Banjo commented on Arуan Nomadism Handbook?

Jun-7-2020

10:22 PM UTC

I have lived for short periods in two different vehicles. The first was a pickup truck and the second a van. Some cities have been outlawing sleeping in vehicles because of the explosion of people doing it especially on the west coast. I recommend a windowless cargo van. A sprinter van is ideal due to its high roof. Pickups can be conspicuous because if one is to sleep in the bed he has to exit the vehicle and climb into the back which is an odd thing to do for most people thus raising suspicion. With a van one can wait till the coast is clear and hop into the back. Additionally a pickup with a topper has less room and can be entered more easily by thieves. Many commercial vans may come with a locking cage and the ability to lock the doors with a padlock on the outside when one leaves the van for a while. Vans often have ground clearance close to that of pickups so they work if one is going onto backwoods roads. Of course there are 4x4 vans but they can often be cost prohibitive.

Camper vans are great if you are not staying in a city. Same with mobile homes, converted buses and the like. Using those in the city may cause people to call the police. You see, there are two main choices when sleeping in a vehicle in the city. One is to find the areas where there are signs of other people sleeping in their vehicles. These are safe zones in bad areas of the city or often underneath an interstate bridge or on a frontage road but they come at a price which is that they are often populated by drug addicts and assorted scumbags. The second choice is to have a decent looking vehicle that blends into all the other vehicles. Then one can sleep in almost any neighborhood that isn't gated. Having done both the second choice is the safest and best.

As far as bicycles go the best bet in my opinion is to get a cargo trailer. I purchased and used a BOB Yak many years ago which comes with a waterproof sack for the items being trailered. If one is going to be living and moving around by bicycle this is better than pannier racks for a few reasons. First, at least with the BOB Yak, one can take the trailer off very easily. Second, the pannier racks can change the balance of the bike. A good cargo trailer isn't really felt and the balance stays the same. Third, one can carry more in a trailer including groceries, game, firewood etc.

There once upon a time was a great yahoo group titled Vandwellers which had answers to every question one could come up with when it came to living in a van. Yahoo groups has deleted all the content now which is a shame. Here are some alternative sites to learn more: