Is Van living for you?

So I wasn't sure what to write about until there were a couple of gals in my FB group asking about van living and how somethings were achieved.

Van living is not for those that don't like small places as the small area gets smaller as you add to your van.

I am living in a 2001 Chevy Venture. Before I started this journey it had all of it's seats which at the time totaled six now it only has the driver's seat. Makes it easy to say you can't give anyone a ride. I also travel with two cats and two ferrets which at times can prove to be a challenge, at least it did we shall see how it goes this summer.

One of the questions was how do you keep your food cold. At the moment I have a six pack cooler my dad gave me and while it does okay for a couple of days after putting cold milk no more than a quart which works for me being the only human living in the van. It also depends on the temperature outside. The colder the longer I get to keep my milk. Get use to drinking powdered milk which isn't too bad but for me the problem is that it only comes in a huge ass box.

Next was do you have a sink. For me my sink is a bucket that has water in it. Although there are other van dwellers that just use a spray bottle of water and vinegar, although at some point down the road I may add a sink to the top of the pantry once I don't have any cats. 

Cooking: Since I am terrified of gas I use a barbecue when boon docking in parking lots or parks and when boon docking on BLM land that has fire pits I use those with my own grill. Others use a camp stove or a hotplate. Once I get some solar I may look into the hotplate for days when it is raining outside.

Eating: Depends on the weather. Sunny I cook and eat outside. Right at the moment I only have one pot and two frying pans. I also have muffin tins and have figured out how to bake on the campfire using them and foil. I just recently acquired a coffeepot to use on the campfire which I love as I can make a full pot take out the guts and let it stay warm on the edge of the fire.

Rainy days I have this great coffee pot C loaned me. Heats water great so I can have cup of soup, instant oatmeal and coffee. Otherwise it is cereal with either real milk or made up powdered milk.

Restroom: two options you camp in a campground near the restroom or you get use to the bucket method. Since my budget at the moment doesn't allow campgrounds it is bucket method or digging a hole in the ground. Ladies having a funnel is a great thing as you can cup your front and pee standing up into the hole or into a jug if need be.

Bucket set up: place bag like you would for a trash can. Put in either a disposable diaper or a pet potty pad with about a cup of litter. Have something for a lid for order control.

Hole method: dig about 12 inches deep. Use but put toilet paper in a resealable baggy and take with you. When you leave fill the hole in and add about a shovel or two more of dirt.

Sleeping: When I first started living in my van my bed was on the floor but since December of 2015 my bed is now off the floor and on top of one of my cabinets.

Heat: Now this is a tricky one. You can either set your alarm to wake you up about every 2-4 hours to run your van to use the heater or get a cigarette lighter heater and use it sparingly otherwise you will kill your battery.

For me it is running the van during the day while we travel to somewhere else or get a good fire going if it is nice outside. Sleeping wise I have a mound of blankets which includes three sleeping bags and several heavy blankets. It also helps that I have one cat that likes to sleep under the covers and one that likes to sleep on my feet.

The ferrets have a fleece sleeping sack that I wrap in more fleece and two more blankets. Most of the time they move the extra blankets and pull the extra fleece inside the sleep sack.

Internet: Unless you are where you can access it via a restaurant or if you have a real cell phone with unlimited data, I have a tracfone, you are out of luck. Although I am looking into a mobile hot spot that is suppose to work in most places one of the disadvantages I see is that you have to buy what they call day packs and while inexpensive you can't turn them off so once activated you have 24hr internet then you need to activate another day pack. Still it might be worth it for me.

Get a volt meter that plugs into your cigarette lighter or power access portal. This is one thing I wish I had in the beginning as I kill my battery three times while in the middle of nowhere. Thankfully there was someone to give me a jump. Since getting mine I know when it hits about 11.5 I need to run the van for a bit.

But before you take off to your next destination pull it out of the cigarette lighter or your window won't work right. Lol found that out the hard way.

Space: This is where you need to decide what you need for your lifestyle. Everyone is different. For me I needed cabinetry that included a place for fabric, the sewing machine, my books, the pet food, water, food, the litter box, a place to put my cleaning supplies.

 

So I have a pantry/cupboard in the back of the van that I can access from the rear, and a long cabinet that is also my bed and where the ferret's cage can be. I can also access one section from both the

outside and inside. While at the moment most of the floor space is taken up with things I have accumulated in the last couple of months there is still space enough to let the ferrets out to play in a safe place and not worry about where they will be getting into.

Lighting: You can use the interior lights as long as you keep an eye on your voltage usage or you will end up with a dead battery. For me I have a dollar store led light for a nightlight and I was gifted a sting of solo cup lights that run on batteries. Which are actually quite bright and light up the van nicely at night. I am sure having some solar lights would be very nice but at the moment that is a dream.

Almost all the wood in my cabinets is reclaimed from my dad's scrap pile and only a few of the hinges were bought. Every night I am thankfully for my dad helping me with the cabinets and for storing the seats at his place should I ever decide to sell the van.

JO