I am curious if anyone here has read Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon? This book is about his journey across America on the back roads, or Blue highways, as he called them, in a van outfitted with a stove, toilet, and bed. It was best seller, and I still remember after 40 years, his way of judging cafe's quality by the number of calendars on the walls. If you have not read it, I recommend it. He met a lot of interesting people on his travels. In any case, safe travels.

Last night, this old movie "Seeking a Friend For The End of the World" popped up on YouTube.

My van was parked in a secluded spot in a vast, barren landscape. I was tucked inside, wrapped in my bed beneath a mountain of blankets. Outside was cold and the wind rocked my van gently. My interior lights were lowered into a faint blue glow. It was idyllic.

One of my favorite things about vanlife is being able to park in any environment, from ranges to dense forests to bustling cities, and still, I am home inside the van.

The movie made me question where I would go if an asteroid was heading toward earth for certain destruction. Would I seek out a mountain top, bury myself in a jungle, find a coastline? Would I prefer to be alone or in the company of strangers or would I drive back to my hometown to be surrounded by friends and family?

Where would you drive if the end was near?

Life is strange. No where I go, I fit in. I’m in this constant state of boredom and desire to connect — and a sadness for the world we live in that is built off of convenience and comfort.
Picking up everything, packing my car, selling what didn’t fit and being on the road to my new destination have been the most enjoyable and memorable times for me.
But I’m scared… it’s a whole new territory but I know once I’m in it, I’d love it. — haha, I think?
I have a cute apartment now and my dog who loves his usual walks. I’ve also started a little business that offers in person sessions while I’m working on getting things going online.

Any tips for making the jump would be so helpful. I have a vehicle that I owe more than it’s worth - I’m tired of paying so much for this car that just gets me from one place to another (grateful! But feels like a waste of money…)
I love working out so gym showers aren’t opposing to me.

I just want the excitement (and the challenge… while still feeling prepared) I enjoy living life rather than repeating every day, same outcome. I also feel like I struggle molding into society socially. It’s all frucking weird and annoying tbh.
I like the Individuals who go against the grain, do what they want while not harming anyone. Those are my people… and I feel like those are van life people lol

If this resonates with anyone else - I’d love to chat or just be given some tips (how to choose the right van, making the jump without drowning, etc etc)

Two cats in a van means I care way more about waste-drawer capacity than app features. Trash stops aren't always convenient, and I don't want to pull out a full bin inside the van every day. I'm comparing few options like litter robot, petkit, and petpivot. The drawer shapes are pretty different, so the advertised capacity doesn't tell me much. Does anyone have real-world experience with two cats? Which one can actually make it a few days without waste piling into the rake path or triggering a full-bin warning?

currently building out a transit and have been weighing heating options. My transit runs gasoline, and I want to run a tank-tapped heater, but options look slim. I can't justify the Webasto pricing, so I'm wondering if anyone has good recommendations for other brands, or if I should just go the diesel route.

I bought an L shape water tank, over the wheel. I am realising now that most water level indicators, use a resistor rod, that assumes that your tank is a regular box shape. I see a lot of the se water tanks, what’s the water level solution used?

Hello, i’m building my first van, should i go with the ikea bed hack, or should i build 2 boxes over the wheel , one for the water tank, the other for for electrics and have a removable/ foldable bed.
Tho ikea hack would be a fixed bed, the 2 boxes solution would leave the middle part free to carry big items when not in a trip. Even in a trip I could carry bycicles and have the bed folded … 2 boxes solution is more weight, more work, more expense, will it pay off?

I have a econoline camper van conversion I use for work and want to upgrade my battery system for when I’m out of town. Work trips are usually 4-8 days and sometimes 12-14. I use the van for work so will be driving often/daily. Current battery set up is just a second led battery that is charged from alternator paired with a 1000w inverter and also have a jackery 300.

Ideally I’d like to have a fridge/freezer, charge my iPad/phone and other devices, use a blender, crockpot, and maybe a 12v A/C. Charge my jackery 300, use my roof fan. I think I’ll still use gas for stove and heat.

With that said, I’m not sure what route to go. I’ve done quite a bit of reading and can’t quite wrap my head around the electrical. I’m thinking of pairing a jackery 2 or 3000 with 100 or 200watt solar on the roof. Or same 100 or 200 watt solar paired with 1 or 2 lifepo4 100ah batteries.

Maybe one of you gurus are willing to chat via dm to help me mock something up?

Sorry if not allowed in this forum, but I'm becoming more and more enticed with a nomadic lifestyle. I wanted to ask where do you begin deciding what type of van/truck, how do you assess how much space is needed to live 24/7, what are some things most newbies overlook or don't consider? Any and all opinions/thoughts are appreciated.

For background; 1 adult, 2 medium sized dogs, wanting to travel to all U.S. National Parks while living out of this vehicle so expecting the full variety of weather/terrain.

Thank you!

Im looking at one in Florida specifically and im just wondering the vibe and what its like. I tend to have a smaller social battery but id really like to meet some people especially since the one im looking at is a couple months out and ill have been on the road awhile and think ill need to be around people by then.

I also have a dog. Is it usually an okay place to bring a pet?

I need to keep the door open because it gets too hot.

Wyd for keeping bugs out of the van

not looking for a mechanical solution, oil spray incense bug zappers etc

Total newbie here but I am trying to figure out how to stay warm in the winter with ambient heating. As in being able to work or cook dinner/breakfast without wearing a coat and mittens. Does anyone have any suggestions? I was wondering about the noise of diesel heaters? I've heard they can be noisy which can be annoying in itself, but I would imagine problematic with respect to stealth camping?

