Van Life vs Truck Life

[Turbo_lander]

Sorry if this is long winded. My wife and I are planning on selling all of our possessions (house, cars, furnitue, valubles, etc) and travel/explore the US for a year (or longer). Our plan is to stay in Air bnb for 4-6 weeks at a time and then move on to the next city. While we are in each town we will be doing adventures, exploring, site seeing, etc. My wife will work remotely and I will be documenting our travels (youtube and IG).

We obviously will need a vehicle to do this traveling. My question is whether or not to use my truck or to buy a 4x4 Sprinter Camper? Our plan is not to stay over night in our vehicle while we travel but just in case we have to we need be able to easlily. Mind you we have to larger dogs too. However when we are at our destination (Air bnb) we will do some light camping exploring in that area. Right now my truck is almost "overland" ready, I just need a RTT, a few more camping items and to beef up the suspension. But I can also get a Sprinter Van that has all we need to be comfortable to sleep and camp in. Mind you this vehicle will also serve as our DD while in any given city/town we happen to be in.

So which travel vehicle should I do? Which would you do? Is the Raptor dependable enought to do this for more than year? If I use the Raptor we will not have a vehicle payment but we probably will have one for the Van (they can be expensive). I think the Van will def be more comfortabel but less pratical as a DD while in any given city/town. Then I have to think about operation cost too. Thoughts? Advice?

 

[HeavyAssault]

1) Break out costs: Air BNB the whole time (or hotel) VS the buying cost of a Sprinter van (perhaps add on maintenance costs/insurance/fuel/tags/registration/taxes).
2) Can you flip the house sale profits into an investment?? That % gain is MUCH better long term than dumping the profits into a new Sprinter IMO.
3) Sprinters are a great DD vehicle .....see them all the time as working vehicles. No...they are not as cool as a Raptor DD.
4) Any household items going into storage or can you store them for free with family??


Something tells me you MIGHT be able to deduct the costs of the van when operating a business...if that's what you are doing.

I've long been thinking of buying an RV. Seems as the upfront costs of the RV/ month-to-month might be more than just getting a hotel for the same time frame of my destination stay.

 

[Jeff-Ohio]

Just a thought, but I would suggest starting off in the Raptor and see how it goes. If it isn't working for you, then you can look at other options. It doesn't make sense to jump the gun on something that will create debt and may not be needed.

 

[Turbo_lander]

Just a thought, but I would suggest starting off in the Raptor and see how it goes. If it isn't working for you, then you can look at other options. It doesn't make sense to jump the gun on something that will create debt and may not be needed.

We are planning on renting a van for a week as a dry run. The debt from the van would be some what minimal compared to our current monthly debts so I feel we can handle it and be in a good spot. However I see the point you are making trust me it makes sense plus I really love my truck too. Apart me just thinks the Van would make the overall experience better. I don't want to start and feel like this would be better if we had the Van. Kinda better to be over prepared than under prepared mindset I guess.

 

[Turbo_lander]

1) Break out costs: Air BNB the whole time (or hotel) VS the buying cost of a Sprinter van (perhaps add on maintenance costs/insurance/fuel/tags/registration/taxes).
2) Can you flip the house sale profits into an investment?? That % gain is MUCH better long term than dumping the profits into a new Sprinter IMO.
3) Sprinters are a great DD vehicle .....see them all the time as working vehicles. No...they are not as cool as a Raptor DD.
4) Any household items going into storage or can you store them for free with family??


Something tells me you MIGHT be able to deduct the costs of the van when operating a business...if that's what you are doing.

I've long been thinking of buying an RV. Seems as the upfront costs of the RV/ month-to-month might be more than just getting a hotel for the same time frame of my destination stay.

We plan on selling everything. The only thing we will keep is some seasonal clothing which will stay with family until we need it (swap out). The money from our house will be set aside for whenever we settle back down. I agree about the Sprinter as a DD so that is a wash. I just really love my truck too!

 

[Donovan]

Man I'm just in for this documentation.

 

[Turbo_lander]

Man I'm just in for this documentation.

We are in the beginning stages. Will be right at a year before we head out. Working out all the details and making back up plans for every situation.

 

[CoronaRaptor]

If you have two large dogs, get rid of the Raptor. Taking a year to travel, you will accumulate a few things and you will need room to store basic items, just a big bag of dog food takes up room. You're not going to buy small bags of dog food every week, it's just not cost effective. You will want a small fridge/freezer, etc. You can't live out of a cooler for a year, it gets old quick! To travel and be on a budget, these are some of the things to consider. It's a great idea, good luck, and i'm following this....

 

[Turbo_lander]

If you have two large dogs, get rid of the Raptor. Taking a year to travel, you will accumulate a few things and you will need room to store basic items, just a big bag of dog food takes up room. You're not going to buy small bags of dog food every week, it's just not cost effective. You will want a small fridge/freezer, etc. You can't live out of a cooler for a year, it gets old quick! To travel and be on a budget, these are some of the things to consider. It's a great idea, good luck, and i'm following this....

We really won't live out of either (truck or van). 90% of our time will be living out of Airbnb with some light camping. I just thinking we need to have a set up that we can lay or heads down if we run into longer travel time between two points during our travel. But like you said the Van would be the most convient for carrying dogs and gear so leaning towards that.

 

[smurfslayer]

Sprinter or Raptor. You’re seriously asking this question?

if airbnb is the plan, you won’t need a special vehicle for this. if you’re selling it all and hitting the road, I’d say up-fit the Rap with storage option you can use to haul your luggage, etc.

You don’t want some peasant van to travel in!