Twiddling my thumbs: Entertainment in the van.

There have been a few people in the past months that have asked how I keep myself occupied in a cold dark van when I’m not working. While it can be a bit tricky finding entertainment after the sun has dropped behind the horizon it hasn’t been a deal breaker, or really even as much of an issue has I would have guessed before moving into the van. I think that the van has not drastically changed my entertainment patterns beyond the fact that I certainly watch more movies this time of year.

Books are one of my staples, they require no energy, they’ll survive if they get wet/damp, they’re accessible, cheap and varied. One moment I can be on the edge of my sleeping bag with Bilbo riddling away with Gollum, the next evening I can try and put myself in the position of ancient civilizations facing the end of their way of life. And that variety is a pretty nice way to mentally remove one’s self from a cold, dark van. The down side to books is that they tend to take up a fair bit of space, your hands will get cold while reading for extended periods of time and it’s a bummer when they get wrinkly from the damp.

Taking a break from my home entertainment
system and checking on the outside world.
Photo by Kevin Hadfield

Movie watching, like I said, definitely goes through the roof during the winter as it’s easy to put on a DVD on the laptop before falling asleep, especially since a warm computer feels great on my legs. However, the problem with electronics as a whole is that when they become cold their battery life is markedly reduced so you might not get to see Bilbo get eaten by Smaug at the end (I’ll admit I have been on a hobbit kick with the book and movies lately and so you’ll have to forgive the references) and will instead have to wait until it’s warmer or you’ve recharged to finish your movie.

Snow sports require increased motivation and psyche but are not completely unrealistic in the dark. I was saying to a co-worker and friend the other day that about 50% of the time that I say I’m going to get up early or stay out late skinning by myself I actually follow through with those plans. It is without a doubt tricky to get pumped up to walk uphill in the dark by yourself for a few turns before or after a 10 hour work day. So, my recommendation is to find a buddy(s) that will hold you to your commitments and is stoked to go adventuring with you in the cold and dark. I’d say company bumps the plan follow through percentage up to at least 80% if you’ve made definite plans.

Sitting and thinking is a wonderfully time consuming activity that is great for winter down time in the van. I read somewhere that sitting quietly and being present or reflecting is a great way to start and end the day as it can be calming and focusing, both nice for waking up and emptying the ol’ noggin before sleeping. The other nice features of sitting and thinking include: the low energy commitment, you get to say in your warm bed for a few extra minutes, it gives you time to thoroughly plan out the to-do list for your next rest day, you can plan out/day dream about the next trip/adventure that’s on the books, invent new van projects and improvements and meal planning for as far into the future as you want. I have found that hot beverage drinking compliments sitting and thinking nicely and would recommend it to house and van dwellers alike.

Podcasts, boom! They’re awesome, if you have not been exposed to the podcast universe you should. For anyone not familiar with podcasts, they’re basically internet radio programs on a nearly infinite number of subjects that can range from 10 minutes long to 5+ hours long (which I think borders on the audio book). They can be a great way to unwind and have a few laughs or to further your knowledge base on…everything. A few of the podcasts that are on my Ipod that I’ve been enjoying include but are not limited to: 99% Invisible (about architecture and design), Hardcore History, The Enormocast (climbing/interview based content), NPR’s Science Friday, Religion and Ethics and Car Talk. I would highly recommend all of the above for some though provoking topics and a few laughs.

Chris has stickers too! The Enormocast is the place for climbing
related interviews.

Lastly, perhaps the least fun but maybe the most productive form of entertainment can be cleaning and organizing, which might shock those of you that know me well. But, a bit of cleaning obviously reduces clutter and keeps things easily found. It also provides the opportunity to find stuff that you can sell/give away for a little freeganism promotion or you might come across that nifty little doodad that you misplaced and have been looking for for weeks (recently it was a warm hat that fit this description). My favorite part of the van to organize is, in my opinion, my food zone. Oh man, stumbling across some candied ginger or Reeses or some potentially delicious dinner ingredients can take the stoke level off the charts.

If you have the room in your van for it board games and guests
are obviously a great way to spend an evening.
Photo by  Justin Mages

Living in a Van During the Winter Part 2: The Necessities

Whenever people find out that I live in a van I am pretty consistently asked three questions that might vary in construction but have the same gist. 1. Where do you shower? 2. Where do you go to the bathroom? 3. Where do you park? In the winter often a 'Doesn't it get cold?' gets thrown in there pretty regularly also.

