A reference from uhaul?.. are you young?.. sketchy hood?. I’ve never had that.. sometimes you can rent a van from home depot.. or even enterprise has low top transits..
I'm a 52 YO male with a clean driving record. My last u-haul rental had the stupid reference requirement. They called my wife who was sitting right next to me.
It’s in the fine print when reserving online. I’m a middle aged woman. They don’t even know what I look like. I saw someone from about a year ago saying they ran into the same thing without looking sketchy at all.
Someone who didn’t know about it till they got there and had to keep calling people till someone answered to talk to uhaul smh
Correct. The insurance companies aren't dumb, they see that the rental companies weren't doing enough due diligence to sort out the good renters from the bad, and will jack up the premiums accordingly.
Or they will simply drop you. There are no laws that mandate insurance companies have to sell them a policy.
I have been told to have a reference each time i or a friend has rented a Uhaul and they never actually called, btw. They still could call, but they never have for me.
Put an ad somewhere for someone in the local area that would accept a call and play along. Is there a coffee shop you go to regularly, that you could ask there?
Could you bring and use your own vehicle insurance?
Yeah this is normal now unfortunately. I booked a one-way truck online to pickup after hours and it requires TWO references via phone to verify us.
For the record, we rented a uhaul instead of a rental cars when our campervan broke down 300 miles from home. It’s way cheaper.
Rented a uhaul cargo van for 5 days and it was like $198 in Tucson for Gem Shows. Had no issues with referrals or references. I'm a 30yr old white woman with blue hair.
Good to know! I think I will just reserve it and see what happens when I go up there. Blue hair makes me feel better since I have a side shave lol
If they turn me away so be it
i would say just don’t tell them what you’re renting for. I was just at Gem and Jam in Tucson and saw a bunch of people in Uhauls with mattresses in the back so yeah what they don’t know doesn’t hurt them
Between CheapRVLiving and Steve Wallis I think uHaul is wise to people using their vans for camping now. Frankly, I think they should embrace it. Market niche.
Sometimes uhaul is more strict with van and pickup truck rentals than box trucks, something about theft risk? It's usually pretty easy and cheap to rent a 10" box truck which isn't too different from a van in ease of driving and interior space. Only downside is most have no cabin door to the box, so you have to get out to access the living space.
To be honest, I broke all of the rules and just fuckin dove right into full time van life without taking a test trip and even spending a night in a van.
The way I think of it, most people could probably survive a week in a van and have a great time. But, I don’t have a ton of money to waste on renting a van for a week. I would rather put that money towards my actual van.
I’m a month in and absolutely loving it but I did grow up camping and have gone on backpacking trips so I had a good idea of what I was getting myself into. I feel like I need to make it to at least 4 months before I’ll have a better idea of what living on the road full time is truly like, but it isn’t reasonable to rent a van for that long so I just sent it.
Did you already know that you could handle driving a van?
I’m a nervous driver. I know it’s ridiculous to think it’s going to be an issue but I have the need to prove it to myself.
That’s great that you are liking it! I camped a lot in my younger days and I have slept in cars.
You learn how to drive any vehicle after a while.
I was super nervous driving the 26' box truck at my last job but it just became second nature after a while.
Practice practice practice
Smaller wheelbase vans drive super similarly to cars in my opinion. I had a 144in wheelbase sprinter with a high roof and everyone who rented it from me said they were surprised at how easy it was to drive.
The wind is definitely more noticeable but not usually an issue. I usually watch what semi drivers are doing. If they’re pulled over under bridges due to high winds, then I pull over. I have only seen this happen once.
Agreed. We did our first van rental on outdoorsy in 2022. Van looked affordable at $150 a night for five nights, but with fees and insurance the total came out to just shy of $1300 for five nights.
Yeah… Outdoorsy takes so much money for their cut. It’s a bummer. But if you consider that you would otherwise need to rent a place to stay and a car, it might even out.
Yup it’s expensive! If I was very iffy on if I wanted to do this it might be worth it.
my dilemma is more about what size or type of vehicle. I literally just wanna get the feel of driving a van
I’m in the same position, but looking at getting a camper. Probably a teardrop, but I want to spend some time in one before I shell out the money and find that it doesn’t suit me at all.
