To Van or Not to Van: Van Living 1
- October 2015
- Van Living Simple Living Travel
The first vehicle I lived in was my grandma Helen’s white Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera, in 1995. She was going to trade it in for another white Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera and gave it to me instead, which allowed me to eventually drop out of law school (clearly not grandma’s original intention) and roam America’s cliffs in total comfort once I got smart enough to take out the passenger seat and the back seats so I could make a bed with a plywood plank.
I could even cook in there and I used to sleep in the Awhahnee parking lot in Yosemite sometimes: who would suspect an Oldsmobile of housing an illegally sleeping climber? On the downside, the Oldsmobile got pretty terrible gas mileage for a vehicle that wasn’t an RV, truck or van, and it didn’t excel at offroading. Plus it was a little embarrassing, but whatever, the idea was to go climbing, not to impress people.
Eventually too many parts fell off the Olds and I was forced to upgrade to a used two wheel drive Ford Ranger which I purchased from a friend in Salt Lake. The Ranger was great except it didn’t have AC (not good when you spend most of your time in Moab) or four wheel drive (also not good when you spend most of your time in Moab), but it did the job, and I couldn’t believe how much space I had back there!
I was fully sold on the Ranger for a long time. I could cook in there, sleep very well on a crash pad, and it was minimalistic. It got better gas mileage than a van or a big truck. It only worked for me + dog, so it wasn’t really conducive to sleepovers. But whatever, the idea was to go climbing, not to have slumber parties. And most of the guys I hung out with had vans anyway.
However it had always been my pipedream to have a vehicle that got good gas mileage. Honestly it was a major life goal. I hate $50 tank fillups, and I vowed that one day I would have a vehicle that got at least 35 mpg. Eventually the Ranger started breaking in mountingly expensive ways and I realized it was time to think about another car. I decided to reach for my wildest dream, finally after all these years of 18-20 mpg!, and get the most fuel efficient vehicle I could think of that I could also sleep in (+ dog), so I got a used Honda Fit. I love that car! I can even cook in it, and it often gets 40 mpg. It does pretty well on dirt roads too. I love the Fit!!
Around the time I got the Fit, I also acquired a husband who came with a Honda Element which he’d built a bed platform into. So this worked out really well: if it was just me and the dog, I took the Fit. If it was the whole family, we took the Element. I definitely appreciated the fuel economy and size of the Element, but it was hard to pack everyone and everything into it. Even more of a deal breaker was the fact that we could not cook inside. When Mario died, I kept the Element. I’d had the Ranger repaired enough to keep it around for wood hauling and the occasional offroad excursion. And suddenly I had a million cars I could sleep in. Ok, three. Which is kind of weird, but obviously it wasn’t planned.
So eventually I acquired a boyfriend who came with an old Ram van with an extended top. He had built it out and lived in it for a while, although I wasn’t really a fan of the floor plan–there wasn’t a kitchen! And the fuel economy….an oxymoron. Ian preferred not to speak of the mpg of the van. The driveway was now full of vehicles of every shape, size and occupancy load. Which was obviously getting a little ridiculous. The solution was easy: Ian sold the van 🙂
After about a year of traveling together in the Element and sometimes the Fit or the Ranger, we both came to agree that with a group of our size (i.e., Ian being 6’3″ and Cajun being kind of like a Mexican jumping bean but more “energetic”, and with both of us traveling with full climbing gear, skydiving gear, base jumping gear and wingsuits & not to mention Cajun’s arsenal of balls–I have to buy them by the bag
So the first question for an itinerant climber/outdoors person who is ready for a little more comfort is always this: van? travel trailer? truck + poptop? For me, there was one bottom line. Well, actually 4: you need a bed that stays a bed (no reshuffling, folding or unfolding to get the bed) and you need to be able to cook inside, and you need to be able to bring lots of gear without it being all in your living space. And you need to get 40 mpg…or at least more than 12. Which is often a problem when dealing with large and comfortable vehicles for those of us who don’t live in Europe, land of the awesome diesel vans.
After many months of pondering, debating and internetting, of course it always came back to…VAN.
And so moving on to the second question, which is such a ponderous, brain-bruising dilemma that it clearly gets its own post and several further months of mental torture: to Sprinter or not to Sprinter?
What a great history of lived-in vehicles! I’m excited to read what you decide about the Sprinters!
I did a lot of touring in Europe – and though the Sprinter is probably the most expensive to purchase – it is also the most reliable, and if you can get a diesel engine, acceptable in fuel consumption/power/comfort relationship. A good alternative would be the VW Crafter, or smaller sized California…
I have no insight, but definitely think that you know where your heart lies on this matter, and what you think may be the best choice. Also, if you sell any other vehicles, you could get something that just might accomplish all your wants! Best of luck with van/vehicle shopping.
