First time vandwelling snowbird here

Van Living Forum

Help Support Van Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Fun2bme

New member
Joined
Jan 1, 2022
Messages
4
Reaction score
5
I had been dreaming of traveling around in an RV or motorhome for several years (watching Bob's and others videos) and now it's finally happening although with a van instead. I left the Northwest at the end of November and am currently spending time with a friend in central California and will be in the Quartzite/Yuma area within a week. It feels scary to me yet exciting and adventuresome. Thankfully I grew up camping and have some experience car camping as an adult but have never camped on BLM land.
I was originally going to get a full size van like a Ford Transit or Nissan NV 3500 however better gas mileage won out and I ended up with a Ram ProMaster City. So far I absolutely love it. I did most of the no build build myself. I didn't want a lot of wood in the van and I wanted to be able to take everything out easily if desired. Maybe eventually I'll do some pictures or video.

Thanks and maybe I'll see some of you down the road.
 
Welcome to the CRVL forums Fun2bme

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 are more similiar then you know! I went with a 2016 Ford Transit Connect cargo van for the gas mileage too. I have a cuboard mounted on one side, the type that would be mounted above a fridge. I added an RV window on one side and a roof vent. That is all permanent, everything else can be taken out to allow us to use the van for hauling things. I average 28-30 miles per gallon.
 

Attachments

  • Resized_20210513_172829.jpeg
    Resized_20210513_172829.jpeg
    486.2 KB · Views: 15
I started out
I had been dreaming of traveling around in an RV or motorhome for several years (watching Bob's and others videos) and now it's finally happening although with a van instead. I left the Northwest at the end of November and am currently spending time with a friend in central California and will be in the Quartzite/Yuma area within a week. It feels scary to me yet exciting and adventuresome. Thankfully I grew up camping and have some experience car camping as an adult but have never camped on BLM land.
I was originally going to get a full size van like a Ford Transit or Nissan NV 3500 however better gas mileage won out and I ended up with a Ram ProMaster City. So far I absolutely love it. I did most of the no build build myself. I didn't want a lot of wood in the van and I wanted to be able to take everything out easily if desired. Maybe eventually I'll do some pictures or video.

Thanks and maybe I'll see some of you down the road.
I started out with a full-size school bus. But it didn't fit parking spaces at all. *Ha!* Also, heating it in Colorado winters was next to impossible. But I learned a lot. I have something much smaller now, a 1998 Chevy Express 3500, which I very well insulated against the cold with lots of Havelock sheep's wool, and installed an actual propane furnace. (I had learned my lesson about cold weather.)

I love my van, but I think what you have done is better, and certainly gives you far better gas mileage. I must "slow travel" to not go out of budget with gasoline. And it will give you far far fewer headaches over time than a motorhome. Those things are not built to last, always springing leaks to let the rain dampen your spirits, and a lot more. I feel confident you've made the wisest choice. Happy camping.

Like everyone else, glad to have you with us! Oh, I love the lush green of the Northwest you came from and want to take my van there come Spring. It's "heaven" there for me.
 
We are more similiar then you know! I went with a 2016 Ford Transit Connect cargo van for the gas mileage too. I have a cuboard mounted on one side, the type that would be mounted above a fridge. I added an RV window on one side and a roof vent. That is all permanent, everything else can be taken out to allow us to use the van for hauling things. I average 28-30 miles per gallon.
I don't have any cupboard. I just installed an open shelf unit. Keeping things on the shelf with bungee cords at the moment, no issues so far. Yea I get about the same for gas mileage, highway driving anyway. In the city it goes down to about 24-25. I'm also carrying a tent so I can expand my living space outdoors.
 
I have something much smaller now, a 1998 Chevy Express 3500, which I very well insulated against the cold with lots of Havelock sheep's wool, and installed an actual propane furnace. (I had learned my lesson about cold weather.)

Like everyone else, glad to have you with us! Oh, I love the lush green of the Northwest you came from and want to take my van there come Spring. It's "heaven" there for me.
I did not do any insulation yet. I have spent some cold nights in the van but not so cold I couldn't tolerate it. If I'm stuck somewhere that bad I'm checking into a hotel/motel otherwise I will move where it's better. Eventually I'd like to at least fill the holes/gaps with wool or something.

Northwest WA is beautiful especially the Olympic peninsula and the Cascades. I just couldn't handle the late fall and winters there anymore and the older I get the worse it feels. This fall was the worse I've experienced in 30 years, almost non stop rain since the end of September.
 
Yeah, you pretty much have to love the quiet and living peacefulness of the rain, which I do. I stayed in Beaver, WA (near Forks) followed by a couple more years in Bellingham, WA.

For now, you're on a new adventure and are learning from it. But I hope eventually you'll get something that stays dry and warm even on the cold rainy nights up there, so you can take it all in again and love every cold/rainy minute of it!
 
I did not do any insulation yet. I have spent some cold nights in the van but not so cold I couldn't tolerate it. If I'm stuck somewhere that bad I'm checking into a hotel/motel otherwise I will move where it's better. Eventually I'd like to at least fill the holes/gaps with wool or something.

Northwest WA is beautiful especially the Olympic peninsula and the Cascades. I just couldn't handle the late fall and winters there anymore and the older I get the worse it feels. This fall was the worse I've experienced in 30 years, almost non stop rain since the end of September.
I forgot to make my message above into a reply to you, so this reply is only to make sure you about that message.
 
I'd love to see some pics of your no-build ProMaster City van. I'm debating between that size and something larger - they seem so small from the outside though!
 
Like you, I cannot wait to get out of the Pacific NW. Living in the Willapa Hills area about 20 miles from the Ocean we get tons of rain and wind, terrible flooding here a few weeks ago. Looking forward to spending some time in AZ with my Mom and then depending on time of year, try to find a caravan or just spend some time learning on my own. Watching some of the videos, I think a van is definitely the way to go vs an RV... just watched a video where the person thought they had repaired a roof leak, but the other side started (have heard this is an issue). Safe travels from a fellow Washingtonian, see you down the road!
 
We are more similiar then you know! I went with a 2016 Ford Transit Connect cargo van for the gas mileage too. I have a cuboard mounted on one side, the type that would be mounted above a fridge. I added an RV window on one side and a roof vent. That is all permanent, everything else can be taken out to allow us to use the van for hauling things. I average 28-30 miles per gallon.
kinda' makes me want to go for a Connect since I'm not having any luck with finding any van right now....but I have dogs so I think we'd be pretty cramped in there! LOL
 
It is also my dream, to travel and explore with my favorite car is a very wonderful thing
 
Top