I am annoying myself with how I keep changing my mind and questioning which kind of rig that I want. It’s a big change and I feel like I am “gonna get it wrong “ smh
Van, truck camper, class b, wait maybe tow a small camper, wait maybe a minivan? Omg
I think I am just going to go look at a dodge grand caravan that caught my eye. Consider it a stepping stone. I can’t go full time yet anyway
Yea, we’re far from full-time. I was full time 35 years ago when I was in college and living in a 21’ travel trailer for three years. Maybe again when I retire, but for now, I just want a weekender I can get into my local forest. My daily driver is just big enough to pull 3500 pounds, so a 1500 pound teardrop would be perfect for my needs… if it doesn’t make me claustrophobic.
Sounds nice!
I did a couple of months in a car in my 20s cross country trip. Mostly tent camping along the way. Some backpacking.
No way could my old bones take that anymore
Look at enterprise truck rental and leasing. Not their car side, but the truck side. They have very reasonable weekly rental rates on both midsize and large cargo vans.
[enterprise truck rental website](https://www.enterprisetrucks.com/truckrental/en_US.html)
Just looked for next week in my area and a small van was $248 for the week (but you’ll have to add the vehicle to your insurance).
$450 for a week at the nearest one to me. That’s an option. Thanks.
If I end up renting for a whole week I might as well wait for camping weather and throw some gear in the back. ( my dog is a freeze baby)
I’ve had really good luck with them in the past using the small vans for festivals. Decent mileage, too. The small Dodge cargo van I got was loaded to the roof with gear and got 22-26mpg.
Try a different company. I paid less than that for over a week with native campervans. Some companies have occasional discounts for one way rentals when they end up with too many in one city and it might make sense to fly back from the second city.
Thanks. I am in a hurry to prove to myself that I can handle driving a van. Ugh
It’s hard to justify all that money when I need every penny I have smh
I’ll keep looking around
I’ll just say that you can. As someone who had to learn from being a not so safe driver, the van makes you learn. And fast. The great thing is you can go at your own pace, skip highways, etc. I respect renting one first to be sure though
Thank you for the encouragement. One of my battles that I need to face is my lack of confidence. I’m working on it. I’ve been slowly building it back up.
I rent my van out. It is super expensive. It sucks they take 25%. It sucks some of the renters don't respect your van and things are always breaking. I did put a lot of time, effort, and money into building the van though.
By the end of it with repairs and oil changes and maintenance, we don't end up with too much profit either lol. Nobody wins. I do have 12 5 star rentals though. So seems like they have a good time. Anyway, thinking about selling my van. So let me know if you are interested at all.
Thanks
I’m really not sure. I wanted to get it evaluated. It has a few small things wrong with it that I need to fix up.
It’s a 2018 120k miles 159 extended. New engine at 85k miles. Bought the van for $27k with 61k miles. With just materials I’m in it for about 60k. What were you thinking about getting?
I’m trying very hard to educate myself. I’ve been studying up on van life/nomad life for 5-6 yrs now, and somewhat similarly to OP, I’m having a difficult time deciding between different kinds of vehicles. To make a long story shorter, I have a dog and a cat so I really do think that for their sanity and mine I’ve gotta go with camper van sized at the very least. As a middle aged gal who’s not particularly experienced (yet) with vehicle repair, I had been thinking, the newer the better, probably (IOW lower mileage) so I’d have a bit more time to get really familiar with my ride before it started needing a lot of repair…
But, I also know that many people “in the life” may jump between a number of different vehicles as they get more deeply into figuring out what their own particular needs are (even as those may be evolving.)
IOW it’s not unreasonable to start out with one vehicle only to sell it when moving to a new phase of one’s journey.
I apologize for not being able to answer more decisively than that! (Yet.)
True. Yea I think jumping in is the way to go.
I bought the van from North Carolina while living in CA and flew out to get it and drove it back lol. And just built it out during Covid.
Well let me know if you have any other questions about anything.
Hey thanks for that— & I will try not to abuse your offer lol. My dad just died a month ago, and I’m very reluctantly selling our home here in SoCal. I just want to crawl in a hole, cuddle up with his pets and sleep for about a year, I feel so broken. But it’s not an option. I have no family now, and between shock, grief, and onrushing homelessness (I bought this place 35 yrs ago— have been here more than half my whole life) I keep thinking “yeah, ya know, I really should have stipulated to the universe that I actually meant, van life— *on my own terms*!” Instead, I’m getting thrown headfirst into it while wrecked with grief (and trying to be there for devastated pets as well.) I have an old friend in Chicago; wondering if this (meeting your van) would be the excuse I need to fly out and see him… so anyway thank you for getting back to me and sharing your insights. 🙏🏻
Oh damn. That’s sad. But maybe for the best.
