Salutations!

[Wexler]

Greetings, figured I'd drop an introduction of sorts. I'm William, 39 - going on 40 this coming June. Born in Alabama, but have spent more time in Ohio than anywhere else. Haven't taken the literal plunge yet; however, I'm sort of been reflecting a lot on my life and what I'd really like to do more than anything else is, I dunno - get out and wander. It's something I never had the means to do when I was younger - my 20s were one personal crisis after another, and my 30s were/are the predictable wage slavery, so I never took any time for myself. Unmarried, unattached, but I do have a small house to sell(and I mean SMALL, not expecting a big return on the thing), and loads of personal possessions to sort through and either sell or donate. Career? Not much of one to speak. I've spent most of the past decade in a number of lower-level administrative positions for Libraries and Educational Institutions.

I honestly just want to spend the rest of my life wandering about, seeing the country(and possibly our neighbors to the North), and maybe enjoying life for once.

Plans? That's a good one, because they're minimalist - everything from my preferred build requirements to what I'll do for money. I DO plan on cashing in about 40K I have in State-retirement(don't worry, not even years for a pension), with which the minimal amount I'll get back on the house - using that to pay down my cards, buy a van and give me a head-start.

Speaking of a moving home, my requirements are startlingly minimal: I don't need custom cabinets, I don't need an ELABORATE electrical system(though I DO want solar...heavy tech user, unfortunately) something like 400-600 watts of flexibile panels, with about 150 amp hours in batteries...4 outlets. No running water, no fridge, maybe a roof-fan, but I'm not sure about cutting holes in the roof of a vehicle. Insulation? No idea because I'm not sure if I would really need the elaborate insulation I've seen on some builds. Heat/cooking? Propane seems like not a bad choice, but with the solar set-up, I could probably do okay with an electric blanket or pad and a low temp sleeping bag. Speaking of sleep? 14-inch, raised base...a cheap one and I can get by just fine with a twin. I use a full now, but only use about 60% of it. Cooling? Well, ventilation seems a primary concern hence the roof-fan, roof-top a/c seems wildly inefficient so I'd probably forgo that.

I just want a nice, non-descript, RELIABLE, stealthy, place to sleep, stay warm, and plug my PC into.

Income? Well, I figured I'd give the work-camping thing a try. If I can make 18K a year take-home, working only 6 months overall, I'd be set.

So...I mean, I suppose I'm here because I have no idea where to start on everything.

 

[eDJ_]

Welcome to the VL Forums It's a great starting point for you as I'm sure you'll discover after spending some time here. I would invite you to look at the two sites at the bottom of my post. The first one "Van Conversion" may be just what you need to look thru now. The second is a portal of handy info to make your entry into van living as safe, comfortable and convenient as possible.

I've known many Librarians and have a wallet full of library cards to the counties around me here in southern Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. I've spent many an hour in reference researching alternate living methods including mobile life. I'm a source of amusement for many staffers who seem to reside within their heads while living and traveling within the stories they read in books. But in the end for them leaving library land to have a life and see the world would just be too much of an impasse.

When you get yourself into a rig, you may want to have a membership to a Gym like Planet Fitness where you could use any of the locations in their network as you travel.
If you wanted to stay in one place for awhile you could look for short term rentals or check Airbnb or others like it. (then use your rig for a car)

All the best !

 

[Mod1234]

Welcome to the Vanliving forums. To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips, Tricks and Rules" post lists some helpful information to get you started.

Most of our rules boil down to two simple over-riding principles: 1) What you post should provide good information (like your introductory post), and 2) Any response to someone else's post should make them feel glad they are part of this forum community.
We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[crofter]

I never forget the good advice "don't quit your day job" (yet). You could get the van for starters and try van life where you live, build up a nest egg for travel plus that all important emergency fund to be spent on the van during a roadside breakdown. And then do the quitting of the day job.

To be honest, I never made more than eight thousand dollars US on a camp host gig (6 months) but you may be better than me at getting the $$$$s out of employers. Just reporting my experience. And the good news is that wages are going up in many states.

Do you have a way to do your current work remotely while you travel? There is a lot of information on the digital nomad lifestyle that some people are successful at while travelling and living in a van. Maybe your current employer will switch you to remote work (assuming you want to continue with them). So many options!

Welcome to the forum, wexler!
-crofter

 

[Wexler]

I never forget the good advice "don't quit your day job" (yet). You could get the van for starters and try van life where you live, build up a nest egg for travel plus that all important emergency fund to be spent on the van during a roadside breakdown. And then do the quitting of the day job.

To be honest, I never made more than eight thousand dollars US on a camp host gig (6 months) but you may be better than me at getting the $$$$s out of employers. Just reporting my experience. And the good news is that wages are going up in many states.

Do you have a way to do your current work remotely while you travel? There is a lot of information on the digital nomad lifestyle that some people are successful at while travelling and living in a van. Maybe your current employer will switch you to remote work (assuming you want to continue with them). So many options!

Welcome to the forum, wexler!
-crofter

Unfortunately, my current job is on-site, 9-6, daily grind, nothing able to be done remotely - exactly the sort of thing I would ideally like to get out of. As per building up an emergency fund/nest egg, I'm fortunate enough to be able to gain a bit of equity from the sale of my house, and by cashing in my state pension I'll never actually be able to make any use of because I certainly don't plan on working for the state any longer.

Luckily, I mean there are plenty of options apparently, some I've heard about while creeping around here - some elsewhere. I do plan on looking into a short-term card-dealing course for temp work as a card dealer. As per another member's write-up I could possibly clear 5-7K over 7 weeks doing the World Series of Poker in the Fall, I can pick up another 2-3K as a camp counselor during the summer over six weeks,(which is nice, because those gigs typically pay for food/board while you're there) and find something to do in the Spring and I'd be golden.

But thanks for the welcome, most appreciated.

 

[SierraVanCampers]

Hello William,

I can only speak to what has worked for us in building out a vehicle. Our fridge is our number one best addition to our van. The 12V compressor fridges do not use much energy and are wonderful to have. Insulation is not to difficult depending on your build vehicle and my feeling is that if you ever sleep in a metal box without insulation say below 40F or above 90F, you will appreciate having it. We get by with 200-300 watts of solar and around 100-125ah of usable storage. The following is just our opinion and others may feel differently. We try and keep everything 12V DC in the van which is simpler, less cost, smaller footprint then a large pure sine wave inverter. It works for us. We do also carry a portable power station should an inverter be needed in the van. You might check out the Bluetti EB70 or larger AC200P.

Cutting a hole in the roof to feed your solar cables down or cutting in a vent is not as bad as it seems. There are so many good videos of others doing it on all types of vehicles. Just gather info, plan and then take your time. I have tried both flexible panels and rigid panels and much prefer the rigid. If you are building a stealth vehicle I understand why you might not want rigid panels though. We have a Gas One stove that can run off butane or a green bottle propane. We always have good ventilation though when cooking.

Keep it simple at first and try using it. You will quickly find what works and doesn't work. I really think it is good advice to not jump in 100% at first but while working, get your vehicle and start a basic build. Take a few weeks and test it out as often as you can. If time permits, head to Quartzsite and see what others do.