[LAZ 1]

WELL ...
SEPT 02, I am officially, a HOMELESS PERSON.
After that, I will have 'NO FIXED ADDRESS".
And I may soon be living out of my TINY little AWD SAFARI Micro Motorhome ....
potentially FULL TIME!

My hand built D.I.Y. custom SAFARI AWD Micro Motorhome / Class "C", is more spacious than a simple van conversion. It has an actual square box as living space, with a full time / full sized bed, lots of storage space inside and out, and will be mostly self contained, with removable propane stove, built in water system, and porta potti. This AWD Micro M/H is bigger than most of the many different camperised vans that I have owned and travelled in for the last few decades. But it is still compact enough, and light enough, with AWD, so I can bounce down the road less travelled, looking for remote and isolated camping spots.
Enjoying the journey as much as any specific destinations.
Just another Gypsy rambling along ....

I will try out this tiny rig first on a few shake down cruises here in the Candian Pacific North West, Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, and a bit of the BC Interior.

The HORIZON'S UNLIMITED RALLY at Nakusp, this weekend, Aug 26,27,28, seems like a great place to start.

I will see if the life style of a FULL TIME wandering nomad is for me.

Possible/eventual long term destinations include;
- Western and Southern US, states
- Mexico, the BAJA/Pacific coast, and the Yucatan,
- with Belize and Costa Rica as potential endings.

Or maybe not?

I DO realize that the only real difference between myself as a "homeless person" , and the ragged people with shopping carts filled with all their worldly possession, is the much higher cost of my wheels. And this perspective will keep me humble. Although my definition of "adventure" no longer includes sleeping in ditches and culverts, as I did when I was a young Hitch Hiking Hippy kid, that spirit lives on. That kid was known to say ,
"If it doesn't fit in my backpack, I DON'T REALLY NEED IT".

And all that travel and camping experience, with emphasis on IMPROVISATION and MINIMALISATION, eventually translated into my aptly named book,
The Budget Backpacker, Winchester Press, NY.

While it would be great to return to those carefree days as a Hitch Hiking Hippy,
realistically, time has marched on, and my knees just ain't up to the task of carrying my entire life on my back, no more. SO, now I will drive my own "MOBILE Man Cave" with me wherever I go. And my cave has a nice thick memory foam mattress.

AND, unlike touring with a bicycle or motorcycle, the SAFARI AWD Micro Motorhome has room for my constant companion, XENA, the Warrior Princess, a beautiful 75 lb GERMAN Shepherd female, to continue her role as MOBILE ALARM and SECURITY SYSTEM, and interceptor to stand between me and Grizzly bears and Javelinas and two legged varmints.

Look out world, here we come.
(;-[)

 

[YakClimber78]

If you are in Central Washington, look me up; I'm in Yakima. You have a parking place in my driveway and cold beer any time.

Yak

 

[TurnNburn]

Your doing it! Good for you man! I wish I had an astro when I was in my early 20's before I had a career and a wife and "real world" responsibilities, I totally would have given this a shot.

x2 on the warm invitation. I live in bend Oregon(central Oregon) and have a quiet neighbor hood full of conversion vans and westys and such. Plus a kegerator of some of bends best brew on tap in the garage.

Good luck with your journey and keep us posted!

 

[LAZ 1]

I started bouncing around the back roads in an old VW van about 50 years ago.
Did some serious boondocking in VW vans.
WITH THAT SUPER LOW SPUR REDUCTION PORTAL GEARS, I climbed hills that my dune buggies could not conquer.
Pushed through snow up to the bumper ... gas heater furiously farting barely enough to keep the windshield clear..
Bounced along washboard roads till my teeth rattled.
I even floated one across a stream to get to a beach party. ...
one of those crazy things a young testosterone infested lad will do when peer pressure and bikini clad girls are involved.

But that was then and this is now.

The older VW vans are mostly worn right out now, and I while I am NOT yet worn out, I am slowing down a bit myself. Rowing a VW van up a mountain in third ... second ... first gear, got to be a bit too annoying. So I moved on to various other vans, more powerful. and faster, with some of them 4X4 conversions, and some of them factory 4WD or AWD. Had a few 4X4 Toyota LE vans, true 4X4 with the 2 speed transfer case, and found out that they will float too ... for a while. Switched over to the Mazda MPV 4WD vans after the Toy vans got too rusty. Then I eventually found the Astro/Safari AWD vans, and here is where I have stopped.

