For the last few years, I have been spending Winters in Mexico, where my pension money goes so much further. I spend a few weeks each year driving back and forth between Mexican Winters and Canadian Summers. I often spend weeks or months living in my travel vehicle, some times finding out of the way places to spend some quality time alone. After decades of wandering down The Road Less Travelled looking for the perfect remote camp sites, I have finally arrived at the perfect vehicles for my life style. I have an AWD Safari van and an AWD Astro Mini Motorhome optimised for OVERLANDING.

So my daily drivers are also my recreation, my bug out vehicles, and some times my home.

First of all, since I no longer own a permanent home, when I hit the road, EVERYTHING I own comes along for the ride, including food and water for a month, survival gear, camping gear, and any recreational gear I might want. AKA ... bugging out permanently. Or #VANLIFE as a choice ... NOW!

I have spent countless days and nights inside a camperised VW van [ one time for three months at a stretch] and I find a van without a raised roof unbearable after a week or two. Also, I have wandered into remote camp sites with full sized 4X4 Van Conversions. However, these BIG vans, even with true 4X4, often limited where I was able to go, especially on some of the overgrown abandoned logging roads in BC, or the low hanging branches and the narrow cobblestone streets in old town Mexico.

I do my short term wandering around in my 2005 AWD Safari camper van, or for longer sessions, my 2004 AWD ASTRO Mini Motorhome.

IN THE MINI MOTORHOME, I HAVE LIVED FULL TIME FOR MONTHS, and honestly it was OK. But without hot water on board, it truly did become too much like roughing it. One big pending upgrade is a small, portable propane powered hot water heater, usable inside or outside at a campsite. All my interior devices are removable/portable, for use inside or out. The two burner propane stove has a regular fitting, for small bottles, and a hose to adapt to the large 20 lb tanks. I have tried a small, portable 12 V fridge, but for my lifestyle, a fridge is more of a luxury than a necessity. I use a removable porta-potti type toilet, which does require regular cleaning, but so far have been OK with this. I also have adequate on board water storage, in various containers. My previous van had a single built in 40 gal water tank connected to a sink and hand pump, but I have been getting by with multiple smaller individual portable containers. If full, or even half full, the 40 gal tank definitely let you know it was there … you could actually feel it sloshing. The smaller individual containers are much more versatile, are removable for external use, and do not slosh. I have a portable 110V/12V power box, 2000 Amp/700 Watt, various 12V/110 and 110/12V convertors, 110V extension cords, and 12V booster cable. Also a planned upgrade is two 100A solar panels, with an automatic switch to the extra 12 V battery and the power box.

As mentioned, I routinely carry about a month of food, mostly canned, a 25 lb bag of rice, and buy some fresh food locally when available. Things like canned salmon, corned beef, canned fruits and vegetables, soups, etc combine to make a varied diet. Lots of spices along to perk up the meals. A bottle of bleach for routine cleaning and special needs water purification, although in Mexico 5 gal bottles of purified water cost about $1.50 US. I also carry a special antiseptic designed to rinse any fresh vegetables and fruits in. So far, even with six months at a time in Mexico, I rarely get

My advice is geared towards long term OVERLANDING, but much will apply to a bug out vehicle. Of course, for bugging out, a STEALTHY vehicle will be more desirable for tactical reasons. Which is why I would choose my AWD Safari van, which looks like a slightly lifted stock rig, over my SHINY ALUMINUM CHECKERPLATE AWD Astro Mini Motrorhome.

If you need any more advice on OVERLANDING, bug out vehicles, camperising vans, living in Mexico, or related topics, feel free to contact me,
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