Start here - Post 1 January, 2020: Among several of life's dreams.....Voltaire

 The Beginning: Post 1

Friends who take an interest in my life's adventures are truly cherished. So many of my friends share the excitement about my van travels (so far just around the western U.S.) and are eager for more info than the occasional Facebook post. At the encouragement of some, I have decided to create this blog. It will be a great timeline for me, and a way to keep my memories through words and photos that will likely surpass my brain's ability to do so. 

Since I have just north of a year's worth to catch up, these initial posts will mostly describe my van, Voltaire, and the build of same - my second home and magic carpet to freedom. 

I will start by stating that I have had the dream of "vanlife" and the adventure (adVANture) of travel to new places to meet new people for several years. The allure included minimalist living and spending more time in nature. I have been blessed with the ability to manifest (womanifest? themifest?) my dreams, and this one luckily followed suit.  To that end, I spent countless hours during the 2 years before I purchased Voltaire learning my vanlife and vanbuild degrees from none other than YouTube University. Also found and followed fB groups and vanlifer blogs to learn from the doers - unlimited info on what to, and not, to do. 

Which van to buy, new or used, professional build or DIY, solar or not, bathroom choices, gas or diesel, the considerations were endless. For vanners, typical choices in the U.S. are Mercedes Sprinter, Dodge ProMaster, or Ford Transit. I started wanting a Sprinter (well, all the cool kids have them) - but the initial cost, plus maintenance and parts, made this prohibitive. I was on a reasonable, but specific, budget. I then began to search for a Promaster - although I heard from some that the Ducati engine in these was not good. Also I wanted to stay under 30K to buy used, and it HAD to have rear windows. No dungeons for me. I COULD NOT FIND ONE used anywhere for a decent price with rear "glass". After several months I became discouraged and started looking for a Ford Transit. SAME PROBLEM. I learned (true or not) that these vans are being scooped up new by Amazon, and used, for the burgeoning POT DELIVERY BUSINESSES. Filed that info for later- possible part-time income.  J/K...   I had several dealers searching for one for me, and finally I got a hit at a very sleazy dealership in Woodland, CA. Seriously, the dealership was in an old gas station, was tiny, and the bathroom looked like it hadn't been updated since 1965. The window was broken and mops and brooms lived there, although I doubt that they were used. They quoted me a price on the phone, and gave them the go-ahead. I arrive to buy the vehicle and they again quoted the price and I declined. They were shocked.  "We obtained this vehicle specifically for you, and you agreed to this price". I had never "agreed" to anything, especially before I even saw the van.  So I said, let's cut to the chase, get the sales manager out here.  He gave me the same song and dance at which point I replied, "Who EVER pays the first quoted price for a vehicle? How stupid would that make me?" He turned on his heels, got on the phone, asked the buyer how much they had purchased the vehicle for, came back to me with $2400 less and I agreed. Then they asked me if I still wanted the van detailed.  Big sigh - yes of course.  I was ecstatic the day I drove it home - January 18th, 2020.   

You may remember that something much bigger than my van dreams was brewing in the world about then, but we were mostly unaware, and hence I was bliss-filled.