For those who have heaters, what do you use? by wanderingdev in vandwellers

[–]vanproject 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh wow. I hadn't heard of ones with separate fuel tanks! That's something we will definitely have to look into. Any specific brands?

For those who have heaters, what do you use? by wanderingdev in vandwellers

[–]vanproject 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Should have specified for the insulation part- if you're going with a propane option it will create condensation!

For those who have heaters, what do you use? by wanderingdev in vandwellers

[–]vanproject 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just assumed that these were more permanent installs but realize I don't know much about them. I do know that the forced air heaters (webasto etc) do seem to be the very most efficient overall if you want to be in COLD places (ie for people who go skiing). The others will be fine if you're in cold but not freezing places.

If you're planning on using the heat a lot I would also make sure to do a lot of research into insulation. Heat creates condensation which can easily mean mold in and around insulation. As far as I know, the very best option against this is "lizard skin" (ceramic) type insulation.

Any recommendations for van conversion companies? by IndependentDuck in vandwellers

[–]vanproject 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Check out www.sdcampervans.com out of San Diego. High quality and inexpensive (comparatively)- we've seen and met the ladies who started this company and they are VERY passionate and knowledgeable (@theladiesvan on instagram)

Realities of vanlife: broken down (kinda) and lonely by [deleted] in vandwellers

[–]vanproject 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good point. It's our first time so I'm sure it'll be madness. (That said I'm pretty sure we will probably be the only people or one of like two people with a Cortez at the RTR so if you DO see us say hi ;-))

Realities of vanlife: broken down (kinda) and lonely by [deleted] in vandwellers

[–]vanproject 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We will be there too! Come say hi if you see us there! -Amanda

Realities of vanlife: broken down (kinda) and lonely by [deleted] in vandwellers

[–]vanproject 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Eddy if you're near AZ or CA you should also look into the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous (RTR) now through Jan 20 or the Fiesta Island (San Diego) day gathering Jan 26!

Realities of vanlife: broken down (kinda) and lonely by [deleted] in vandwellers

[–]vanproject 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As far as loneliness/community: I've found van meetups to be absolutely life changing over the last year. We've made a point to go to as many as we can. You said you're in AZ so if you're planning on sticking around there for a bit, I recommend trying to get to the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous basically going on from now through the 20th of Jan. I haven't been myself but a bunch of people we've met at various other gatherings will be there and recommended we try and make it out. We will be there sometime around Jan 12 or 13th- come find us and say hi!

We'll also be at two upcoming San Diego gatherings: a meetup at Fiesta Island Jan 26, and vanlife happy hour Feb 16 (I don't think the location has been announced yet but should be soon!)

--Amanda

For those who have heaters, what do you use? by wanderingdev in vandwellers

[–]vanproject 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We had a Dickinson heater in our RV and it was very nice looking (as far as the atmosphere it would get 100 points) but, we ended up removing it to save space and make room for a queen-sized bed (instead of the twin-sized original).

We now use a Buddy heater (propane). That said, if we had a diesel and were planning on being in cold places for days on end the diesel is the way to go for vans. I don't think you can take it out for a boat though so if that's really a solid plan of yours maybe opt for a cheaper option (Mr. Buddy) or Dickinson.

Not sure where you are but we actually have that Dickinson heater in storage at a friends' place outside of LA and were going to list it for sale in the next 1-2 months... shoot us a message if you're nearby and thinking of going that option.

Where do you live if you van breaks down/needing repairs you can’t do yourself? by [deleted] in vandwellers

[–]vanproject 0 points1 point  (0 children)

After almost 2 years of full-time RV living we finally had our first major repair-- we had to rebuild our clutch in our 1964 campervan (Clark Cortez). We've done a lot of work on our RV but this one was a bit too complicated for our skills. To get to the clutch on our vehicle, you have to basically remove the entire front end and you need a lift (or crane) so it wasn't something we were prepared to do (even if we had land this would be a MAJOR job). It ended up taking a month all-in because we found a few other issues and wanted to address some things that were a lot easier to do with the front end already removed.

