Yup. I FINALLY FUCKING DID IT. I got my van.
Last Tuesday, the seller took it in for inspection and it went well . I called Tuesday night and spoke with the mechanic. There are a few small maintenance items that will need to be done over the next 6 months or so, but the mechanic said the van is in amazing shape and said he thought I was getting a good deal. I picked it up Wednesday. My friend Ginny drove me over to Maryland and I signed the contract, went to the Tag and Title place (Maryland is very strange in how they register vehicles) and I got a temp tag so I could drive it home. It drives great. It is slightly bigger than my old Soap Fairy van, and has lots of windows so changing lanes is easy and stress free. It’s small–only 19’ 3” bumper to bumper, but it has everything I need.
Cosmo and I started moving-in Wednesday night, but I was so burned out from stress and adrenaline overload, that we didn’t get too far. We slept in the house Wednesday night. On Thursday, we started early in the morning and put a serious dent into the moving-in process and have been sleeping here ever since. I haven’t fully moved all my kitchen stuff in yet, but I made coffee here in the van every morning and I’ve got a “jet pack” so I have internet. I’m typing this from my bedroom/dining room. Yup. Everything seems to be multi-purpose. Put up the table and move some cushions and you have a dining room or office. Put the table down, rearrange the cushions and now it’s a bedroom.
I did a video when I brought it home. You can see the quick tour here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsfLJ_X9K0Y
The day yesterday was spent taking out the jump seats and installing kitchen cabinets in their place. I gained about 12 square feet of storage space. That may not sound like a big deal, but the van is maybe 75 square feet, so adding an additional 12 square feet of storage is huge. It opens up the space, makes it feel bigger while making it much more practical for storing food and kitchen items. I also bought a 12 volt RV TV/DVD player. It plugs into the cigarette lighter socket (there are two up front in the cab and two in the far back by my dining room/bedroom/(and now) Media Room! ? I installed it last night. It’s tiny, like everything else in here, but it’s very functional.
From my bed last night I looked through the 3 windows in the raised ceiling and could see the moon, and Jupiter, and when the clouds cooperated, Saturn and Mars. I love having lots of windows and I especially love seeing the stars before falling asleep. If you’ve read my blog from the very beginning, you know that the seed for purchasing this van was planted in Peru, when I realized how connected I am to all that is. I had the revelation that I LIVE HERE! On this planet. In this solar system, in this Universe. It makes me very happy to have achieved my goal to live a simpler life, closer to the earth, and feeling more connected. Watching Jupiter and Saturn traverse my 3 rooftop windows certainly reminds me of where I am in the grand scheme of things.
I cannot tell you how happy I am this morning. I decided in January of 2019 that I wanted a van to live in and travel the country to see friends. I was starting to feel like the boy who cried wolf—I kept saying “No, really. I am going to do this.” But I kept running into obstacles. I knew it would happen. (And some of you knew it too!) And it was so worth the wait. That year and a half of looking gave me a chance to really assess what I wanted, what I needed, what was out there, and what I could afford. I really feel like I made the right choice. I still own the building, (or, maybe it owns ME) so I have to keep working until someone buys it, but I can take short trips, maybe a long weekend here and there. I can get some practice with van life, and once the building sells, I’ll be on the road. Can’t wait.
If any of you know of anyone who may be interested in property in Milford, please have them contact me. I have a commercial property with my business and residence contained in a 4500 square foot building. Now that I’ve got my van, I’m quite negotiable on price.