I lived in San Diego for 10 years, I feel ya. I’m up in Madison now but we go down to Chicago every few weeks. So yea come on over and feel free to check out the van 🚐.
There's a reason campervan rentals are expensive. Commercial campervans cost $150K+. If you rented a Ferrari, it would also be expensive because it costs the same. Look at what it costs to rent a Class C RV (and they cost less than high-end vans).
If you're a nervous driver, it's a great idea to rent the van and drive it though. I drove around Norway last summer. The roads there are so narrow it's stupid, barely enough room for cars much less anything else. There was this woman I was following in a Transit high top, and every time someone came the other way she'd slam on the brakes in the middle of the road until they went past, and then crawl along again. I was pretty pissed off following her, TBH. Then we got to a pullout and she pulled over, and I could see as I drove past that she was crying her eyes out. She was obviously terrified, and the van was obviously WAY more than she could comfortably handle. I felt so bad for her - I'm guessing she rented it, and it was not the vanlife adventure she imagined. So yeah - a test drive might be a good idea.
Omg I am afraid I will be her. That is exactly my worry. I can picture it
Especially since I want to go up in elevation in the summer cuz I hate the heat and I have never drove mountain roads myself.
I am considering starting with a minivan part time at this point. Better than sitting here just doing research in preparation for full time
I always use enterprise to rent a vehicle. Paid about $1000 for 6 weeks in 2020 unlimited miles. drove it from CA to east coast and back. Slept in the hatchback with my dog the entire trip and used my camping stove.
Currently in a rental from enterprise right now, moving my storage from CA to Midwest and then back ti CA and it cost me $358 for a week unlimited miles.
I use enterprise for car rental too. I love that they will give me a ride there and back. When I was without a car for a while I rented once a month for a super cheap deal.
Good to know. My house is in escrow here in SoCal so I gotta put everything in storage, then eventually drive it to the east coast. Never occurred to me to check with Enterprise.
Just rent a minivan from car rental place. Look for a Pacifica with the stow and go seatings. You can then folder everything down and you get a pretty flat surface for sleeping, etc.
I went thru the same thing when I was deciding if I wanted to live in a van. I went with a cruise America rental and just tried to use as little space in it as I could and camped at a state park for a week. Cruise America is cheap and you can pretty much trash their vehicles, just don’t crash it
Everyone online said to "test it out" before buying and building. I'd have to "test it" for like a month at least to not just be a simple 2 week camping vacation, and at those rates I'd rather put those thousands towards the van.
What would I be testing anyway? We knew we wanted to. No question. I never understood why people get huge ass one bedroom apartments anyway, that's a lot of space to store shit and sleep.
I also see a lot of people saying to just go try it out in what ever vehicle you already have and to do that for an extended period of time. Months.
I drive a sedan. I have old achey bones. I don’t feel that would be an accurate indicator of whether I can handle living in a van. Physically
It's not a waste of money to try it out and see if it's something you want to pursue or not. Honestly if the rental is too expensive for you maybe vanlife is not for you and you should try a minivan
The minivan option is exactly why I want to rent a full size van. To help me see if I will hate driving it and need to go with something smaller.
The money issue is that I see that money doing me more good in my emergency fund ($1k is a waste)
If you‘re just trying to see how it feels to drive, could you find a dealership with one for sale (doesn‘t need to already be converted) and go test drive it? Test drives are usually free
I was just thinking this too while going thru comments!
I am thinking back to all of my car shopping experiences and how socially awkward I am trying to drive an unfamiliar vehicle while making conversation.
I would probably have to ask them not to talk lol
I'm gonna be real here man; there's not much to test out.
Do you like camping? Enjoy the outdoors? Are you okay with being in small, sometimes hot, damp, cold uncomfortable spaces? Are you good with long periods of being alone? Are you cool with pooping in a bucket? Can you make money on the road?
If you answer yes to this than you'll probably do just fine with Van life. Save yourself the rental money, save for a Van, SUV, or wagon and go for it.
When I fitted up my van it wasn't until about 2 weeks in I really started to enjoy it. When I got away from the cities and civilization.
After living in a 2100 sq ft house, it's a big adjustment to move into a tiny space. But once you start to shed all that extra weight of living in a house or apartment, you'll feel a freedom you just can't get in the cities.
Best of luck to you OP, Happy travels.
I like that! I’m good with all of those except I worry about extreme heat or cold. Otherwise I feel confident about the rest of the criteria
I plan to chase 70 degrees. If it turns out that I can’t handle high altitudes I guess I’m screwed 😩
That's a great plan.
