That cabin looks great, awesome off grid electrical system they have. I will be moving off grid myself in just over 15 months when I move onto my boat, can't wait.
I once thought about building out a van. Instead bought a sailboat and sailed to Maine for the summer. Fell in love with this state and now I am a resident. M 18:22 y wife and I now live in Bucks harbor, Machaisport. We are just a little ways up from you. We have a beautiful waterfront view with large parking that Batts up. You are welcome to drive up and spent a quiet night. From here you are only 35 miles from Lubec the furthest North eastern US town and the Canadian border. If you have a passport you can drive to Campobello Island where the Roosevelt's had a summer retreat. It's free. Quaddy lighthouse state park is a wonderful place to visit with a coastal hike that is spectacular. You may even spot a whale! We are available for more info if interested in this area.
During the night, my wife and I just use a 7-gallon pickle bucket (7-gal is taller than the 5-gal) with a lid from the Walmart deli for the price of $2.00. Then in the morning we empty it into the vault toilet of the National Forrest Park. You can get a small toilet seat from Amazon to put on the top of the bucket if your tush is too sensitive for the rim of the bucket. P.S. Can you do a vid about how you get Wi-Fi out on the road and what your experience with it has been?
I've always loved the van conversion videos. Started watching yours a few months back and found you so charming. Now I can't stop watching. Glad to see you on the road with it.
With a 1/2-mile rugged trail as the only access how do they manage to transport food and other necessities to the cabin? Especially since you have to walk across that narrow crooked log bridge. Forget about winter and snow. How did they even get the materials back there to build the cabin? BTW, those solar batteries are connected in "series" so only the voltage increases by the number of batteries, not the Amp-Hour. If they were connected in "parallel" the voltage would stay the same and the Amp-Hour would increase by the number of batteries.
Nice to see you on the road. I'm currently in the Cascades but will be heading south in 2 weeks. The leaves look the same and it's brisk in the mornings. Safe travels young lady.
Many years ago we lived in San Jose, Ca., and traveled to Hanover, NH to visit and meet my mother in law. We rented a cabin on one of the nearby lakes outside of Hanover. This was in late Aug. and early Sept., and I will never forget the beauty of the changing colors surrounding the town and lakes.The locals were very welcoming and friendly. Thank you Elisa for sharing your travels and life...
1 extremely important thing I've discovered regarding composting toilets, the small computer type fans used in their ventilation setup is totally inadequate, specially if you happen to drive with windows down as that seems to create a vacuum inside the van & can be awful. The toilet lid needs to seal well and the toilet vent fan's cfm rating should probably be doubled.
I used to live in Old Orchard Beach Maine in the non tourist are. I had planned to retire there, but I had to leave and go to Massachusetts to take care of my mother and sister who were very ill. My sister actually had been taking care of our mother. They both have passed away and I'm debating whether to Return to Maine and finish my plans of retiring and living in a camper, probably a slide in truck camper since I have a full size pickup. I'm sure you know this but OOB has 12 miles of sand beach and there are many other places in Maine that have sand beaches. Your channel is and inspiration.
FYI - If you're gonna venture from Florida up to the rust belt and spend any amount of time over the years up here, you should undercoat or Oil spray under the Van if you don't want it to Rust underneath. Other wise you'll be finding another van in about 10 years after it Rusts LOL You'll also want to make sure you coolant is rated for winter Temps and not just diluted coolant they use down south so it doesn't freeze up.
I'm about to live in a van but one thing I will use is four Greencycle Motion Sensor Doorbell and they will alert me of any movement outside, I had one at my front door and it worked great so I will use them to guard my van when sleeping. Your van looks great BTY
I liked it! At one point, I was looking at my screen, being shown a screen, and on that screen a beautiful woman was looking at a screen, and was being observed by a device that made the image on my screen. What a labyrinth! I also like the bit when you were seated among the clouds. Another masterpiece!
Because you built the van, you know everything about it: Gradual changes will be natural now. No rush, except the one that bugs you most. Take your time, enjoy the process and... 👍 Rock on 🙂.
Hi Elisa it's Tony it's nice to see your videos on Sunday because I do a tribute to my mom who is no longer with us so to me it's a special day and then seeing your video just tops it off thank you and I happen to live in New Hampshire it would have been nice to meet you in person because I have followed you from the beginning left a few comments not too often and previously I live 3 years in a van myself presently I live in a 30 ft camper off-grid but until the next video be safe take care of yourself and may God bless you and pleasant dreams
It's nice to see the evolution of your new lifestyle. Watching from neighboring Québec in full color as well. You should visit us one day, experience a taste of Europe right next door. Bonne route! 👋🏼⚜️
I enjoy your adventures. I subscribe to several travelers like yourself. I have gotten some great ideas from all of you, for taking my family. Yes, we have gone on a few, based on their travels. This is a great time of year to travel to the Northeast. I can be cold, but beautiful. My family has used a composting toilet forever. It's always an "emergency" use only, and we empty asap. That is the trick. Safe travels to you.
