Living in a van down by the river

Most essential items after my long lighter and
my glasses were my hat and my toothbrush. They made the trip much more pleasant.
That was how I spent the weekend at a museum event. Once the van was unloaded it was spacious enough to live in comfortably in weather that swung from 37 at night to 79 degrees during the day.

The exhibitor next to me was enjoying my Perfection heater.

This is how I pack complete 110 year old lamps and have them arrive with mantles and shades intact.

I stayed an extra night so I could pack up in the daylight while it was still cool. That worked great except for the tent being wet with dew. I got invited to a hymn sing at the museum while I was still wandering around in my pajamas having a cup of coffee. They said it was "come as you are." Thanks, but I'll stay outside.

Lessons learned:

- Need more insulation between sleeping area and anything metal. I put all the silver bubble wrap packing for the lamps between the layers of moving blanket and it still wasn't enough. Bring Therm-A-Rest mattress. I was rather surprised to find my red kneeling pad was always cold when I rolled over, but a piece of solid white packing foam felt warm immediately. I have to have my shoulders propped up by something when sleeping on a hard surface. I'll bring more white foam next trip.
- Magnetic base flashlights are great in the van... unless it's off and you can't feel it. Ends up looking like a Tai Chi workout in the dark as you feel around for it.
- Hanging up clothes keeps them out of the way, dry, clean and blocks windows.
- Ice lasts more than three days in a 50+ year old Coleman cooler. Don't need a Yeti.
- Everything you wear needs pockets and when you lock the last door the keys should be in one of those pockets.
- Electrician's fish tape is great for unlocking doors when you lock the keys in the van.
- Big Tupperware boxes have a space under the bottom just big enough to fit a cell phone under. Makes a phone disappear like a magic trick. Very annoying.
- If I can't borrow a van from work I can rent one from Home Depot for $139 a day. Always a nearly new model, (My work van is fifteen years old, has almost 200K miles on it, and no cruise control.) No maintenance, no payment, no need to find a place to park it. I only do two of these events a year now. I would need the van for a week total. So less than $1000 a year, with no ownership headaches. It's like pickup trucks and roll-backs, I don't need to own one. I just need to know somebody that does.

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

Getting locked out of the vehicle is always a pain . Find you a stash spot to put a key somewhere,,,, yea ,, I know ,,, I've needed to do that for yrs ,, and still haven't done it.
I had an '02 Ford pickup that I kept locking myself out of. I finally just took the antenna and bent a hook on the end of it,, just put it back hand tight ,, and used it everytime I locked myself out.
You've got a nice assortment of gas powered appliances there .

 

I brought extra fuel this year, and when I unpacked I found the extra fuel I'd packed for last year. I had plenty. I got about 45 minutes total sleep the first night, and had intended to do a big light up and sit around in the tent on Saturday night as well, but I was asleep before the sun set. Took me a minute to understand why it was 4:00 in the morning and I was wide awake, but at least I was rested enough to make the drive home. Stopped at five big antique malls on my big looping return trip and bought only a $4 bow saw.

Got home to find the freezer door open about 4". Everything in there is gone. I won't tell her I'm not real upset about it. I'm not a big fan of quiche, and there were two great big quiche pies in there "for the holidays.". I suggested that maybe we should replace them with more traditional apple, mince and cherry pies. Haven't heard a response.

 

I had lost the special wide knurled nuts that go on the four threaded studs that poke through grommets on each side of the tent roof. Fix was simple enough. Piece of batten board with a hole in it and a 1/2" nylon strap run through it with a knot on the outside. Run the strap through the tent grommet under the stud and tie the strap to the frame inside. It held the roof in place just as well as the missing nuts would've. I'll keep these alternates in my box of tent stuff even if I find the special knurled nuts.

 

Rent a van - good idea.

Van Life Secret: Renting a U-Haul for Break Downs! Money-Saving Van Life Hack

and

How We Camped In A Rental Cargo Van On A Budget Comfortably With Real Mattress, Kitchen, Power a bit too elaborate

 

The year was 1973 My best friend had a Ford Econoline van I was in FL he drove down from NY and we went out to Colorado in May. Spent 2 weeks camping in the mountains trout fishing. Colman stove for cooking, air mattress to sleep on --best time of my life.

