Van Life

My wife discovered that Microsoft’s Office 2013 will be licensed to one and only one PC. You lose your lifeblood’s tool but still have the software, or you upgrade your PC, and you’ll be buying another Office 2013. Into the trash goes the one that works just fine. It’s software garbage. (I just found out it looks like Microsoft is going to remove this ‘feature.’)

Nevertheless, so many software companies are going to subscriptions these days. I recently upgraded my video editing system (they do make the BEST video software out there, I think), and Adobe pushed hard to get me to take advantage of the subscription plan. The problem is the bandwidth and unpredictability of when the software wants to connect to decide it’s okay to keep using it on the PC. For example, in the Yukon last summer, a software package I specifically purchased, which was supposed to be stand alone, for my Android phone to locate my data connection satellite 22,000 miles in space so I could get on the internet suddenly wanted to verify my license–over the net. The irony of ironies.

Subscriptions makes good business sense, but it’s hard for us who spend a lot of time on the road and pay for every megabyte of usage. Every time we download an update it costs us. Every time the subscription has to check in to see that it’s still okay to be on your PC, it costs us. Just to install the gigabytes or hundreds of megabytes of software costs greatly. Or we have to find a free wi-fi connection in the middle of nowhere that allows huge downloads. And, then, when it wants to verify the license–arrrgh.

There are alternatives, but many are web-based, like Google Docs/Drive. So, with that in mind, if you don’t need all the features of Office, there are a few free alternatives that are not web-based.

• Open Office — this free software package is basically Office 2003 (no ribbons). It offers the same functionality with writing, spreadsheets, presentations, database, etc. It’ll cost you (in terms of bandwidth) to download its several hundred megabytes, but then you’re off and running.
• Libre Office — this free software is built on Open Office with the same level of functionality under a different brand.
• Kingsoft Office — a stripped down, foreign knockoff of Office.

There are others if you search hard. If all you need is a word processor, there’s Word Pad, until Microsoft stops including that in their operating system.

Subscriptions are good for the publisher, but not so hot for the vandweller. I suspect we will be pushed into subscriptions for the mainstream apps, but it’s good to have the open software community who continues to thrive.

When I was a teenager I slept in the basement in a small room that most would consider a cubby under the stairs. I didn’t care about the size. It was small, tight, compacted and most of all, it was my own space. I did what I wanted and played what I wanted. The walls were smothered with images of skateboarding idols and magazine clippings with hair that stood 5 inches above their brows posted far from any other household member. No one could complain and ask me what the hell do you see in that guy. And I didn’t have to respond, ‘don’t you know mom? That’s corey hart!’

Van life reminds me of this space except that it has wheels and can take you to places never dreamt possible. I have slept under the Sierra desert where the stars in the skies twinkle brighter than any diamond ring that I have ever seen. When the rains fall hard on the roof top a tinny sound soothes me to sleep while snuggled up safely and warm. I am left to awaken to the view of a beautiful forest glistening with the fresh morning dew. When it is cold the elements run rough my veins and make me feel alive and awake. In the summer haze the warmth smothers me into a deep slumber as nature had intended. In the cities, camping is always free: pull in, pull out. Too loud? Move it down yonder. Need some lights? Move it on up so the view of the city resembles last years skies. Rent is basically a one time installment. Utilities are pay as you go. Except for the gas, van living is pretty much off the grid and besides, driving long distances is nicer to mother earth than taking a plane as is not having the room to own and and consume most of the crap found in the average household.

One basically lives outside when living in a van. The more hard core could be the tent dwellers who have something in their veins which I lack. The few drawbacks is the random chance of break-ins which can really happen anywhere be it a house or van. The cold can be a damper but it makes visits to local libraries, cafes and friends houses all the more pleasurable. Well, what this van here needs now is a fancy pancy wood burning stove which would easily stay alit with a few twigs and keep me warm and snugglier than any insulated house could be.

Here is a photo of me in my newish big red. I would of attached a photo of my other home which sits under the rocky mountains but some worthless piece of shit broke into my van and stole my camera along with the photos.

Love!

** Last Edited 11/12/2012 **

Not sure if you knew this, but the unit for measuring the buttery-ness of your van steeze is Watts. That’s right, A good Solar setup can be the hot knife that spreads the butter all over your steeze-toast, and I’d like to talk about mine in detail. It’s not the steeziest of PV systems, but my steeze-toast ain’t dry either..

