I'm thinking it's the shelled peanuts I've been eating recently. I've slid into a habit of grabbing a handful of shelled peanuts per meal. If my math is right, i'm adding 400-500 calories per day doing that. Oops.
Back to broccoli/celery for a snack when needed
I can do peanuts when bike touring, when I'm burning a crazy amount of calories.
Peanuts aren't nearly as filling as broccoli/celery anyway
Some weeks are harder than others for losing weight. If I hadn't mentioned yet, I do my weekly progress weigh-ins on Sundays. Sunday is also my rest day and cheat meal days (after the weigh-in). In fact, I just had home made sushi for lunch. Dinner will be back to the routine.
I've also learned to taper off my exercise on Saturday, so I'm not retaining water excessively for the weekly progress weigh-in. Being retired, I try to avoid hitting the trails on the weekend anyway; too busy. So yesterday, I just did an hour of indoor kayaking on my kayak erg machine; I was recovering from a long, indoor bike ride I did Friday, more on that below. I have an older model kayakpro ergometer in the attic. Here's an ad photo i found.
Weirdly, I felt kind of hungry most of this week, and it felt hard to not overeat. I did do a ton of xc skiing the week before, so probably related to that. This past week, I tried eating salad for dinner more, but i think my home made dressings were way more caloric than I thought. I made a lentil soup Friday, and that fixed my hunger issues (more fiber?). I'll have to do some googling to try and figure out why that worked. Having a brothy indian/mexican lentil soup with cooked mushrooms and/or spinach for dinner seem to work better than salad for dinner, weird. Live and learn I guess.
on a postive though, my blood pressure has been consistently good, if it continues, I think I may just start checking once a week. Today was 104/68. Eating well and losing weight, i feel like I'm out of the danger zone, so I can check less often.
Last Sunday my weigh-in was 228.9, and I spent almost all week after that floating between 230.1-230.2, but i did have a 229.1 weigh-in today. Weird to be happy with gaining 0.2lbs. But it's way better than 1.2 lbs, and I've been way ahead of my 1lb/week plan this year. No biggee. I could stay put for 3 more weeks and still be ahead of my 1 lb/week plan. I did well this Winter, and I think as I get back to riding outside, the weight loss will resume again.
Friday I decided to do a mega (for me) 55 mile ride on my indoor Rouvy bike trainer. Technically it's my specialized sequoia gravel bike on a Saris H3 trainer, using Rouvy software. It was my longest indoor ride ever (4hrs 3 minutes). It goes against my ethos of not exercising the weight off, but so be it. The day before (thursday), I did a 1 hr and 50 minute ride that felt easy, so I decided to just go for it Friday. In the past, my butt couldn't take riding more than 90 minutes, but the new SQ labs saddle is comfy.
One thing I like when riding Rouvy indoors is when I see big climbs like the picture below coming up on the computer screen. I snapped this photo of the computer screen with my cellphone during the ride.
The Rouvy software uses my bike trainer to adjust how hard I have to pedal, so combined with the screen views, I can kind of pretend I'm riding outside. Rouvy also has you input your weight, so it adjusts how hard the hills are according to your weight too. On the hills, I shift the gears on my bike so it's on an easy low gear (low gears, aka granny gears), just like I would when riding outside.
Riding indoors, you have to setup some fans to stay cool. There's no breeze like you get when riding outside. I also have my trainer on a rocker plate, so I can rock the bike side to side as I pedal. I made the rocker plate myself, it also slides back and forth a little as I pedal. It dramatically reduces sitting discomfort. The forces making the rocker plate tilt side to side and/or slide back and forth are no longer going straight to my butt. As far as I'm concerned it's a must for indoor riding. See my rocker plate blog post, click here
Over the Winter, I've really liked the Maine Ironman Rouvy route of the ironman race course that was in Maine a few years ago. I've ridden it 3 or 4 times this Winter. I usually just do 1-1.5 hours or so per day, taking 3-4 days to finish it. Nice to know I could do it all in one go now.
Ridewithgps also has the route. Different software I subscribe to for navigating when riding out in the real world. It made doing the Erie Canal super, duper easy. Like an old gps gadget but made for bicycles; way better battery life than trying to use your cellphone to navigate. You might need an account to open the following link, I don't know. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/43721905
RidewithGPS makes it easy to download the navigation to my bike computer, so maybe I'll try biking it in the real world someday. Zero interest in triathlon racing again though. I do like swimming but not with people kicking me in the face or getting swum over by some clueless idiot. Looks cool on TV seeing a big mass of people swimming in a giant pack, but it sucks being in the middle of it.
