Dream Machine

[Newly2b]

No, I have an inside shower. One can order these vans with built-in showers, but they take up a lot of the available space, and I preferred to not have the big floor-to-ceiling built-ins -- I like a more open feeling with windows all around, so I opted for the PortaShower, which is basically a square pan that one puts on the floor in the middle of the van and it has shower curtains attached that unfold and hook at the top of the van, and then one attaches the shower head hose to the kitchen sink and turns the faucet on. When finished, one simply empties the pan in the sink or outside, folds the curtain back inside the pan and stows it away again. I do have a built-in hot-water heater so I can have hot showers. One can also buy portable water heaters and outside showers in camping stores.

One can have full-van air-conditioning installed, but I decided not to because if the engine is running one has the regular air conditioning, and if the engine isn't on one will just run down one's storage battery which is more useful for keeping the frig running IMO. I'll try to find one of those little desktop fans to use instead.

Here's a link to the company that is converting mine, and you can get an idea of prices there.

http://sportsmobile.com/

I looked at finished camper-vans from RoadTrek, Pleasureway and Leisuretime before deciding to design my own, and they ran $70-90K fully loaded (air conditioning, built-in bathroom, etc.). There is also a Traverse (by Pleasureway) that is the same floorplan as the old VW campers used to be, and that can be had for around $50K if you can find one. I had determined that I didn't want to pay over $50K total, so I eliminated a lot of little things I reckoned I could do without, and kept the cost down to the cost of the new van plus about $31K for the conversion.

This will be a solo trip. Although I recognize that there are certain advantages, I have never bothered to accumulate a wife since I am a female myself, LOL.

Newly