Hi ! I have posted a few times but have not officially introduced myself ~ My name is Donna and I will be solo parent traveling with my 2 yr old and 4 yr old girls ~ Summer-Rain and Genaveve. I have a clear purpose for my trip of which I am selling up most of our stuff, storing some and squishing the rest into my Toyota Hiace Van. Dematerialising life to become a better parent ~ will most likely be my blog name ?
Just looking through your post, I have air conditioning in my van and yes I think you will need it too. Mine gave out last year and it was the middle of summer and the van was like an oven. I could not get it repaired quick enough. In spring and autumn it is easy driving without Air Con but not in the middle of summer.
I think you will find it will be very hot of a night time. in summer and in winter you will find that the walls of the van are very cold unless they are padded. Mine are not. So I pad the walls with extra blankets.
Gotta watch those salemen they will tell you anything, if you look at the photo of my van you will see what a Hi Top looks like.
Good luck with your travels, I am sure you and your little girls will have a great time.
Monica
-- Edited by Solomon on Saturday 20th of March 2010 03:13:01 PM
capt cream bun said
01:34 PM Mar 21, 2010
An interesting statement made by the makers of the Brushtracker people is this.
The success rate of people with the intension of being on the road full time in a van less than 14 ft is nil after three years. As the van size increases so does the success rate and they quote at 17 ft the success rate is 30% and at 19 ft 70%. ( statistics from memory)
They base their findings on people who have sold their rigs.
Who knows if they are correct or not but it does look like the more comfort you have the happier you are. Or is this caravan salesman talk?
Interested in what people have to say....is bigger better?
Solomon said
10:58 PM Mar 21, 2010
CCB I cant speak for other small campervan owners but I love my van. I have no intention of selling it. I intend to drive it into the ground. I feel very much at home in it, it is my home away from home. It is a place where I can relax, lie back and put my feet up.
Admittedly I am not permanently on the road but I might as well be as I am always taking small trips that seem to be getting longer, I find I am staying away from home longer, extending my trip, getting more relaxed and enjoying the van more each time I use it, so much so that I have got to the stage that I prefer to drive my van rather than my car.
-- Edited by Solomon on Sunday 21st of March 2010 09:58:28 PM
Sheba said
11:08 PM Mar 21, 2010
I sold my car and kept the Campervan for the same reason Solomon, although I think Cream Bun was referring to Caravans.
Cheers,
Sheba.
Solomon said
11:13 PM Mar 21, 2010
Yes your are right Sheba, but a van is a van. Look at Daveo6 he has been driving little blue for years. I know for a fact he is very fond of little blue.
My apologies CCB.
-- Edited by Solomon on Sunday 21st of March 2010 10:14:05 PM
capt cream bun said
11:31 PM Mar 21, 2010
Yep i was referring to vans from the perspective of being on the road without a base and being solo as well. I havent got a clue if the Brushtracker people are correct or not just simply asking "is there more comfort under those circumstances in a bigger rig? " and wondering also what those here, real people with real experiences think.
How would you go Sheba / Solomon if in your vans you had two little ones as well and where permanently on the road?
Ginger said
12:16 AM Mar 22, 2010
Now I am becoming confused.
I have been looking for a van, I had a look at a Nissan Urvan Campervan 91, Mitsubishi L300 4WD Poptop, Toyota Campervan Pop Top, all seems quite roomy inside. Some had plenty of cupboards and some didnt. One had a swing out stove, the others were set up against a wall, I liked the swing out.
I have not seen a hi top yet but believe the sway a lot in windy weather.
I dont want to live in it permanently just go for long trips. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Solomon said
12:51 AM Mar 22, 2010
capt cream bun wrote:How would you go Sheba / Solomon if in your vans you had two little ones as well and where permanently on the road?
With no disrespect to Donna, everyone is different, but there is no way I would think about living permanently in a camper with two littlies .... well not my camper ... for one thing rainy weather is a real joy killer been cooped up in the van, especially with my dog, all those muddy wet paws and children would be no different, harder I think, as children need to be active where as Max is happy to lie down and snooze. Same goes for the middle of summer, it is way too hot to be in the van, even of a night time, it is difficult to sleep. I don't have an awning I have thought about getting one but haven't got around to it yet. Keep in mind Donna is getting a tent which will make a lot of difference room wise as her children will have room to move around. Donna is also thinking of a box trailer to put her extra possessions in. These extras will make life on the road a lot easier for Donna.
Donna I admire you tremendously, in my book you have a hell of a lot of guts ... good on you.