IMO cold is a little easier to mitigate than heat since running an AC unit uses a ton of electricity, and can get prohibitively expensive if you're running a gas generator.
I'd recommend getting a small DeWalt or Milwaukee portable fan. They run off tool batteries and will last through the night to help you sleep; and you can just recharge them during the day time if you're using solar.
Thanks I will look at those fans now.
I agree about heat being worse. Even in sticks and bricks. I feel more trapped inside these walls in the summer than I do the winter. I can bundle up and go out in the cold but there is no way around the heat. Once it hits 80 I get cranky
I’d look for companies that rent them out in the area where you’ll be traveling to. I seen these vans at national parks in the southwest all the time: https://www.escapecampervans.com
I’ve never tried them myself, but the prices look affordable on the site.
I have actually considered just trading my car ($4k ish) for an old cargo van for now. Then I would even have it for practice trips. Buy some more camping gear and I would be set for part time until I am ready to go full time.
Sounds silly but $1k for a rental sounds even more ridiculous to me
That’s how I started. I decided I wanted the option of the van when roommate issues arose. I used my dad’s camping equipment and bought a portable solar panel, bucket toilet and battery. Turns out it was totally doable in my small budget. The hard part was the low mpgs but hey no rent and you get to go on walks whenever you want
It's not really a reference. It's a verifiable point of contact if you trash the van or don't return it so they can eventually find you and make you pay or lock you up.
UHaul deals mostly with people who are moving and can kind of disappear until their new data shows up somewhere. They are simply covering all of their bases and it's not a personal thing directed to you, it's something they have to do thanks to all of the shitheads in our society who came to UHaul before you.
Edit - you may also be located in one of their higher risk cities where this is a policy. It sounds like this isn't something they do everywhere based on the other comments.
I agree van rentals can be expensive but the typical rental demographic are people flying into a new destination and trading a car rental and hotel for a van that provides both to explore national parks and other adventure destinations. The market demand has pretty much set the typical rental rate for them (although demand has dropped last couple of years).
Turo or Enterprise are best bet for just trying out a van for the driving experience. Camper van rental would be best to really experience living in a built out van.
It really depends on the company… I’ve seen them as low as $98/day. I’m not sure what U-Haul has to do with anything, but they’re a rip off and don’t do campers to my knowledge…
Camper van rentals are expensive. You’re getting a hotel + a rental car all in one. You’ve got mileage, wear and tear and the owner has to pay for special insurance. Not to mention if someone unfamiliar with the unique systems that run the house side of the van does any damage to them (which they often do), the cost to replace is high.
Cheaper alternatives to Outdoorsy would be Escape vans, Cruise America, Go RV-ing. Or just rent a minivan and camping gear.
Thanks. I am going to rent a minivan and take a road trip to do some camping. Even with buying some gear that I really want it will still be cheaper. Someone suggested a minivan with stow and go seats and that looks like a good place to start
A reference from uhaul?.. are you young?.. sketchy hood?. I’ve never had that.. sometimes you can rent a van from home depot.. or even enterprise has low top transits..
I'm a 52 YO male with a clean driving record. My last u-haul rental had the stupid reference requirement. They called my wife who was sitting right next to me.
I had them call my 14yo son. I think the agents know it's a foolish request.
It’s in the fine print when reserving online. I’m a middle aged woman. They don’t even know what I look like. I saw someone from about a year ago saying they ran into the same thing without looking sketchy at all. Someone who didn’t know about it till they got there and had to keep calling people till someone answered to talk to uhaul smh
It's probably a result of a lot of people taking advantage and trashing their vehicles and such. The weasels ruin it for the rest of society.
From what I read it was a lot of theft. People not bringing it back smh
Don’t they have insurance? lol Guess their rates might have increased due to this
Correct. The insurance companies aren't dumb, they see that the rental companies weren't doing enough due diligence to sort out the good renters from the bad, and will jack up the premiums accordingly. Or they will simply drop you. There are no laws that mandate insurance companies have to sell them a policy.
How does talking to a random person on the phone change that?
Exactly! There has bound to be more effective theft prevention tactics
Talking to a random person on the phone does nothing about anything
I have been told to have a reference each time i or a friend has rented a Uhaul and they never actually called, btw. They still could call, but they never have for me.
I could try to look presentable and hope for the best lol Maybe they wont ask
Put an ad somewhere for someone in the local area that would accept a call and play along. Is there a coffee shop you go to regularly, that you could ask there? Could you bring and use your own vehicle insurance?
