A year fulltiming - what we’ve learned.

[Brian_and_Jesse]

Greetings Earthlings!

We just realized the other day that we’ve been ‘fulltiming’ in our Class A RV for a little over a year, so we decided to take stock of what we’ve learned. I hope this is useful to fellow nomads.

First and foremost, at least for us, RVing in Canada is *nothing* like RVing in the States.

We’re on our 4th RV (over a 20-year period), but until last June we’d only RV’d in the summer months for no more than four months at a time. Now that we’ve wintered in Canada in our rig, WE WANT A VAN!

We have a 27’ Fleeteood Bounder, which we’ve had for six years and are emotionally attached to, but we *hated* wintering in Canada (we had to for personal reasons), we *froze* despite spending $600 a month on propane for our Mr. Buddy Heater - the big one.  (The heater ran 24/7 and perfomed like a trooper, but we had to run it on the medium setting because RVs aren’t wide enough *anywhere* to safely run it on high, despite ample use of reflectic sheeting.) We were less than impressed with our heating bill!

We have expensive -40 degree skeeping bags, but they’re no good for daytime use, as one can’t move around in them enough to accomplish anything productive, so our waking hours weren’t fun!

I’m mostly wheelchair bound, so getting out and doing pretty much anything in the snow was out of the question for me, although not a problem for Brian, who ended up doing all the grunt work, God Bless him!

We *do* tow a little car, so I was able to get to the Whistler Rec Center to swim, soak, and shower every couple of weeks or so. Sure did appreciate that!

We had to stay in the Whistler area because our daughter was seriously ill, and so Brian drove a taxi 5 nights a week from 5PM ‘till 5AM, and I froze all night by myself. (I stayed on the sane hours that Brian was on so we could spend his days off together.)

Because our rig is over 10 years old, we weren’t welcome to park *anywhere* in Whistler, despite all the laws they have saying that it’s perfectly fine. It’s not. They lie, and the municipal patrols literally followed us around making petty excuses why we couldn’t park here or there. (Can’t run a genny, as no idling is allowed, and (get this) you’re not allowed to *sleep* in your vehicle. It’s a Class A RV, for crying out loud, specifically designed for sleeping in it!  Oh, and wherever we chose to park, we were *always* in the way of the snow ploughs. Nonsense, of course, but these prople make up the rules as they go.)

Eventually, in November, we were forced to pay $800+eldctricity to stay at the only RV park that would take a rig over ten years old, but it’s an hour’s drive south of Whistlet, so Brian’s 12-hour days became 14-hour days, in effect, and all I can say about that is: Thank God for FaceTime!

Six weeks after our arrival here, the pipes all froze - not ours, theirs, and then (just for extra fun) their sewer system collapsed, and shortly after that their electric meter blew up, which they had the nerve to charge *us* for! We’ve been operating with a heavy duty extension cord sincd then (to run our computers, phones, fridge, and telly.  We don’t have TV, but we do like to watch our own movies).

Nothing, and I mean *nothing* (short of orders from God Himself) could persuade us to winter in Canada in an RV again.  I WANT A VAN!

And even in a van, we’ll be spending our winters in the Southern States from now until we’re planted!

It’s certainly beautiful here, and we’ve lived in these mountains for over a quarter of a century, but anything other than a well-insulated, extended cargo van isn’t suitable for winter weather.  We might have just laughed it off a few decades ago, but now that we’re seniors, we’re having trouble finding any humor in it!

We’re heading out east for the summer, as we have to rehearse for our upcoming ‘Never-ending’ benefit concert tour, which kicks off in November in Vsncouver... and then we head for Arizona - God Willing!

We have our new van picked out, which should be ready in the fall (it’s new; we just have to customize it) in time for our tour.

I think it’s fair to say that we’ve had a challenging year, but we’d never go back to an S&B exustence. Of all the things we’ve learned this year (and I’ve only listed a few), the most important, we feel, is that we Love the nomadic lifestyle!

Love and All Good Things,

Jesse.

 

[Brian_and_Jesse]

:heart:

Sorry for the typos, folks, but I’m legally blind, so there’s bound to be more of ‘em.

I *did* try to edit them out, with Brian’s help, but it was rather a long post so we missed the fifteen-minute deadline. LOL!

Love - Jess.

