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Travato is based on a Dodge Promaster. Van based vehicles have some advantages over the traditional RVs: Unibody construction, so better efficiency, drivabilit

Travato is based on a Dodge Promaster. Van based vehicles have some advantages over the traditional RVs: Unibody construction, so better efficiency, drivability, easier to park, less obnoxious looking. I have a Ford Transit with 600 watts of solar and a full sized computer workstation inside. I bought the vehicle used for 23k USD, and put another 10k in the build. If you DIY, it not that expensive.

brookside 4y ago
Do you have photos of your workstation, or setup in general? Sounds great!
vsareto 4y ago
I don't get how any of this is better than buying a decent truck and tow camper. Truck prices are likewise insane in the US but offer more utility if you decide you want to stop living out of a camper. A lot of this seems dumb but it would be nice to be the one selling overpriced camping stuff to millennials.
- learn_more 4y ago
  If you move around a lot, its better without a trailer. I regularly spend nights in urban areas. Towing a camper limits you to typical campgrounds.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    Exactly this. You quickly find that you want to be “nondescript” as much as possible, and a van works great where a truck/trailer wouldn’t - unless you want to be stuck with campgrounds and Walmart parking lots.
    - _spduchamp 4y ago
      Or you can use a truck like the guy in this video and make something completely stealth and can park pretty much anywhere. https://youtu.be/py4zetCEYzA https://youtu.be/py4zetCEYzA
- shkkmo 4y ago
  You keep assuming that the people buying these and living out of them are doing it for no reason. There are a whole slew of reasons why that form factor is growing in popularity. It's hard to beat the ratio of fuel efficiency, to living space in a good van conversion. A trailer, even a short one, is a massive problem to park in urban areas and to turn around on remote forest roads. That said, teardrop campers have also been skyrocketing in popularity, as have rooftop tents.
  - vsareto 4y ago
    Those tradeoffs don't seem worth paying thousands to tens of thousands extra to me though. If vans were more competitive in price with trucks/trailers, I'd be all for it, but right now it seems massively inflated. It seems like paying many thousands for conveniences that have work-arounds or solutions.
    - shkkmo 4y ago
      Well, everyone has a different set of priorities and there is no perfect solution for everyone. It's all about what tradeoffs you want to make (even within the category of "van conversions"). Van conversions, in general, provide an pretty good balance between maneuverability, living space, gas mileage, amenities and price. There are very expensive 6 figure conversion vans, but also simple ones for 4 figures. Again, it's all about what your priorities are and what tradeoffs you wanna make. I would not discount the value of manueverability (even if you aren going to just be be moving between RV hookup locations )
    - idiotsecant 4y ago
      It's worth noting that the people using these setups as actual living quarters are few and far between. Generally people who use them for something other than instagram fodder have a larger RV or tow-behind setup because they want something livable, or they have a cheap DIY setup because they want something cheap. Generally the people paying 300k for these #Vanlife setups are not particularly interested in living in them exclusively.
  - ad700x 4y ago
- watwut 4y ago
  I would strongly prefer van for moving around or parking then tow camper.
- thatfrenchguy 4y ago
  Trucks are pretty mediocre cars though, shit efficiency, they don’t have a rain-proof trunk, and their « I can get shit from Home Depot I don’t have a trunk for » and « I can use a trailer with it » are 0.1% use cases kind of things. They’re mostly a cultural phenomenon, not a real practical vehicle, ask anyone in France who owns a normal car and a trailer.
  - notch656a 4y ago
    Trucks have shit efficiency in part because of retarded federal standards like CAFE which make it effectively illegal to sell a compact efficient truck and partially because competition was killed by the chicken tax. You can buy a 25 year old import control exempt tiny truck from Japan without issue in the US; If you want efficient truck you basically have to wait for it to age 25 years so it will be legal to import it into the US.
    - olyjohn 4y ago
      Or you can just buy like a 10 year old Ford Ranger for less than the cost of shipping a truck from Japan. They made them up until 2012. Parts availability and mechanics to work on them are everywhere. You don't want to wait weeks to fix your rig because it's Japanese-only, and the part you need isn't available here. Also, you could even consider a new Ford Ranger. Sure they are bigger, but the gas mileage they get is really good. They can get 26 on the highway, and carry a lot more than a 25 year old Toyota. And it's brand new, so if that's your thing you have options. Or consider an S10 or Colorado. The latest Colorados can get near 30mpg highway. The S10 was made up until 2012.
- rngname22 4y ago
  Because you can't legally park a truck and tow camper in many cities, and many people like to spend some or all their time doing vanlife in cities.
- anm89 4y ago
  I think people also underrate that you can then detach the camper and use it as a normal truck whereas with a van, you are bringing your whole house with you no matter what.

