Hi! It’s been a while!
Our last update is from November 2018; we spent so much time on it (it’s VERY, VERY extensive), that we lost our motivation to create more Tales From The Road… Sooo from now we’ll do things a bit differently 🙂
What’s new on FarOutRide.com?
CONDENSATION AND MOISTURE IN A VAN | WHY IT HAPPENS AND HOW TO CONTROL IT
We’re very proud of that article, we put a lot of efforts into it… We hope you like it!
“Condensation and moisture are pretty much inevitable when living the vanlife. While it is normal occasionally and at a certain level, precautions should be taken during the van conversion by selecting the appropriate materials & techniques, but care should also be taken after the conversion in the day-to-day. Denying this issue could turn your van into a fungus incubator… Sharing your home with mold colonies could lead to serious health issues, no jokes. And once the molds invite themselves to the party, it’s almost impossible to kick them out definitely. And on the short term, living in high humidity environment is uncomfortable. That’s plenty of reasons to do something about it!”
VanLife Actual Cost
December 2018
TOTAL FOR TWO PERSONS
$3805
- Auto Insurance $133
- Gas and Fuel $560
- Propane $15
- Craft Beer & Wine $379
- Groceries $652
- Restaurants $328
- Travel Medical Insurance $182
(complementary to free Canadian Medicare) - Activities $62
(lift tickets, bike shuttle, music shows, etc) - Campground $0
- Showers $30
- Laundry $31
- Van Maintenance $1188
(new tires) - Everything Else $245
(Cell, Internet, Netflix, Pharmacy, etc.)
January 2019
TOTAL FOR TWO PERSONS
$2140
- Auto Insurance $133
- Gas and Fuel $275
- Propane $0
- Craft Beer & Wine $225
- Groceries $554
- Restaurants $119
- Travel Medical Insurance $182
(complementary to free Canadian Medicare) - Activities $192
(lift tickets, bike shuttle, music shows, etc) - Campground $0
- Showers $31
- Laundry $39
- Van Maintenance $92
(oil change) - Everything Else $298
(Cell, Internet, Netflix, Pharmacy, etc.)
YEAR 2018:
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | $3847 | $2420 | $2384 | $1918 | $2449 | $1911 | $2026 | $2911 | $2476 | $2965 | $3003 | $3805 | $32115 |
| Auto Insurance | $136 | $136 | $136 | $136 | $136 | $136 | $136 | $136 | $133 | $133 | $133 | $133 | $1620 |
| Gas | $494 | $500 | $386 | $360 | $479 | $340 | $425 | $537 | $492 | $584 | $513 | $560 | $5670 |
| Propane | $0 | $7 | $0 | $17 | $0 | $16 | $0 | $8 | $0 | $12 | $0 | $15 | $75 |
| Craft Beer & Wine | $154 | $299 | $206 | $179 | $297 | $168 | $155 | $246 | $386 | $313 | $280 | $379 | $3062 |
| Groceries | $669 | $570 | $615 | $560 | $745 | $583 | $701 | $714 | $567 | $851 | $551 | $652 | $7778 |
| Restaurants | $230 | $108 | $120 | $149 | $159 | $113 | $104 | $281 | $276 | $383 | $109 | $328 | $2360 |
| Travel Medical Insurance (complementary to free Canadian medicare) | $202 | $202 | $202 | $202 | $202 | $202 | $202 | $202 | $182 | $182 | $182 | $182 | $2344 |
| Activities (lift tickets, bike shuttle, music shows, etc) | $16751 | $332 | $483 | $0 | $93 | $74 | $53 | $295 | $65 | $258 | $131 | $62 | $3521 |
| Campground | $40 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $27 | $0 | $0 | $1192 | $0 | $0 | $42 | $0 | $228 |
| Showers | $0 | $22 | $26 | $6 | $17 | $6 | $0 | $2 | $0 | $7 | $0 | $30 | $116 |
| Laundry | $7 | $22 | $15 | $35 | $28 | $7 | $30 | $11 | $40 | $32 | $37 | $31 | $295 |
| Van Maintenance (oil change, tires, brakes, etc) | $49 | $0 | $0 | $88 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $75 | $0 | $7884 | $11885 | $2188 |
| Everything Else (cell, pharmacy, haircut, Netflix, music, books, etc) | $191 | $222 | $195 | $186 | $266 | $267 | $219 | $3603 | $260 | $210 | $237 | $245 | $2858 |
Van Talk
New Tires
Our tires worn out, time for new ones:
– MODEL: BFGoodrich KO2 All-Terrain (Winter Approved).
– SIZE: LT255/70R16 120S (this size clears the weight rating of the Ford Transit).
– Installed on factory wheels, NO MODIFICATION TO THE VAN.
– SNOW CHAINS: Thule/Konig XG-12 PRO (Size 255). They fit, but clearance is low (1/2″ towards front) and they start rubbing with the plastic trim at above ~ 15-20 MPH. The noise is annoying but we can live with it.
– SPEEDOMETER: Since these tires are larger than the factory tires, the speedometer reads about 58 MPH when our true speed is 62 MPH (this CANNOT be adjusted at a dealer).
We’re happy with the upgrade and recommend it! More info/pictures/justification/comparison in our article:
Swivels review
We published a side-by-side review of the Scopema, SwissTech, DiscountVanTruck & SwivelsRus, if that can help you make up your mind… We actually tried all of them, so it’s an actual “real-world” review!
NOTE: The Scopema were back in stock in January but sold out in a weekend… we’ll let you know when the seller gets more…
Solar
The graph clearly shows that we have a SOLAR power deficiency in winter. (data was recorded between Jan 14th – Feb 14th)
Conclusion? We’re glad we installed a Sterling B2B to charge from the alternator! The Sterling is our Plan B in summer, Plan A in winter. We think the combination of solar + alternator makes a nice and balanced electrical system for people using their van for summer & winter adventures (i.e. ski. solar is probably enough for Baja or Cali winter adventures!). What about adding more solar panels instead? We think it’s not the solution for weather like PNW winter… sometimes there’s just NO sun for days. It’s nice not relying on a single source of power.
Tales From The Road
This is the part where it gets very, very, time consuming for us and we loose motivation… Since we already share our tales on Instagram, here are a re-post of our feed!
That’s it for now! To be continued…
More Tales from the Road
We’re currently taking a break to build FarOutVan #2!
