First Night

[kylakemike]

Greetings all. Wanted to give the forum an update. Spent my first night out last night. Purchased a Mr. Buddy heater, a 750 watt cheap inverter from Harbor Freight (temporary) and cables to run to my battery. Watched the NFL playoffs streaming wifi from my cell phone to my laptop. Beautiful location on Kentucky Lake and free. Primitive but safe and secure. Felt very normal and completely doable. Building my electrical system over the next couple weeks. Gotta figure out the toilet situation and need to build a bed. Also need to figure out storage and pare my belongings down.

Lessons learned so far:

1. Organization - gotta work on that
2. Condensation from the heater - need some advice
3. Refrigeration and food - Cant keep buying ice and using a cooler.
4. Using my data plan for streaming is going to get expensive - Can't afford that and need to work on an alternative

I want to thank the excellent members of this board for all of the information and encouragement. I went from a "no way" mentality to actually doing it.

Bring on new experiences! Night two coming up!

 

[Patrick46]

Hiya Mike!

Welcome to the forum!

Congrats on making the first big 'move'. It can be pretty daunting if you're not ready. (mostly mentally)

as for your condensation issue...it sounds like your van is NOT insulated. That's the biggest problem, so you need to get some sort of insulation in there...especially on the ceiling.. Also, propane gives off H2O, so that'll make your rig sweat too.

Patrick from Oregon

 

[rvwandering]

Glad to hear that your first night was good!
Streaming video does eat up data so no matter what you have to be careful but check out Millenicom . I believe that they use the Verizon network and 20G for $70.00 is the best deal out there.

 

[kylakemike]

Thank you Patrick. I suspect you are correct. I will check out the insulation first thing. Tony and Karen that is an excellent tip. Thank you so much!

 

[akrvbob]

For organization I am a big fan of plastic drawers and totes. They are cheap, light and really do organize you. Another great choice is used furniture from thrift stores. Especially dresser drawers and desks.

Streaming data for entertainment is generally just too expensive. But I will second the Millenicom plan and say it is a great service!! You want the plan for $70 for 20 gigs. The unlimted one is not really unlimited. They will throttle you back so much that it is dial-up speed and unusable. The 20 gigs is a true 20 gigs at full speed. It is the best deal on the market.
bob

 

[peacetara]

Yay for first night!!! I agree with everyone else's comments, but am including more too

I haven't had a fridge or cooler in almost 2 years now, it's totally doable without one! (Tho I do want one someday) Search the forums there is lots of posts about fridges, they all seem to recommend the 12V electric ones, they come in various shapes and sizes.

750 watt inverter might be plenty, depending on what you are trying to power, no sense in buying more than you need, especially if you can move everything you use to 12V! (Inverters waste about 30% energy).

Organization can also be done with duffel bags, tho what bob says is also very true. My van came with a wall of shelves, so I haven't had much need, personally.

Insulation is definitely something to do. I recommend the 4'x8' foam boards you get at hardware stores (most of the time you can cut to fit snug and not need anything to hold it in place!), but people have uses reflectix, bubble wrap, etc. Also, you can buy felt material by the yard (walmart, or craft store ), fold it over and use it to cover your windows, works amazingly well as insulation and black out material for the windows! Search the forums for gobs and gobs of other options as well.

Remember to keep a vent open for your Mr. buddy heater, it likes fresh air, and that helps with the condensation too. Oh, and I recommend in the winter going farther south where it's warm, so you don't even need a heater really! (Typing this from the south western desert, where it's 70 degree days right now! )

Hope your second and every other night is at least as successful as your first!


With love,
Tara

 

[papas34]

I'd like to hear more about 12 volt coolers, mine was an energy hog.....
Propane is much more efficient in mho, but expensive and I do not know how they would fit a van.
I found it was easy to do without a cooler last winter while in Q.

 

[peacetara]

I'm not super smart, but my understanding, propane ones require the fridge to be level or mostly level. Yuk.
I'd suggest you search the forum; up top, just type in fridge, then you can read all about them, from people that are way smarter than I am about them.

 

[ccbreder]

If you get a 12 volt cooler, be sure it is a compressor refrigeration. not heater/cooler. You can also run a dorm type fridge on a inverter. Many will tell you how imposable this is, but many more are doing it every day. You need ventilation to combat condensation. even with insulation the moisture will be behind it. if you can afford a roof exhaust fan, do it. with 4 to 500 $, you can get a thermostat controlled rv heater that exhausts to the outside of your van.

 

[drewman230]

I use Sprint for my cell phone. I have unlimited data and everything else. I roughly use about 50 to 60 gigs a month. To my knowledge I have never seen a slow down in my speed. The cost is $80.00 per month, I get 20% off that price because employees of the company I work get a discount.

 

[kylakemike]

I use Sprint for my cell phone. I have unlimited data and everything else. I roughly use about 50 to 60 gigs a month. To my knowledge I have never seen a slow down in my speed. The cost is $80.00 per month, I get 20% off that price because employees of the company I work get a discount.

Now that's what I am talking about! Thank you for your input.

---

Tara that is fantastic input. Thank you so much!