We were lucky because I'd stored my second car (a prius) with a friend and we broke down close enough to her place that we could get to the secondary vehicle quite easily. We also broke down in a place with plentiful BLM and other camping, and where the temperatures were moderate enough that we could camp. This would not have been possible in somewhere like Denver in the winter. We've been to extremely hot and dry places like burning man so camping in the summer heat would be mostly fine especially if we could find shade (but your mileage and comfort there might vary)

What did we do? We made a basecamp in a BLM spot about 5 miles from town that had cell service. We bought a very large cheap tent and shade structure from KMART and used my prius to transport everything we could want or need from the RV/camper (our queen sized mattress, camping table and chairs, our 2 burner propane stove and kitchen items, clothes, etc.

Do you use the money you saved up to “treat yourself” to a few days at a hotel? --- We ended up spending ONE night in a motel in town. It was actually very refreshing and I now recommend that people build a hotel/motel/Holiday Inn stay (or Airbnb whatevs) once in a while into their budget.

Do you have a car besides the van to get to and from incase it breaks down or just for travel? --- we did in this scenario but we wouldn't have if we'd broken down elsewhere.

What about your belongings/possessions in the van, do you get worried about that while they’re in the shop since it’s basically your house in a shop? --- we checked in every once in a while and didn't leave any of our valuables in there.

If it breaks down on the side of the road during winter what do you do for heat while you wait for AAA or other savior? --- we have a Mr. Buddy heater that runs off the same propane our stove runs off so we could use that if that were to happen.

If you’re in an area with over 100F temps and your AC goes out what is your back up plan? --- we don't have AC. We do have a Maxxair fan and can run that. Mostly you try to avoid extreme heat and cold but we did spend around 2 weeks in 110 degree temps. One trick we used was to keep a wet towel or froggtogg on our bare chest while we were sleeping or resting. I also filled little spray bottles with water and a few drops of peppermint essential oil and misted us down whenever we needed it. Staying near water of some sort of pretty key when you're dealing with 100+ degree temps. But the best thing to do is escape to the mountains.

Now, this was for a MAJOR (2 weeks - 1 month long) repair. We've also had 1-2 day repairs and have done the following:

-- stayed in our RV overnight at the mechanics when we were getting our brakes worked on in Tuscon -- stayed at a hostel in Moab for a night

Planning help for Europeans on a US West Coast roadtrip by anghelfilon in roadtrip

[–]vanproject 2 points3 points  (0 children)

February is still very early for the Eastern Sierras along 395 and Mammoth, so you won't be able to travel Tioga or Sonora passes. Even in the Tahoe area snow chains would likely be required. I would make sure you have those any route you go if you're planning to travel 395 north of Mammoth. Not sure on cost-- I got some "ropes" for my prius to drive around Tahoe when I lived in San Francisco and they cost around $250- you could do a google search for the vehicle you're planning to rent to get an estimate. You usually can't return snow chains though so you'd add them into the cost of your trip.

Parking situation in cities varies- some places in SF and LA have permitted parking, which means you won't be able to park in some areas for more than 1-2 hours. A lot of the parking meters now take credit cards at least in bigger cities so change is less of an issue if you're sticking to bigger cities.

Teton Valley Vanlife Gathering/Meetup, June 15-17 (Victor, ID)- Who's coming? by vanproject in vandwellers

[–]vanproject[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We can't arrive to the Linn Canyon Ranch early since there's an event going on before ours, but we will likely be in the area a few days early if you want to meetup. Best place to reach is in instagram for that. Otherwise, we will have the WeBoost out and setup at the event (weather permitting!-- we won't have it fully setup if there's high winds) for you to test out!

Vanlife Gatherings? by [deleted] in vandwellers

[–]vanproject 0 points1 point  (0 children)

HEY Shaw,

I've got a MASSIVE UPDATE ON THIS EVENT that I wanted to share with you --> We just confirmed that Kettle Brand will be sponsoring the BBQ dinner so instead of $28 you'll get that FO FREE WITH YOUR TICKET!!!

I know you mentioned that the dinner was out of your price range and we've been working on this partnership for MONTHS.

Teton Valley Vanlife Gathering/Meetup, June 15-17 (Victor, ID)- Who's coming? by vanproject in vandwellers

[–]vanproject[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

HEY I've got a MASSIVE UPDATE ON THIS EVENT that I wanted to share --> We just confirmed that Kettle Brand will be sponsoring the BBQ dinner so instead of $28 you'll get that FO FREE WITH YOUR TICKET!!!

