B.Y.A. Studios All we need is a cow...

Alright I tossed some numbers in my head, this is what came out. I'm going by the highest estimate, and this is for one person btw:

Retrofitted van: $7,000 (Fixing the interior, spending money to make sure it is 99.9% mechanically reliable)

Insurance per vehicle: $1,500

Gas per month: 28gal x $2.50 = $70 (Range: 30gal tank x 13mpg = 390mi.)
So for $70 you could go roughly 350 miles. The distance from San Francisco to Las Vegas is ~600 miles. The width of the US is roughly 3,000 miles depending on where you measure, but lets keep it easy. For $140 you can travel 1/7 across America.

To be safe let's just say you're spending $150 a month on gas.

Food: $200 a month ($6 a day, but if you buy a loaf of bread and some lunch meats, cans of food, etc. this won't be so bad.)

That leaves you with $150 for extraneous crap like.... I don't fucking know, souvenirs? Bridge toll? Hookers?

I like how people are responding no this...

For the van, there are a few options.

You could buy a 90's model GMC van that's already *almost* outfitted to do the vanliving, roadtrip thing. This van would be the G20. I'm sure you've seen it; it's fairly long, has the suicide doors as opposed to the sliding kind (suicide doors are preferable as you can store things such as shoes and such on them, whereas if it's sliding, then it must be clear for the door to slide open)

The other option is buying a large cargo van. I don't like this idea because of a few things: there are no windows in the back; you'd have to cut your own or at the very LEAST cut a hole in the roof and create a vent.

You guys should really just browse that site I posted; there are answers to all your questions. In any case, I'll go over the major things:

1. Insurance - This isn't very difficult; insurance costs about $1,000-$1,500 for our age. That's $100-$150 a month. Mule is right, Lamb shush. Insurance is a MUST. No question about it.

2. Cost of van - This varies greatly depending on how you would like to live... But without going into detail, this could range from $4,000 - $6,000.

3. Retrofitting a van - Seeing as practically none of you are handymen, your estimates for outfitting a van should be ignored. It wouldn't cost more than $2,000 MAX, and that's a very liberal estimate. Basically, what I would do is acquire a van such as the G20. I would strip the interior between the cockpit and the rear of the van. You take plywood and cut it to the size of the area of the interior. You screw that shit in. Now you've got a good wooden floor. You essentially do the same with the walls. Now you've got a wooden box. You get a 2 burner stove, a small 800w microwave, and a cooler. You could also run a refrigerator, but keep in mind that it would be running 24/7.

For power, you buy 2 or 3 deep cycle, gel cell batteries. These are the most costly items at about $100-$150 each, but it would give you about 3-4 days worth of electricity to run a computer, monitor/tv, interior lights, etc. Keep in mind you won't/can't be living like you are now, so sacrifices must be made. They make 100w Solar panels that you could mount on the roof and this energy would be enough to recharge cellphones and small electronic devices, so that alone could be worth the investment. Having a battery bank is a MUST if you expect to run a computer that is powerful enough to watch videos, play games but it can't be a 700w power hog because that isn't necessary.

As for showering, you could always use a rag and soap. It's not a shower, and takes much longer, but it will keep you clean. You could also use local gyms, highway rest stops, RV camp sites (these facilities often include showers, laundromats, and power sources at the cost of about $20 a day).

As for pooping, a bucket with a toilet seat made specifically for it, with a thick plastic liner filled with kitty litter. Use it IF YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST. It's preferable to use gas stations and the like for this. The bio-diesel conversion is an attractive alternative, and I think most foreign countries use diesel so you'll probably want to research that.

I can fit 2 weeks worth of clothes in 1 duffle bag so storage is not a problem.

If you are frugal, you can expect to spend about $500 a month. Some people have more in their savings so if you don't want to sacrifice a few luxuries you can bump that up to $1,000 a month.

True freedom, no rent, no obligations, no bills, what else could you ask for?

What if we modded vans to be electric? And put solar cells on the roof, one or two (could you even fit 2?) stationary bikes inside to recharge the batteries. That way you wouldn't have to pay for gas ever, and you could go anywhere with sunshine, and anywhere without sunshine if you petal. Probably not worth the large investment to make it electric, etc. as opposed to just paying for gas. Or, alternatively, what about biodiesel? Most of the time you only have to change the gas tank and some hoses. Making biodiesel from used oil is pretty simple too, as far as I know. I've read that all you really have to do is filter it and then you can pour it right into the car.

I know the idea wasn't to be environmentally friendly at all, but I think if we went on a long enough trip, it would end up saving money (especially the biodiesel, if we could find places to give us oil for free or cheep).

Also, I feel I should clarify my previous statement a little bit. I wasn't saying I was against this at all. It sounds like a great idea to me actually. My point was that you need to be properly insured, and you need a permanent address for that. I don't mean just for if we crash or shit. I mean if we get pulled over, we don't want to get sent to jail just because we don't have proper insurance. By that I'm not implying that we would do anything illegal, but I think we could all imagine that if we travel for long enough, we're bound to get hassled by cops at some point -- probably even more than once.

I think to get insurance you have to have an address.