Written for this site as an example, not a verified first-hand account.
Journey · 12 min read · Example author
The van we did not finish
Six weeks off-grid in a build that was eighty per cent done. An honest account of which eighty per cent mattered.
Power was the part we had finished, and it was the right part to finish. Sixty watts on the roof kept two phones, a laptop and a 12V lamp running indefinitely in April sun. What we had not finished was insulation, and at 2°C overnight that is not an inconvenience, it is the whole night.
Window panels bought in a hurry in Bend turned out to be the highest-value purchase of the trip. Not for the insulation, though that helped — for the dark. Sleeping in daylight at a rest stop is a skill; blocking the light is a shortcut to it. If you are building and running out of money, do the windows before the ceiling.
Where this happened
High Desert Loop
Long, empty two-lane through juniper and rimrock. Signal drops for hours at a time, which is either the problem or the point.