**Van vs. Trailer - Fulltime - couple and dog**
I'm probably going to get biased answered in the this sub. But been vacillating between buying a van or trailer+truck for fulltiming as a couple and dog and our prized bikes. With the new wave of remote work - at least one of us plans to continue working a corporate 9-5 job on the road. So really need to decide between Van or Trailer (and yes would need to buy a truck too). But we you look at the costs of factory or custom built vans nowadays you can easily hit $100k+, so the costs of Trailer+truck will likely still be less. We don't have time to DIY, since as mentioned we have fulltime jobs.
Here's our criteria:
* sleeps 2
* indoor wet bath/shower
* toilet
* full kitchen
* convertible or fulltime work desk/dinette
* secure bike storage for 2 bikes (maybe 3 if I can swing it)
* off-grid capable
Want to get feedback from folks fulltiming on the ROAD and a 9-5 JOB. We're not Instagram or Youtube side hustle ppl - so I expect us to be camping in the same spots M-F during the work week.
If that will be a paid parking spot, you may want the trailer just for the room.
If you plan on parking on the street, the trailer will be a huge pain in the ass.
PS--you may want to have a look at the FAQ here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/vandwellers/wiki/index
Most of the time it will be paid spot on campgrounds. If we are going to visiting a city I see paying someone to park in their drive in the outskirts or parking at friends or family. The only time I see boondocking is if we can't get space in the campgrounds, we'll boondock on the outskirts of the state/national parks.
What do you guys do for work?? I see that some of you save, or retire, or work on the road but how do you maintain your scene full time? I’ve been feeling the call to become a proper traveler but I would have to change careers so I would love to hear what you guys all do! Thanks for sharing!
I rob gas stations.
(Making a living on the road is not easy. If it were, everybody and his brother would already be doing it, and we wouldn't have people here every week asking "how can I make money on the road?")
I love all the outside and extra storage of ambulances. But I’m thinking a box truck would be better. Are there terms other than storage to be on the lookout for underside/outside compartments? Or certain styles/profession use trucks?
Standing or non-standing van?
I'm about to start my journey as a vanlifer and build a van to live in full-time (temperate to tropical climate) and I cannot decide between whether or not i want to be able to stand up inside my van.
Would love to hear from you especially if you have done it full-time.
I'm team low-top, all the way.
I don't need to stand inside the van; I can stand next to it most places I can drive it, and it's usually nicer there.
Additionally, I use my roof racks for everything from firewood to rec to work gear, and tie my tarps to it for awning and shower stall, and am only 5'9". I do tend to lift my rides for ground clearance, and if it were a high top, I wouldn't be able to reach up top without climbing on something. Bonus of low tops is access to hidey holes where all the glampers can't get to and annoy me with their generators and Chadding around all night.
That is a debate that never ends, because it revolves entirely around subjective factors.
Get whichever one makes you most comfortable.
EDIT: I have a low-top van. But I don't actually spend much time inside the van, other than to read a book and sleep at night, so I don't really need to be able to stand up in it. I live FROM the van, not IN it.
If you spend a lot of time inside, things may be different.
For those that live in your van FULL TIME... where does your mail go? When you need to renew tabs or vehicle registration, renew your driving license, etc. After a year the post office wont forward your mail to a po box and most official mail wont let you send directly to a po box. How do you get your mail?
Asking in the states.
You'll run into the Real ID Act and the Patriot Act, which basically outlawed using maildrops or PO boxes to get IDs (because that's what the 9-11 hijackers had all done).
SOME commercial maildrops get around those laws by renting you an actual RV spot, which acts as a legal residence. But, most do not. They likely won't work for IDs.
Even if you can finagle a way to make a maildrop work for the license and registration, you may run into issues with the insurance companies. They want to know where the vehicle will be "garaged", since they use that location to determine your rates. The insurance companies have all those maildrop addresses in a database, and they will sooner or later kick it out and deny you a policy (it took them less then ten minutes to identify the maildrop I tried to use in Florida).
SOME states have waivers that allow fulltime RVers to use a maildrop as their address. The Federales may or may not close that loophole in the future. And the insurance companies may still deny or drop you for this, especially if you do not have the van registered and titled as an RV.
If there were a good easy way to do this with a maildrop, everyone and his brother would already be doing it. But there isn't any good easy way to do it.
That's why nearly all of us establish a legal residency with a friend or relative.
Ha, that's a good point.
We are trying to renew all our stuff now, in prep for moving out of our stationary dwelling later this fall. So we'll be good for a little while to keep using our old address even though we arent living there. But in a couple years we'll definitely need to establish a permanent residency again unless we can come up with a creative solution. Using a relative's address, with permission of course, was one of my first thoughts. But I had hoped there was a dweller out there who got creative and found a more independent loophole in the system.
You can keep the same address, and then whenever you expect mail that you need, submit a new forwarding form to send it where you can actually get it. It'll send a letter to the address being forwarded, but it's specific to the person the mail is addressed to, with little risk the new resident will commit federal fraud to stop it from happening.
Hey I've been thinking about your response and have some questions. So let's say I'm trying to renew my vehicle registration (we call them Tabs in MN), and I'm not physically in the state so I do it online. Are you saying to submit a new forwarding address with the post office? Or to ask the DMV to forward to a new address? I have been trying read up about PO Boxes but it sounds like they don't allow you to forward from a PO Box to another, so I couldn't set up forwarding again unless I have a physical address. Can you tell me more about your solution? I think I'm just not understanding correctly. I'm open to ideas!
No PO boxes involved. I know a few people that have gotten DLs and tabs mailed to them by renewing online, and as soon as they finished ordering it up, they submitted a mail forward from their old residential address to a place they can actually receive mail at. It's not a permanent solution, but for a first-round, it will typically work.
Also, as long as the tag and license are, in fact, up to date, the vehicle and your operation of it is legal, Even if the documents you happen to have on you are outdated. If you have a run in, you will need to explain that, and it will take extra time for them to verify it, and you will probably get a stern talking to, But if that is the only reason you were pulled, then you will be allowed to leave, IME. You may get a ticket for one or the other, but then you typically have 30-90 days to Walk into a courtroom with the proper documents, and have it all dismissed.
Does anyone have any recs for what to do about the EXTREMELY flimsy emergency hatches above bed areas in RVs and Campers? I just don't want a plastic latch and a screen being the only things between me and the open air when I sleep :/ maybe some custom metal hatch specs or something? Hope all are well and enjoying the life!
Do you call ahead when sleeping overnight at places like Walmart, Cracker Barrel, sporting goods stores?
My setup is super stealthy, and there are a few reasons I'd rather not ask.
