21 Years in a 1973 Dodge Van

This is the best thread i've ever found on hipforums (it's been few years)..!

I just wish you could share some of your stories without us asking... There's so much to cover and you are the only one that knows what you've been trought.

 

Hey there TwoDogs, I just wanted to say thank you for being an inspiration. I've explained some things about myself in my introduction, but I wanted to say thank you personally. I've always had it in my nature to be a wonderer, but you are a real encouragement that it can be done. I've had my eye on an old Ford conversion van that can be had for cheap, and I'll be picking that up as soon as funds allow. Then I'm going to pack up, and head for... well, you say you like Arizona pretty well, huh? You've made me realize what freedom really is, and by sharing your story I feel I've really been blessed by you, and I hope that all is well for you in your journeys ahead.

 

Thanks again Barbuchon.

There's so much to talk about and relate but...I don't know what is of interest to others and what is just of interest to me. Cruising in a different direction every day on foot after parking at the end of a dirt road I've found so many things that fascinate me but may be of little interest to others. I've had run-ins with mountain lions, bear, javelina, deer, rattlesnakes, tarantulas, you name it.

In a secluded wash I stumbled across a Native American sweat lodge that is still in use today. I found a pet cemetery that had it's origin in the 40's and is still being used by the "Bright Family" to this day. It was so unexpected and touching. That's why it's so much easier to have people ask and then respond. I'll tell you what...make it out here and I'll show you things that words can't explain. We'll cruise some ruins that have been left alone since the original inhabitants lived there. Tiny corncobs are still scattered over the area. All the stone tools are still sitting there. If people had found these places the artifacts would be gone.

 

Thank you for the kind words. When you get your van make a trip out here and I'll give you the same tour I've offered Barbuchon.

 

hey there fellow dog lover! i just started reading you on here. how interesting of a creature you are!! well my name is lori and i would love to chat with you...email me if u wish at oreoj3@aol.com. i shall wait to hear from you....

:rockon: ​

 

That sure sounds interesting! If it wasn't about the money, or life I have built here, I would really love to... I'm kinda tired to restart my things all over again everywhere.

I'd throw you some topics I'd like you to cover so this may help you for some writtings. By the way you give good answer, you are such a great character man.

I'd like to know more about the bound or connection you have with your two dogs, they gotta be your brothers!

I'd like to know more about how you find your spots (wildlife), do you have some tricks... I seem to have some trouble looking for one, somewhere I can park my car in the middle without being seen, and as possible set a little camp... what's your way to cover your ass if something happens. And when you are riding for it, what's the best way to run into them.

I used to be a lot in the wild myself too in the past... I used to deal with lots of loneliness and time to kill... what's your way to deal with them... Do you have some sort of hobby, what do you do when you are once on spot exept for trekking, scouting the area.

What were your best times of this trip?

How do you see life after all this, what's your philosophy?

Is there anything you would have change after all this?

What were the most valuable lessons you have learned trought all this?

That might only be me, but I've found people on the road a lot of the time too fucked up for me, like the road belonged to the crazy one, while I was just a calm kid that was just seeking for nature and scenary and maybe some adventure like in our dreams... But you often found drugs, alcohol, sorrow...

What are your toughts on that...


Sorry "bout my english I'm a french canadian.

 

If you get some time to get away just shoot down for a week or two and check it out if you want to...open invitation.

My big fluffy white dog, TwoSpot, is the son of my last male dog that was with me for 13 years. The scruffy little terrier mix is BabyGirl. I rescued her from the back of a black pick-up truck at the swapmeet in Prescott Valley, AZ. This guy had 7 puppies in the back of the truck with no shade in the middle of the Summer. He said he wasn't leaving until they were all gone. I walked around the swapmeet for a while and when I came back I got the last one that no one wanted. I couldn't stand to see her fry in the back of that truck any longer.