 

i love my van. death wobble and all.

 

How old is your Dodge?

 

Fantastic advice. Since my mileage is low, this will be a much better deal than the Home Depot van. With all the built-in attachments I can secure stuff and I've got several folding cots and stretchers that I could use. Considering that most of my gear is on the floor and used to hold other pieces in place, this is looking more appealing all the time. I do like my Coleman coolers, but a 12V refrigerator would keep stuff dry if I get busy and let it get too low in the cooler. There are a lot of events that are not that far away where this would be the perfect fit. Since I plan to be unemployed again soon, and permanently, this could turn day trips into long weekends. And since the day of the week will become unimportant, we can wander wherever, whenever. 350 mile round trip to visit the kids. Around $600 (plus gas obviously) for a U-Haul van if I take a week to make the trip. But now it's just not a couple nights on their sofa. I can tote a whole van full of their junk up to them and maybe get my garage back to a usable state. I can break out the most elaborately gas lighted camp site in any park and work on perfecting wonderful meals on any of my gas stoves and ovens. I can stay the night in Selma, maybe walk around with the Mayor again, and visit all the historic sites. I can stay in State parks where the fishing looks good. All while having no worries about maintaining, repairing or making monthly payments on a new van.

 

I have been seeing a lot of tent campers coming down here with small U-Haul box trucks. $19.95 a day if you take it back to the same place you rented from. The last time I was in Myrtle Beach State Park there were 6 of them in the campground.

 

97 e350 extended. i can only go to town 6 miles away because, death wobble.i have all the parts, including power steering gear box and pump. just have to do it.

 

Van Life Secret: Renting a U-Haul for Break Downs! Money-Saving Van Life Hack

 

We did the UHaul rental twenty years ago when my Pontiac blew up in West Virginia. Dolly towed the car home, and since the truck was empty we brought back a load of rocks. Helped to clean them off the shoulder of the highway where they'd fallen.

 

We did a Van "Camper" on the stealthy side, no external clues to an otherwise generic work van!

For the money, these Sprinter vans are super handy, WAY more room then the normal American made vans, and with the Diesel engine, super fuel efficient!
I chose the largest version on the standard wheelbase high roof to maximize the interior room, and this one had the insulation mackage for refrigerated work, so I didn't have to do anything to improve it's heat/cold retention. I did do a hardwood laminate floor with recessed tie down points, and built removable appliances, so I can convert from work van to RV in no time! While not luxurious by any stretch, it's more then comfortable and useful then you would think!

Had to do an engine/trans swap, she made it to just over 230,000 miles and she gave up the ghost, so I yanked it and installed an even better MBZ diesel, the OM-606, while not an easy swap, BOY did I gain performance across the board, quicker, faster, nastier, and even better fuel economy if I keep my right foot out of the throttle, and bonus, no more computers holding her back, so now she runs her ass off, really quite impressive, leaves a lot of people scratching their heads!

 

they make a white/rust vinal wrap to 'camo' your van and make it look like a rust bucket. sadly i dont need the wrap anymore.
nice van ki!

 

Nice, Those doors open for some inside picture?

 

Your van setup looks super cozy and nice. I really enjoyed seeing your pictures.
Those night temperature drops sound so freezing though.

 

I don't have any pics of mine handy other than this one, which was really a picture of the pad it was parked on.




"Chester", the 1988 Econoline 150. Rhinolined all over. 3" suspension lift + front air helper springs. 31" mud tires + selectable rear locker. 85k miles. 351w + C6. 400w solar on the roof + 400w portable panels (so I can park in the shade and place the panels in the sun), 3600 Wh house battery, roof vent fan, starlink, 2kw inverter.

It isn't done yet. I still have a brush guard + bull bar to put on the front, and I need to mount my ham radio antennas somewhere (although I am loathe to drill through the roof). The interior is bare, so I can use it for work and then throw a cot and some totes in for camping.