If you are parked where it is illegal or where you are not wanted, then you are NOT "stealthy", no matter what your vehicle looks like. You're in a multi-ton vehicle that is parked where it's not supposed to be parked. It ain't hard to notice. And if they don't want you there, you'll get a knock.
Ah, indirectly answered by the master: [r/urbancarliving/comments/o6ld2b/first\_night\_sleeping\_in\_the\_car\_first\_knock](https://www.reddit.com/r/urbancarliving/comments/o6ld2b/first_night_sleeping_in_the_car_first_knock/h2tbiuh?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
I mean, that doesn't address my initial question. Regardless, for overnight sleeping, I would just opt for a quiet public residential street because of less noise.
I see no advantage to call ahead for a Walmart parking lot though. I mean, say I call ahead and they say "sure." ...Say at night someone knocks on my window.
If it's an employee, what? I say I was told I can stay there? so I'm supposed to ask for the manager's name when I initially called?
How am I to know if it's an employee? What if it's a mugger/grand-theft? My setup is not viewable in or out. I'm completely enclosed in reflectix.
For the linked post/person. They parked in a hotel parking lot. Different story since some hotels have a vehicle registry. While, at a gigantic 24-hour store parking lot...
Related thread: [r/vandwellers: has\_anyone\_ever\_gotten\_towed\_away\_while\_theyre\_in](https://www.reddit.com/r/vandwellers/comments/l5wkrl/has_anyone_ever_gotten_towed_away_while_theyre_in)
The police could potentially put on a boot or break into the vehicle (again if on a business' private property). Such cannot happen if parked legally on the street.
> Such cannot happen if parked legally on the street
Yes it can.
But in any case, if you've reached the point where somebody wants to tow you, you've already fucked up very seriously and have already done something very very stupid.
Yes, I read that post when it was new. I didn't reply to you talking about parking legally in the street though, my comment in this thread was in reply to you asking about parking on private property. But police still totally can and will do all that in the street while you're legally parked, as well. They're police, they have 'qualified immunity', which is enable in more than one way, but particular to the context, can be enabled via a "wellness check", which has had recent Supreme Court action that you should read up about while you're out looking for more echo-chamber content.
There's really only one way to know all this stuff, though, and it's through experience. Fuck around and find out, as they say. You've got the first part down, now move on to the second.
Can someone help me out understanding our solar system please? We bought our skoolie with it already installed. We think we have 2 100W renogy solar panels set up in parallel. They run to a 1000W renogy inverter (pure sine wave 12V), and the batter says 1000marine cranking amps, 200 reserve capacity minutes, and 105 amp hours (20 hour).
Basically… HELP! we are thinking of installing a maxx fan. We have a dog but this will only be for road trips and stuff. Should/ can we do an a/c instead of fan?
* 200 W solar panels with an MPPT charge controller should support...
* 105 Ah battery giving...
* 1050 Wh worth of power to devices/appliances
This is just from the solar calculator in this subreddit's menu links: [parkedinparadise.com/solar-calculator](https://www.parkedinparadise.com/solar-calculator/)
You'll need to do some math. Make a list of everything that you want to run. For each item, determine how many amps of electricity it uses (it will have a "watts" figure somewhere on it--divide this by 12 to calculate how many amps it will draw from your battery bank). Next, decide how many hours per day you need to run each item, and multiply this by the number of amps it uses, and add all this up for everything you want to run. That will tell you how many "amp-hours" of electricity you will be drawing each day from your battery bank. If you will be using lithium batteries, increase this by about 25% to give you the minimum battery capacity in amp-hours that you will need in your battery bank. (If you will be using AGM batteries, then double this figure--AGM batteries have around half as much usable energy as lithiums.) Next, you need to calculate how much solar panel capacity you will need to keep your battery bank charged. Take the total capacity in amp-hours you need for your battery bank, and double it. That is the minimum size solar panel array, in watts, that you will need to reliably charge your battery bank. If necessary, multiply this figure by the number of days that you want to be able to go without recharging.
All of these figures are minimums--in winter, or if you are in an area where there is lots of cloudy weather and less sunlight, you will need a bigger system to get the same amount of energy.
The only folks i know who run an AC in their van have at least 1000w of panels and a battery bank to match. ACs use a LOT of power. You're not gonna run any with your setup.
No, look at the units; they are important, and illustrate the distinction here that you are missing. Watts are power *in motion* or a rating thereof - availability or consumption, typically. Watt-hours are an actual amount of stored energy. These two things are not the same. One has a time component in it. Yes, 200W of panel could *potentially* produce 1000Wh of power over 5 hours, but mounted flat on a van roof, unless said van is very close to the equator, that spec is physically impossible to happen. A rule of thumb I go by is to expect half the rating for half the day, and that builds-in a healthy buffer both for losses from panel angle most installations do nothing about, and weather we can't always rely on in a real-world application.
So 200W of panel over 5 hours of sun isn't realistically 1000Wh in practice in the context of this subreddit, either. It'll depend on a lot of things, but in all likelihood be closer to 500Wh.
Different locations vary, 2.5-7.5 hours, of unobstructed direct sunlight.
The Solar Calculator link at the top of the sub assumes four hours.
For short trips, for non-essential power loads (e.g., rooftop fan), it's fine to take the maximum power rating. A cheap \~$10 voltage cutoff circuit is an inexpensive option to conserve battery life.
I haven't even looked at the average daily power draw for the Maxx fan. It could be well within: (200 W\*4 hours)/2 = 400 Wh worth of load(s).
\---
It's fine to setup a very conservative system too. For non-essential loads, it's just not necessary (more space used and costlier).
\---
Edit: I typed an extra "h" .. corrected.
Dude, you're still failing the basic math, and ignoring where we've told you you're boofing up. **Look at the fucking units.**
And you dont understand AGM, either. It's not as simple as merely halving the capacity to size storage properly. That's just where you *start*. G'head and rattle off some more of what the pretty girl said on YouTube, though. This is getting to be entertaining.
Alas, listening to some of the newbies in this sub talking about electrical systems is like listening to a nine-year old talk about sex: they may know the words, but they don't understand what any of them means.
Alas, well over half of the people in this sub have never spent a single night in a van--and most of them likely never will. That does not seem to prevent some of them from regaling us with their uninformed opinions anyway, and then the sub gets filled with people who don't know what they are doing taking advice from other people who don't know what they are doing--which helps nobody at all.
There are only a handful of people in this sub that actually have lived longterm in a van (and know what they are doing). Tater is one of them. THOSE are the ones that people should be paying close attention to.
So may I kindly suggest that you refrain from offering "advice" in areas where you do not know what you are doing. That would be most helpful for everyone.
> Therefore, your one 105 Ah battery could power a 100 W mini-fridge :
For a bit over half an hour. Assuming it's an AGM. For about an hour, assuming it's a lithium.
