New here, looking for some advice!

Hi everyone!

I am a 33 yr old young man with a dream of building my own campervan. I haven’t owned one before, but I’ve done quite a lot of traveling and had the opportunity to drive through half of Japan in a small campervan with my wife. We really enjoyed the nomadic lifestyle and since we overall have a quite minimalistic orientation to life, we think that vanlife would suit us. We now have a kid which is obviously a totally different set of circumstances, but we are still considering trying a life on the road before our daughter is old enough to go to kindergarten / school.

So, I am here to

  1. get some advice on whether vanlife with a small child is a viable idea?
  2. get some advice on which vehicle to choose for our build?

Cheers!

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Vans can get cramped really fast with multiple people. I would likely choose a small motorhome instead.

It seems to me that everytime a newbie here asks the same question as yourself,1 or more jump in and say get a motorhome, this is Vanlife not motorhome life, so I wish they would just stop it. I bought 2015 Dodge Grand Caravan, if done correctly it’s fine for 2 people unless your very large people, we are both what I call avg. I’m 5-11 180 she is 5-4 140 so no problems, there, also another thing I see on 90% of all Van builds online, they raise their beds by a foot or more. We made ours with about 6 inches up, I made a 4 inch slide out drawer for the bottom, with a 2 inch plywood piece for my main floor base, I removed everything on the Ceiling inside , cleaned it up, Used spray on foam insulation & painted it dark blue, we have plenty of head room. I spent about 3 months researching & figuring out every single item that would go in the Van. I purchased things as I went along and could afford, & then installed them I L[quote=“4g0t10, post:1, topic:13774, full:true”]
Hi everyone!

I am a 33 yr old young man with a dream of building my own campervan. I haven’t owned one before, but I’ve done quite a lot of traveling and had the opportunity to drive through half of Japan in a small campervan with my wife. We really enjoyed the nomadic lifestyle and since we overall have a quite minimalistic orientation to life, we think that vanlife would suit us. We now have a kid which is obviously a totally different set of circumstances, but we are still considering trying a life on the road before our daughter is old enough to go to kindergarten / school.

So, I am here to

  1. get some advice on whether vanlife with a small child is a viable idea?
  2. get some advice on which vehicle to choose for our build?

Cheers!
[/quote]

Many class B, B+, & C motorhomes are van based, and living in them has many similarities. Being inclusive rather than exclusive can benefit everyone. Somebody in a $200k motorhome, could have a solution to help someone in a $500 camper van, and vice versa.

You chose a cheaper & smaller Dodge Caravan, but many people are contemplating spending $100k+ when there are often many better options available that they haven’t thought about.

For many, a minivan is too small even for one person, while for others it can be a perfect solution. Exposing more choices is never a bad thing. We are very fortunate in the fact that this lifestyle can be accomplished very successfully even on a shoe string budget if we do it right.

I’ve been a nomad, living on wheels, for over 60 years, in many different vehicles, and usually off the grid. I often teach or troubleshoot at many rally’s, which are almost always open to anyone in any type of camper. I’ve done many builds, and been involved in many more. I’ve done full camper van, bus, motorhome, travel trailer, and even boat & yacht rebuilds & restorations. All have many similar problems, strengths, & weaknesses.

Going straight from a house or an apartment to a camper van can be very difficult. A motorhome can be a much easier transition, making eventual further downsizing easier if we choose to go smaller. Many also choose going larger.

Everybody has different preferences, some choose to live out of their vehicles, while others want to live in their vehicles. For some it’s mainly just a bedroom, while others may want all of the amenities of a home. Some might want a giant flat screen TV, while others might prefer just a laptop.

Most things in life are some shade of gray rather than black or white. Everyone is free to make their own choices, right or wrong, but the more choices we have, the better the chance of getting it right the first time around. The cost of considering and exploring other options is far cheaper than mistakes.

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