Lessons learned—1st trip in a half converted van

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StacyK

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Location
Westcliffe, CO, USA
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.
 
Just a couple of items, although I could address every one of yours. The major thing is, someone can plan until the cows come home, but getting on the road is the most important thing. As issues come up, you figure out how best to deal with them, and importantly how to best organize things, for your personal situation. Otherwise, it's nothing but theory. Just do it, and adapt.

In regards lighting, I have every device known to modern man, and what I find best in the van is a basic 60W 120VAC Led bulb (draws only 11W). I do have a minimalist 100W of solar, plus batteries, plus 300W AC inverter. Plenty of power for lighting and laptop. Also, I use a regular size foam mattress with regular fitted sheets and sleeping bags over top for warmth.
 
I have had a converted cargo trailer for 10 years I don't live in it but take long trips and I think the portable toilets are well worth the money you can buy one at walmart for around 75.00 I think ? I am sure amazon has a ton to choose from.
I made a wooden box to go over mine and added a regular toilet seat and it was worth the effort.
as for lights I have tried a alot and my favorite you can buy at walmart that comes in a 3 pack for around 25.00 and it has a wireless remote the last ones I bought has a dimmer switch built in I keep the remote on a lanyard I can wear around my neck or hang near by.
something I found useful was to glue some really strong magnets on the back so you can stick them where you want.
inside or out the remote works up to like 50 yards away.
I bought some rechargeable batteries and charger and that works great.
 
I think the moral of the story is it takes more then a couple of weeks to get comfortable in a van no matter how much thought has gone into preparation. Personally I think the biggest hurdle is overcoming the fear of sleeping in strange places, making sure you can sleep and lounge comfortably in all climates you intend to be in, store and prepare food and water, wash, pee and poo. All other details tend to work themselves out over time and are in constant flux. Sounds like you well on your way. I am also a fan of portable toilets, and have also built a box for mine. I don’t pee in it so I can go weeks without dumping with no smell using 1/2 of recommended chemicals.
 
Those cheap walmart shoe holders........Lots-o-pockets sewn to hang.....It's easy to gather those small must-have items

We cut them in half......about 12 pockets approx. 30"x30"
 
I for years now have encased my mattress with cheap Walmart sleeping bags. Year round a quilt is on top that either to be slept on or under. I have a board with a lip all the way around the outside edge to hold things on it from sliding off. Beneath it on the mattress is a plastic tub with personal items, on top the tub is a heavy folded comforter, on top of that are my daily worn clothes. Next is my medicines in my three day to go bag which sets along the wall up from the previous items. My bed is 80” long and 30” wide. Sleeping sort of diagonal (l’m around 5’10” and 200 plus pounds) down to my mid section I have a full 30” past that I have about 18” for my legs. I used to move every thing off the bed at night but now I don’t bother. I have found peg board hanging baskets work well for flash lights, glasses, ball cap with a head lamp and such. I like bright white walls and ceilings with few windows and couple lights light it up well. I spend winters in a heavy sleeping bag in the warmest climate I can find. A generator and a little solar keep a propane camper style heater going and if I can afford it grid power and ceramic heaters are almost a necessity for me for really cold winter months. I’ve always had to deal with limited internet but managed with public systems and a smart phone. I highly recommend totes or milk crates either hanging off the wall and under bed storage that the contents can be seen and slide out when needed. You will figure out what works for you, adapt to it over time or change it. Good luck!
 
Wonderful summary of your experience, thanks for sharing it. Your cereal bowl conundrum sounded especially frustrating, a simple thing made difficult by the surroundings/situation.
 
StacyK - wonderful to hear you’re having some good experiences. As everybody else says we learn by doing. Ask for a nightstand I have one of those little plastic drawer things from Walmart it’s about 3 feet high the top makes a nice nightstand for glasses and a drink that kind of thing. And then the bottom drawers are useful for storage like I put my wallet and keys when I’m going to bed. I’ll put my iPad in there when I’m not using it. No sense in having a stand or a surface that you can’t put something under it don’t waste that space. As to being cold I think vans are cold because the wind blows underneath them and it just makes him frigid. I hate tucked in blankets got to have my feet out. Boy we’re all different. Learn by doing that’s the key. I thought I downsized an awful lot but when I started living in a van I realize there was stuff I had it there is no way I needed. And very little I had to go out and buy. For lighting I’ve use the cheap harbor freight LEDs. They have one that looks like a wall light switch and then they just came out with one that has a dimmer on it and it’s twice as bright so I have like four of these in the van attached to cabinets or the wall. they run on AA or AAA’s which I can charge from my cigarette lighter or with solar. The investment a decent rechargeable batteries was not necessarily cheap. But it has been working for me I did it in the last van too.
God bless the nomads “no madder” where they are.
 
Thank you so much for taking the time to write that post. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

It was taking many, many camping trips of various length over the last 3 years, that I'm hoping enough knowledge has been gathered to gear up to live full-time in our van. And, even then, I'm sure something needs to be tweaked.