So to answer your questions CCB: no I would not like to live permanently in my camper with two littlies.
-- Edited by Solomon on Monday 22nd of March 2010 12:00:57 AM
Beams said
11:04 PM Mar 22, 2010
Hi Ginger,
I cannot advise you but I can bring up a point for your consideration.
I have a Hiace LWB and it is a pop top, which I wanted in preference to a Hi-top as I travel solo. I also have a full aircon in the roof for those times when the fan is not enough.
But the aircon makes the pop top very heavy to lift.
I have since found a solution, and if anyone is interested, I will explain it in full.
So keep in mind that an air con is great, but then lifting the pop top wont be as easy.
Good luck. . .
Beams
Sheba said
12:30 AM Mar 23, 2010
capt cream bun wrote:How would you go Sheba / Solomon if in your vans you had two little ones as well and where permanently on the road?
Hi CCB, If I was permanently on the road with 2 small children, I think I would prefer a larger, but not too large motorhome. Up to about 21 or 22 ft. Donna might feel comfortable with say a 23-25 footer. Depends on finances of coarse. My younger sister has a 24 footer. [She's a Donna too].
Cheers, Sheba.
Sheba said
12:35 AM Mar 23, 2010
Beams wrote: So keep in mind that an air con is great, but then lifting the pop top wont be as easy.
If any-one cares to go back through the Techies' pages, xina also gave websites for 12 Volt Jacks, which people are using as an aid in raising caravan pop-tops.
Cheers, Sheba.
Solomon said
09:06 AM Mar 23, 2010
Beams wrote: So keep in mind that an air con is great, but then lifting the pop top wont be as easy.
Silly me, I thought Dees was talking about air con in her vehicle, not the camper part of it. I was having a blonde moment there.
When I first bought my van I saw a van exactly the same as mine, with a AC unit in the top at the rear end of the roof with access at the rear of the vehicle.
I have also seen a photo in here somewhere of Cruising Granny's AC which is set on the back bumper of her van. I wonder if Dees could get a similar one on her van but a swing out, like they do the spare tyres on Land Cruisers. Just a thought.
-- Edited by Solomon on Tuesday 23rd of March 2010 08:12:25 AM
-- Edited by Solomon on Saturday 20th of March 2010 03:13:01 PM
An interesting statement made by the makers of the Brushtracker people is this.
The success rate of people with the intension of being on the road full time in a van less than 14 ft is nil after three years.
As the van size increases so does the success rate and they quote at 17 ft the success rate is 30% and at 19 ft 70%. ( statistics from memory)
They base their findings on people who have sold their rigs.
Who knows if they are correct or not but it does look like the more comfort you have the happier you are. Or is this caravan salesman talk?
Interested in what people have to say....is bigger better?
Admittedly I am not permanently on the road but I might as well be as I am always taking small trips that seem to be getting longer, I find I am staying away from home longer, extending my trip, getting more relaxed and enjoying the van more each time I use it, so much so that I have got to the stage that I prefer to drive my van rather than my car.
-- Edited by Solomon on Sunday 21st of March 2010 09:58:28 PM
My apologies CCB.
-- Edited by Solomon on Sunday 21st of March 2010 10:14:05 PM
Yep i was referring to vans from the perspective of being on the road without a base and being solo as well. I havent got a clue if the Brushtracker people are correct or not just simply asking "is there more comfort under those circumstances in a bigger rig? " and wondering also what those here, real people with real experiences think.
How would you go Sheba / Solomon if in your vans you had two little ones as well and where permanently on the road?
-- Edited by Solomon on Monday 22nd of March 2010 12:00:57 AM
Hi CCB,
If I was permanently on the road with 2 small children, I think I would prefer a larger, but not too large motorhome. Up to about 21 or 22 ft. Donna might feel comfortable with say a 23-25 footer. Depends on finances of coarse. My younger sister has a 24 footer. [She's a Donna too].
Cheers,
Sheba.
Cheers,
Sheba.
So keep in mind that an air con is great, but then lifting the pop top wont be as easy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silly me, I thought Dees was talking about air con in her vehicle, not the camper part of it. I was having a blonde moment there.
When I first bought my van I saw a van exactly the same as mine, with a AC unit in the top at the rear end of the roof with access at the rear of the vehicle.
I have also seen a photo in here somewhere of Cruising Granny's AC which is set on the back bumper of her van. I wonder if Dees could get a similar one on her van but a swing out, like they do the spare tyres on Land Cruisers. Just a thought.
-- Edited by Solomon on Tuesday 23rd of March 2010 08:12:25 AM