Having been a long time full time RVer…neither is really adequate for longer term use IMO, but the van is less inadequate than the slide in from our looking at them in a post 5th wheel life. Anything more than a couple weeks in either for 2 people wouldn’t really be optimum…but it depends on the couple I guess.
Using a Van for Photo Expeditions
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Ductape
Well-known member
Our longest trip so far was approximately 15 weeks. I think she still loves me. Probably more of a minimalist, I feel the van is perfect for our needs. I can't imagine driving a conventional RV where we travel.
And that's really what it's all about. What works for some may not work for others but there is no simple answer to a question like this.
Personally having spent nearly six weeks on the road in a Ford Transit van with my wife and our black lab on a trip to Alaska, the Yukon and back and many other week to three week trips I find van travel fantastic and very comfortable but others might want more space, more amenities and prefer a larger vehicle and of course some wouldn't travel in anything other than nice hotels. Needs and wants vary and there's not a single travel mode answer that fits everyone.
15 weeks would probably work for us as well…because it would be a trip rather than our life and we wouldn’t need the Xmas stuff in the basement, a residential fridge, and all of my chef things…but we would be unlikely to be gone that long at one time because of other commitments and hurricane possibilities here in FL. She sings in 2 choruses here so rehearsals and concerts pretty much take up September to April…and we wouldn’t worry about power loss killing hundreds of $ worth of meat in the freezer. Storm shutters and concrete block house with tile roof and no flooding issues would keep the house safe but losing the duck and bison and venison and steaks would be a bummer. There are lots of snowbirds here who close up the house and leave in summer…but that precludes keeping a lot of frozen meat or starting in February to eat it all…and that would limit my ability to have whatever I want tonight for dinner and reduce it to ‘I can’t have xx because we already ate all of it’.
Lifestyle vice trip is a different approach…and after 52 years together the limitations isn’t (for us) getting along…it’s all of the ancillary stuff like crappy bed and shower in the CG and more basic cooking than we do at home.
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Calson
Well-known member
It is important to understand and be able to accept the limitations of an RV. For two people a Class B van is too confining, especially with snow or rain. A travel trailer provides the most space and cargo capacity but has its own limitations. The 1-ton 4WD pickup with a large slide-in camper provided the fewest limitations but we did need to remove it from the truck and store it between trips. I had a Class C motorhome but it was more difficult to drive in heavy traffic and with big rigs around and I paid to have a storage yard space as I did not have room at my house.
A friend who is a dedicated landscape photographer used a van with the extended roof so he could stand up in it and used in a a four-seasons RV for himself. Today he would have the option of ones with AWD for safer travel on snow covered roads and trails.
I strongly recommend renting an RV and taking a 7-14 day trip before purchasing anything.
A friend who is a dedicated landscape photographer used a van with the extended roof so he could stand up in it and used in a a four-seasons RV for himself. Today he would have the option of ones with AWD for safer travel on snow covered roads and trails.
I strongly recommend renting an RV and taking a 7-14 day trip before purchasing anything.
Yellowboard
Well-known member
I have a Airstream Interstate which is based on a Sprinter 3500. It is just about perfect in every way for the type of trips you describe. Full bath, kitchen (including refrigerator and freezer and microwave) and comfortable sleeping accommodations along with ease of driving and camp set up/breakdown make it really enjoyable to be on the road. Plus, it has a workstation behind the drivers seat that I use for downloading and processing my photos in the field. Power (when not hooked up to shore power) is supplied by two 100 amp hour lithium batteries with 300 watts of solar on the roof for recharging and keeping the batteries topped off. Also have an onboard generator to supply power on those rainy days when there is not enough sun for the solar panels). Have never had an issue with not enough power. The rate limiting factor is the size of black tanks and fresh water tanks; eventually you have to dump the tanks and fill up with fresh water.
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We started out with a tiny trailer. Not really practical for any length of time in it. Got a small 5th wheel and drove from Tn to Alaska and back - 3 months on the road. LOVED it.
Here is our get-a-way rig today. Solar panels on the roof. I do most of the driving. We have taken it from Tn to Newfoundland and all over Eastern Canada on a 3 month trip and many, many 3-6week trips in it. LOVE It.
Sadly we will probably let it go in the next couple of years. Go and do while you can!
Here is our get-a-way rig today. Solar panels on the roof. I do most of the driving. We have taken it from Tn to Newfoundland and all over Eastern Canada on a 3 month trip and many, many 3-6week trips in it. LOVE It.
Sadly we will probably let it go in the next couple of years. Go and do while you can!
JohnC88
Active member
The bolded can't be emphasized enough. 4 years ago I bought a teardrop that has allowed me to take some wonderful trips that just wouldn't have happened without it. I don't know how long I can keep doing it but I'm extremely happy I made the decision I did. Life is short, especially the older you get. Enjoy it as long as you can.
I guess there is some benefit to being single! No need to worry about bumping into the other person, only the dog!
