Hi All

[Neal]

Hello everyone. My name is Neal from Ohio. I've watched hundreds of hours of videos on Youtube and I've decided the best thing to fit my lifestyle would be a van or cargo trailer. In either case I'll have to buy a tow vehicle or a van with a lot of miles to fit my budget and that worries me. I've been checking Craigslist for diesel vans, but I also read that they are worked hard in the city as work vans. My other issue is a bad back and I'm clueless with a hammer and nails. I've learned from watching Bob's video that I want to live a minimalist lifestyle. I'm on SSDI and do pretty well as far as my monthly payments go, but it all goes for bills, so it's nearly impossible to save any money. I'm itching to get on the road. I had a job where I traveled all over the USA and Ontario Canada for work and loved it. I loved my days off where I could go exploring or just sitting on a bench and people watch. So it's a pleasure to meet you all on the forum and blogs and it will be better to meet you in person some time down the road!

 

[eDJ_]

Welcome to the CRVL Forums    

If you can find a Cargo Van then you could use my first website below to fix it up.  Not real tool & material intensive.  A friend could help you  set this up in a couple of evenings.  There isn't much cost to it either.
Some shopping in recycled building materials stores could put it together and the rest from yard sales and flea markets.

Once you could hit the road you would be in search of 70 to 80 degree weather and less expensive areas to live in.   You may find areas with better paying jobs that you could get into.  See?

The site below the first one is a Portal of Information to use for planning a journey (while still at home) or navigating once on the road.  Loads of info in it that surprise you in making life on the road more comfortable
and convenient. 

Then as time goes by you could finish fitting out your rig to live in the area you would most like to live in and find work etc. 

All the best !

 

[Neal]

Thank you

 

[highdesertranger]

Welcome Neal to the CRVL forums! 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. highdesertranger

 

[rvpopeye]

Welcome aboard Neal!
This life is way cheaper than in a house if you do it right.
You'll probably have money left over at the end of the month !

 

[Neal]

Welcome aboard Neal!
This life is way cheaper than in a house if you do it right.
You'll probably have money left over at the end of the month !

Thank you!

 

[GEAUX- PRIUS Cowboy]

 

Neal your best bet is to get your hands on a good quality reliable ride. Great deals are out there for Prius you can get them as low as $1K a copy these are good cars people bail on them when they have to replace the hybrid batteries. I owned one Prius that I purchased used 175K miles drove it till 230 K miles car never failed me. Would still be driving it if we did not get the Prius V. You want one of them you are going to pay a lot more. Same with a gen 3 you will pay for that and gen 4 forget about it. There are people that live out their motorcycles . IT can be done I have done it. So going to a prius to live out of is a bonus to me. You don't have to do it all his way or my way I took out seats and made changes to my gen 2 I know I am this cars last ass. He did not want to alter his car he plans to sell it I guess to each his own. I provide you both of us. My channel on YT is not the only way but you can learn from me and you can learn from him. Gen 2 prius is still a damn good car it does not get the 50 mpg so now it is the undesirable car. So what it is not cool but I will rock that sucker until it is worthless. IT will take a long time for that to occur if you keep it off salt water beaches . Terrible idea to drive  your Prius on the beach. Ok I leave you with the links welcome to the channel.https://macaloney.blogspot.com/2015/12/vehicle-decision-based-on-fuel-prices.html?showComment=1500089222783#c5646204770162710194  My car cononversion is more about taking out and putting things in  not any skill  involved. Indestructables help you  some.

 

[GEAUX- PRIUS Cowboy]

http://railrider-railridernet.blogspot.com/p/building-prius-rv.html This is a good post too you might like I have to have a REAL BED I can't do that seat folded down crap. I have had major back surgery and knee surgery I have to have a good bed. I reason that a bed need only support your torso well hips up shoulders down. WE can augment the head area and the legs can be supported easily as long as we have that torso properly suspended. Hence the crib mattress and frame the way I did it works perfectly for me.

 

[Neal]

http://railrider-railridernet.blogspot.com/p/building-prius-rv.html This is a good post too you might like I have to have a REAL BED I can't do that seat folded down crap. I have had major back surgery and knee surgery I have to have a good bed. I reason that a bed need only support your torso well hips up shoulders down. WE can augment the head area and the legs can be supported easily as long as we have that torso properly suspended. Hence the crib mattress and frame the way I did it works perfectly for me.

Oh I don't want to live in a car. I've been watching Bob's videos and some others and I'm pretty sure it's going to be a small school bus with a diesel engine. There are some pretty good deals out there and I can build it as I want to. I plan on using a lot of solar. I also want the bus to be minimal, no indoor plumbing and no tanks. I would like electrical and 12v. I'm pretty sure I know what I want by watching the videos. I'd like to be able to go off the grid for 2-3 weeks at a time or pull into a campground for a night or 2 on my way to a location. I've had major back surgeries also plus a knee surgery. Thanks so much for the links.

 

[dr_nelson]

Welcome!
Here is a video that shows the "challenges" you may face when going for a small school bus.

[video=youtube]

 

[Neal]

Well it looks like it's back to the van's for me. It's hard for me because I have no disposable income to save for one. On the other hand I would have around $900.00 a month extra if I gave up my obligations and hit the road right now.