They say a house is the biggest purchase you’ll ever make and although choosing a van may not be quite that, buying a van to live in is a pretty major decision. Some people have distinct visions for their van life. Maybe cruising through the sunset in a candy-coloured VW bus or ripping through the mountains in a decked-out Sprinter. But for anyone weighing out their options, here are a few pros and cons to consider.

The best vans to live in balance size, capability, and your budget. Not just your upfront purchase but your monthly gas, insurance, and maintenance expenses too. When deciding between an old van vs new van, you should first figure out a few things. Consider how much you can afford, what you plan to do with your van, and how much space you need. The best van for van life should tick all of these boxes.

Also, I want to clarify that when I say “old van” I mean anything pre-new millennium. In the car world, pretty much anything over 10 years old is considered to be old. But in the van world, there are a ton of vintage rigs kicking around that still have plenty of life left in them. Using that benchmark, a “newer van” would be pretty much anything made in the 2000s onward but it seems like the past 15 years have been the most prolific.

IN THIS CORNER: OLDER VANS

PROS

Usually significantly cheaper upfront cost

Our van only set us back 5 grand while it’d be a bit of a challenge to get a newer one for under $15k (CAD). Buying a used van will always be cheaper upfront.

They’re everywhere

We’ve travelled a good chunk of this continent and in every state or province, there are older used vans around. They made a lot of these things in the 70s and 80s and most are still in use in some way or another. Basically, if you have a non-rich person budget, you’ll probably have more to choose from if opting for an older rig.

They’re easier to fix

This doesn’t apply to ALL old vans but a good majority of American-made models were so widely mass-produced that the parts are still easily available at any auto parts store. You can also benefit from pick-n-pulls or junkyards to find used parts. You’ll probably feel way more confident about doing the repair yourself as an amateur mechanic than you would with some spaceship-looking modern vehicle. To that same point, it’s much easier and more realistic to learn how to do routine maintenance like oil changes, filter changes, and brake pad replacements yourself on an older vehicle.

It might already be a conversion van

Camper vans were all the rage for many years before they got grouped into the luxury RV market. If you’re a 20-something who can afford a Winnebago or Pleasure-Way van then kudos to you but they’re usually geared toward retired folks with far more capital. Our van was already converted so we didn’t have to worry about installing tricky things like a propane system. Instead, we only had to spend a month and less than $1000 freshening it up before being able to hit the road.

They’ve got character

Older vans can be pretty quirky – we see this as something that adds to the van but it’s fair that some people don’t. I think it’s really cool that other people have gone on fun road trips and had awesome experiences in our van and that we’re able to keep adding to these memories 30+ years later.

Insurance is usually cheaper

I say usually because insurance has so many facets that influence rates. For us, it’s about a $300-500/yr difference if we were to have a 2005 Sprinter, for example. Plus, conversion vans can be tricky to insure if you did the build yourself and not by a professional.

CONS

Fuel economy

This speaks for itself…we get about 5 km/L or 12 mpg, which is pretty terrible. We also have a 137L (36 gallon) gas tank so you can imagine that our gas fill-ups aren’t cheap.

More likely to have rust or other sorts of body damage

Again, pretty straight forward. It’s been on the road longer and if it hasn’t been stored in a garage all the time then rust can be somewhat inevitable – especially if you’re in a place that uses road salt.

They can be “interesting” to drive

Back to the quirks thing, driving an older van can be a pretty different experience from driving a modern vehicle. For example, our van has a carburetor, which requires a special pattern of gas pedal pumping and engine revving to get started and idling correctly. Similarly, older Volkswagens have air-cooled engines which might limit how much going you can do at one time in hot places among other things.

Performance capabilities

Of course with a new engine and other costly replacements, an old van can run like a hot rod. However, lots of older used vans in their current states need to drive a little slower and might struggle with mountain passes and other situations that are stressful on the engine. In any case, most people are fairly receptive to older rigs and will give you your space or pass as they do with transport trucks. Some people are still jerks though and just love to ride your tail.

IN THIS CORNER: NEWER VANS

PROS

Clean slate

By going for a Sprinter or other cargo van, it’s much more likely to find them completely empty or with minimal structure to remove before converting. Even if you have to remove rows of seating, buying an empty van allows you to do whatever you want with it and not adhere to an already established layout that may not work for you. Most cargo vans are blank canvases so you can make the best setup for your van life needs.

Warranty or financing options

Whether you’re buying brand new or new-ish, you’re more likely to have financing options or still be under some sort of manufacturer/dealer warranty. Personally, this wasn’t something we cared about but having financing as an option is helpful if you’re buying a pricier rig. Warranty can also relieve a lot of stress for people who aren’t mechanically sound, even though going through warranty often ends up being a huge headache.