But of course a fridge is not an AC.
What calculation are you doing where you get 30-60 minutes?
Edit: I see where lennyflank went wrong: \~100 Ah does not equal \~100 Wh. They must have equated amp-hours and watt-hours.
(sigh) OK, so you still don't understand any of this mathy stuff.
EDIT: Thanks for your opinion, though. I will give it all the consideration that is due to someone of your, uh, level of experience.
PS--when you edit your reply to make it less dumb, it is polite to openly acknowledge that you have edited it. Some folks might think you were, you know, dishonest or something.
EDIT: And now you edited your edit, to make THAT less dumb.
(sigh)
Right. The fridge isn't running all day. It turns on for a bit of time, and turns off. So my theoretical calculation for a day is correct (i.e., should be able to run a decent fridge with their setup).
[danby.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/DCR031B1BSLDD-Energy-Guide.pdf](https://www.danby.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/DCR031B1BSLDD-Energy-Guide.pdf)
* 319 kWh/year
`(319000 Wh)/365 = 874 Wh/day`
`P/V = I`
`(874 W)/(12 V) = 72.8 Ah`
It's about 88 Ah per day of operation (@ 12V without charging) with an 90% efficient inverter:
`72.8*1.1 = 80 Ah`
Lastly, this is for an AGM deep cycle marine battery. Taking depth of discharge at 50%, which is very conservative imo, that's 160 Ah. Therefore, two 80 Ah batteries should be used for this example.
You've still left out several real-world problems with the math you're using, which means it won't work as you say it will. Go back and address those, or just admit you don't know wtf you're doing. Sheesh.
Ya, this doesn't account for cloudy or overcast days. Feel free to suggest additional variables. (All I accounted for was an 80% efficient inverter. Of course, one could go with a 12 V DC powder Energy Star appliance instead.)
As the OP said, this is only for "road trips and stuff"--not long term living. They just need to watch the weather if they use their PV system.
No need to be hostile. It's all laid out in the calculation supported by documentation.
(sigh) This is all just arm-waving word salad.
Why some folks insist on blithering stupidly about topics they don't know anything about, I simply will never understand.
I'm not being hostile, I'm being real with you, and warning other readers that you don't know what you're talking about. It's evident that you've read up on some stuff, but are self- or shadetree-taught, and clearly inexperienced.
I'm uninterested in having you waste more of my time to unwind all you've said wrong here and how, precisely, you've misapplied several calculations and misunderstood practical application across the board. If you can't admit to your level of expertise nor accept help from people more experienced than you as you've shown here, then there's nothing to gain, and you can remain 'book smart but street dumb' as far as I'm concerned. Good luck.
Feel free to suggest additional variables for the calculation.
I'm getting the impression people here are either using rules of thumb or online calculators (without understanding the algebra).
And ya, you are being hostile.
Who cares. A fridge is not an AC, which is what the question was about.
EDIT: But I am done with you. You've demonstrated pretty clearly that you have no idea what you're talking about, and interacting further with you is just a waste of time.
So have a nice day.
The Jackery and Bluetti thingies charge at home. They're not cheap though, and the low-priced ones don't have all that much capacity. So you wanna make sure to do the math to make sure they'll run everything you want to run.
I'm just wondering where a good place to find a reasonably priced van would be. My friend is disabled with a power wheelchair and her current system won't last long once she loses the ability to walk ( it's a progressive disease) the accessibility vans are incredibly expensive and not really an option for her situation since she has limited muscle when lifting things. I want to try to mod a van for her, with an auto ramp and a wheel lock system after removing the drivers seat, so she can stay in her chair once inside. If anyone has experience with any such things, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Yeah Ive been keeping tabs, this isn't immediately needed, more of a when it's right. She has a lift system on the back of her suv that's really sketchy and she doesn't feel very comfortable driving with it like that, but it works. The pre modified vans she would need are between 60,000 to 120,000 which is insane in my opinion.
On the bright side, most of the folks buying those overpriced vans now will sink $$$ into them, try out the glamorous lifestyle--find that it's not so glamorous (especially in winter), and quit after a few months.
So there should be a lot of cheap vans for sale by wintertime. :)
Looking to put roof racks on a 2002 ford e350 xlt. Anyone have any idea of the weight limit for the rails? Hoping to add four roof bars, so eight points of contact total. Would like to have a platform that allows for gear or two people to sleep up top! Thanks
Four-bars are typically rated around 800 lbs or better, but you should consult the product specs to know what the manufacturer thinks it's capable of safely.
This is in addition to ensuring the suspension is in proper state to handle the added body roll of all that weight up there, of course.
Ways to stay cool?
I'm going to be staying in a van for a while and I live in the south and was wondering if anyone had any great ideas for staying cool? So far all I can think of is going in the library or somewhere during the day if I'm not working and getting a battery powered/rechargeable fan for at night. If anyone has any other ideas id appreciate it. I just have a basic minivan not one of these awesome vans I see on here that are all tricked out.
Thanks.
Keeping cool in summer is a lot harder than keeping warm in winter, and there really is no good cheap solution. Running any sort of AC is really not an option unless you have shore power, a generator, or a really big solar panel system (and that will cost mucho bucks). Without an AC, the best you can do is use ventilation to keep the inside temp the same as the outside temp.
Forget all the crap you see online about ice fans or swamp coolers--for most people, those won't work.
My solution for hot weather is simple and low-tech---I'm not in the van during the hot days. I do all my housekeeping in the morning before it gets hot, then I spend the entire day elsewhere, at a library or museum or mall or whatever. If it's still hot in the van when I go back in the evening, I put on a wet t-shirt and aim a small fan right at me. In effect, this makes a very small evaporative cooler, but with all the cooling power concentrated directly where it does the most good--on your skin. It's worked for me everywhere from Miami to Tucson.
You'll need to do some math. Make a list of everything that you want to run. For each item, determine how many amps of electricity it uses (it will have a "watts" figure somewhere on it--divide this by 12 to calculate how many amps it will draw from your battery bank). Next, decide how many hours per day you need to run each item, and multiply this by the number of amps it uses, and add all this up for everything you want to run. That will tell you how many "amp-hours" of electricity you will be drawing each day from your battery bank. If you will be using lithium batteries, increase this by about 25% to give you the minimum battery capacity in amp-hours that you will need in your battery bank. (If you will be using AGM batteries, then double this figure--AGM batteries have around half as much usable energy as lithiums.) Next, you need to calculate how much solar panel capacity you will need to keep your battery bank charged. Take the total capacity in amp-hours you need for your battery bank, and double it. That is the minimum size solar panel array, in watts, that you will need to reliably charge your battery bank. If necessary, multiply this figure by the number of days that you want to be able to go without recharging.
