Knocking Vanlife

[Boxster1971]

Yeah, but they have great grits for breakfast!

Also think their biscuits are top notch. But I don't like their coffee.

 

[tshaner]

I think this is just a counter to all of the lovey duvey, give up your life so you can take pictures of the beach or some other pastoral setting through a back window only showing a pair of feet. I think it jolts newbies into thinking about all sides of making the big decision to put down big bucks on a depreciating asset, no matter how much some of you enjoy it.

Relax. There are two sides to every story, I rarely read anything but nonstop bliss even though a lot of full time Rv bloggers leave the lifestyle eventually. Doesn’t mean it is a bad experience but certainly not the nirvana espoused so frequently.

Don’t everybody jump on me. No bone to pick with either side. Just an observation.

 

[Ron J. Moore]

I read the Article about the Rental, Cracker Barrel, malfunctioning Heater.....I had a gut feeling it was nothing more that a Hit Job on B’s.

 

[Jon in AZ]

Anything to cull the herd. It’s getting impossible to snag a “real” camping spot.

 

[HubFlyer]

TLDR "Journalist" does almost no research, doesn't pay attention to most instructions, doesn't take notes, stays at a CG with electrical hookups (see photo in story) but doesn't use them. Complains the WE doesn't go swimmingly, makes no attempt to present the other side.

I am all for media which presents "reality" but try to be fair. It's the least a "journalist" can do.

 

[TygerMark]

The older I get and the more I know about more things, the more I see 'writers' who know less, and editors who know even less.

They all get paid to write and publish an article. It apparently starts and ends there.

 

[Bud-ClassB]

The older I get and the more I know about more things, the more I see 'writers' who know less, and editors who know even less.

They all get paid to write and publish an article. It apparently starts and ends there.

The older I get, the writers distort, exaggerate and lie more - often for money and sometime power, etc. e. g.

YouTube ambassadors and many other blogs. What I thought of as legitimate news out-lets now create what I call 'click-bate'. The title of the news article
is not really what the article is about and is sometimes worse yet.

Lying has become an acceptable 'way of life' 'life style'....... in the last few years, as I've gotten older. Needed to kinda phrase it like that or avanti would shoot me.

Even the science writer stuff has changed, per a German theoretical astrophysicist. That I'm guessing is that there is simply less dollars to spend on investigating reporting, accuracy....... But I suppose that is true about all of it since the www, and since the beginning of journalism........

 

[booster]

The older I get, the writers distort, exaggerate and lie more - often for money and sometime power, etc. e. g.

YouTube ambassadors and many other blogs. What I thought of as legitimate news out-lets now create what I call 'click-bate'. The title of the news article
is not really what the article is about and is sometimes worse yet.

Lying has become an acceptable 'way of life' 'life style'....... in the last few years, as I've gotten older. Needed to kinda phrase it like that or avanti would shoot me.

Even the science writer stuff has changed, per a German theoretical astrophysicist. That I'm guessing is that there is simply less dollars to spend on investigating reporting, accuracy....... But I suppose that is true about all of it since the www, and since the beginning of journalism........

A lot of it is probably because the viewing public would rather believe some loud, flashy, mugging for camera battery "expert" than the battery designer at Volta, Lifeline, or Trojan. Make it with lots colors a graphics, and of course lots of product placements and you are an expert getting paid by the manufacturers to push their products with "unbiased" reviews that disparage their competition, and make lots of highly questionable claims stated as fact.


Sort/kinda an expansion of the past claims of being able to run the AC off batteries all night and recharge them in 20 minutes off the alternator.

 

[GeorgeRad]

I found porta potties often being called cassette toilets, but this a new one, a porta potty became a composting toilet, perhaps a little closer to the true meaning of “composting” than actual composting ones. But, “composting toilets” are trendy, readers would assume the writer knows the subject. Should we call AGM from a lithium family, a battery is a battery, toilet is a toilet, dry poop is compost like.

We just came back from a few days of camping in the Beverly Beach State Park, OR, very few folks and great weather.

 

[Davydd]

Davydd, an update - interestingly, more of the same:

https://www.insider.com/disappointing-photos-van-life-2021-2

Lazy writer gets three articles out of one trip. Do you think insider.com paid him three times? As I mentioned it was hyperbole with an agenda. But more astute van lifers can see he was no expert though he is getting paid to write those articles covering vanlife and tiny homes.

Was it deliberate to not plug into shore power at a KOA and complain that the electrical outlets didn't work.

Did the heater not really work? Or was he too stupid to listen for 30 minutes and ask.

The porta potty mistaken for a compost toilet was telling.

Who goes to PA and NY in January and expect a scenic adventure? He never mentioned probably the one thing you could do is go to a ski resort. That alone leads me to believe he had a preconceived agenda.