My dogs and I are together 24 hours a day. We communicate on all sorts of levels. They are extremely in tune with patterns and progressions of events. They know 7 or 8 moves ahead that we're going for a walk and start getting excited. BabyGirl especially, she has these ear-splitting yips that she uses to convey her impatience if I don't get moving quickly enough. And God help me when I start breaking out the metal detector! She goes CRAZY! She knows when she sees it that we're going rabbit hunting. Every time we go metal detecting we spook at least one rabbit and now she seems to put the two events together. She goes twice as crazy than if we're just going for a walk.

We have a great bond. We're inseparable.

I just drive out to the end of a dirt road and hang out usually. I'm trying to see what's down every dirt road in my area and I'll die of old age before I'll get to see them all. Of course I have my favorite spots too that I return to again and again. Water is a big deal in the desert and knowing where the springs are, or the sandstone washes that hold water for a long time after a rain helps. Water always draws the wildlife.

I spent a week up on the side of a mountain and every night about sunset a mountain lion would scream it's displeasure at having to share the mountain with a stinky human and his stinkier dogs. After about 3 days I found out why it was upset, I was parked about 500 feet from it's latest kill...a mule deer doe. I followed my nose one day and found what was left of it stashed under a juniper tree.

I listen to a lot of music. I have a GREAT stereo system. Sometimes I'll read, I work on jewelry occasionally, fix pocket watches, mechanic on the van or just scope out the ground for artifacts in the area. I'm never bored. There's always something interesting to do.

This is probably the toughest question you've asked. Exploring new places, or new areas of old places gives me the greatest pleasure, I think. Second has to be the run-ins with the wildlife. To sit on that hilltop and watch with binoculars as a mountain lion glided across the plain below had to be one of the most beautiful things I ever saw. It sent chills up my spine. Oh...also the sunsets are incredible up here in the high desert.

I see life as the most precious thing that exists in this universe, but conversely, I'm ready to go when it's my time. No kicking...no screaming. I've lived an interesting and full life. From a kid in NYC to a crusty old fart in the AZ. boonies. From one end of the spectrum to the other. From Chaos to Peace. I've made plenty of mistakes and tried to learn from them. I'm not saying that I've never made the same mistake twice, mind you. But...I've learned what works for me.

My philosophy? Don't be afraid to grab for the ring. Carpe diem!

Nope. Every single thing that has happened in my life is what makes me who and what I am today. I love my life and I like who I am. I didn't care much for myself for the first 34 years...I was a pretty bad dude, but...change one thing and it would alter everything.

I have to reply that it's that you HAVE to follow your heart...no matter how scary it may seem. I've found that "The devil you that DO know is NOT better than the one that you don't know." To allow fear of the unknown, or perhaps the lack of all the comforts stop one from following his/her dream is insanity. A lot of people confuse luxuries with necessities. The fact of the matter is that I found out how simply one can live and still enjoy life and it suits me. Maybe it's not for everyone out there, but it suits me just fine. There is no one in my circle of friends and acquaintances that is anywhere close to being as financially poor as I am, but most of them envy me. Go figure.

For the first half of my life I was one of those crazies. No more...

 

Fantastic post and great outlook on life!

This may have been asked before, but how hard of decision was it for you to start living this way? What were some of the biggest adjustments you have found and had to make?

 

I'll be honest...even though it was a childhood dream of mine to live in a van...giving up apartment life was a bit scary. I had just gotten back into a mainstream sort of lifestyle after many years of battling alcohol and living out of a sleepingbag in culverts or where ever I could bed down. 1n 1985 a gentleman in Cottonwood, AZ. gave me, and took a chance on me by giving me a job. Having been a road tramp for all those years made it a bit easier, though, moving from an apartment into a van was still a giant leap upward from moving back into a cardboard box.

I think that the biggest adjustment was living a life without alcohol. I had never wanted a vehicle while I was drinking because I knew what would happen...sooner or later I would kill myself or someone else. I was six months dry when the van fell into my lap. I was also just about to become unemployed. The way it all happened is just like throwing a box of jigsaw pieces onto a table and have them fall in such a way as to complete the puzzle. It still amazes me when I look back at how things came to be. If I had planned it all it couldn't have worked out better.

