Completely new to traveling

Hey y'all, my name is Maeve. I'm a trans woman from New Jersey, and I've been fantasizing about getting up and leaving in my minivan for quite some time now. Not sure exactly when I'm gonna do it, but I'm burnt out on getting my biology/education degree and need to set out for a bit. My parents are worried but supportive, so I'm putting in the work to actually make it happen. I figure this is a good place to meet some folks and get an idea of what the hell I'm getting myself into.

So yeah, I'll probably be lurking and reading mostly, but it's nice to see that I'm not alone in wanting to just drive off and see what the road has to offer.
 
Hey friend, welcome to the community. What type of minivan do you plan to use? If its not currently set up to live in, my advise is design and build it while you live and travel. Some things you think are important to build into it will seem less important as you spend months in your van, and some things we overlook end up being very important. So build slow and smart. Use reclaimed and recycled materials where possible. Its free or cheap, and lots of fun.
Cheers!
 
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Hey friend, welcome to the community. What type of minivan do you plan to use? If its not currently set up to live in, my advise is design and build it while you live and travel. Some things you think are important to build into it will seem less important as you spend months in your van, and some things we overlook end up being very important. So build slow and smart. Use reclaimed and recycled materials where possible. Its free or cheap, and lots of fun.
Cheers!
Thanks for the welcome! I've got a 2012 Honda Odyssey. I'm definitely gonna build it out a bit. Since I've got at least a few months before I go for more than a week at a time, so I've just started taking out all the back/middle seats. My first plan is to put some sort of paneling over the trunk to make a storage area underneath the base.

Any suggestions on where to get reclaimed and recycled materials? I have some wood but I'm worried about how moisture would interact with it.
 
I'm not sure if this helps or not, but I'm always fascinated by how people build out their cars, trucks, vans, SUV's, etc. Here are a few of my favorite Youtubes that show off some great builds in vehicles :-)
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I have more bookmarked, but I don't want to overload you. Haha
 
I'm always fascinated by how people build out their cars, trucks, vans, SUV's, etc.
You're not the only one! I thought I'd watched most of these videos on YouTube but I haven't seen the ones you linked, I'll check that out. I'm working on a new prius build right now, but you can see my old build here:

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