Today I’m talking about a basic set of tools you will need for doing basic repairs and maintenance on your T1N Sprinter Van. This is the vans for the years 1995-2006.
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The intercooler hose has two parts to it! Years ago I replaced the upper part, and now I’ve replaced the lower part. It’s fun teaching yourself new things.
I’ve been living in the van for over two years now, and when I started making these videos and answering questions people had, I kept seeing the question ‘How are you not alone?’ Or ‘how do you make friends on the road?’ And at first I was like ‘psh thats not a real problem people have, don’t worry about it!’
And then I started to think about it, and I thought back to the very first week I spent in my van alone.
The truth is, solo female travel is the schrodingers cat of safety.
You both are, and are not safe the entire time you are traveling, and you only know which one it ends up being at the end of your trip. The risk being, you’ll either be totally fine, or you’ll be dead.
I’m a digital nomad!
I’ve been working as a freelancer since 2014 doing social media marketing, which you can learn more about here and one of the things I get asked a lot is ‘what about internet?’
So, this is pretty easy to answer. When I’m in town or a city I go to coffee shops, libraries, laundromats or just friends houses for wifi.
Vanlife isn't always a vacation, sometimes it's just a financial reality.
The first thing you should do if you know you are going to be in a city full time for a while is get a PO box! This is essential because you can have an address in the city for all your important documents to get delivered to. Post office boxes can cost between $19-$75 a month depending on the size and location of the box.
The first thing you should do is lock your door every time you leave your van, put up your blinds and hide your valuables. Fortunately for me my van kind of looks like a piece of shit from the outside and I’ve never had anyone try to break into it, but I do know a few girls who have been sleeping in their cars/vans and woken up to the sound of someone trying to break in!
Livin' in a van in a city actually kinda sucks.
There are a lot of benefits to living in a van, and I know many people who chose to do the vanlife thing in a city. It's great for them! But in my experience, it kinda sucks. That's why, after getting stuck in Grand Junction Colorado for a week and then getting even more stranded back in Santa Cruz for a few weeks, I decided to put together a little guide for staying happy and sane in the van in a city/town. Hopefully this will help y'all out if you have to hang out in a mechanics shop for a bit longer than you would have liked.
If you've been following me for a long time you KNOW I have been meaning to do this for a while. If you haven't been following me for a long time, then welcome! This is the DIY hangboard set up for my 2006 Dodge Sprinter Van.
I get this question ALL THE TIME. So I decided to start tracking all of my expenses.
I’ve also compared my expenses to the national average because I like data and numbers.
Average Rent in America: $959
(Source: https://www.deptofnumbers.com/rent/us/)
My Average Rent: $198.49-$378.49
Gas: $70-250
Car Insurance: $128.49
I've been living in a van for two years as of today! Yay!
It's been a really crazy two years, and one of the most recent challenges for me has been managing my personal health and well being.
When I first met Kate, she was in her standard post climbing attire.
Sundress, spandex shorts, Birkenstocks. We were hanging out at a dirtbag potluck, which is basically just a bunch of climbers hanging out in a parking lot and sharing food together. I was instantly drawn to her bubbly attitude and her impressive list of badass climbs she had been ticking off in Squamish. Kate wasn't afraid to go for it.
Hey Kaya! Can you make a video about hitting the road as a climber? How skilled were you when you started? Is it better to be a fully competent trad climber before starting? How often do you climb with knowledgeable climbers and how often are you taking novices? And most importantly, how do you not get in over your head?!
One of the things I get asked all the time is ‘How do you insure your van?’
I think it’s a valid question and since I’ve done a bit of research on this exact subject I thought I’d share with you how I got my van insured and how you can most likely get yours insured if you want.
I’ve wanted one of these for a while because they allow you to open the door halfway and let some light/air in even if you’re parked on a hill. I got it from the blog Traipsing About, it was only $45 (with tax and shipping) and took about 20 minutes to install.
One of the questions I get all the time is:
"What made you decide to live this lifestyle?"
I wanted to address this question because it IS really important to me and I think it’s really relevant to my generations struggles to fit into our society.
I see more and more people with uterus’s moving in to vans and since I’m a uterus having person I thought I would dedicate some space to the period experience for van lifers.
And I have to say that living with two people full time in a van… is pretty difficult.
I do think it can be done, I know lots of people who do it really well, but I think it forces you and your partner to talk about things you wouldn’t otherwise confront because of the close proximity and space.
It’s pretty easy. You need a 13 mm socket wrench, an oil pan that can hold close to 3 gallons of oil, rubber gloves, paper towels or shop towels, a new oil filter, 12 quarts of oil, and an oil filter wrench.
I've lived in a Sprinter van for 1 year and 6 months as of the writing of this blog.
The highlights are: It has been the best decision I've ever made for myself, I really like working on my house and living in a small space and there are a few things I would do differently next time.