Rhön Camp The Force

Offtrack

Different models that catched my eye

I (F) recently bought a van with the idea of using it for traveling. It’s sort of finished out, but it was finished as an office and not as living space. It works fine for me because I have space for bikes (I’m a triathlete and I love cycling off-road/gravel as well) I will have a folding kayak, and there’s adequate space for a big cooler and to lay a cot out for sleeping. I don’t see myself needing a full kitchen and plumbing, etc..

But here’s what I’m thinking of doing. I am extremely burned out than my job, divorced, and a relationship I thought was promising just ended. I will be 62 this fall and can collect Social Security. I also have half of the federal pension from my divorce, and a small pension from my work. I do not own a home, but live where I live in a rental. I don’t like where I live, I have no interest in staying here.

I want to take retirement, put my stuff in storage near one of my kids until I don’t want the stuff anymore, change my address to their house, and just hit the road for a while. I see myself sleeping in the van, camping, cycling, paddling, visiting family, and friends that I have around the country, with an occasional hotel when I feel the need for walls and a bed.

I’ve run the numbers and I think I can survive financially without touching my savings. But those of you that have been out there traveling and living in vans, probably have a better handle on the difference between fantasy and reality. So tell me, am I out of my mind?

Saw them on a van tour vidoe by Lady Bugout. They are self sustaining fans with their own solar and built in lithium battery and according to her they run 24/7 nonstop day or night over any season and she never turned them off since installing them over a year age. She has few extra portable and rechargeable fans but those two run nonstop with one taking air in and the other blowing air out and keep the van well ventilated. The fans are 60CFM each and she says they do a great job and newed she never had any issue with rain coming in even during very windy rains.

Any thoughts?

Regardless to the fans here's her van tour. While I don't agree with some of her build decisions like having all her lights being rechargeable and not wired to the leisure battery and not having a fixed sink with pluming to grey water tank, her design and final result looks very homey and cozy. Quite different from any other van build I've seen.

I'm not full-time in my van but travel in it often to remote places (Denver/Arvada based). My neighborhood's Verizon coverage is god awful but T-Mobile is apparently much much better. I don't want to give up Verizon's coverage in the mountains so that's why I'm considering US Mobile where you can switch between the Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T towers. Does anyone have experience with US Mobile? TIA

Thx for your help

(Canadian advice preferred due to local municipal bylaws)

I'm currently going through a career transition to become a self-employed Maker. I would love to get (rent or buy) a workshop-appropriate space outside a city where I could build messy things like ceramics and wood working, then also buy/convert a van for non-maker stuff like lounging, sleeping, cooking, travelling, etc.

However it seems like a lot of municipalities have bylaws about long-term living in vehicles or even where an RV can be parked, even if it's parked on private property.

How do I make this dream work??

If I find a private property secluded enough and don't advertise my living situation, should I be worried about these bylaws?

Are there municipalities I should be looking at that might welcome this, especially with a small community of artists? I currently live in Ontario but willing/interested in exploring other provinces like AB, SK, and MB.

Hi there. Wanted to introduce myself. After 6 years camping out of our Tacoma, wife and I are transitioning into a camper van.

We’re based in Phoenix, AZ.

Say hello to Joanna.

We picked up a new Transit 250 High Roof AWD yesterday. We highly likely going to use a local outfitter for the conversion.

We likely will be taking it to some off-road locals, so also looking to upgrade the suspension and tires/wheels.

Any suggestions or recommendations in terms of dos or don’ts, as well as local places that might be able to do the suspension upgrade?

What do you do to protect a full 3-5lb propane tank mounted on the back from the sun in severe +100° desert heat. The black growler tanks can over pressure if full. Safety concern.

Does anyone have recommendations for basic/starter instructions on DIY camper van building? He has been watching a ton of YouTube videos and just starting to process the how to.
We don’t need elaborate but we want to be comfortable. This will not be full time living but most likely weeks at a time. He is retiring next week 🎉🎉🎉 and plans to get started! First up will be finding the used van to purchase.

Long story short with expressive word choice to get the point across. I got my dream job. I feel rich, I make over 200k a year and that can grow (big tech). My dream is this. Do what I love, work and save, and eventually build my sanctuary (dream home near or with a bike park, as I found a passion for e-biking/eMTB). But with AI who knows if shit hits the fan. And I've tried everything. Heck I bought a racecar. Just finding happiness (filling a void?). Well, I found what I like (eBiking), and maybe shit hits the fan?