Fuel economy

Yeah, this is a big one. Less fill-ups and more efficient fuel consumption can save you a lot in monthly expenses.

Modern conveniences

If having dash air conditioning and things like GPS or Bluetooth-enabled radio is important to you then a newer vehicle is probably a better fit. That’s not to say that older used vans won’t or can’t have these things but it’s far less common or would require your own modifications. Safety features are also a thing but even all the bells and whistles won’t save you if you’re a reckless driver. It’s all about going low and slow, regardless of the age of your vehicle.

Stealth/Anonymity

This doesn’t apply to all old vs. new vans but usually, a white cube van parked in an industrial area or even a residential street doesn’t scream “camper van.” Meanwhile, many older rigs are a bit more forward. In good and bad ways, our van attracts a lot of attention and has a distinct look while Sprinters blend in pretty much anywhere.

More size options

You can get some pretty long and tall Sprinters, Transits, and Promasters that are similar in size to a small RV. These things come out of the factory with tall roofs and extended bodies while a lot of older vans have had these modifications done after-market.

CONS

More upfront expenses

The initial purchase price of a newer vehicle is going to be higher unless you’re going for some crazy souped-up collector’s van that Mick Jagger might have sat in once. According to your budget, you have to weigh out if it’s more realistic for you to pay more for the van itself and less on fuel over the years or vice versa.

Costly repairs

Looking under the hood of a newer vehicle is not the same as looking at the guts of an older vehicle. Usually, the new compartmentalized style is geared toward having to get a professional to do most of your repairs and of course, paying a pretty penny for it. Also if you’re in a rut and on warranty, repairs done by you or a non-certified garage can void it. If you break down in the middle of nowhere, this can tack on a lot of extra stress.

Just because it’s new doesn’t mean it’s better

A lot of things nowadays are built with planned obsolesce in mind. Would a manufacturer genuinely want you to buy a vehicle and then barely spend any money on it for a decade? Of course not. They want you to buy brand-specific parts and do maintenance at arbitrary factory-determined intervals. Also, just like a new pair of shoes or a baseball glove, things are just better once they’re broken in.

Higher insurance rates

It’s pretty simple, the newer vehicles are worth more so they are naturally more expensive to insure. Plus, a conversion van can be difficult to insure.

Lack of windows

In many cases, Sprinters or Ford Transits are cargo vans and not passenger vans so owners have to install windows themselves if they want them. Personally, we love being able to get tons of natural light and have the feeling that we’re outside when we’re not from the panoramic windows. If you’ve ever lived in a basement apartment, you’ll get it.

AND THE WINNER IS….

There is no winner. Womp womp womp. Ultimately, this is a very personal decision based on your budget, mechanical know-how, and how much work you want to put into it. The best vans to live in are those that work with your needs, lifestyle, and budget. Owning an older vehicle is a labour of love that’s priceless for some and completely unappetizing for others. If you’re willing to learn and are motivated to do repairs yourself then even with the higher costs of fuel, an older van will still probably end up costing you less after 5 years. As this redditor puts it,

“[…]if I compare my Econoline at 12mpg to a new equivalent Transit at 17mpg, it takes 204k miles at $2 a gallon to pay back even $10k of extra cost on the Transit.”

A lot of things added in modern vehicles geared at making your life easier can often make your life hell when they’re not functioning properly. Computerization can be a blessing and a curse. I suppose the final thing to consider is how long you plan to own the van and how its resale value will be affected after that term. New vehicles lose value as soon as they drive off the lot so let someone else take the depreciation hit. Just remember, newer doesn’t always mean better and whichever route you choose, make that van your own and get cruisin’!

Where did we leave off? Oh right, we were on a mission to drive through the prairies as quickly as possible. Leaving Thunder Bay that morning and making a few stops along the way, we were making great progress by reaching Brandon by nightfall…that is, until we started smelling burning rubber and saw smoke coming from under the hood. Fun!

Truthfully, we haven’t had a breakdown in quite some time so we weren’t all that surprised. Naturally it was below 0 temperatures and the wind was violent when we had to pull over along the Trans Canada and check out the situation. It seemed that one of our belts had snapped, which was shitty news since we had just replaced them not long ago. Thanks to my dad’s suggestion, we kept our old belts just in case and thought we’d be in the clear by swapping the broken one out with our old one. Nope.

After several attempts to get the tension right, we realized that the unit it was wrapping around was ceased and was just continuing to smoulder and smell gross. The question now wasn’t as much about how we were going to replace this part as it was about identifying what the part even was. With no help from CAA (we’re mad at you, CAA), a kind stranger pulled over on the side of the highway asking if we were alright and offered to tow us to a nearby gas station. That’s one great thing about being in the prairies – people are super nice and everyone has a truck.

