When someone is learning a new programming language it’s a tradition to make the first command print “Hello, World!” to the output. This is me starting out in vanlife, learning something new, so it seems appropriate.
Mission:
Move into the van
Brief:
The van has been left in a storage facility over winter. I was unable to start vanlife last summer due to being locked down in another country; my friends took the van for me and got to Vancouver before discovering an issue with the brake rotors. It was deemed unsafe to drive over the mountains back to Alberta, so they put it in storage to await my attempt to fix it come spring. I have now arrived in Vancouver to retrieve and repair my van.
Day 1
Arrived in Vancouver. It’s pretty late in the evening though, almost 10pm. I found a hostel for the night and went to sleep. The adventure will wait until morning.
Day 2
I woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head. Collected the free breakfast offered by the hostel, and headed to a local thrift store to buy some work clothes. I know I’m going to have to do some work on the van and I don’t want to dirty my good clothes. Thrift shopping is a great way to save money and also it’s good for the environment, as the production of new clothes is pretty unfriendly to the planet.
On the way to the thrift store, I called the number I had for the storage place. The gentleman who answered said that he was no longer associated with them. So he texted me the contact for the lady I needed to talk to. I received the text while I was in the thrift store, and called on the way back to the hostel. Turns out, I would need to get there before 11:30 am as the storage place was unmanned after that time. People with RV’s stored there mostly had a key to the gate and came and went as they needed. As my friends had been the ones to drop off the van and not me, I did not have a key. So I had to get there in time to meet Pat, the lady who runs the place.
Due to the limitations of public transport, I wasn’t going to make it in time that day. Instead, I returned to the hostel to plan.
Day 3
07:00
I got a very early start and dragged my suitcase, backpack, satchel, pillow, and sunhat through the rain up the road to the train station. Thank goodness for elevators! I spent about 45 minutes on the train, then thanked whoever’s responsible for elevators again as I took another back to street level. (This was about 3 stories.) Then I caught a bus for about 30 mins, then attempted to catch another bus. Then I called the bus company and made a complaint about the driver. I’d stood outside the door looking at him, and he’d driven off without me; I was very cross.
I waited an hour for the next bus. Since I now had some spare time, I used it to call the insurance company and reactivate my van insurance to be on the road again. I’d saved myself quite a bit of money by changing the status of my insurance while the van was in storage. I also thanked my lucky stars that I had set out as early as I had, because it meant that I would still get to the storage place before 11:30 am. When the next bus finally came I hopped on and about 20 mins later I was outside the storage place.
The sun was now shining and it was shaping up to be a very warm day. I met Pat, who was lovely. She handed over the keys to the van, and on finding that the engine wasn’t starting up she gave me a gate key so I could come and go as needed.
11:00
The van was in a very sorry state after being in storage all winter. Top Tip for storing a vehicle: disconnect the battery, otherwise it runs flat and you have to buy a new one. Next Top Tip: try to arrange some ventilation. A window left cracked and covered with a tarp to keep the rain out, or someone coming and opening the doors occasionally to air it out.
Not only was my battery completely dead, the interior of the van was mouldy.
Yes, you read that right. Mouldy.
The red velvet walls, ceilings, chairs, carpet, and the wooden kitchen; all covered in patches of furry white and green mould. It was honestly pretty disgusting. Top Tip for cleaning vehicle interiors: baby wipes. Bonus: Your car smells of clean baby when you’re done. I used at least half a pack of baby wipes cleaning mould out of Charlie.
The other disappointment was that a lot of the camping gear that I remembered being in the van wasn’t there anymore. This was quite a shock to me and I have been in touch with my friends who took Charlie camping last year to find out what’s happened here.
While I was working, my neighbour arrived. He was very kind and had jump leads with him. We attempted to get the van started but she just wouldn’t go. The battery was completely dead and wasn’t even holding a charge.
16:00
Lead-acid batteries rely on having an electrical charge to stop the acid from etching away the lead plates. When left flat for an extended period the lead plates dissolve in the acid. Then you cannot charge the battery. This is what had happened to me. I called around and I ordered a new battery for delivery. The delivery guy was very nice; he gave me his number and told me to call him if I wasn’t able to get any tools to fit it.
So ended my first day with the van.
