Van Tour: Solo Woman Living in a Transit Connect Van

hi everyone welcome back to my next video today we're making a new friend kind of an older friend we've met each other before and i've been very impressed with you and your rig so we're going to meet marie welcome marie thank you glad to be here and i just i do love your your little transit connect here you've just done a fantastic job with it uh are you uh full time on the road i'm part-time i'm part-timer i still have my sticks and bricks i like my gardening yes so uh i i like to go back every now and then but i i love camping i've always camped my whole entire life and like being out on the road and and retired i've since retired so um yeah yeah and i you know i'm afraid i give the impression sometimes it's all or nothing and it isn't no you found a great balance for you very happy medium yes absolutely you get all the joy of being on the road and all the joy of gardening and watching you know being in one place yep so that's great yeah that's great so uh have you always kind of enjoyed traveling yes in fact um i uh was a history teacher for uh quite a few years and uh i taught world history so when i was younger i made sure to save up enough money to go travel around the world so i've been to six of the seven continents yeah i didn't want to wait till i was retired to go i wanted to see things while i was still young and healthy enough to do it so now you're retired i am retired and this is just a source of joy for you this is just my fun this is my my dream my fun and i'm i'm just meeting some wonderful people i thought i would be doing this all by myself but every place i've gone i've always met up with somebody we exchanged phone numbers we stay in touch the women's rtr has been very beneficial that's why i met a lot of these ladies and that's where i met dee and so uh we've all just stayed in contact and i don't know if i'll ever have to travel by myself anymore to be honest with you my first thought would be well why didn't you get a big rv and be really nice and comfortable in fact you chose one of the tiniest vehicles you possibly could have yeah uh you know this has been a work in progress for about three years and at first i was going to get a bigger one i was going to get one that i could stand in but a number of reasons i didn't buy that one was gas mileage and also i didn't want to invest in something that pricey and do a build when i didn't even know if i would like doing this so i started off small where i uh actually camped in the back of me my suv and i thought if that would stick then eventually i would go with something bigger so i was looking at those bigger ones but they had rear wheel drive and i didn't want that gas mileage was an issue and it was price and these are were definitely within my price range and um they've got great gas mileage and it's perfect i mean i really wouldn't want anything bigger now i'm not living in it full time if i were full-time i might want something bigger right yeah yeah but i i know a number of people who live in the transit full-time and they're very happy yeah i've seen a few of the videos and i'm amazed yeah how how long are you out at a time uh so far since i've had this van i've only been out for about two weeks at a time but that's because it's been really uh windy and cold in the desert and a lot of dust and so i've gone back home but this time i plan on being out for about six weeks and i'm gonna make my way to colorado and see my two kids while i'm there hi kelsey hi kai but uh they're in both in denver area and so i'll just meander my way on over there and go stay with them for mother's day and then meander my way home great so this will be my long journey right yeah and uh summer's coming up and now you can take uh some of your summers and really see some of the really pretty places too right exactly and so one of the things you did was you started with what you had you had an suv right so you started with an suv and rather than move make the huge step up to a full-size transit you went in between has that worked well for you that kind of moving up absolutely you've got to have patience because sometimes you come full circle i originally was thinking about these and then i thought no i want something bigger and then i thought well maybe i want a trailer you know you go through that whole process and then you have to really think what's in your personality what would you be comfortable driving rather than what you think would be ideal i don't know if that makes sense but but i'm very comfortable with this and this is turned into my ideal when i didn't think it was going to this is a hundred percent exactly the way i wanted it but it took years to figure out that right and that's exactly my advice to everyone is to start with the absolute minimum uh and and ease into it and learn what works for you absolutely yeah you know all these videos you watch that works for them but you're not them right you need to know what works for you right you gotta trust yourself and you got it i got it yeah i do fantastic well would it be okay if we took a look around and saw absolutely yes it'll take quite a while but have you got a couple hours to show us everything absolutely okay so we'll take a look inside folks come on over