Long story short, it was an air pump (or smog pump), which is a part added in these older vehicles to help reduce emissions but virtually does nothing by today’s standards. In knowing that leaving the belt off would do nothing but increase our horsepower, we threw the broken belt in the trash can and got back on the road.

We had a nice rest area scoped out in Broadview, Saskatchewan but once we arrived well after midnight, the gate was locked and we felt a second hit of dejection. Our bodies were also very confused after driving through two time zones in one day (Sask doesn’t observe Daylight Savings Time) so we pulled into a nearby truck stop and hunkered down for the night to prepare for another long day of driving to follow. After a surprisingly quiet sleep, we got back on the highway and jetted through Regina, Swift Current and Medicine Hat before finally making it to Calgary and getting a chance to slow down for a few days and hangout with friends and family. Making the two long days of driving worth it was getting to meet Justin’s mom’s two new kittens that could put a smile even on Ebenezer Scrooge’s face.

With some major stroke of luck, we had clear skies and warm, sunny days the whole time we were in Calgary, sitting comfortable in double digit temperatures for over a week. As anyone who lives in their vehicle knows, that makes life much more pleasant for sleeping and pretty much just being alive in general. Even with the warm days, we were so bogged down with a huge workload that we spent most of our time behind our computer screens. We did, however, get to spend plenty of time with Justin’s brother’s puppy who doesn’t look like much of a puppy anymore but is still just as wild. Is it showing that I have major pet fever?

With so much time spent working, we took an overnight trip to Banff National Park to give ourselves a mini vacation and recharge a bit. If you’ve ever seen a postcard of Canada, it was probably taken in Banff. It’s Canada’s first National Park and is absolutely gorgeous from every direction. No doubt the Rockies are pretty epic the whole way down, but there’s something special about Banff. We started by driving through the foothills to Kananaskis Country and making Lake Louise our first stop. We’ve both been to Banff before but never at this time of year; October is shoulder season and is known to be the quietest month of the year. This was great news for us because the volume of tourists can often get a little out of hand when you have to time every photo just right in order to not get someone else’s family in the background.

Unfortunately the weather was a little overcast and grey but Lake Louise still glimmered with its vibrant blue-green waters. The canoes and kayaks had been put away for the season and were replaced by a bit more than a dusting of snow on the mountains and surrounding grounds. Despite the cooler temperatures and not-so-sunny skies, there were still bare shouldered brides and busloads of foreigners all checking out the Albertan staple. Moraine Lake, another photoshop-looking mountain lake, is usually the next stop but access was sadly already closed for the season.

On a whim, we decided to go on the Banff Gondola since there’s a special rate for Alberta residents (who can turn down a deal?) and we figured it’d be one of the only times where we’d actually get our own cable car and not have to wait in line. As cheap as I am (I prefer economical), this was worth paying full price for. The ride up Sulphur Mountain gave us an awesome view of the mountains but the view from the top was kind of mind blowing. There’s a fairly big building where you get off the gondola with a gift shop and restaurant and all that jazz, and the start of a 2 km (1.24 mi) walking trail – which is pretty much ALL stairs – that takes you to the Sanson’s Peak. At the summit of the mountain, you have an incredible panoramic view of the entire park and the town of Banff nestled amongst the towering peaks.

With the quick change in elevation, things got majorly cold so we were happy to return to ground level and find some good food after working up quite an appetite. Another praise to shoulder season, we were able to find free parking downtown where we could stroll around Banff Ave and the other animal-named streets without having to shimmy through hoards of tourists. We had some pretty tasty BBQ and cocktails at Park Distillery and left downtown with full bellies and lighter wallets. We headed into Canmore for the night, which is the neighbouring town outside of the National Park boundaries where a lot of people who work in Banff live (which, I might add, is like 95% Australians). We parked in a designated RV parking zone in downtown Canmore that was clearly a very popular spot for travellers and vehicle dwellers alike. We had the best time in Banff and lucked out being able to end the night within walking distance of a bar for a nightcap (or two…).

On our way back to Calgary, we stopped at Elbow Falls in Kananaskis and marvelled at how low the water levels were. Normally a pretty majestic waterfall, there was still a solid stream going but it was surrounded by dried up riverbeds that you could walk right on to. Sadly, they say the area really hasn’t been the same after the 2013 flood but in any case, it still is pretty.

Keeping our eyes on the forecast, we spent our last couple days in Alberta starting our winter prep for the van. We bought a roll of Reflectix and made insulating panels for all the windows and sealed off any gaps. We tied up some more loose ends repair-wise and very reluctantly, traded in our cassette player (it was hardly working) for a newfangled stereo. Clementine is slowly making her way into the 21^st century but still boasts plenty of 80s charm. Snow was on the ground when we left Calgary so we knew it was time to move and hopefully get as much of our mountain driving done before the weather starts to turn in BC. We had our fair share of cold weather last year in Alberta but escaped it by going south; this year, we’re staying in Canada and hoping to do everything we can to comfortably winterize. Stay tuned for a blog about winterizing tips for vanlifers – you’ll never cherish wool socks so much.