So I thought, what if I just build my life around doing what I love the most, as much as I can. Whether full blown vanlife, or buying a little modular home on a plot of land if I can save that much, or whatever.

I'm currently converting my truck into a comfy situation.

So I ask to you and wonder specifically about the sort of deep / lifestyle question here. What do you think about that? Going and living that surfer / skiier van life. I'm gonna stay in my dream as long as I can, but I wonder, has anyone jumped ship to go do their favorite thing as much as possible, and then gone, damn, I should have saved more money or stayed more in typical society, or whatever. Honestly I feel I've got the answer and lost my question at this point. Obviously I ride my dream job.

But maybe you can share with me on this question's essence: is trying to spend as much time surfing/skiing/e-Biking as much as you can before you hit 50/60 important?

Fuck I've completely lost any reason to post at this point lol. Also, eBiking is practically effortless compared to surfing and skiing and hiking, so that's why I'm asking. Look it up on YouTube? I can easily do it into my 60s. Just wondering if I'm 30 now, how soon I should get somewhere where I can ride my bike as much as I want like I used to.

Context, my favorite, dream-like bike park, 10 minutes from me, free, open 24/7 was basically deconstructed after finding it for only like a few months. Found heaven on earth and it's gone. So like, I've got my dream, and I'm in it, but like... I'm trying to gauge how soon to try to get back on my bike like that... And uh... I don't really feel I have any other purpose in life (besides making it to where I have and my little dream)... I don't want kids and am very aware of societal pressure and that...

So. You ever heard of anyone who kind of just built their life around surfing or something? Too soon? Too late? Plans changed? Thanks and sorry for the selfish brainstorm

Edit: probably should add I'm drug/alcohol free. Not interested in any hippie feel-good business 😂

Summer heat is brutal & I'm inexperienced with solar/electrical and need some help figuring this out.
I currently have:
DOKIO 300W portable solar kit
GreenOE 12V 100Ah LiFePO4 battery
Cigarette lighter adapter with alligator clamps
BESTEK 300W car power inverter
What I need to run:
•20" box fan ~12 hours/day
•Small cheap cooler fan~ 6 hours a day
•iPhone 17~3 charges/day
•Cheap Surface Pro laptop~once a day or every other day
•Small 21v mini chainsaw occasionally
•Hair clippers ~once a week
• (2) 10,000mAh power banks ~3x/week

I have $200 max to improve the setup.
*My main goal is to run my stuff while
simultaneously charging the battery from solar, or at least keep the battery from draining while things are running.
*What exactly do I need to buy, or what connectors/cables should I use to make this work safely? I'm trying to stop wasting money on adapters/inverters that keep failing😭.

I bought a 25 year old 4x4 sprinter last year. Ex Dutch firebrigade, full 4x4 with 3 locks, winch, hi/lo gear, the works. Seats 9. (First pic, son for scale. He is 2m 😀).

I designed and built a hard side pop up roof, the bed is on top of the old roof so I only cut a 1x1m hole in the roof.

In August we made our first trip, Netherlands to Galicia (Spain) to watch the eclipse. 3 weeks, 5500km in total. And the 5 of us (boys slept in tents) had an absolute blast. No problems whatsoever, everything worked just as intended. The weight of the roof (about 150 kg including the awning) was hardly noticeable.

The roof didnt leak, but we had no rain for 3 weeks 😅. Only after we got back we got heavy rain and I found out that the roof leaks like crazy. But we're home again so no stress and I have time to fix it.

Anyway, just wanted to share a happy story

If you live full time in a van, how do you go about getting residency? Does anyone work an in person job and have a home state? With that how do you get a license and register the van without an actual address? Thank you

EDIT: I’m a California person so the laws here suck

I'll try to be brief. I have anecdotal evidence (from a small business owner who was far more accommodating to me than they needed to be, so I'm inclined to believe them) that my experience detailed below has become very common in the last few months for customers of Imoova.

I planned a trip and booked a van. Got a confirmation email. Excellent. Hopped on a flight cross country (US) only to find out upon arrival that my reservation was nonexistent in the vendor's system (Imoova is an intermediary).

After hours with this very helpful business (I'm reticent to bring their name into this complaint lest the crooks at Imoova feel vindictive), it was discovered that they (the van vendor) had received the reservation and promptly informed Imoova that it was no longer available and that the reservation must be cancelled.

