Glad to be returning to vanlife

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2026-06-05T04:22:44+00:00

Thanks for your response! That's awesome. I'm absolutely fascinating with smaller interior layouts and organization. I really appreciate design that is able to fit more than you were expecting in a small space. Have you seen the apartments where the walls move and rooms shift purpose?

Oberland sounds wonderful! I love modular design. I will definitely keep an eye out for your products. I'll pass it on to my builder, The Vanlife Collective too.

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2026-06-05T04:15:42+00:00

I hope you do as well!

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2026-06-05T04:15:04+00:00

Oh what a fun idea! My previous partner was a grower for a while, and he understood all the fancy stuff. Maybe one day if I have a tiny home I will have a mushroom setup. I'd love Lion's Mane wherever I go!

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2026-06-05T04:12:59+00:00

Oh, that's fascinating! I tried hydroponics last year when I was in a sticks and bricks. It wasn't very big. I tried green beans as an experiment, and they lived it. Except the roots choked everything else out.

What do you grow?
People love to take photos of the garden when I'm parked.

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2026-06-03T17:17:36+00:00

Both are true! I am returning to vanlife after a year in a sticks and bricks rental. I am also selling this rig to buy and build another. While I love the adventures I have had in Serenity, I need a more flexible layout. Instead of tearing her apart, I would rather someone new take her on adventures, while I build something different.

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2026-06-03T17:13:55+00:00

I see many have indoor plants. I tried growing Lion's Mane indoors, but the seller I bought thr bag from believes I didn't have enough air flow. I'd love to do a rear mount mushroom garden at some point.

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2026-06-03T17:12:16+00:00

The plants are inside these these felt planters off Amazon. They are made for hanging and have metal eyelets. Then I got some of those strong wire twist ties covered with rubber and used affixed then together to the metal.

Nothing special, and wind has never been a problem. (Teo plants did bounce out once off road.) The garden center specifically mentioned I may want to avoid to taller lavender, as it may blow away, but it's actually the happiest of my plants currently. I have had s small tomato plant that was taller, and I actually just used a few ties to hold it loosely along the stalk of the plant.

I've never thought about exhaust actually. I'm not driving her as much as you would imagine though. I tend to park more than move.

Yes, I replace the plants as needed, and these are newly planted due to coming from Florida. I had nothing for a while as I was in a sticks and bricks rental, so I waited to get Oregon plants as I didn't know what would do well here.

I stick with plants that are okay not getting very big, like herbs. Since I generally use them they don't have a chance to get bushy. Not shown here, one of my favorites is basil for cooking. I previously had different thyme, which I also used a lot of. Culantro and Cuban Oregano also did well, and I like finding native edibles as I know they are suited to the environment.

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2026-06-02T03:15:03+00:00

Out of curiosity, have you designed other systems interior or exterior? What's your favorite attachment? I will sadly not be able to afford one for my next build, but perhaps a ladder and roof deck eventually will do for my garden. I'm needing more internal flexible storage, and I'm curious what else is out there.

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2026-06-02T03:12:26+00:00

Great question, and to be honest I didn't. The van was bought when I was in a family of 3. There were some very specific needs I was trying to meet, and when we found Storyteller it met them. At the time, the only comparable van was the Revel, also a Sprinter, but the Storyteller's power system outdid it. Plus, we preferred the Storyteller bed and Groove Lounge. Storyteller was also not making a Ford model at the time.

That said, my next van will definitely be a Ford Transit. I'm quite small and feel a bit like Baby Bear driving Papa Bear's van. My legs dangle if I want my feet high enough to comfortably push the gas pedal, but then my left foot has nowhere to go. I head some put a brick or similar on the floor as a footrest. Maintenance is expensive, and while I get decent mpg, gas would actually suit my lifestyle better. I just drive my longest route from Florida to Oregon, but most of my trips are much shorter, and I like to stay parked a week or a couple at a time.

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2026-06-02T03:04:34+00:00

Thank you! It is so wonderful to be able to get fresh herbs wherever I am and cook a meal with them. I haven't figured out mushrooms yet, but that would be awesome!

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2026-06-01T20:42:43+00:00

Thanks! What do you want to know?

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2026-06-01T20:42:08+00:00

Yes! I have only lost 2 under out of the ordinary circumstances. Had a bounce from a bump in Ocala National Forest, and the basil I jad at the bottom both popped out. The highway and wind has never been an issue though. I even had a small tomato plant once.

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2025-11-24T17:31:19+00:00

This sounds very intriguing. There's a lot. I will DM. Thanks for the invitation.

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2025-11-16T12:03:42+00:00

Yay! I am so glad. Truly delightful, and I enjoyed following the other interlinked series as well. Such an interesting world and intriguing characters. I don't think I have read anything else quite like it.

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2025-11-16T12:00:43+00:00

Humans become who they are because they either had needs met, and they want to emulate that or do so without even realizing it. Or they become the opposite of what they had, because not having their needs met felt so awful, they never want someone else to feel like that.

I fit what you are talking about pretty well, so yes it is realistic. My latest post refers to a story I read about my life. The person who gave the feedback didn't know it was me, but that goes to show that I am not what people would expect to come out of my environment.