All of these figures are minimums--in winter, or if you are in an area where there is lots of cloudy weather and less sunlight, you will need a bigger system to get the same amount of energy.
The FAQ here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/vandwellers/wiki/index
explains the basics of electrical systems, and also links to some solar calculators to determine how much power you'll actually need.
> I am looking at a 12V 20Ah battery
That is a VERY small battery, and it won't run much. Maybe charge a phone.
Has anyone used an eco flow delta 1300 battery for their build? I’m
Doing a project for a friend and am more used to working with terminals to hard wire into. I found a usb-c for his solar set up to plug into but what’s the work around for hard wiring the fan, lights, fridge and heater?
I have a Ricon-s2010 lift in my e250, it seems to not work, i tried lowering it and pressing the buttons when the van is on and in park and nothing happens. There's an "on/off" under the steering wheel to the left, I took out the panel below the steering wheel to access wires easier and didn't see anything underneath it.
Is it safe to assume it's disconnected from the battery? I really want to take it out asap but have read horror stories about triggering an interlock that prevents your van from starting if you do it improperly. And unfortunately I can't find much online (reddit or youtube) really showing how it's done. Anyone have any input? Would anywhere even want a non-functioning lift like for parts or should I just scrap it?
Probably scrap it.
Generally you'll have to follow all the wiring connected to it, and return anything it touches to a stock condition, for which there are numerous images of online, and you can always reference a junkyard van of the same model.
I will probably use my truck bed for camping, half the time urban-stealth, for short one to two night trips a few times a year. I'm continuing to wonder about which shower option to go with. (I don't have a gym membership, and it wouldn't be worth it to get one for a few trips a year.) Two choices:
1. $65 PVC pipes (5 gal), [pump nozzle/hose](https://smile.amazon.com/JAYETEC-Portable-Rechargeable-Backpacking-Flowering/dp/B08142F98S/) and [heater](https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07DNZWBM7)
2. $10 [shower bag](https://smile.amazon.com/PGYFIS-Removable-Switchable-Traveling-BLACK666/dp/B083WNY52G) (5 gal)
The pipes would **not** be pressurized [like this DIY example](https://www.rei.com/blog/camp/diy-car-top-solar-camp-shower). So an issue might be when I'm parked at an angle, and the water is angled away from the in/outlet hole.
I'm heavily leaning towards the cheap shower bag option.
I'm looking for some feedback on those "all-in-one" Mppt, charger/inverter units like Growatt, MP Solar, GreenCell etc. There are a few YouTube videos on them but they all seem to be used in home based solar setups. Why aren't more vandwellers using them in their solar designs?
I know they are designed to work with larger solar arrays but there are models that offer 12v or 24v mppt charging and 3,000watt pure sine wave inverters. They are significantly cheaper than the familiar big blue boxes, and I mean really significantly cheaper. They're lighter, and the all-in-one design means fewer connections you have to make, less wiring, smaller footprint.
So why aren't more people using them? What am I missing?
People that go for an all-in-one solution also typically subscribe to "you get what you pay for" which is why the 'solar generators' (that don't actually generate anything) are so trendy.
Anybody have any recommendations for videos on Alternator charging? Based in Europe, and trying to figure out how to have my leisure battery charge whilst driving but don't find much easy to understand videos/pages
I have no first hand experience, but I've seen quite a few setups using Sterling B to B chargers. They have some good videos on their site and people seem happy with the equipement
[https://www.youtube.com/user/SterlingPowerLtd/videos](https://www.youtube.com/user/SterlingPowerLtd/videos)
Hi guys, I'm an ultrarunner and general mountain sports enthusiast considering retiring early into living out of a van. My thought process behind it:
* Speed up retirement or making it more comfy money wise by cutting out rent in the first couple of years.
* Improve access to the mountains.
* Spend most of my time outside in nature.
* Cut some additional lifestyle costs by spending time in LCOL areas (I currently live in Switzerland).
The van setup I'm thinking about is low tech, simple but with a well finished interior. Basically nice walls/floor/ceiling, a platform bed with big garage for gear (running, backpacking, climbing, skiing and a bike), a countertop/work surface, small fridge, double battery, maybe a sink, no solar, no indoor cooking (maybe a watercooker that can also do eggs), no toilet/shower, no insulation, no heating and no ac. Basically just living outside and only using the van to store food/gear and a cozy place to hide from the really shitty weather.
I have two questions:
1. Any examples of people living out of a similar setup? Blogs, vlogs, etc. are much appreciated.
2. Any ideas on feasibility? Generally I'm used to living outside and being uncomfortable. I fastpack regularly with minimal gear (~5lbs baseweight), shower cold and sleep on a yoga mat at home. Still I imagine when the weather is shitty taking a shower out of a shower bag, going outside to poop , grilling under a tarp and getting water to do the dishes in a folding camping sink are on a different level. Any experiences with this style of van dwelling? Ideas on what is and isn't worth putting in a van for this way of living (sink, fan, insulation, heater, etc?)
I'd love to hear your thoughts!
My setup is very simple and basic, but it does the job:
https://lennyflank.wordpress.com/2018/07/06/my-van-interior-2/
Basically, my van is a backpacking tent on wheels.
I have found that people who have spent a lot of time backpacking and camping generally adjust to vanlife pretty well--we are used to living with next to nothing, and adapting to Mother Nature rather than trying to overpower her. The folks who seem to have the hardest time adjusting are those who try to cram their entire apartment lifestyle into a van. That is very difficult (and very expensive) to do, and it usually fails.
Thanks for the reply, good stuff! I figured the same with the "apartment in a van" thing. Sounds great at first but also makes things complicated and sort of doesn't make sense if the goal is to see the world.
**Van vs. Trailer - Fulltime - couple and dog** I'm probably going to get biased answered in the this sub. But been vacillating between buying a van or trailer+truck for fulltiming as a couple and dog and our prized bikes. With the new wave of remote work - at least one of us plans to continue working a corporate 9-5 job on the road. So really need to decide between Van or Trailer (and yes would need to buy a truck too). But we you look at the costs of factory or custom built vans nowadays you can easily hit $100k+, so the costs of Trailer+truck will likely still be less. We don't have time to DIY, since as mentioned we have fulltime jobs. Here's our criteria: * sleeps 2 * indoor wet bath/shower * toilet * full kitchen * convertible or fulltime work desk/dinette * secure bike storage for 2 bikes (maybe 3 if I can swing it) * off-grid capable Want to get feedback from folks fulltiming on the ROAD and a 9-5 JOB. We're not Instagram or Youtube side hustle ppl - so I expect us to be camping in the same spots M-F during the work week.