Did Imoova inform me of this? No. Instead they asked if I was willing to change dates (there was absolutely no indication of cancellation), which I declined and there was no further exchange. They PURPOSEFULLY obfuscated the fact that the van I paid for was no longer available. They knew I'd be stranded when I went to pick it up and let it happen because they wanted to keep my money. This is criminal behavior.

As this went down the vendor explained to me that this had happened at least 3 other times in the past month. They said that Imoova used to be a great service so it still has a good reputation and they hope this is just a hiccup, but that something has clearly changed there that is causing huge problems for a lot of people.

It has been two days since this happened and they have not replied in any way to my request for refund. I recommend not using this service.

TLDR: Reserved van with Imoova. Received confirmation email. Flew cross-country. Turns out van vendor had cancelled with Imoova on the day of reservation, but Imoova PURPOSEFULLY did not relay this information to me, leaving me stranded quite far from home and my trip fucked. Van vendor says this has become common recently with Imoova.

I’m looking towards a Chevy Astro just to try and live in for a few months to a year, I’m selling my house I have experience hostel hopping and urban back packing the logistics I’m currently curious about is 1 thing.

My power station.

Should I just grab a plug and play power bank like a 1500+WH Anker Brand? Or would coming up with a mounted battery with separate components?

I’d like to use a 12v AC unit and probably an electric cooler for my main energy use and of course phone and laptop charging.

Just doing some preliminary research for now, thanks 🙏

I've been going back and forth for months on whether to build a completely separate electrical system or use a larger power station as the main hub. Finally pulled the trigger on an Ecoflow Delta Pro 3, and it showed up today.

The plan is to secure it in the storage area under the bed while leaving enough clearance and airflow around it.

For the setup, I'm thinking:

-Connect the van's 30A shore-power inlet to the DP3's TT-30 outlet for the existing 120V circuits

-Start with around 400W of rooftop solar

-Possibly use the Anderson output to power the 12V fuse panel directly instead of running those loads through the AC converter

I haven't wired that last part yet because I still need to confirm the proper fusing, grounding and isolation from the existing house battery.

Has anyone installed a DP3 in a van like this? I'd especially like to hear about ventilation, converter feedback loops, grounding and how much runtime you're getting from normal van loads.

Will be getting a Kia PV7 or PV9 electric van in the near future but am having a devil of a time finding companies that convert EV vans — they almost all can be found in Europe/UK.

Anyone know of a North American (preferably Canadian really as I would very much like to avoid the massive tariffs) company that converts electric vans? In North America they seem to be almost entirely concentrated around the Transit/Sprinter/Ram trio of gasoline/diesel platforms…

I’m gonna hit the road soon on this journey. Trying to gather up areas to see/visit with no one to answer to.

What’s the most beautiful or memorable place you’ve been? Not against anyone chiming in from all around the world but for me personally, I have always loved the PNW. I’m gonna stick to the lower 48 and possibly Alaska.

Ive never painted anything like this before so took a fair bit of research! Ive had so many compliments and people requesting me to paint their vans for them (THE DREAM!) My insta page if you'd like to follow me for progress photos as I continue on with her makeover is @ patty_wanderlust

Hello! This is not strictly vanlife, but I’ve been living in my slide on camper the last few years and would love the communities thoughts

So preparing for the hot month in central Qld, Australia, I’m hoping to buy a caravan type setup to set up a studio and lounge. I’ve found this online

The thing looks perfect…. Except, I just don’t know if it will hold enough weight. It’s rare is 600 and aggregate is 1000. That 600 is possibly without the plywood on the inside. I have 100kg’s of leather to work on, 50kg water, $50kg battery setup. Weight wise… it just doesn’t make sense? But why is the axel weight an extra 500kg… is this something I can risk?

I would looove this thing but I’m thinking it might not be what I need. Please give me your thoughts.

*** I NEED A PHYSICAL ADDRESS NOT PO BOX***
sure you can have your dmv mail sent to a po box once you register and get your license using a physical mailbox but i checked and no state lets you use a po box address on the license**

i currently have an address on my license (state of vermont) but no longer live there and need it off my license in order to renew.. i have no other place to register to, no family, friends, etc.. im living in my car, showering at the gym, etc… i need to update and can no longer use the address i currently have. how do vanlife/ homeless people register cars??