Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)

Your favorite books and links
bryan
Posts: 1061
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2014 2:01 am
Location: mostly Bay Area

Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)

Post by bryan »

I had my own #vanlife pic posts on Facebook.. they showed the real life version of van life that I thought were interesting.

Summary:
  1. when Pokemon GO came out, I parked for the night at the centroid of multiple PokeStops
  2. yeah, lots of posts about parking/sleeping in seriously excellent (urban) spots..
  3. musings on toilets and bathrooms and "checking reddit" where most people just pee
  4. yeah, lots of toilet talk (and an occasional pic)..
  5. getting starbucks gold on lock for far too many years into the future.
  6. noticing overlap of (early) hours w/ retirees while at bars, libraries
  7. noticing how lame suburbs are for van living e.g. amenities, hours of operations, things to do
  8. public "struggle" with spending decisions. e.g. $3 versus $300 backpacks
  9. documenting some interesting social interactions
  10. air-drying some laundry at the park
  11. hobo-zen-den pics of the van interior or what my home-made meals looked like, e.g. peanut butter crackers and sriracha
edit: my profile pic is a cropped instance of 11: two of the most most important items for #vanlife (water and sleeping gear being right up there).

bryan
Posts: 1061
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2014 2:01 am
Location: mostly Bay Area

Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)

Post by bryan »

One of the better builds I've seen planned, executed:
Lee's Incredible Van Build. *FULL TOUR*


He plans on having videos of his own detailing build details and mentions he will have a workshop trailer and wants to help other folks w/ their van builds.

Technomadia channel also looks cool, helpful.

halfmoon
Posts: 697
Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2016 10:19 pm

Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)

Post by halfmoon »

Ego wrote:
Wed Apr 19, 2017 9:27 pm
Van life article in The New Yorker. Actually more like a #vanlife article, but interesting nontheless.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/ ... a-movement
This was somewhat depressing. I don't know what's sadder: the couple commercializing their dream or the Instagram followers idealizing it.

TopHatFox
Posts: 2322
Joined: Thu Oct 17, 2013 10:07 pm
Location: FL; 25

Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)

Post by TopHatFox »

Yeah, I agree: that article did more to depress me than anything else...

This is why I hate Pinterest and Instagram. They tend to idealize everything to the point where reality is never good enough, van life included. (For the love of all that is good, avoid the fitness or beauty sections in particular)

halfmoon
Posts: 697
Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2016 10:19 pm

Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)

Post by halfmoon »

Huh. I didn't even know that Instagram had beauty and fitness sections. So many undiscovered ways to achieve dissatisfaction.
bryan wrote:
Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:47 pm
I had my own #vanlife pic posts on Facebook.. they showed the real life version of van life that I thought were interesting.
@bryan, I'd like to read your take on van life, but I'm not a Facebook member. Is there somewhere to see it that doesn't require DNA registration? ;)

theanimal
Posts: 2627
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2013 10:05 pm
Location: AK
Contact:

Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)

Post by theanimal »

I like Lee's setup. Very well thought out.
bryan wrote:
Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:47 pm
noticing how lame suburbs are for van living e.g. amenities, hours of operations, things to do
+1. I have limited experience but have found this to be true as well. Many suburbs also have laws prohibiting overnight street parking. Late last night I was made aware of this by a couple of police officers. A "neighbor" had called in saying my van looked suspicious. How neighborly.

bryan
Posts: 1061
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2014 2:01 am
Location: mostly Bay Area

Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)

Post by bryan »

@halfmoon, sorry, no. I don't like writing much so tend to avoid it. Even on facebook it's not too many posts (about #vanlife) over the two years. Obviously a vlog/blog would be too much of a bear (and why I don't have an ERE journal either); even my thread I planned on updating every couple days (Bloomberg review) has fallen a month behind. Instagram could work but I haven't had much incentive to go there..

halfmoon
Posts: 697
Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2016 10:19 pm

Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)

Post by halfmoon »

@bryan, excuse not accepted. :D If you've written even a little on FB, you could duplicate that in an ERE journal for me to read...because it's all about me. Your points about the realities of van life seem practical and interesting even to someone who will never live in a van (me again!). Imagine how useful they could be to others who might want to live that life.

bryan
Posts: 1061
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2014 2:01 am
Location: mostly Bay Area

Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)

Post by bryan »

