Features

Our Camping History

We have been camping together for all of our 25+ years of marriage. For several years we camped out of a 1970 Datsun B110 with the roof piled high. Later we moved up to a '71 VW Westphalia camper. We had many weekend and longer trips, up to 2 weeks including Burning Man for 6 years over in the 25 years of ownership. In 2013 we changed to a 4x4 Tacoma. I fitted the truck bed with a raised platform that allows us to comfortably sleep in the open under the stars which we absolutely love.

We watched the movie Nomadland when it came out and decided our retirement should be a nomad style. The idea of no schedules or specific destinations is very appealing to us.

The Next Step

With our outdoor background, a class B with it's connected driving and living spaces is a good way to go. Add 4x4 for more back country capability and I think we have what we are looking for. But as you'll see below a prebuilt camper would not be acceptable for us. As an engineer I'm inclined to do things myself so we agreed to build it our self. This will ensure it build to our satisfaction and in reality I'm not sure I could find a builder that would see my vision. Many as aspects of this design will be unique and probably a bit crazy. It will be interesting how close we get to our dream.

Build Goals

We'd like to be able to stay put for about 10 days in a mild climate without starting the van. Power, food and water should be about equal limiting factors. We can't do much about the food except ensure the van has the enough storage space. Water will be conserved with a recirculating shower and incinerating toilet. The power is just a matter of having enough battery and solar. In harsher environments we will have less time but that's to be expected.

Features

After watching 100's of hours of YouTube video we have arrived at some requirements:

  1. If one person is sick and in bed the other should be able to carry on and have access to the full van.
  2. The shower needs to be comfortable in size. A recirculating feature will allow us to not feel like we have to rush through it.
  3. Toilet - no black water tank, too difficult to empty when really living in the back country.
  4. Comfortable seating for two. Comfortable to relax and watch TV (when the weather is bad).
  5. 10 days off grid without starting the engine (mild weather).
  6. All electric appliances means are not required to find propane.
  7. We will have a propane outdoor fire pit so proper storage of propane is required.
  8. Ability to sleep under the stars.
  9. Water fill-able from wild sources (non-potable). Water to the sink will be reverse osmosis filtered and UV sterilized.
  10. The van have an advance home automation system so HVAC, pumps, draw locks, cameras, all take care of themselves.

There are other major requirements but these are right off the top of my head. It's not likely to fulfill these requirements with an off the shelf vehicle so we are building our own.

Website

I was putting all my design information in Excel but since I was planning on publishing the whole process, I figured I might as well get started on the website. At this point it's just a bunch of thoughts and ramblings. Any information should be vetted by yourself. The web pages will become more formalized as the design process moves along.