If you’re working while living on the road, you know that electricity is essential to keep your devices charged. Even if you’re just enjoying a quiet weekend in the woods, it’s nice to be able to have access to power without having to run a noisy generator. The answer? Solar power. Putting a campervan solar system into play can seem intimidating and costly but at the end of the day, it’s a worthy one-time investment.

Take, for example, our routine when we first started out. Working long days Tuesday-Thursday meant that we had to pay for a campsite or RV Park in order to plug-in. Sure, you can camp out at coffee shops and other places with wifi, but that only really works when you’re around a city.

This meant that we were essentially paying over $100/week as our “power bill.” This got old real quick and defeated the purpose of us moving out of our apartment to get away from the bills in the first place. So we spent a while researching which components would work best for us and got the wheels turning on our van life solar system.

FULL DISCLOSURE: We are not electricians by any stretch. We had enough research and experience in our holsters to put an electrical system into place that works great and cuts our costs down immensely.    

Solar Panels

For our system, we are using a 150 watt monocrystalline solar panel from Renogy (**we added a second one later on so the wiring diagram shows the two solar panels. See updates below). In a nutshell, polycrystalline is cheaper but monocrystalline is more efficient.

We opted for this one mainly because it’s square so it fits nicely within our roof rack. The best solar panels are those that satisfy your power and space requirements. Also, rigid solar panels are generally more durable than flexible solar panels. We’d advise to only use a flexible solar panel if you absolutely need to. Learn more about the differences here.

We’re fairly light power users so 150 watts is sufficient for us, but take some time to pay attention to how much power you actually consume in a day. Take note of the wattage rating on your appliances too—you’d be surprised how much power some small appliances take. Use resources like Renogy’s calculator to help figure out how many solar panels you need. Getting the right solar panel array is a key component of your campervan solar system.

Wiring Solar Panels

Installing solar panels is a lot easier than you may think! The solar panel is hooked up using two MC4 connectors (wtf are those?! read this). These join the positive and the negative 10 AWG wires that come already attached to the solar panel to the positive and negative 10 AWG wires that feed inside.

Home Depot has a handy guide for understanding wire thickness, or read more in-depth about it here.

As mentioned, we already had a roof rack so we just ran two sturdy metal beams across and used z-brackets to secure it on. Depending on what your roof’s shaped like, you can easily mount the z-brackets directly onto the roof as well. We drilled two holes in the corner of the roof and sealed on a little cable hub, called an entry gland, to feed the wires through while keeping it water-tight.

On the positive wire, we’ve used a 15 amp breaker but you can also use a standard fuse. The breakers are a little more expensive upfront but never need to be replaced. 

Charge Controller

The positive wire then attaches to our solar charge controller, which is a CTEK D250S Dual. This box is an MPPT charge controller that allows the battery to be charged by the solar panels and by the alternator while we’re driving—great on overcast days. CTEK is a Swedish company that makes some badass battery chargers for all kinds of different uses.

The negative wire is also attached to the negative terminal on the box. You can definitely opt for a much simpler and cheaper solar charge controller if you don’t plan to incorporate your alternator. That said, solar charge controllers are integral to a well-operating solar power system so be sure to still get something good quality. 

Side note: When we bought the van, we already had a 12V lead acid marine battery in the back that had a wire running directly from the alternator that would charge while we were driving. We didn’t want to cut this power source off so that’s when we discovered the CTEK solar charge controller. You could also install a DC to DC charger. 

Batteries

Next, a thicker 4 AWG positive wire runs from the CTEK charge controller to the positive battery terminal of the house battery. We’ve added a 20A breaker in between. A 4 AWG negative wire runs from the negative terminal of the CTEK charge controller to the negative battery terminal of the house battery.

We’re using the single 12V lead acid marine battery we already had but will eventually upgrade to two 6V batteries. When using multiple batteries, understand series and parallel wiring.

Your battery will probably be the most expensive component of your camper van solar setup so picking the right battery is essential. Determining how much battery capacity you need is based on how much power you’ll go through between full charges. To prolong the life of your batteries, you never want your battery bank to dip below 50%. So, it’s best to overestimate your solar energy needs to have extra power instead of scraping by.

The CTEK box is also equipped with a temperature sensor that sits on top of the battery to maintain an optimal charge.

Inverter

The house battery feeds a couple of different things. First, a separate positive and negative 4 AWG wire runs from the battery to the 1000w pure sine wave inverter, also from Renogy. This is probably the most important area to study before you buy. Understanding the amount of power that your household items use when they first start up versus when they’ve been on for a few minutes is key.

Take some time to understand surge power and sine waves to figure out how hefty of an inverter you’ll need. With a 150A breaker on the positive wire, the inverter converts the DC power coming off the battery into the AC power required for household appliances. You can plug stuff in directly to the inverter or run an extension cord, like we did. When shopping for inverters, read lots of customer reviews because the fan in many cheaper inverters can be incredibly noisy. It’s not an area you want to cheap out on.

Fuses

Next, a 10 AWG positive wire with a 30A breaker runs to our fuse box, where the fuses for all of our DC-powered appliances live. For us, that’s the fridge, lights, and furnace. Again, this was part of our existing rudimentary system when the alternator was hooked up directly to the house battery so that’s why the fuses are the old school glass ones. We recommend a fuse box like this as the hub of your electrical system.

Grounding

Also, there’s a negative 10 AWG wire running from the negative terminal of the house battery to an earthing point to ground the circuit. In our van, this is a big metal bolt that goes into the van’s body. Be sure to choose an unpainted area for grounding.

Alternator Tie-In

On the final mount of the CTEK charge controller, a positive 10 AWG wire runs all the way to the alternator and starting battery in the front. Here, we’ve put a killswitch in between if we ever want to cut the power from the alternator and rely solely on the solar panels. And of course, there is the existing negative 10 AWG wire grounding the starting battery as well.

Battery Monitor

Finally, the battery also has thin 22 AWG positive and negative wires running to a battery capacity monitor that allow us to see the charge percentage and how many volts it’s getting. Like we said above, you want to avoid letting your battery bank dip below 50% at all costs.

SO HOW MUCH DOES A VAN SOLAR SYSTEM COST?

Renogy 150W Monocrystalline Solar Panel* – we paid $200 *Boo, Renogy no longer makes this solar panel but this is basically the same one

Renogy 1000W Pure Sine Wave Inverter – we paid $180 BUT we bought ours refurbished directly from Renogy. A new one will set you back $270

CTEK D250S Dual (MPPT charge controller) – we paid $283

Battery – “free” because we already had one but expect to pay $300-500. This is the one we’re lusting over. **New battery update below

Wiring – we paid $70 (we bought the linked product from Amazon and got the rest bulk at Home Depot)

Breakers – we paid for 4 @ $13 each = $52. Using regular fuses would definitely cost less but always have a few extra on hand.

Killswitch – we paid $14

Metal beams for mounting + hardware – we paid $32 (you’ll have to go to the hardware store for these)

Mounting Z-Brackets – we paid $10

Rooftop Double Cable Entry Gland with Sealant – we paid $20

Battery Monitor – we paid $15

Cable Organization (wall mounts to keep the wiring tidy) – we paid $7

Grand total: $883
*Note that this pricing is all in US dollars because we purchased everything in the US of A. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

We broke even in 6 weeks not having to pay for RV Parks. We now have so much more freedom to work from wherever we want to and not have to worry about reservations and fees thanks to solar energy!

Taking the time to thoroughly research which components fit your needs and budget is well worth it. Hopefully this helps anyone looking to add a solar system to your camper van or RV…it’s not as scary as it may seem!

Download our visual van solar system guide for a single solar panel here. Download the full-size version with two solar panels here.

Feel free to shoot us a message or leave a comment below if you have any further questions or need clarification on anything. This post is jam-packed with helpful links so click away!!

*DECEMBER 2018 UPDATE: NEW BATTERIES!

We finally bit the bullet and upgraded our battery bank! I wish we could say the whole thing still cost under $1000 but sadly, that is not true. Batteries ain’t cheap but they’re arguably the most important components to your solar setup (other than the solar panels, of course). After careful consideration, we opted for two 6V Trojan T-105 AGM batteries. Trojan batteries are the crème-de-la-crème and are a worthy investment if you depend on your battery bank as much as we do since we boondock 100% of the time. So why these particular ones?

Delaying our battery purchase allowed us plenty of time for research. We found that 6V batteries are said to discharge slightly slower than 12Vs. By having two 6V batteries connected in series, we’d have the correct voltage we need for our system (12V) while still maintaining the same capacity (217 AH).

Alternatively, we could have kept our existing set-up by opting for one single 12V battery or upgrading to two 12V batteries connected in parallel to double our capacity (i.e. 100 AH + 100 AH = 200 AH) while still maintaining the correct voltage.

Trojan’s Reliant line of AGM batteries are sealed and maintenance-free, meaning that we’re safe to keep them on their side without risking spillage as you would in a regular flooded battery. Finally, these AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) batteries perform well in colder temperatures, unlike gel batteries which were our other option.

Here is a diagram of how our new battery bank is hooked up:

So far, we’re noticing a huge difference in battery life. With it being winter, this has been incredibly helpful in allowing us to run the furnace longer and use the lights since it sadly gets dark before 5PM. Even without much direct sunlight, our solar array is generating enough solar energy to stay in one spot for a couple of days.

