wadragracing
New member
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2015
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Hi everyone,
I've used this site and its resources for some time but I haven't really perused the forums much until now. But now enjoying reading through all the content.
I guess I have a bit of a thing for campervans. My first time overseas was in 2009 when I rented a campervan (an Astro I think) and drove across the USA from LA to New York and back in about four weeks. Yep it was a lot of driving but I wanted to see a lot! Grand Canyon, a couple of drag races, New York, Great Smokey Mountains, Rocky Mountains, Arches and Vegas.
In 2012 I was back in the USA and my buddy bought an RV so spent a few weeks in that going from Denver to Yosemite and up the coast from there, then in 2013 I did the campervan thing again seeing a bunch more places I still had to tick off, going from the Florida Keys up the coast to New York, Niagara, Chicago, Badlands, Mt Rushmore, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons.
At the end of 2013 I made a pretty crazy decision to quit what at one stage I thought was my dream job and go travelling for a year. As part of that I rented a campervan in New Zealand and spent two months driving around the South Island. Later that year I was back in the USA and wanting to find a cheap way to replicate a campervan I ended up renting a small SUV (Mazda CX5) for a couple of months and just bought a bunch of camping gear from Walmart like an air mattress, esky and cooker and I took it up from Vegas to Death Valley, Eastern Sierras, Lassen Volcanic, random places in Oregon, Glacier NP, Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Mesa Verde, Monument Valley (arguably the greatest view of any campsite I've ever had), Giant Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Joshua Tree.
So safe to say after this I have a bit of an addiction to vans and have done reasonable stints in small spaces. Now back home in Australia I have bought a van of my own!
I'm not sure if what I am going to end up doing really classifies as vandwelling, probably more like just long term campervanning. I am fortunate in that I can work remotely for much of the year so even though I have a house (and a mortgage) I want to get out for stints of 2-3 months and do some exploring of my own country. Regardles of what definition it comes under, I get a kick out of reading about everyone's adventures here and their bravery in embracing an alternative and minimalist lifestyle.
Anyways on to my van! It is a 1998 Toyota Hiace with 253,000km on the clock. These are pretty well known for their reliability so fingers crossed I have a good one. It was formerly a plumbing and gas van so it is currently being converted with the assistance of my grandparents who are keen caravanners. I also have a blog at http://www.theninthwall.com where I kept track of my adventures last year and ongoing...
Cheers everyone!
I've used this site and its resources for some time but I haven't really perused the forums much until now. But now enjoying reading through all the content.
I guess I have a bit of a thing for campervans. My first time overseas was in 2009 when I rented a campervan (an Astro I think) and drove across the USA from LA to New York and back in about four weeks. Yep it was a lot of driving but I wanted to see a lot! Grand Canyon, a couple of drag races, New York, Great Smokey Mountains, Rocky Mountains, Arches and Vegas.
In 2012 I was back in the USA and my buddy bought an RV so spent a few weeks in that going from Denver to Yosemite and up the coast from there, then in 2013 I did the campervan thing again seeing a bunch more places I still had to tick off, going from the Florida Keys up the coast to New York, Niagara, Chicago, Badlands, Mt Rushmore, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons.
At the end of 2013 I made a pretty crazy decision to quit what at one stage I thought was my dream job and go travelling for a year. As part of that I rented a campervan in New Zealand and spent two months driving around the South Island. Later that year I was back in the USA and wanting to find a cheap way to replicate a campervan I ended up renting a small SUV (Mazda CX5) for a couple of months and just bought a bunch of camping gear from Walmart like an air mattress, esky and cooker and I took it up from Vegas to Death Valley, Eastern Sierras, Lassen Volcanic, random places in Oregon, Glacier NP, Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Mesa Verde, Monument Valley (arguably the greatest view of any campsite I've ever had), Giant Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Joshua Tree.
So safe to say after this I have a bit of an addiction to vans and have done reasonable stints in small spaces. Now back home in Australia I have bought a van of my own!
I'm not sure if what I am going to end up doing really classifies as vandwelling, probably more like just long term campervanning. I am fortunate in that I can work remotely for much of the year so even though I have a house (and a mortgage) I want to get out for stints of 2-3 months and do some exploring of my own country. Regardles of what definition it comes under, I get a kick out of reading about everyone's adventures here and their bravery in embracing an alternative and minimalist lifestyle.
Anyways on to my van! It is a 1998 Toyota Hiace with 253,000km on the clock. These are pretty well known for their reliability so fingers crossed I have a good one. It was formerly a plumbing and gas van so it is currently being converted with the assistance of my grandparents who are keen caravanners. I also have a blog at http://www.theninthwall.com where I kept track of my adventures last year and ongoing...
Cheers everyone!
