Working for our possessions

one piece crank said:
Vanlife is almost as crazy and not carrying a spare tire (or two). I think the ultimate solution is a remote (mountains, coast, woods) house/cabin and good 4WD to get back-n-forth.
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But then you are stuck in the same place all the time. I can camp on the beach, in a city, on a farm, an a lake, at a ski resort, in the woods, in the desert, in the mountains. If the weather sucks I can go somewhere else. If it's crowded I can find somewhere else to go. If there is a fire I can leave. Now a truck camper would be way more capable, although these Sprinter vans are quit capable. There is one thing I like a van for over a truck camper and that is I can quickly hop in the front seat and drive away if something isn't right. BTW I hate the term vanlife.

Oh and I can tour the country and ride somewhere new every week.
 
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Sprinter vans definitely have their limitations. Having a home base is important to me also. After about 6-8 weeks on the road I have had enough and I am ready to head home.
 
THATmanMANNY said:
FB marketplace algo gets me. Vans just keep popping up and stir my thoughts. I'm not in a position to vanlife for several years but certainly something I would want to do. Take a month off and drive west with the fam.
Why don't people just buy a used smaller RV then spend money and time on a very basic van for 1 or 2 people? Do they really go off road that much? Shoot, I think a current gen Sienna AWD hybrid sounds like a very capable minivan explorer and get triple the mpg.
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For me, the ability to drive into regular parking spots is huge. For the amount of driving I do, the Transit I think is as close comfort to you can get to driving a regular car. 99.99% of the time I am on pavement and the other .01% is on well groomed dirt roads. I can just drive anywhere and park in random places without having to think about reserving a camp site. If there is some place I want to go that my van can't take me, I just park and take out my bike (bikepack). I think it depends on what kind of lifestyle you want to achieve when you are traveling.
 
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2020-winnebago-revel-2/

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2021-earthcruiser-fx/

can we talk about your shit? That's what really turns me off about vanlife. Assuming cassette toilet, wheeling your own shit and dumping it yourself. A flushable toilet not sure I can give up. I definitely can get my hands dirty but every few days seems a bit much

What is the closest distance or area you can drive out of NJ to really take advantage of vanlife (sorry @cdrmtbiker ). All these picturesque desserts are always in mid west or west.
 
THATmanMANNY said:
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2020-winnebago-revel-2/

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2021-earthcruiser-fx/

can we talk about your shit? That's what really turns me off about vanlife. Assuming cassette toilet, wheeling your own shit and dumping it yourself. A flushable toilet not sure I can give up. I definitely can get my hands dirty but every few days seems a bit much

What is the closest distance or area you can drive out of NJ to really take advantage of vanlife (sorry @cdrmtbiker ). All these picturesque desserts are always in mid west or west.
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I don’t have a toilet but do have a sink. But I never use it because I don’t want to bither dumping out the grey water. I wipe down my dishes with a spray bottle and paper towel and call it a day until I check into an airbnb or campsite. I’m not cooking gourmet meals, just heating stuff up and eating out of the pot/pan. For pooping my go to is Starbucks. Showers is Planet Fitness.
 
soundz said:
I don’t have a toilet but do have a sink. But I never use it because I don’t want to bither dumping out the grey water. I wipe down my dishes with a spray bottle and paper towel and call it a day until I check into an airbnb or campsite. I’m not cooking gourmet meals, just heating stuff up and eating out of the pot/pan. For pooping my go to is Starbucks. Showers is Planet Fitness.
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Oh. This may change my wife's mind.
 
For emergencies I have something like this but haven’t had to use it yet.

Portable Toilet for Camping Toilet Bucket Toilet Seat Set with Lid for Boating Outdoor Camp Travel Boat - Kit Potty Waste Bags and Case Cover - 5 Gal & 8 Gallon Buckets Emergency Bathroom for Adults https://a.co/d/is7UQ6c
 
THATmanMANNY said:
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2020-winnebago-revel-2/

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2021-earthcruiser-fx/

can we talk about your shit? That's what really turns me off about vanlife. Assuming cassette toilet, wheeling your own shit and dumping it yourself. A flushable toilet not sure I can give up. I definitely can get my hands dirty but every few days seems a bit much

What is the closest distance or area you can drive out of NJ to really take advantage of vanlife (sorry @cdrmtbiker ). All these picturesque desserts are always in mid west or west.
Click to expand...
There's a serious point where living out of a van/RV makes no sense on the dollars to value equation. Especially the bigger you go in Van/RV costs, that pays for a lot of flights & hotels. IE, places with toilets where someone else cleans them.

