What Brought You To This Website?

[akrvbob]

We haven't got a van yet, we'll need to work on the downsizing and sell the house. The wife is warming to the idea way better than I thought she might so hopefully we can get this done before next years RTR and get down to meet some of the great folks on this forum.

Welcome MtDave!

I think it goes without saying I am a big fan of vandwelling! But, my standard advice to couples is to be very sure you can live in a van together, it ain't easy!! Yes, people do it, but not many!

If you can find a good RV cheap enough (the smaller the better) I think that may be a better way to start. It's pretty easy to resell a good cheap RV and downsize to a van, but if your first experience in the van poisons your wife to it, she may not be able to overcome that.

You might try renting a van for a weekend or even a week and try it out first. I know its money thrown away but sometimes its worth it.

Take that advice as worth just what you paid for it! Take what seems to work for you, and throw out the rest.
Bob

 

[MtDave]

Thanks for the advise Bob but I think we will probably be good. Prior to retiring we worked together doing medical transcription and for six of those years we weren't much more than arms length apart. Next July will be our 45th anniversary. We have spent 10 days in the old VW with a single cabinet, a cooler for food and no potty. We currently have a little 18 foot travel trailer, with a potty, but still fairly small. I have a 2000 chevy pu we pull the trailer with and the combo eats fuel like crazy. Plus, I really miss the freedom of movement we had with the VW. It has always been easy to keep her happy, give her a box she can have needlework projects in and a book or two and she is golden.
Dave

 

[akrvbob]

Thanks for the advise Bob but I think we will probably be good. Prior to retiring we worked together doing medical transcription and for six of those years we weren't much more than arms length apart. Next July will be our 45th anniversary. We have spent 10 days in the old VW with a single cabinet, a cooler for food and no potty. We currently have a little 18 foot travel trailer, with a potty, but still fairly small. I have a 2000 chevy pu we pull the trailer with and the combo eats fuel like crazy. Plus, I really miss the freedom of movement we had with the VW. It has always been easy to keep her happy, give her a box she can have needlework projects in and a book or two and she is golden.
Dave

Great! It sounds like you might be one of those rare coupes who thrive in a van!

I know a couple who lives in a van and they do something way outside the box and they sleep in hammocks which really opens up the van. Just a thought.
Bob

 

[MtDave]

Bob, Does the couple who use the hammocks have a blog or website where I might see how they manage that?
David

 

[waldenbound]

Still here, still new. It's frustrating being here as one in the "dreaming" stage. The good news is, later on in 2016 I can seriously think of getting a van. Then, I can build it slowly and expertly. Namely, not by me

Then, I can actually practice living out of a van. Get what I need to carry and how much of it figured out. Get cooking, sanitation, sleeping figured out. It would be nice to get the practical day-to-day living down before I head out to the Atlantic seaboard. (Got some old stomping grounds to visit there.)

But, back to the original question, "what brought me to this forum", I was one who wanted the RV, but they have the complicated systems. I read on the RV forums, "Yeah, you just run 15246 ghtz, then 78945 psi on a 10 foot thing-a-ma-jig. Then, four months later, your thing-a-ma-jig bursts and you've sprayed 4 inches of water all over your RV.
On another forum I found a thread called "living in a van down by the river." And I thought, "hey, why the heck not?" Then I found this forum.

Well, everybody is probably settling down at the Q for the winter. Have fun with your RTR.
Compassrose, Y'all stick now, ya hear?

 

[akrvbob]

Bob, Does the couple who use the hammocks have a blog or website where I might see how they manage that?
David

They have the coolest set-up ever and I begged them to let me make a video of it and even said they didn't have to be in it, but they are camera shy and wouldn't let me.

I've heard it described but its been awhile so I might be wrong. I'm pretty sure there feet meet in the middle by the back door and the hammocks hang out at a "V" toward the front drivers and passenger doors. 

They have the ultimate itchy feet and I rarely get to see them. From here they are off to Baja.
Bob

 

[Sabatical]

I found this forum by way of Bob's blog. My wife and i are so much different than those we associate with at home. I've been reading Bob's blog and others for several years and really longed for a lifestyle similar to what i was reading about. Through some miracle i was able to convince my wife to travel away from home and crappy winter weather to a place we'd never been to meet people we didn't know. The experience changed our lives and the connections we made with people were stronger than any others in our lives. This forum is my lifeline through our time at home. We spent this year counting the minutes until we could get back to the AZ desert and be with some of the most amazing people that there are in this world.

 

[nobodyG17]

Growing up I never left the state I was born in to travel or anything else.  I am a voracious reader and have always wanted to travel to the places I have only read of.  When I was 18, working, and living on my own I would hop in the car for a few days and just drive to a selected destination.  I would throw camping gear in the backseat and the trunk and just head out.  I would usually drive straight through and stay a few days as it's all I could afford money wise, and time off from work.

As i got older and more vacation time I realized that I hate having to blast through everywhere so fast but at least I was getting my traveling fix.  What really interested me in the van lifestyle was when I took two weeks to travel out west on my motorcycle.  I traveled 5500 miles in the two weeks and visited 10 states on back roads.  The very first day I realized that being on the move seeing and doing new things is something I need in my life. 

I still did not have the time I wanted to travel the way i want to so when I got home I started looking for ways to live cheaper and with less stuff, save money, cut expenses, and be less tied down to things.  I started watching a ton of YouTube videos on traveling, and traveling cheap.  I started downsizing all the things I own and during my web searches of van dwelling somehow came across this site.

I love motorcycles and traveling on them but I am not able to carry enough gear even though I do enjoy traveling lighter sometimes.    I came across van dwelling on YouTube and was instantly hooked.   I have now purchased a van(2000 E-150), pulled the back two rows of seats out, bought a folding bed for it, renogy folding solar panel, battery, inverter, and other gear.   I'm going to try traveling in it for two weeks and see how I like it. 

If I really like it as much I think I will I will figure out how to hide my XT-225 inside of the van(maybe by tent camping outside everywhere) as i always want to be as stealth as possible or I would just put it on a hitch mount.    If my test run is successful I want to figure out how to do it full time.  At 34 years old I am at a bit of a crossroads.  I have a decent job with great benefits but the calls to be on the road are too powerful to ignore anymore.   4 weeks to spend traveling is just not enough until I'm old enough to retire. 

People around me have failing health and I do not want to let  fear of the unknown keep me from taking risks and possibly reaping great rewards.  The rat race does not make me happy in the slightest.  I do not want the so called American dream of a white picket fence and 1.6 children.  Some of the happiest moments in my life have been behind the bars of a motorcycle, traveling, or behind the bars of a motorcycle traveling.  Some have been hard, painful, exciting, terrible, or some combination of all of those feelings but every minute was worth it.

I want more of that while I'm still relatively young.   i hope I can figure out a way to do it.