Flashback: Lyndsay's Van Life - Part 3

Part 1

Part 2

Lyndsay:

So due to MPI refusing to take an electronic title I was still waiting for the paper title, spent some time as a tourist, attached pleading signs to my van in hopes of avoiding tickets and towing, waited some more, lost out on a winter job in Vancouver, still had to drive a 1976 Econoline all the way back to Winnipeg with no guarantees that engine survived, got free drinks, met Crack Dealer Tony, and finally got woken up in the middle of the night by Crack Dealer Tony.

"Lyndsay! Lyndsay! I'm drunk! Let me get you drunk too so I can rape you!"

Flashback: Lyndsay's Van Life - Part 2

Part 1

Lyndsay:

So I did all my research, bought my tickets, had my plan go haywire due to MPI incompetence before even leaving, got to California, picked up my baby, then lost a mirror in San Francisco and realized I was in the "everyone sues" country.

I immediately parked the van in the free spot where I'd spent the last night and sat with it for another night. By the way, watching the fog roll in in San Francisco is AMAZING. I made a call to the guy that was supposed to be getting the paper Title to see if it had arrived. Despite being express, it hadn't arrived, but he said it would be there the next day. I sat on the side of the beach next to the van with some chicken wings and a beer watching people swim with seals. And threw chicken bones to seagulls.

Even though there had been a bit of a SNAFU, I couldn't help but think that I was in a beautiful place.

Sunday Review: No, you don't need to repack your wheel bearings every year.

Notice: I had been doing additional reading and research well after writing this, as well as talked to some more people (these posts are usually written beforehand and then scheduled to be released). This is a very "backyard mechanic" method of maintenance. It does work, but with big caveats. If your hub rear seal is going or you pump the grease in too hard (more likely with an electric or pneumatic pump), you can blow out the rear seal and get grease on your brakes. This will ruin your brakes. If at all possible it is always best to do a full inspection on your trailer's hub and brakes with regularity, which means pulling everything apart (future post). If you have a method of tracking your trailer's mileage, it still needs to have the bearings repacked on the recommended schedule. It is especially true that a new RV should be checked properly after the first year in case of manufacturing defects (Chinesium axles), and a used RV from a private sale should be checked right away. This is all information only, based on what has worked for me. You could damage your RV if something goes wrong, and this summer I am fully pulling apart my wheel assemblies to check brake pads and replace seals. I used this method due to a difficult situation and may never use it again.

Once or twice a decade at most. (Addendum: Depending on how far you go with your trailer each year.)

How often do you get your wheel bearings repacked on your vehicle? Never, you say? Yeah, no doy.

Okay, some of you will have repacked your wheel bearings on your vehicle, but it isn't common anymore and usually you just end up buying new wheel bearings (or replacing entire knuckles). Well, the trailer is only mildly different. (Another addendum: more than mildly, they are designed differently.)

Flashback: Lyndsay's Van Life - Part 1

As I've said before, Lyndsay lived in a van and trailer for two years before we met. Her experience was very valuable helping us pick out an RV that would meet our needs. I was ready to buy a shell and do a build, but Lyndsay was insistant that we start with something liveable and useable as she'd tried to do the build path and it was quite the mess.

Let's take a trip back down memory lane a bit, to before Lyndsay and I even met. We're going back to summer of 2013. These are Lyndsay's words and her story.

Lyndsay:

Nothin' but a shell.

Getting Ready for the RV: Organizing

It's like Tetris, but with containers.

Lyndsay should really be writing this one. She organizes and I make a mess. Whichever part of the brain deals with that, mine broke.

Sunday Review: Financing When Broke

Yes, you can get financing for an RV even when you are poor and/or broke.

First I'll give you a quick rundown of what we did. Then I'll go into some more details on what you can and/or should be doing.

Getting Ready for the RV: Downsizing

Yup. That part of all of this. The worst part about moving into an RV. It doesn't matter how you sort it or what kind of sentimental value it has; you will be selling, giving away, or throwing out most of what you own.

And the worst part? Sorry ladies, but it is mostly the things that you want to keep that will be going. This is one of those things that the Glitz and Glammers get right.

I wrote a book!

On the right sidebar you can see my Patreon under my pen name.

Well, I just published my first e-book under that pen name!

Sin's Shadow is now available for purchase on Amazon and Kobo!

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0875RM535

https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/sin-s-shadow

Round 3: Cold

Let's fast forward to our winter on Vancouver Island. We were short on funds and couldn't afford skirting. We had to find creative ways to save on heating bills, do it one step at a time, and still avoid freezing water lines.

Sunday Review: Riding Mountain National Park

Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba is one of those places that you just have to visit in Canada. The park is located on the Manitoba Escarpment and covers nearly 3000 square kilometres. The protected area covers three converging ecosystems; grasslands, upland boreal forest, and eastern deciduous forest.

Workaway: The Horse Ranches, Part 2

Our first Workaway was a bit of a disaster that we cut short by a good two weeks. We were worried about the next ranch we were going to, wondering if our first experience was the norm. But we also know that we have almost catastrophically bad luck, so our first experience being a near disaster was kind of to be expected.

New Mini-Movie: The Potato Thief

New mini-movie courtesy of Lyndsay and Aurora's limitless creativity. Enjoy.

See the sidebar for the link to our YouTube channel.

Workaway: The Horse Ranches, Part 1

Apologies for the post coming later in the day.

We did a lot of research trying to figure out how to make money on the road or how to cut costs so that we could be more mobile. One of the suggestions from the Glitz and Glammers was Workaway. You exchange volunteer work for room and board. There were plenty of farms on Workaway, so that meant a place to park, electricity, water and even groceries and meals. And of course this also meant that our daughter would be able to see where food comes from; too many young people (even adults) believe it comes from a grocery store.

Sunday Review: Dehumidifers

To follow up Thursday's post about mold, I thought I'd get a little more in-depth with the dehumidifiers.

If you are exclusively in Canada, you will probably need to deal with humidity. It just isn't optional. Even if you have a small air exchanger (if such things exist in RVs), the coasts are just too humid in the winter for that to be good enough. I saw some people just running ceramic heaters through the winter with the window cracked, but their electrical bills were immense; some hit almost $300 per month. Our highest bill was barely over $100. Just get the dehumidifier.

Round 2: Mold

The warnings are right on your RV instructions; there is no air exchange. RVs collect moisture. Spend as much time out of them as possible.

Well, we did a lot of that. Outside is nicer, after all. We don't want to spend time cooped up if we don't have to.

The nearly universal recommendation that we got for full time living was to get some Eva-Drys. Every single last Glitz and Glammer and blog we read told us that this would be enough. They absorb moisture, then you plug them in outside for a few hours before putting them back inside. Sounds great, doesn't it? And in the prairies, it worked just fine! We only had one as we were on a tight budget, so we would just air out the RV from time to time to help it along. The general recommendation was to have three Eva-Drys, but that would be all you would need.