Anyhoo, the super long indoor ride I did Friday likely helped me drop a pound for my weigh-in today. I did go slower than my normal workout pace. I coasted on the downhills a lot, and in general, I didn't try super hard. I wasn't attempting to race at all, just wanted to do the ride in one go. I did move the seat back a tiny bit, and titled the nose down, but my butt felt pretty good for the 4 hours on the bike trainer which is far less comfortable than riding a bike outside. Nothing rubbed raw, and nothing sore the next day. After the snow melts this Spring, I want to start doing longer rides and not waste good weather.
During the indoor ride, I texted Jacqui around 11am to ask if she'd bring me some of the lentil soup I made earlier that morning. She did! I asked for a food delivery around Noon of warm soup with a slice of buttered toast, and she delivered. I was a Happy Boy! I was eating a couple dates and half a Clif bar each hour too. I asked Jacqui to bring me lunch because I was worried if I paused the ride, Rouvy would automatically end the ride if I took too long, and I wanted to finish it all in one go. In theory you can pause up to 1hr and 59 minutes, but I've had the software glitch on me before, losing the entire ride! Could be the computer going into standby mode too, will check. I won't abuse Jacqui's food service though, so now that I've done it once, i'll risk getting food on my own next time. a 15-20 minute break would be nice tbh.
Btw, Lentil soup is PERFECT when riding. It's hydrating and has nearly all the nutrients (protein, fiber, carbs, vitamins, minerals) you need if you add a slice of bread or some rice. I personally like this recipe, it comes out more soupy than others I've tried, which is great for hydration, https://www.cookingclassy.com/mexican-lentil-soup/ I puree it a lot with an immersion blender. Be warned, it's usually enough for Jacqui and I to have soup once a day for a week. For dinner I often saute a large pan's worth of raw sliced mushrooms and heat up 2 ladles worth of soup in a separate small pot. Probably less calories than salad with too much dressing (which i think has been my weight loss struggle this past week)
Before I bike cross country, I need to figure out how to eat healthy when touring. Healthy to me means all my nutritional needs AND fiber to keep the ole poop chute happy. The joys of getting older...sigh.
I've been trying to find a way to pressure cook dried beans/lentils while bike touring. it's a challenge.
I've had one of these backpacking Keith multi cookers for a while when camping/backpacking. It only weighs 9 ounces and it prevents burning the rice to the bottom of the pot, which is super easy to do using backpacking stoves and titanium pots. The Keith multi cooker is like a lightweight double boiler that vents steam out a tiny hole in the top. Works great for steaming raw veggies too. But to cook dried beans that have soaked overnight, it would still take 45-90 minutes. That's way too long and would use way too much fuel.
Btw, Keith's website is cheaper than Amazon's $44 vs $70, for the multifunctional cooker, maybe Keith's shipping/handling makes up the difference, idk.
https://www.keith-ti.com/products/keith-titanium-ti6300-plastic-free-multifunctional-cooker
Keith recently came out with a pressure cooker too, but it's lower pressure than a typical pressure cooker 35kPA vs 80-90 kPa I think it would work great for cooking noodles/rice but not pre-soaked beans. I'd waste too much fuel, and it would take way too long cooking at camp.
https://www.keith-ti.com/products/keith-titanium-ti6302high-altitude-mountainpressure-cooker
Instead I'm thinking of a normal pressure pot, but a tiny one. A 1.5 liter Hawkins, which is also much cheaper, $45 vs $175 for the Keith pressure pot. Easier to get spare parts for it too.
The nice thing with the little Hawkins is that it would also work on the electric induction burner in my truck camper too, which means I can practice using it when truck camping. So I can start some beans in the instant pot, and then cook some rice in the little Hawkins, or vice versa. Or if it turns out to be a fail for bike touring, i can at least use it in the truck.
The hawkins does weigh more than the Keith pressure cooker, and it's more bulky. 520g vs 1200g. Or 1.1 lbs vs 2.6 lbs But I've lost 35lbs since I did the Erie Canal bike tour, so I'm pretty sure I can manage an extra pound or two. It's more the bulk of it. I suppose if I put dry rice/beans in it when traveling that'll help. I bought a 2nd old man mountain Divide rack to mount to my bike's front fork, so I can carry food and cooking stuff more easily.