If all this battery jargon is still a bit confusing, check out Trojan’s guide on where to get started when choosing the best battery for your needs. We bought our batteries at a battery store in Vancouver because we didn’t have an address to ship them to but they are available on Amazon as well.

So what’s our grand total at now?

We paid $884 CAD (including core charge + 12% BC tax) which is about $660 USD. This brings our grand total to $1543 USD. If you’re in America and can buy them on Amazon, it’ll set you back $476 for two, amounting to $1359 USD total.

*JUNE 2019 UPDATE: ADDING A SECOND MONOCRYSTALLINE SOLAR PANEL FOR MORE SOLAR POWER!

After a very grey winter on Vancouver Island, we decided to add an additional 150w solar panel to the roof to maximize every bit of sun we get on overcast days. The wiring is super simple: the solar panels are connected in parallel, which gives us more amperage at the same voltage.

Once you have a second panel, all you need is a pair of MC4 branch connectors and some more 10 AWG solar wire with an MC4 connector on each end. You simply connect the positive wires from each solar panel into the female side of the positive branch connector and the negative wires from each solar panel into the male side of the negative branch connector. All of the van solar panels wires are now coming out of two central MC4 connectors.

Run the positive branch connector’s wire to the positive terminal of the battery and the negative branch connector’s wire to the negative terminal of the battery. That’s it!

Check out the wiring diagram below:

Unfortunately, Renogy doesn’t make their 150w panel anymore so we bought this Dokio panel from Amazon that ended up being virtually the same. We paid $144. The MC4 branch connectors were a whopping $7 and 10ft of MC4-clad solar wire set us back 20 bucks. With an additional set of mounting brackets at $9, this second solar panel addition cost us $180 USD.

This brings our grand total to $1,723 USD but it would only be $1,539 if we could have purchased the batteries in the States.

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Running alongside many stretches of the I-40, Route 66 has become a deserted road that can still take you across the country – if you’re willing to go 55 mph and drive in a single lane the whole time. Taking it on smaller stretches makes for a much more interesting and historic drive and also feels pretty cool following in the footsteps (or tire tracks) of so many folks in the past that had driven on it to get from LA to Chicago. The 66 took us through Tucumcari for a look at a really rad mural commemorating the road and a chrome statue commissioned in 1997 that kind of reminded me of The Bean in Chicago. We try to at least get gas in some of these towns because despite having an attempted artistic revival, they’re mostly abandoned and very run down with the decline of Route 66 tourism. One strip of the eastbound road in Tijeras is called “The Musical Highway” with a rumble strip within the lane that when driven on at 45 mph, sounds like America the Beautiful is playing. Definitely worth the u-turn if you’re en route to Albuquerque or Santa Fe.

Continuing along, we headed toward Albuquerque while I frantically googled which Breaking Bad spots along our route were actually worth stopping for. As I mentioned last time we were in New Mexico, the owners of Walt and Skyler’s house have put up a fence and seem to spend their days sitting in front of the garage warding off and yelling at tourists. Understandable? Sure. Comical? Very. I guess when that many pizzas have been thrown on your roof, you gotta do what you gotta do. Why they don’t just move is beyond me but we decided it probably wasn’t worth the stop. Los Pollos Hermanos, as most people will point out, is actually just a fast food chain called Twisters that still has the mural inside but just didn’t feel the same. In any case, my two priorities were getting some blue meth candy at The Candy Lady in Old Town and seeing Walter White’s headstone in the random strip mall that it dwells in. The Candy Lady’s “crystal meth” is the actual blue candy that they used on the show in the first two seasons made by the local Albuquerque candy shop. Stopping in just for “meth,” I ended up leaving with some delicious red chili chocolate and a vanity plate for the front of the van since New Mexico has the coolest license plates.

The drive through Albuquerque from the eastern side of town was definitely not the nicest but the Old Town had similar charm to La Mesilla of Las Cruces before opening up to the more countryside looking neighbourhoods of the north. Finding Walter White’s headstone gave some strange directions but eventually made sense after reading that it was originally in a cemetery but the relatives of the actual dead people found it offensive so had it moved to the plaza where most of the funding came from. Once you find its discreet location, you see that it’s a legitimate headstone. If you didn’t know better, you’d think someone was actually buried beneath the walkway of this random strip mall. Justin never watched the show so I paid my respects and we headed on.

