hello!!!

[Three Suns Echoed Songs]

hello y'all

i'm new here, although i've read posts here for a little while, i was recommended this forum by a friend of mine when i was discussing trying to outfit a vehicle to live in.

i've been stuck in the midwest for the past several years while i basically just stagnated several years of my life away, and i'm sick of it. looking to get a van in the near future and get the hell out of here 'cause i'm sick of working just to pay rent or just sitting around on my days off dreading going back to work the next day.

hoping to try to get a van, see what i can outfit it with in a short period of time, and hit the road within a few months

if all goes well, i hope to be travelling and practicing my music a lot in the near future, and hopefully make friends and see any location that isn't just miles and miles of flat cornfields

 

[NamelessExistence]

If u haven’t already. I recomend insulating ur van with the pink styrofoam boards and reflective. Make a subframe and use a rubber flooring to keep things from moving (insulate ur floor too). For the rubber flooring I believe I used elephant bark. Idk I hafta check. Get some storage bins for clothes and whatnot. Then build a bed (if u want). I used 2x4 to as stands for the ends of the bed and about an inch thick plywood and put the storage bins underneath to keep it from breaking. This saves on space. That way u don’t have too much weight for ur bed. If ur still in the Midwest I recommend getting an Olympian wave 3 heater to use and maybe buy an adapter to use the 1 lb tanks in case u don’t need to use heat too often and a warm sleeping bag. I have a 0 degree sleeping bag and have barely used my heater this winter. I suggest see how comfortable u are in ur bag before purchasing a heater maybe.

Good luck

 

[AyeAaron]

It can be a hard life and people will judge you for it, you can always settle in somewhere if things don't work out, but don't quit the first night someone knocks on your window

Personally only a woman could get me to rent again, and thats a long shot already. I love working less and spending more of my time outdoors, drinking wine, making music and contemplating

 

[The Hiker]

Yeah the Midwest seemed like a good place to get out of. Good luck! No experience with vans but a little experience with rubber tramping, hit me up you have questions about basics of road living.

Check out WWOOFing and workaway, both good sites to find places to land/live for periods of time with (usually) a low time and energy investment.

 

[NamelessExistence]

ioverlander is a decent app for finding spots. I suggest not posting any spots u may find tho so theyre not blown up. It’s pretty helpful when ur too tired to drive around for a decent spot in an area or if parking blows

 

[Three Suns Echoed Songs]

i ended up building out a van and getting out of there back in late August, didn't end up getting insulation because i couldn't afford it, but I've got a bunch of blankets in my van so I still survive when it gets chilly. didn't really make it as much of a living space as a tool shed, but it encourages me to not stay cooped up all the time. went south for the winter, now I'm back north again, though I'm beginning to think i jumped the gun a little bit. went west, and i was gonna head east this year but i might have an opportunity to get aboard a boat with some friends, so i guess I'll see how that goes. thanks for the advice though!!!