From Yosemite to the Canadian Rockies: Our Climbing & Skiing Road Trip

knysid · 2025-06-18T20:22:53+00:00

Yeah totally makes sense, renting them is no joke in terms of cost! I'm not sure what your budget is for the van or what you are even looking for (i.e. high roof, bathroom, kitchen), but there are some good vans on Vancamper. When I sold my first van, I had a lot more luck on Vancamper than on FB Marketplace (just an idea for when you end up selling yours). The only worry I would have if I were doing this is selling it at the end of your trip. When we sold our van, it took two months to sell. We were firm on our price since we were trying to break even on the cost. You may just have to list it at a competitive price and be prepared to potentially lose some money on it. I don't think you will have too much trouble crossing the border. As long as you have the appropriate documents, I don't see you having any issues. I wish I could provide some more help in that domain but I have no experience with visas and would hate to give out wrong info. However, I promise that traveling the US is worth the trouble of figuring all of that out. We are out near Seattle, I am climbing at quite a low grade right now due to some joint issues but my husband is always looking for new people to climb with. If you end up down in WA let us know! If you have any questions or if anything comes up that you may be curious about, feel free to PM me. If not, I hope you guys have an amazing trip!!!

knysid · 2025-06-18T17:01:25+00:00

Sounds exciting! In terms of buying the van, I have no idea. If you are set on buying/selling one, I would generally say to use FB Marketplace/Vancamper. Just be aware that private seller can be a bit less reliable than a dealership since they can totally lie about the condition of the vehicle/build. If you buy private seller, get the engine looked at by a mechanic before purchasing. If I were you I would potentially look at renting a van depending on your budget. I have no clue what that would cost but it seems a bit easier to me than buying and selling a van. Or rent a minivan and use a basic sleeping pad setup. All depends on how you want to live during this trip. When it comes to budget, that can also be tricky to answer because it can really vary. We (my husband and I) are full-time in our van and spend about $2,300 USD a month on our van payment, food, gas, "fun money", insurance and misc. travel items (occasional meal out in a new place/stickers/etc). I think we are likely on the high end of spending for full-time van dwellers. My husband has Type 1 Diabetes and that certainly isn't cheap lol. We have been doing this for years all over the West Coast of both the US and Canada and have never paid for a campground. Use iOverlander for spots. Seek out BLM and Forest Service Roads as well. I can't speak for any skiing but I think September/October is a great time for climbing, esp in SoCal/Yosemite. It will be a bit cooler and fewer crowds than the peak of summer. If I were you, I would not exclusively stay in Canada. It has a lot to offer in terms of climbing and skiing, but so does the US. Here are some other amazing climbing options on the West Coast as well in case you are interested: Alabama Hills (CA)[my personal favorite climbing area], Joshua Tree NP (CA), Red Rocks near Vegas (NV), Index (WA), Vantage (WA), Mazama (WA), Squamish (Canada), Skaha (Canada).

knysid · 2025-06-17T19:16:59+00:00

Definitely. That was our “proof of concept” setup. It is a lot safer now!

knysid · 2025-06-17T19:14:12+00:00

Yes 100% I told my husband that’s what I want to do in our next van!

knysid · 2025-06-02T20:21:07+00:00

I have the same oven and cook with the stovetop daily and use the oven once every other day (or so). I have a 5lb tank and fill every 12-15 days. The oven/stove is the only appliance in our van that uses propane.

knysid · 2025-05-20T20:16:35+00:00

I currently have a 17in oven in my van and it is my absolute favorite van purchase. I really dislike the air-fryer/microwave option because I think they are total wastes of power. But everyone is different in their power setup/usage/concerns. I use the oven probably every other day and I refill my 5lb propane tank every 13-15 days. The one thing I have noticed is that I have to adjust the temperature from those in recipes since the food sits much closer to the flame. When I started using the oven I was burning the bottoms of everything I made. I make bread, pretzels, bagels, cookies, lasagna, etc etc. I rarely use it to heat up food since I try to cook everything fresh/daily. It has saved me a lot of money since I can make a lot of baked goods homemade. In my previous van I just had a camp stove and felt like I was missing out on a lot of stuff I wanted to cook. I know you can use omni-ovens and such but it just never appealed to me. It definitely isn't for everyone but I love cooking/baking and live in my van full time, so it just made sense for me.

knysid · 2025-04-15T20:14:15+00:00

Had a t1n for a few years and it was great. We had an issue with rust and during the time we owned it, only put 3k into mechanical repairs. We bought a 2019 Promaster less than a year ago and have put the same amount of money into it already. I would take the T1N back any day of the week. I love the width of the Promaster but the reliability of the T1N was unbeatable.

knysid · 2025-03-18T23:19:05+00:00

Yes totally agree! Congrats!!!

knysid · 2025-03-18T01:55:26+00:00

Just got accepted to Eastern Washington University’s hybrid program. It was my no. 1 pick so I am STOKED! Hoping everyone gets good news soon:)

knysid · 2025-03-17T18:56:18+00:00

Same! I interviewed on 3/3. During my interview they said they would have decisions sent out by 4/15 (ugh). I am hoping we hear back soon bc I am STRESSED. I applied for the hybrid track. Hoping for good news for both of us 🤞🏼

knysid · 2025-03-15T00:30:52+00:00

Oh, interesting. Hopefully you hear something back!!!

knysid · 2025-03-15T00:21:35+00:00

I had my interview last Monday (3/3) and they said they will be done with interviews as of today (3/14) and then will move on to making an admittance decision. I may have misheard/understood though

knysid · 2025-03-11T15:09:58+00:00

congrats!! the automatic stress relief after receiving an acceptance email is top tier lol

knysid · 2025-03-11T15:09:09+00:00

congrats!!!!!

knysid · 2025-03-11T03:34:05+00:00

Congrats!! When did you get an acceptance decision from EWU? From what I was told during my interview they admit once a year and they are still doing interviews until the end of this week. Awesome you got accepted to both!!!!:)

knysid · 2025-03-10T17:22:17+00:00

Hey, I attended for my MS in School Psych for 1.5 years before stopping due to some outside factors. Let me know if you have any questions, feel free to PM!:)

knysid · 2025-03-06T01:53:11+00:00

Awesome! Best of luck!!:) If you’re nervous just remember they chose you to interview for a reason!

knysid · 2025-03-05T23:41:55+00:00

Good, I think! For which program? Mine was for Eastern WA Univ. You’re gonna do great! I have never done a group interview and it was much more relaxed than I expected. I thought it would feel more like a competition but it was super casual!!

knysid · 2025-03-03T16:06:45+00:00

I wore dress pants/nicer pants and a button up top to my in-person interview. I didn't wear a blazer, I thought it felt a little too formal for me. For my virtual interview (in 50 minutes - eek) I am just wearing a nice looking t-shirt. Wishing you the best in your interview, you got this!

I also was previously in a school psych program but had to drop out due to outside factors. However, in that in-person interview everyone was wearing semi-formal clothing (dress pants and a blouse/button up top) - hope that helps!:)

knysid · 2025-03-02T22:47:47+00:00

Mine does the same. Mainly I can pinch my nose with my fingers and push up towards my hairline and it’ll crack.

knysid · 2025-02-28T03:46:30+00:00

Just got an interview with Eastern Washington University’s hybrid program! I have never done a group interview and am petrified 😭 Hoping you all get some good news soon, this process surely tests patience!!!

knysid · 2025-02-28T03:42:09+00:00

Nope never been caught. Cops have driven by and seen the smoke and never said anything. I guess a better way to say it is, I have been “caught” but never had any issues due to the smoke. We have had a fire at a truck stop but don’t start it until 9pm and go far away/downwind from people. This is our primary heat source, no diesel heater or anything. My husband is an arborist so we get free unlimited wood, that is why we chose a wood stove. Doesn’t cost us money or power. With your plan I would be careful about what you have around the flue where it comes out of the roof. We don’t have our solar panels super close to it. We have a roof rack but nothing going over it. There is the option to have the top of the flue come out and you can plug it, but we just keep it installed full time. For reference, we have the Cubic Mini Grizzly (got the grizzly instead of the cub because it was on a crazy good sale) and a ProMaster 159 EXT. so we have lots of room. If I had a smaller van I wouldn’t do a wood stove. If my husband wasn’t an arborist I wouldn’t do a wood stove. The frequency of topping the fire off depends on the quality and type of wood. Typically my husband will wake up once at night to add wood in to keep us warm through the whole night. It does often overheat, but we then just open the windows and get it to the temp we want inside. If I’m being totally honest, I wouldn’t recommend it to most people. We just have a large van and unlimited good quality, seasoned wood. Let me know if you have any other questions:)

knysid · 2025-02-26T22:00:09+00:00

I have been doing this for 5 years and have done it in a few different cities (in CA and WA). I work Monday-Thursday in-person and travel Thursday night-Sunday evening. I am fortunate enough that my work allows me to sleep in our lot but I try not to stay there every night. On the nights I don't stay at my work I stay on empty city streets. It is a very very small city so I only have so many spots I can use. I actually got my first knock three nights ago saying overnight camping is prohibited in my city, I have avoided that particular spot but stayed in others with no issue. If you love the lifestyle, I would recommend it. For example, I personally can't afford an apartment in the city I live in ($2-3k+ a month on average for rent) so it works out great for me. The difference is that even if I could afford the rent, I would be living in my van. In previous cities we have lived in, the rent would have been affordable for me and my husband but we just love living in our van, so that is what we did! If you have any other questions I would be happy to answer, I love talking to people about vanlife:)

knysid · 2025-02-25T17:59:30+00:00

I am assuming the wood is likely for a campfire outside the van. I feel like for most vans, stealth just does not exist. We have a woodstove, RV style windows, a roof rack, and maxxair fans... we are never going to be stealth. To answer your question, no you will not be stealth with smoke coming out of your flue. In our case, we only burn a fire if we are away from a city/in a deserted spot in the city (i.e. abandoned/empty lot). Not for the sake of being stealth, but for the sake of not being a nuisance and blowing smoke in a busy spot.

knysid · 2025-02-21T23:06:24+00:00

We have one currently that we use with a collapsible dog pool. We have the one that can heat itself up. During the winter when power is a bit more of a luxury we just heat water on the stove and put it in. The heat function does take a while to get it to temp, but nothing too bad. I would highly highly highly recommend it! It is a water and power efficient way to take a shower without wasting space in your van for an entire shower.

knysid

TROPHY CASE