Date: Thu, 6 May 2004 06:07:13 -0700
Reply-To: Malcolm Stebbins <mwstebbins@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Malcolm Stebbins <mwstebbins@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Road Haus Two
In-Reply-To: <000501c4331c$5c39a8c0$1c11bb3f@earthlink>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
--- Chuck Reisinger <chuckphoto@EARTHLINK.NET> wrote:
> getting her ready for a long US and Canada
> trip...some mechanical left...then we're ready to
hit
> the road....I'm looking for topics, issues, and
> things in general that we've not thought of...do to
> our lack of experience.
If we have learned anything from Larry Chase, it is
that one must budget a LOT of money for repairs. If
you have deeper pockets than larry Chase, then go
ahead an consider all of the fancy gadgets for your
van. If you have not already replace the:
alternator, fuel pump, distributor, both heads,
complete rebuilds of all four breaks, new wheel
bearings, new radiator, new AFM, O2, etc.
then you can budget to replace these one-by-one on
your trip. for instance, I just dropped $2,000 CDN on
my trip from Halifax to Michigan on rear brakes and 2
complete rear wheel bearings sets.
The first 2 rules of vanagon travel are: 1) what
breaks will break at the most inopportune time, and 2)
in the most in opportune place. ie the day before your
daughter's wedding in front of a mechanic who goes to
the front of the van to look for the engine!!!
Internet connections??? Buy a lot of net storage
(yahoo photos or the like) and use Cyber Cafes to
up-load your pictures. Use the cyber-cafes for email
too.
Re digi camera, I choose the Nikon Coolpix 5400 for
its more wide angle lens and for its Panorama
mode. I'm happy with it.
Re budget. It costs my wife and me about $100 to
$150/day (last year) to stay on the road. That is
Gas, oil, food, overnights (and yess we steal camp
when we can) and remember to include entry fees to
this that & tother. Then comes the repair bills! &
medical bills. Insurance etc.
A budget is not too hard to calculate. MPG & # miles
driven per day & cost per gallon. Oil changes every
5,000 miles etc. Get a national parks pass.
I have done my fair share of travel and one must 'go
with the flow' and NOT get upset when things take an
unexpected twist. Plan to breakdown and it will be
much less painfull.
My 2 cents worth. Malcolm
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