 

[QinReno]

Thanks for the very informative post, Jesse. I've had a van for about 6-months now, and have traveled in it for almost 3-months total over 4 trips. The biggest problem is the lack of floor space. Your Bounder is likely to be much better for 2 people doing full-time living. A van would be very cramped, I think.

For reference, I was down in AZ (Quartzsite and central) and NM for 6-weeks in February and March, and it was **nasty** cold - down to as low as 22-degF many nights. OTOH, it was much warmer down by Yuma, along the Colorado River near Lake Havasu City, and over in SoCal near the Salton Sea. Next winter I plan to stay more in those areas.

 

[mspriusV]

The desert weather varies depending on several factors.

1. The altitude. Phoenix is hot and humid. Prescott Valley is very nice - has a nice breeze. Flagstaff is well windy and cold enough for pants.
AZ on the 10 was beautiful with perfect weather a year and half ago, as I headed East; however, coming back it was cold in both NM and AZ.

2. SoCal weather is like the Bay Area - inland is hotter.

3 and so on - usual normal factors for all.


Thanks for stating about your experiences.


Yes, a van will seem more cramped, but y'all should plan the interior built out before starting out. During the build out design process, try drawing it to scale in chalk in some empty lot to allow for trying it out in your chair and how the mods in the space throughout the day along with visually planning packing stuff in it. That idea comes from one of the tiny house builders online. Sorry I don't remember who.

Also for vans, be sure to check into the possibilities of accessibility mods. They vary depending upon the actual van. Please let me know, if you should get any mods covered by insurance.



Good luck and enjoy the new home to be.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[QinReno]

On another thread, I mentioned how I've gone through 2 iterations of the van layout now. Both being temporary. I use it more like a metal tent, than an actual conversion. So no extra insurance coverage. I would recommend trying things temporarily on the road before making them permanent.

The van is a regular sized GMC Savana with bulkhead, not extended, and approx 6'x8.5' of floor space. In the first iteration, I had the mattress (twin size) along one wall and a 20"x48" table along the other wall, but the floor space was horrid even with the mattress flipped on its side (and storage boxes under the bed restacked in the back). I removed the cargo lashing boards, and this actually gives 74-76" of width at 12" above the floor, so I could stuff the mattress (being 8" 3-layer foam) in the very back on boards, also laid temporarily. With a bit of trimming you could actually stuff a double-size foam mattress in there, but would be better in an extended van. Note that, if you go to the trouble to install paneling, you will have only about 68" of width in the van.

With the table in there I now have about 3'x6' of actual floor space, which is great, and allows me to erect a deck chair and work at the table, and also still have room to move around. I've looked at 100s of van conversions, and the biggest problem to me is that, people get carried away building cabinets, etc, and end up with very little floor space. That's my take.

 

[bullfrog]

Yes I remember winter in Eastern Kentucky mountains when I wrapped up in several homade quilts using the RV's propane heater. The window and outside wall condensated and I stayed warm well away from the wall as the quilt ends got wet during the night. What was really bad was the next morning the quilt sides had frozen to the wall and I had to roll over and use my body to melt the ice enough to get out of the bed! That was our last winter in the RV anywhere really cold.

 

[Brian_and_Jesse]

Aaaargh! I keep typing posts and they keep on vanishing. Can anyone tell me what I’m doing wrong? I just spent circa two hours writing a lengthy (but good) post here tonight, which disappeared and I have no idea why. This is my fourth small post - I hope it shows up!

Love and All Good Things,

Jesse.?

 

[WanderingRose]

I don’t know if there is a time out function here, but if you’re writing something lengthy perhaps compose it elsewhere, then copy and paste it here.

Be sure to hit the Post Reply button.

 

[mpruet]

Well, it's going to be tight with two folks in a van - especially if one is in a wheel chair. You might be able to remove the passenger seat, but I don't know if it would be legal then as a two person vehicle. 

The good thing is that you've got a lot of solar and I guess you can transfer much of that to the van.

 

[Brian_and_Jesse]

I don’t know if there is a time out function here, but if you’re writing something lengthy perhaps compose it elsewhere, then copy and paste it here.

Be sure to hit the Post Reply button.

Thank you, Rose! :sleepy: :heart:

I appreciate the pointers but I’ve been posting on the Internet since 1997, and I’ve experienced my share of cyberspace anomalies, but I’ve never had four posts disappear in a row.

