There's other much nicer places to boondock about an hour from Quartzsite. You just need to do some exploring. 😊

Very helpful, and mostly what I plan to do this year. Thank you. It’s nice to know others think this way.

I never understood why RV's try to fit everything into the vehicle especially a queen size bed and beds for 6 kids. I absolutely love how you think about RV living. I took out the back rest on my Ford Focus. Put in plywood for a flat sleeping surface. I have a bike rack. I use a small cooler for food. There are plenty of rest stop and fast food places for bathroom use. I would never pay for a motel/hotel to travel. It's the best way to explore the country, free as possible.

i avoid the Quartzite deal. i'm 67 and don't want to hangout with old farts.😂

agree with you on all but the shower. i have a hightop and put up a square pvc shower rod and use a pump sprayer with a kitchen sprayer. all kept in a storage container which i stand in and it catches the water. while the water is heating on the burner i put up the curtain. then add the hot water to the room temperature water, pump up the sprayer and take my shower. it's not like at home(a 15min shower) but, i can get squeaky clean and feel clean.

Guys you are so cute and seem in alignment. May your love increase over time and you enjoy your life ❤

Agree!

What you put in the van depends on "use case". If you are a "full-timer" then some "luxuries" make more sense. If you are just going for a weekend, then piece of foam mattress, a sleeping bag, plastic bucket, ice-bucket, and camp stove. Alternating current wiring is a PITA, and unless you are an idiot, DC wiring is not that hard and safer. On the other hand, DC powered devices are usually more expensive than their mains counterparts. Solar power is not all that expensive IMHO, unless you have to mate it with a Lithium battery. Some sort of TOILET is a must. yes, I know there are toilets everywhere in cities , and in wilderness spot you only need a spade. I don't care who you are, if you do a lot of van travel, you DO need an emergency toilet. Very bad weather, dangerous spots in cities, illness etc, can all conspire to make an emergency toilet a MUST HAVE. Weight and balance. You and other people animals in the van, and you fit out and belongings MUST be within the payload of the vehicle. Balanced loads, left to right, forward to back. No bungie cords, but proper strong anchor points. Everything heavy as low down as possible, or you will roll like a ball in an accident. And a head on collision is bad enough without the spare hitting you on the back of the head with huge force. WATER: a minimum of 5 liters per day per person. One liter weighs one kilogram [without the containers]. So 5 liters is about a gallon. Note I said CONTAINERS, plural. ONE big tank is no good if it leaks without you noticing, and you have no water left. Again, water is heavy so balance it out, and store low. Weight on the roof? Forget it. It is dangerous. A few solar panels, that's it. No Jerry-cans of water or fuel on the roof rack. TOWING? Learn how to do it safely, and if in doubt, don't do it. The tow vehicle must be heavier than the trailer. The trailer must have proper brakes. Learn about everything GVM, tow ball weight, etc. Most vehicle manufacturer's lie about about towing capacity. Heavy stuff should be low down, and over the axles. Put everything over a weighbridge, and be conservative and stick under the max weights allowed. Basically a van is a tin box where you may have to do everything inside it in inclement weather. Sleep live, cook, wash and eliminate. it is not, and never will, approach the comfort of a brick and sticks house. So adjust your mentality appropriately.

Thanks so much for making this video because it is very meaningful how you are kind and also very informational 💫🥳👍👍

Great to hear all this! I built a Toyota Sienna campervan used for 30-day trips, but hope to move up to a ProMaster one day. Glad to hear that the simpler solutions I use now would still work full-time. (Although I would totally move up to a foot pump from my USB-powered faucet.)

Nice style.

Thank you Lisa …. like your simple approach …. appreciated!

way toomuch drama about the job of empting the casses on the toilet... we used one for years...worked wll.. empotying it and cleaning it before the net round of use was NOT that big of a deal...