If i presoak beans at least 8-10 hours, then it'll only take 6-8 minutes of high pressure cook time to cook the beans, and per some youtube reviews I watched, it only takes 3-4 minutes to get up to pressure. Fuel wise, that will mean high burn while getting up to pressure, and then reducing to medium to low during the 6-8 minutes of cooking.
I'm thinking I can also saute whatever i have in the pot before adding the soaked beans and water (ratio of 1:3 beans:water). So I can pick up a small onion, some carrots, garlic, jalapenos at a grocery store when touring; and that stuff will keep for 1-2 days without a fridge. And there's always bouillon cubes and/or spice powders.
While the beans cool, i can then cook rice in the Keith multifunction cooker that I already have In the Keith cooker, it takes 10-15 minutes to cook jasmine rice which will match the pressure pot cool down time. Also, just like the pressure cooker, I'm only on full burn until the steam starts venting out the top and then you lower the burn to simmer. Uses less fuel than you'd think. The keith multifunction cooker without the inner pot, also makes a nice tea mug. And I can use it for soaking beans during the day as long as I can pack it upright.
In the mornings, I can cook up some steel cut oats in the hawkins, and mix in some protein powder, milk powder, coconut powder and/or nuts after cooking. I'll have to pack it all in my kevlar ursack bag to keep the rodents and other critters out of my food stash. maybe i'll just pack my small plastic bear vault too.
Dehydrated meals are pricey, super salty, and lack in fiber. I suppose I could go that route and pack some metamucil to keep my gut happy, but then you have to worry about where to resupply. Most grocery stores don't carry backpacking meals, and I don't want to have to set up having care packages mailed.
And when you think about it, dehydrated meals take up a lot of space too. Small bags of rice, beans, oatmeal, etc and a tiny pressure pot aren't any more space, and far easier to find in any grocery store. If I can figure this out, I'm going to make a few youtube videos on it. Bikers and hikers love food, so there may be interest in some alternatives. I have my home dehydrator too. I could practice dehydrating veggies to add to my meals as well. I like cooking. Just another challenge, but this one has a fun prepper vibe to it, lol.
Oh, and I'll be using my primus omni stove, which runs best on Coleman/MSR white gas, but will run on gasoline too in a pinch; it just clogs faster on gasoline. I have a big 1 liter fuel bottle for it. It's trickier to use than the ultralight butane stoves thru-hikers use to boil water for dehydrated meals, but you can cook way longer, and it's far easier to refuel. Just find a gas station worst case.
I'm thinking I may bring stuff along when I do local rides. I'll just find a trailhead to cook lunch somewhere. Better to practice before I need the skills for bike touring.
Winona Forest is near where my folks live, north of Syracuse, about 10-15 minutes east off i-81 near Mannsville NY. From my parent's place, it's about a 20 minute drive from their house. A little longer when the last 5 miles of County Rt 90 are covered in snow, which was true 2 out of the 3 days I went.
Thanks to my parents for hosting me. I was way more comfortable at their place than a hotel, and I appreciate saving $100-200 a night. Lots of chit chat time too, which was nice.
The first day, I skied a smaller 4 mile loop on my groomed track classic skis (where you keep the skis parallel as you ski). Then I did a quick down and back skate ski outing on the main drag (Bargy Rd) that the snowmobilers use. Nordic skate skiing is also called Freestyle. Bargy Road was packed down well, at least 3-4 snowmobiles wide. Being a Wednesday, I only saw 2-3 snowmobilers, but I'd never ski that road on a Saturday/Sunday. I'd be sucking in way too many fumes from the snowmobiles; not complaining, there are plenty of ski only trails, and the snowmobiles have to pay to use the forest, skiers don't.
