Vandwelling 101- A Day In The Life Boondocking

Good morn. I've turned on the stove and made my coffee. 

The bedding has been put outside on racks to air. It's a good second use for my flea market table legs. I air my blankets every morning and bring them in at sunset. It's an old custom with good science behind it. 

We all shed skin cells and hair every day. Airing the blankets and quilts after shaking them keeps the dust mites down and the bedding fresh. Surprisingly making your bed in the morning doesn't allow mattress or bedding to air and it will be a hospitable environment to mites and other crawling insects.

I've put solar items in the front window to charge things up. 

Yesterday,  using only one $3 solar light from Walmart, I charged up 5 AA batteries with no real effort.  That meant fresh batteries for two flashlights. 

I sleep in until the sun comes in the front windshield and starts to warm up the van. Thar conserves the amount of propane I use. At night I shut all windows an hour before sunset to allow the sun to warm the van up. I turn the stove on for approximately 20 minutes., I put a heavy cotton robe on, a crocheted hat, and wool knee socks on to stay comfortably warm. I snuggle with Kira in the blankets and either watch videos, read, or listen to an audiobook. 

Vandwelling 101- revisiting free entertainment

I get tired of being online on social media. I also like going where there is no internet or cell signal.

So, what can you do for free entertainment?

I love having audio books on hand. My second favorite...the old time Radio drama serials. You can find many of them online and download for off grid listening. I'll often put one in while doing routine cleaning or organizing tasks. There are millions of books out there.

Don't discount the old battery operated walkman Cassette players. You can find old audio books cheap or free out there on cassette tape. I used to have a box that was 2 ft by 2 ft by 6 ft full of the old cassette audio books. Use the solar yard lights with AA battery as a solar battery charger. Borrow the cassette books on tape from a library. Copy using the old dual deck boom box. Listen at your leisure.

That old smartphone that's no longer hooked up to the internet, it's a cheap mp4 player now. Chances are you have one hidden away in a drawer. You can transfer movies, songs, and digital Audiobooks to it by usb cable from your laptop.

Taking photos. I bought a canon elp digital camera complete for $5 at a Flea market. It works great. It came with a 32gb SD card. Easy enough to slip in my Laptop and copy. I have an old universal battery charger that charges the battery.

Then there are crafts like knitting, crocheting, or weaving. You cut your old clothes and cloth items into one inch spirals. You roll them up like a ball. You ate them set up to crochet rugs, blankets, or weave. The old ways from our great great grandparents.

I can sit quietly for hours and watch the birds, the animals, the trees, and the lakes. I really believe that a half hour viewing the sunset or the sunrise is beneficial to anyone.

These are just a few of the things i do that are very cheap or free. Try some, see what works for you

See you down the road

Lou

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