SHould I

[Guanton75]

Hello All, I’m a single 40-something year old mechanical engineer who tends to over think thing.  I’ve had a long-time love of the outdoors, mountain biking and backpacking.  A few years ago, before I knew there was a VanLife movement, started eyeing my ex’s Chevy HHR and thinking how easy it would be to sleep in the back of it…if we had room for our stuff too.  Well, stuff happened, and I no longer have access to the HHR so I started looking at a transit connect.  I liked the small size but didn’t like that I couldn’t stand up and that I couldn’t keep my bikes inside where they would be safer.  So, I’ve been looking at one of the smaller transits.  I just can’t convince myself to do it. 

I’m terrible at planning camping/backpacking trips and I think that’s one aspect of having a van I like that a trip wouldn’t have to be as well planned out.  That said, I can only think of a half a dozen places I want to go right now and so I start to think, is it worth it?  But I go back to, I’m terrible at planning trips and maybe I just need to accept they will happen if I have the ability?  Regardless, having my own little fortress of solitude to share with my cats and be more outdoors sounds very appealing.

Any advice on how to stop my brain but make a good decision?
 
Thanks,
Seth

 

[highdesertranger]

Welcome Seth to the CRVL 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.

highdesertranger

 

[Trebor English]

. . .
I no longer have access to the HHR so I started looking at a transit connect. 
. . .

Do you have a vehicle now?  If so, what?  If it is a small sedan with a fold down rear seat you can throw on a bike rack and go for a weekend.  Set your goal close and attainable.  It's a start.

 

[jacqueg]

Any advice on how to stop my brain but make a good decision?
 
Thanks,
Seth

Yup. You have a vehicle now, right?

Whatever it is, go camping with it. If you need camping gear, look in thrift shops.

You'll find out very quickly whether or not you actually LIKE camping. You'll also start forming opinions as to which camping "amenities" YOU really need. You're an engineer, cobble stuff together that makes YOUR camping experience more enjoyable for YOU.

Camp in your driveway or your backyard. Camp on a friend's property. Spend a night in a big box parking lot. Many RV parks also offer tent sites. Find one nearby and go camp there for a couple nights. 

Also, youtube is your friend. For proof that you can find camping spots ANYWHERE, watch Steve Wallis. Not suggesting that you do what he does, but he will get you thinking outside the box.

 

[maki2]

I give you huge bonus points for asking for help and being honest with yourself about having this issue.

yes I can tell you how to stop your brain from spinning, I learned it from a wise counselor 45 years ago. It is a behavior modification technique that really works. When it goes into one of those endless loops about anything including decision making you mentally tell yourself ....STOP....ENOUGH.  It take some will power to keep practicing shutting that stream of useless chatter off but you will get better at it in 3 weeks time if you work at it. Useless chatter is actually more of a bad habit than anything else. Good habits for decision making abound such as doing some real research about vehicles and using spreadsheets with headers for categories of performance and practical useage. Things such as cargo space, gas mileage, head room, seating comfort, room for sleeping, sure footed, etc.

It is also a good thing to learn in terms of being in a relationship as you will become a better decision maker. It is actually not at all pleasant to live with someone who has a lot of trouble making decisions and keeps verbally going over and over such things.  

But lets short cut this:
If you can find one, a low mileage Chevy Astro AWD van would be a good choice for you. Not too little and not too big, and you can easily go camping and also use it to haul things around. Not so large that parking it in the city is an issue.

The little Ford Transit Connects are not AWD, they are front wheel drive only. Good for companies making deliveries in town but they are not the best vehicle for going camping out in free spots down dirt roads. The ground clearance on them is only 5.6".   That is one of the columns you need to add to your spreadsheet, ground clearance, because it is a critical factor. The Chevy Asto is 6.8".  My AWD Honda Element has 6.9" inches ground clearance. A lot of the Subarus have 8.7" of ground clearance.  So see how this works? Decision making is not that hard to do, you just need to figure out the factors to put into the spreadsheet and the choices become more obvious.

My choice was based on AWD, a tall interior space good for cargo hauling, easy to clean floors, easy to camp in, reasonable gas mileage and very reliable.  Plus I wanted to find a lightly used automatic as shifting is painful for my bad back. Just wishing I had considered the Chevy Astro AWD back then but I was not aware of its benefits so it was not on my list as I was focused on 4 cylinder vehicles.