Speaking of, before I forget, I did buy a basic $30 membership online, and I made an extra $30 donation. I felt like $20/day was fair. The slightly nicer xc ski centers I've been to charge $25/day. The grooming at Winona just kind of smushes the snow flat behind their snowcat; they don't have the machine that sets grooved tracks for classic and corduroy texture for skate, and the nordic xc places have nice warming huts/centers with food. At Winona you're on your own; just you and whatever is in your car. Still, you're more there for the scenery in the forest. It's far more Nature-ish than most of the nordic xc places I've been
The 2nd day was gorgeous for skiing. Fresh 4-6 inches of powder as I skied the 8.1 mile big loop on my backcountry skis. It was a blast, I hope it sticks in my noggin as a lifetime memory. There was lots of floofy snow clinging to the trees; it was very pretty and calming. Temps mid 20's F, perfect for xc skiing. Fast snow, but not too cold. Never saw a soul on the entire 8.1 mile loop. Took longer than I thought, and after blazing 8 miles of trail through powder, I was too tired to do any skate skiing. I just drove back to my folks
I almost forgot. The other thing from earlier Thursday morning, is somebody made the mistake my parents had mentioned the day before. It's been a proper North Country Winter, and there has been lots of delivery drivers and/or non-locals driving themselves onto the Snowmobile trails and getting stuck. Sure enough, it happened near where I parked Thursday morning. I'd already emailed a few of you about it, and I posted on instagram too. It was just funny to see it in person. Almost felt like my folks jinxed them.
Anyway, you park at the CCC camp in the map below. I'm not sure if Bargy Road is even drive-able in the Summer (could be ATV's only), the driver must have gotten down the trail 300-400 ft before getting stuck, I bet it was expensive getting hauled out by a wrecker, or maybe the Winona ranger/volunteer helped with their snow cat machine. To be fair, I can sort of understand the mistake. The County rt 90 asphalt road was likely snow covered too, so it might just look the same at night during a snow storm.
Friday, I stopped to take some photos of the house that's for sale near the skiing area. Only 5 minutes at most from the parking area for Winona. If it was just me, I'd be tempted to take a look. It had a lot of solar on top, and passive solar on the front of the barn for hot water/heat.
Sadly the snow covered the solar in the photos, but you can sort of see the roofline jump in the middle of the long ranch style house. Sadly, not listed on Zillow or realtor or any online site. Even if it had all the bells and whistle of Geothermal heating, solar, batteries, I bet I could easily swing it after selling our overpriced Shrewsbury place. Location, location, location. Our place in shrewsbury has higher paying jobs, so there's more demand, and people can afford to pay the crazy prices you see within commute range of Boston. It'd be a hellish commute, but still, people do it.
I taught Sim the joys of attacking the brightly colored zipper pulls I got from Sailrite. I just stole some from the duffel bags I've made and had with me to haul my stuff. I think cats can see the bright orange ones best. Sim didn't seem to enjoy gnawing on them as much as Twitch does, but Sim has all his teeth, and our boy Twitch doesn't. So I think Twitch enjoys the feeling on his gums, where the rough plastic is too hard for Sim to bite into. I even made a wand toy from an old venetian blinds rod Dad found, and some yarn string from Mom's knitting stash. A tired Simeon was a far less annoying kitty.
Last but not least, I did get some nicely aged cheddar from the local Sharpe's bulk food store in Belleville. Stocked up on dried beans and whole wheat flour too. The chocolate sno cap treats are for Jacqui; I don't like them. I got some bacon end trimmings for future baked bean batches recipe here. 2.5 lbs for just $8. Crazy! And tbh, even their thick-cut bacon slab trimmings are far better than the store bought bacon near me. They have a deli and will cut bacon fresh for their customers from big smoked slabs; they have all the other lunch meat options you could think of too, but I've given in to the health warnings on lunch meat. I don't eat it much anymore. Can't remember the last time at the moment.
Oh and my parents indulged me bringing my mostly vegan, diet food to feed myself. A bit weird to bring 4 days of food to my parents house; that was a first. They ate their normal food. Staying on my diet and all the skiing, I lost a pound. I bet I'll see it drop another pound shortly as my muscles recover and my body lets go of the water I'm probably retaining. My legs are still achy from all the skiing.
But in total, I lost a smidge over 6lbs during February, ditto in January. As I near getting under 220lbs/100kg, I'm only shooting for losing 1 pound a week now. Oh, and I did try on one of my Dad's Life is Good t-shirts while I was there.. I've been curious if I can fit into XL's now, and I do! Time to order some new shirts. I'll put my XXL/XXXL stuff away in the attic, and maybe in a year or two, I'll donate it all once I'm sure I'm not going to put the weight back on. I think as long as I keep eating the Med food pyramid below and continue with the daily weighing, I'll be fine. Touch wood. All the fiber based food, I don't feel as hungry as when I ate more typical American stuff.
