Top five priorities in your vehicle

[Maninga]

I'm surprised Maninga is the only one who mentioned the need to fit into a shipping container. For an "around the world" travel rig, container shipping saves a lot of money and is much safer for the vehicle and it's contents. There are many horror stories of vehicles being damaged and broken into shipping roll on/roll off. Even just traveling the Pan Am, now that the ferry is done shipping around the Darian is easier and cheaper if the vehicle fits in a container. For reference, a 40' HC is about 8.5 feet at the door opening and a standard 20' or 40' is about 7.5 feet.

I think for a lot of people, it just isn't a concern. When I think about it, we're only planning on using a container maybe 4 times (Aus - US, Panama canal, South America - Europe, Somewhere - home). Yes, it's cheaper to ship, but can be more expensive to build so may even out. I think you're going to have more risk with a traffic accident or getting stuff taken while on the road.

While at the start I was thinking container was a priority, and will with some work, realistically I'm more concerned about fitting under some low bridges on commonly driven routes.

 

[escadventure]

Great thread, so many ideas...

1) Sustainable - whoever first mentioned that, gave the best description of what we need/want. Not just reliable, but also easy to get parts and easy to fix. This can largely be impacted by the design i.e.: the arched floor of our cabover is stronger than some flat cabovers. And minor repairs might be easier to our fiberglass shell than some aluminum shells.

2) Safety - at first this seems like a lame thought, but because it lends to user peace of mind, we find it important i.e: is the suspension set up to allow easy/safe driving? My wife drives our camper wtih no concern. Are we protected from the elements we might be exposed to? We got a camper that also has a lower bed so we can sleep with the pop top down if the weather is really bad.

3) Comfort/useabliity - totally subjective but changes predictably with age. Also a matter of compromise i.e.: pushing a button to auto raise a roof is easiest, but would be heavier (lower mpgs) and less reliable (more moving parts) so we got a manually raised roof. Our upper bunk has a suspension (which cost a bit more).

4) Budget - entirely affected by the first three points, so it's the most variable. How much do want to sacrifice to get what you want. Or how creative can you be to get it by spending less.

5) Looks - You definately need to be happy with your vehicle. For many, form follows function, and if you like what it can do, and it's kept clean and in good repair, almost anything can be a source of pride.