Ps hikers stoves are a god send to cook on and weigh next to nothing

I use porta poti with chemicals and rv dump points to empty 25L water jerry cans run on syphon from a hose with a tap on it it clamps to a water jerrycan tap and a raised single bed out of a house its raised to make better storage and a companion aqua cube gas hot water shower system in short wheel base vw transopter van with solar and lighting duel battery kit with 2x 300ah agm batteries it cost me under 2k to fit out van to live in permanently and could easily set it up for way less and i forgot 2kv Chinese deisel heater as it gets a bit cold in tasmania if im homeless and not working and can set that up come on guys get out there n do it make some memories

Onlyhere as think you cute

Yes to all of that. One must venture out and sleep to see what you don't need, or watch this video. Another is you don't need a lot of power. Cept if you found an airconditioning solution that is actually truly workable and cooling to your satisfaction.

❤

Very helpful.Thank you.

Slime inside water tanks is a problem...

I keep saying why not to use a bucket with good plastic bags for toilet....

All very true! Start simple and see what you might want to improve (luxurize) down the road.

Wait so what is the electrical setup. Someone help? I am new to this I don't know much

Stopped watching under 3 minutes regarding toilet issue in our vans. Each to their own. Yeah nah. No thanks

Great minimalist tips. Btw, are you related to John Malkovich

for me, investing in one of the most core requirements for the human body - waste disposal, is paramount. So, I decided to purchase the Laveo Dry-Flush toilet. I did not want to skimp on this core requirement in life. Make the investment and you will be happy-er. Clean up is a breeze but comes at the cost of $1.70 per flush… an investment I am willing to make for ease of disposal and comfort in this arena. That’s what technology is about. After all, I’m not paying rent.

What foot pump do you use?

Good Information. Thank you

In emergencies, I have used a five gallon bucket, garbage bag and kitty litter, for both pee and poop. I just toss it out in the garbage like I do with the cat's poop. If you want a shower, put a jug of water on top of your van to heat in the sun and the roof. Attach a length of hose to the jug, turn it on it's side and use a garden sprayer with a trigger to control the flow. You will have to put a vent in the jug for the water flow. This is just off the top of my head. One vanner attached one of those big PVC pipes to the top of his van, alongside the rack. He'd put a blank plug on the front end and a plug with a spigot on the rear end, and had installed a vent at the front end (air behind water is, I believe, the rule) and used a hose and garden sprayer. If you don't want to stand on the ground when you shower, then a teak wood mat would work. And a shower curtain across the open back doors for privacy. I do love my showers. I would prefer a Jackery or Anker power bank with moveable solar panels and small appliances for my cooking, but that's because I don't like the idea of propane or butane in a small, enclosed space. I have a little alcohol stove for power outages, but even that makes me nervous. However, since I moved from Michigan to southern Ohio, there haven't been any power outages. Just sayin'. See, I've been through a lot of ice storms and blizzards and blackouts of assorted durations, the northeast blackout of, I believe, 2003 left us in the dark for 5 days. No water, no power. I was running back and forth between my place and my folks house. The best day was when they got their power back. Still no water and we'd be boiling water for a week when we got it back. However, we were hit by a gullywasher of a thunderstorm and the water was sliding off of their porch roof. We filled buckets like crazy to pour down the toilets to flush them. Gravity is a wonderful thing. And even living in suburban Detroit can be an exercise in survival! You ever seen two karens fighting over the last gallon of water in the store? I do wish I had thought to record it, if our phones could do that back in 2003... This is a really good video and your insights are excellent! I sometimes think about vanning, I could fix up my Nissan Rogue. But my full-sized mattress is 10" thick and my lazyboy chair won't fit...

Awesome! Totally agree 😉👍🚙🏜️🏔️

Yes, Definitely, keep it simple. Exactly what I do.😊

Yeah, you lead with a toilet as unnecessary - let me explain from a 68-year old woman's viewpoint, YOU may not need one, but I SURE DO. When you have maybe four or five minutes to actually get to the toilet before the pee runs down your leg because your OLD BODY PARTS don't work like they used to, then YOU will understand what is necessary for someone else that isn't your age (or perhaps health condition).

