After a month of researching and shopping around, we have FINALLY found our van. Introducing our newest family member, Alevander the Great is a 2015 Ford Transit T-250 148″ high roof extended cargo van.

Jon came up with the name because he is a huge Roman history nerd – err, enthusiast. The name is so fitting because Alevander is huge! Honestly, he’s more van than we needed. We would have been happy with a 148″ wheelbase, without the extended cargo. But, we’d done enough research, enough looking at cars, to know what was available in the market. Maybe if #vanlife wasn’t getting so darn popular, we would have had more options!

Back Up, Why Alevander?

My original and super naive plan was that we’d secure a vehicle in early January. Ha! We purchased Alevander on February 1st, almost an entire month after our initial goal.

Here’s why we went with Alevander:

• We were ‘late’ as it was. ‘Late’ is a funny concept here, but pushing back our trip had lots of consequences that we didn’t want to deal with. We wanted to stop planning and just start doing!
• Alevander was in our budget. ‘Budget’ is also laughable here. More precisely, he fit into budget version 5.0. We made a couple decisions – like wanting something Jon could stand in, and wanting a more reliable vehicle – that narrowed our options and forced us to increase our budget.
• Alevander was local. Desperation led us to look nationwide. I was calling Florida, Texas and Arizona for vehicles too. While Alevander wasn’t the cheapest, even when considering the price-to-mileage ratio, he was 30 minutes away. It was a risk, a cost, a headache and time-suck, to drive or fly out of state to shop for other vehicles. Given our time frame, Alevander seemed like a really reasonable choice.

Okay, Cuanto Cuesta? How Much?

Alevander came out to $20,870, after all taxes and registration fees. It brings up a lot of emotions just writing down that number!

Jon and I have been quite frugal in our lives and this was the 3rd most expensive thing either of us had ever purchased. The first was our home in San Diego, and the second was our rental property in Indiana.

Reflections on the Used Car Lot

After we signed the paperwork and handed over the cashier’s checks, we stood beside Alevander and breathed in the realization of what we’d just purchased. This huge thing was ours, including whatever mysteries and surprises were inside (Alevander was previously converted into a man cave).

As we stared at the shell of our new home, in the dimming light of a very productive day, we didn’t say much. Here’s how I can explain my own thoughts: imagine unraveling a bunch of yarn of different colors and lengths. Throw all the pieces into the dryer and run it for ten minutes. Then, take out the jumbled ball of yarn from the dryer, and try to separate the strands.

Imagine that each color is a different emotion, and as you separate the yarn, you feel each emotion. Yellow is excitement, blue is anxiety, green is gratitude, red is self-doubt. Yellow excitement bleeds into blue anxiety, which then connects to gratitude green, and so on. This is how it felt like, and still feels like, for me.

BUT this jumbled, confusing pile of yarn is what it is. And these emotions are part of the process!

If I had known that Jon and I, the frugal and not to mention currently unemployed people we are, would end up purchasing something at that dollar amount, I don’t know that I would have initially suggested van life. But, you can’t think that way. Now that we’re here, having learned all that we have from the internet and countless YouTubers out there, having designed our adventure to incorporate this new van life piece, we are beyond excited!!

Have you had a similar post-purchase emotional experience?  Jon and I are still processing ours – please share any tips or words of wisdom!