God Help Me!!!

[townline]

Hello, I left my dwelling 2 days ago to try living in my 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan. I tried first to go to a campground in my state but it started raining and I mean down pour 6 inches in 35-40 minutes. It was humid and i was trapped! I completely lost my mind and instead of sticking it out I left. When I got to the nearest town water had taken the roads over! I just drove through it (stupid I know) but everyone else was. It rained almost the whole way back to where I originally lived.
What is wrong with me? Is what I kept asking myself. I have to get a bigger van that I van move around in. All I kept telling myself is I’m a failure, an *****, and loser.
I like being outside with nature, listening to leaves blowing and wind blowing, a chance to maybe see wildlife.

Help in Missouri (MISERY)

Do You have ventilation?I have a Maxxfan and some rain guards on the front windows and crack the windows a bit . Without a cargo barrier like mine You would need screens. You may also be able to remove rear seats and use the basement area. my wife has a Caravan and it is much longer than my van but roof is lower. With a battery you could run everything and recharge at the campsite. My first nights in my van were at Rutherford beach LA. at New years and nights were very long. Windy rainy and about 50 degrees. I had 2 18 amp batteries to run the fan and recharged at a campground when needed. I have the 2nd no build in it now and still upgrade and change things.

 

[Steve]

Do You have ventilation?I have a Maxxfan and some rain guards on the front windows and crack the windows a bit . Without a cargo barrier like mine You would need screens. You may also be able to remove rear seats and use the basement area. my wife has a Caravan and it is much longer than my van but roof is lower. With a battery you could run everything and recharge at the campsite. My first nights in my van were at Rutherford beach LA. at New years and nights were very long. Windy rainy and about 50 degrees. I had 2 18 amp batteries to run the fan and recharged at a campground when needed. I have the 2nd no build in it now and still upgrade and change things.

Window rain guards are a must in that tight a space, IMHO.

https://www.autozone.com/vent-visors-bug-deflectors-and-truck-cover/side-window-deflector

 

[Ken in Anaheim]

Get in touch with HOWA and ask about their "beginner groups"
https://homesonwheelsalliance.org/

 

[keebler]

Hello, I left my dwelling 2 days ago to try living in my 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan. I tried first to go to a campground in my state but it started raining and I mean down pour 6 inches in 35-40 minutes. It was humid and i was trapped! I completely lost my mind and instead of sticking it out I left. When I got to the nearest town water had taken the roads over! I just drove through it (stupid I know) but everyone else was. It rained almost the whole way back to where I originally lived.
What is wrong with me? Is what I kept asking myself. I have to get a bigger van that I van move around in. All I kept telling myself is I’m a failure, an *****, and loser.
I like being outside with nature, listening to leaves blowing and wind blowing, a chance to maybe see wildlife.

Help in Missouri (MISERY)

relax these type of day happen to all of us. i wish you the best. keebler in virginia rain coming here all weekend.

 

[keebler]

whoa my reply over took his message

 

[Inti]

Window rain guards are a must in that tight a space, IMHO.

https://www.autozone.com/vent-visors-bug-deflectors-and-truck-cover/side-window-deflector

Yes, it looks like someone stuck inside without rain guards, the same thing happened to me on my first trip, so I bought these - https://www.weathertech.ca/en/dodge/2016/grand-caravan/side-window-deflectors/ - and am happy to this day. They just slide into the window, that's how:

 

[maki2]

Speaking from the experience of having been through quite a few strong storms since going full time:
Head phone set and an audio book or a few good movies to stream really helps on those shut-in stormy days. Blocking out the noise the wind and rain makes while distracting your focus onto stories really helps to get through those long hours. Reading a book does not work nearly as well. Covering your ears up with a headset and the distraction of the other sounds is what works best.

 

[eDJ_]

First time outs are often called "shake down's". Yours was a tough one for sure, but it sounds like you learned what a lot of newbie's have yet to encounter. It's all fun & joy when it's blue sky and 70 degree weather but the old Boy Scout motto, "Be Prepared" rings
true whenever hitting the road. So dust yourself off and give the two
links below some attention. They were created to help those like yourself and provide for safety, comfort, and convenience.

That picture of Mandela that Morgana posted sums it up nicely.

Good luck on your next time out.

 

[Tony's Dream]

Getting clobbered with 6" of rain in an hour is something else and would have probably mentally impacted anyone, but it is just another day. Mother name does throw temper tantrums from time to time and you do have to ride them out in van life. You don't have that secure feeling that you would have in a bricks and morter home, but at the end of the day you are safe. You rejoyce in the survial, log it in your diary, and start your day anew.

 

[maki2]

Yesterday was the first of the strong monsoon season thunderstorms. Noisy fireworks in the sky, some very close by plus very heavy rains and strong wind gust. It will now be a fairly frequent event for the next 5 weeks. It gets tiresome for sure. But at least it keeps the temperature liveable.

You will have to adapt to many different things when you start a life of boondocking. Some people can adapt but not everyone. Boondocking is not especially easy to adapt to if a person suffers from panic attacks but neither is life in a city. It is just trading one set of stressors for another.

 

[KarlH]

Hello, I left my dwelling 2 days ago to try living in my 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan. I tried first to go to a campground in my state but it started raining and I mean down pour 6 inches in 35-40 minutes...

Upper Midwest weather can get exciting sometimes But having driven through some horrendous storms in cars less capable than yours, the only weather events that really caused trouble were flooding and crosswinds greater than 40 mph. (A parked car will tolerate a lot more wind than that, I would guess two to three times the wind speed.) Very large hail and tornadoes are the other two serious dangers that come to mind, but in 40 years in the Midwest and the Mountain West I've never seen either.

The dangerous weather events that I have seen every single year are extreme heat and cold. That's what I would worry most about.