Living in Van and travelling through Europe, Africa and Asia while working remotely

[AfricaVanLife]

Hi guys,

nice to meet you all
I am new to this forum, so I hope this is the right place to ask my questions here.
I have the following plan (inspired by this Youtube video about a bunch of students who travelled from Europe all the way down to Senegal in a school bus: ) and would love to receive some advice from you guys so that I can avoid rooky mistakes when trying to live this lifestyle:
In July, I will be in Spain and want to take 2 weeks of vacation to buy a Van and transform this Van into a Van where I really enjoy living in and be able to work in it, too.
I am not super tight on a budget, but also cannot afford to spend 20k USD on the van, so the Van should cost all in all maximum 7000-8000 USD
What kind of model would you recommend?

Questions about the Van:
Things that I need in my Van/what I need for living:
- Queen Size bed
- A desk where I can work with my laptop and a second person can join to have lunch together
- A shower
- A toilet
- A window
- A small kitchen where I can cook & clean plates
- A toilet ( I found this one here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/slredirec...46437079&id=777863039095902&widgetName=sp_mtf) but maybe you can recommend somethin better?)
- Air conditioning/maybe heating (not sure yet)
- Electricity outlets to charge my Laptop & smartphone
- Always being able to have Internet (mobile internet or some other connection) <-- Please give me advice on how to do that?
- The Van should be small enough to be able to park at public parking lots (so that I don´t have to look for special Camping Parking lots because that´s quite uncomfortable & expensive as well).
- An alarm system maybe?

- What equipment do you recommend for this? What equipment might I have missed?
- How much water should you take with you for having enough for a quick shower/for the toilet?

--> So basically what I want is a small one-bedroom appartment in a Van (I have seen videos on Youtube/Tiktok that this seems to be possible).

What kind of equipment would you recommend for this? Do you think 2 weeks for installing all that stuff is enough time (I am a very efficient working person, but have few home-working experience tbh)?
Also if you have good tutorials on how to install those things that would be greatly appreciated

Questions about travelling from Spain to South Africa and possibly to Latin America:
I would like to do the following travel: From the north of Spain, I would like to travel all the way down to South Africa with the Van and this also while working 70% as an IT helpdesk guy (so I have to be able to take videocalls from Monday to Thursday). After that travel I could imagine taking a ship and shipping my Van to Argentina or Asia and travel all the way up to Mexico with this Van, but at the moment I am focussing on that travel from Spain to Africa (First things first
Here are some questions regarding this:
- How do I cross countries with a car regarding insurance/license plates? Is there a car insurance that covers all Africa/the whole world? What can you recommend?
- What knowledge should I have about repairing cars? Imagine I travel through the dessert, what should I know to repair in case there is a problem?
- How can I cross a continent with my Van? From Europe to Africa, but also from Europe to the American continent or is it better to sell the Van and buy/build a new one?

Do you know people who sell their van completely installed? How could I find a Van that already works and has all the stuff installed already?

Thank you very very much for reading my post & for your recommendations!

All the best,
Tom

 

[user 423]

It's impossible to answer all those questions all at once! You should take some time and look at all the different sub-forums here on vanlivingforum.com where most of those questions have been asked many times before.

Since you are familiar with Youtube, you should also take your time and start viewing the hundreds of videos out there that show all the varied builds possible with different type vans. There are also many DIY videos that can show you how to go about this or that process needed to complete your build.

If you can complete a build with all the amenities you list above in 2 weeks, that would be pretty amazing.

Good luck!

 

[bullfrog]

Europe has some really different attitudes and solutions when it comes to van living. There are several clubs that have yearly gatherings that have YouTube videos with contacts below. I would be making contacts with them. You really should look at costs for local purchases as shipping from the USA is probably difficult.

 

[rvwandering]

Welcome to the forums Tom!

To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips, Tricks and Rules" post lists some helpful information to get you started.

Most of our rules boil down to two simple over-riding principles: 1) What you post should provide good information (like your introductory post), and 2) Any response to someone else's post should make them feel glad they are part of this forum community.
We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[AfricaVanLife]

It's impossible to answer all those questions all at once! You should take some time and look at all the different sub-forums here on vanlivingforum.com where most of those questions have been asked many times before.

Since you are familiar with Youtube, you should also take your time and start viewing the hundreds of videos out there that show all the varied builds possible with different type vans. There are also many DIY videos that can show you how to go about this or that process needed to complete your build.

If you can complete a build with all the amenities you list above in 2 weeks, that would be pretty amazing.

Good luck!

Yes, I understand it´s a lot of questions, but you can answer the questions that you have to answers, too and like that solve parts of the puzzle

Thank you

 

[AfricaVanLife]

Europe has some really different attitudes and solutions when it comes to van living. There are several clubs that have yearly gatherings that have YouTube videos with contacts below. I would be making contacts with them. You really should look at costs for local purchases as shipping from the USA is probably difficult.

Hmm yes, my idea was to buy a Van there and then modify it in the way I want it to look like

 

[AfricaVanLife]

Also if someone doesn´t want to write down all his advices, I am more than happy to have a (video-) phone call and discuss this topic via Zoom or Skype

 

[aytee]

One thing you must do first is learn from others about security in Africa. People tend to have a romantic view of the continent, imagining beautiful vast landscapes and amazing animals - and leave reality at home. People and animals on this continent are violent.

I remember my first trip to Yellowstone and being held up while people got out of their cars to go and stand next to animals to have their photos taken. I was shocked and horrified - those people will get eaten in Africa!

One time I was driving along a back road in the wilds of South Africa and there was a huge sign on the side of the road - High Hijack Area. Goodness, what was I supposed to do then? White woman alone. When I got to the next gas station I was told off by the person there in a big way.

Living in first-world countries, one gets used to certain societal rules and customs which don't apply all over.

 

[user 423]

I remember my first trip to Yellowstone and being held up while people got out of their cars to go and stand next to animals to have their photos taken. I was shocked and horrified - those people will get eaten in Africa!

Yes, Darwin Awards get handed out on a regular basis.