Open and airy class B's

Light an dairy is a big reason why I build my own. Pre-made B's seem so cramped to me, nowhere near enough windows!

Geocritter wrote:
I think your smart looking at class B’s. This past May and June I took a +12,000 mile road trip up through Alaska and Canada using my toad (a 2005 Dodge Caravan with a sleeping/storage platform in the back). My Class A’s 7mpg made doing the long trip in it cost prohibitive. During the trip I met a woman from Homer Alaska doing a similar road trip in a late 1980’s vintage Class B. What a neat set-up she had! What impressed me most was that nearly everything in it could be multi-tasked. It had a sofa bed so that the bedroom became a living room during the day and with a fold down table it could quickly become a dinette. It had a shower pan in the hallway floor between the front and rear. Just lift the cover off the pan pull out some plastic curtains and you had a shower. It had a head, an elec/gas refrigerator, and a small 2-burner range top. The front driver and passenger seats rotated and became easy chairs.

For any RV multi-tasking is paramount, but especially in a small Class B.

Steve

Hey Steve.... thanks for your reply. I have in mind a van about 20 ft long. I am looking seriously at a Ford transit van with extended body. That would give me about 13 ft of living space inside.

I wish a small van would be enough space for me but.... for full time living.... but I want more space. I want to take that trip you did up thru Canada to Alaska at some point as well...I was a geology student back in college. lol so LOTS of great rocks up there to look at.

but.... I gotta get the van first.

Interesting about that woman you met with the B. I like the shower trick.... I read about that kind of thing before.... and that is the sort of thing I would be thinking about if I did build a van from scratch.

I need to go over to the Class B section to ask some questions. I want to PM you and ask you more about your Alaska trip.

thanks for your post.

Ruby

I think your smart looking at class B’s. This past May and June I took a +12,000 mile road trip up through Alaska and Canada using my toad (a 2005 Dodge Caravan with a sleeping/storage platform in the back). My Class A’s 7mpg made doing the long trip in it cost prohibitive. During the trip I met a woman from Homer Alaska doing a similar road trip in a late 1980’s vintage Class B. What a neat set-up she had! What impressed me most was that nearly everything in it could be multi-tasked. It had a sofa bed so that the bedroom became a living room during the day and with a fold down table it could quickly become a dinette. It had a shower pan in the hallway floor between the front and rear. Just lift the cover off the pan pull out some plastic curtains and you had a shower. It had a head, an elec/gas refrigerator, and a small 2-burner range top. The front driver and passenger seats rotated and became easy chairs.

For any RV multi-tasking is paramount, but especially in a small Class B.

Steve

Hi thanks for all your replies.... I have been planning to do a custom van but I wanted to check and see if anyone had any ideas about already built stuff. I want to investigate everything before i decide what to do. It took me a long time to get to this point because when I began thinking about this in 2005.... I was thinking of a travel trailer. BUT... i realized that I didn't want to pull anything and went round and round looking at everything for years and years..... but nothing felt right till I actually stood in a ford transit empty cargo van and could actually see how i wanted it to be inside. lol

it was like a lightbulb went on and i thought WOW ! I could make this into a GREAT studio apartment with big windows and sofa .... and I could take it with me ... and park it on a street instead of towing it somewhere and leaving it behind while I went to walmart etc....

As long as I have something light and airy.... i will be fine.

I realize that full timing in a small space is a challenge..... but I am up for it.

I have never been thru MN but its on my list..... I want to get into Canada in the summers and all over montana and wyoming...

no plans really..... just drifting.... travel a little.....do what i need to......make camp....... get up the next day..... do it all over again. Just like they use to do in the old west on horseback........
just drift.
no plans.... no responsibilities. lol not even a dog.

anyway..... thanks for your suggestions..... I will keep looking at Class B's that are already built before I go the custom route..... If i go the already built route.... it's just GOT to be light and airy though..... who knows... I may find something.... if not... i can always build it,

The most light and airy ones I've seen were DIY conversions of cargo vans. I've seen some very neat ones. A lot of people do them on a tight budget. Which is fine at least to a point. But the ones who were willing to spend on good equipment had wonderful results IMO.

If you have the budget for something new, go to Sportmobile in Texas and tell them what you want.

I agree with not focusing on parks too much. Check out MN along your journey. Our state parks are great and have very spacious sites. Boondockerswelcome.com too for places to park free. Good luck in the search.
(Minnesota is laid back, you can park almost anywhere and no one will bother you. May-Oct are the best months to be here.)

Welcome and hope you find what you want. It sounds like you have the right temperament to just 'drift' along wherever. Best of luck!

Hi.. Thanks for your post. I am looking all the time. I hope I find something with lots of light and windows. I'll head over to the Class B forum.... thats really where this post should be.

thanks again.

Hi, Lonesome. I just got lucky and found a 2006 class b. It has plenty of windows and storage. I need to get used what is in it and get a few things looked at. Drives nicely and the interior is in great condition. Keep looking online and get inside several before you decide what you want. B's are hard to come by but keep going. You'll end up with one that's just right.