My journey has just begun.

[yamsack]

Hi all,<br>As some of you know, I've been on this site for almost a year now asking non-stop questions about how to set all this stuff up.&nbsp; Well, I'm finally done and have been living in my campervan almost a week now!<br><br>The biggest hurdle was wiring the electrical stuff together.&nbsp; I was so relieved when the last fuse was installed and all the lights went on. <br><br>It's been a real blast sleeping every night in my cozy little campervan.&nbsp; Almost every night I'm sleeping in a different part of town.&nbsp; For me, it's like living out my childhood dream of living in your own treehouse or fort.&nbsp; It sounds silly, but that's how I feel.<br><br>I still need to get used to having to poop and pee in a bucket though.&nbsp; Nomatter how much kitty litter and Lysol, there's still a bit of residual odor.&nbsp; As for cooking in the van, I haven't done it yet.&nbsp; I thought I would celebrate by eating out this week.&nbsp; I'll start doing my own cooking in a couple of days.<br><br>For tonight, I'm gonna try to park at a Lowe's parking lot (they've got free wi-fi).&nbsp; I see a huge RV parked a few spots away from me, so I'm thinking that it may be OK to park here tonight.&nbsp; Hopefully, I won't get a knock on my window.<br><br>Thanks for all of you (especially 4x4tour and akrvbob) who have helped me set all this up, especially with the details of the electrical stuff.<br><br>

 

[yesican]

<p style="margin: 0px;">Good luck on your new chapter in life.&nbsp; It will be at least a year before the last page flips in this chapter in my life and start the same chapter you are on.&nbsp; Keep us posted on how things go--the good and bad.&nbsp; Watching you and I'll know what to expect when I hit the road...Have fun and be safe...</p><p style="margin: 0px;">Rae</p>

 

[Les H]

Hey yamsack, cool beans man .

 

[stude53]

<p style="margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Congratulations, Yamsack !!! <img border="0" align="absmiddle" src="/images/boards/smilies/thumb.gif"></font></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">&nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Time to start a Captain's log, Captain Yamsack! <img border="0" align="absmiddle" src="/images/boards/smilies/biggrin.gif">&nbsp; <u>Your adventure has begun</u>,</font></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">&nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Get a camera and show us your treehouse on wheels.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">&nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Bob</font></p><p style="margin: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0px;">&nbsp;</p>

 

[rvwandering]

Congratulations -glad it's all going so well! In our many years of traveling we've stayed in various parking lots ,mostly Walmart , but also stores like Home Depot and Lowes. We were only were asked to leave a few times. We're not stealthy at all! Just move around a bit so that it's not obvious to any casual observer that you're actually living in the van.<br>

 

[sl1966]

Am I the only one who hears&nbsp; <a href="" target="_blank"></a>&nbsp;when reading the title of this thread?<div><br></div>

 

[dragonflyinthesky]

<P>Every time I ck this thread out, that song sticks in my head for hours.</P>

 

[SoulRaven]

<span id="post_message_1272580941"><br>""I still need to get used to having to poop and pee in a bucket though.&nbsp; No matter how much kitty litter and Lysol, there's still a bit of residual odor.""<br><br>I am trying to understand why you are using a bucket at all if you are always in town... why not just use gas stations, restaurants, or say grocery stores to go to the bathroom and also to clean up in the morning... Dude i use buckets only when boondocking or in a bad way amongst people... The smell has to be powerful on a warm day...<br></span>

 

[yamsack]

@ SoulRaven,<br><br>I do use public restrooms much more often now.&nbsp; However, after I'm in my van for the evening, I don't want to have to start up my van and roam around looking for an open store or market.&nbsp; Most stores close up for the evening, so that's when I need the bucket.&nbsp; I am managing things though.&nbsp; Where there's a will, there's a way.<br><br>Thanks for all you folks for your comments and support.&nbsp; Sometimes I feel like a weirdo for doing this, but then I remember that there's a whole community of decent, intelligent people like yourselves, who are doing just the same.<br><br>

 

[Guest]

little apple cider vinegar in the bucket. nuetralizer for urine, etc. just a little goes a long way. very happy for you!!!<br>

 

[SheketEchad]

<span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Congratulations! &nbsp;So glad you are on the journey. &nbsp;For certain, keep us posted, especially those of us waitin' it out <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></span><div><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">~SE</span></div>

 

[cargovanconversion]

<p>Good luck on your travels.</p><p><br></p><p>Van.</p>

 

[akrvbob]

