greetings planet earth!

[tensacross]

hi--
i've been lurking for a while but this is my first post.
a little backstory..
im basically a climate refugee.
i used to live on the top floor of an old building in midtown.. id been unemployed though for about 7 months when superstorm sandy struck on my birthday and blew my roof off.

so, that was convenient... not.

i evacuated and went downtown, ended up helping out with occupy sandy while trying to figure out what to do, because after all i was now homeless with no money. few weeks go by, then totally randomly got a call for a job in atlanta. and they'd even put me up in a hotel. wow! ok!

i do graphic design for films, so it was temporary, but once i was here i found an apt , figuring id stay and look for another job here when it ended. after all i had nothing to go back to.

then the job ended and since then, nothing. no work!

and im tired of struggling. im tired of being a wage slave just so other people can get rich . i think there's a kind of insanity in our culture that i need to escape. and obviously climate change is a mofo. i need to change my lifestyle.
and that lead me to bob's book and that lead me here..

and my melancholy has slowly turned to excitement....

i thank you all for this forum and your kind words and good hearts.

<3 <3

im poised finally to get a vehicle ...
forgive the bad photoshop on the left but these are my contenders..

any thoughts or advice?
would these get about the same terrible mpg?

i'm 6'7" and i NEED to be able to stand. i know i wouldnt be standing often but i dont fit in a lot of places and my "home" is somewhere i need to fit
also i have a kitty who loves to climb so she'll need somewhere to sit and look down upon me.

what i like about the box truck is its already got an inverter and lights in the back, and it would be much easier to build back there. and its easy access to the cab from inside the box. and even tho its only about a foot longer than the van, its got 10 more square feet inside and feels more spacious. like a room, instead of a van.

but then i think, is it too much? harder to drive/maneuver? mpg a LOT worse? i wouldnt need a commercial license for the box truck would i?

but then i think, does it make sense to buy an old van and install a big top on it? if u gonna do that, why not just get the truck?

ive been looking also for a sprinter mega-roof but no luck... that was my only other option i think for something that would fit me.

low impact on the environment is important to me which is why they're both diesel. i want to try the wvo conversion at some point.
and eventually im gonna get solar panels.

in theory, boondocking appeals to me but ive never tried it. so i dont know. i know the box truck be a bad choice for that?

i look forward to getting to know y'all. xx

-Derrick

---

forgot photos!

here's my choices, and of my old apt from next door a few weeks later climate change is real, folks!

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Welcome to the site.
Sandy made a mess of lots of people's lives and its hard for those of in other places to know how it still impacts so many. Hope things smooth out for you.
We've seen some really nice boxtruck builds. Don't need a special license to drive a private truck, but some states (like NY) require they be tagged as commercial which restricts parking in many cities there. Those trucks aren't all that hard to drive and get around. Some long vans don't get very good mileage after they are built out and loaded, especially if they're under powered. Mileage is often a trade out for having more room in your wheel estate.
A well fitted boxtruck or stepvan can make a dandy boondocking rig.

Regards

 

[rvwandering]

Welcome Tensacross!

The box truck will give you many more options and room for your build so that would be my choice however you have to consider the parking situation that bindi&us pointed out. If you'll be parking on the street in cities the van would be better. If you'll be in big box store lots it doesn't matter. If you'll be in private RV parks the van might be better - we don't stay in them so this is just a guess but some might be picky about non standard RVs. If you'll be in federal parks it doesn't matter. Either would work just fine for boondocking but the box truck will have much more room for water storage tanks, batteries and solar panels. Neither will get you way back in the boonies but both will get you in as far as necessary.

 

[Janet100]

I thought about the box truck myself (newbie here) because I am just 5'2" and I could have practically a second floor bedroom built in that truck.

But it would not be good for urban living, which is what I need to do for a while. So I am opting for a van that blends in better, can be parked near work without my boss raising an eyebrow, or I can stealth camp in the city at night.

If I was not forced to hang around the city all the time for work, and having to find places to park it at night, I would do the bread truck. It would be so much nicer to live in.

 

[AltTransBikes]

Hello and welcome! Not sure what the head room is on the Sprinter models but many tall high top vans top out at 6'2". I have a wheelchair mobility van and it's tall, 9' outside vehicle height but still 6'2" inside.



hth

 

[Patrick46]

Hiya Derrick!

well, (once again), I'm gonna beat my drum about how I think a stepvan is the neatest thing since sliced bread!

For such a tall feller, you can find one with plenty of headroom to suit your needs, and in what ever length you fell like working with.

In a stepvan, you sit higher than most traffic, so visibility is great...especially when tooling through a National Park...you get to see EVERYTHING!!

You can find 'em in gas or diesel, and in just about any budget range. (I 'would' reccommend finding one that's aluminumn as you don't hafta deal with rust, and the lighter weight makes it better on fuel.

Square body makes parking a snap, and easy to build in.

and on a sunny day, buzzing around with the doors slid open is just so flippin' fun!! (why do you think the UPS man does it??)

Welcome to the asylum!!!

Patrick from Oregon


btw....any clues on your TAG name??

 

[blkjak]

welcome from s.w. florida .... blkjak

 

[tensacross]

thanks everyone for your replies! i ended up going with an extended cargo van because of its versatility in parking in the city and so forth. not sure yet if ill regret that decision :/

i culdnt find a step van that had a comfortable front seat for me, tho they were tempting..

that said i do regret getting the van i got because even tho i paid a mechanic to look it over on a lift and everything, it broke down on my drive home. in the middle of nowhere. in the middle of the night 2 weeks ago during that snowstorm on a highway
so yea it hasnt been fun so far.

the only good thing is i made a deal with the dealer that if anything went wrong on my way home, he'd pay for the repairs.. and he did!

still -- my confidence is really shaken. it was scary to me. being from nyc ive barely driven before and being stuck on a desolate highway in mississipi in the middle of the night during a snowstorm, well, it sucked.

BUT moving forward, next step , im looking for a used high top. fiberine has one thats 34" tall! but new its too much for me to get.
then to insulate, ill probably use styrofoam as that seems cheapest and easiest.

Patrick, you asked what "tensacross" signifies, its short for 'tens across the board", from the gay ballroom scene in new york. if u ever saw the doc "paris is burning", if you get 10s across the board it means you looked and performed fabulously.. sort of like the olympics scoring ha..

 

[Blue]

How much did you pay for the van? High tops can be really expensive, I'd probably start checking with auto wrecking yards, just start making the calls. Find someplace that has a van with a hightop being scrapped then pull it and pay for or do the install yourself.

I wouldent buy one new... it might cost more than your van did. Another thing... you might want to look at canabalizing (theres that word again!) a smaller RV at a wrecking yard, had a friend that did that and got a propane heater, non-condenser fridge, propane water heater/pump/shower etc, and a bunch of other stuff still in working order for about 1,000 bucks.