soon to be nomad

terriwa · Senior Member

soon to be nomad

2-Smiths · Veteran Member

terriwa wrote:
What do you do between order and delivery, then the next 12 months before you take off?
Greg.

Might be an idea to ask Mike Harding, who I believe spent a similar time frame researching and preparing for his solo nomadic experience before setting off.

He posts on the "Solo Grey Nomads" forum a bit, when he has coverage...

Possum3 · Guru

Greg, take this opportunity to download free technical articles and checklists from Caravan Council of Australia to make yourself familiar with probable problems and what to check for prior to handing over your hard earned money www.caravancouncil.com.au/

Whenarewethere · Guru

Make sure you have heavy enough wiring.

Enough payload capacity, it is frightening how it vanishes.

Quality solar equipment.

Decent batteries

Maybe a real 2.5kW air conditioner which are infinitely more efficient if you are running off batteries.

yobarr · Guru

Whenarewethere wrote:
Make sure you have heavy enough wiring.
Enough payload capacity, it is frightening how it vanishes.
Quality solar equipment.
Decent batteries
Maybe a real 2.5kW air conditioner which are infinitely more efficient if you are running off batteries.

Agree with all of those points,particularly payload.Compressor fridge if you dont already have one.Grey water tank over the axles so balance doesnt change when full or empty.Lithium batteries are streets ahead of anything else,particularly with weight,but also with usable capacity. Dont short change yourself on Solar capacity....I have over 1700 watts so NEVER run out of battery,even with 2.5kw reverse cycle AC on drawbar.Use BIG cabling.Good TV aerial,or Sat TV?.Generator?

terriwa · Senior Member

Yeah

Thanks guys

Got the solar

Lithium batteries

going to get gennie

Extra solar portable

good rv wifi

Cheers Greg

terriwa · Senior Member

But what do I do to keep me occupied in the meantime before I retire

yobarr · Guru

terriwa wrote:
But what do I do to keep me occupied in the meantime before I retire

Might be worthwhile just going away for a couple of days on test runs,just to iron out the small problems that will inevitably occur,and to ensure that all your gear is of sufficient capacity to do all the things you want it to.Battery capacity,Solar production,does the TV work in the bush,have you got enough water,does the balance of the van change as you use your water,or do you have tanks fore and aft of the axle group to manage this? Your towball weight may change drastically as you use water,turning your van into an entirely diffrerent animal.Is the H/W system of sufficient capacity for your needs? You may consider fitting a SOG kit to your toilet.(Highly recommended)Are your gas bottles sufficiently well secured to prevent less-honest people from helping themselves.There are no doubt many other things to keep you occupied,but this will get you started. Good luck! Cheers

Gaylehere · Guru

WORK. Sorry terriwa couldn't help myself. Sort out your household stuff. Are you giving up a home or selling up to hit the road full time? If you are locking up a home get rid of stuff that gathers dust whilst away.Go through your tools. What do you want to take with you and how much space and weight will they take. Down size your belongings. Don't hold onto that old pair of jeans just because you can. Some will say plan your trip - we only holiday and do very little planning before we go anywhere. We have a leave date and a need to be home date and play the rest in between by ear. Have all your medical checkups. Get all your accounts in order - organize direct debits for payments like rates, insurances etc, if you don't want to be bothering with that stuff whilst on the road. Visit friends and family that you won't see whilst away. Do a big jigsaw. The time will go quick enough. Cheers.

Sarge9 · Senior Member

Gaylehere is on the money, dont guess and fuss about the van bits until you can go for proper practice runs of days or half weeks etc... get the "Camps Aust. 10"on the table and do some drooling, then check a few of those spots with wikkicamps comments. Have a look at the Must Have things you will load form house to tug/van then divided by about 75% even then it will be more than you need. On our first few big trips we still took too much stuff, our plan was.... if we have not got it or left it at home we buy another one or go without. Unless you go outback for your first trip, there will be plenty of opportunity to buy what you don't have.

Waiting will be the hard part.

Enjoy. Sarge.