Home sweet home.
When I first started talking about my next adventure, someone said, "Well you are un-packaging yourself." I guess that is true.
When I went to Mt. Jefferson as the rains started to roll into the Pacific Northwest, I was hit hard with the feeling that I need, truly need, to spend more time in the woods. That after a day of being out hiking and exploring, as I come over the crest all happy and worn out, I see my blue tent and know I am coming home. I boil the water to make a simple dinner. Maybe I make a fire. I settle into the setting sun, the change of pace of my fellow creatures that regularly occupy the area, and sip a warm evening beverage.... I settle deeper and deeper to a feeling of belonging.
I have always felt a bit of a nomad. Its sort of pissed off some of my girlfriends and at least one partner. I have a suspicion that it makes some of my family members nervous. I just have such a hard time feeling connected to a place/house/home. I am almost always prepared to move on, sometimes run away, but mostly its just to move on and see what is around the next bend in the road, river, my mind.... Portland, the Pacific Northwest has been the exception. Still.... I can not find a "place" that I want and am able to call home.
So now I have decided to try an urban nomad life, and move into a van. My grand plan was to spend the winter getting rid of shit, saving money, and starting in the spring. I would spend my days off at the river, mountain, the coast... My plans never exactly work out as I imagine. I oddly found an old van that matched all my requirements at the end of November. I have spent December getting ready, and began the new year with a new way of living. And finding areas that are not yet filled with snow to outdoor it.
My requirements were: small cargo van (was looking at the Chevy Astro van ended up with a Ford Aerostar), fairly good condition, not too expensive in case I hate it. I went for cargo because it blend in with all the other white work vans around town (urban stealth-ability), they are made to last and haul stuff around. The smaller cargo vans get better gas mileage. I read a ton of van living blogs and talked to people about ideas and systems needed. Plus, a couple years ago a really good friend of mine made this transition, and I got to watch them do it, and had kept a little file in my brain about what I liked and what I would maybe do different.
The thing is, I found very little out there on what women are doing in vans. I found one about a woman with a kid, but it was written by a guy. There are a bunch with male/female couples. So how women dealt with female specific issues... I'm making up as I go along.
The first question I usually get is about the bathroom. I joined 24 hour fitness for showers and sauna. I wanted something that I could go to after work (around 11pm) for those cold nights. You know work out, sauna, shower, get super internal heat then climb into my warm sleeping bag. I looked for something local or not big corporate, but there is a reason it is called 24 hour fitness... Then I researched the best female peeing standing up devises, and found the pstyle. That with a good mason jar (with those tight fitting plastic lids) make a great bathroom. It is distinctly marked so as not to be confused with other mason jars. The perk of the pstyle is the rounded back edge. It acts like a squeegee, so you don't have to worry about wiping or drips. If you regularly bike, hike, have a desire to pee standing (or not fully dropping the drawers) get this devise! For other bathroom needs, I have a list of late night/early morning coffee shops, bookstores, and such that I can use... being healthy with regular bowel movements is helpful. The other devise that I use is the Diva Cup. Its especially great for overnight, and again, hiking/backpacking. It takes a little getting use to, but in just a short time it is super easy to manage.
OK, now that that stuff is out of the way. Lets talk food, the 2nd most asked question that involves fewer uncomfortable looks and explanations. Well I'm keeping it simple. Raw fruits and veggies mostly. I got a traveling personal blender The Tribest, is the one I picked. It has a nice little adapter for mason jars, unfortunately it is not for the wide mouth jars that I usually use, but I'm getting use to it. It is super great for the small jars that I use to make raw nut cheeses/spreads. I also found an electric kettle for tea and miso soup. I found a great inverter that plugs into the cigarette lighter thing and has 2 outlets and one usb port. To be honest, I haven't used them too much yet, but am looking forward to figuring it all out. In the mean time, you will probably find me dining at Canteen having an amazing smoothie, bowl, or the walnut taco salad thing that I am craving right now! I have several water bottles that I keep filled and bags of nuts and kale chips around.
I think those are the basics. I'm just a couple weeks into this new adventure and 5 days of that was, yup, cat sitting. I suspect that I will be tweaking and shifting things around. I did get a storage unit for opposite season clothing/needs, my massage table, one guitar, drum, and things I'm not ready to get rid of, as well as things I want to send off... oh yes, and books. Seems I have a horrible addiction to books. I'm giving away bunches, but still have 3 apple boxes worth in storage. Mostly they are books I do refer to often, or books I have for specific projects that I am hoping to jump on. The storage unit is fairly small, but I think I will be able to go smaller soon. Detachment is coming faster than expected. I should mention that I have space in the van for 2 milk crates of books... plant id books, and current project/pleasure readings.
Other things that have a permanent place in the van for now. The rear storage is backpacking gear, books, extra jackets, tools, writing resources, and things I don't need daily. In the front compartment, I have cloths, food, and food related devices. In the future (near I hope) will be a cooler when the temps get a little warmer out. What else? the sides have rain gear, sometimes my bike, shoes/muck boots... Oh yeah! sleeping.
So I was going to get some kind of smaller version of a futon, but when I went to Cotton Cloud, the guy told me about The Nomad Pad! I'll get a pick soon. It is the size of a twin mattress, but tri-folds. That means I have a bed, chair, and a lounger! It is 6 inches of firm foam with an amazing cover that is water proof and easy to keep clean. And I can just do a little flip and have plenty of room to slide it around and create a whole different environment... or make it look like no one is living in it while tooling around town.
OK so that's the basics. The goal is for this to remain somewhat dynamic. As it warms up, I'm sure that I will be spending more time in it, out of it at parks in such... but now you know how I have un-packaged myself. If you find me parked in your area, feel free to stop by for a cup of tea.
The woman I bought this little van from used it for traveling and her dad built her this great platform:
it takes a great many tools for me to do something straight
no power tools were used in the remodel
smoothie break
this is the end i flipped one side to open to the side
thinking about what to do with what I have.
it may be cold
but this is my view