#8 Showering is one of the easier questions to field particularly during the winter. Basically, the way I see it is during the winter either you're super hardcore (read: not me) and you have to options: snow baths or no showers, pretty burly either way. Or you shower at friends houses and community centers with a few sink spritz ups to see you through longer shower less periods which is fairly normal van dwelling protocol.

#9 or is it #2...Unless you're living in a real RV chances are you don't have a full blown bathroom in your vehicle unless you've retro fitted your Outback's passenger seat with an after market hole or something of that ilk. And so you are faced with a dilemma, a where and when to do. This van life issue is magnified and really only becomes an issue during the winter, as during the summer in a pinch one can always dig a little cat hole somewhere, step outside at night to relieve that pressure etc. Getting out of one's sleeping bag in the middle of the night is unappealing, forget getting out of your home into knee deep snow to go pee. And so the simple solution that truckers have been using for decades is a simple pee bottle. There has been an ongoing discussion between myself and one of my cousins about the potentially harmful effects of human urine on grass (basing this on the observations of dogs) and I think that if you are emptying your pee bottles on lawns or areas that might be an eye sore it might be worthwhile using grass saver to minimize your impact. Stay tuned in the spring for more on how bottle dumping in a regular location can alter the local ecology.

When the situation in the winter is more dire, particularly after a morning coffee, the best solution I can offer is a real bathroom, whether at a workplace, library, your coffee shop (they started it...) or if you're really hardcore you could invest in wag bags or a poop tube, which is perfect for practicing for climbing your next big wall, El Cap? Baffin? Zion? The poop tube could be a perfect way to transport you to your dream climbing destination while taking care of business.

#10 Heating is a tricky subject. Before the last post I was steadfast in my belief that heaters were for sissys and all you really need is a bit of insulation in the walls, a warm sleeping situation and a "if you're gonna be dumb you gotta be tough" attitude. Now...I'm not so sure as I got kind of sick just before the new year and the more I think about it, the more I've come to realize that it is probably a result of sleeping in -25F and forcing my body to keep itself warm rather than keeping my immune system in tip top shape. So, this past week I have begun using a rather rudimentary heating system while I am sleeping. To be clear this system doesn't keep the van a sweltering 75F. It mostly serves to simply take the sharp edge off the air and I find myself remaining in my down jacket. I've definitely found myself sleeping without waking to a frozen nose in the night and found that I have been slowly getting over this sickness, that's now just a lingering cough rather than pneumonia that my mom thinks it would be otherwise. Don't worry I'll remain a slightly compromised van purist with this heating system, at least until a cold snap like the one on the east coast at the moment, then I'll follow the Weldin Way and get one of these things.

My Improvised heater, terracotta pots are hard to come by but empty paint cans are not and seem to work well.

#11 Hot beverages are one thing that I fully endorse. I'm not bothered if it's tea, coffee, hot chocolate or hot water (believe me, all have been consumed in large quantities in the van) all are equally awesome when it's cold out and your hands are frozen from scraping the inside of your windshield, handling cold clothes etc. And they're good for you even if you don't live in a van, so I encourage you all do take a beverage break, if you're of age I encourage a drop of whiskey or schnapps to spice things up (kids you get to wait until your parents leave their drink unattended for a responsibly sized sip).

On that note I think I'm going to prolong this series (yes, it's a series now) as a result of the number of cups of coffee I've consumed this morning and the fact that my shaking hands are severely compromising my ability to type.

So in the next post I'll cover van life entertainment, how nifty brooms are, reiterate why planning ahead might be helpful (I'm still working on this one myself) and then as per some external inspiration I'll saving food for a grand finale post.

If you're impressed by my use of hyperlinks (a recent discovery) or all the labels, that are like the # things (also a recent discovery) feel free to share my blog with anyone that might like it. If you're unimpressed with any of these things or have feedback/suggestions for me give me a shout!

'Nuff said.

Tips, tricks and the shortcomings of winter van living P.1

So I should preface this post with the statement that the following points are in no particular order and all can be equally valid when living in a vehicle during the colder months or might be all equally irrelevant, sometimes it's hard to say.

The van loves snow so much that sometimes it even needs to be pushed into moving. 

#1 Wine and beer do not freeze well. (This is number one because the learning experience was a rather poignant one.) I think this one is fairly self-explanatory, if you freeze them through the bottles will explode and leave you with a wine or beer slushy all over the interior of your vehicle. This will make you sad.