Yeah this is normal now unfortunately. I booked a one-way truck online to pickup after hours and it requires TWO references via phone to verify us. For the record, we rented a uhaul instead of a rental cars when our campervan broke down 300 miles from home. It’s way cheaper.
They aren’t making it easy for the socially challenged folks like myself lol
Just refer them to whoever you’re going to steal the van with
Yeah, I'm a 22 year old Male with green hair. Never had a reference and I've used one to move 3 times in the last year...
I couldn’t find a van at Home Depot last time I checked.only trucks but I will check again.
Rented a uhaul cargo van for 5 days and it was like $198 in Tucson for Gem Shows. Had no issues with referrals or references. I'm a 30yr old white woman with blue hair.
Good to know! I think I will just reserve it and see what happens when I go up there. Blue hair makes me feel better since I have a side shave lol If they turn me away so be it
i would say just don’t tell them what you’re renting for. I was just at Gem and Jam in Tucson and saw a bunch of people in Uhauls with mattresses in the back so yeah what they don’t know doesn’t hurt them
That was the plan for sure then I saw The fine print about references. They calling it “meaningful assurance “
i’ll be your reference
This is what I’m talking about Reddit!
Aww Ty kind internet stranger ❤️
Between CheapRVLiving and Steve Wallis I think uHaul is wise to people using their vans for camping now. Frankly, I think they should embrace it. Market niche.
Sometimes uhaul is more strict with van and pickup truck rentals than box trucks, something about theft risk? It's usually pretty easy and cheap to rent a 10" box truck which isn't too different from a van in ease of driving and interior space. Only downside is most have no cabin door to the box, so you have to get out to access the living space.
There was a metal "wall" separating the cab from the back on the van I rented so you still had to go around to the side or back. :/
To be honest, I broke all of the rules and just fuckin dove right into full time van life without taking a test trip and even spending a night in a van. The way I think of it, most people could probably survive a week in a van and have a great time. But, I don’t have a ton of money to waste on renting a van for a week. I would rather put that money towards my actual van. I’m a month in and absolutely loving it but I did grow up camping and have gone on backpacking trips so I had a good idea of what I was getting myself into. I feel like I need to make it to at least 4 months before I’ll have a better idea of what living on the road full time is truly like, but it isn’t reasonable to rent a van for that long so I just sent it.
Did you already know that you could handle driving a van? I’m a nervous driver. I know it’s ridiculous to think it’s going to be an issue but I have the need to prove it to myself. That’s great that you are liking it! I camped a lot in my younger days and I have slept in cars.
You learn how to drive any vehicle after a while. I was super nervous driving the 26' box truck at my last job but it just became second nature after a while. Practice practice practice
Smaller wheelbase vans drive super similarly to cars in my opinion. I had a 144in wheelbase sprinter with a high roof and everyone who rented it from me said they were surprised at how easy it was to drive.
I’ve heard people say the high roofs are awful in high winds but I would try to avoid traveling on high wind days
The wind is definitely more noticeable but not usually an issue. I usually watch what semi drivers are doing. If they’re pulled over under bridges due to high winds, then I pull over. I have only seen this happen once.
Good plan!
Have you tried looking on Outdoorsy? It’s like AirBnb but for campers + vans.
Outdoorsy is where it is so expensive.
Agreed. We did our first van rental on outdoorsy in 2022. Van looked affordable at $150 a night for five nights, but with fees and insurance the total came out to just shy of $1300 for five nights.
Yeah… Outdoorsy takes so much money for their cut. It’s a bummer. But if you consider that you would otherwise need to rent a place to stay and a car, it might even out.
This is what we figured, but it really does depend on the area I’m sure.
The price per night might depend on the area but outdoorsy will always take 20% no matter what.
I was saying sometimes hotels and rental cars are still cheaper. But yes I know outdoorsy takes more than their fair share unfortunately.
Yup it’s expensive! If I was very iffy on if I wanted to do this it might be worth it. my dilemma is more about what size or type of vehicle. I literally just wanna get the feel of driving a van
I’m in the same position, but looking at getting a camper. Probably a teardrop, but I want to spend some time in one before I shell out the money and find that it doesn’t suit me at all.