 

[rvwandering]

Careful with the Sprint plans Mike. Their coverage is not nearly as good as Verizon. If you plan to stay in major cities you'll be okay but otherwise check the maps before buying.

 

[drewman230]

Careful with the Sprint plans Mike. Their coverage is not nearly as good as Verizon. If you plan to stay in major cities you'll be okay but otherwise check the maps before buying.

True. For me I stay in the cities. It may not work for everyone.

 

[jeanontheroad]

"...need to build a bed"

A van is a small space. Life's activities take space. Why do all the set-ups I see have a regular, permanent mattress? There are good inflatable ones available.we've got some we use for company that have lasted for years. They are space efficient, comfortable and take mere minutes to inflate or deflate. When that space is not a bed, it can be used for other things - perhaps a port a potty area.

 

[idn88]

Not an expert on coolers or fridges, but this time of year add and extra layer of insulation inside your cooler and find a way to put it outside at night. Stay out of it but once or twice a day, and a bag of ice will last for days.

 

[peacetara]

I went over a year without a proper bed in Ferdy, I finally built one a few months ago, and got a mattress.

It's still sort of meh for me. I didn't really need the storage space, and I'm still not utilizing the space underneath even remotely efficiently. I'm still trying to figure out how to re-organize everything to deal with multiple levels now( before there was only the floor level, but now I have a bed level and a floor level). Suddenly I find myself wanting to raise my heater and my stove, so that I can sit on the bed and cook, etc.

I think it does make it seem more homey, I tend to spend more time IN my van now that I have a proper bed (full size mattress). I like the homey feeling, but not sure I'm a fan of more time inside, and less outside enjoying the world. I don't want to become a shut-in, ya know?

Overall I think the most important aspect of building a bed is the storage space you get underneath the bed. Generally people in vans want every single inch of space they can scrape up. Me, I I have too much now, and under the bed is just a giant mess of whatever now, and it needs to be tamed.

Oh, one other thing of note, in Cali at least, but perhaps other states too, if you bought a commercial van, and want to change it into an RV, the DMV requires a permanent bed, or other such thing that makes the van unusable for commercial purposes. The benefit to getting out of commercial registration is it's way way cheaper to NOT be registered commercial. For me, that's the deal breaker, after I had to pay registration again, I said never again will I pay the commercial rates.

Anyways, that's my take on the bed situation, I'm sure other people might disagree with me!

With love,
Tara

 

[jeanontheroad]

Peacetara: storage underneath

me: One thing I was thinking about was a a platform thing where 1/2 of it was drawers or bins and the other half was kept open. The inflated air mattress could be on it at nite, then deflated and put away so the platform became a desk or sewing table or other work area. The computer equipment/sewing machine/other stuff could be tucked into the open area when a bed is needed. Another solution would be a bed platform that was hinged in the middle that housed a port a potty when folded and supported a mattress made in 2 sections when it was open. The cushions could be stacked to make a seat, with a table unfolding from the wall to make a desk/eating/work area. Same drawers or bins under the part that did not unfold.

If I was making the setup, it would be simple and straight forward f. If DH was making it, it would be more extravagant.

 

[akrvbob]

For me there are a couple reasons why I decided against a movable bed:

1) Like Tara said, I want the organization underneath.
2) I'm lazy and tearing down the bed every morning and building it every night would just be a burden I didn't want.
3) I set up my bed to be my lounging place with a backrest and pillows. It's also my office where I sit and work at the computer.
4) Inflatables are generally too cold in cold weather. A backpackers pad would be okay but less comfortable and more of a hassle to set up and take down.

However, I think all the couples I know who lives in vans have set up a movable bed. You just have to have the space during the day.
Bob

 

[jeanontheroad]

Akrvbob: bed as office or lounge area

me: no way would that work for me. I can't read or watch tv in bed. Don't know if it is psychological or if my bed is just too comfy, but I am asleep in minutes if I am in it. But I can understand that breaking down and setting up every day might be a pain for some, even if a sleeping bag was used instead of sheets and blankets. We did something like this when we had our van. I made an insert for the sleeping bags out of sheets with snaps to keep them in place. The bags stayed cleaner and did not pick up body odors or oils. We also still got to enjoy that fresh-sheet feeling after they were washed. In a van with two large people, we really did have to be able to break the bed down and give ourselves space.

 

[Unchained]

I'm with Bob, for some of the same reasons:

1) Setting up/taking down a bed everyday would be a pain, esp when I will have to hold a job at least some of the time.

2) If you've ever slept on an inflatable bed in really cold weather without a LOT of padding under you, you know how cold they can be.

3) I've had a lot of air mattresses, and have never found one that is comfortable enough for me to want to sleep on it every night.

4) Every air mattress I've had has sprung a leak sooner or later, and with all that inflating/deflating and sleeping on it every night, I'm guessing that it would be sooner. Then you have to repair or replace it.

5) I despise beds that are in sections. No matter what, some part of my anatomy always finds that place right between the cushions and I don't sleep well.

For me, as a single traveler, it just makes more sense to have a permanent bed that doubles as a lounge. I may go the Murphy bed route, but that's about it.