I've been curious about living out of a camper or RV in the Bay Area just to arbitrage the higher salaries that are needed to offset the cost of housing. I've heard of some Google employees doing this for a couple years to save up enough to buy a house. The hard part is finding a place to park the camper. Anyone have any experience or knowledge about doing this in the Bay Area?
How I Built a Custom Camper Van (2015)
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Re: How I Built a Custom Camper Van (2015)
#92I absolutely loved reading this. I liked how he went into it cautiously, testing out whether he could get by with a small fridge, small bed, less possessions, etc. And I also appreciate the web page design itself -- one long vertically-scrolling piece, very easy to read through! One thing I find ironic though is the attitude towards other people who make a different decision about the worth of a home and the mortgage…
That's not exactly true. He could have done the build-out in plenty of other manners, some less efficiently. With some extra money, he might have had it done more quickly, even. Camping out during the build time, or getting a hostel/hotel for 40 days, renting a room, building it ahead of time, etc. Lots of reasonable options. I noticed on some page he mentioned "focusing on building less expensive homes" and then poi…
I too have wondered at the tiny home thing. Regular single wide mobile homes are small, cheap and standardized, and they even have "communal living" in a park. I'm pretty sure it's just trying to tell bougie people that it's fine to live in a trailer park
Re: How I Built a Custom Camper Van (2015)
#93Re: How I Built a Custom Camper Van (2015)
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't think you really have to do it in a van. If you're going to work remote and don't mind being lonely, you can buy a house just about anywhere in the country, which means you can find a house for $50k instead of $500k. If you check out his list of things he likes about van living, most have more to do with working for himself rather than all the traveling. He doesn't come across as one of the wanderlust folks.
All of the work to make this van livable could have just as easily been done to a shack in the woods. The biggest hurdle these days is reliable internet if you want that. You would need a better bathroom situation than "the nearest McDonalds" too, but well water is often an option. The one question he didn't answer is how he bathed. It's very easy when you're living as a lonely bachelor to slowly morph into Grizzly A…
For cabins, composting toilets are a pain, but better than a pit toilet and more convenient than the nearest McDonalds
Re: How I Built a Custom Camper Van (2015)
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
Arguably, it means just that. If you only use a tool once a year, you should just borrow/rent them when you actually do need them. Our lives are cluttered with occasionally used 'just in case' items that we really don't need.
If everyone followed this logic, who would you borrow from?
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Re: How I Built a Custom Camper Van (2015)
#96What about getting laid?
Re: How I Built a Custom Camper Van (2015)
#97I absolutely loved reading this. I liked how he went into it cautiously, testing out whether he could get by with a small fridge, small bed, less possessions, etc. And I also appreciate the web page design itself -- one long vertically-scrolling piece, very easy to read through! One thing I find ironic though is the attitude towards other people who make a different decision about the worth of a home and the mortgage…
He could have done it at a friend's or his own home after another short stint of saving.
His dad's woodshop (& expertise) was critical to the build - note that dad did all the cuts into the body of the van. There's nothing wrong with it, just a reminder that we never really do anything alone.
Personally, I'd rather have the shop than the van ;)
Re: How I Built a Custom Camper Van (2015)
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
I read your story on reddit a little while ago. Its a really interesting choice and I applaud your sense of adventure. What I don't get was the swap to a Mercedes diesel. Your argument for it made sense, but why not a toyota diesel, for example? :)
At the time I thought it made sense... of course hindsight is great. If I wanted a Toyota diesel, I would have just bought a Toyota, but I didn't want that. The reason for the merc is that the engine I chose (the OM606) is the most sophisticated non-computer controlled diesel possible - actually it came from the factory with a computer, but by using the injection pump from the earlier OM603 it can be made fully mecha…
What about an OM617?
That has to be one of the simplest, reliable, and over-engineered motors MB ever made. I spent 5 years running mine on vegetable oil! I figure that would have been a good Africa motor.
How's getting gas been so far?
Re: How I Built a Custom Camper Van (2015)
#99He needs a diode between the two batteries in parallel. Otherwise slight differences in voltage between them causes them to cyclically charge and discharge each other, wearing them out and wasting energy.
Re: How I Built a Custom Camper Van (2015)
#100I did something similar. I wanted a vehicle I could explore the world with, so I turned my Jeep into a house on wheels with fridge, drinking water and filtration, solar and dual batteries, interior cabinets and a custom modified pop-up roof so I can stand up and walk around in the Jeep. I joked about applying for a home owners grant :) The full pictures and story are in this album - http://imgur.com/a/OLK3o I'm drivi…
You drove from Alaska to Argentina? How did you drive through the Darien Gap in Panama?
It looks like he took a ferry:
http://theroadchoseme.com/panama-to-colombia-vehicle-ferry-x...