May 21st, 2022
In a little more than a month, we will start our “Summer Shakedown Trip”. This is a chance to test out the van and it’s systems before we go off on our open-ended trip. We are calling it “shakedown” because we fully expect a few parts of the van might actually shake down as we test it on rough roads and summer heat. We will have a few weeks in August to fix whatever problems arise and re-organize before hitting the road full time.
We are also doing a lot of thinking about van-life gear– what is really necessary, what might be awesome to have? We plan to be on a pretty tight budget and so our discussions often revolve around the most cost effective way to set up the van.
We did a simple van build without a full sink or built in stove or solar panels affixed to the top. No composting toilet here either… we are thinking maybe an emergency bucket.
It still seems pretty cushy to us. Before this crazy brave adventure, we were tent campers, spending the summers in National Forest campgrounds and a few dispersed camping spots, driving our family car, a minivan and, once, a homemade teardrop trailer. On these trips we stayed in motels every five days or so for a shower and re-set and mostly camped in National Forest Service campgrounds. We loved every one of our tent-life adventures.
Not having to set up our tent and sleep on the ground feels like luxury to us. But we are not sure what we will need, or even want.
The plan is to keep it simple over the summer and pare down the list of things we might need… or want. Here is the current list of things that seem like they might be necessary… or awesome to have:
Roof rack deck for roof with storage box
Awning
Privacy tent (bathroom/solar shower spot)
Skychair to hook to opening between side doors
Wifi signal booster and/or Skynet service
Tinted windows
White roof paint (to make our black, window-full van a bit less sweltering
Are any of these things necessary… or even worth the expense or trouble to pack? Limited space and money means we have to think it all through. We should have a better idea of our needs (and wants) after the shakedown trip.