I am on my fourth A/S van, and these are exactly the right size for my life style. I usually travel fairly light [ I have years of experience with motorcycle "adventure touring" as well as backpacking], but on any road trip, especially on the roads less travelled, I may haul along a folding mountain bike, or a folding kayak, just to break up the monotony of bouncing down beautiful back roads, looking for those pristine remote camp sites. And to go on short day trip explorations away from" the mothership". But it is always nice to get back to a secure hard shell, insulated and weather tight, with a nice thick memory foam bed and a down duvet to crawl into.

While the AWD Astro/Safar vans are NOT quite as GNARLY off road as some of my previous 4X4 and 4WD vans, I am not as Gnarly as I once was neither, so they fit my current, more relaxed, "Retired Gentleman of Leisure" lifestyle. The AWD vans so far will go any where I NEED to go, with sanity and sensibility now replacing my WANT to go into some silly places, where coming back out may or may not be assured.

And building a box on the back of my Safari AWD, has ended up producing what I think is the PURRFECT light duty overlanding vehicle for me. Designed mostly for hiway travel, but still light, small, and nimble enough to creep along into some tight places. And get back out again.

Looking forward to trying out my new life style ... wellll ... not so new, I did it for decades before EX-wife, EX-career, and 3 point 5 cars in the driveway interrupted things. But that was then, and this is now, and it will still be nice to return to my rambling roots.
Larry Z
aka
LAZ 1

 

[Don1806]

You can't post a declaration like that without a picture of your traveling companion!

 

[AstroWill]

Good luck Larry! My son and I traveled for a year like that, it was AWESOME! Now we only have the weekends and breaks from school to travel, however once he is out of school we have some more trips planned.

I would consider you a full time RVer, not really a 'homeless person'.
Have fun and look forward to your trip reports!

 

[LAZ 1]

As requested ...
Xena THE Warrior Princess.

I did not name her ...
She was a rescue with a sad history.

So far, I have had 4 German Shepherds. I have been.face to face with.Grizzlies, a Javelina, and a midnight mugger in a park. In every case, my GSD has instinctively protected me, without any hesitation. Xena has only a Javelina to her credit, but in that case, I was more startled and/or scared than by the bears and the human mugger. Darn pig busted out of the brush right on to a sidewalk 8n a park in Phoenix, AZ. I jumped up on to a park bench, but Xena was right there faciing down the scary critter.

Never seen one of those before, and don't need to see another one.

Genuine GERMAN Shepherds, bred from WORKING DOG LINES. Get one of those and you have the best dam dog in the world.

 

[ThisGuy]

I am extremely jealous.

I bought my van with an idea like this in mind, but more long term-ish. Now I'm getting more and more obsessed with the idea, and am considering renting out my home at this very moment. I even have someone interested in moving in around September 15. Decisions, decisions.

I'm very happy for you.

 

[LAZ 1]

Getting close to takeoff. Finishing off a few non-essential details ... like I finally got the front bumper and grill guard finished and painted.

ETD is mid October ...
a few days hanging around in Washington,
then Oregon,
then ..???.
(;-{)

 

[markmitch]

Back before I met my wife (#2) I was seriously thinking of going to the Philippines to live but never did it. My point is go with your desire and enjoy.
If you posted how you built that beautiful rig I missed it so I would appreciate it if you could link it here so I can check it out. Good luck and be safe on your journey'!

 

[97cargocrawler]

When I first saw your build I thought it was kinda ugly and I was curious why you were even bothering.

Now,

IM JEALOUS of both your build and the purpose!

Good luck with the adventure!

:thumbup:

 

[LAZ 1]

Here is a pic of my new Do It Yourself /Custom designed front bumper/grill guard. 2" receivers front and back for a removable winch. The perspective is off ... the grill guard and bumper are both 80" wide.

 

[WimpTech]

Words cannot begin to explain how happy I am for you Larry, to be able to get back to your roots, explore...live. Not the life society has pre-packaged, labeled and mass distributed, but the one you carved out for yourself, and built with your own hands.
You sir, are the embodiment of the explorer spirit that drives us all to build our unique and fascinating machines. Most of us can only sample the life you have envisioned, built and brought to fruition.
These are the best days of your life and you have earned them... enjoy every single one of them exactly the way you want.
Be safe, travel well and please... share your adventures with us. I'm in SoCal so PM me if you are in the area and would like to meet up, need repairs or a safe place to hitch up.

 

[AstroWill]

ROAD TRIP! If you run into any issues on the way, be sure to post, I(and others) am always willing to help out if someone is passing nearby.

Mexico, the people are great, but stay away from the border towns.

 

[Lumpy]

I DO realize that the only real difference between myself as a "homeless person" , and the ragged people with shopping carts filled with all their worldly possession, is the much higher cost of my wheels...

