Hello fellow vanners and future vanners,
So, I'm new to the forum but not to vanning or traveling. I suppose I can give a very brief back ground and at some point follow up with pics and build of my van. So, as I mentioned, my name is Matt, I'm 42, I'm currently in my last nine months of Nursing school which will be a total of about 5 yrs. But going back, I became an over-the-road truck driver at 21 till I was 32. I drove all 48 states (long haul) for a company called US Xpress out of Tennessee. In that time I had countless incredible experiences. Trucking for me was great...the truck was my home, literally and I loved it. Company driver by the way. In 2006 (perfect timing by luck) I had the opportunity to go work overseas...Qatar for 2 yrs and Iraq for 2 yrs. Oddly enough, when I was making six figures is when I came to realize the true value of money and freedom...which is a long involved story but the short of it is I became very frugal minded. For instance, if an item could be sold because there is a cool factor to it, then I was not interested in buying it. Anyhow, I came home in 2010 after contract ended, to a bunch of "me" time and I was having so much fun I ended up breaking my back. Oops....I gotta say though, I had a ton of fun. Motorcycle trips, sky diving license, kayaking, Atving, flying, scuba diving etc. So, day after surgery I decided I was going to nursing school....instead of helicopter school. Fortunately I had nearly finished version 1 of my van build before my accident. Since I couldn't work for several months and couldn't start school I took off on two van trips. Thirty days after my accident I drove to northern California then went home. Then after I got home I was going to go back to the Philippines and finish recuperating there. Had my ticket bought. Oh, keep in mind I had a fairly decent amount of money saved from the work overseas. Anyway, last second I decided to take a longer van trip with no end date back up to the northwest. Probably about the best six weeks ever! Even though my back was healing I still took all my toys. Dirtbike(dualsport )kayak, mountain bike and scuba gear. I did everything very carefully. Anyhow, got home home. Began community college for 3.5 yrs and now I'm finishing nursing school near salt lake city, ut. Home for me is Tucson, Az. Before starting nursing school in Utah I took a month long van trip up to glacier national park, then to Anacortes, Wa for a sailboat rendezvous, then home. I'm leaving a bunch out here....Anyway, I moved to Utah and rented a room from a very unpleasant woman for $450 last October. By April I was miserable. Took three months off from school and went home to start version 3 remodel of my van. Version 2 was an experiment by changing my bed from north/south to east/west. Well, I finished version 3 to 90%. Then I bought a bicycle and rode it from Coos Bay, Or to Ocean City, Md. Now, I'm back in school, and living in my van. Greatest thing ever. Keep in mind though I lived in a semi truck for 11 yrs and living conditions overseas were very minimal so I'm used to small spaces...and prefer them. So, I'm saving $450 by not renting but I have to be crazy frugal because anything I spend has to be paid back. Note, I stayed out of debt, meaning no school loans until Utah where I began the university here. Now I'll have debt. But I'll also end up with a job that I love and I can go anywhere. I might add, I have absolutely NO desire to ever live in a typical house. I have a a rental property that I make a small income on but for me I don't want to live in one.
Ok, a quick(?) Run down on me. I'll try and continue later with my van.
So, I'm new to the forum but not to vanning or traveling. I suppose I can give a very brief back ground and at some point follow up with pics and build of my van. So, as I mentioned, my name is Matt, I'm 42, I'm currently in my last nine months of Nursing school which will be a total of about 5 yrs. But going back, I became an over-the-road truck driver at 21 till I was 32. I drove all 48 states (long haul) for a company called US Xpress out of Tennessee. In that time I had countless incredible experiences. Trucking for me was great...the truck was my home, literally and I loved it. Company driver by the way. In 2006 (perfect timing by luck) I had the opportunity to go work overseas...Qatar for 2 yrs and Iraq for 2 yrs. Oddly enough, when I was making six figures is when I came to realize the true value of money and freedom...which is a long involved story but the short of it is I became very frugal minded. For instance, if an item could be sold because there is a cool factor to it, then I was not interested in buying it. Anyhow, I came home in 2010 after contract ended, to a bunch of "me" time and I was having so much fun I ended up breaking my back. Oops....I gotta say though, I had a ton of fun. Motorcycle trips, sky diving license, kayaking, Atving, flying, scuba diving etc. So, day after surgery I decided I was going to nursing school....instead of helicopter school. Fortunately I had nearly finished version 1 of my van build before my accident. Since I couldn't work for several months and couldn't start school I took off on two van trips. Thirty days after my accident I drove to northern California then went home. Then after I got home I was going to go back to the Philippines and finish recuperating there. Had my ticket bought. Oh, keep in mind I had a fairly decent amount of money saved from the work overseas. Anyway, last second I decided to take a longer van trip with no end date back up to the northwest. Probably about the best six weeks ever! Even though my back was healing I still took all my toys. Dirtbike(dualsport )kayak, mountain bike and scuba gear. I did everything very carefully. Anyhow, got home home. Began community college for 3.5 yrs and now I'm finishing nursing school near salt lake city, ut. Home for me is Tucson, Az. Before starting nursing school in Utah I took a month long van trip up to glacier national park, then to Anacortes, Wa for a sailboat rendezvous, then home. I'm leaving a bunch out here....Anyway, I moved to Utah and rented a room from a very unpleasant woman for $450 last October. By April I was miserable. Took three months off from school and went home to start version 3 remodel of my van. Version 2 was an experiment by changing my bed from north/south to east/west. Well, I finished version 3 to 90%. Then I bought a bicycle and rode it from Coos Bay, Or to Ocean City, Md. Now, I'm back in school, and living in my van. Greatest thing ever. Keep in mind though I lived in a semi truck for 11 yrs and living conditions overseas were very minimal so I'm used to small spaces...and prefer them. So, I'm saving $450 by not renting but I have to be crazy frugal because anything I spend has to be paid back. Note, I stayed out of debt, meaning no school loans until Utah where I began the university here. Now I'll have debt. But I'll also end up with a job that I love and I can go anywhere. I might add, I have absolutely NO desire to ever live in a typical house. I have a a rental property that I make a small income on but for me I don't want to live in one.
Ok, a quick(?) Run down on me. I'll try and continue later with my van.