He didn't lie really. His ignorance and stupidity just got highlighted. In my initial post I had the most identical experience in the cold and middle of the night dumpster at a Cracker Barrel. I survived it. You park at Cracker Barrels when you are on the way to get someplace else. In the winter they are usually quieter than a Walmart that usually has semis running and people gunning their engines all night coming and going with the store open. Even so, I won't pass up a convenient Walmart stop while underway to get somewhere warm. He was fortunate to have a KOA or any campground open. They are all closed in Minnesota. As for parking on the street, he showed he did. So what is the big deal? Class B's because they are narrower than other RV's and don't need slides and other stick out hinderances, and somewhat stealthy at least not to alarm passerby's are the best for urban parking. We do it all the time including three days in Queens Village, NYC.

 

[MsNomer]

I had take-out lunch yesterday in a restaurant parking lot. It was such an enjoyable experience I lingered a while.

 

[mtmdatlanta]

I read the article about a week ago, and couldn't believe anyone would even take such a trip, much less write about it. Firstly, he decides to go "camping" in a B in January in NY and PA. Why? What's the point? The lack of other campers suggests it was an absurd outing in the first place. Only the most ardent campers who love to hike and cross-country ski would undertake such a trip, and then with a 4 seasons capable rig and lots of experience. Instead, he rents a van with no experience and no plans, and then has a terrible time. Not a surprising outcome.

Second, he rents a B, and it's a custom conversion, not a B from an established manufacturer that's been consumer tested. It wasn't a 4 seasons van, with almost no insulation. Then, he rents it without any, or maybe minimal, orientation training to the van's systems, and certainly didn't test them before taking the keys. If the furnace was indeed inoperable, shouldn't he have tested that first IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WINTER IN THE NORTHEAST? Didn't seem to test the bathroom facilities for fit and operation, either.

Third, he chose to eat outside, "because that's what people do in these vans". Except in the middle of the winter! He left the bed made up, so had no place to eat. Not the van's fault, though I bet he didn't know that the cab seats swivel, and may have had a table available for a front dining experience.

All this article proves is that when a novice with no knowledge or real desire and enthusiasm undertakes an absurd adventure with no preparation, he'll have a bad time. I'm surprised any publisher would pick up and publish such garbage.

 

[Bud-ClassB]

"I'm surprised any publisher would pick up and publish such garbage."

Some publishers seek that out and might pay more for it! You'll click it on. Well, maybe not but a heck of a lot of folks will. Someone made the point earlier that maybe that is not all bad. I agree. It is all bad if promoting masks don't work with covid.

 

[TygerMark]

It is all bad if promoting masks don't work with covid.

Bingo........

 

[Davydd]

The author should have taken the advice of one of his interviewees in this article.

Social media makes living in a camper van look like the simple life. The reality is a lot more complicated.

https://www.insider.com/reality-of-van-life-movement-2021-1

"They're [van tourists] trying to do what took us five or six years to learn how to do," Lin said. "They want the short cut. They want to be right in front of the line. They want to go from zero to 100 instead of learning it on their own."

Click on his name at the beginning of his articles and you will get an extensive list of other articles he wrote.

 

[jb1965]

Everytime I take a road trip and get to sleep in my rig I look at it as an adventure. I love the idea of being able to just pull over whenever I feel like it or just take a nap in route. I love my Class B.

 

[MsNomer]

The essence is that the reporter didn’t feel the magic.

 

[Lennie-ClassB]

My daily driver is a Mini Cooper and the only thing I found intimidating about driving a Sprinter is the height and low hanging branches when parking. I've slept next to a freeway in a tiny rest stop jammed between 2 semi trucks which were running all night and don't think I was as unhappy as this guy, except my heater did work. One of the things I enjoyed on my last trip, ordering take out and sitting in the restaurant parking lot with ocean views on 2 sides and my dogs with me.

 

[jon-ClassB]

I read the Article about the Rental, Cracker Barrel, malfunctioning Heater.....I had a gut feeling it was nothing more that a Hit Job on B’s.

I don't think it was a "hit" job. I think she was an inexperienced person expecting too much from a class B. I can relate to the heater problem. My gas heater is not very reliable. It usually takes two tries to start. Sometimes more. If she didn't know to try more than once. Or, maybe she had less than 1/4 tank of fuel. My Ford Transit's extra fuel tap seems to be above the 1/4 mark and more than once I've forgotten that.

I'm not knocking Webasto or Espar fuel heaters but they're not like electric push button heaters. I carry one of those too.

I read the article a while ago and and just thought she must be a newbie.

 

[warm]

i hope that there are a lot more peps out there like that less peps camping taking our spots and maybe get a good deal on a good campervan.