Overwhelmed and lacking focus

[mothercoder]

I'm not really a newcomer to the forum but as I do not own my nomad-dwelling vehicle yet, I guess that places me into newcomer status.

First let me state that I have no doubt that about my decision to retire and be on the road.  None whatsoever.  However, the process is bogging me down a bit.  I will need to be out of my apartment by June 13th and right now the plan is to continue working and stealth camp for 6-8 weeks beyond that so I can beef up my savings account.  

I've started the process of downsizing and I'm a little embarrassed about the number and complexity of the lists I have for everything related to doing what needs to be done: 

• room by room lists of what is to be sold, how much I hope to get and a space for what I actually get
• camp locations gleaned from various blogs including cost of fees and resources for water and dump stations nearby
• apps that I might want
• items to purchase listed by necessity (need vs want) and average cost on Amazon, CL, eBay, WalMart and FB Marketplace
• timeline for what needs to be done when
• notes and pictures of different van builds

I have about $4k set aside for the van purchase so I guess I could begin looking now.  I unexpectedly came across an Xplorer even though that's not at all what I was looking for but the thought of buying something that could be a mess makes me hesitate even though everyone on this forum is telling me it could be a steal of a buy.  My friend, who is a diesel mechanic and who has offered to accompany me on my van purchase has recommended that I pass on the Xplorer even though folks here think it would be a good thing to look at it.  

I'm a very methodical person (as if you don't get that from the recitation of my lists).  In making a major purchase, I would research which products are best, the pros and cons and make a decision based on that.  But when I try to find out which vans people recommend, the information is all over the place.  Everyone has their favorite and there are no clear standouts.  So I'm stymied on what to even look at. 

Then there's trying to decide on things like power.  Eventually I want to have a solid performing solar system and a good generator but I can't afford all those things at once.  But when I do my build (after I get the van which I can't even decide on to purchase), I know that it's best to set things up so that I'm ready for my desired power set up even if I can't afford to get everything right away.  But I don't know how to do that and don't know anyone with electrical expertise to tell me how to do it.  I've read just about everything I can get my hands on but there's no basic Step A-Z guide on how to build your van so that you're ready for power whenever you can put it in and which also explains what's going on with the electrical.  I thought about getting a Goal Zero since it seems so user friendly but the battery capacity for a 400 is not enough for me, especially for the price.  So I have to figure out the electrical somehow. 

I'm guessing my lack of focus is that I'm so used to being able to go from ground zero to end goal just by taking things one thing at a time, making a plan, plotting things out, getting it straight in my head and on paper what I'm doing and then proceeding from there.  But this has proven to be a lot more difficult. 

Guess I'm hoping that someone else has felt these things when trying to make plans but worked their way through and can give me a little nudge.  I really have to focus on this and get things moving!  In 5 months I have to have a van that is livable and since I work full-time and live in an area where the weather is not moderate, that means I will have a short window of time to really get kicking and get it done. 

Suggestions?  Advice?  Kicks in the ass?

 

[BradKW]

While what works for one person might not work for everyone, I believe Margaritas could help you...

[img=400x400]http://www.kokteel.nl/library/margarita.jpg[/img]

Two or three generally makes me feel better about things  

 

[mothercoder]

LOL  Not a bad idea at all!  Or maybe at least a glass or two of wine, which is what I have on the bar at home.

 

[rvpopeye]

Sorry to say it but this is something that very rarely "one size fits all".
I wish we could give you a list of do this and get that but it just doesn't work out that way.
All the research you are doing will be what you use to make your own personal decisions.

Don't think that there will be no help as you take the steps towards your goal though.
Because that's what the tribe does.
Maybe you'll find someone here selling their rig with most of the hard stuff done already !?!

Keep asking questions as they come up and pick the responses that seem "right" for you.

 

[GotSmart]

The first thing I did was to list everything on Ebay.  Money in the bank, no facing buyers.  At the end, you are giving things away. 

I spent about a year building my basket case van into a road warrior.  

The sooner you start on that, the better.

Just do it.  

