer bricks to keep it cold so I don't have to use ice. The bricks seem to last longer then ice and don't produce water to make things wet when they melt. For now, since my sister is close I have just been rotating the blue ice bricks using her freezer to keep my ice costs down at the moment. Once I start traveling, my ice budget for sure will increase, but I figure I can get 3 days of ice cold refrigeration using this cooler and a 5 lb bag. I do plan to eventually get a Dometic Fridge down the road.
Manual Water Pump
I also added a manual water pump for my 3 gal bottle for water needs. Between this and my 48 oz Nagaleen bottle I fill daily at the filtered water station at the library, it is filling my water needs for the week.
I did get a new bed as well to move away from the air mattresses I have been using and buying the past year, but I'll share my experiences with it on my next post once I get some sleep time on it.
What's Next!
I hope everyone is doing well and has a great week. I plan on working on the roof insulation next as well as getting the sidewalls put in so I can construct my bed frame. Take care... Live Simple & Enjoy Life!