INCREDIBLE job in putting together your custom van. When you were showing the video from the security camera, I realized that your van is well organized, more space then you would expect & I felt like I was looking into one of those IKEA apt. setups. Very well done! Been following you for a while & stay safe in all of your travels
I am building my van and decided to slowly build it and try to hold back on doing anything permanent. This way I can slowly understand what is necessary and what I need after a bit of living in it. Also placement of stuff is what I need to understand better.
Hola Elisa, que bueno verte. Yo andaba preocupada por el ciclon Milton en La Florida, como sabes fue muy fuerte y afecto muchas areas. Deseo tu familia este bien y las maticas de Mango de la casa de tu mama esten todas en pie. A proposito muy buena idea la de moverte al norte, muy conveniente tener un Van dada estas circunstancias de mal tiempo, entre.otras opciones maravillosas que brinda. El otoño al norte se ve hermoso, esos tonos amarillos, naranjas en las hojas de los arboles, parecen una pintura hecha a mano. Y que genial la idea de las sillitas frente al mar, un mar quieto y apacible a simple vista, como una invitacion a contemplarse en medio de....Un fuerte abrazo, mis mejores deseos para ti y tu familia y que disfrutes mucho cada segundo de vida ❤
Smart move with the security system in the van. You definitely need that out there on the road and some type of personal protection. I agree that it is absolutely beautiful out there where you were at as always, stay safe out there, beautiful
Welcome to Maine. You should visit the coast also. Stop by Belfast and we will treat you to the greatest pizza this side of the Mississippi. Great videos.
Great video as always Elisa, you're a natural behind the camera. I can completely relate to your toilet issues, I have tried everything to cover/eliminate the aroma. Nothing seems to work. Anyway, enjoy the fall colors. I'm in Iowa doing the same. Until the next video, stay safe and keep the blue side up.
Elisa! loved your video as always, your beauty matches the area's you shared with us today. Hope you have a wonderful week and looking forward to seeing your next adventure! Besitos!!!
That was pretty cool should’ve been longer I was enjoying the landscape, cool cabin ,My 2 cents ,if you ever get a dog, consider getting a Dutch Shepherd, or a Belgium Malomo, these two dog will protect you when train properly ask for the toilet you can do it the old-school way just get a tray of kitty litter and have a go at it 😂
Just FYI, the cabin only has 610 Ah. This is because those are 6 volt batteries wired in series to make a 48 volt system. When they are wired in series like that, you multiply the voltage rather than the capacity. If they were wired in parallel, it would be a 6 volt system with 4880 Ah. This is confusing, which is why sometimes why you see systems rated in kilowatt-hours instead. This is a 29.28 kWh system, no matter how it's wired. This makes for an apples to apples comparison with your van's 5kWh system.
Awesome to see you on the road enjoying aster such an extensive build👍👍Your power system Rocks. as long as you get some sun you can shower... do it when you are sunny around midday. 10% for a shower, thats awesome! What a Rad settup at the Cabin. 🇺🇸🤙🤙Enjoy the Colors , yur adorable. 🧡💚❤️
Good morning young lady. You really did a great job on the van build. Couple thoughts for you to consider. The switch you have that turns on your water heater I have only seen them on 12 volt applications not 120 volt. I could be wrong but I would check on that as a water heater does draw high amperage. Next is I hope you were carrying bear spray as you walked to the cabin and other hikes. Works on smaller critters too if needed. Last comment is you won't smell number one if it is in a sealed container. As a guy that is easy for us but I know there are work arounds for the ladies. Nice to have a plan just in case. Thanks for sharing and looking forward to the next video.
I heard in one vanlife video they had a composting toilet that had a built in fan and filter. They said it worked great. Didn't catch the model though, sorry. It seems many try different models and types before they settle on one they like.
I’m preparing to start my vanlife soon and I have to agree, a van toilet is just for emergencies. I don’t want a toilet in my small living space. I’m only sensitive to 2 smells; urine and cigarettes. Can’t stand it. And if you’re camping you can always find a place to pee.
Those little toilets are normally vented to the outside with a little bitty fan. At least that's what I've seen everyone else doing. Maybe you didn't have one?
Loved you car camping series, and the entire build. Looking forward to your new adventures!! Any reason you didn't go for an on-demand hot water heater?
I love your videos plz tell us what you would change in your van. I need to know because I want to build a van. I wanted to build it just like you did.
So can I ask.. did you have a crap ton of money socked away to be able to live like this? Not trying to be nosy, but always curious how people just load up a van with 30K+ of gear, and drive around all over for months to years with no job. I get it if you have a channel making tons of money on views, and with 48K (as of 10/13/2024) subs and 1000s of views I assume you make some money from this channel. But just curious how one gets started. I dont know that I could live for months in a van.. but I def could live off grid in the mountains assuming enough land with wood, a well, and access to enough solar. But it would be slick to have a van like this for road trips. Been looking at EV trucks.. waiting for them to hit 500 to 800 mile ranges before I consider buying one.. few more years. Anyway.. love your channel.
That's a fair question. I have another youtube channel with more subscribers/views and had some money saved up. I have some debt too (from building the van) so we'll see how long I can do this before having to make changes 😬