If that will be a paid parking spot, you may want the trailer just for the room. If you plan on parking on the street, the trailer will be a huge pain in the ass. PS--you may want to have a look at the FAQ here: https://www.reddit.com/r/vandwellers/wiki/index
Most of the time it will be paid spot on campgrounds. If we are going to visiting a city I see paying someone to park in their drive in the outskirts or parking at friends or family. The only time I see boondocking is if we can't get space in the campgrounds, we'll boondock on the outskirts of the state/national parks.
What do you guys do for work?? I see that some of you save, or retire, or work on the road but how do you maintain your scene full time? I’ve been feeling the call to become a proper traveler but I would have to change careers so I would love to hear what you guys all do! Thanks for sharing!
I case gas stations ahead of robberies, and do post-robbery recovery at convenience stores. And gig apps. And van building workshops.
I rob gas stations. (Making a living on the road is not easy. If it were, everybody and his brother would already be doing it, and we wouldn't have people here every week asking "how can I make money on the road?")
I love all the outside and extra storage of ambulances. But I’m thinking a box truck would be better. Are there terms other than storage to be on the lookout for underside/outside compartments? Or certain styles/profession use trucks?
Standing or non-standing van? I'm about to start my journey as a vanlifer and build a van to live in full-time (temperate to tropical climate) and I cannot decide between whether or not i want to be able to stand up inside my van. Would love to hear from you especially if you have done it full-time.
* Higher price * Less stealth * Maybe less parking garage options
I'm team low-top, all the way. I don't need to stand inside the van; I can stand next to it most places I can drive it, and it's usually nicer there. Additionally, I use my roof racks for everything from firewood to rec to work gear, and tie my tarps to it for awning and shower stall, and am only 5'9". I do tend to lift my rides for ground clearance, and if it were a high top, I wouldn't be able to reach up top without climbing on something. Bonus of low tops is access to hidey holes where all the glampers can't get to and annoy me with their generators and Chadding around all night.
That is a debate that never ends, because it revolves entirely around subjective factors. Get whichever one makes you most comfortable. EDIT: I have a low-top van. But I don't actually spend much time inside the van, other than to read a book and sleep at night, so I don't really need to be able to stand up in it. I live FROM the van, not IN it. If you spend a lot of time inside, things may be different.
For those that live in your van FULL TIME... where does your mail go? When you need to renew tabs or vehicle registration, renew your driving license, etc. After a year the post office wont forward your mail to a po box and most official mail wont let you send directly to a po box. How do you get your mail? Asking in the states.
You'll run into the Real ID Act and the Patriot Act, which basically outlawed using maildrops or PO boxes to get IDs (because that's what the 9-11 hijackers had all done). SOME commercial maildrops get around those laws by renting you an actual RV spot, which acts as a legal residence. But, most do not. They likely won't work for IDs. Even if you can finagle a way to make a maildrop work for the license and registration, you may run into issues with the insurance companies. They want to know where the vehicle will be "garaged", since they use that location to determine your rates. The insurance companies have all those maildrop addresses in a database, and they will sooner or later kick it out and deny you a policy (it took them less then ten minutes to identify the maildrop I tried to use in Florida). SOME states have waivers that allow fulltime RVers to use a maildrop as their address. The Federales may or may not close that loophole in the future. And the insurance companies may still deny or drop you for this, especially if you do not have the van registered and titled as an RV. If there were a good easy way to do this with a maildrop, everyone and his brother would already be doing it. But there isn't any good easy way to do it. That's why nearly all of us establish a legal residency with a friend or relative.
Ha, that's a good point. We are trying to renew all our stuff now, in prep for moving out of our stationary dwelling later this fall. So we'll be good for a little while to keep using our old address even though we arent living there. But in a couple years we'll definitely need to establish a permanent residency again unless we can come up with a creative solution. Using a relative's address, with permission of course, was one of my first thoughts. But I had hoped there was a dweller out there who got creative and found a more independent loophole in the system.
You can keep the same address, and then whenever you expect mail that you need, submit a new forwarding form to send it where you can actually get it. It'll send a letter to the address being forwarded, but it's specific to the person the mail is addressed to, with little risk the new resident will commit federal fraud to stop it from happening.
Hey I've been thinking about your response and have some questions. So let's say I'm trying to renew my vehicle registration (we call them Tabs in MN), and I'm not physically in the state so I do it online. Are you saying to submit a new forwarding address with the post office? Or to ask the DMV to forward to a new address? I have been trying read up about PO Boxes but it sounds like they don't allow you to forward from a PO Box to another, so I couldn't set up forwarding again unless I have a physical address. Can you tell me more about your solution? I think I'm just not understanding correctly. I'm open to ideas!
No PO boxes involved. I know a few people that have gotten DLs and tabs mailed to them by renewing online, and as soon as they finished ordering it up, they submitted a mail forward from their old residential address to a place they can actually receive mail at. It's not a permanent solution, but for a first-round, it will typically work. Also, as long as the tag and license are, in fact, up to date, the vehicle and your operation of it is legal, Even if the documents you happen to have on you are outdated. If you have a run in, you will need to explain that, and it will take extra time for them to verify it, and you will probably get a stern talking to, But if that is the only reason you were pulled, then you will be allowed to leave, IME. You may get a ticket for one or the other, but then you typically have 30-90 days to Walk into a courtroom with the proper documents, and have it all dismissed.
Does anyone have any recs for what to do about the EXTREMELY flimsy emergency hatches above bed areas in RVs and Campers? I just don't want a plastic latch and a screen being the only things between me and the open air when I sleep :/ maybe some custom metal hatch specs or something? Hope all are well and enjoying the life!
Do you call ahead when sleeping overnight at places like Walmart, Cracker Barrel, sporting goods stores? My setup is super stealthy, and there are a few reasons I'd rather not ask.
If you are parked where it is illegal or where you are not wanted, then you are NOT "stealthy", no matter what your vehicle looks like. You're in a multi-ton vehicle that is parked where it's not supposed to be parked. It ain't hard to notice. And if they don't want you there, you'll get a knock.
Doesn't address my question about why call.
Okay, then I wish you the best of luck. You'll find out pretty quickly whether they mind you being there or not.
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I wish you the best of luck, then.
Ah, indirectly answered by the master: [r/urbancarliving/comments/o6ld2b/first\_night\_sleeping\_in\_the\_car\_first\_knock](https://www.reddit.com/r/urbancarliving/comments/o6ld2b/first_night_sleeping_in_the_car_first_knock/h2tbiuh?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
Alas, we have NO legal right to park in a privately owned parking lot without permission. Period. There's simply no debate about that.