#2 Small scented candles are wonderful. During the winter I have found that I'm less inclined to let the van 'air' out as that's also letting out precious heat. As a result of this the smell of cooking, flatulence and dirty clothes can linger. If you're driving anyone around or spending anytime kicking it in your van/car yourself it can be nice to just sweep that eau d' you under the rug with a scented candle until you get a break in the weather for an air out session. Nice bonus is the heat gained from the candle flame, it's just the right size to warm your hands over in the morning or before climbing into bed.

#3 Water can be a bit tricky for the same reason (though not as messy) as #1. My way around water freezing solid, and thus inaccessible in water bottles or bladders is a little personalized but you may be able to extrapolate or adapt this strategy for yourselves. I will use what ever water I need at night for cooking and hot beverages and the remaining water is divided between my kettle (a standard enameled camping kettle) and my coffee percolator, so that in the morning I am able to reach over to my stove from the security and warmth of my sleeping bag and set those two to boiling, thus minimizing my time spent in the cold air and raising the level of stoke while waiting for a hot cup of coffee. Basically, just store your water in a place where, when it freezes you can easily melt it.

Remember in the winter time if you run out of water and you're in a snowy environment, in a pinch you can always melt snow, though it can be rather time consuming to get a sizable quantity of water this way but if you live in a van, chances are you have the time. Just stay away from snow that's not white...

#4 Layering. If you've spent anytime being active in the cold you understand the importance of layering. If you have not, the idea is as you get warmer you can drop layers and still maintain decent warmth and as you get cold you can add layers to trap warmth. This is true for the winter van dweller also but can be applied to more than just your clothes. I use layering in my sleeping set up as my sleeping bag is not sufficient alone on -20F nights so I have a light cotton liner (this is also for ease of washing), and several blankets and a quilt I can pile on top of my sleeping bag for the coldest nights. On warmer nights I might just sleep with my sleeping bag unzipped and as a blanket.

#5 Just to keep things complicated a super warm puffy is awesome and pretty much a requirement. Mine is one from PHD, you can check out their stuff via the link over >. This is awesome for when you first emerge from your sleeping bag, into your chilly interior or more importantly for when you venture out into the frigid world you are choosing to live in. A puffy just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, literally and figuratively.

#6 Mess control. I'm still working on this one myself as my messes seem to ebb and flow but basically it's even easier to turn that small living environment into a pig stye during the winter than during the summer because you're wearing more layers that eventually have to be taken off and put somewhere, I, at least, am less inclined to organize in the cold because I'm hesitant to open doors and let out the warm air. Washing dishes is also less appealing because wet hands are cold hands and that sucks in the winter. This can be mitigated by washing dishes at work or friends houses where it's warm or by sucking it up and doing them in warm water and having a quick way to dry your hands, or just by not doing them and eating off dirty dishes.
                                    
                                             Argh, the dreaded mess can befall even me.

#7 Drying stuff kind of goes hand-in-hand with #6 in that when you're tromping around in the snow or whatever your clothes will get wet, whether it's from sweat or snow, and if you're like me and enjoy a winter sport or two then you know that ski or ice boots love to collect ice in all their nooks and crannies  and that it is far from the most enjoyable feeling to jam your toasty feet into a frozen liner and wait for your feet to thaw it out and then rewarm them. To avoid this, if possible put them in front of your vents when driving (this is imperfect but helps) or whenever possible bring them inside, this goes for liners as well as layers. I know that I try and wear wet layers in to work to hang and dry while I'm doing my thing.

A sample of a growing mess - note the missing boot liners.

Dampness is a huge thing in the winter van living because it is so present. This is a result as I said of bringing in the moisture from the outside as well as the condensation that occurs while sleeping, which is fairly unavoidable. I'm currently trying to experiment with silica and/or rice to absorb some of that moisture and I'll hopefully have results fairly soon to share.

I have spontaneously decided to make this a two part post as this is getting to be longer than anticipated and I am still just a little ways through my list and have not even gotten to some of the juicy stuff (besides boot liners).

So stay tuned for details on potty talk and personal hygiene, cooking, entertainment, heaters and my thoughts on planning. Until then here are a few pictures to keep the psyche high.

A day out climbing in December at the Puoux in Glenwood.

A delightful day in the backcountry with the Pearces. Looking over the Roaring Fork Valley.