Van Life Lab

Have you ever had to store your van for the winter? Just finish a big trip and need to couple month break from vanlife? In this episode we dive into all the things you should do to your van to prepare it SIT for an extended period of time. That's right - putting you van into STORAGE. Topics covered: 1. Ventilaiton, moisture, and mold/mildue 2. Rodents 3. Fresh and grey water systems 4. Batteries / solar / electrical **episode correction - store lithium batteries at 40% SOC** 5. How often you should drive your van 6. Protecting it from the elements

Highlights, lowlights, travel logistics, and everything you need to know about bringing your camper van and traveling to El Salvador. Kayla from Collies Without Borders has lived on and off in Central America for over a decade and is extremely well versed with the ins and outs of living van life in El Salvador. If you enjoyed this episode, stay tuned for further episodes in this mini series. Kayla will dedicate an entire episode to van life in each country in Central America. Podcast Website: https://vanlifelab.engineerswhovanlife.com/ Follow Kayla: https://instagram.com/collies.without.borders

Winter vanlifers are a different breed. They're hearty, relish in the cold, and gobble up any adventure winter has to offer. Hear about what winter vanlife is, why it's so awesome, some unique challenges that come with the territory, and how both The Engineers Who Van Life and Kayla have tackled the problems to live life in the mountains.

Hot Takes! Is vanlife going to live up to your expectations once you hit the road? What should you ACTUALLY be prepared for? Well guess what - You're never going to use your rooftop deck! That bed conversion? It's going to stay in bed mode all the time! And all those fancy exterior upgrades? You probably won't use the half of them! Oh, and the hottest take of all? Van cats > van dogs. Hear about these controversial opinions and more when Eric, Colby, and Kayla all sit down this week to shoot the sh*t and tell you what it's really like to live life on the road.

[ Episode updated! Sorry for the mis-upload! ] Highlights, lowlights, travel logistics, and everything you need to know about bringing your camper van and traveling to Mexico. Kayla from Collies Without Borders has lived on and off in Central America for over a decade and is extremely well versed with the ins and outs of living van life in Mexico. If you enjoyed this episode, stay tuned for further episodes in this mini series. Kayla will dedicate an entire episode to van life in each country in Central America. Podcast Website: https://vanlifelab.engineerswhovanlife.com/ Follow Kayla: https://instagram.com/collies.without.borders Kayla's In Depth MEXICO VAN LIFE Notes: Border tips: Southbound, get your FMM at the border rather than online. If you do it online, print and keep it AND receipt. TVIP will be paid at Banjercito, requires lots of back and forth. Pretty smooth, but DO NOT just go into the border zone without your TVIP unless you’re staying in Baja or very close to the border. You’ll need some cash in USD to cross, so have cash on hand and plan to change to pesos. Expect to see migrants stuck at the border, be kind.  General road info: Stick to the toll roads and you’ll basically be ok. They’re fast, but lots of cash needed on-hand. Off the toll roads, expect TONS of tumulos (speed bumps). At best they’re smooth and marked, at worst they’re completely hidden in shade and will WRECK your car. Also expect lots of street vendors and dogs, be careful. Overall I’ve found Mexican drivers pretty gracious, it looks like terrifying chaos but it works.  Highlights: Ixtaccihuatl, San Cristobal las Casas, Baja, Yucatan, Oaxaca/Puebla Lowlights: Nearly hitting a bridge in Mexico city, almost driving off a cliff in Baja Words of caution: Be extremely cautious with salads. My two bouts of food poisoning in Mexico were from salads at nice-looking restaurants. As with all central america - don’t drive at night, park in safe spots, don’t make yourself a target, keep it cool, try to speak Spanish. Favorite camp spot: canyon outside Monterrey https://www.ioverlander.com/places/145345-epic-gulley-campspot  Favorite hangout: San Cristobal las casas Misc tips: Look for Pueblos Magicos!  One Story: Ixtaccihuatl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8bvXeV5374

What are our biggest gripes about vanlife? From the silly to the serious, from the toilet to relationships, Eric, Colby, and Kayla all give a fast paced conversation this touching on every aspect of van life that they hate.

Were periods ever any fun? What about dealing with them without access to reliable clean running water? Colby and Kayla have a chat about how they deal with their periods while in the van and give you lots of actionable tips about what works and what doesn't!

So you just started vanlife. Now what? As much as we like to think of starting vanlife as "having made it," it's only the beginning. Buying and building your van can take such a toll on you that when you move in it feels like that's it. Life on pause for a while. But vanlife isn't the end all be all - it's just one step in your life journey. Your finances, relationships, further education, home ownership and retirement are all long term goals that you might still be working towards, and many in the vanlife community actually don't put these priorities on hold while living their vanlife journey. Eric, Colby, and Kayla are all back together this week to dive into how they're pursuing these long term traditional goals while living in their vans!

It's fourth of July so in the name of giving ourselves some sort of a true break we will be taking the week off from the podcast! But at least you can hear how our drive to Alaska went! Stay tuned for next week when we discuss whether or not you actually need to put your life on hold to move into a van and start your van life journey. HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

Eric and Kayla sit down to discuss Alaska and all the van preparations that are being made for the Engineers Who Van Life's upcoming summer adventures in Alaska! Specifically, hear about all the preparations that are being made to: -The van chassis -The build itself -And then the Alaska specific gear they are packing Kayla gives her input on what they missed and some of the realities of Alaska van life! Full Timestamps: Resources and Products Mentioned: The Milepost (A MUST BUY!!!) ViAir 300 Tire Inflator GoTread Traction Pads Camper Van Bug Screen