Good Evening?

[bLEEp]

Hello fellow travelers!  
My wife and I are preparing to head out on the road in spring.
I am a rather experienced road rat, my wife not as much, by she is pretty hardy.  The last of the kids are graduated and we are kicking him out when we leave.  We are planning to liquidate most of our assets and trade our two current vehicles in.  Purchase the van, do our little renovations and split.  
At this point we are creating a "van bible"; making lists, things we need to buy, things we have, ideas, places..... So on.
If anyone could point me towards some checklist type posts or idea threads I'd be grateful (~);-}

 

[SUV_RVing]

Welcome! What part of the country are you in now? What kind of van are you going to get?

 

[ArtW]

Welcome to CRVL!

 

[WriterMs]

Welcome Bleep (and your spouse!).

Before I ever explored this forum part of Bob's website, I had found his book on Amazon. I read it and Bob's blog posts and became convinced I had to give the vandwelling lifestyle a try.

It is not exactly a list, but you can get Bob Well's book "How to Live in a Car, Van or RV" and find logical chapters describing the basics and more or every area of vandwelling knowledge. There is a picture of the book on this site's home page you can click to order a digital or paperback copy.

Also, if you note the second line of headings at the top of this site, you'll find one labeled "How-To Article." Another great source to make your own checklists.

 

[cyndi]

Welcome to the CRVL forums, Bleep! When I first moved into my van my priority list included a bed, a cooler, a stove, and internet. At the top of the priority list now is solar and a 12 volt fridge. My advice is to start with the basics anddecide what's necessary as you go. Most of us end up throwing a lot of stuff our or giving it away. We think we need way more than we do and a van fills up quickly.

To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips & Tricks" post lists some helpful information to get you started. We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[BobBski]

Welcome

 

[eDJ_]

Welcome to the CRVL Forum  

As for a Van Bible/check list,  I'd welcome you to check out my sites below.  You may find some ideas in them for your list.

 

[rvpopeye]

Welcome aboard Bleep!
I agree with the others.
Look through this site and read as much as you can.
Post any questions that come up as you go.
We're not Radio Shack but if you have questions , we have answers !

 

[TrainChaser]

Read Cyndi's post again^^^.

 

[highdesertranger]

welcome bleep. somewhere on here there is a list thread. but I think the best advice for beginners is the advice that cyndi gave. highdesertranger

 

[bLEEp]

Thank you all for the warm welcome!
I've been perouzing the site for the better part of the day and the wife and I spend most of our free time reading, researching and discussing our needs and making lists. I'm so glad to have found you all here. I look forward to learning and sharing with what seems like a pretty amazing group.
As far as vans are concerned we are going to try to get into an ext as there will be two of us.
I am also rather tall so a little extra room would be nice. Any advice as to where we could look for something a little older? We are far from wealthy people so we have to pinch every cent. It seems most places on the web have only late model vehicles.

 

[akrvbob]

Are you looking at Craigslist? You can set the price range of the search so that only ones in your budget come up.

 

[Gary68]

whats your general location and budget? i will put it on my list and send you a pm or post in the trading post section

 

[DannyB1954]

Welcome to the tribe. Some people travel the world with a backpack, so it is really all about what you will need to be comfortable. A lot will depend on where you go, but good insulation is helpful everywhere. It reduces your cooling and heating needs. a place to cook and sleep is the start. Shower and toilet needs can be as simple as a bucket, (make that 2 buckets).
Under the top of this page just under where it says HOME BLOG, FORUMS, is a list of helpful tutorials.

 

[bLEEp]

whats your general location and budget? i will put it on my list and send you a pm or post in the trading post section

Hello Gary.
I am in Missouri and we are looking to spend 2-3k.
I really appreciate all the help everyone here has offered.  This is a great group.

 

[VanGrrl57]

Welcome to the tribe. Some people travel the world with a backpack, so it is really all about what you will need to be comfortable. A lot will depend on where you go, but good insulation is helpful everywhere. It reduces your cooling and heating needs. a place to cook and sleep is the start. Shower and toilet needs can be as simple as a bucket, (make that 2 buckets).
Under the top of this page just under where it says HOME BLOG, FORUMS, is a list of helpful tutorials.

Yep. I live in my 1988 Chevy Astro Van and I originally did it to cut expenses since student loans and other bills were killing me. I now love living in my van and as long as I can eat properly and sleep, it's all good. I work at a homeless shelter so showers, laundry, etc are no big deal. My boss knows I live in my van and has no problem with it. I do keep 2 buckets for toileting needs if I'm somewhere that there's no public facilities to use. I also find that not having a bunch of stuff is a lot easier. 

VanGrrl57