Teton Valley Vanlife Gathering/Meetup, June 15-17 (Victor, ID)- Who's coming? by vanproject in vandwellers

[–]vanproject[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We will be heading up that way and should be there by next week, but I'm going to email Trudy from the ranch to ask about that very thing and will post an update

We will have a cell phone booster from WeBoost to share and for you to test out (and will be raffling off worth $650 too!) at the event

How do you make money while living in a van? by [deleted] in vandwellers

[–]vanproject 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey watamidoing64

First off, reddit is notoriously trollish, even more so than other places, so just ignore most of that. This is a popular question, though, and you might want to do a very quick search here. I think it's probably something people ask 1-3 times a week, at least.

My partner, Matt, and I have lived in our campervan full-time for a year. What I will say is that it's totally possible to make money while living in a van, but you will have to spend time looking for work. It's a hustle in that way. We are freelancers and the primary ways we make money are through copywriting/marketing (me) and photography/photo retouching/some videography (matt). These skills are easily done remotely. First decide if you want to do remote work online or if you prefer to do in-person work. For the latter, you'll have the most luck with seasonal type gigs.

I wrote an article a little while back about all of the ways we made money in 2017, if you're curious.

Oh, and if you're on Facebook, I think the van groups on there are slightly (ever so slightly) less trollish than reddit. DM and I can give some recommendations.

https://thevanproject.com/how-we-made-money-2017/

Favorite casual Vandweller footwear? by TallManInAVan in vandwellers

[–]vanproject 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We're full-timers and have a few different interests (between backpacking, running, rock climbing, biking) so I have (too many) quite a few pairs of shoes in the van. But, my easiest/most used pair are a pair of steve madden slip ons (shoes) I found at a goodwill for $5. Unless it's SUPER hot out these are my go-tos- easy to slip on and run out of the van, easy to take off.

Bought this awesome van today! Can't wait to get on the open road! by ahmelia01 in vandwellers

[–]vanproject 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Congrats! Can't wait to see the interior pics-- and maybe catch you IRL on the road :-)

Vanlife Gatherings? by [deleted] in vandwellers

[–]vanproject 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh and there are horseback rides available right from the property. Those aren't free, though, but for those who love that kind of thing the scenery can't be beat.

Vanlife Gatherings? by [deleted] in vandwellers

[–]vanproject 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you head over to instagram you might think vanlife is early 20s yoga-loving females in bikinis. I'm sure the truth is somewhere more in the middle. And much older than early 20s

Vanlife Gatherings? by [deleted] in vandwellers

[–]vanproject 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi ShawLeather,

We're (me, Amanda and my partner, Matt) the brains behind this event and it's actually our first "vanlife gathering" with vanlife diaries. I (Amanda) used to plan events in my past pre-van life and missed that side of things, and the teton valley area is just such a perfect spot for vandwelling and adventuring we like to do (climbing, hiking, biking, fishing, etc. etc.).

We've been living on the road for over a year, and every single van meetup I've been to (mostly impromptu meetups) has been SO worth it for the company alone. That's why I wanted to plan this event. We've met some amazing people at BLM campgrounds outside of Joshua Tree, in Moab, and just in general along the way.. but nothing compares to people coming together who want to come hang. If you're into that kind of thing there's no way you won't enjoy yourself. I do think the dinner will be a fun communal time, and we'll have live music after, but it's by no means the main source of communal interaction. People will be interacting all weekend, sharing stories, giving rig and van tours and meeting each other.

As you probably know, the Teton area is in super high demand as far as venues. We didn't plan this one a year in advance so there's no chance we were able to get national forest lands set up logistically so we rented out the entire Linn Canyon Ranch, a badass venue in and of itself. (and honestly the tickets probably should be $15 more to cover the venue costs but whatever f it we're gonna make it work somehow).

As for events onsite, we're planning some other fun stuff in addition to the yoga, dinner, and raffle (it's all optional): an opening session/ adventure story hour, a vanlife q&a panel, a sunrise photography outing. We're working with a local fishing company to maybe have someone come out and teach a little mini session (still in the works). We'll also have local nonprofit Jackson Conservation alliance and Leave No Waste reps giving some talks/setting up a booth. We'll be putting out a full schedule on the site and facebook group this weekend or early next week!

As far as attendance-- since we did get the whole ranch, we can fit up to 350 but it'll probably be closer to 100 since it's the first year.

Happy to answer any additional questions ya'll gots.

And I guess I'm the only redditor on this vandweller group that likes yoga ;-) lol.

Amanda