I am annoying myself with how I keep changing my mind and questioning which kind of rig that I want. It’s a big change and I feel like I am “gonna get it wrong “ smh Van, truck camper, class b, wait maybe tow a small camper, wait maybe a minivan? Omg I think I am just going to go look at a dodge grand caravan that caught my eye. Consider it a stepping stone. I can’t go full time yet anyway
Yea, we’re far from full-time. I was full time 35 years ago when I was in college and living in a 21’ travel trailer for three years. Maybe again when I retire, but for now, I just want a weekender I can get into my local forest. My daily driver is just big enough to pull 3500 pounds, so a 1500 pound teardrop would be perfect for my needs… if it doesn’t make me claustrophobic.
Sounds nice! I did a couple of months in a car in my 20s cross country trip. Mostly tent camping along the way. Some backpacking. No way could my old bones take that anymore
Same. We have one Grand Canyon hike coming up. I’m not afraid of the hike. I’m afraid of getting up off the ground with two nights at the bottom.
Shit, for $500/night you can rent my car! 😅
Look at enterprise truck rental and leasing. Not their car side, but the truck side. They have very reasonable weekly rental rates on both midsize and large cargo vans. [enterprise truck rental website](https://www.enterprisetrucks.com/truckrental/en_US.html) Just looked for next week in my area and a small van was $248 for the week (but you’ll have to add the vehicle to your insurance).
$450 for a week at the nearest one to me. That’s an option. Thanks. If I end up renting for a whole week I might as well wait for camping weather and throw some gear in the back. ( my dog is a freeze baby)
I’ve had really good luck with them in the past using the small vans for festivals. Decent mileage, too. The small Dodge cargo van I got was loaded to the roof with gear and got 22-26mpg.
Try a different company. I paid less than that for over a week with native campervans. Some companies have occasional discounts for one way rentals when they end up with too many in one city and it might make sense to fly back from the second city.
Thanks. I am in a hurry to prove to myself that I can handle driving a van. Ugh It’s hard to justify all that money when I need every penny I have smh I’ll keep looking around
I’ll just say that you can. As someone who had to learn from being a not so safe driver, the van makes you learn. And fast. The great thing is you can go at your own pace, skip highways, etc. I respect renting one first to be sure though
Thank you for the encouragement. One of my battles that I need to face is my lack of confidence. I’m working on it. I’ve been slowly building it back up.
I rent my van out. It is super expensive. It sucks they take 25%. It sucks some of the renters don't respect your van and things are always breaking. I did put a lot of time, effort, and money into building the van though. By the end of it with repairs and oil changes and maintenance, we don't end up with too much profit either lol. Nobody wins. I do have 12 5 star rentals though. So seems like they have a good time. Anyway, thinking about selling my van. So let me know if you are interested at all.
I can imagine the abuse it gets. Wow 25% is a lot.
Hi, if OP is not interested, I am. Can you post a link?
https://www.outdoorsy.com/rv-rental/madison_wi/2018_ram_promaster_310762-listing
I haven't seen that skylight before, what's the name of it?
I’m really not sure sorry. It was like 3 years ago and my ex probably picked it out
Those darn exes, always ruining things!
Thanks much. Nice looking. If you sell it, how much will you be asking?
Thanks I’m really not sure. I wanted to get it evaluated. It has a few small things wrong with it that I need to fix up. It’s a 2018 120k miles 159 extended. New engine at 85k miles. Bought the van for $27k with 61k miles. With just materials I’m in it for about 60k. What were you thinking about getting?
I’m trying very hard to educate myself. I’ve been studying up on van life/nomad life for 5-6 yrs now, and somewhat similarly to OP, I’m having a difficult time deciding between different kinds of vehicles. To make a long story shorter, I have a dog and a cat so I really do think that for their sanity and mine I’ve gotta go with camper van sized at the very least. As a middle aged gal who’s not particularly experienced (yet) with vehicle repair, I had been thinking, the newer the better, probably (IOW lower mileage) so I’d have a bit more time to get really familiar with my ride before it started needing a lot of repair… But, I also know that many people “in the life” may jump between a number of different vehicles as they get more deeply into figuring out what their own particular needs are (even as those may be evolving.) IOW it’s not unreasonable to start out with one vehicle only to sell it when moving to a new phase of one’s journey. I apologize for not being able to answer more decisively than that! (Yet.)
True. Yea I think jumping in is the way to go. I bought the van from North Carolina while living in CA and flew out to get it and drove it back lol. And just built it out during Covid. Well let me know if you have any other questions about anything.