On vans, the ford V~10 are motors to avoid.  Chevy 350, dodge 318, are usually good motors.  Any domestic model will be easy to find parts for. 

Unless you know you want one, shorty vans are cramped.  

High top vans you can stand up in are the most desired.  

A bunch of plastic tubs and a pad and sleeping bag work.  

Ask questions here.

LUCK!

 

[Wabbit]

I am sending positive thoughts your way. I had a budget for my vehicle and its being blown to bits. New plan is now just get it mechanically sound, then slowly get the interior setup. This has been 2 years for me to get to just the vehicle part and it was all supposed to be done a year and a half ago.

It sounds so easy! Get a van, live in it! Easy Peasy! Lol not for me, but I hope your sharp mind and wits get you a great vehicle under budget.

 

[hepcat]

However, the process is bogging me down a bit.  I will need to be out of my apartment by June 13th 

Guess I'm hoping that someone else has felt these things when trying to make plans but worked their way through and can give me a little nudge.  

Suggestions?  Advice?  Kicks in the ass?

I've kinda boiled your post down to what I think is important in what you posted.

First, remember that life is what happens while you're busy making other plans. I'm leaving on a 4200 mile round trip to the west coast later this morning, and while I know where I'm going, exactly... I only generally have an idea of what route I'm taking to get there. I'll roughly follow I-35 south from Iowa, and when I get to a point that it's above freezing at night, I'll turn right. The exact route isn't as important as the journey itself and what I'm going to see along the way. I'll do the same thing on the way back home in five or six weeks. That's an important concept. Knowing where you want to be at the end of the journey is important. Having a general plan how to get there is important. Worrying about specifics before you need to is just frustrating and overwhelming. And largely unnecessary, as your route will change as you go anyway.

In 1987 I went through a divorce and found I needed a relatively inexpensive, furnished place to live.  I found a '70 Airstream 23' Safari Special for $2,000 and ended up living in it for a year.  It wasn't called 'van dwelling' or 'full timing' in those days.  I was just trailer-trash...  but it was a safe, warm, and inexpensive way to live.  It needed a new water heater,  the toilet was missing, needed some other plumbing repairs, and the PAAR diaphragm water pump needed overhaul.   I located a spot for it and had a friend move it there for me 'cause I didn't have a tow vehicle.  I fixed what was wrong, and figured it out on the fly as I'd never had a camper with complex systems like the Airstream.  Fortunately, I'd camped, hiked, and backpacked since I was a little kid, so I had a pretty good idea what I needed to successfully live in a 23' trailer.   Or I thought I did. After 6 months I had it down pretty well though.

In those days, there was no internet, no forums, and no one to get advice from.  You made it up as you went along and learned from the school of hard knocks.

Since those days, I've not 'full timed' in an RV, as I've always had a full-time residence somewhere as well, but I've spent as much as two months at a stretch in a '63 Airstream Bambi 16', a number of 17' and smaller fiberglass trailers, and several motorhomes over the years.

So, here's the advice I have for you.  Don't over-think this.  You won't know exactly what you need until you're doing it.  NO vehicle will be perfect, and anything that comes close will likely cost at least twice or three times what your budget was by the time you're in it.  You'll have to deal with that.   

On one hand, you'll be amazed at how much stuff to be comfortable you can get into a van when it's organized properly.  On the other hand, you'll be amazed at how little 'stuff' you can really have with you.  You need to choose wisely, but there's no way to do that until you have a van to start putting 'stuff' into.

Put the bulk of your stuff in storage somewhere.  Living in 19' of van/trailer/moho isn't for everyone.  If, in six months or a year, you're still loving it, then go back and sell your stuff.  If, OTOH, you can't stand it, you don't have to start from scratch reacquiring furniture and such.

Last, I admire the folks who buy a stock stripper cargo van and outfit it.  Me, I like the conveniences built into manufacturer-built B-vans.  I've learned how to successfully (and inexpensively) use the combination of shore power, generator power, coach battery, and propane to their best effect.  I don't need to worry about bigger coach batteries, solar arrays, 12v compressor fridges or any of that.  Some folks don't want to have propane on board... and that's fine too...  just not my thing.  But the bottom line is, that until you have something to get 'out there' with... you won't know what YOU want, or what suits YOUR style of living. 

Frankly, I've been fortunate over the years to have a) an understanding and nonjudgmental spouse who lets me play RVs, and b) enough disposable income to buy an RV cheaply, fix it up, and sell it at a profit to turn into the next one that came along.  In '06, I had an '02 Scamp 16' Deluxe trailer with all of the amenities and oak interior that I paid for entirely with the proceeds of flipping other RVs.    That parade of trailers and motorhomes over the years has allowed me to hone pretty finely what I find to be important in an RV/moho/trailer.  AND I will tell you that the 'perfect' RV is a moving target depending on what your needs may be at the time.  And they'll change. That's why I have both a 19' B-van AND a 32' motorhome with a rear island queen bed.  But it's ok that your wants and needs may change as you learn.   That learning curve is still ahead for you, but even with all the good advice and great tips folks can offer you, making this happen YOUR way is still largely a trial-and-error pursuit.  We all have beds.  They're all done differently.  We all have table ware, but everyone has different stuff.  We all carry pots and pans... but everyone has different ones.  We all store stuff... but we do it differently.  You get the idea.

So...  since you like lists,  my advice is:

1)  Buy your van.
2)  Set it up with what you think you need and store everything else.
3)  In a couple of months, take the stuff you thought you needed but don't back to storage, and get the stuff you DO need.
4)  If in a year, you're happy, carry on.  If not, go back to your stuff and resume a 'normal' lifestyle.

My final piece of advice comes from George Carlin... "Don't sweat the petty things... and don't pet the sweaty things."

Good luck!

 

[mothercoder]

Hepcat, some good advice there based on years of experience and I thank you for it.

I don't and won't have the disposable income to remake my home on wheels over and over again nor will there likely be any financial opportunity to change from one type of mobile dwelling to another. Therefore, inasmuch as it is possible, I have to make the very best decision I can and learn to live with it. I do have a Plan B which would take me back to a stick and bricks in a different location. However, it is not worth it to put anything I own in storage. In 2012 I sold my home, sold everything and moved to San Diego. While in San Diego I purchased some second hand items to fill my space with. Then I returned to the east coast and when I did, I sold everything again. Upon returning to the east coast, I once again bought everything I currently have second hand. While it has been comfortable and served me well, there's nothing here worth paying storage for. Plus I would have to haul it across country to Plan B (an area where family lives since there's no one on the east coast). No...I'll keep what is precious to me and I feel can't be replaced and make room for it in my van.

 

[mothercoder]

I am sending positive thoughts your way. I had a budget for my vehicle and its being blown to bits. New plan is now just get it mechanically sound, then slowly get the interior setup. This has been 2 years for me to get to just the vehicle part and it was all supposed to be done a year and a half ago.

It sounds so easy! Get a van, live in it! Easy Peasy! Lol not for me, but I hope your sharp mind and wits get you a great vehicle under budget.

Thank you so much for the positive thoughts. The whole idea of my budget being torn to bits and it taking that long to pull it together is exactly what I'm trying to avoid.  It's not that I am forced to live in a van nor that I'm forced to do it by a certain date.  At least not in the sense of being unemployed and homeless.  But I have felt far less than myself in the last few years and it gets worse as the months go by.  Hard to explain, but I need this and I need it sooner rather than later.  Which I guess isn't the perfect position to be coming from because it causes pressure but maybe pressure is what is needed to make a change in life for the better.

 

[ArtW]

Stop
Close your eyes, figuratively speaking
You're still being ruled by 'stuff'
Not the stuff you're ready to toss, the stuff you're seeking
Take a deep breath, calm down, and approach this move reasonably and rationally
What is 'necessary' to be happy?
Happiness
That's all
I know people, right now, living in paid off homes that are slowly falling apart, and they're still happy, because they refuse to be unhappy
'the right van' won't make you happy, you have to bring your happiness into the van, see what you dislike, and change it
Life doesn't end when you enter RV living, just the shell does
Take some deep breaths, relax, achieve calm, then go do what needs doing, and just push through, that's all you really can do, and all this fretting is accomplishing two things
1 raising your blood pressure
2 making you fear
also ask yourself if some of this feeling of being overwhelmed might be from internal resistance, you can be your own biggest obstacle, I should know, I'm usually mine

 

[waldenbound]

Mothercoder,
I understand how you feel because I've been there myself, and I'm still torn by indecision, and analysis paralysis.

There's a saying that goes, rv plans are made of jello, and there's good reason for that.

First I thought I was going to get a travel trailer and a big honking' pickup. Then a Class C. Then it was a brand new Ford Transit Connect. Well, guess what's sitting in my driveway? A used Chevy Express.

Then there's my build. You want to see indecision, look at this thread. Ho boy.
https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=20363

Then I thought, I really need a good cooler. So I bought a 65 quart Yeti. Most people think coolers are a PITA, especially coolers that cost $400. So I have a $400 PITA cooler that I'm going to milk every last dollar from before I look at 12v refrigerators.

I had a bed that I made into a mural. I put in about 50 hours in detailed painting. Take a look at this thread. https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=16447&highlight=i+built+a+bed
Well guess what happened? It was too big for the Chevy, and too short for good storage. So, it was either build a new, smaller bed, or the rest of my stuff can't fit.

I'm poking some fun at myself here. I know in a couple of years, I'll look back on my early threads and crack up laughing at all the notions I had and the mistakes I made.

I mean, I've changed my mind about things over and over. That's going to happen when planning a big lifestyle change like this. Be flexible, have a beginner's mind.

Being methodical helps too. I've had a long time to plan, and I still have a longish time till I'm on the road. I've gotten things done little by little over a long period of time. Some people don't have the luxury of so much time and planning though.

I know I probably haven't answered all of your questions or probably any of your questions. Just passing on my experience.

 

[slynne]

Mothercoder, you are currently where I hope to be in about three-four years. I appreciate being able to learn from your experience. Thanks!

 

[billybob200138]

Ok, San Diego. Good, they have Wal Mart. Free place to camp. Truck stops also. Solar? Are you going to set for days at a time in the desert? If not get a house battery for the back. Again Wal Mart will sell you a deep cell battery on the cheap. Good enough for a start. Buy a $20 100amp inverter to charge small electrics. I-pad,phone,etc. Old ply wood makes a good bed across the back or side. Make it high enough to put the plastic totes you get from Wal Mart underneath the bed. I am in Fl presently."Don"t need 10 gals of water to lug around. Lots of McDonald's around if I don't feel the urge to cook. On. Cool nights I heat up the van with my camping stove,turn it off and jump in My sleeping bag. Free internet at Wal-Mart,Lowe's,library,etc..Shower at Rec centers,swimming pools,laundry mats,campgrounds,etc. Start with basics. You will take to much stuff. Good thing is if you buy a pair of socks you have to figure out where to put them. Now go and be good to yourself. HoboJoe

 

[mothercoder]

Ok, San Diego. Good, they have Wal Mart. Free place to camp. Truck stops also. Solar? Are you going to set for days at a time in the desert? If not get a house battery for the back. Again Wal Mart will sell you a deep cell battery on the cheap. Good enough for a start. Buy a $20 100amp inverter to charge small electrics. I-pad,phone,etc. Old ply wood makes a good bed across the back or side. Make it high enough to put the plastic totes you get from Wal Mart underneath the bed. I am in Fl presently."Don"t need 10 gals of water to lug around. Lots of McDonald's around if I don't feel the urge to cook. On. Cool nights I heat up the van with my camping stove,turn it off and jump in My sleeping bag. Free internet at Wal-Mart,Lowe's,library,etc..Shower at Rec centers,swimming pools,laundry mats,campgrounds,etc. Start with basics. You will take to much stuff. Good thing is if you buy a pair of socks you have to figure out where to put them. Now go and be good to yourself. HoboJoe

