Anyone already done, or thinking to do, the #vanlife? I am nearing retirement, always enjoyed camping, but never had the time to really “see the USA”. Thinking about selling my Prius C (that I really, really like) and switching over to a Sienna that I can fit gear into and camp in. Tons of plans, stories and adventures online. I’d love to hear your thoughts and about your adventures, see your pictures, and gather wisdom from your advice. Peace out.
if she's coming with you, i guess you could test it out. but i agree, i'm too old for nonsense you're lucky though, it's only hotel rooms and hot showers for my wife. plus, she refuses to spend endless days traveling in a vehicle. best i could hope for is city hopping by plane.
Try before you buy. You can rent small RVs from lots of places. Think about what’s in there than your intended minivan might not have, in terms of amenities: organized storage, HVAC, food prep, sleeping comfort etc. Take it on a weekend trip someplace local and see how you like it.
1) Sienna is a great van that gets around 30 mpg overall. Tho, it's not a Hybrid. The reason why we all like the idea of Hotel P... Is because, one could have AC and Heat via the car climate controls... Thus, the AC is electric and can run off the batteries for a few hours. Where as, if you want AC for a Sienna, you'll have to install AC, with a backup generator. Or for heat, most people use Mr Buddy, with propane gas bottles. Depends on how you really define living in van, for just weekend trips, it's fine, but for full time? Could be ok, if you follow the weather...but that 70 degree day can turn out to be a 30 degree day in the evening and morning times. You might want to consider a Rav-4 / Highlander. The perfect camping rig would be hybrid van, but toyota doesn't make one. The only one being made is dodge pacifica in the USA. Otherwise it's buying RAM promaster, or Ford connect with enough room to haul batteries with solar and alternator power, you could almost achieve what the Prius offers but, a setup like that will bump up the price by 20K. If you like to stand up, it's pretty much the only game in town.
