Divorced, Disabled, Dad

[DrimbleWedge]

I've been thinking about doing something like this for a long time. Fair Warning, my post will probably be pretty long as I have a lot on my mind. Anyway my divorce really leveled me and I have been recovering from it for quite some time, starting to feel a little better about it though. At first my gut reaction was to simply get in the car and jam, but I forced myself to stick around for two reasons: My daughter was 7 and her mother's lifestyle choices at the time of the divorce scared me so I had to be here to insure her well being. Two, neither one of us can afford to buy the other one out of our house, so I had to either stay and continue to pay the mortgage, or go and risk foreclosure and maybe homelessness, or really crappy living conditions for my daughter. At first I bought an older RV, to park in the backyard, both for living space for me, and as a weekend, or longer, getaway vehicle for small trips. Well the more I tried to fix it up the more I realized I had bought a money pit, that was essentially trying to tell me that it's long haul days were over. I finally gave up trying to make it roadworthy again myself and had it towed to a shop. The mechanic's professional opinion was to just let it go, as any type of real overhaul that it needed would be more than the cost of getting something else that is already roadworthy. So it's just an apartment in the backyard. Time passes and here we are, about four years later. 
Now I  Have recovered financially from that mess, and my daughter is a little older and more self sufficient, and her mother is acting like a mother again. And I find myself thinking about the road. Here are my questions/ concerns. I have an older minivan, the AC needs rebuilt and the rack and pinion needs to be replaced. Due to my disability I have to have AC. I simply cannot drive if I'm too hot, I have MS, and my body shuts down when hot. Not safe on the road. Do I spend my money fixing up the minivan, or start with something else? I think I know what I want to do, but I'm looking for advice. What do you guys think? 
Thank you for reading this far. I wanted to also say that I was a Deadhead when I was younger, spent a lot of time chasing the Grateful Dead across the country, from coast to coast, and this community reminds me of that one. Anyone else think so too? 
All the best to everyone, and good luck in whatever endeavors are important to you!

 

[Van Vliet]

Welcome DrimbleWedge, I'm in a similar situation (SSDI, wanting to get a van, used to chase the Grateful Dead) ..I'm not sure what to tell you in regards to your van other than maybe try to source the needed parts from one of the thousands of salvage yards that will ship those items right to your door. Anyway, welcome aboard, best of luck and know that you're not alone.

 

[rvwandering]

Welcome to the CRVL forums DrimbleWedge! It sounds like you made the best of a bad situation. Fix the old vehicle or buy a different one - that's a difficult question. Perhaps the mechanic that gave you advice on your RV could help with this too.

To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips, Tricks and Rules" post lists some helpful information to get you started.

Most of our rules boil down to two simple over-riding principles: 1) What you post should provide good information (like your introductory post), and 2) Any response to someone else's post should make them feel glad they are part of this forum community.

We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[landyachtman]

As I see it you have the old rig as an apartment,  a mini van that will allow you some mobility as the steering gets fixed and the AC is evaluated for what it would take to make it "dependable".   This would buy you time to find a deal on something newer, fresher, and with low mileage that you could travel in.   But you may not want to be outdoors in the hot summer time months of the year. 

Below are a couple of websites that may benefit you.  The first for fixing up some kind of a rig.   The second is a portal of handy info that could be quite helpful to you.  It is about making travel safer, more comfortable, and convenient.  

When in that Portal website look to right just above the LINKS list and you'll find an animated Map of the USA showing the movement of 70 degree Fahrenheit weather.  At the top of the map it shows the months and days so you can get an idea
of what you would be facing in your part of the country.

 

[eDJ_]

As I see it you have the old rig as an apartment,  a mini van that will allow you some mobility as the steering gets fixed and the AC is evaluated for what it would take to make it "dependable".   This would buy you time to find a deal on something newer, fresher, and with low mileage that you could travel in.   But you may not want to be outdoors in the hot summer time months of the year. 

Below are a couple of websites that may benefit you.  The first for fixing up some kind of a rig.   The second is a portal of handy info that could be quite helpful to you.  It is about making travel safer, more comfortable, and convenient.  

When in that Portal website look to right just above the LINKS list and you'll find an animated Map of the USA showing the movement of 70 degree Fahrenheit weather.  At the top of the map it shows the months and days so you can get an idea
of what you would be facing in your part of the country.

 

[Van Vliet]

@eDJ_, where are those links that you mentioned?

 

[eDJ_]

They are at the very bottom of my post.

vanconversion

edjautoservices

These are known to be in the "signature line". Each post I make displays them.

 

[Van Vliet]

Thanks! I had the option to see people's signatures turned off.

 

[G0ldengirl68]

[quote pid='537041' dateline='1621448841']
All the best to everyone, and good luck in whatever endeavors are important to you!
[/quote]
Welcome, and I am pretty new here myself, had, and have lots of questions as I think about going out at 68 now.  I was a traveler (buy car, just US) when I was in my 40s and 50s too.  Stayed employed off and on through temp agencies, Summer "ranch" jobs, and a nanny "once" for 4 kids, lol   You'll find some neat people here, and very helpful with ideas, Denise

 

[RoamerRV428]

 I simply cannot drive if I'm too hot, I have MS, and my body shuts down when hot. Not safe on the road. Do I spend my money fixing up the minivan, or start with something else? I think I know what I want to do, but I'm looking for advice. What do you guys think? 

Me, and this is IF I ME I would be sell all the crap stuff and buy what you require to be reliable.  
I wouldn't think twice on this at all............IF YOU NEED space, room, more of this feature and that feature and how you want to set up your road life then I would think a bit deeper as in get rid of the stuff I have I MUST put money into that might be unreliable and not what I want and maybe? work..? I would start new here if you can. 

Plus I would think newer vehicle, could your daughter come along on a closer local trip for interaction on this level and think another person in your van if you want contact since after these yrs things are going better in general for ya..........take the kid along and show her another side to life if you wanna be 'that Dad'   nothing wrong with that and wishing you the best!! I am assuming a bit here but your daughter doesn't have to be excluded in your van home setup, again if you want that.