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Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)
Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 1:38 pm
by TopHatFox
Entertaining the idea of van living, or at least minimizing the size of my lifestyle further from a retrofitted dorm room / small apartment--there's likely a lot to learn by cautiously following more and more unconventional and "extreme" ways of living. Any resources or comments you all would like to share would be appreciated.
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One seemingly debatable question is whether van living is actually cheaper than small apartment living.
In a van, you must buy the van, pay for its insurance, outfit it as a living space, repair and maintain it, earn/purchase a driver's license from the government, potentially pay parking fees, buy gasoline for a relatively low mpg vehicle, and it's more difficult to harbor inexpensive traveling mediums--namely bicycles--and the equipment required to repair them. Total annual price: unknown at the moment.
In a small apartment, one pays rent, utilities, and can usually house bicycles no problem. Total annual price: ERE 21 day makeover apartment living would come out to $300-400 a month for rent, or $3,600 to $4800 a year.
Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)
Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 2:38 pm
by sky
Do you plan to stay in a city, or are you able to travel? One cheap way to be a vandweller is to camp in national forests and BLM lands.
Here is the best resource that i have found:
http://www.cheaprvliving.com/
http://www.cheaprvliving.com/forums
Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)
Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 5:57 pm
by WYOGO
For me this conversation is one of the few that is NOT all about the money.
If I personally cared little for the mobile life and the benefits it offers (ie travel, freedom, access to remote scenic places as part of life) I might agree that it may not worth the trade off financially.
The only way you could could come close to beating a equally frugal van dweller, is by not owning a vehicle or the associated costs in an affordable housing arrangement with virtually no transportation costs. Van dwellers can get costs to near zero in places with ample BLM, public lands and friends or relative options. Some of them move more frequently and at different speeds and lifestyles choices are highly variable depending on their personal resource availability at a particular time.
If you do not hear the beating drum of freedom played by the open road, I would consider this as a full time lifestyle very carefully.
Expeditionportal.com has many great ideas for mobile vehicles adapted to handle the challenge and adventure of life on the move.
Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)
Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 2:51 am
by KevinW
http://www.stealthvandweller.com/
Some more pros for a van:
- forced minimalism
- forced energy and water conservation
- one thing provides shelter AND transportation
- flexibility (e.g. you can move for a job or other opportunity almost for free)
- already off the grid so halfway emergency-prepared
Pros for an apartment:
- cooking facilities!
- can pass for "normal"
- residential mailing address
- space opens up opportunities (e.g. garden, workshop, roommates, exercise, bulk purchasing, pets)
Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)
Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 4:45 pm
by GandK
No book recommendations, but the next time you're on YouTube, do a search for van living and class B camper living. I've seen several good videos there on the topic.
Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)
Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 5:38 pm
by C40
Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)
Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 5:53 pm
by theanimal
Wow, C40! Thanks for posting that. Will be a great resource
Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2014 8:19 pm
by jennypenny
C40 wrote:I'm your Huckleberry.
I love that movie.
Do you mind if I add your list to the wiki?
Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)
Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2014 8:15 am
by C40
I don't mind at all
Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)
Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 11:32 pm
by Ego
Good post about the costs of driving around the world in a van with C40 quality charts (almost).
http://www.drivenachodrive.com/2015/01/ ... the-world/
Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 4:36 pm
by theanimal
Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)
Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2015 12:23 am
by SimpleLife
Following.
Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)
Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2016 2:32 pm
by Ego
The Rubber Tramp Rendezvous, A vandweller gathering each January in Quartzsite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdLwDjIkAB4
Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)
Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 5:48 pm
by Ego
Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)
Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 6:08 pm
by jacob
C40's journal.
Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)
Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2016 10:18 pm
by Ego
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/03/fashi ... nomad.html
A Young Man Quits His Old Life and Goes West
Zach Both left his office job last summer, customized a Chevy van and hit the road. He hasn’t looked back since.
His online van dwelling manual
http://thevanual.com/
Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2016 1:42 am
by bryan
nice. here is the imgur from Reddit today:
http://m.imgur.com/a/RijZM
how much would you pay for a slightly custom job like that?
Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2016 8:52 am
by Ego
One of the dilemmas when designing a camper is balancing the amount of light with safety. A windowless van can feel like a coffin but a glass house can invite smash and grab theft. He created an interesting solution with those flip-up steel window inserts.
Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)
Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2017 9:27 pm
by Ego
Van life article in The New Yorker. Actually more like a #vanlife article, but interesting nontheless.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/ ... a-movement
Re: Quality resources on Van Living? (Books are most useful to me)
Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2017 12:12 pm
by tommytebco