Well, that and the "I'll just urinate right here on the sidewalk" concept.

And actually, if you had stolen your "wheels", as the homeless bums do, your would be exactly the same cost asa theirs.

I too lived in a "Fried out Kombi" when I was young, also of my choice. Parked/lived ouside the place where I was likely to get my next gig. Got a lot of gigs!

Smooth sailing.

Lump

 

[LAZ 1]

Lumpy,
I just put the porta potti in last month. It is hidden under the bed, on a slideout. It seems no sensible female human person will go on any long trips without some type of "built in accommodations". So, in hope that somewhere, some tine, I might just find a travel partner of the human female variety, the potra potti was a must have.

AND, given my age, it WILL get used by me often in the middle of the night ... no more opening up the side door and urinating on the sidewalk for this homey.
(;-{)

 

[LAZ 1]

I WILL BE RAMBLING AROUND WASHINGTON STATE THIS WEEK.

Leaving WASHINGTON for the warmer, drier South just about Halloween.

Anyone want to host me for a day or two and see my AWD MICRO MOTORHOME build?
LARRY Z

 

[theFlyingDutchman]

WELL ...
SEPT 02, I am officially, a HOMELESS PERSON.
After that, I will have 'NO FIXED ADDRESS".
And I may soon be living out of my TINY little AWD SAFARI Micro Motorhome ....
potentially FULL TIME!

My hand built D.I.Y. custom SAFARI AWD Micro Motorhome / Class "C", is more spacious than a simple van conversion. It has an actual square box as living space, with a full time / full sized bed, lots of storage space inside and out, and will be mostly self contained, with removable propane stove, built in water system, and porta potti. This AWD Micro M/H is bigger than most of the many different camperised vans that I have owned and travelled in for the last few decades. But it is still compact enough, and light enough, with AWD, so I can bounce down the road less travelled, looking for remote and isolated camping spots.
Enjoying the journey as much as any specific destinations.
Just another Gypsy rambling along ....

I will try out this tiny rig first on a few shake down cruises here in the Candian Pacific North West, Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, and a bit of the BC Interior.

The HORIZON'S UNLIMITED RALLY at Nakusp, this weekend, Aug 26,27,28, seems like a great place to start.

I will see if the life style of a FULL TIME wandering nomad is for me.

Possible/eventual long term destinations include;
- Western and Southern US, states
- Mexico, the BAJA/Pacific coast, and the Yucatan,
- with Belize and Costa Rica as potential endings.

Or maybe not?

I DO realize that the only real difference between myself as a "homeless person" , and the ragged people with shopping carts filled with all their worldly possession, is the much higher cost of my wheels. And this perspective will keep me humble. Although my definition of "adventure" no longer includes sleeping in ditches and culverts, as I did when I was a young Hitch Hiking Hippy kid, that spirit lives on. That kid was known to say ,
"If it doesn't fit in my backpack, I DON'T REALLY NEED IT".

And all that travel and camping experience, with emphasis on IMPROVISATION and MINIMALISATION, eventually translated into my aptly named book,
The Budget Backpacker, Winchester Press, NY.

While it would be great to return to those carefree days as a Hitch Hiking Hippy,
realistically, time has marched on, and my knees just ain't up to the task of carrying my entire life on my back, no more. SO, now I will drive my own "MOBILE Man Cave" with me wherever I go. And my cave has a nice thick memory foam mattress.

AND, unlike touring with a bicycle or motorcycle, the SAFARI AWD Micro Motorhome has room for my constant companion, XENA, the Warrior Princess, a beautiful 75 lb GERMAN Shepherd female, to continue her role as MOBILE ALARM and SECURITY SYSTEM, and interceptor to stand between me and Grizzly bears and Javelinas and two legged varmints.

Look out world, here we come.
(;-[)

Beautiful build! Job well done it looks fantastic :thumbup: I wen through and read some of your other posts, great write ups. For some reason none of your pictures are view able by me :shrug: but that's okay, got to see the final product. I really can't say enough that the final product looks very professional. Doing something like this on another astro (apart from my daily driver van) would be rad :rockon: Happy cruising!

 

[nwmod39]

Spokane Washington open for a few days if you need it!!!

 

[LAZ 1]

Trying to decide which route South to take, leaving Washington State First week in November. The WET coast is usually my favorite for the scenery, but with current rain and fog cutting down the visibility, perhaps a more interior route might be better.

Thinking of Washington to Denver.

Any suggestions on roads and weather and road conditions?
What are the chances of early snow closing the high passes??

Thanks
Larry Z