Again, my motivation to lose weight is so I can enjoy doing outdoorsy stuff more. It's way easier biking, skiing, hiking and kayaking while 60lbs lighter. So, fingers crossed, I'll be good until I can't do that stuff anymore when I'm an old fart. Hopefully, I've bought myself a couple decades more, we'll see. A low inflammation diet definitely makes me hopeful it's possible to stay active as I age.
As I was telling my parents, other than getting under 220, my two other goals this year are to make sure I can bike tour without my butt getting tore up, and I need to figure out how to make bean/lentil stuff while on the road. From my Erie Canal bike tour trip (Sept 2025), those are the 2 main things I need to fix before I attempt a cross country trip. If I'd been 8-9 nine days into a months long cross country trip, I would have had to quit. My left butt cheek fold was rubbed raw in a couple spots, and the biking on the Erie Canal route is pretty easy. I'm hopeful my new seat and suspension post will fix the sore butt issues.
Second, with my mild diverticulosis, I can't be eating burgers, gas station pizza, and junk food the entire trip; so I have to figure out how to eat healthier while touring. I need to eat higher calorie stuff for energy, but I also need fiber if I'm touring for 2-3 months. I don't want to risk the diverticu-[LOW]-sis becoming the far worse diverticu-[LIE]-tis that can put you in the hospital needing stomach surgery. I'd read somewhere that ultra marathoners often develop stomach problems, even higher rates of colon cancer. Long hours of running cuts off blood flow to the gut during the training/races, causing problems. I don't think bike touring is nearly as extreme, but eating well and frequently matters. It's supposed to be fun, not a death march.
I already have good lightweight backpacking cooking gear to make beans/lentils but i'll have to figure out how to downsize the recipes I make at home for my ultralight Keith multi cooker, or maybe I'll get their slightly larger pressure cooker. I plan on doing a handful of week-long local bike trips this year to figure that stuff out. Weird to be nearly 4 years into my retirement, and I finally feel like I'm about to do what I dreamed of doing. It's very satisfying; now I just have to do it..
A side benefit of lots of week-long touring trips will be the remaining weight I want to lose should come off too, especially if I can figure out the healthier eating bit. Last time I rode my tour bike, I was 259.5lbs; it's going to be interesting being 30lbs lighter when I do my first Spring ride.
Technically 0.8lbs less because I weigh myself in my sleep clothes, but consistency matters! I kind of do that because I weigh myself before eating and after using the bathroom. It balances out, and lowers the risk of flashing the neighborhood (I keep the scale in the kitchen where I can't avoid it).
Anyhoo, 220 something! yee haw! Really loving what I'm eating, and I don't feel deprived. 3 meals a day and snacks (click here, for recipes)
I think the main lesson I've learned this go around is that healthy eating combined with lots of xc skiing is like a super power for losing weight during Winter. That and the red light/infrared sauna I got back in November has done wonders for fending off my normal Winter depression induced sloth and overeating.
Fingers crossed I've finally figured out the formula that works for me to break the cycle of gaining 20lbs over the Winter, and then struggling to lose it over the Summer moving forward. I'm really excited to do all the outdoorsy stuff with so much less weight to carry around this Spring. Heck last time I rode my tour bike was in Oct, and I was 259lbs. It's going to be weird doing the big hills at least 30lbs lighter. Like entering a cheat code I hope. Last time i used the surfski I was over 270; hopefully being 220 something will mean less cold waves swamping the sides. Frikkin brrr.
Last but not least, I'm going to update my Weight loss plan page above with my snacks. But here's the current list. I realized healthy snacking is probably as important as my bean/lentil meal recipes
When out skiing, biking, snowshoeing or whatever, I'll bring 1-2 Clif bars with me. After exercising for an hour, I try to eat 1 Clif bar per hour while adventuring. I mix it up with healthy home made rolled oat cookies sometimes too. You need carbs to keep your muscles going when exercising for hours at a time.
I've always questioned whether a camper van would be worth the cost. I personally don't really need it for camping or cross country trips. My truck and GFC camper work fine for just myself and it's less than half the cost of a camper van, but it would be nice to have a quieter space to sleep overnight when I'm at Cracker Barrels or Walmarts while driving cross country. It's just hard to justify an expensive camper van when you're not full time van life-ing. Although, if it kept me from going down the 2nd home route; it makes more sense financially.
