Hello from Colorado!

[cognitive dissonance]

Been reading here a while, just signed up.

I know I want to live in some kind of vehicle and have the freedom to travel, just can't figure out how I want to do it.

I have a 37' Blue Bird bus and a 14' box truck, but neither are converted yet. The bus was a real find: 64,000 miles, 5.9 Cummins/Allison MT643/highway gearing/Webasto hot water heater and a driveline retarder. I was planning on raising the roof, insulating the daylights out of it, installing a wood stove/composing toilet/PV solar and living happily ever after.

After city sleeping in a truck for a while (and finding it enjoyable, if not a bit cramped) I realized just how un-stealthy the bus would be, and that I would likely be relegated to RV parks and campgrounds far more than I wanted. I still like the idea of the bus, the living space and the cargo capacity, but not the parking logistics.

The box truck was an impulse buy.  It's a GM K30 dually chassis with a 14' aluminum box.  It started life as a 6.5 diesel, but had a 4bt Cummins swapped in along the way.  I bought it for significantly less than the engine is worth, and the truck cab is too rusted to be worth fixing anyway.  At 30 years of age, the aluminum box isn't exactly pretty, but it is nice and light and still completely water tight. (Who doesn't appreciate not getting heavy or leaky as they age, right?? Lol...)

The truck may end up parted out this spring, or I may just re-sell it for a nice % profit. If I part it out, I'll probably look for an F450 or F550 cab and chassis - preferably 4WD - and build an "expedition vehicle" of sorts out of the box and the 4bt. The 4bt can be turned up to 200hp/400tq with very simple mods, and in what I'd build it would still get close to 20 mpg cruising down the road. That would be a nice combination, although a little cramped for two.  Compared to the bus it would be much easier to deal with when I was living in cities, which I'd really like to do some of the time.

That's my story, and despite wanting to make a decision and move ahead, I seem to be sticking to it.

 

[TMG51]

Depends also where you want to spend your time. If you're going to stay southwest, you could spend every day with that bus parked on BLM for free and never have an issue. If you want to travel the US and visit cities, parking will be a problem. Not to mention gas mileage. I'm an advocate of something that fits in a parking space.

But welcome to the forum at any rate! I'm sure you'll get it figured out.

 

[my_vantasy]

Greetings from Ohio. I love your name---do you work in Psychology?

 

[nobodyG17]

Sounds like you have lots of options.  Let us know what you go with and best of luck in deciding.

 

[cyndi]

Welcome to the CRVL forums, CD! Options are a good thing. You're lucky to have them.

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.

 

[rvpopeye]

Welcome aboard the good ship CRVL CD!
That will be an interesting decision to make.
You might just have to do both , Oh my Goshk !

I don't like cities so it would be easy for me.

Maybe do the truck first and flip it for enough to do the bus......
Guess stealth is your decider.

 

[eDJ_]

Welcome to CRVL  

You are a bit of a rairity here as you have "solutions" in place before the problem of how you would full time
is defined.   The problem being what you would like to do or accomplish with your choice of vehicle.

I speak every now and then of an evaluation technique that I call:

Camping 1,  which is the long nomadic trek to sight see and visit the exotic cities and places here in the USA while camping in a different place each night.

Camping 2,  which is a shorter trek where one has only a few months to be on the road and they will  travel
some distance to a camp and stay and lay over for awhile there.  These places may be by the Ocean, Mountains with scenic river views, or perhaps the desert areas. 

Camping 3, is the path of a "Snow Bird" when they travel back and forth to a warm southern destination for the winter, and return in the spring.
They may do a little sight seeing when enroute but the primary aim is to get to their destination and rejoin with old friends.


If you chose to sell the Box truck and find a suitable car or SUV to tow behind the Bus then you would have mobility when you camped outside the city.  This could work with Camping 1, 2,  & 3 rather handily.   At the bare minimum a motor scooter to use as a "grocery getter".   But the Bus would probably best suited to the long excursions and provide you with a home on the road perhaps better than the Box Truck. Especially if it is more than one person.

The box Truck may be a better candidate for the Camping 2 and perhaps Camping 3 if your stays are shorter.
I'd say a single person may be able to enjoy up to 5 or so months of that life style if they have some mobility
when at their camp.  This could be service from City Bus lines near the camp ground etc.  Having a bicycle or motor scooter may be worth while also.  A small econo car could be towed behind the box truck also.

And there are other possibilities some of us here use too. 

So, good luck figuring out what you would like to do.   You may want to read the "Captain's Log" section of the Forum too to see how others have gone about things.

https://vanlivingforum.com/Forum-Captains-Logs

All the best !