Usually camping within a National Park or Monument is for a fee and requires a reservation but thanks to some friends we made in Mexico, we learned that at El Morro, it’s free! In fact, in 2013, they made entrance to the campground and the monument itself completely free to encourage people to visit, I’d assume. We arrived in the evening and camped the night before exploring the actual park the next day. We opted for the 3km hike to the summit and back down to see the relics of the pueblos that archaeologists uncovered in more recent years. Passing through Inscription Rock, there are etchings and carvings left by all the people that passed through here in the 16 and 1800s. This was a hotspot for nomads wanting to reach California or the Colorado River because there is an oasis of clean drinking water that flows year round in the middle of the desert. Some of the inscriptions were absolutely insane – as design nerds, we couldn’t believe how precise and elegant much of the signatures were considering they had to be chipped away with rocks or other tools. Over the years, people essentially wrote “[insert Spanish conqueror’s name] was here” all along this rock until the Parks service decided to close it off in 1905 to preserve the historic inscriptions and petroglyphs and prevent modern day trolls from leaving their mark.

Reaching the top made for some stunning panoramic views of the area and the canyon within it. One of the coolest parts was seeing the pueblo where the Zuni people lived in over 800 different rooms atop El Morro in the interest of protecting their resources. Archaeologists have uncovered about 30 different rooms but decided to leave the rest uncovered in order to not subject the materials to further weathering. To think that thousands of people used to live in these tiny stone rooms was pretty crazy but also very impressive considering what kind of tools and materials they had to work with. After parting ways with El Morro, we drove through the town of Zuni where the modern generations of the people that once lived there now reside.

And just like that, we were back in Arizona. Arizona’s been one of our favourite states so we were stoked to be back. The fist order of business was stopping in Winslow so Justin could fulfill his Standin’ on the Corner dream. He was clearly not the only one on this pilgrimage as there’s a statue, mural and a bunch of Eagles-themed shops and merch all around. There were many other people there to have their picture taken and relish in all the musical glory. Luckily, there is a park just south of Winslow that you can camp at with a view of a river and the surrounding farmland. Unluckily, it got uncomfortably cold at night so we kept on truckin’ in search of the warmer temperatures that Southern Arizona has gifted us with before.

Driving through the Coconino National Forest is so glorious and diverse with the severe elevation changes that make it go from desert to boreal forest real fast. With the mountain driving, Clementine started making that pinging sound again and didn’t seem to be too happy with all the steep grades. We knew the octane booster was just a temporary solution and we’d need to revisit the situation again soon but knowing something was up was definitely stressing us out. We needed somewhere to crash for the night so we headed toward New River and set up shop at a super cool BLM surrounded by wild burros and Saguaro cactuses.

After working the day away, we closed in on Phoenix and got ourselves some overdue showers and stocked back up on groceries. We settled at a Walmart just outside of the city in Buckeye and got down to business troubleshooting what could be wrong with the van. My only idea was that the EGR valve needed to be replaced, which would be pretty straightforward and would set us back a mere 25 bucks. Long story short, we popped into an O’Reilly and had a chat with the admirably knowledgeable and friendly staff to conclude that the EGR was fine we were at the beginning of having some carburetor problems. The manager/our new best friend said he was confident that we could rebuild it ourselves since it’s meticulous but not overly difficult. Within the hour, we had a carburetor rebuild kit on order and were shitting our pants a little. We slept at the store and spent the next day carefully labeling and cleaning every piece while photographing our every move. All in all, it had its challenges but it really wasn’t all that scary. My obsessive-compulsive tendencies majorly came in handy in staying organized and keeping foolproof notes of the disassembly in order to zoom through the rebuild.

While we were getting down and dirty into the mechanical grease, we upgraded a few other parts and prepared ourselves for the carb tuning process. I personally find this the most challenging part because it can be so finicky but it’s all part of getting Clementine driving back to the way she should be. Doing this all ourselves kept our costs down immensely (the carb rebuild kit was $43 while a new carburetor is $400+) so we treated ourselves to a mini projector! We had contemplated getting a small TV to not have to hold a hot laptop while watching a bedtime movie but it just seemed like it’d be awkward and bulky in our small space. We ended up finding this teeny-weeny pico projector at Walmart for 100 bucks and grabbed a pull-down blind from Lowe’s for a whopping $7 and just like that, had a sweet little theatre setup! This is a pretty no frills projector but we didn’t need all that built-in Smart TV stuff since we’re rarely on wifi. It suits our needs way better than a TV would and we can even take it outside to project movies onto the side of the van. For any vanners looking to upgrade their screen situation, we 100% recommend a pico projector (no, we don’t have shares in the company…).

It’s finally California time and we’re stoked for this milestone of our journey. We will now have officially hit the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (and can’t forget about that Third Coast) and are on our voyage back to the Great White North. We’ve only scratched the surface on all the places we could explore in America but we’re totally on board to spend next winter out of the cold again. For now, we’re stocking up on gas, propane and pretty much everything else in Quartzsite before enduring the Canada-like prices that California is so known for.