The ones I like are around 200k usd....but maybe I can get a used one in 3-5 years if/when my current Ranger dies. Or maybe by then, I'll just pull an insane YOLO rationalization. I figure once I hit 60; it won't be as easy to do the yoga moves when I have to drop down to the truck bed to use the toilet or change my clothes through one of the truck's roof top tent floor openings. But I've got time before then hopefully.
I'm still hopeful Ford will make an EREV version of their full size Transit van after they launch the F150 EREV in 2027. An EREV (extended range electric vehicle) is basically using an all electric drive train. Electric motors turn the driveshaft or wheels. But an EREV only has 1/3-1/2 the battery pack of something like a fully electric F-150 Lightning. You don't need >300 miles of range because they add a gas generator to supply electricity when doing longer road trips, so no more worrying about the batteries running out of power. They're projecting a 700 mile range with a full tank of gas. Also, I'd bet they'd have an inverter on it to power tools, which would be perfect for camping purposes too. Big potential downside may be if the new drivetrain works with smaller trucks/vans. Wind drag kills range. Wait and see I guess, in the meantime, I want to focus more on bike touring while my body can still do it. No point selling the truck just yet.
But today and yesterday (Monday-Tuesday feb 16/17 2026), Jacqui hung out in the xc ski house while I went xc skiing. It was 50-60F upstairs(10-15C); they had a woodstove heating the building on the first floor. But what if she could have hung out in a warmer heated camper van instead? A camper with a fridge full of snacks and a coffee machine. A bathroom when needed. Starlink to stream whatever she wanted? A bed to nap on, etc. She said she didn't mind hanging out while I skied, but I still felt a little bad. If I'd brought my portable diesel heater, I could have set her up in the GFC roof top tent with an air mattress and quilt. That little heater can get it above 70F/21C when it's 32F/0C out. If there's a next time, I'll have to ask her if she'd like to try that. I could turn the Weboost on too and she'd have gotten a much better cell signal.
I skied for about 3 hours each day, and I wouldn't have felt as guilty about it if Jacqui had a nicer hang out spot. After I finished skiing today, if we had a camper van, i would have had a nice spot to change or even shower before driving home for 3 hours.
I stole this photo to set the mood of my post above
Even so, I struggle to justify a van because it's kind of overkill for my style of camping, and I know off grid camping isn't something Jacqui would enjoy. My truck can get more remote than a van, and it only cost 85k total after I finished adding everything. $40k for the truck in Jan 2021, and then all this stuff, click here for google sheet summary. I think I'd also worry about leaving an expensive van at a trailhead. My friend always worries about his expensive Sprinter based camper van. He even installed custom deadbolt locks on all the doors. Still, there are horror stories of thieves just cutting large holes through the sheet metal with a cordless angle grinder, or smashing out windows. Your best protection is having a camper that doesn't look expensive IMHO. Hence, why I'd prefer a Grit van that's a little dinged up.
Anyhoo, for winter ski trips like we just did, it's actually hard to find a place to overnight in a van in the Northeast, so we'd likely still get a hotel room somewhere anyway. The dinner out and a nice Bed & Breakfast is probably why Jacqui would want to tag along (and spending time with me of course! lol).
But I do like my bike/kayak/hike/ski outings. Now, that I've lost weight (>60lbs woo woo!), I want to do even more outings. If Jacqui could tag along when she wanted, but had a mobile version of her bedroom, it helps me justify the cost of a van a lot more. It was a light bulb moment I guess. Maybe it makes more sense than I was thinking? Especially, if it helps me avoid the itch to get a summer house/cottage. I occasionally think about a small plot of land with just a Yurt, where there's nearby access to all the outdoorsy stuff I like, but property taxes add up and you get locked into just one area. On the other hand, I know, land value goes up, vans depreciate.
Then again, study Climate Change. Things are already worse than the most extreme climate models from 20-30 years ago. Flooding, Forest Fires, stronger Hurricanes... it's all running amok. Land/homes always appreciating in value isn't going to math that way much longer. It's not a matter of whether you believe in it, Home insurance companies are already denying coverage based on climate model projections (Florida, California....). Capitalism has spoken. Imagine your pretty little plot of land and cabin, but it's all burned to the ground when the nearby forest burned; and the government/insurance company tells you to pound sand. A nice camper van means you can always just drive away. God forbid I lose my house, I have a nicer place than most to ride things out
With more weather extremes, a climate controlled van will make it easier to deal with the madness, and get out to enjoy nature while we still can.