It’s probably some nutty Apple glitch, as I posted from my iPhone. I just mind the loss of the time. Time is life, and we’re not getting any more of it on this side of the grave, so I don’t waste it. I don’t waste anything!

Love and All Good Things,

Jesse.

 

[oclisa]

I have to agree that a van is going to probably be too cramped for two people, esp with the wheelchair. I just started traveling in my Class B 19' Pleasure-Way (which is about the same in interior space as a van conversion) and wiith my small dog and cat and only one human (me), I feel cramped. And the poor dog and cat seem to always be in the way and I am tripping over them a lot. I even sense that they feel cramped. If you have the funds, I would suggest perhaps looking at a larger Class B wide body (such as an older model Leisure Travel); that little bit of extra room might make it doable. Or a short bus conversion might be a good option. Many of those, I believe, already have wheelchair lifts, which would make it a practical rig for your situation. Then again, you probably already thought about all this. lol
Also, as mentioned already, the weather in much of SW US is chilly in the winter. Probably not as cold as Canada but the nights in the desert (i.e. Quartzsite and surrounds) can get mighty cold. I was at the RTR in my Class B last year and avoided turning on the propane furnance because I don't like it, but I was freeeeezing in the morning.

 

[Brian_and_Jesse]

Well, it's going to be tight with two folks in a van - especially if one is in a wheel chair. You might be able to remove the passenger seat, but I don't know if it would be legal then as a two person vehicle. 

The good thing is that you've got a lot of solar and I guess you can transfer much of that to the van.

Evening, mpruet (and all)!

We’re not at all concerned about space. We’v had plenty of practice living in small spaces in just about every kind of dwelling one can imagine.  Traveling the world, and working in the missionary field for 44+ years, taught us a great deal about minimalism.

When one has serious mobility issues, the ‘wheelchair’ kind, one basically lives  on a mattress at home, so an extended,  GMC, hightop cargo van won’t present much of a problem.

With a little imagination, one can do almost anything from a seated position on a king sized bed.

Brian and I have owned three vans over the years, one of them a hightop, so we’re familiar with the space limitations.  We had one of those vans when we had four kids under five years old, and we still had lots of fun on short-duration adventures. Our fifth child proved a bit much to juggle, so we just used tents after that.

When we’re in the van I’ll  either sit up front or set myself up on the bed. It doesn’t bother Brian to park himself beside me, so whether we’re working on our computers (we’ll have two highly maneuverable desks/eating platforms/all-purpose surfaces installed) or watching our big screen TV (we *do* like our rainy-day movies), we don’t have a shortage of room.  Besides, our set up is *great* for snuggling too! :heart:

Because of insanely high gas prices, we parked (stored) our RV, and Brian and I spent the summer (wheelchair and all) in our little Kia Spectra, which has reclining seats that served as surprisingly comfortable beds.  We have air conditioning, and a skylight, which both helped a great deal in the scorcher that we had this year.

We clocked circa 7,000 miles, and we had a great time visiting friends and family that we hadn’t seen in decades, and revisiting old haunts as well as exploring new places. We seem to fare well in ‘small.’  We did bring a tent with us, but we didn’t use it.  Our van is going to feel like a mansion, LOL, but we won’t be purchasing it until the end of April (God Willing).  She’s a brand new one and we’re still saving up for the conversion. We don’t like debt. We’re almost 63 and 62 respectively, so I doubt that we’ll either need or want to buy another van.  We’re making sure that this one has heavy-duty, rust proofed everything!

And yes, we have lots of solar, and two gennys.

We’re outdoor people, weather permitting, so I’m either in my (manual) wheelchair, sitting on a blanket somewhere, or relaxing in one of our cheapie chez lounges.  Of course, we carry a double hammock too, which is wonderful when we’ve set up camp somewhere.  We didcovered that this summer!

We were able to fit two guitars, a mandolin, and a violin into Mimi (our car), so given all of the above, I’m sure that our van will suit us nicely.  If we’re wrong about this, I’ll be happy to fill you in on what crow tastes like!

Wishing you a spectacular day!