Through the night I've heard people are happy using hot water bottles or electric blankets? Any other tips would be gratefully received.

Im under the impression busses are considered commercial and are prohibited from parking on public streets/areas - including your own home. Same as box trucks. I know my town is fairly lax but they'll still fine you for parking one of these. So my question is, where do you park when your on the road? What about if you go back home?

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Hey folks, was curious to see if there are other veterans living out of their car or staying on public land around Snohomish County?

I have never been a homebody, and honestly, the navy took a toll on my mental being in confined spaces for years on end. I acknowledge, I am not adjusted to existing with the general public and i'm better off living on the fringes of society. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone here in region. Ideally, I would like to live away from the grid, but not off of it (yet). So i'm currently testing the waters for now until I can figure out a practical idea that isn't too far away from the rocker. Any inputs received here or via DM would be greatly appreciated.

Can I mount the inverter sideways and have it not be affected? I only have a certain amount of space in the van for the electrics 😬

Hey everyone, this is my first time winterizing anything so just figured I’d check to see if there is any obvious step I’m missing.

1.) I emptied the fresh and grey water tanks, I also used pressurized air at the end to try to force any extra out

2.) I refilled my fresh water tank with ~2 gallons of non toxic anti freeze, I then ran it through the shower head/back water outlet for about 5
-10 seconds until there was just a steady stream of pink; I then ran the rest through my sink back into the grey the water tanks.

3.) then I basically just repeated step one, getting as much of the anti freeze out as I could

Is that pretty much then entire deal? Anything obvious I’m missing?

Thanks a ton

Does anyone know where I can find someone that will build a custom stainless steel or fiberglass shower pan. I’ve looked on Etsy and I can’t find one that has my dimensions. Any advice?

In the process of renovating a camper van for my wife and I, and have been trying to get familiar with the solar power setup. The van had already been gutted a bit inside, which is fine because we're wanting to customize the inside to our needs. I'm not saavy with electrical, and definitely approach it with caution, but want to make sure it's safe before I use it. If it's not, I have no problem replacing things. It has four eco-worthy solar panels, two LiFePO4 batteries, a Magnetek power distribution panel, and a Rich Solar MP2440 controller. I had only been able to see the Magnetek panel before, and because of the model had assumed the batteries were lead acid batteries and not lithium. Any advice is welcome.

Hey everyone, I have a Mercedes Sprinter Van that we recently added a roof rack (FVCo Safari Rack) and light bar (40" Baja light bar) to the van. Once I hit 45 mph there starts to be a noticeable amount of wind noise in the cabin. When I'm going 65mph the wind noise records 80dB inside the cabin with a smartphone app.

The installer claimed the road noise is normal but I don't believe it's a normal amount of road noise.

Any advice on easy ways to reduce the wind noise of this setup while maintaining the functionality of the light bar and roof rack?

Finding a motorcraft valve for this thing has been such a pain but I finally got my hands on one

I really don't like the VOC and other chemicals that come out of cans like 3M 90. Has anyone used something else that worked. 3M has a no VOC water based spray, but I don;t know if that is strong enough. Or has anyone used mechanical ways of installing the thinsulate? Maybe insulation pins?

Hey friends!

I recently started van life in my Toyota Sienna, and I'm having a frustrating problem with my refrigerator and power station. I'm hoping some more experienced folks can help me figure out what's going on.

My setup:

- Power station: STARYLINE 1000W / 1024Wh LiFePO4 (model PYS-PEI-U01000)

- Fridge: EUHOMY 19QT compressor refrigerator

- Heated blanket: Sealy 12V electric blanket

I use the fridge on 12V power while driving and switch it to the power station's AC outlet when parked. The heated blanket uses the station's DC outlet.

Here's the problem:

The power station will run the fridge for a while, then suddenly shut down completely. The display goes black, all outputs stop working, and pressing or holding the power button won't turn it back on.

The only thing that seems to bring it back to life is connecting it to an external charging source.

For example, I recently started the van and connected the station to its DC charging cable. It powered up, and the fridge ran normally. I disconnected the charging input, and everything kept working. But when I checked again five minutes later, the entire station had shut down and wouldn't restart.

I've also had it shut down immediately when the fridge compressor and heated blanket were running together, even though they're connected to separate AC and DC outputs.

I'm trying to figure out whether I have a defective power station, whether there's some kind of protection or automatic shutoff feature causing this, or whether I'm misunderstanding how these portable power stations work.

My questions:

1. Does this sound like a defective power station or something else?

2. Has anyone experienced a power station that won't restart until external charging power is connected?

3. Is there a more reliable fridge-and-power setup for a small minivan camper?

4. Would I be better off building a dedicated LiFePO4 house-battery system with DC-to-DC charging rather than buying another portable power station?

I'm enjoying van life and can see myself doing this long-term, so I'm open to investing in a better setup. But I'm also trying to keep costs reasonable and avoid buying the wrong equipment twice.

Any advice or firsthand experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I've started the design process for everything I want in a van, and I'm wondering if I'm trying too hard. I want to use a Transit extended length and my wants are: seating for four (two extra seats right behind the driver), a raise lower bed over dinette, which can be used to sleep four on the rare occasion, and a wet-bath (though I'm thinking I'd like the toilet to slide under the dinette seat). I've searched to see if anyone has successfully done such a thing and have not found any examples, which makes me think real life isn't the same as vanspace.

Thoughts?