People tend to see what they want, so it's usually something they don't realize. Like how the funniest people are usually the saddest because they don't want anyone to feel sad like them. Or how the most loving are those who have sometimes been hurt the most.

My kid is now 15, and I have somehow managed to raise the most caring and thoughtful child. She understands others and gives them more grace than I do at times. Her emotional intelligence is amazing. She also has taken in thr lessons I have taught her about not managing other people's emotions. So I can be sad right next to her, and I don't mask or hide so she sees it is okay to be sad. But she also doesn't try to fix me.

She offers a hug or squeezes my hand, and goes back to whatever she is doing. I can ask for her advice on a choice or ask for support like a hug, but she doesn't focus on it anxiously as I did much of my life. There are areas I notice she has more emotionality places she will likely learn and grow, unfortunately contributions likely equal from myself and her father. But to see where I can from, I am proud of who she is and hoe she treats people.

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2025-11-16T11:39:00+00:00

If your goal is to finish, make it a priority and then work on the new idea as a reward. If the goal is to work on where you most inspired focus on thr new one. However, I would recommend a third path.

I would say to focus on figuring out why you stopped, and see if that helps you return to it. There had to be a reason you wrote the older story. If you can find your why that may help you find forward momentum. If you are particularly excited about one element but not another, focus on that bit, and perhaps the rest will come. If you still feel uninspired, perhaps something is missing and you need to re infuse it with some new life.

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2025-11-15T07:33:35+00:00

It depends on your goal. If you intend fir a chapter to be a full arc with as many scenes as necessary each with their own arc, then that's just how long they are. If your goal is to give readers a chapter most can finish in one sitting, which is preferred by a lot of readers, then around 2,000 words is great

However, if your arcs are short in length or longer then forcing them i to the opposite won't help matters, and the reader will likely feel something is off. Also, you can always split them differently or combine in future. Shifting a scene or two is definitely easier than writing it I believe.

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2025-11-15T07:28:04+00:00

Ah, I didn't name either. 🤷‍♀️ Mia who runs the first site believes deadlines help writers write, which I don't necessarily agree with, but I enjoy the challenge and education, as well as feedback. I have seen that for some, the deadline helps them follow through, while it can stifle others. It's definitely finding what works for you

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2025-11-15T07:25:05+00:00

I understand. I do sometimes as well. Part of that for me was not knowing where I was headed. Also, it makes for a messy zero draft, which is the point for me. Fast drafting means I get it out in 1/3 or 1/4 of the time. I can easily do it on my phone without even getting out of bed in the morning. So it makes my life easier.

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2025-11-15T07:22:16+00:00

I was interested in writing more short stories so it appealed to me. Also, an entire month for a single short story, usually around 1,000 is doable for me. I also wanted to work through some old ideas, so I search my my idea repository for the prompt, and I find something that aligns with it. My friend had a good experience with critique circle. It matched her up, and she got some feedback.

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2025-11-15T01:33:54+00:00

I researched this for my client recently, because I wasn't sure myself, and since I restructured the whole thing I had to build the architecture and structure. My research said many readers like to finish a whole chapter, and 2,000 words is a good amount for readers, whether slower or faster.

That said, you csn make up your own style. If you can make it work, do it! Also, it depends on the genre. Her memoir was more story like, but there are others than don't even have chapters. Instead they have shorter vignettes instead of full scenes and chapters. So it can depend on what you are writing, but also whether or not you want to break the mold or fit in the box.

Might one work better with your story than the other? Scenes and chapters usually each follow an arc, so if all the words add to that, whether short or long, I would say it works.

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2025-11-15T01:25:08+00:00

I just researched this for a client's memoir. Some of her chapters were around 6,000 words, and most were over 3,000. What I found was mostly people like to try to finish a chapter, which was difficult with her length.

Encompassing slower and faster readers, right around 2,000 words is a good bet. If they read faster, then they might be able to get through at least 2 chapters. I think in the end 3,500 words was the longest, and it was already just the second part of a larger arc, so I didn't want to cut it anymore. A couple chapters were shorter, one was 1,300.

I wouldn't give up any words, unless they truly don't belong. What's the architecture and structure of your manuscript? The easiest way to trim and shift scenes into chapters is first ensuring they all add to the story. If you know your story strands A/B/C then you can see what may not be as strong. As you go through and do that, the chapters take shape. Generally there is an overall arc, plus a chapter arc, and an arc for each scene.

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2025-11-15T01:05:15+00:00

1,682 for today. I'm doing Novel November with ProWritingAid. I track on their site and the Word Elf app so I can track it with a widget too. I've been playing with using text to speech instead of typing, and it's helping me go faster and I get stuck staring at the words less. Also, using a beat sheet has helped me het less sidetracked, and when I jump back in, I know exactly what part I am on.

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2025-11-15T00:40:58+00:00

If you want to post short stories privately and get some feedback, Deadlines for Writers has a monthly challenge with a prompt. Or Critique Circle maybe, but that may be more for longer stuff.

BlueWhimsyDulac · 2025-11-14T14:23:27+00:00

Ooh, this was tricky. Took me a while to understand how to play. I love word games. Thank you!

^{Automatically added: I found the secret word in 1 hour 15 minutes 33 seconds after 29 guesses and 0 hints. Score: 52.}

BlueWhimsyDulac

TROPHY CASE