It's #4 on the list that I have the most trepidation about since we hope to be boondocking. A lot. We usually camp at public campgrounds with facilities so never have had to worry about storage, accumulation, and periodic disposal of human waste for any length of time so I await advice on that, too, with bated breath.
 
Light is a subjective thing. I have several sources of light yet most of my nighttime illumination comes from the laptop screen. I can find most things in the dark by touch. I've had years, though, to figure out what my most used items are and where to best keep them so I don't need to move other things to get to them.

As for heating, I would guess you'll become more acclimated with more time on the road. I was at a campground in Joshua Tree one winter and chuckled when I saw most of the other campers were wearing parkas while I was comfortably in shirtsleeves. I lived in central Canada a couple of years where we had streaks of 30-below weather that dipped to -70 a few times. By the time it "warmed up" to zero we were going out without coats. Of course, you want to keep your rig warm enough so your water doesn't freeze. H2O doesn't acclimate for some reason.
 
My favorite lights are the fairy lights which I keep on all night - plugged into my Rockpals battery.
https://www.amazon.com/YIHONG-Firefly-Twinkle-Bedroom-Decoration/dp/B079GSBMJB/
They gently change colors all night long and if I wake up in the middle of the night I'm not in the dark. I'm also not trying for stealth, obviously! Because of the color changes they tend to cheer me up. If I want something brighter to read by, I use a battery powered lamp I bought at Cabelas. However, at night I read via Kindle on my phone usually or on the Kindle Fire, so light is not needed for that.
 
My 22' Tahoe Light's bed has walls on all four sides, two are partial walls making an opening at one corner, and that is where I crawl in. Replacing the fitted bottom sheet is interesting, as I'm lying on the mattress, pulling a corner up, and tucking the sheet over the corner. Then there's the top sheet and blanket(s).

The 25' Tioga is a loft bed, so similar prone gymnastics are required, plus some standing on the ladder and stretching.

The cot in my van has no such encumbrances.
 
You say your van is only half converted. I will pray for it. At a concert, I once to askEd a Baptist preacher if the seat beside him was saved he said no but it’s under conviction. It’s late at night and I’m in the mood for a little fun.
 
I think the whole idea of vanlife is not to actually live in the van, but do most of your "living" outdoors, and sleep in the van. I understand there will be days that aren't suitable for being outdoors. I think one of my first purchases would be an outdoor enclosure to set up a kitchen/eating area, and to lounge during the day. I like the Clam Quick Set with the optional sides for an outdoor area.

https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Set-Canopies-150-Inch-Portable/dp/B01KVCQSES
 
Thanks, everyone, for the comments and suggestions, especially the really specific information about lights, but also toilets and storage.

PineyCruisin, hope your outfitting is going well. All that camping experience has gotta help.

travelaround, I’m glad to know the lights can be powered for so long off the portable—that’s what I have, too (300w).

wayne49, now *that* is some dedication to a well-made bed.

nature lover, thanks for the laugh. Quakers would say “convinced” rather than converted, and the idea of a half-convinced van cracks me up. It’s kind of the way I roll, too.
 
Do an image search with these keywords  teak  galley organizer rack. 

On boats because of limited cabinet space that is not so easy to access a lot of people use wood ppurpose made holders to store plates, bowlsm mugs and sometimes also the utensils. Not suggesting you buy one made of teak. My suggestion is you make one out of pine to fit your own plates, bowls, etc. not unusuaal to see them in tiny kitchen apartments in Europe. of course you could also hang baskets on the wall. they ar light weight and cost effective.
 
As to a good rechargeable light. I have one I like, it is from Home Depot. Comes in two lengths, the one I am linking to here is the shorter one. The light output has 3 levels to choose from. The brighest is very bright. Easy to put up, it has two adhesive backed metal disc you put on the wall. It would be nice if it came with a couple of extra sets so it can be moved around to various task areas. But I plan to use some painted steel fender washers adhered to where I want it in other other locations.
rechargeable LED task light from Home Depot
 
I loved your posts. I am in the process of converting a small cargo van. Space is very tight and I am racking my brain on what I need and what I want. I want everything to have a dual purpose if possible.

Ckelly78z......I so agree. I plan to be traveling a lot when I retire and my van is simply replacing the expensive hotels. I want to set it up for carrying everything I need for a week, then restock.
 
Hi Stacy, I think anyone who lives/travels in a van can relate to this! I found that when I first started van life kinds of trips - as opposed to just throwing all my camping gear into the van - it helped to identify the ONE thing that bothered me most, and then fix it. Then go on another trip, and identify the ONE thing that bothered the most... Rinse and repeat. This can help you focus so you don't get overwhelmed.

1) You've gotten suggestions for lighting - here's mine - https://www.amazon.com/SUBOOS-Ultimate-Rechargeable-Bank-Batteries-Included/dp/B00WW8CB14

2) Personally, I am going without insulation in my van. A van is a small space, and small spaces fall back to ambient temperature very quickly, unless you have multiple inches of insulation and/or run heat all night. I learned this living in an Airstream trailer one winter. What you do is up to you, but to me the benefits of insulation seemed pretty minimal compared to the work of putting it up. There's a wide range of opinion on this, you will eventually find your own comfort level.
 

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