We have a simple toilet which looks like a normal one, even has a toilet paper holder, and a proper seat to sit on, but inside is just a simple bucket! I love it. As you say, it's easiest to clean. We usually use that toilet just for the weekends, so not for a long period. So before going to sleep I put some water in it that it won't smell too much the other morning and we all use it over night (2 adults, 2 kids) and I just clean it the other morning and no chemicals needed. If you just need a peeing-place for the night, I recommend the bucket as well!

Have you tried dry shampoo? They come in slender aerosol type cans that really do a good job when you can’t shower. Enjoy your videos, thanks.

Great video! Thanks

I bought a 2008 Chrysler minivan and doing a very minimal conversion. I had a van that cost a fortune and a 26 ft RV. All a pain. I’m for simplicity. My van didn’t have a bathroom and I did put in a compost toilet in the RV which was better than constantly dumping. Although the urine part filled up fast.

Plastic jars for #1. Grocery bags and a bucket for #2. No gray tank. Some showers are going to be be mist sprayer showers, others will be in public outdoor showers, some will be in a river or in the rain and fancy/long ones at the Gym. I don't believe in elevated platform beds in a van, just a two part mattress right on the floor that is either in couch or bed mode - you don't need floor space while you sleep. All heat generating and noisy appliances hidden behind a back firewall that is ventilated but accessible. I store everything up top, not down low, including drinking water so gravity is on my side. Air fryer and microwave, no stovetop or propane. Cook only 2x a week and reheat. Shelves, bins and bags not furniture or drawers. Insulate and panel visible living space, but leave van studs and garage exposed. Custom always open ventilation. Wash clothing in the shower. Avoid the cold and snow. Sun dry clothing. Park in the shade. Getting outside is the idea and goal.

Try a she wee

My wife and I own a 2005 Sprinter. We've owned it for 15+ years. 200,000 miles. Like you no bathroom. We have a 1 gallon mayo jar with a handle and 5-inch opening for pee. My Wife tells everyone, "not a single accident in 15 years." We have Lugable Loo. Combined with biodegradable bags. Perfect solution. We are DC only. No running water. Running water is wasted water. We carry almost 10 gallons of water with us. 2 five liter jugs, two lter jugs, two one liter jugs. Dishwashing in small plastic tubs. Diesel heater. Gihugic 12v refrig. Queen size bad. Home build. For us, this is luxury..

Loved this video! Thank you for putting yourself out there for our benefit. I just read the comments to get even more tips. Those who gave you unconstuctive criticisms are 100% jealous of your beauty, inner light &/or savvy wit. Hands down, just sayin 😏

Love your mindset and approach to the set up, I’d love to see the same simplicity applied in tiny / offgrid homes. thanks for taking the time to make this and share your experience….👍

Besides the bovine submissive, wannabe tribal nose ring, her style is hot. Definitely not American.

One system for fridge and freezer : purchase 1 good little freezer, and one yeti cooler. Put 3 freezer packs in freezer, ...when the packs are frozen, take them out and place them in the cooler....put 3 more packs in freezer....24 hours later...remove freezer packs from cooler, and replace them with frozen packs from freezer...then take freezer packs from cooler to place in freezer....ad infinitum. This system works fine as long as your solar system has enough sun . This system is not perfect in that it will be just a matter of time before you will need to purchase a few bags of ice.....but it is a simpler way of cooling, repairing, and purchasing.

Thank you! We're planing our build, and it's been so difficult to sort through reviews of "use this, install this, you're going to want this luxury feature," etc. It's all so expensive and complicated, and frankly it's been delaying our leap to being on the road. This was a refreshing reminder that you *can* opt for simplicity, and it can work just fine (and hey, if we want to "upgrade" to more "luxury" features later, that's an option).

Excellent video, nice to hear you can actually keep it simple and cheaper, which is a big reason for campervans in the first place

I never thought of the foot water pump but it looks great

Awesome video

On toilets: I had a DIY dry toilet which worked great and which I recently replaced with a Trelino which is MUCH less expensive than most and is quite minimalist. Very similar to my DIY but with larger collection containers which extends time for emptying substantially.

Kinda of always go with the k.i.s.s. Method of doing things. Can add as you find out what you need/want 🤷‍♂️

Sub'ed.