Hello All! New Member

Introduce Yourself…

My name is Kendall and I currently live in Georgia. My boyfriend and I are thinking about building a van and traveling the country after we graduate college and get married. We both love to rock climb and hike and explore new places and agree that creating a van would give us the perfect opportunity to experience new things. We are currently thinking about getting a Ford Transit or a Dodge Promaster. We joined this forum so we can get more ideas and decide exactly how we would like to build our home. We also joined in case we have questions so we can ask people with more experience. I am very excited to learn new things about the Van Life Community!
Happy New Year!

Greetings & Welcome!

Get your jobs and finances sorted out first and foremost. This is the top failure point in #vanlife.

Beware of depreciation on newer vehicles, it can cost you a fortune.

Don’t get in a hurry to buy a van and build it out. Not only can it be extremely costly, but it also isn’t the best choice for most people. I usually suggest that people start out with cheap older Class C motorhomes. They have more room, and are move in ready. If they’re already fully depreciated, you likely won’t lose much money on one either. While these are not new and bright and shiny, they help you to cheaply assess what you might want in your next rig, and what you can do without. It’s also much easier to downsize from a motorhome to a van, than it is to go from a house or apartment into a van.

Generally speaking, a small motorhome will be much more comfortable than a van, especially for two or more people. My van does have all the amenities of a motorhome, and it is cozy for me as a single person, but two in my van would not be comfortable, and I have one of the biggest, tallest, longest vans available.

Instagram and Youtube are not good indicators of true #vanlife. Most of those beautiful looking builds would not be at all practical in real life. The promoters are sleazy sales people who are only after your money. Don’t become another one of their many victims. Unless you’re planning on doing a lot of camping on city streets like I do, small motorhomes offer many advantages over vans, especially self built vans.

Cheers!


"Those who believe money can't buy hapiness, don't have either." ~ An Anonymous Vandweller