 

[cognitive dissonance]

Greetings from Ohio.  I love your name---do you work in Psychology?

Thanks!  I love the name as well!  I was going to answer no, but being in sales I must admit to dabbling in psychology.

 I adopted the handle years ago because I enjoy watching humanity trying (and frequently trying not) to reconcile what the world pretends to be with what it really is

 

[cognitive dissonance]

...parking will be a problem. Not to mention gas mileage. I'm an advocate of something that fits in a parking space...

But welcome to the forum at any rate! I'm sure you'll get it figured out.

Thanks!  I really love the idea of the bus. I don't mind if it doesn't fit in a single space - I see a lot of bigger RV's parked at WalMarts and the like - they just pull through and occupy two spaces. I find it easy and fun to drive, too.

I've driven the bus enough to know it gets 10-11 mpg right now. With a few tweaks, that could easily be 12-13 mpg with substantially better performance. That's good enough for me.

The downside is, it isn't the least bit stealthy. Also, security worries me a lot.  I would want to take the "dingy" and go places, leaving the bus behind. That would end in grief, sooner or later.

ETA: Looking at your little map, it appears you will be coming through Colorado Springs or Denver. Let me know when - we have plenty of woods to poo in around here!

 

[jimindenver]

Welcome to the forum from one in the mile high city. A name that has taken on new meaning of late.

Down here most people I see in vans, RV's, buses and the like are not worried about stealth. A area near me I call camp GVR because it is rare not to see a van or RV of some type using it. At times you will see a dozen or so vehicles there and the Walmart is on the other end, you know there is always a bunch there.

 

[jimindenver]

ETA: Looking at your little map, it appears you will be coming through Colorado Springs or Denver.  Let me know when - we have plenty of woods to poo in around here!

Always a open invite to anyone coming through Denver. With enough notice I'll pack up the rig and take you up to the clouds.

 

[cognitive dissonance]

That will be an interesting decision to make.

...I don't like cities so it would be easy for me.

I hear ya! I actually like visiting new cities - I just no longer wish to live in any of them. Much of my dilemma arises at the prospect of finding places to park the bus in new cities without paying out the nose.

 

[cognitive dissonance]

...If you chose to sell the Box truck and find a suitable car or SUV to tow behind the Bus then you would have mobility when you camped outside the city.  This could work with Camping 1, 2,  & 3 rather handily.   At the bare minimum a motor scooter to use as a "grocery getter".   But the Bus would probably best suited to the long excursions and provide you with a home on the road perhaps better than the Box Truck. Especially if it is more than one person...

...So, good luck figuring out what you would like to do.   You may want to read the "Captain's Log" section of the Forum too to see how others have gone about things.

https://vanlivingforum.com/Forum-Captains-Logs

All the best !

Thank you!  I was planning to tow a "dingy" behind the bus.  Probably a 1/2 ton 4wd pickup, and it would be nice to have the 4bt Cummins in there.  I just hadn't realized what an albatross the bus would be in cities and still haven't worked through that issue.

 

[cognitive dissonance]

Welcome to the forum from one in the mile high city. A name that has taken on new meaning of late.

Down here most people I see in vans, RV's, buses and the like are not worried about stealth. A area near me I call camp GVR because it is rare not to see a van or RV of some type using it. At times you will see a dozen or so vehicles there and the Walmart is on the other end, you know there is always a bunch there.

Thanks, Jim.  PM inbound...

 

[TMG51]

Thanks!  I really love the idea of the bus. I don't mind if it doesn't fit in a single space - I see a lot of bigger RV's parked at WalMarts and the like - they just pull through and occupy two spaces. I find it easy and fun to drive, too.

I've driven the bus enough to know it gets 10-11 mpg right now. With a few tweaks, that could easily be 12-13 mpg with substantially better performance. That's good enough for me.

The downside is, it isn't the least bit stealthy. Also, security worries me a lot.  I would want to take the "dingy" and go places, leaving the bus behind. That would end in grief, sooner or later.

ETA: Looking at your little map, it appears you will be coming through Colorado Springs or Denver.  Let me know when - we have plenty of woods to poo in around here!

Okay, but try parking that way in New Orleans or San Diego! Once again it depends where you want to go. I also tend to intentionally disregard stealth.

I do plan to go through Denver. Hopefully soak up some craft beer while I'm there. I'm not sure when, but I'll give you a heads up when I do; always open to meeting new people.

 

[SaltySeaWitch]

Hello (again) and welcome!