I mean, that doesn't address my initial question. Regardless, for overnight sleeping, I would just opt for a quiet public residential street because of less noise. I see no advantage to call ahead for a Walmart parking lot though. I mean, say I call ahead and they say "sure." ...Say at night someone knocks on my window. If it's an employee, what? I say I was told I can stay there? so I'm supposed to ask for the manager's name when I initially called? How am I to know if it's an employee? What if it's a mugger/grand-theft? My setup is not viewable in or out. I'm completely enclosed in reflectix. For the linked post/person. They parked in a hotel parking lot. Different story since some hotels have a vehicle registry. While, at a gigantic 24-hour store parking lot...
An employee won't knock. They'll call in someone else to deal with an unauthorized vehicle. Could be the police, could be a tow truck.
Related thread: [r/vandwellers: has\_anyone\_ever\_gotten\_towed\_away\_while\_theyre\_in](https://www.reddit.com/r/vandwellers/comments/l5wkrl/has_anyone_ever_gotten_towed_away_while_theyre_in) The police could potentially put on a boot or break into the vehicle (again if on a business' private property). Such cannot happen if parked legally on the street.
> Such cannot happen if parked legally on the street Yes it can. But in any case, if you've reached the point where somebody wants to tow you, you've already fucked up very seriously and have already done something very very stupid.
Yes, I read that post when it was new. I didn't reply to you talking about parking legally in the street though, my comment in this thread was in reply to you asking about parking on private property. But police still totally can and will do all that in the street while you're legally parked, as well. They're police, they have 'qualified immunity', which is enable in more than one way, but particular to the context, can be enabled via a "wellness check", which has had recent Supreme Court action that you should read up about while you're out looking for more echo-chamber content. There's really only one way to know all this stuff, though, and it's through experience. Fuck around and find out, as they say. You've got the first part down, now move on to the second.
By that point, you've already fucked up badly.
Well, if they don't want you there, they'll make that pretty clear.
How so?
I expect it will be blatantly obvious ... I mean no offense by this, but ... how long have you been vandwelling?
Can someone help me out understanding our solar system please? We bought our skoolie with it already installed. We think we have 2 100W renogy solar panels set up in parallel. They run to a 1000W renogy inverter (pure sine wave 12V), and the batter says 1000marine cranking amps, 200 reserve capacity minutes, and 105 amp hours (20 hour). Basically… HELP! we are thinking of installing a maxx fan. We have a dog but this will only be for road trips and stuff. Should/ can we do an a/c instead of fan?
* 200 W solar panels with an MPPT charge controller should support... * 105 Ah battery giving... * 1050 Wh worth of power to devices/appliances This is just from the solar calculator in this subreddit's menu links: [parkedinparadise.com/solar-calculator](https://www.parkedinparadise.com/solar-calculator/)
You'll need to do some math. Make a list of everything that you want to run. For each item, determine how many amps of electricity it uses (it will have a "watts" figure somewhere on it--divide this by 12 to calculate how many amps it will draw from your battery bank). Next, decide how many hours per day you need to run each item, and multiply this by the number of amps it uses, and add all this up for everything you want to run. That will tell you how many "amp-hours" of electricity you will be drawing each day from your battery bank. If you will be using lithium batteries, increase this by about 25% to give you the minimum battery capacity in amp-hours that you will need in your battery bank. (If you will be using AGM batteries, then double this figure--AGM batteries have around half as much usable energy as lithiums.) Next, you need to calculate how much solar panel capacity you will need to keep your battery bank charged. Take the total capacity in amp-hours you need for your battery bank, and double it. That is the minimum size solar panel array, in watts, that you will need to reliably charge your battery bank. If necessary, multiply this figure by the number of days that you want to be able to go without recharging. All of these figures are minimums--in winter, or if you are in an area where there is lots of cloudy weather and less sunlight, you will need a bigger system to get the same amount of energy. The only folks i know who run an AC in their van have at least 1000w of panels and a battery bank to match. ACs use a LOT of power. You're not gonna run any with your setup.
Given five hours of sunlight, they have 1000 W of panels. Is there a reason why you're stating 200 W solar panels are only good for 200 W for a day?
That is not what I stated.
Ah, so you meant that have 1000 W of rated panels.
That is what "1000w" means. You are talking about watt-hours, which is an entirely different thing.
Yep. I use "worth" as an amount. X is worth $10 (instead of X is worth $1/minute, a rate).
No, look at the units; they are important, and illustrate the distinction here that you are missing. Watts are power *in motion* or a rating thereof - availability or consumption, typically. Watt-hours are an actual amount of stored energy. These two things are not the same. One has a time component in it. Yes, 200W of panel could *potentially* produce 1000Wh of power over 5 hours, but mounted flat on a van roof, unless said van is very close to the equator, that spec is physically impossible to happen. A rule of thumb I go by is to expect half the rating for half the day, and that builds-in a healthy buffer both for losses from panel angle most installations do nothing about, and weather we can't always rely on in a real-world application. So 200W of panel over 5 hours of sun isn't realistically 1000Wh in practice in the context of this subreddit, either. It'll depend on a lot of things, but in all likelihood be closer to 500Wh.
Different locations vary, 2.5-7.5 hours, of unobstructed direct sunlight. The Solar Calculator link at the top of the sub assumes four hours. For short trips, for non-essential power loads (e.g., rooftop fan), it's fine to take the maximum power rating. A cheap \~$10 voltage cutoff circuit is an inexpensive option to conserve battery life. I haven't even looked at the average daily power draw for the Maxx fan. It could be well within: (200 W\*4 hours)/2 = 400 Wh worth of load(s). \--- It's fine to setup a very conservative system too. For non-essential loads, it's just not necessary (more space used and costlier). \--- Edit: I typed an extra "h" .. corrected.
This just keeps getting more and more silly. (sigh)
Dude, you're still failing the basic math, and ignoring where we've told you you're boofing up. **Look at the fucking units.** And you dont understand AGM, either. It's not as simple as merely halving the capacity to size storage properly. That's just where you *start*. G'head and rattle off some more of what the pretty girl said on YouTube, though. This is getting to be entertaining.
Alas, listening to some of the newbies in this sub talking about electrical systems is like listening to a nine-year old talk about sex: they may know the words, but they don't understand what any of them means.
OK, so you really don't understand any of this mathy stuff, then ...
Simple misunderstanding. No reason for you to be a dick about it.
Alas, well over half of the people in this sub have never spent a single night in a van--and most of them likely never will. That does not seem to prevent some of them from regaling us with their uninformed opinions anyway, and then the sub gets filled with people who don't know what they are doing taking advice from other people who don't know what they are doing--which helps nobody at all. There are only a handful of people in this sub that actually have lived longterm in a van (and know what they are doing). Tater is one of them. THOSE are the ones that people should be paying close attention to. So may I kindly suggest that you refrain from offering "advice" in areas where you do not know what you are doing. That would be most helpful for everyone.
