I have a van.

In my last entry, I told you about selling the RV. At the time, I'd actually purchased another van, but things were up in the air so I've been holding off on a further update to avoid confusion.

I have a van.

I won't bore you with the (frustrating!) details, but I bought a 1999 Chevy Astro for $3300. I know I overpaid for it, and a bunch of stuff needs to be fixed. Luckily, I have an awesome mechanic brother and a supportive grandfather, so the repairs I need to make the van driveable are being done.

I went with an Astro for a few reasons, the main being stealth. In January, when I was planning my return to vanlife, I wrote about stealth in my post New Year, New Beginnings. In Thelma, and the blue RV, I felt very exposed. With an RV, you know someone's sleeping in there if you're parked at a lot/rest area. As a single female traveller, that puts me on edge. A plain white cargo van, however, blends in to any neighbourhood without a second look.

In an Astro, driving and parking are a breeze. It's basically the same size as my old minivan, so it fits into one regular parking space. There are windows out the back doors, so I can even use my mirror, which was an issue in the RV. I like having a lot of visibility out when I'm driving, so that was important to me. I do plan on eventually blocking the window on the rear driver's side in favour of a vent for air conditioning, but we'll see.

And the price was right. I'm limited in what I can afford, so although it's not the ideal Ford Transit van I dream of, it's enough to last me at least until the fall when I go out west.

Right now the van is at my brother's shop getting new tires put on, along with some other work. I've already started work on the inside, putting up a heat barrier of Reflectix on the walls. I'd hoped to spray foam, but concerns about the longevity of the van and dwindling cash have nixed that idea for now. I've basically taped the Reflectix to the walls using Gorilla Tape, so there's a small gap between the metal wall of the van and the Reflectix to give it space to actually reflect the heat away from the van interior.

I have a roof vent to install, and my solar kit has partially arrived in the mail, so those will be installed soon too.

I'd thought about recording the build process for my YouTube channel that I've never posted to, but I'm still kinda afraid to put myself out there like that. You should still subscribe though, as I do plan on eventually putting stuff there as well.

That's it for this update. Stay tuned to see how the build is coming!