all righty um this is my bed and uh it's got a four inch cushion right here and i did sew the cover of it um the bed is uh right here on slats oh yeah very good and so it pulls out and i have about a twin bed and it's very comfortable so that has been a good night's sleep and then underneath down here i have storage that's my garage that's where i keep things like clamps and bungee cords and fire starters and so forth and then i also have my propane down here as well you're using green bottles i am using the green bottles and then i made my own little fire starters i don't know if anybody saw this on but what these are toilet paper rolls and uh you put lint in them and then cover them with um with newspaper and then i've got a bunch of them and they they start the fire for me that's what they look like yeah but uh so a little bit yeah i guess just really really catches fire and lights and runs absolutely yeah absolutely and so we might as well get the the elephant in the room uh talked about this is a collapsible potty right here and uh trust me ladies if any of you have any hesitation don't because i never thought i would be able to do this but uh i i am doing it and this is a collapsible uh stool and there's nothing really that you're gonna have to see but i've got baggies on the inside and you just sit on it and i put kitty kitty litter in there to absorb any kind of odor or anything else but this is only for number two only for number two and and then when you put the lid on it uh it does not smell but somebody just recently told me that horse pellets are really good because you can actually use them for liquid as well and then they just expand to sawdust and they've got a really nice pine smell and you can get them at tractor supply and they're just like this and you can buy them apparently there's only seven dollars for a 40 pound bag oh my goodness i know and you just put them in there and apparently you can do number one and number two in here and it doesn't smell and it doesn't get sloshy so i'm gonna have to try that out i did uh have somebody build this for me and um this is an acrylic top and i've got a little sink um underneath i do have a six gallon fresh water tank and then i also have some kitty litter right here and uh back in the back i don't know if you can see it but um in the back i have my two and a half gallon um gray water tank but what i like also is that a lot of people want to get the the pumps that are either using their foot or electric but this is usb powered oh wow so it's got a cord in it it connects to the usb port over there but what i like about this one is you can just press it if you want to or you can do a continuous stream nice and it doesn't make a lot of noise and it works perfect it's been a game changer for me so i did have shelving built rather than cabinets this is my food shelf i have all my dry goods here my canned goods things like that spaghetti noodles and so forth and i did not want it to be fully enclosed because with being such a small space i was worried i wouldn't be able to see in the back and this way i just put them in the bin and they stay secure um the other one is my toiletries and so they're accessible at night time when i want to um you know brush my teeth and and so forth the stuff you're using on a very regular basis exactly exactly right right there so um the shelving has actually worked really well nothing moves as long as you've got them in containers i did put um stainless steel on the bottom because magnets are my best friend you bet um i've got a light here oops now the light here that's magnetic and uh it switches on and off and that's battery powered um i do have solar powered lights right there so that i know not to trip over those are inexpensive they're about a dollar at walmart i don't know how long they're going to last but at least i don't trip over it and then i do have a fridge this is a joy tutus i think you did a review on that yeah i'd already bought it it's been great so far it has and it's a 26 uh is it gallon i think gallon a quart court 26 quart and uh it's just it's working perfectly fine i did have a uh storage unit built underneath and that's where my solar panel is i know because it's nice because i can put my coffee on it in the morning if i want to i do have nice i know and you can get these um this is actually something i got at home depot and it's for broom closets and so i can just put my hole right there and then i bring it up put it under here i've got myself a table it couldn't be any easier yeah exactly so quite pleased with that i do have storage underneath here ladies i'm a shoe person so i've got all my shoes i probably bought way more shoes than anybody could ever use but i do have shoes in here um so that's my shoes and then back here this is where i have my my laptop my little lights my twinkling lights and my lucy lou's and um screens from our window screens for my uh windows and these little plastic drawers are really good too because i have my wipes in this one um and then i have quarters for showers and you know some plastic liners these are biodegradable uh i have here's my coffee you might ask why don't i put it with the rest of the supplies but actually this is when the bed comes out this is right here and it's very