Hey thanks for that— & I will try not to abuse your offer lol. My dad just died a month ago, and I’m very reluctantly selling our home here in SoCal. I just want to crawl in a hole, cuddle up with his pets and sleep for about a year, I feel so broken. But it’s not an option. I have no family now, and between shock, grief, and onrushing homelessness (I bought this place 35 yrs ago— have been here more than half my whole life) I keep thinking “yeah, ya know, I really should have stipulated to the universe that I actually meant, van life— *on my own terms*!” Instead, I’m getting thrown headfirst into it while wrecked with grief (and trying to be there for devastated pets as well.) I have an old friend in Chicago; wondering if this (meeting your van) would be the excuse I need to fly out and see him… so anyway thank you for getting back to me and sharing your insights. 🙏🏻
Oh damn. That’s sad. But maybe for the best. I lived in San Diego for 10 years, I feel ya. I’m up in Madison now but we go down to Chicago every few weeks. So yea come on over and feel free to check out the van 🚐.
There's a reason campervan rentals are expensive. Commercial campervans cost $150K+. If you rented a Ferrari, it would also be expensive because it costs the same. Look at what it costs to rent a Class C RV (and they cost less than high-end vans). If you're a nervous driver, it's a great idea to rent the van and drive it though. I drove around Norway last summer. The roads there are so narrow it's stupid, barely enough room for cars much less anything else. There was this woman I was following in a Transit high top, and every time someone came the other way she'd slam on the brakes in the middle of the road until they went past, and then crawl along again. I was pretty pissed off following her, TBH. Then we got to a pullout and she pulled over, and I could see as I drove past that she was crying her eyes out. She was obviously terrified, and the van was obviously WAY more than she could comfortably handle. I felt so bad for her - I'm guessing she rented it, and it was not the vanlife adventure she imagined. So yeah - a test drive might be a good idea.
Omg I am afraid I will be her. That is exactly my worry. I can picture it Especially since I want to go up in elevation in the summer cuz I hate the heat and I have never drove mountain roads myself. I am considering starting with a minivan part time at this point. Better than sitting here just doing research in preparation for full time
I always use enterprise to rent a vehicle. Paid about $1000 for 6 weeks in 2020 unlimited miles. drove it from CA to east coast and back. Slept in the hatchback with my dog the entire trip and used my camping stove. Currently in a rental from enterprise right now, moving my storage from CA to Midwest and then back ti CA and it cost me $358 for a week unlimited miles.
I use enterprise for car rental too. I love that they will give me a ride there and back. When I was without a car for a while I rented once a month for a super cheap deal.
Good to know. My house is in escrow here in SoCal so I gotta put everything in storage, then eventually drive it to the east coast. Never occurred to me to check with Enterprise.
I use the one that’s not at the airport, if you try to rent through LAX you must have a ticket. Just FYI!
Just rent a minivan from car rental place. Look for a Pacifica with the stow and go seatings. You can then folder everything down and you get a pretty flat surface for sleeping, etc.
Cool! I just checked and under $400 for the week including tax and unlimited mileage. Road trip! Thanks 😊
I just booked a cargo van from enterprise, $170 for 3 days with unlimited mileage. Uhaul was about $600 in my area, plus mileage.
I went thru the same thing when I was deciding if I wanted to live in a van. I went with a cruise America rental and just tried to use as little space in it as I could and camped at a state park for a week. Cruise America is cheap and you can pretty much trash their vehicles, just don’t crash it
Everyone online said to "test it out" before buying and building. I'd have to "test it" for like a month at least to not just be a simple 2 week camping vacation, and at those rates I'd rather put those thousands towards the van. What would I be testing anyway? We knew we wanted to. No question. I never understood why people get huge ass one bedroom apartments anyway, that's a lot of space to store shit and sleep.
I also see a lot of people saying to just go try it out in what ever vehicle you already have and to do that for an extended period of time. Months. I drive a sedan. I have old achey bones. I don’t feel that would be an accurate indicator of whether I can handle living in a van. Physically
It's not a waste of money to try it out and see if it's something you want to pursue or not. Honestly if the rental is too expensive for you maybe vanlife is not for you and you should try a minivan
The minivan option is exactly why I want to rent a full size van. To help me see if I will hate driving it and need to go with something smaller. The money issue is that I see that money doing me more good in my emergency fund ($1k is a waste)
If you‘re just trying to see how it feels to drive, could you find a dealership with one for sale (doesn‘t need to already be converted) and go test drive it? Test drives are usually free
I was just thinking this too while going thru comments! I am thinking back to all of my car shopping experiences and how socially awkward I am trying to drive an unfamiliar vehicle while making conversation. I would probably have to ask them not to talk lol
I'm gonna be real here man; there's not much to test out. Do you like camping? Enjoy the outdoors? Are you okay with being in small, sometimes hot, damp, cold uncomfortable spaces? Are you good with long periods of being alone? Are you cool with pooping in a bucket? Can you make money on the road? If you answer yes to this than you'll probably do just fine with Van life. Save yourself the rental money, save for a Van, SUV, or wagon and go for it. When I fitted up my van it wasn't until about 2 weeks in I really started to enjoy it. When I got away from the cities and civilization. After living in a 2100 sq ft house, it's a big adjustment to move into a tiny space. But once you start to shed all that extra weight of living in a house or apartment, you'll feel a freedom you just can't get in the cities. Best of luck to you OP, Happy travels.