 

Do you have some tips on how to start a van from scratch? I'm not looking for the same lifestyle because of some issues of my past. But I live this way if we could say somehow "part time"..!

I might be looking to start a van eventually when we are done building the garage soon this spring. My buddy is a good mechanic guy and I'm a contruction worker pretty handy and arty.

Do you have any special idea of what would be cool since I have kind of a huge income.

 

The first thing that I did was insulate and panel the walls and roof. Then I built my bed. As mentioned...a hinged top front third with a divider beneath to stash clothes or whatever. My bed goes from side to side rather than back to front. Plywood and then carpeting on the floor. My carpeting runs a third of the way up the walls for even more insulation.

A solar panel is a must if you're going to run any electronics. A two battery system is nice but not absolutely necessary. Spare parts, tools, a jack and tire iron are a must. A spare tire, of course.

Then it's up to you to make it a home.

 

Okay folks. Here's some pics from my road trip last fall to get together with my California Hippie Chicklet in South Lake Tahoe.

One of the places that I stopped to spend the night on the way there. About a mile or two off the highway in western Nevada just north of Town of Walker Lake.



Lake Tahoe. What's that white crap on the mountains?



On the road back I stopped by the Walker River to walk the dogs.



I decided to hit Death Valley on the way back to AZ. Here's Scotty's Castle at the northern end.

 

I decided to head out to "The Devil's Racetrack" since I was in the neighborhood. If you aren't familiar with the place, rocks move and leave trails across a dry lake bed. People say that when it rains that the mud gets slick and the wind blows the rocks. No one has ever witnessed this phenomenon and it's never been captured on film. I saw things that make me doubt that explanation.

First, it's 27 miles of BAD dirt road to get out there. Here's where I spent the night...Teakettle Junction. Reason for the name is in the next pic.



Teakettle Junction.

 

Here's the "Racetrack" and the left half of what is called "The Grandstand." It's the only large thing that disturbs many, many acres of dry lake bed.



Here's some racing rocks and the almost perfectly straight trails behind.



The rocks aren't very fast. My dogs had no problem catching one. It's odd that they were both drawn to the rocks. They sensed something strange. BabyGirl pretty much stalked the rock.

 

One of the strangest things is the number of rocks that are missing. These dead-ended trails are over a mile from the parking area and I seriously doubt that someone carried a big rock off as a souvenir. As you can see...these missing rocks were LARGE.



Do you think that the wind REALLY blew this rock?



And what about this? Was that rock caught in a dust devil?



Look at the smaller rock's trail...it's pretty straight. How could the wind have moved the larger rock in the opposite direction without the smaller rock being affected Look at the larger rock's trail. What made it change direction? Peer pressure?

 

Here's a better shot.



Look at the size of this rock. it has a jagged edge protruding from the bottom. How easily do you think this big honkin' rock slides?



On the way back out from "The Devil's Racetrack" I stopped at The Ubehebe Crater. Here's a shot from a distance of all the black cinders that were blown out by the volcano.



The eruption here was so violent that it blew the entire volcanic cone into the surrounding countryside leaving bare rock behind. If you've ever looked into a volcanic cone you know that this isn't usually the case. There's usually a basalt cone.

 

A couple more shots from the crater.

 

wow! what an amazing landscape. ive never been anywhere like that before. i cant wait to hit the road!
those rocks are incredible :O

 

man that is so weird..!

 

Very inspiring, in fact. this is my first post here.

Ive dreamed of living out of a backpack, or a van. one day i will get to it.

i have a few questions.. do you always stay on BLM or other public lands? where do you mostly sleep, and how often to you rotate, or move spots?
do you think your strategy could work in any kind of an urban environment, or slightly more civilized areas?

what sorts of things do you do or have you done to create money?

thanks alot! and you are an inspiration to us all.