I initially considered a teardrop, researched them to see what was available. However, my SUV cannot pull a very large teardrop and I really hate the hooking and unhooking thing, I've done it with a boat and I always have trouble....no guy around to help me out and sometimes that seems to end up a "guy" thing. So, I went with the 19' Mercedes van, something I did not have to hook up and could stand up in.The bolded can't be emphasized enough. 4 years ago I bought a teardrop that has allowed me to take some wonderful trips that just wouldn't have happened without it. I don't know how long I can keep doing it but I'm extremely happy I made the decision I did. Life is short, especially the older you get. Enjoy it as long as you can.
This is along the lines of what I will be photographing in, a sprinter with all the comforts of home. I did not get the shower, but do have everything else. Nice van!
I guess it's a good thing I don't eat meat, not something I ever have to worry about!
I'm on several Facebook sites for vans, camping, etc. It's amazing to me how many people do this, a lot of the people on the sites I frequent do a DIY approach and love it. I like the fact that someone else is doing it all for me in a professional fashion and I'm hoping I can rely on that to lessen my troubles as I travel. I'd kill my self trying to wire a van!
Excellent idea. Connie and Inhad never even considered n RV until we did…took a month with a rental Class C and decided we liked the life but everything we did t like about the class C would be rectified if we bought one. Our plan was full timing…and for that a travel trailer just doesn’t have the storage space. Class A feels like a tube…but a 5ver seems like a one bedroom apartment. We got a New Horizons 40 foot 5ver and happily lined in it full time 8 years…wintering in Fort Myers and leaving right after her Easter singing obligations and returning to FL Nov 1. Big enough so that space wasn’t an issue. We traveled with a truck and car driven separately for 6 of ourm8 years and truck only the other 2 due to detached retina issues with her only working eye. Did Alaska and Newfoundland and 49 states and loved it. I agree…don’t jump into the rV life without thinking and renting…but for us it was a pretty darned great 8 years. We bought a house in North Fort Myersnand moved in Feb 20 just before Covid and were planning on some international travel until that whole Covid thing a month later. We have since recovered and gotten in some but periodically we still have a hankering for the RV life…us RVers call it hitch itch.
It all comes down to if you think of it as a lifestyle,or a travel away from home thing. One requires a lot more of the bring everything you own with you mindset…and that one also requires you to remember it’s a lifestyle for you rather than a vacation to prevent premature burnout.
So…what,is in your freezer? Even outside the meat there’s a lot of stuff in ours that I would hate to lose. Nothing as expensive as the meat…but still not nothing. Besides…as a Homo Sapiens…I did not fight my way to the top,of the food chain to just eat grass. As an old Souherner…I say there is room for all of God’s creatures…right next to the mashed potatoes.
Doug Herr
Well-known member
There's ice cream & fruit popsicles in my freezer, and there's much more to non-meat foods than grass. The problem with us being at the top of the food chain is that there are far more of us now than when we evolved eating meat. Meat production for food uses much more of increasingly scarce resources than equivalent nutrition in non-meat foods. When we evolved we also didn't eat a lot of meat because it was hard to come by, and our bodies don't work as well or last as long when the diet includes lots of meat.
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Well, not much is in my freezer and probably nothing you would want to eat...
. I'm fairly healthy and active at 72 and have been a vegetarian for 35 years, long before it became popular. I'm careful with my diet and it works for me, of course it is not for everyone. Our differences is what makes life interesting for me.
I have to agree with Steve. I use my Jeep Gladiator with Leer topper and considered a "roof top tent". Seemed to make sense until I really considered putting up and taking down every time I wanted to use the Jeep. For me, a small camper was the answer (Lance 1685). All the conveniences of home (bed, bath, kitchen, etc.). If I am only going overnight, I can sleep in the truck bed, out of the weather, and use a collapsible shower for the bathroom.
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Calson
Well-known member
For longer trips one advantage for us was being able to avoid restaurant food and so the cooktop and a microwave and a medium size freezer fridge were important. I have done two week trips cooking everything on a singe Svea alcohol stove but that was driven by economics as I could not afford to eat in restaurants and few were in operation where we traveled.
For use we wanted a dinette table where we could both use our laptops to do email and review our image files. With a slide-in camper our personal gear was in duffle bags we could store on the queen mattress during the day. Most Class B other than a few Roadtrek models provide too little space for two people to use laptops at the same time. Even with Roadtrek there are a dozen different floor plans and some are going to work much better for two people traveling.
With our Class C motorhome we would park at a hotel once a week to use the full size shower and wash our clothes and go to a nearby restaurant for dinner.
For use we wanted a dinette table where we could both use our laptops to do email and review our image files. With a slide-in camper our personal gear was in duffle bags we could store on the queen mattress during the day. Most Class B other than a few Roadtrek models provide too little space for two people to use laptops at the same time. Even with Roadtrek there are a dozen different floor plans and some are going to work much better for two people traveling.
With our Class C motorhome we would park at a hotel once a week to use the full size shower and wash our clothes and go to a nearby restaurant for dinner.
