Hi everyone, I'm a soon-to-be digital nomad from Maryland and I'm looking to journey west in order to boondock on BLM lands and live the rent-free dream. My lease is up in a week and a half and I've been doing a lot of research these past few months into vandwelling/vanlife. Like a sponge, I've soaked up as much knowledge as possible from online resources such as the vandwellers, vanlife, askmechanics, and other subreddits, the RV and vandwellers wiki, and Youtube channels such as CheapRVLiving, MoBangFoYoBuck, Will Prowse, etc.
In order to save money, I've adopted a DIYer mindset and started repairing my gen 2 Toyota Sienna with hardly any auto repair experience beforehand. I've replaced head/tail/license plate lights, both rear drum brakes, and an inner tie rod end. The suspension-related jobs were a pain in the ass and some of the most difficult things I've ever done, but I'm happy that I probably saved at least $1k in parts and labor by doing them myself lol. I still have to replace the outer tie rod end, front L and rear R wheel speed sensors, and get an alignment before I get a safety inspection and permanent tags.
I should've done these repairs sooner since I haven't even started working on the camper conversion yet. Oh well, no use crying about it. As a digital nomad, I'll need a lot of power to power a laptop for about ten hours daily--preferably at least a 2,000~ Wh LiFePo4 battery. Instead of spending about $800 on a portable power station, I'm heavily considering building one myself using milk crates instead of plywood boards since I wanna limit the amount of holes I'd have to drill in my minivan. I've already learned how to do DIY auto repairs, so electrical systems shouldn't be too hard to learn from Will Prowse, Frater Secessus, etc. In order to charge the battery, I plan to add 400 W of monocrystalline solar to my roof racks and install a 50 or 60 A DC to DC charger (150 A alternator).
Concerning the interior conversions such as bed frame and cabinets... I guess I'll figure those out after actually living in the van and go through various iterations over time like I see some Youtubers doing.
But yeah, lots to do and thankfully there's a ton of online resources available for adopting this lifestyle. Nice to meet you guys!
In order to save money, I've adopted a DIYer mindset and started repairing my gen 2 Toyota Sienna with hardly any auto repair experience beforehand. I've replaced head/tail/license plate lights, both rear drum brakes, and an inner tie rod end. The suspension-related jobs were a pain in the ass and some of the most difficult things I've ever done, but I'm happy that I probably saved at least $1k in parts and labor by doing them myself lol. I still have to replace the outer tie rod end, front L and rear R wheel speed sensors, and get an alignment before I get a safety inspection and permanent tags.
I should've done these repairs sooner since I haven't even started working on the camper conversion yet. Oh well, no use crying about it. As a digital nomad, I'll need a lot of power to power a laptop for about ten hours daily--preferably at least a 2,000~ Wh LiFePo4 battery. Instead of spending about $800 on a portable power station, I'm heavily considering building one myself using milk crates instead of plywood boards since I wanna limit the amount of holes I'd have to drill in my minivan. I've already learned how to do DIY auto repairs, so electrical systems shouldn't be too hard to learn from Will Prowse, Frater Secessus, etc. In order to charge the battery, I plan to add 400 W of monocrystalline solar to my roof racks and install a 50 or 60 A DC to DC charger (150 A alternator).
Concerning the interior conversions such as bed frame and cabinets... I guess I'll figure those out after actually living in the van and go through various iterations over time like I see some Youtubers doing.
But yeah, lots to do and thankfully there's a ton of online resources available for adopting this lifestyle. Nice to meet you guys!
