I’m sharing this in case it’s of use to others as they work on their rigs, or gives the experienced a chuckle. I recently took my van on a 2 1/2 week round trip from Albuquerque to Denver, with stops to see various family members on the way. I only stayed in the van for a few days, but that gave me the test run I wanted. I had a sturdy cot, bucket toilet in a spiffy wooden box, 5-day cooler, TV tray, and some shelving, all held down with ratchet straps, as well as insulation, luan paneling, and window coverings. On the way home, I also had a kitchenette. Most of the experience was positive. The floor plan felt good, driving was comfortable, camping was easy to find and delightful. The van worked the way I had hoped. Still, some lessons learned:
1) A surprising number of things I was determined on having did not survive two days of actual experience. E.g., I wanted to have a “real” bed with linens and layered blankets, partly for the layering and partly for the familiarity. The layering worked well for temperature, but I had no place at the end of the bed to dangle the unused covers that were so neatly tucked in. Either my feet were too hot (a rarity), or if I moved the covers to the side, the 30” cot became cramped and uncomfortable. And those neatly tucked covers? What a pain. Making the bed when 3 sides are closed in just made me grumpy. Going forward, I will be using a cushy, rectangular sleeping bag with a liner so that I never have to tuck anything in again.
Moral: when your resources change (space, water, etc.), your priorities for making the best use of them change. Your *emotional* priorities may stay the same (e.g., for tidiness, etc.), but the way you act on them depends on circumstances. I understood this in theory before, but practice is a whole other animal.
2. Packing for travel, safety, and accessibility are not the same skills. I packed for the first two, as if I were moving house and my furnishings were all potential lethal weapons, both of which were true. But getting to a cereal bowl was a real process. Some of this will improve when I have the rest of my shelving and can spread things out a bit. But I suspect I have a new skill to learn.
3. I never got claustrophobic in the van during the day (and haven’t in the 6 months I’ve owned it). Nighttime, when everything was closed and buttoned up, was a different matter. In part, I need better lighting. I’d planned on a couple of portable task lights (a Luci light and a USB rechargeable piano light), and they worked fine for that. But in such a small space, instead of creating cozy, inviting puddles of light, they just created dim, depressing ambient light. The overall lumens at most were 40 per square foot, a far cry from the 100-200 recommended by household lighting pros. Something like strip lighting might be better.
4. Both the pee jug and the poop bucket filled up much faster than I’d expected... I may be over-doing the dry matter in the poop bucket from paranoia; on the other hand, the poop pyramid is a thing, friends, and it needs to be covered. Advice is welcome.
5. Large work surfaces are great, but I also need smaller places to put things temporarily—reading glasses, pen and notepad, tea mug, all the things I have to move out of the way to get to the cereal bowl... It’s minor, but not having small “end table” type surfaces gave me that little itch of subconscious irritation that I know will grow if I don’t head it off at the pass. Things that would help: small, open spaces on the shelves, small flip-up shelves, little cubbies, or pocket storage.
6. I don’t know whether this is typical, but the insulation in my van only made a 10-12*F difference to the outdoor temperature by morning. At 40*F outdoors, this wasn’t a problem, but at colder temperatures? I dunno. I can sleep safely with the proper gear, but living pleasantly is a different matter. Using my stove for heat in the morning, e.g., while boiling water for tea and oatmeal, didn’t make even 1* difference. I either need an additional heat source or to spend more of the winter in AZ than I’d planned.
7. I rely on the internet more than I realized.
8. Discouragement and delight were on a toggle switch. From “This isn’t working” to “This is my dream!!” and back was a very short step. The guaranteed way to switch to delight: opening the doors or windows to let in fresh air and birdsong. Most of the discouragement came from inexperience and having the van just partway done, so that basic things—like getting out a cereal bowl—were major productions. The feeling of being hemmed in at night was another big part, though. Better light is the first step to address that.
I hope this is helpful to someone. Mods, if it’s too long, let me know, and I will break it into different posts. Cheers, everyone.
to having a workable set-up. One of my favorite lines is "In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice, there is." So true!
