New van dweller

[DCosmc]

Hi everyone,
About a year ago my wife and I made a life changing decision. We both had become bored with our careers (both of us in human services) and wanted to make changes. I was a strong candidate for an executive position at my agency and we both knew taking the job would be the challenge I was looking for. On the other hand, it would be a VERY high stress job which ran the risk of totally consuming me (I have a history of being a workaholic). We were torn but decided that I should go for it and if I didn't get it we would know that it was time to truly re-examine our lives.

In considering how best to embark on this journey or re-examination, if that is what was to happen, we decided we'd hit the road. We traveled cross country before we were married and it was transformative. Now, it seemed only fitting to return to long stretches of open road and good tunes. All this seemed like just a fantastical idea. could we really do it?

In the end, I didn't get the job. It was disappointing but for the best. We tried to keep making our 9-5 life work but personal challenges at our jobs and a deepening disappointment with the over-consumption and materialism in our daily lives kept calling for us to make a change. Slowly but surely the universe unfolded opportunities.

A few months ago we sold our house and we will close in less than 3 weeks. Now without that debt that kept us shackled we begin to really explore how we could live on the road or at least simplify our living. The next change came with me being laid off (despite over a decade of award winning service to my agency).

Fast forward through a few other minor changes and now we have just bought our first van. It is a 2001 chevy 1500 express with 114k on it. Our plan is to leave our offices on June 28 and start wandering west. Now we just need a name for the van and some help turning it into our new home!

See you on the road!

 

[cyndi]

Congratulations to you and your wife on your fine choice to van dwell. And welcome to the forum.

 

[Bdog1]

We need pics....

Is it converted already?

 

[PeacefulSoul]

Congratulations on following the other voice!! I am so excited for you both and cant wait to hear about your experiences. Welcome.

 

[DCosmc]

Reading responses and getting choked up by how right this decision feels, despite all the social pressures to be more conventional, let's us know we are on the right path!

Our van is a standard conversion van. We want to slowly modify it and redo the interior to fit our needs but we could take off and be stealth tomorrow. Right now we are putting in a sink, table and bed (the fold down mechanical one is no good for us... I'm too tall and there is no storage below).

Thanks for the welcome!

 

[decodancer]

Everything happens for a reason, enjoy the road while you are able to. Lots of good ideas on this site for making you "home" more comfy. Check out Bindi and us (don't know how to do links), they are doing videos as they convert their van for two to live in.

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Congrats.

We recently downsized from a motorhome to a maxi van and love it.
https://vanlivingforum.com/Thread-The-Build-On-The-Fly

Hope to see y'all at RTR next winter.

 

[GrinningPanther]

Hi DCosmc! Welcome from a fellow bored/semi-burnt-out member of the helping professions. When the Call to Go is very strong within, it is indeed time to go.

I, too, am outfitting a van and making final preparations to head west. 'Hope to be on the road within 2 months. Perhaps we'll cross paths in NM or AZ sometime, and compare notes.

Good luck on your preparations!

GP

 

[Donedirtcheap]

You are going to love it. We spent our first winter in Texas, Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee and used this link often. http://freecampsites.net/

 

[Patrick46]

Hey guys!! Welcome to the forum!!

Being new, full-timers, you'll find this place to be a wealth of information on what works and what doesn't. Sure, it's different for each and every one of us, but learning from other's mistakes can sure help ease the learning curve when making the transition from a home dweller, to a van dweller.

As for the name of your van...don't worry. It'll let YOU know when the time is right!


Patrick from Oregon

 

[rvwandering]

Welcome! From personal experience I know how hard it is to return to a "normal" life after being on the road. Good luck with your conversion and have fun traveling!

 

[Sameer]

This life will become your 'Normal Life'. Get rid of everything. This life is filled with Freedom...Peace...Happiness...that few on the planet ever experience. It will also test you and make you stronger. It will connect you with your primordial self and change you forever. Good Luck! See you in the Great Desert.

 

[caseyc]

Welcome to the tribe! You'll have to start posting pictures too, otherwise we don't believe anything you tell us. Joke!

You are another example that it's not worth being a martyr for corporate America. It will consume you, and spit you out when they are through with you. Not even a gold Rolex, nowadays!

Congrats on your van. I'm curious, though, why didn't you get something that's already fully outfitted, such as a RoadTrek Class B RV? I have a conversion van myself, but I'm curious how you got to choosing a conversion van instead of something else.

Again, show pictures when you get a chance. Cheers and congrats to you! I'm doing this full time myself, but I'm still working and doing the wage slave thing, at least for now.

 

[DCosmc]

I will post some pics this weekend as we work on the van. We went with the conversion because while we may re-do much of the interior at some point, we could comfortably get up and go tomorrow. That said, between now and the end of June we plan to build a bed w/storage, a sink and kitchen area (for camp stove) and turn the TV/entertainment areas into our camping and back packing storage section.

We hope to head to the southwest and the up the costal highway (we've done this twice). If we come back east we will do so via a northern route and then van dwell locally in rural ny/vt.

 

[akrvbob]

Dcosmc, that sounds like a good plan! Just remember that as wonderful as vandwelling is, it's weakness is extreme weather. That's why most of us are snowbirds moving with the seasons.

Many of us winter over in either the desert southwest or Florida. If you are planning the Pacific Coast, you don't want to do it in the winter! The constant rain and cold is miserable!
Bob

 

[DCosmc]

Akrvbob,
Thanks for the tips. I'm definitely not overly excited about the heat in the southwest come July. That said, we will be back in the northeast come the end of Aug and so if we are going to explore that region this well have to be the time (until we can return again... I hope to do so for the RTR). A few years ago, when we went cross country we tent camped in Utah, Nevada and Southern California through Aug. Pretty damn hot but we managed.

I think that we will probably spend a shorter amount of time in the Southwest and then get to the California coast and the Oregon, Washington area and then to Montana. Those are all places we have spent short amounts of time in and really have wanted to explore more. They feel like home, so why not make them home?

 

[WheelEstate USA]

When you do Oregon I recommend the cruise up the Coastal 101. You'll hit all the groovy oceanside towns. There casinos scattered along the way with free dry parking and some wonderful beaches. At times you'll be in piney hills and the next moment there's a roaring surf to the left.
We really enjoyed the trip last summer, as we kinda beat the tourist scene in most towns.

If you head up that way shoot me a PM and I'll turn you on to some cool stuff.
We have a boy in Astoria and lots of friends there. I'm sure they will welcome you.

Portland is kinda cool, but make it over to Bend if you can...great beers, good food, and lots of fun. Got a buddy there who can fill you in on what's happening.

 

[SoulRaven]

Welcome!

If you don't have your bed made yet, I was just reading about probably the slickest bed plan I've seen to date.

You start with a hollywood frame. They are adjustable width wise, and have clamps to hold them tight where they overlap.

Well, this guy tossed the clamps, and added legs under where each of the clamps would have gone, connected by what looked like another bed rail, and he added a third leg in the center of this new cross member, which would place it about in the middle of the bed when opened up. That left the frame free to slide in and out. He added pipes to the legs to make the bed taller for storage underneath. It could then be easily slid in and out to make either a sofa or a bed.

It looked very simple and sturdy yet easy to build.

 

[blkjak]

welcome .... blkjak