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Old 01-20-2019, 10:45 PM   #51 (permalink)
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Not quite simul-post! One minute difference. Your Avalon doesn't have. a hatch does it?
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From Permalink #55
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Originally Posted by Isaac Zackary
We camped around "living out of our car" and sleeping in a tent on several occasions during the last couple of years simply so we could save on hotels in both our Nissan Leaf and now our Toyota Avalon. We just carry around a cook stove for cooking. From time to time camp at a paid campground that has showers.
....
For now though we don't plan on moving out of our actual home.
What would slowmover do? Number of people times number of days times (water or not). A reasonable body style would allow someone to stand on a flat floor for dressing or cooking. A four-door notchback is not that.

What do you think of a trailer, or hitch-mounted pop-up, or a roof-top tent as options? Does a hinged and folding mattress sound friendly to your back?

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Old 01-20-2019, 11:35 PM   #52 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard View Post
What would slowmover do? Number of people times number of days times (water or not). A reasonable body style would allow someone to stand on a flat floor for dressing or cooking. A four-door notchback is not that.

What do you think of a trailer, or hitch-mounted pop-up, or a roof-top tent as options? Does a hinged and folding mattress sound friendly to your back?
Thinking about such RVs... When I used Moon Unit as an RV I identified access to a good daily shower as a top priority. I'd want an indoor shower (vs portable camp showers) so at least that area needs standing room. Too bad then that the choices seem to be mostly between huge frontal area or collapsible roof.

Re: bedding: having "slept" on air mattresses, tent sleeping bag pads, sofa-sleepers, and futons, I'd probably insist on a real, regular, non-folding mattress. Not worth compromising if the result is tossing and turning all sleepless night.
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Old 01-21-2019, 04:25 AM   #53 (permalink)
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Not quite simul-post! One minute difference. Your Avalon doesn't have. a hatch does it?
No, the Avalon is a sedan with non-folding rear seats and a NiMH battery right behind the rear seats.
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What would slowmover do? Number of people times number of days times (water or not). A reasonable body style would allow someone to stand on a flat floor for dressing or cooking. A four-door notchback is not that.

What do you think of a trailer, or hitch-mounted pop-up, or a roof-top tent as options? Does a hinged and folding mattress sound friendly to your back?
If I do go forward with this I'd probably go with a tear-drop trailer. I need something I can insulate the tar out of and big enough for two people. I don't know if it would work, but what if I made the trailer structure out of insulation panels and then just covered the whole thing in a layer of structural fiberglass sheets and resin and put that atop a flatbed trailer?
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Old 01-21-2019, 08:40 AM   #54 (permalink)
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https://www.facebook.com/groups/jehu...?ref=bookmarks
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Also, if anybody is wondering about what is legal to park in your driveway or in residential here locally if it looks like a box truck (no windows- white, or big box), or a RV they're pretty much illegal to park in your driveway.
They just hit the whole neighborhood for not in use RV's and campers because one person complained, and its a city code.
Also, anything bedding wise sleep on it first in your house and test it out. I for sure can't just sleep in a sleeping bag.
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Old 01-21-2019, 01:17 PM   #55 (permalink)
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Quote:
If I do go forward with this I'd probably go with a tear-drop trailer.
What? You're not going to cut the roof off the Avalon?

What you're describing is called a 'foamie'. Here're my designs. You're free to swipe one:







The first one is the aerodynamic Template at low resolution, with a rear entrance. I'd rethink the double axle with 10" wheels today. The second one is a tent trailer in the classic teardrop shape. Neither has the rear kitchen a classic teardrop has.
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Old 01-21-2019, 03:18 PM   #56 (permalink)
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[*]Average cost of healthcare for 4 people (premiums, plus deductions, copays, etc.): $2,347
This is really key. I just got my 2018 W2 which now includes how much your employer paid for your healthcare. Mine paid $16,382.66 for a high deductible family plan. ($5,000 medical deductible plus $5,000 prescription deductible per person / Family Max-out-of-pocket $13,300)

That is $1,365 per month for just the premium. My company covers 100% so I'm not paying out of pocket for the premium we are lucky there. (I also picked my current employer based on generous benefits even though the pay is below average for the area)