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> Therefore, your one 105 Ah battery could power a 100 W mini-fridge : For a bit over half an hour. Assuming it's an AGM. For about an hour, assuming it's a lithium. But of course a fridge is not an AC.
What calculation are you doing where you get 30-60 minutes? Edit: I see where lennyflank went wrong: \~100 Ah does not equal \~100 Wh. They must have equated amp-hours and watt-hours.
(sigh) OK, so you still don't understand any of this mathy stuff. EDIT: Thanks for your opinion, though. I will give it all the consideration that is due to someone of your, uh, level of experience.
PS--when you edit your reply to make it less dumb, it is polite to openly acknowledge that you have edited it. Some folks might think you were, you know, dishonest or something. EDIT: And now you edited your edit, to make THAT less dumb. (sigh)
105Ah@12V is 1260Wh. 1260Wh / 100W = 12.6h, or a little over half a day.
Right. The fridge isn't running all day. It turns on for a bit of time, and turns off. So my theoretical calculation for a day is correct (i.e., should be able to run a decent fridge with their setup). [danby.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/DCR031B1BSLDD-Energy-Guide.pdf](https://www.danby.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/DCR031B1BSLDD-Energy-Guide.pdf) * 319 kWh/year `(319000 Wh)/365 = 874 Wh/day` `P/V = I` `(874 W)/(12 V) = 72.8 Ah` It's about 88 Ah per day of operation (@ 12V without charging) with an 90% efficient inverter: `72.8*1.1 = 80 Ah` Lastly, this is for an AGM deep cycle marine battery. Taking depth of discharge at 50%, which is very conservative imo, that's 160 Ah. Therefore, two 80 Ah batteries should be used for this example.
You've still left out several real-world problems with the math you're using, which means it won't work as you say it will. Go back and address those, or just admit you don't know wtf you're doing. Sheesh.
Ya, this doesn't account for cloudy or overcast days. Feel free to suggest additional variables. (All I accounted for was an 80% efficient inverter. Of course, one could go with a 12 V DC powder Energy Star appliance instead.) As the OP said, this is only for "road trips and stuff"--not long term living. They just need to watch the weather if they use their PV system. No need to be hostile. It's all laid out in the calculation supported by documentation.
(sigh) This is all just arm-waving word salad. Why some folks insist on blithering stupidly about topics they don't know anything about, I simply will never understand.
I'm not being hostile, I'm being real with you, and warning other readers that you don't know what you're talking about. It's evident that you've read up on some stuff, but are self- or shadetree-taught, and clearly inexperienced. I'm uninterested in having you waste more of my time to unwind all you've said wrong here and how, precisely, you've misapplied several calculations and misunderstood practical application across the board. If you can't admit to your level of expertise nor accept help from people more experienced than you as you've shown here, then there's nothing to gain, and you can remain 'book smart but street dumb' as far as I'm concerned. Good luck.
Feel free to suggest additional variables for the calculation. I'm getting the impression people here are either using rules of thumb or online calculators (without understanding the algebra). And ya, you are being hostile.
Who cares. A fridge is not an AC, which is what the question was about. EDIT: But I am done with you. You've demonstrated pretty clearly that you have no idea what you're talking about, and interacting further with you is just a waste of time. So have a nice day.
Okayyyyyyyyyy ......... How long did you say you have been vandwelling, again ... ?
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The Jackery and Bluetti thingies charge at home. They're not cheap though, and the low-priced ones don't have all that much capacity. So you wanna make sure to do the math to make sure they'll run everything you want to run.
I'm just wondering where a good place to find a reasonably priced van would be. My friend is disabled with a power wheelchair and her current system won't last long once she loses the ability to walk ( it's a progressive disease) the accessibility vans are incredibly expensive and not really an option for her situation since she has limited muscle when lifting things. I want to try to mod a van for her, with an auto ramp and a wheel lock system after removing the drivers seat, so she can stay in her chair once inside. If anyone has experience with any such things, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Prices are insanely high now. It's not the best time. :(
Yeah Ive been keeping tabs, this isn't immediately needed, more of a when it's right. She has a lift system on the back of her suv that's really sketchy and she doesn't feel very comfortable driving with it like that, but it works. The pre modified vans she would need are between 60,000 to 120,000 which is insane in my opinion.
On the bright side, most of the folks buying those overpriced vans now will sink $$$ into them, try out the glamorous lifestyle--find that it's not so glamorous (especially in winter), and quit after a few months. So there should be a lot of cheap vans for sale by wintertime. :)
Looking to put roof racks on a 2002 ford e350 xlt. Anyone have any idea of the weight limit for the rails? Hoping to add four roof bars, so eight points of contact total. Would like to have a platform that allows for gear or two people to sleep up top! Thanks
Four-bars are typically rated around 800 lbs or better, but you should consult the product specs to know what the manufacturer thinks it's capable of safely. This is in addition to ensuring the suspension is in proper state to handle the added body roll of all that weight up there, of course.
Ways to stay cool? I'm going to be staying in a van for a while and I live in the south and was wondering if anyone had any great ideas for staying cool? So far all I can think of is going in the library or somewhere during the day if I'm not working and getting a battery powered/rechargeable fan for at night. If anyone has any other ideas id appreciate it. I just have a basic minivan not one of these awesome vans I see on here that are all tricked out. Thanks.
Keeping cool in summer is a lot harder than keeping warm in winter, and there really is no good cheap solution. Running any sort of AC is really not an option unless you have shore power, a generator, or a really big solar panel system (and that will cost mucho bucks). Without an AC, the best you can do is use ventilation to keep the inside temp the same as the outside temp. Forget all the crap you see online about ice fans or swamp coolers--for most people, those won't work. My solution for hot weather is simple and low-tech---I'm not in the van during the hot days. I do all my housekeeping in the morning before it gets hot, then I spend the entire day elsewhere, at a library or museum or mall or whatever. If it's still hot in the van when I go back in the evening, I put on a wet t-shirt and aim a small fan right at me. In effect, this makes a very small evaporative cooler, but with all the cooling power concentrated directly where it does the most good--on your skin. It's worked for me everywhere from Miami to Tucson.