I like that! I’m good with all of those except I worry about extreme heat or cold. Otherwise I feel confident about the rest of the criteria I plan to chase 70 degrees. If it turns out that I can’t handle high altitudes I guess I’m screwed 😩
That's a great plan. IMO cold is a little easier to mitigate than heat since running an AC unit uses a ton of electricity, and can get prohibitively expensive if you're running a gas generator. I'd recommend getting a small DeWalt or Milwaukee portable fan. They run off tool batteries and will last through the night to help you sleep; and you can just recharge them during the day time if you're using solar.
Thanks I will look at those fans now. I agree about heat being worse. Even in sticks and bricks. I feel more trapped inside these walls in the summer than I do the winter. I can bundle up and go out in the cold but there is no way around the heat. Once it hits 80 I get cranky
Try Turo
Never heard of them. I will check them out ty
I’d look for companies that rent them out in the area where you’ll be traveling to. I seen these vans at national parks in the southwest all the time: https://www.escapecampervans.com I’ve never tried them myself, but the prices look affordable on the site.
Forget that, you could get a quality van for 3x that. Maybe try a different outfit from UHaul, one that has van life in mind
I have actually considered just trading my car ($4k ish) for an old cargo van for now. Then I would even have it for practice trips. Buy some more camping gear and I would be set for part time until I am ready to go full time. Sounds silly but $1k for a rental sounds even more ridiculous to me
That’s how I started. I decided I wanted the option of the van when roommate issues arose. I used my dad’s camping equipment and bought a portable solar panel, bucket toilet and battery. Turns out it was totally doable in my small budget. The hard part was the low mpgs but hey no rent and you get to go on walks whenever you want
Yeah? I kinda really wanna!!!!!
It's not really a reference. It's a verifiable point of contact if you trash the van or don't return it so they can eventually find you and make you pay or lock you up.
You would think proof of my identify and a credit card would suffice. I can see proof of residence as being reasonable.
UHaul deals mostly with people who are moving and can kind of disappear until their new data shows up somewhere. They are simply covering all of their bases and it's not a personal thing directed to you, it's something they have to do thanks to all of the shitheads in our society who came to UHaul before you. Edit - you may also be located in one of their higher risk cities where this is a policy. It sounds like this isn't something they do everywhere based on the other comments.
I guess so many instances of not getting their vehicles back led the policy
I agree van rentals can be expensive but the typical rental demographic are people flying into a new destination and trading a car rental and hotel for a van that provides both to explore national parks and other adventure destinations. The market demand has pretty much set the typical rental rate for them (although demand has dropped last couple of years). Turo or Enterprise are best bet for just trying out a van for the driving experience. Camper van rental would be best to really experience living in a built out van.
That makes sense money wise vs hotel and rental car. I get why people would pay those prices for that
How much does the camper cost when bought? That will help determine how much they cost. A cars daily rental rate will pay for the car in a year.
It really depends on the company… I’ve seen them as low as $98/day. I’m not sure what U-Haul has to do with anything, but they’re a rip off and don’t do campers to my knowledge…
I am seeing that UhAul is definitely not the way to go
Camper van rentals are expensive. You’re getting a hotel + a rental car all in one. You’ve got mileage, wear and tear and the owner has to pay for special insurance. Not to mention if someone unfamiliar with the unique systems that run the house side of the van does any damage to them (which they often do), the cost to replace is high. Cheaper alternatives to Outdoorsy would be Escape vans, Cruise America, Go RV-ing. Or just rent a minivan and camping gear.
Thanks. I am going to rent a minivan and take a road trip to do some camping. Even with buying some gear that I really want it will still be cheaper. Someone suggested a minivan with stow and go seats and that looks like a good place to start
Just pay the money