My wife an I are looking to retire and travel the USA in a campervan. However, health insurance is a key limiting factor. We can't see shelling out $15K a year for coverage just in case we get sick or ill. We will likely end up moving out of country instead.
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Old 01-21-2019, 05:04 PM   #57 (permalink)
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To Cure Insurance Woes, Doctors Try Prepaid Plans (Taken from Wall Street Journal)

12/10/07

Some Say Fee System Cuts Costs, Boosts Care; Dr. Wood’s Legal Battle
By VANESSA FUHRMANS


This is probably localized. I don't know if it would work for a snowbird. Getting the rent-seeking by insurance companies out of the picture is the only way to save the 'health care delivery system'.
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Old 01-21-2019, 06:33 PM   #58 (permalink)
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To Cure Insurance Woes, Doctors Try Prepaid Plans (Taken from Wall Street Journal)

12/10/07

Some Say Fee System Cuts Costs, Boosts Care; Dr. Wood’s Legal Battle
By VANESSA FUHRMANS


This is probably localized. I don't know if it would work for a snowbird. Getting the rent-seeking by insurance companies out of the picture is the only way to save the 'health care delivery system'.
Every other developed country has solved this problem.
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Old 01-22-2019, 06:22 AM   #59 (permalink)
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Let's not get involved in politics right now.

Getting back on topic, how do I convert my Avalon into a camper?
Politics has been your argument. But supported by preferential inanities.
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Old 01-22-2019, 06:55 AM   #60 (permalink)
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What would slowmover do? Number of people times number of days times (water or not). A reasonable body style would allow someone to stand on a flat floor for dressing or cooking. A four-door notchback is not that.

What do you think of a trailer, or hitch-mounted pop-up, or a roof-top tent as options? Does a hinged and folding mattress sound friendly to your back?[/QUOTE]

Number of annual nights aboard to figure value. Dollars spent versus “savings”.

That’s against having hot water in sufficient quantity (a shower isn’t necessary, but it is limiting); ability to cook, and to stay warm & dry. Thus a propane system is necessary.

Fresh water is the limitation (how many nights aboard without re-supply?).

Fresh water capacity PLUS propane capacity are the single most important design factors.

Why I’ve never had an interest in multi-purpose vehicles. They do EVERYTHING badly. (See the trailer versus pickup truck thread).

RV Park living is now all over the country. Beats hell out of being on a side street. Sooner or later that WILL cause trash, urine & feces dumped roadside. No plan or miracle toilet will avoid it. (You say you won’t. Ha! You will).

The other aspect of this magic van thinking is the belief that one won’t ever get sick or injured. (Very, VERY bad assumption).

An RV Park may be unappealing (mine is, in spades), but it offers an address and a conceptual (legal) framework out of which to work.

I may be home three days per month. Seems expensive to pay ground rent. But I have both water and 50A electric service plus sewer. The park owner has some liability for conditions. And while there is no lease, it’s comfortable on a long-term basis.

Since ALL OTHERS are not renters, but own their RVs, it is not ever as unfriendly as an apartment complex. Or mobile home park.

And, given a decent travel trailer (vintage Airstream; a V6 Dodge Charger can tow almost any of them; see EPA ratings) one can move almost anywhere winter temps aren’t prohibitive (daily highs above freezing).

That’s the real point of these threads. Resisting the NEED to move elsewhere. It’s too little, too late AND a waste of what money one does have to continue to deny need.

An RV is a relative low cost choice. It has expenses of its own, insurance fir full-time living almost doesn’t exist, and it has maintenance & repairs that will be necessary.

Think Sunday morning repairs on a commercial side street will be easy?

The attitude of theft of public good isn’t limited to “stealth camping” by the poorly-paid. I had a load of fun with owners of the Sprinterbased $200k Airstream Interstates a while back who want to stealth camp at trailhead parking lots. The very limited parking at issue.

Versus doing the right thing and reserving a campground site. Where it’s FAR easier to spread out all the hiking gear, bathe and wash clothing. And it’s hardly an inconvenience to arrange a ride from that campground or secured parking somewhere else.

It’s always been fun to confront the crunchy-granola types mid-trail with some of their hypocrisies. As what they believe to be virtuous, isn’t.

Sleeping on the street gets one moving, accelerating, down a slope where it isn’t easy to brake.

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Last edited by slowmover; 01-22-2019 at 07:07 AM..
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