“PV” stands for “photovoltaics,” which is a method of creating electricity from solar radiation. It’s far more complicated than i’m gonna pretend to understand.. semi-conductors and shit.. “Science. It works, bitches.”

I’ve been using solar panels as a primary source of electricity for almost 7 years now, so when I built my van last September I had a good idea of what I wanted. If you’re just starting out, and you don’t really have your head wrapped around the idea of PV yet, you gotta dive in and swim around a little. Starter systems are super cheap. Start small. It takes a few years to understand the conservatism of using a PV system, and to understand what your personal energy demands are. (You can’t just plug your computer in and leave it all day.) You’ll learn to check the wattage of devices before buying them, and after a few years you’ll truly know how much electricity you use on a daily basis. Computer + Phone + Camera + Electric Razor + Fridge + fan DOES NOT EQUAL your energy needs. plug them all in at once, and if your inverter can handle it, your batteries will die quickly.

Political Aside: It’s kinda funny how off-grid/environmental people, who are largely left-leaning liberals, are far more skilled at living conservatively. how much energy does Rush Limbaugh use daily, I wonder??

OK, It gets a little dry here. The normal reader might wanna stop reading now. There’s gonna be a lot of numbers. Discussion of Volts, Amps and Watts. Details of my system below:

• 3 110AH 12V AGM Batteries (connected Parallel)
• 2 600W pure sine wave inverters
• 25A charge controller (with shunt and display panel)
• 210W 12V Solar Panel
• 10A – 3 stage Microprocessor Controlled Battery Charger

A PV system is only as good as the batteries. Once you know how much energy you use (ideally with some buffer) you’ll know how many batteries you need. Amp Hour (AH) ratings on batteries are usually rated for 20 hours (but you should check). A 110AH battery at full charge has 110 Amps available over a 20 hour period. So it will output 5.5A for 20 hours (110÷20=5.5). There are many different kinds of batteries, and I’m using AGM (Absorption Glass Mat) for 2 reasons. First, They don’t off-gas, so I didn’t need to make an air-tight box with vents to the outside of the van, and second, they have a longer shelf-life than both Gel, and lead acid batteries.

A lot of people use 6V batteries. You get more amp-hours for the space the batteries take up. Attach the batteries in a series circuit to make 12V at half the AH, I.E. 2 220AH 6V batteries in series is 220AH @ 12V.

A good rule of thumb when building a solar system is to try to get a 1:1 ratio, amp hours Vs. solar wattage. I’m a little battery heavy at 330AH Battery:210W Solar, but i make up for the lack of solar gain in other ways..

Either way, the whole system is 12V DC and a lot of modern appliances are 120V AC. To invert DC to AC I have 2 600W pure sine wave inverters. The first is attached to the 3 110AH 12V AGM Batteries (connected Parallel). If i need to plug in any of my appliances, I turn this inverter on. Computer, phone, etc. Any time i need it. The second inverter is wired into the chassis battery under the hood of the van. I only turn this inverter on when the van is running; this inverter runs on diesel. The 10A – 3 stage Microprocessor Controlled Battery Charger is permanently plugged into the diesel inverter, and permanently wired to charge the 3 110AH 12V AGM Batteries (connected Parallel). If the diesel inverter is on, and the batteries are reading lower than 13.2V the engine/charger will charge up the batteries. Also, in a pinch I can use the van as a generator.

Additionally, mounted on the top of the van is a 210W 12V Solar Panel. I can tilt it up to 54ish degrees either starboard or port. Between the 3 110AH 12V AGM Batteries (connected Parallel) and the 210W 12V Solar Panel i have a 25A charge controller (with shunt and display panel). The controller stops the panel from over charging the batteries, and controls how much amperage to give the batteries based on how full the batteries are. The shunt and display panel tell me lot’s of info about the system like, voltage of the batteries and Amps the batteries are gaining/losing, or how many AH I am from full batteries. The display is handy.

buttery battery steeze. hope this helps someone one day.

Often when a new acquaintance finds out i live on the road, i hear “I wish i could do that, what do you do for work?” or “I need to find a job that lets me do that.” Understandable. To wit, the almighty dollar controls even the most frugal vanner, and I am not he.

