- How Do You Avoid Crazy People When You’re Living in a Van Down by the River?
- Can We Borrow 2,000,000 Pennies?
- Paying for a Mobile Lifestyle: Ways to Make Money Online
- Why Don’t We Have Electric Powered Vans Yet?
- Boing boing, Grease, and Why a Car Won’t Work
- Little Miss Sunshine vs The Soccer Mom
- The Little Can That Could: Checking out the VW Minibus
- First Order of Business: What Kind of Van?
- We’re Gonna be Living in a Van Down by the River!
Boing boing, Grease, and Why a Car Won’t Work
September 12th, 2007
Yesterday Boing boing sent us some traffic, which we’re super excited about. Thanks to everyone for dropping by, commenting, and subscribing to the feed! If you’re down with the Facebook (it’s like MySpace but way less seizure-inducing), join our group.
We’ve gotten a barrel-load of awesome advice – everyone ranging from cynics to hippies gave us their 2 cents and well wishes – and lots of food for thought.
One suggestion was to get a greasecar – which sounds pretty cool - and I’ve actually considered it – but after doing some research it seems a bit impractical for our purposes. I wish we could run our car on children’s smiles or puppy tears or something just as magical, but it seems like the technology isn’t quite there yet. I am considering putting up some solar panels to power our various knickknacks and iCrap. But I’m a geek at heart so don’t worry, lots of things will be rigged and powered by other weird things.
Check out this horribly made video of me ripping my car apart to see if I could convert into some sort of living quarters:
(flickr photo credit: meganpru)
September 12th, 2007 at 9:50 am
I have a Custom 1979 Chevy Van in NY. - folding bed in the back, Shag carpet throughout, etc. I had the engine rebuilt in 2001. I love this thing and spent alot of time traveling in it. It is ideal for your needs. I don’t have the time for it now. If you are interested, please contact me and I can send photos.
Greg Black
914-489-3315
September 12th, 2007 at 10:15 am
Hey Markus and Angela,
I’m the editor over at Creative Loafing in Sarasota. Would love to talk to you guys about the trip. Let’s get in touch — max@cln.com.
Thanks.
September 12th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
Hey, Guys, I want to send you one of my fellow New College charter classmates, a veritable pioneer in suchlike who is living in Sarasota, as a consultant, resource, & ally. Smart, practical, experienced, funny, honest & wise. I don’t see anywhere on your pages, a place to send a private message, or I’d give you his contact info rtnow.
/sl
September 12th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
My mom at 79 bought a laptop taught herself how to use it, and went on the road with step dad for a year. She sold her house, put all in storage and traveled (in a van) to see friends and to look for where she would live next. If she could, you could.
September 12th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
Maybe a short school bus? They can be had for under $2000, more room than a van but still easy to drive/park and are seriously hackable. Also many body shops can throw (and I’m throw) on a cheapo paint job for a few hundred dollars. If you prep it well (because they won’t) the paint will stay on for a few years. =)
Also think about a used airport-style shuttle bus. I little more stylish than the short bus and can be had for under $4k.
Good luck.
September 12th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
The VW Bus is romantic, but you want the Vanagon.
September 12th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
I haven’t checked other comments, maybe someone’s mentioned this. When you’re selling your crap, beware of people offering more than the requested price in exchange for your arranging shipping - it may be a scam. They send you a registered check which you cash, but the money isn’t actually there. In the meantime you’ve sent the extra amount to someone who makes off with it, and you’re stuck with a worthless check and your crap besides.
My late (ex-) husband and I did a similar trip in the late 1960s, with a dog and a cat, in a Ford Econoline. About 8 months on the road, I think. No laptop or high-speed internet, custom bed was a plywood platform with a foam pad that we rolled up during the day. What passed for an office was a box of 500 resumes, the excuse was job-hunting. No stove, either - dinner was often a can of Spaghettios or Spam heated either by leaving it out in the sun, if we were camping, or putting it into the car’s heating vent early in the afternoon. By dinnertime it would be lukewarm. Once we found a road-kill watermelon that had fallen off a truck in Texas, so recently that the flies hadn’t gotten to it yet. Hot from having been on the truck in the sun, but the first fresh food in maybe a couple of months. Yum. Started in SoCal, down the Rio Grande, across to Florida, spent some time there (Mr. Morikami’s farm in Delray Beach), then followed the spring season up the east coast into Nova Scotia, gradually back to central California, eventually ending up in Michigan.
September 12th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Hi there: You may have found this site already, but I am surprised not to see it mentioned. IMO, this is the best place to start if you want to live out of your vehicle:
http://www.cheaprvliving.com/
September 12th, 2007 at 9:00 pm
Hey guys! Good luck on your quest! We highly recommend a Vanagon….still new enough for comfort, but can be reasonably priced. We don’t have a poptop camper, just a straight van & it has a bed in the back and we camp out of it all the time. The pop-top people are definately jealous that we have a bigger bed than them! We have a Carat model and there are 2 rearfacing jumpseats(removeable)instead of a middle bench and a built in table pops up between the back seats. There are lots of ‘help’ and support groups for VW people throughout the country, so if you have a breakdown, your VW family can help. Check out some of these clubs: www.limbobus.org, www.fullmoonbusclub.com, wetwesties.type2.com. Lots of info on these sites and many tips from people who have lived out of a VW for weeks or months! Good luck!
September 12th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
What a great way to showcase a minimalist existence. It sounds like you are both in for a wonderful adventure.
September 12th, 2007 at 11:11 pm
Good luck to you. I can put you in a 1985 Econoline (Ford) 350 (1ton) w diesel engine, 126 Kilomiles, 5 new tyres and cruise control for 2.2 Kilodollars. I’m in panama City FL.
September 14th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Thanks for all the help. It seems like there’s a whole subculture of van people out there. Pretty cool.
September 14th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Hi, you guys! I love this! I’m a granny in Ohio with the dream to live on the road. I love freedom, road travel and nature. I had to comment here because I found a website and even have a shortcut to it on my blogroll at 360. It’s www.freecampgrounds.com
There’a a map of the US, click on the state you’re in and it lists free or cheap places to camp. I subscribed to your page. My life isn’t very exciting right now, but I have myspace and youtube as well as the one I listed.
October 5th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
Sure theres a whole culture of vans out there, gas guzzling vans, but in India there is a whole culture full of rickshaws. That’s the ticket, a wicker rickshaw. You can sleep under it, sell hotdogs out of it, and pull people around to get some extra cash. It’s ecofriendly:)
May 18th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
If it is not too for my .02 cents the Vanagons by VW would be an excellent option (with the pop up top) it has a fridge that can run off propain, battery or plugged into an outlet. These are older cars but they are cheap to fix 3,500 for a new engine if you need one. Just dont be in hurry, relax people will approach you and when you use google maps click the avoid highways (or if you have a GPS) the no highway only added half an hour to a 3 hour trip. My wife and I have taken the most relaxing drives. We are hoping to buy a school bus w/ grease conversion one day.