NJ (East of the Mississippi in general) is a poor spot for vans purely because there's so little free land to park a van on. Out west you have much more BLM land and/or campsites that are worth going to. Hard to do destination weekends with a van as you can't really get anywhere worthwhile.
 
Santapez said:
There's a serious point where living out of a van/RV makes no sense on the dollars to value equation. Especially the bigger you go in Van/RV costs, that pays for a lot of flights & hotels. IE, places with toilets where someone else cleans them.

NJ (East of the Mississippi in general) is a poor spot for vans purely because there's so little free land to park a van on. Out west you have much more BLM land and/or campsites that are worth going to. Hard to do destination weekends with a van as you can't really get anywhere worthwhile.
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Santapez said:
There's a serious point where living out of a van/RV makes no sense on the dollars to value equation. Especially the bigger you go in Van/RV costs, that pays for a lot of flights & hotels. IE, places with toilets where someone else cleans them.

NJ (East of the Mississippi in general) is a poor spot for vans purely because there's so little free land to park a van on. Out west you have much more BLM land and/or campsites that are worth going to. Hard to do destination weekends with a van as you can't really get anywhere worthwhile.
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I agree with this and will add that a Van/RV makes sense if you plan on taking a pet with you. I also think some people that live in a van/RV get a dog for protection/company.
So no pets and flying seems the more cost effective and comfortable way to go.
I think it was @trailhead who shared a story of some devil worshipping guy screaming in the night at one place he camped. Oddly, the devil worship guy had a dog too.
I would prefer a hotel room.
 
Santapez said:
There's a serious point where living out of a van/RV makes no sense on the dollars to value equation. Especially the bigger you go in Van/RV costs, that pays for a lot of flights & hotels. IE, places with toilets where someone else cleans them.

NJ (East of the Mississippi in general) is a poor spot for vans purely because there's so little free land to park a van on. Out west you have much more BLM land and/or campsites that are worth going to. Hard to do destination weekends with a van as you can't really get anywhere worthwhile.
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My neighbors bought a huge RV that cost more than my house. Had big plans, then fuel prices jumped up. Now they just rent a spot down at the shore for one month every summer and use it as their Shore house for the month.
 
Bike N Gear said:
My neighbors bought a huge RV that cost more than my house. Had big plans, then fuel prices jumped up. Now they just rent a spot down at the shore for one month every summer and use it as their Shore house for the month.
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I was getting my hair cut down here in an old school barber shop a week ago. It was a little...redneckish.

Bunch of guys talking for an hour about RVs. Between the cost of the RV, tow vehicle, gas, campground costs (not cheap) it gets really crazy. And the large ones basically just get parked in a glorified trailer park in the woods. And it seems like all the guys do is mostly go to Florida and park in those huge RV parks. The parks are also overly crowded now and you need to get your reservations 6 months in advance when they open up the slots.
 
THATmanMANNY said:
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2020-winnebago-revel-2/

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2021-earthcruiser-fx/

can we talk about your shit? That's what really turns me off about vanlife. Assuming cassette toilet, wheeling your own shit and dumping it yourself. A flushable toilet not sure I can give up. I definitely can get my hands dirty but every few days seems a bit much

What is the closest distance or area you can drive out of NJ to really take advantage of vanlife (sorry @cdrmtbiker ). All these picturesque desserts are always in mid west or west.
Click to expand...
I have a cassette toilet in my teardrop camper. We made a rule to only use it for #1 and no T.P. goes into it either. We always camp where there's at least a toilet. It's only 5gals and can be wheeled to a toilet or taken to the dumping station. Solo camping it lasts 4 days.
 
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