My monthly budget includes many luxuries. Diesel, insurance and maintenance for the van, Smart phone (FUCK YOU AT&T), website hosting, domain renewals, two businesses, taxes, steak, beer. Yeah .. “motherfuckers wanna fine me”.

So van life ain’t free, but “what do i do for work?” is a weird and kinda existential question for me. I would never go back to signing a lease, living in some town, working in some office. I stepped out of that world a long time ago, and the idea of stepping back in at this point is foreign and distant. There isn’t one place i would want to live. I want to live in all of them and none of them. Work is an afterthought.

In the last year i have worn many hats. I’ve sold rock climbing gear, Programmed websites, Helped old ladies move furniture, Rammed earth into tires, Road construction, Helped write a hot springs guide, Shoved sticks in a wood chipper, Bussed tables, even busked in the street. A good rule is if you don’t have work, spend your working hours finding new work. Living on the road you have the opportunity to meet and network with a much wider variety of people in a lot of different places. It’s easy to find if you’re willing to do anything. But you cut costs where you can, and you don’t pay rent. You give up some stability leaving those things behind, but you end up needing less, and therefore worrying less about silly things like “working”.

We spent our spring in Bishop, California. That almost in Nevada, tucked away in a gorgeous valley, little hamlet full of pregnant teenagers, gypsies, and bums. The dog and I started going desert crazy in El Paso early this year. By the end of February it was time to pack the new van, and hit the road.

Bishop is one of the easiest places I’ve found to live in a car. BLM land abounds, as does national forest and LA water and power land. Although it’s often very hard to tell if you’re on one or the other. If city life is more your style, you can sleep in the parking lot at Kmart/Von’s. The Bishop city cops, who aren’t known for their look-the-other-way attitudes, look the other way. Windy, snowy, or rainy days i found myself there. I could ride my skateboard into the store all hours of the night, and use the toilets first thing in the morning. I’ve certainly slept in seedier lots.

On the kinder evenings i would make my way up the Buttermilks Rd and stay on national forest land, or up onto the tablelands. People staying in tents in the tablelands, are often hassled by both forest service, and BLM rangers. They are “ushered” into poorly maintained, and over used pay sites. Typical California money-stealing-bullshit; even threatening to ticket you, for something that is 100% legal.

a site in the tablelands.

Hot springs and artesian pools are everywhere in the Bishop/Mammoth Lakes area. We used them like bathtubs on a weekly basis, but always felt even dirtier afterwards. There are 2 swim-able artesian pools in Bishop next to the river off of Line St. They stay at a constant 65 degrees (F) year-round, and they’re pretty clean. Keough hot ditch, which is usually full of partying teen-agers, is 5 miles out of town toward Lonepine. The PAY pool up the hill is worth the money i paid the few times i went. They have showers, lockers, an 85 degree pool you can swim laps in and a HUGE soaking tub (100 F). 30 miles up the hill toward Mammoth Lakes there are many hot springs if you turn at the green church. They’re on LADWP land, and you’re not supposed to camp there, but i’ve never been fucked with for camping at a tub.

Keough Hot Ditch

Internet is available at The Blacksheep, The Looney Bean, McDonald’s (plugs behind the fish hanging on the wall, and in the playground), Starbucks, Kmart, and most of the motels and hotels. I’m told you can buy a shower at the laundry mat, or at the airport. Fill up water at Giggle Springs, and the forest service office on main street, or if you need a hose, at Manor Market or the RV place on the right on the way to Lonepine. Cheapest gas is the Casino, cheapest wine is Riteaid, and the cheapest groceries are at Joseph’s Bi-rite and smart & final. (I’m told the dumpster diving is pretty good, but i never tried it).

Cheers,
-Sterling

This is the first post to vanlife.org.

I hate the first post on a new blog. I Equate it to the first pancake/tortilla off the griddle. You thought the pan was hot enough, but you never wait long enough.

Looking for other vanners to contribute to this blog, even if only once. I was surprised to not be able to find any other internet community-type sites for people living in their cars, and I hope this one can be a useful resource. planning to add a photo gallery, and a forum. it’s 2012. the world is melting.

Bishop, CA

-sterling