Love and All Good Things,

Jesse.:heart:

 

[ChileGirl]

What a wonderful couple you are, Brian and Jesse! You have such a wonderful attitude about life. I admire the way you're living and wish I could talk my husband into a life on the road. Sadly, it's not going to happen, so I'm going to part time it when I can on my own, which I'm actually looking forward to. Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I plan to get something like a Honda Element, so knowing that you can both live out of your car for periods of time is extremely encouraging for me!

 

[Brian_and_Jesse]

In my experience, ChileGirl, most people complicate their lives too much. After The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we need clean water, food, a couple (or three) of changes of clothing, and a place to come out of the rain or sun, or whatever ‘unprecedented’ weather pattern we’re in for in any given year.

Healthcare, and perhaps medication are important considerations too, but once you’ve figured out where you’d like to aim your arrows, the minutia isn’t difficult to put into place.

I’m hard pressed to think of a subject that Bob *hasn’t* yet covered in his VLOGS, with the exception of this ‘Mini Ice Age’ (politely, if incorrectly, referred to as ‘climate change’) we’re all going to have battle together.

Got plenty of insulation? Dried foods (rice, beans, and oatmeal etc)? Heirloom seeds for the *indoor* growing of micro greens? We’re all going to need a good supply, and once you have yours - BURY it! People can’t steal what they don’t know you have and the government can’t... ahem... appropriate it!

More later! My phone is about to die (3%), but I wish you the best journeys imaginable!

Love and All Good Things,


Jesse.
XXX

 

[maki2]

Aaaargh!  I keep typing posts and they keep on vanishing. Can anyone tell me what I’m doing wrong?  I just spent circa two hours writing a lengthy (but good) post here tonight, which disappeared and I have no idea why. This is my fourth small post - I hope it shows up!

Love and All Good Things,

Jesse.?

Use a different software app or program to write out what you want to post. Then when you are all done reviewing and editing it copy and paste it into this forum. That way you won't run out of time or have an issue with getting disconnected and have messages lost. Be sure you save as you write. If need be you can even do it with email software where you can save the message as a draft. Then just copy and paste the text from that email draft into this forum. Then you can delete that drafted message out of your email.

 

[B and C]

I use Notepad in Windows for composing a long post. It is plain text so all the formatting garbage of a standard word processor is not copied over too. If you decide to use email as your editor make sure it is set for plain text otherwise the formatting copies over too and makes the post virtually unreadable.

 

[Gr8ful]

Thanks! I'm near a wheelchair & have Li-Ion light weight portable that fouldssmall, goes fast & far if you want. I'll find the info. You can put 4 in a Cooper Mini. I got the HD Here's the link https://kdsmartchair.com/

 

[Brian_and_Jesse]

My goodness, that was five months’ ago!  

I haven’t had any further issues (that I can recall), but I thank you for the ‘tips ‘n’ tricks’ anyway.

I write all my novels in Microsoft Word, on a computer that *never* goes online, and not once in twenty years has anything disappeared, so the problem must be Internet-based.

I often think about all the great authors who wrote their masterpieces in longhand.  Shakespeare and Dickens each used a quill, and Thomas Wolfe, a pencil (high tech in comparison), and prior to the ‘Age of reason’ (a misnomer), writers used twigs and berry juice (and other forms of dye), as did the cavemen who painted on walls.  The Summarian texts, the oldest known form of linear writing, were chiseled in to stone.

Of the tens of millions of books that have been written (circa 130 million *published* works), some brilliant, the most enduring of all were chiseled in to stone, and we still have fragments of them today, many thousands of years later.  Even God used His finger to burn His Commandments in to stone, and Moses was obliged to use stone upon stone to reproduce them.

Ponder long your epitaph; it’s the only thing you’ll ever say that’s important enough to be chiselled in to stone.

Love and All Good Things,


Jesse.

 

[Brian_and_Jesse]

Mods, can you please delete the first version of my above post? It contains a bit of inaccurate information which I was too late to edit out. Post #19 is okay, I hope!

Thanks in advance - Jesse.

 

[Brian_and_Jesse]

Thanks! I'm near a wheelchair & have Li-Ion light weight portable that fouldssmall, goes fast & far if you want. I'll find the info. You can put 4 in a Cooper Mini. I got the HD Here's the link https://kdsmartchair.com/

Thank you so much, Gr8ful!

Brian is going to order one for me. How long does the battery take to charge, do you know?

Love and All Good Things,


Jesse. :heart: