Ready to hit the road again

[Sentient Loon]

Hello everyone! I am a long time lurker who finally decided to join. For one thing, I can now see your photographs in their full glory. Yay!

So to share a relevant story… All my life I’ve been drawn to nature, traveling, and art in many forms. In 2009, I decided to scratch the itch to try vandwelling, so I bought a minivan (Isuzu Oasis), turned it into a camper, and took off for over two months. I absolutely loved it, and the van became my second home for the next several years. Also, I had a chronic health condition that left me extremely sleepy, so having a safe place to nap was invaluable. Later, I sold the van to live car-free so I could attend college without loans or debt. This has been a frustratingly long process. Thankfully, my knack for the arts has led me into becoming a graphic designer, and my pipe dream is to become a self-employed digital nomad. Whether vandwelling ends up full or part-time will be decided through experience, but either way I NEED to roam.

Now that I am nearing graduation, I am looking for a vehicle. So far I’m leaning towards another minivan. They are incredibly stealthy, get decent MPG, and allow safe access to the cab. However, I did spend a lot of time traveling down unpaved paths, and although the Oasis did ok I wonder how much I would be limiting myself by not having an off-road vehicle. If you guys have any personal experience with similar decisions I’d love to hear it. I live in the Pacific Northwest if that helps.

Anywho thank you for reading. This website has been an incredible source of knowledge and inspiration, and I look forward to interacting with you guys!

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Note: The power inverter shown here was connected to the car battery, but it was only used to charge small items (flip phone, camera, flashlight) and mainly while the van was running. Due to increased electrical needs, my new set-up will include a house battery. Bicycle tour photo included because… wanderlust. Oh, and although I'm using Flickr to host images, my slightly less messy photography site is at - http://megansemple.zenfolio.com/f307659474

 

[highdesertranger]

welcome loon. fwd vehicles do pretty good off road. although I would never own one. what type of off road driving are you talking about? improved roads or unimproved roads? it makes a big difference on improved dirt roads almost anything can handle it. unimproved is a whole different game. unimproved roads run the gamut from easy to impossible. you have come to the right place, there is a lot of experience on this forum. great people too. highdesertranger

 

[rvpopeye]

Heya Loon
Welcome aboard .
Sounds like you've caught the travel bug known as "hitch itch", this is a great place to scratch that itch.

 

[Sentient Loon]

Thank you highdesertranger. I'm not terribly familiar with the terms used for roads, but I'm mostly referring to forest service roads for dispersed camping in the National Forest and on BLM lands. I always stayed within a few miles of the pavement, so I'm not sure what else is out there in "4X4 only" territory. Would it be worth having a stronger vehicle for? The good news is I was always able to access any trailhead I wanted, but the undercarriage of the van was pretty banged up by the time I sold it. It gave my mechanic a good laugh!

 

[highdesertranger]

ok an improved road is one that a government agency maintains, meaning it's graded. they usually grade once a year, sometime more sometimes less. most of the time these roads are passible by any vehicle. in the high desert the biggest problems on these roads are driving to fast. a small rock at high speeds will ruin a tire, especially car tires(P-rated). an unimproved road has zero maintenance so it's like a crap shoot you never know what you will encounter. these roads can eat up a car in short order, biggest problems here is a rock though the oil pan, transmission pan, fuel tank, fuel lines, etc, etc. however something else you must be aware of with any vehicle but especially 2wd cars and such is the catalytic convertor and dry grass. a hot cat will light up dry grass in short order. so finally to your question, it depends on what you want. do you want to go where everyone goes or do you want to go where hardly anyone goes? it's up to you. highdesertranger