Full-time Van Living - My Adventure Van

[pessimist]

How do you take care of sanitary stuff, toilet/shower ?

It's not my way of life, I'm territorial, I need a dwelling that's surrounded by some kind of barrier but I think it's totally awesome. It looks really nice. Even if you had prior building experience it looks really nice!

Like I said, it's not for me, I don't even like to sleep in a hotel or go on vacation so yeah, enjoy!

+1 Rep

 

[green73]

It's not for everybody.

 

[helmuth_hubener]

Good post. Thanks, barcop.

 

[helmuth_hubener]

Did you build all the cabinets yourself? If not, where did you find them? If so: how?

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Put a sign like this or similar on the vehicle when you're at a pit stop or some such and tell us how it goes -

 

[donnay]

How do you take care of sanitary stuff, toilet/shower ?

It's not my way of life, I'm territorial, I need a dwelling that's surrounded by some kind of barrier but I think it's totally awesome. It looks really nice. Even if you had prior building experience it looks really nice!

Like I said, it's not for me, I don't even like to sleep in a hotel or go on vacation so yeah, enjoy!

You can get a compost toilet too. They have portable shower devices people use for camping.

 

[donnay]

I would do it in a minute. What a fantastic adventure!

Absolutely! Would make a great retirement plan.

 

[jjdoyle]

Awesome job on renovating it all up!

You said you didn't have any real prior building experience, so did you see another van that you used as an example of what you wanted when you were working? Or, just kind of start from scratch?

 

[cbc58]

would love to do this. when you visited a place, where did you park and stay? i know around here there isn't any place they will let someone park for a few days without getting hassled...

 

[barcop]

Did you build all the cabinets yourself? If not, where did you find them? If so: how?

I built everything myself. I looked into pre-built cabinets in the beginning, but couldn't find anything that would work. The inside of the van isn't square at all so the only solution was to build around the curves.

You said you didn't have any real prior building experience, so did you see another van that you used as an example of what you wanted when you were working? Or, just kind of start from scratch?

I had an image in my head of what I wanted and just started building. I didn't draw out any plans and the only thing I really measured out in the beginning was the space I would need for the fridge and microwave. Once I got the base in, I just started building up. A carpenter would get a good laugh at my work... but it works for what I needed.

 

[barcop]

would love to do this. when you visited a place, where did you park and stay? i know around here there isn't any place they will let someone park for a few days without getting hassled...

I would use this site a lot http://www.freecampsites.net, just put in a state and it will show you all of the free (and paid) places you can camp. You'd be surprised how many people are living on the road full-time. So I'd also meet people at different camping places who would tell me about new places to go. You can also contact any BLM office and get map of BLM land for each state. You can camp for up to 14 days for free on BLM land and then you have to move at least 25 miles from your original camping spot to start another 14 days. Most places already have fire pits setup, so you just pick your spot and park.

 

[barcop]

Lots of respect for that! I can't rep you anymore but you deserve some more!

I have done a 10 day survival course where I built my own shelters in the forest without modern technology (well I did have my cellphone but I laid down on it when it was on my 'bed' and I destroyed it on day one!) That was the most awesome experiences ever. A hole for a toilet, no shower, making fire with a fire-bow and then keeping it going to not have to go through the same process again... Exhausting but rewarding. I can imagine your two years of living a more simple life have been similar but much more impacting than what I did. I can see what attracted you but I was glad that I had a home to go back to when I was done...

That's awesome. I lived in Costa Rica for a couple of years before coming back to the states and doing the van thing. Those two years in Costa Rica I went without a cell phone... that was a peaceful time ha.

 

[cbc58]

Tks for the site - great resource.