brookside 4y ago

Do you have photos of your workstation, or setup in general? Sounds great!

vsareto 4y ago

I don't get how any of this is better than buying a decent truck and tow camper. Truck prices are likewise insane in the US but offer more utility if you decide you want to stop living out of a camper. A lot of this seems dumb but it would be nice to be the one selling overpriced camping stuff to millennials.

learn_more 4y ago
If you move around a lot, its better without a trailer. I regularly spend nights in urban areas. Towing a camper limits you to typical campgrounds.
- bombcar 4y ago
  Exactly this. You quickly find that you want to be “nondescript” as much as possible, and a van works great where a truck/trailer wouldn’t - unless you want to be stuck with campgrounds and Walmart parking lots.
  - _spduchamp 4y ago
    Or you can use a truck like the guy in this video and make something completely stealth and can park pretty much anywhere. https://youtu.be/py4zetCEYzA https://youtu.be/py4zetCEYzA
shkkmo 4y ago
You keep assuming that the people buying these and living out of them are doing it for no reason. There are a whole slew of reasons why that form factor is growing in popularity. It's hard to beat the ratio of fuel efficiency, to living space in a good van conversion. A trailer, even a short one, is a massive problem to park in urban areas and to turn around on remote forest roads. That said, teardrop campers have also been skyrocketing in popularity, as have rooftop tents.
- vsareto 4y ago
  Those tradeoffs don't seem worth paying thousands to tens of thousands extra to me though. If vans were more competitive in price with trucks/trailers, I'd be all for it, but right now it seems massively inflated. It seems like paying many thousands for conveniences that have work-arounds or solutions.
  - shkkmo 4y ago
    Well, everyone has a different set of priorities and there is no perfect solution for everyone. It's all about what tradeoffs you want to make (even within the category of "van conversions"). Van conversions, in general, provide an pretty good balance between maneuverability, living space, gas mileage, amenities and price. There are very expensive 6 figure conversion vans, but also simple ones for 4 figures. Again, it's all about what your priorities are and what tradeoffs you wanna make. I would not discount the value of manueverability (even if you aren going to just be be moving between RV hookup locations )
  - idiotsecant 4y ago
    It's worth noting that the people using these setups as actual living quarters are few and far between. Generally people who use them for something other than instagram fodder have a larger RV or tow-behind setup because they want something livable, or they have a cheap DIY setup because they want something cheap. Generally the people paying 300k for these #Vanlife setups are not particularly interested in living in them exclusively.
- ad700x 4y ago
watwut 4y ago
I would strongly prefer van for moving around or parking then tow camper.
thatfrenchguy 4y ago
Trucks are pretty mediocre cars though, shit efficiency, they don’t have a rain-proof trunk, and their « I can get shit from Home Depot I don’t have a trunk for » and « I can use a trailer with it » are 0.1% use cases kind of things. They’re mostly a cultural phenomenon, not a real practical vehicle, ask anyone in France who owns a normal car and a trailer.
- notch656a 4y ago
  Trucks have shit efficiency in part because of retarded federal standards like CAFE which make it effectively illegal to sell a compact efficient truck and partially because competition was killed by the chicken tax. You can buy a 25 year old import control exempt tiny truck from Japan without issue in the US; If you want efficient truck you basically have to wait for it to age 25 years so it will be legal to import it into the US.
  - olyjohn 4y ago
    Or you can just buy like a 10 year old Ford Ranger for less than the cost of shipping a truck from Japan. They made them up until 2012. Parts availability and mechanics to work on them are everywhere. You don't want to wait weeks to fix your rig because it's Japanese-only, and the part you need isn't available here. Also, you could even consider a new Ford Ranger. Sure they are bigger, but the gas mileage they get is really good. They can get 26 on the highway, and carry a lot more than a 25 year old Toyota. And it's brand new, so if that's your thing you have options. Or consider an S10 or Colorado. The latest Colorados can get near 30mpg highway. The S10 was made up until 2012.
rngname22 4y ago
Because you can't legally park a truck and tow camper in many cities, and many people like to spend some or all their time doing vanlife in cities.
anm89 4y ago
I think people also underrate that you can then detach the camper and use it as a normal truck whereas with a van, you are bringing your whole house with you no matter what.