This Van Has All You Need for an Adventure
Disclosure: At no additional cost to you, you can support FLORB by using the affiliate links below
In 2013, Dave walsh was in Mexico city when he lost his job with the boulder based tech startup that he was working for. in a situation that a lot of people would see as misfortune, Dave was able to find the opportunity he needed to find a sustainable life on the road.
“I was at a friend's grandparents house, and these folks were like dirt floor poor, but they couldn't have been happier.” SEeing the way that this family was able to make ends meet by taking odd jobs and the happiness they were able to take from the lifestyle inspired dave to start his own hustle. By taking on freelance jobs as a handyman, he was able to not only sustain his own living expenses, but pay off his debts and build up some savings. He realized that the stable nine to five wasn’t necessary.
He and a friend ended up hiking part of the pacific crest trail, and after deciding to stop part way, bought bicycles in san francisco to tour the pacific northwest. Dave loved The lifestyle and decided to find a way to do it full time. He began to pursue a career in outdoor education to become a professional guide.
“I realized that a lot of folks were living out of their Subarus & Tacomas and I didn't want that. I wanted to be able to stand up and cook dinner and have a place to call home.” Dave was already travelling a ton and figured that having a stationary home base wasn’t making a ton of sense for his lifestyle. Rather than spend money on an apartment he was rarely in, he decided to put his money into a mobile rig that would make a life in the outdoors more sustainable.
“Betty White” is a 2012 Mercedes Sprinter van that Dave self converted to achieve this coal. With a hundred seventy inch wheel base, it’s the longest you can get. This gave Dave a lot of interior space to work with. The high bed platform allows for a ton of storage for bicycles, stand up paddle boards and other outdoor equipment. It’s accessible through the back doors and kept separate from the rest of the living space.
The living area is fully insulated and comes with a complete galley. There’s a small fridge that runs off a 12 volt electric system that is fed by two 100 watt solar panels. Water for the sink is manually pumped, from a jug that can easily be lifted out for refilling. “I kept the van really simple like an adventurer van. I didn't want an RV... a big thing was making sure that I had good fuel mileage.” Dave gets about twenty miles a gallon with the van fully loaded, and it’s relatively nimble size allows him to go to all sorts of places that would be inaccessible to a conventional RV.
Dave is often surprised by the way people talk about living in a van. “They make it seem like I'm doing something that's a privilege. To me, like, anybody can do this.” Once you unburden yourself with the things that you don’t need, you find that you’re a lot more mobile and able to take on risks that were unsurmountable before. For Dave, the first step of letting stuff go and taking the plunge is the biggest, while the rest will come naturally.
View Full Video Here:
Affiliate Links:
