Introduction

[cultural.pioneer]

Hello All,

New to this lifestyle, but have been desiring it for a while now. I really enjoy becoming intensely involved in new projects, especially when there is a great deal of new things to learn. And this van was, is, and, I'm sure will continue to be, something I'm really proud to put my time and energy into.

It's a 2010 Honda Odyssey. It may not look like much, but I think I've handled the design challenges quite well for making it suitable for full-time living. It had a number of mechanical issues, which at the time was a serious PITA. But, looking back I'm actually kind of glad, I know a lot more about the inner workings of my vehicle, and my own capabilities to do some of the mechanical work myself.

It's only been about a week and a half of living full-time as of this writing, but hope to continue for long time.

Currently unemployed, got laid off in March from a remote position that I was planning on keeping while on the road. At that point I was already heavily invested in this project, so I said screw it and dove into building it full-time. I will definitely be searching these forums for ways to generate some income. Any suggestions would no doubt be appreciated.

I'm in my early 30's. I'll be traveling around the southwest US for the time being. Not sure what it is just yet I'm really looking for out of this lifetime, other than learning to love the person I am each day, and trying to leave this planet a little better off than when I came into it. I consider myself a spiritual person and hope to connect with some other spiritual people at some point.

I've also been considering checking out some of the Intentional Communities out there if I can. I think it's so cool, and like totally badass for people to come together and explore ways of living outside the given standard of society. I feel like it would be an honor just to bear witness to some of these, not to mention probably really inspiring. But I don't know, these are just thoughts I have.

 

[INTJohn]

 

[tx2sturgis]

Welcome cultural, and we hope you will keep us posted as you move forward in your chosen direction.

If you have any questions, please feel free to post in the appropriate sections.

 

[bullfrog !]

Welcome!

 

[bvanevery]

2010 Honda Odyssey, ouch. Known for their transmission problems. Definitely check that and stay on top of that, it's a killer. Everyone should change their transmission fluid at maybe 60k intervals. Everyone.

When an owner's manual tells you that transmission fluid lasts "the life of the vehicle", they mean they want your vehicle to fall apart and die early. So that you'll buy another one. You want your vehicle to last, you change your transmission fluid. Ask me how I know from my previous car. Or how I now know about every car's transmission in a certain range of model year.

I don't know exactly how long "everyone's" change interval should be, but you gotta change it, and it's way less than 100k or whatever they're telling you. Or not telling you. My previous owner's manual was "deliberately vague" about all of that, lol.

The good news is that changing transmission fluid and filter is not necessarily that hard of a job. A bit messier than changing oil, since you have to open this pan up on the bottom of a car, and put the new filter "metallic gizmo" in place or whatever. Most likely. But it's just catching fluid and a pretty straightforward job. And you don't have to do it very often. Way less than oil or coolant.