Back on subject...
One last pro, if it's just me using a van on a local outdoorsy adventure. I ALSO get a nice space to take a break, eat my weird bean/lentil health food, take a short nap, etc and maybe go out a second time before driving home. My truck has it's outdoor Joolca shower stall, but it would be nice to have a more private & warm space to change clothes/take a shower before driving home too. Especially as I get more old and wrinkly...lol.
I think part of my reluctance has also been I can't see using a van for long, scenic day drives like my friend often does with his wife, and Jacqui and I wouldn't do cross country trips together like they do either. So I've been judging it through that lens, so I've always landed on a hard NO to getting a van. On a cross country trip, I think at best, Jacqui would fly out and rough it a couple days before flying back or being dropped off to visit with nearby friends/family while I go off to camp more. I'd drive the van cross country solo, which is fine.
But... I do like doing lots of local outdoorsy activities. A van would make it way more comfortable for Jacqui to tag along (if/when she wants), let me do my thing, she could comfortably read/cross stitch in the van; and then after I finish and clean up, we could dine out somewhere and drive home.
I may have finally figured out a use case that makes sense for Jacqui and I.... Stay tuned! (semi-joking, it'll still be a few years)
First of all, I'm happy with my Truck. It's still perfectly fine for me right now. I'm just thinking out loud and planning for when I'll need to replace the truck (3-5 years?) And I had an "Ah Ha!" realization on an overnight trip I just did with Jacqui. I wrote more about that in this blog
Anyway, I recently found a Ford Transit based camper van I like, and unlike Vandoit vans; the Grit Overland camper doesn't have any deal breakers. Before this, a Vandoit was the closest van I liked , but the Grit Overland are darn close to what I've imagined building myself. They're selling them now, so maybe I could get a used one in a few years https://gritoverland.com
A good youtube tour video they put out, around the 9:30 minute mark is the shower setup
https://youtu.be/CGrTe4BH_Ac?si=Wy4mrouAvo-CqDt2
Pro's of the Grit van
Before discovering the Grit vans and my recent epiphany, I've been considering a Vandoit van. The only other brand with a lengthwise or North/South bed arrangement. I know there are slightly bigger vans like the Winnebago Ekkos, but I want something small enough for running errands around town, and the Ekko is big. I want something i can tow a small trailer with too
Back to the Vandoit vans, they also have a more spartan, open interior, but they use 80/20 which wastes a lot of space IMHO. Still, better than the land yacht look. I want something I don't have to clean very often
The bigger cons for me with Vandoit is that they use Method marine based electronics instead of Victron and Lithionics. The Method battery chemistry is lithium ion, not LFP/lifepo4 (lithium iron phosphate). LFP batteries do so much better when cold, and LFP last longer, way more charge/recharge cycles than Lithium. The Method batteries don't even have built-in internal heating either, so once they get below freezing you can't even draw power from them to run the heater to warm them up. LFP batteries you can draw even if they get down to -5F, you just can't charge them unless they're over 25F. Lithium ion, you can't charge/draw once they're below 32F. I'd have to hope the van's dash heater could do warm them , which is doubtful. It would be a nightmare up in the frequently cold Northeast.
Also, Vandoit can only pull 50amps off the alternator (vs Grit's build pulling 200amps), which isn't adequate for recharging a battery bank after running AC overnight. Running AC all night will use at least 400 amp hours, so do the math on how long you'd have to drive to recharge. Grit 400/200 = 2 hours, Vandoit 400/50 = 8 hours. Solar wouldn't help much, only adding 15-20amps per hour in full sun. Not even sure the Vandoit AC unit is 12volt. Running an inverter adds more draw. Vandoit isn't as well insulated either. To run the Vandoit AC all night (assuming it could), you'd have to go to a campsite with electric power to recharge your batteries, or figure out how to use EV charging maybe. That's a hard pass for me.
And....they cost the same! No thanks.
Vandoit would be closer though. Missouri (Vandoit), Grit Overland (made in Washington state) if there are warranty issues.
Maybe in 2027, I'll do a shop tour at Grit Overland, if things go to plan and I do a cross country bike trip next year. I'll be flying out to Washington anyway. Jacqui can tag along for that if she wants.