Improving planning is much the same. Develop a checklist spreadsheet on the computer. Then use it to quickly move through the planning phase of taking trips. After a while you will retrain your brain and planning will become second nature rather than a struggle. The military boot camps are all about teaching soldiers routines to help them accomplish things. The officers go to training schools to learn to think in logical ways so they can make good decisions for their troops. It really does not always come naturally, but it can be learned, and you can modify how you approach things. You already do some of this type of analytical thinking if you are a mechanical engineer, so just apply it to other aspects of your life.

 

[Guanton75]

Thanks everyone for your responses, let me answer a couple of questions that have come up. I have 2 cars, a Honda S2000 which is completely useless for camping, it doesn't even have a glove box its so small. My other car is a VW Golf with almost 200k on it and I no longer trust it. A tree fell on it and amazingly the insurance company paid to replace the roof. I also just rebuilt the engine after the timing chain tensioner failed and the pistons hit the valves, common issue with this engine.

I know I love camping but it's almost always been a trek in with a tent on my back. The goal being to get as far away from people as possible. We did a 5 day trip in the Trinity alps where we didn't see another person except in the last couple hours of hiking. The ranger couldn't believe it, the trick was going right before the holiday weekend. I've done some car camping, usually as a cheap place to spend the night while visiting some place. I think of the van as being more of a home base for exploring the national parks, doing road trips to new backpacking spots or trying some of the legendary mounting biking spots.

I love a good spreadsheet!! They work well for my analytical side but like many engineers I'm good and decisions of the heart which is really what's going to take to motivate me through this project. Thanks for bringing up the ground clearance, I didn't realize they were as low as they are.

I think what I'm hearing is do more research which in this case is spending more time out there and pay attention to what would make the experience better. I know getting the bikes inside is a requirement so I'll have to stick to hiking trips until I can get something big enough for me and a bike inside.

Thank you,
Seth

 

[maki2]

Fifth Element camping is a company that makes a mountain bike friendly custom interior for the Honda Element.
I can see that it would be a tough decision to trade a Honda S2000 for something as mundane as a mommy mobile minivan.

However there is a car that was made specifically for what you are describing wanting to do.

The Honda Element design team included a young mountain biker and the vehicle was designed for those adventures. He had a very big influence on the design of the vehicle. The roof is tall enough to put a mountain bike inside upright with the fork in a clamp, wheels off of course. One of the original options was a bracket to hold the wheel. There was also a model with a removable sun roof in the rear specifically made so that it sun roof could be taken off and one could stand up inside of the car with head up through the sun roof and change into bike shorts. The flooring is easy to clean plastic, no carpet in this car. There were also original options for curtains the whole way around inside the car as well as a tail gate tent. I know these things about it because that young designer worked in Seattle at Angle Lake cycles. When the owner of the store noticed that I was driving a Honda Element he told me all about his young former employee.

Of course it was also designed to be dog friendly as well. It was made as a youth adventure vehicle but it might have simply been out of their price range as a new vehicle plus it looked very different. They are no longer being made but they have become a cult camping car and people do take them off roading for mountain biking.

A company called 5th Element has even come up with a kit for the interior cabinetry, bed including a bike mount so that everything fits inside. I will post a photo in the next response.
https://fifthelementcamping.com/bike-fork-mount .

 

[maki2]

From the company 5th Element Camping an example of their custom build inside a Honda Element that allows the bike to travel inside of the car. Just to serve for some of that emotional motivation factor There is even a removable tool chest to take outside to sit on while working on the bike. The bed converts into a couch that you can lounge or work on when the bike is parked outside. You can see that small chest at the left rear on the floor where it is clamped into place for travel.

 

[eDJ_]

Welcome to the CRVL Forums  

Let me invite you to view my two websites below.  (you may want to read my profile also)

The first is a simple set up to get a person on the road and from there they can figure out
what would best work for them as a build out.

The second is a Portal of useful information.  Unfortunately in these tmes a lot of the places in
the "Links" section may be closed due to the pandemic. But I'm sure they will slowly return.

In that Portal there is a Trip Planner section at the upper left of the Links section.  These will
allow you to chart a tour and will ask how far off your path you would be willing to go to see
places of interest.  Then you can use the orange "Peg Man" (just like Google Maps street view)
to take a virtual tour and actually preview your tour.   

I was thanked by a woman awhile back for this site as she looks after her invalid husband. (he has COPD)
She says they take virtual trips as he's house bound and their laptop is connected to their large screen TV
so it feels like they are in a Van or RV and touring.  (then if they find places of interest,  they can look to
see if it has a website and virtual tour)   But anyone can do this whether at home or while traveling via
an internet connection.