Ductape
Well-known member
Wherever you go, there you are:
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I've been following your thread with interest. Looking forward to seeing photos of the finished van. My wife and I have considered doing this a few times over the years and, as of yet, have not. One reason is although I'm retired, my wife still works and using a big van as a daily driver doesn't appeal to me. Currently I drive a compact SUV (Honda CR-V) that averages 30mpg. My wife drives a mid-size SUC V (Honda Passport) gets about 21mpg. We use the larger one on trips since it is more comfortable and has more room behind the seats for stuff. We are still kicking the idea of a van around after she retires next year. One hesitation is cost (we can stay a lot of nights in hotels, AirBNB and renter Chalets for how much a van and conversion costs) coupled with higher cost of travel to and from. However, it is something we're still talking about.
Again, very interested in your thread, seeing photos of your finished van and hearing about your adventures. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Jeff
Hi Jeff. Lots to consider with buying a van to use as an RV, it certainly is not cheap and, yes, you can stay in a lot of motels/hotels for the same cost! It does seem, however, that they do sell when listed so there is always that possibility if you don't like it. I'm buying it primarily because I want to camp in it, something I love to do, and using it for some photography trips is only second to the camping. I have no clue as to how it will all come out but I'm up for the adventure and why leave all that money to the kids...ha! ha! If you get serious about buying a van with this approach I'd recommend you start now to investigate the process. When I first started I thought the Ford Transit would work best for me, people go with either a Ford Transit, a Dodge Ram, or a Mercedes, but the builder I chose had reasons for liking the Mercedes best so I went with that. I think flexibility is key to the process. Many of the van builders, and they are all across the U.S., are sort of one-man operations and there are many horror stories out there online about the process. Do a lot of research ahead of time online, builder websites as well as Facebook sites, and go to a van expo to check out the various different builds: many builders cater to the younger athletic set, i.e., rock-climbers and mountain bikers. I have a list of builders I collected, if you are interested in receiving it let me know. Insulation, wire, and flooring are all done. Most recent photo below shows the sidewalls and some cabinetry. It's just like building a house, one step at a time. It's been slower than I had hoped but I think it will be done in January...at least I hope so.
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Thanks.
With a new grand baby born last month, we're probably a couple years out from doing anything like this. I really like the color on the drawer fronts and panels. Very much looking forward to seeing shots of the finished product.
I've helped a couple friends build cabins so am quite familiar with how complex what seems like a simple build can be. All the little details one doesn't think of until they have to do it come to play, wiring, outlets, available space everything. On the cabins we had to fabricate truss systems for the roof as well which was enough math to make my head hurt figuring out the angles for the cuts.
I hope you enjoy it and get many fine adventures. Please do keep us up on the progress and on the adventures. I'll for sure be following the thread to see how it turns out.
Calson
Well-known member
I have rented RVs in Calgary and Anchorage and saved a lot of travel time by starting from these cities instead of from my home in California. We flew to the city and then took a cab to the RV rental company and checked out the RV and then drove to a supermarket to stock up with food. We were on the road in the RV the same day as we flew out from the nearest airport. The RVs were fully furnished with linens and cookware so we only needed to take a single towel and toiletries for the trip along with our laptops and camera gear.
Many people will drive across the USA to get to Alaska as it is on their bucket list. A lot of time lost and a lot of money spent on fuel and camping stops along the way in both directions. There is a convenience factor in owning a RV vehicle for local travel if it can be parked at your home.
There is also a consideration for having access to a kayak or bikes on trips and some vehicles work better for doing this. The roof racks on most RVs are too high off the ground for anything heavier than snow skiis.
Range is another consideration and I like to use a third of the fuel to get to an area and a third exploring and have a third of a tank left to get back to "civilization". Even diesl RVs usually have a very limited range with the capacity of their fuel tanks. MPG is far lower when off the main highways and going at much slower speeds where the consumption is based on engine hours and not miles driven.
More than 15 years ago we realized that our points with the airlines were worthless and switched to credit cards affiliated with hotel chains. As a result more than 90% of the time we do not pay for rooms at hotels in the USA and overseas. This changed the economic value of staying at a campground with an RV as compared to driving a smaller vehicle and staying at hotels.
For us the second greatest cost of owning a RV after depreciation was paying a storage facility to store it when we were not traveling.
Many people will drive across the USA to get to Alaska as it is on their bucket list. A lot of time lost and a lot of money spent on fuel and camping stops along the way in both directions. There is a convenience factor in owning a RV vehicle for local travel if it can be parked at your home.
There is also a consideration for having access to a kayak or bikes on trips and some vehicles work better for doing this. The roof racks on most RVs are too high off the ground for anything heavier than snow skiis.
Range is another consideration and I like to use a third of the fuel to get to an area and a third exploring and have a third of a tank left to get back to "civilization". Even diesl RVs usually have a very limited range with the capacity of their fuel tanks. MPG is far lower when off the main highways and going at much slower speeds where the consumption is based on engine hours and not miles driven.
More than 15 years ago we realized that our points with the airlines were worthless and switched to credit cards affiliated with hotel chains. As a result more than 90% of the time we do not pay for rooms at hotels in the USA and overseas. This changed the economic value of staying at a campground with an RV as compared to driving a smaller vehicle and staying at hotels.
For us the second greatest cost of owning a RV after depreciation was paying a storage facility to store it when we were not traveling.