Hello, friends! My name is Zack, and ive been wanting to transition into van life for a while with the hopes of having more time to gain knowledge and plant myself deeper in healthy and creative communities. Last Friday, i decided I was tired of delaying that, quit my job, and leased a 2020 Ford Transit Ext high roof. I pick it up tomorrow.
My main goal is to create a mobile recording studio and use either a japanese roll up bed or murphy bed to leverage space, minimize kitchen area, and add a very small shower. Id like to do the solar panels and starlink as well.
People have already showed up to help and i have a place to stay, rent free with access to tools for the renovation in exchange for help on the property.
I figured the next steo was to join a community such as this to learn from those already on the road.
So, hello!
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Greetings & Welcome!
Be careful here, most leases forbid any vehicle modifications.
Quitting your job before having another reliable income is usually a poor choice. For most successful vandwellers, and people in general, jobs & money always comes first.
We should never gamble more than we can afford to lose. Now you’ll have a payment to make, with no income.
On the flip side, you can do a no build conversion without making any modifications to the van. That could protect your lease.
Be very careful not to get trapped, you still need a full time outside job making money. Many places trading work for rent is a total scam, and only the property owners come out ahead.
Exactly how is a mobile recording studio going to make you money? I’ve seen a lot of people talking about building them, but NO ONE saying they’re making any money from them. Just a lot of people saying they need full time jobs until they can make their mobile recording studio profitable.
It can take a lot of money to turn dreams into reality, and it’s often not even possible, let alone profitable. Good old fashioned work for reasonable pay is still the best road to success. The road will always be there, and good old fashioned money is what makes it enjoyable.
Cheers!
"Life can be as simple or as complicated as you make it.
Simple is cheaper and more reliable." ~ Off Grid
2 Likes
Very good advice through and through. I have other income sources. I just quit my corporate job. Im not making the studio to make money, thats just my passion and hobby. I craft a lot of things and do various markets and gigs here and there. I also found Qwick which looks promising as it seems to be a freelance platform for those in the food and beverage industry.
The reason the living situation i mentioned is legit is its with someone whos basically my surrogate mom and wants to help me and this is me letting her do that. She also has a few acres and some physical labor intensive work needed. So itll be quite mutually beneficial.
Ill look more into the modifications and what i can do. Thanks for the information.
1 Like
Greetings!
That’s great, sounds like you’ve actually thought this out. Something too many people don’t do…
Cheers!
"Life can be as simple or as complicated as you make it.
Simple is cheaper and more reliable." ~ Off Grid
2 Likes