As soon as we crossed the bridge into Arkansas, things immediately got pretty flat and farmy. This wasn’t all that shocking since all I knew of Arkansas was from Netflix’s Ozarks and of course, The Simple Life. Because everything on TV is undoubtedly 100% real, dairy farms and Sonic locations paved the way to our camping spot for the week in Hazen, less than an hour outside of Little Rock, AR. Now that we have electricity taken care of by the sun, we just need to make sure that we have cell reception to be able to work. Oddly enough, this lovely WMA had better AT&T service than most cities. At one point, we moved to the site across the street to get more unobstructed sunlight on the solar panel and discovered that there was even a fire ring and a water tap on that side – we were plebs to have chosen that first site! The water pressure on the tap was so intense that I got soaked multiple times just trying to fill up our tank. Barely anyone else passed through with the exception of another van that took our original site as we were leaving…suckas.

Heading west, we found another spot along the Arkansas River that used to be an established campground run by the Corps of Engineers but seems to have been recently let go from being maintained. I say this because there are remnants of where trash bins and other facilities used to be and the days of the small bathroom being cleaned were long gone. There were so many dead leaves on the floor that it was a challenge just to get to the vault toilet. But the worst part was that the walls were entirely covered in termite nests and bugs flew up at me from the toilet bowl, which made me think there were more nests below the seat, which then made me think that I’d rather just do my business outside. That being said, the fact that there still is a vault toilet present is a huge bonus for any free campsite. Aside from the less than ideal bathroom, there are designated campsites with level concrete pads, fire grills and picnic tables surrounded by towering trees overlooking the river. This seems to be a popular spot among locals to come down for the day and fish with a few scattered campers staying the night.

As we were ready to take off, Clementine had other ideas and didn’t want to start. After replacing the starter, this felt very different from the starting issues we were having before. The only thing we could think of was clogged fuel lines so we blew out all the lines and gave the seemingly clean fuel filter a good shake and it eventually started. As great as the whole “just shake it til it works” method can be with vending machines and…well, not much else…we knew we’d only fixed the problem temporarily by moving the dirt around within the filter. At least we assumed it must be the filter since the fuel pump was working fine. For the astronomical price of $6.50, we bought a new one and carried on to the very unsuspectingly cute town of Fort Smith. One very important tip to note if you’re travelling through Arkansas is that there are many dry counties. This means that you might have to drive across the river or to a neighbouring county to find beer at a gas station or supermarket – and don’t expect to be able to buy alcohol on a Sunday. We learned these things the hard way.

Topping the charts as the windiest drive in history, our ride through Oklahoma was not a very pleasant one. If you’re in the market for a van and opt for a high top, be prepared for some interesting wind driving. Of course some are worse than others, but Clementine is like a sailboat and it can be a battle to not sway into the other lanes, especially in places like this where all the roads are surrounded by open farmland – nearly the whole way was like driving through a Windows XP background (you know the one). This means driving slower and making more stops to take breaks because it can get pretty intense. Aside from the wind, Oklahoma was all around confusing. It goes from Native American names to Spanish names then all of a sudden it becomes…Canada? We crossed the Canadian River multiple times while venturing into Canadian County and ultimately arriving in a city called Yukon. To make things even more confusing, this Yukon is really into Garth Brooks. Ok, maybe he grew up there but it’s still funny for us to see how different Yukon, OK is from Yukon Territory – and I mean that mostly in terms of landscape, not Garth Brooks fandom. Our wild drive landed us in Elk City, where we camped at another shockingly free campsite that even had water and power hookups. Right on Elk City Lake are five paved sites, a kids playground and a bathroom that wasn’t a termite festering ground AND even had toilet paper. Not the most private or secluded but for a quick overnight after a long day, the sun setting over the lake was just what we needed.

Following the I-40, we were back in our old friend, Texas. Being away from it for a couple months, we must have forgotten how boring it is to drive across. We love Texas, but outside of the cities, it’s farmland galore and looks strikingly like its Canadian counterpart, Saskatchewan (all Canadians immediately know what I’m talking about). Time seems to crawl when there’s not much to look at but after all, we were only on our way to Amarillo to do laundry so we definitely weren’t in any hurry. With chores done, we took a look at the engine again and tried to figure out what was going on because we were also hearing a rattling noise at high RPMs and while going uphill that we knew couldn’t be good. Once we hit New Mexico again, there’s a lot of mountain driving on that side of the country so we wanted to get this sorted. With extensive googling and reading our Haynes book as bedtime literature, I’ve come to believe that this sound is called “pinging” and can usually be taken care of by an octane booster or premium gas. The fix seemed too easy but worked nonetheless. We settled into our campsite in San Jon, a forgotten Route 66 town not far past the state line of New Mexico and got some rest before continuing the journey and the automotive saga that is owning an older vehicle. We’re not mechanics but we’re learning a ton and as they say, it’s a labour of love.