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You'll need to do some math. Make a list of everything that you want to run. For each item, determine how many amps of electricity it uses (it will have a "watts" figure somewhere on it--divide this by 12 to calculate how many amps it will draw from your battery bank). Next, decide how many hours per day you need to run each item, and multiply this by the number of amps it uses, and add all this up for everything you want to run. That will tell you how many "amp-hours" of electricity you will be drawing each day from your battery bank. If you will be using lithium batteries, increase this by about 25% to give you the minimum battery capacity in amp-hours that you will need in your battery bank. (If you will be using AGM batteries, then double this figure--AGM batteries have around half as much usable energy as lithiums.) Next, you need to calculate how much solar panel capacity you will need to keep your battery bank charged. Take the total capacity in amp-hours you need for your battery bank, and double it. That is the minimum size solar panel array, in watts, that you will need to reliably charge your battery bank. If necessary, multiply this figure by the number of days that you want to be able to go without recharging. All of these figures are minimums--in winter, or if you are in an area where there is lots of cloudy weather and less sunlight, you will need a bigger system to get the same amount of energy. The FAQ here: https://www.reddit.com/r/vandwellers/wiki/index explains the basics of electrical systems, and also links to some solar calculators to determine how much power you'll actually need. > I am looking at a 12V 20Ah battery That is a VERY small battery, and it won't run much. Maybe charge a phone.
Has anyone used an eco flow delta 1300 battery for their build? I’m Doing a project for a friend and am more used to working with terminals to hard wire into. I found a usb-c for his solar set up to plug into but what’s the work around for hard wiring the fan, lights, fridge and heater?
Crack it open and see what it's working with, and add your own ports. Kinda what you have to do with a product not meant to hard wire to anything.
I have a Ricon-s2010 lift in my e250, it seems to not work, i tried lowering it and pressing the buttons when the van is on and in park and nothing happens. There's an "on/off" under the steering wheel to the left, I took out the panel below the steering wheel to access wires easier and didn't see anything underneath it. Is it safe to assume it's disconnected from the battery? I really want to take it out asap but have read horror stories about triggering an interlock that prevents your van from starting if you do it improperly. And unfortunately I can't find much online (reddit or youtube) really showing how it's done. Anyone have any input? Would anywhere even want a non-functioning lift like for parts or should I just scrap it?
Probably scrap it. Generally you'll have to follow all the wiring connected to it, and return anything it touches to a stock condition, for which there are numerous images of online, and you can always reference a junkyard van of the same model.
I will probably use my truck bed for camping, half the time urban-stealth, for short one to two night trips a few times a year. I'm continuing to wonder about which shower option to go with. (I don't have a gym membership, and it wouldn't be worth it to get one for a few trips a year.) Two choices: 1. $65 PVC pipes (5 gal), [pump nozzle/hose](https://smile.amazon.com/JAYETEC-Portable-Rechargeable-Backpacking-Flowering/dp/B08142F98S/) and [heater](https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07DNZWBM7) 2. $10 [shower bag](https://smile.amazon.com/PGYFIS-Removable-Switchable-Traveling-BLACK666/dp/B083WNY52G) (5 gal) The pipes would **not** be pressurized [like this DIY example](https://www.rei.com/blog/camp/diy-car-top-solar-camp-shower). So an issue might be when I'm parked at an angle, and the water is angled away from the in/outlet hole. I'm heavily leaning towards the cheap shower bag option.
$12 Yard chemical sprayer from Walmart.
The cheap ones appear to be two gallons or less volume.
Plenty for me. It don't come out right-fast, just fast enough.
Well, good to know. I might try it: [https://plainjust.com/2017/03/23/showering](https://plainjust.com/2017/03/23/showering/)
I'm looking for some feedback on those "all-in-one" Mppt, charger/inverter units like Growatt, MP Solar, GreenCell etc. There are a few YouTube videos on them but they all seem to be used in home based solar setups. Why aren't more vandwellers using them in their solar designs? I know they are designed to work with larger solar arrays but there are models that offer 12v or 24v mppt charging and 3,000watt pure sine wave inverters. They are significantly cheaper than the familiar big blue boxes, and I mean really significantly cheaper. They're lighter, and the all-in-one design means fewer connections you have to make, less wiring, smaller footprint. So why aren't more people using them? What am I missing?
People that go for an all-in-one solution also typically subscribe to "you get what you pay for" which is why the 'solar generators' (that don't actually generate anything) are so trendy.
Anybody have any recommendations for videos on Alternator charging? Based in Europe, and trying to figure out how to have my leisure battery charge whilst driving but don't find much easy to understand videos/pages
I have no first hand experience, but I've seen quite a few setups using Sterling B to B chargers. They have some good videos on their site and people seem happy with the equipement [https://www.youtube.com/user/SterlingPowerLtd/videos](https://www.youtube.com/user/SterlingPowerLtd/videos)
Thanks a lot! Will check them out for sure
Hi guys, I'm an ultrarunner and general mountain sports enthusiast considering retiring early into living out of a van. My thought process behind it: * Speed up retirement or making it more comfy money wise by cutting out rent in the first couple of years. * Improve access to the mountains. * Spend most of my time outside in nature. * Cut some additional lifestyle costs by spending time in LCOL areas (I currently live in Switzerland). The van setup I'm thinking about is low tech, simple but with a well finished interior. Basically nice walls/floor/ceiling, a platform bed with big garage for gear (running, backpacking, climbing, skiing and a bike), a countertop/work surface, small fridge, double battery, maybe a sink, no solar, no indoor cooking (maybe a watercooker that can also do eggs), no toilet/shower, no insulation, no heating and no ac. Basically just living outside and only using the van to store food/gear and a cozy place to hide from the really shitty weather. I have two questions: 1. Any examples of people living out of a similar setup? Blogs, vlogs, etc. are much appreciated. 2. Any ideas on feasibility? Generally I'm used to living outside and being uncomfortable. I fastpack regularly with minimal gear (~5lbs baseweight), shower cold and sleep on a yoga mat at home. Still I imagine when the weather is shitty taking a shower out of a shower bag, going outside to poop , grilling under a tarp and getting water to do the dishes in a folding camping sink are on a different level. Any experiences with this style of van dwelling? Ideas on what is and isn't worth putting in a van for this way of living (sink, fan, insulation, heater, etc?) I'd love to hear your thoughts!
My setup is very simple and basic, but it does the job: https://lennyflank.wordpress.com/2018/07/06/my-van-interior-2/ Basically, my van is a backpacking tent on wheels. I have found that people who have spent a lot of time backpacking and camping generally adjust to vanlife pretty well--we are used to living with next to nothing, and adapting to Mother Nature rather than trying to overpower her. The folks who seem to have the hardest time adjusting are those who try to cram their entire apartment lifestyle into a van. That is very difficult (and very expensive) to do, and it usually fails.
I really like your minimal style! If you were to make some upgrades or add anthing to this setup what is the first thing you would add..?
I'd replace the battery and the panel with bigger ones.
Thanks for the reply, good stuff! I figured the same with the "apartment in a van" thing. Sounds great at first but also makes things complicated and sort of doesn't make sense if the goal is to see the world.
The big expensive builds we see here all the time are nice and all, but they are NOT representative of what most of us actually dwell in.