r/VanLife

Hello all. I have a favor to ask. I am going to live I a van full-time for retirement. Ive done all the research, focusing on cons and hindsight, and I’m good. I’m not going to do any crazy off road driving. I’m not hiking in the middle of nowhere or climbing any mountains. If I’m visiting parks or sleeping on BLM land I don’t plan on going somewhere too crazy. I have been going all around between the Transit and Ram. I took Sprinter off right away due to servicing location issues. Looking at overall pros and cons, I have decided on the RAM. What did it for me was height and width.

Here is my favor: please try to change my mind. Really change it - realistically for how I will be using it. Please base it on experience, not what you’ve heard. My brain can’t take this anymore.

Thank you so much in advance! I’m really struggling and appreciate any guidance that I can get!!

As we have this conversation let's set up some ground rules.

Be respectful. Be kind. Treat people like family

I consider myself a survivor of El Niño 2023.

El Niño 2023 was one of the wildest events and instances I have ever seen in my entire life. At the end of 2022, a really, really intense El Niño hit, literally during the last week of 2022.

It ripped through the West Coast, causing massive trees to collapse and flooding whole cities.

I had never seen anything like it. It looked biblical.

In fact, when it hit, I was initially very surprised by the amount of snow it brought, and I think I underestimated it after I decided to go venture into the mountains.

To the mountains, it brought snow, but to the cities, it brought rain.

And boy, did it rain. It knocked out huge amounts of power. I remember driving through cities and just seeing trees everywhere, power lines everywhere. New Year's parties had to happen without power throughout Sacramento, California.

I remember going to a party that was using a power generator because the power was turning on and off all night.

I've never seen anything like that.

As I drove down the West Coast, it got worse, not better. I saw whole fields flooded. I saw seas everywhere, literally oceans of water covering farmland.

Once I hit San Diego, it got even worse. Huge amounts of water were running down the roads, and as the water started coming up over my wheels, I made a desperate run to drive to Tijuana when the rain briefly stopped so I could find a cheap hotel and get repairs done by a cheap mechanic, after tree branches that had fallen into the road had literally torn my brake lines off and ripped my catalytic converter off.

It was literally like driving my van through a flood.

For those who weren't here for it, you can't imagine it. It was like something from a cosmic horror.

For those who are living in their vans, it was absolutely terrifying.

Every report seems to indicate that this is going to be worse. I am not a doomsayer, but I am also not willing to act like the past didn't happen.

I'm not here to talk about climate change, and I'm not here to describe to people how these instances are getting more and more frequent, despite the fact that they are. I don't want to start a political conversation because I know that's going to distract from the points I am trying to make.

My proposal

What I'm suggesting is that the van dwelling community forms networks. Texting networks, maybe even encouraging van dwellers to get shortwave radios or Meshtastic networks going.

I think we need to start a huge conversation about how to prepare. We have approximately two months to prepare. We can do this.

But the van dwelling community has to start taking this seriously. We've experienced this three years ago.

Having an emergency network set up in our community means that if an elderly couple is stranded and isn't able to handle it themselves, we can send people out to them to help rescue them.

The van dwelling community needs to start networking and needs to start taking care of each other because so many of us are elderly and incapable of helping ourselves. We should not abandon each other ever.

We also need to screen members of this network to ensure that they aren't predators or thieves.

The one thing I don't want is to send out alerts that could identify people who are vulnerable to those who might prey on people in need.

What I've also been proposing is that we start a network of donation based or emergency assistance mechanical help.

Let's be honest. Most of us don't know how to work on our vehicles. Having an emergency network with people who are screened for mechanical knowledge means that if a tire blows or some basic issue happens, at the very least, we can try to get you back on the road.

I don't know what's possible and what's not, but I know there's a lot of us. Some kind of network where we screen each other, and maybe even do criminal background checks as we establish the network, could be a very good thing. We could have screened leaders and moderators to help manage it.

I don't know what this looks like, and I'm not trying to lead the effort. I'm just putting it out there.

It's time we build something like this, something strong.

The only reason I suggest shortwave radio is that cell networks can go out, and we should always have backups. Shortwave or Meshtastic is a great way to go, anyway.

I look forward to hearing some ideas.

By the way, the best preparation is acting beforehand.

A lot of people are saying Quartzsite is the safest place to go. Some people are saying to go up north, where it is likely to have less intense hurricane and monsoon like conditions, such as Seattle.

I'm willing to hear your perspectives. I am not knowledgeable enough or confident enough to throw out anything myself.

We had a new battery installed a few months ago. Now the van is totally dead. Van was driven just last week. Anyone else had this issue?