Sorry, you misunderstood.  I currently live on the west coast.  I have family in San Diego but I'm not going to live there.  Once I'm on the road I'll be following temperate weather.  So yes, days at a time in the desert during the winter and days at a time in higher elevations during the summer.  I do plan on getting at least one deep cycle battery.  I prefer an AGM but we will see what the budget allows. I don't want to throw dollars at less expensive options when I know in the end I will want at least 2 AGM batteries, a pure sine wave inverter, a controller and 200-300w of solar.  I've seen too many problems with condensation under the mattress when using a solid plywood base so I plan on buying a mattress platform from WalMart or Amazon if it will fit whatever van I buy.  I'd rather not eat than have McDonald's.  Sorry, personal preference.  I will have a propane 2 burner stove and I don't mind hauling at least 5 gallons of water for cooking and cleaning.  I will be getting a 5 gallon bucket and a shower spray for my showers.  Not sure yet if I'll get a shower tent or just use a plastic tarp across the back doors of the van. 

My setup needs to be able to last me about 7 days without having to replenish.

 

[mothercoder]

Mothercoder,
I understand how you feel because I've been there myself, and I'm still torn by indecision, and analysis paralysis.

There's a saying that goes, rv plans are made of jello, and there's good reason for that.

First I thought I was going to get a travel trailer and a big honking' pickup. Then a Class C. Then it was a brand new Ford Transit Connect. Well, guess what's sitting in my driveway? A used Chevy Express.

Then there's my build. You want to see indecision, look at this thread. Ho boy.
https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=20363

Then I thought, I really need a good cooler. So I bought a 65 quart Yeti. Most people think coolers are a PITA, especially coolers that cost $400. So I have a $400 PITA cooler that I'm going to milk every last dollar from before I look at 12v refrigerators.  

I had a bed that I made into a mural. I put in about 50 hours in detailed painting. Take a look at this thread. https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=16447&highlight=i+built+a+bed
Well guess what happened? It was too big for the Chevy, and too short for good storage. So, it was either build a new, smaller bed, or the rest of my stuff can't fit.

I'm poking some fun at myself here. I know in a couple of years, I'll look back on my early threads and crack up laughing at all the notions I had and the mistakes I made.

I mean, I've changed my mind about things over and over. That's going to happen when planning a big lifestyle change like this. Be flexible, have a beginner's mind.

Being methodical helps too. I've had a long time to plan, and I still have a longish time till I'm on the road. I've gotten things done little by little over a long period of time. Some people don't have the luxury of so much time and planning though.

I know I probably haven't answered all of your questions or probably any of your questions. Just passing on my experience.

Looking forward to reading what you've done.  I'm such a planner and organizer and this has been harder than anything I've ever had to plan.  Planning my move across the country twice was way easier than this.  I will have to learn to be more fluid while still having a solid plan.

 

[mothercoder]

Mothercoder, you are currently where I hope to be in about three-four years. I appreciate being able to learn from your experience. Thanks!

Thanks, Lynne.  I will be starting a blog on this process and my intention is to do it from a frugal standpoint.  Partly because I have to and partly because I've never been particularly fond of spending when you don't have to.  I hope to set start setting up the blog this weekend and will let you know when it goes live.

 

[mothercoder]

'the right van' won't make you happy, you have to bring your happiness into the van

That.  Right there.  That is absolutely perfect.  Thank you.

 

[ArtW]

 

[AbuelaLoca]

That.  Right there.  That is absolutely perfect.  Thank you.

I smiled real big when I read this too!   I am in the same boat as you, mothercoder, but I'm not nearly as organized!! I have made a timeline so far 

I'm pretty determined that this is what I want for my future, so I'm jumping in with both feet! I appreciate all the sharing you're doing here, because I'm learnin' a lot from your questions and the member's answers! Can't wait to read your blog!!

See ya down the road   (that's Debra Dickinson's tag line that I seem to have stolen from her... but I do give credit where it's due LOL)