Cross posted on my Patreon blog.
I’ve come full circle and it only took about two years.
I live in a 1971 VW bus that I call The Escape Pod. I loves her. Oh my god I loves her. But it’s time to level up.
Next month I will be starting a new decade in my life and what I want to do most of all for my birthday in April is to have a new-to-me van, be able to freely road trip around the West Coast and across the continent in all directions, keep sketchbooks, work on artist-at-large.com, and take a lot of gorgeous photographs along the way.
When I first started thinking about leveling up from a 1971 Bay to something that I could actually stand up in and make a pot of tea in without setting myself on fire, I started looking at the cargo vans. For a long time I considered them a distinct possibility – until I started driving a lot for (gag) Uber and saw a lot of them on the road. They were just to dang big. They seem to be cumbersome. I couldn’t picture myself in one. Not really.
I am a compact, minimal living girl, I am.
I’m also a VW girl. I have been ever since the day I bought my first one when I was 23-years old. I really can’t imagine myself driving anything other than a VW van of some sort.
So I started looking around.
I had never before been attracted to Vanagons or Westfalias. But I realized they they really do have the basic things I need to level up. Unfortunately their prices have skyrocketed – somehow they have blossomed in popularity. No longer can you find one for under 10-grand and if you want one that’s road worthy right out of the gate, well, double that.
I set my sights on a 1990 or 1991 Automatic VW GL Vanagon Westy Full Camper in White with the White and Grey Interior. Because I was so specific, I thought it would take months, maybe 2 or 3, or even 6, to find one, but no. I put a “Wanted to Buy” ad up on the Samba community board and was stunned when a half hour later I got a response to my posting, AND the van was sitting right down the street from where I currently park The Escape Pod.
I went to see it and while it’s a Vanagon, it is sweet. It’s clean. It drives. And the body is in good shape.
Best of all, the price is negotiable.
Unfortunately I will have only what I will have after I sell The Escape Pod -and that will be a bit of a juggle – moving from one van to the other means I have to have the new van before I can sell the old one. The price I would get for the pod would cover maybe a third of the asking price of the Vanagon – maybe half of what I want to offer – it’s a bit of a crapshoot.
This is where you come in.
You can become my Patron at Patreon and become a producer of my work – my photography, of artist-at-large, and of my fine art projects. It is quite possible that I will even expand my youtube channel. You can make a one-time donation towards any aspect of my work, or towards the van itself, or you can become a monthly supporter of my work. Any donation large or small will be greatly appreciated. Either way, I will be coming up with some special rewards for those of you who are going to help me purchase the van.
You can support me by purchasing my work!
I’ve gotten crafty on Etsy. Go ahead and check out Beyond Hardware. I also have small art works that relate to the tech and hardware theme listed there.
You can purchase a copy of my first fine art photography book, and support the making of more books, at blurb.
You can purchase my editorial/still life/travel images on Alamy.com for personal, web, or marketing materials use.
And if you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can make an appointment to see my art work in person for possible purchase.