Having been through all iterations, I’ve settled with a small Boler or Casita camping trailer. That way you can make your vehicle choice independent of space and sleeping arrangement, it also means when you get somewhere you can decouple and lose most of the weight.
We (myself, husband and Greyhound rescue dog) have a Iveco Daily medium wheelbase, high top. Awesome van – had it for over 5 years, never broken down, spend 2 years living in it in Europe, no issues. Medium wheel base is a good option as you can still (just) park it in normal spaces at a supermarket, car park. We did a home conversion, fixed bed, awsome kitchen, gear stash under bed that can only be accessed by back door (which have a internal padlock), wood burning stove and i can do a full yoga session/sun salutations/ headstand in there when its too wet/cold to practice outside. Love it – more than the house! Have a look at Iveco vans v.good alternative to Sprinters. Van Life – definitely the way to go.
Such a great question! And a great article. Thank you!
I spend at least 2% of my time thinking about what van/camper/truck I should be driving. Here’s what I’ve come up with: If you (a) have a home that you don’t plan on giving up/renting out during your travels and (b) are still wondering how to pay you’re going to pay for retirement, then a Sprinter is too much of a luxury. However, if you don’t have a mortgage/rent and you’re pretty sure that your retirement is what you want it to be, then a mini-van to sleep in with a big tent to cook in is the way to go. A $4000 mini-van still has tons of life left in it. The 20k you would save over a Sprinter will, at 8% per year, will be 136k after 25 years.
This math makes me feel like the time and effort to set up a tent to cook over the course of the van’s lifetime is a pretty valuable trade-off (given that I pay mortgage and that I don’t have enough $$$ for retirement). Of course, sometimes you’ll not be in a camping location suitable for a tent, and you’ll be more bummed than the person with the Sprinter, but I think that these nights are generally somewhat rare.
Me, I drive a 2002 Honda Odyssey and spend 1% of my time wishing it were a Sprinter.
Such a great question! And a great article. Thank you!
I spend at least 2% of my time thinking about what van/camper/truck I should be driving. Here’s what I’ve come up with: If you (a) have a home that you don’t plan on giving up/renting out during your travels and (b) are still wondering how to pay you’re going to pay for retirement, then a Sprinter is too much of a luxury. Alternatively, if you have a mortgage/rent and you’re not really sure where your retirement $$ is going to come from, then a mini-van to sleep in with a big tent to cook in is the way to go. A $4000 mini-van still has tons of life left in it. The 20k you would save over a Sprinter will, invested at 8% per year, will be 136k after 25 years.
This math makes me feel like the time and effort to set up a tent to cook in over the course of the vans life is a pretty valuable trade-off (given that I pay mortgage and that I don’t have enough $$$ for retirement). Of course, sometimes I’m camping in a location unsuitable for a tent, and I’m more bummed than the person with the Sprinter, but these nights are relatively rare, and busting out the jetboil or going out to dinner is a good enough back-up.
Me, I drive a 2002 Honda Odyssey and spend 1% of my time wishing it were a Sprinter. It’s not sexy but it works well enough. Good luck with your decision!
We rocked a truck & tent on our last road trip and it was not very fun when we encountered several days of thunderstorms in Glacier NP. We were highly envious of the sprinters and pop tops that filled the campground! I think the weather is a major consideration!
This would be the best fit for one man trip only. However, this is exactly okay and good especially if you are with your pet.
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“illegally sleeping climber” LOL…what is this world coming to!
I love your blogs and climbing videos – you are awesome
Hi!
Definitely to Van. Our last 8moths in a few pictures.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10210850103038480.1073741836.1528789468&type=1&l=8dca018945
We met a lot of people in different cars. They were all happy 🙂
Awesome post – and we love our Ram Van! We just put up our own blog all about our build and all the gear we decided to fill it with!
http://www.buyitforvanlife.com
Hello! Thank you for your input and sharing your experience. I am in the market for a Mercedes Sprinter van 2500, high roof, 144wb. I have decided that since I am building it out, I want a van that has a long life and can get the most amount of miles. I found a really good deal on one: $20,000 and has everything I want EXCEPT rear windows. I am debating buying this van and then either having windows installed in the rear doors OR finding salvaged doors with windows already in them. OR just continuing my search and ruling this van out until I find one with rear windows. Anyone out there have any feedback on this or advice?? Thank you in advance!
Because the bed is very high in my van (to get big storage underneath it), it actually blocks out the area that windows would be. I also really wanted rear windows. It turns out it’s not that expensive to get those sliding horse windows installed on the sides, and then you can look out of them when you’re in bed, which is actually even better. You can also get a fan vent (from fantastic fan) that is also a skylight because it’s clear, and you can put that on the roof over your bed. So a few good options.