accessible so i put my coffee supplies and then these are my my gadgets i really love the color i mean does it make you happy yeah yes it makes you happy i did i saw i bought this at walmart i'm gonna be plugging walmart again because i'm telling you their prices were amazing but i bought this fabric i knew what i was looking for but i didn't know where it was i was going to find it and then i bought this and i've even got enough leftover to do a whole nother set if i need to about too much but these pillows actually hold my blankets so i've got blankets in there my clothing is stored up there in uh containers in those cubes and so one of the great things about the connect is all that overhead storage right and we we um put in a a board here to connect it from um the natural shelf that it has right there that you can store yeah it's got a little natural shelf i do have a tokyo oh not only do i have a hundred watt panel up at the top but i do have a tokyo as well um again i bought this before you had reviewed it so it made it nice to know that you gave it kind of a thumbs up but this is a hundred watt uh panel as well so if i were to park in the shade i can use this and i've got i bought a long cord to make sure that i had plenty of space to okay so right down here i have things in drawers uh these are my spices and i've got you know some um matches and some foil and so forth and some bowls so i have that there i have my uh utensils in this drawer right there and then i do have a bucket a collapsible bucket and i use this to bathe in and also to wash my feet or wash my dishes in as well so i have those and with that even though i know the lithium are better but i wanted to start off with something inexpensive and i think for the price of this i could probably buy four of them uh instead of a lithium battery although this is 75 pounds so um you know you do have the weight you know there's the trade off i do have um an isolator that will charge the battery when i'm driving right and i also have i keep wanting to call it an adapter but i know it's not called that it's an inverter an inverter underneath the seat uh 1 500 watt inverter underneath so you uh you set up a really nice outside camp yeah i try to be outside as much as possible only when the weather's bad do i want to go inside but all my cooking takes place outside and um and then uh that way there's no smell or anything and and i also have that water jug as well and that heats up the water for bathing and washing and so forth but and that's where i can wash my hands outside rather than go inside all the time anything else we want to have covered um i just want to say to any of those ladies out there that are afraid to do this do it if not now when and um i just turned 60. and i'm a retired teacher and i'm out there having fun meeting other people and it's enlightening it's empowering it's it's just an amazing feeling so if you feel you can't do it watch the youtube videos because you'd be amazed at how many women are out there doing it and start out small see if you like it and then work your way up and be patient and be patient with yourself excellent advice that's good advice for men and women too absolutely there are a lot of men out there who need to hear that yeah but women tend to be more fearful and they're afraid when they go out that you know the scary world out there but out here i feel very safe right more so than maybe a city yeah and so i didn't specifically ask but uh you do feel safe i do feel safe and what's nice is that and this is why i don't have a trailer because i can pop from my bed into the driver's seat and leave immediately if i need to i can lock the doors and so yes i feel safe but i will say you got to use this first before you use any kind of weapons or anything that you might have to protect yourself use this first and only camp in places that you feel comfortable in and you see other people around you um go with your senses and that that usually works for me well marie thank you so much for sharing your your home and your life with us and proving that it's not all or nothing no it's not all or nothing no you don't have to have the big big van to get started right start out small see if you like it and work your way up keep a home base and and that security and that finger and your thumb in the soil yep and uh satisfy those itchy feet as well absolutely the little nomad in you yeah yeah definitely it's my pleasure thank you so folks i hope you've been inspired and educated and i know you have been if so like us on youtube subscribe to the channel hit that thumbs up button and we'll talk to you later bye you

Channel: CheapRVliving

Views: 193,840

Keywords: car, van, RV, Full-time, nomad, camper, camp, boondock, travel, caravan, tiny, house, RTR, Bob Wells, Nomadland, CheapRVLiving, Cheap RV Living, vanlife, van life, how to live in a van, van dwelling, van tour, van conversion, living in a van, camper van, van build, diy van build, sprinter van, van living, #vanlife, van dweller, campervan, vandwelling, diy camper van, RV Life, Living in an RV, Living in a Class A, Class B, Class C, Truck Living, Living in a car, boondocking, Living in a RV

Id: sGFFl_ErC-k

Length: 16min 4sec (964 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 05 2021