I'll probably stick to posting in other threads :)

http://vandogtraveller.com/ announced he is releasing a book. That site's build log was the resource that convinced me to do the van thing. It's too bad the site pretty much turned into a travel blog after he wrapped things up. Maybe he was hoarding the good, van stuff for the book?

bryan
Posts: 1061
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2014 2:01 am
Location: mostly Bay Area

Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)

Post by bryan »

A cyberpunk, collapse, day-in-the-life type of feel: http://www.doomsteaddiner.net/blog/2017 ... ier-day-1/

User avatar
jennypenny
Posts: 6851
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 2:20 pm

Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)

Post by jennypenny »

I enjoyed this video of a young couple and their baby who are living in a sprinter. Nothing earth shattering in it. I just liked their vibe.

https://youtu.be/J1VoFWWcHhc

User avatar
C40
Posts: 2748
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2011 4:30 am

Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)

Post by C40 »

jennypenny wrote:
Tue Aug 29, 2017 8:47 pm
I enjoyed this video of a young couple and their baby who are living in a sprinter. Nothing earth shattering in it. I just liked their vibe.

https://youtu.be/J1VoFWWcHhc
The other day those people's little baby got stung by a scorpion. The dad caught the scorpion and was making posts about it on his Instagram story. He seemed really happy that the baby only cried a little bit and then seemed to be fine/happy.

I was thinking "dude, you shouldn't be fucking around on Instagram, you should be checking how dangerous a scorpion sting is for a baby"... but I figured maybe he was plenty familiar with scorpions and there is no danger.. Well... an hour or so later, they've got the baby at the hospital, and they're all freaked out, asking for prayers and everything. He said the baby started foaming or salivating or something and vomiting.. something like that. And he shared a bunch of updates from the hospital :shock: Anyways, I think the baby was ok. Their van looks sweet.

User avatar
Ego
Posts: 6358
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2011 12:42 am

Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)

Post by Ego »


TopHatFox
Posts: 2322
Joined: Thu Oct 17, 2013 10:07 pm
Location: FL; 25

Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)

Post by TopHatFox »

Thought-provoking article on adventure as a marketing tool:

http://tomallen.info/somethings-happeni ... i-like-it/

Marketing sure likes to turn countercultural themes into a tool to sell more. I remember punk culture being sold through Hot Topic, or hippy culture through Forever 21. Adventure is next on the docket.

This is beneficial to an ERE-adventurer who profits from the growth and dividends of these companies. It also means the ERE-adventurer can refuse to take superficial bribes from the companies. For example, sponsorships, logos, panniers, etc. Then the ERE-adventurer would appear morally superior to their social media followings, and get more views. Fascinating.

User avatar
Ego
Posts: 6358
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2011 12:42 am

Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)

Post by Ego »

I really like Tom Allen.

I used to feel very strongly about not selling out. In fact, about ten years ago I made a little logo that said "No Sponsors" and posted it on our website because I was rather proud that we earned it all ourselves without selling out.

We did our first long adventure in 1993/4 before the internet as we know it existed. Tom did his first big trip just before Facebook took off and long before Instagram was invented.

The world has changed.

I guess today I can see that my desire to gain cred with my followers with the "No Sponsors" logo was really not all that much different than someone taking the free panniers. Branding of a different sort. I don't know. I go back and forth about it. It's not as important to me as it once was. But, you know, I kinda sold out too, so that has skewed my view of it. :lol:


bryan
Posts: 1061
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2014 2:01 am
Location: mostly Bay Area

Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)

Post by bryan »

That looks dumb as hell (will probably be re-designed closer to the end) and 4 years away seems a bit conservative, too late.

Definitely a big fan of electric-drive vans. I think a hybrid model (with a large battery and small diesel motor (like maximum speed of 65mph)) would make more sense. Most driving would be electric plus the bonus of the electricity (and maybe diesel heat) while living, but you don't need to worry about range anxiety so much.

User avatar
C40
Posts: 2748
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2011 4:30 am

Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)

Post by C40 »

A couple posts I've made recently about finding good places to camp

One for Where to park and sleep in cities

And one for How to find wonderful free campsites outside of cities

User avatar
Ego
Posts: 6358
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2011 12:42 am

Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)

Post by Ego »

Hollywood meets the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous, literally.

Nomadland https://youtu.be/6sxCFZ8_d84

Post Reply