<p style="margin: 0px;">I've been pooping in a bucket for along time. At first it does seem weird, but with time it becomes old hat. Let me share some of the things I've learned that work for me.</p><ol><li><div style="margin: 0px;">Most important, don't mix urine and feces. I only pee in a container of some kind. Some people like a yellow, quart hiking bottle like a Nalgene. They seal well and you can carry them into a bathroom and dump it down the toilet. To be honest I just use any wide-mouth plastic container I find. In the morning I find a place to discreetly dump it out. If I can't find one, as I drive away and come to a stop at a light or stop sign. I open the door and dump it out.</div></li><li><div style="margin: 0px;">Now I live 100% of the time on public land I just walk about 30 yeards from camp and dump it. I found out the hard way if you constantly pee in the same place close to camp eventually it will smell. Now I go in a circle all the way around camp and at least 30 yards out.</div></li><li><div style="margin: 0px;">As soon as possible I rinse out the container, otherwise&nbsp;it will start to smell and grow stuff in the bottom. I often use&nbsp;the same&nbsp;container for many months and even with rinsing, it will eventually get sour, so periodically I clean it out.</div></li><li><div style="margin: 0px;">To poop I line a 5 gallon bucket with 2 tall garbage cans. After I've done my business I pull out the first bag and wrap it, then I put it back in and wrap the second bag around that. Then it goes into the trash and I throw it away whenever I am next into town and find a dumpster. I've never had a problem with smell this way. On the other hand, if you leave the bags in the bucket for a few days for multiple poops, the bucket&nbsp;can take on a smell, even if you use bags. At the RTR in january, I left the bag in the communal bucket for a week and the smell got into the bucket so bad i had to&nbsp;throw it away.</div></li></ol><p style="margin: 0px;">Bob</p>

 

[yesican]

<p>I've lived in my cabin in&nbsp;Alaska for a total of 3 years out of the 5 since I started building it (lived away for almost 2 years).&nbsp; Pooping in a bucket takes strength of commitment for your goals because my daughter refuses to live here at the cabin with me because of that...although she doesn't mind my cute outhouse but at -20 or less in winter is no fun tramping to the outhouse in the middle of the night.&nbsp; I use the bucket method much in the same manner as AKBob but use plastic store bags double lined and put a handful of cat litter in each one.&nbsp; Being female doesn't make it easy to always seperate urine from feces but it can be done for the majority of urine output.&nbsp; Ice cream buckets work great for that.&nbsp; Poop goes to the trash and urine to the outhouse...(some day I'll tell you about my exploding outhouse episode...quite funny...disgusting...but funny.)</p>

 

[yamsack]

@ yesican,<br><br>Exploding outhouse........that must have been some lethal amount of methane built up. <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><br><br>

 

[yesican]

<p>I don't know much about science but it may have had something to do with methane and displacement theory....</p>

 

[judycmomx6]

When I was driving a big truck and had to use some kind of a bottle, I used to keep a small bottle of bleach in the truck and would pour just a little into the bottle and put the top back on and shake it around and then rinse it out and that would work really well in killing the germs. I could use the same bottle for a long time. Clorox is a very good thing to keep with you cause it kills germs better than anything else you could use, people even use a drop or two in water to disinfect it sometimes and make bad water drinkable. I always make sure I have bleach with me.

 

[SoulRaven]

Totally agree with pee bottles... Me I use big mouth 1 qt. Gatorade bottles for the relief in my van in the eve, midnight and that most powerful need first thing in the morning... Never need to leave the van till I am ready to, then pour out and rinse my bottles as one of my morning chores...<br><br>

When I was driving a big truck and had to use some kind of a bottle

 

[WanderingRonin]

It's funny you mentioned about feeling like a kid in your own treehouse again.<div>I can relate. We used to build tents in our rooms... and brought in snacks and food inside the tents. Then as we got older, we camped outside on the yard (then boyscouts later on). I felt the same way as you did... like a kid once again excited about living in my little home. Squirelling food away in little corners and having a good old time.</div><div>This is what life is for, eh mate?</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>I used a gallon oil filter container for urine at night. I never had to go #2 in my van in my entire stay of 4 months. Even though I did have a porta potti there ready at all times. There always was a restroom nearby and I have a routine set already where I go once in the morning and that's it. Makes it easy knowing you got that business done out of the way for the rest of the day.<div><br></div><div>I bought some cheap shampoo at the dollar store and I mix it with water in the pee bottle. It has lasted 3 days like that without a whiff of smell (the cap seals really nicely). When I empty it, I put in about a cup of water again and a squirt of the cheapo shampoo and it's ready to go once more.</div><div><br></div><div>Man, I am so excited for you ! And having solar to boot! I still have to take that step, to be honest... Still saving some money for it... Not saving right now because the money is going towards helping my folks...</div></div>

 

[yamsack]

@ WanderingRonin,<br><br>I think it's great that there are like-minded folks like yourself who are out there.&nbsp; It helps me feel good that I'm not alone and a nutjob for doing this.<br><br>Secondly (and don't think I'm paranoid or nuts), I think what I'm doing is a very good safeguard for the future, in case any sort of natural or man-made disasters occur.<br><br>On the practical side, I'm saving roughly $12,000 a year by doing this.&nbsp; That's an enormous amount of money that can be applied to paying off other debts, put into savings or just enjoying life.<br><br>