Van travel advice ??

I'm heading on a road trip in my van, but I am on a tight budget. Are there any good books for van living? Road trip on a shoestring ?, Strange and wacky sites and events ?

Where are the safest free spots to sleep ? truckstops ?

Is there a list of free campgrounds in the US ?

I'm thinking of getting a Koolatron cooler, but I am concerned about it draining my battery if I leave the van for a day or 2, what are they like ? In the mean time, I'll stick to jugs of ice

Any advice is appreciated

Thanx

I've done several van trips over the years, and two of my favorite books are John Steinbecks "Travels With Charley" and William Least Heat Moon's "Blue Highway". They are both a little dated, with "Charley being written in the early sixties and "Blue highway in the mid seventies, but both tell great stories, and have many tips and ideas on living on the road.

i am also going to be traveling the states by van, starting this spring. does anyone have information for places to park, things to do and see as a single female?

Road Greetings Moonchild...

www.rvingwomen.com is really targeted at single women traveling in RV's, but you may find the website helpful.

Also the Escapees club can be helpful, www.escapees.com

Have fun!

RW

we are taking off! we are driving in our van. Any suggestions? Have anybody done this before? What's the quiquest way to do this?

thanx

Hospitals-safe and their open 24 hours so you won't look suspicious

Parking Decks-for a week I parked my van on the top level of a parking deck in Key West, it was safe, cheap $5 dollars a night and right in the downtown area, a prime location

any 24 hour business-supermarkets even sneak into hotel parking lots

A friend and I are travelling in a van/camping for hopefully 8 months to a year cross country and every which way starting in January of 2002. We have planned for quick paying summer jobs and whatnot. We are going CHEAP! Any suggestions clues or hints to make this happen? We want to live as off schedule as possible. We don't want to worry too much about dates and things. Any free camping? Any ways to keep our money at an absolute low? I know somehow that you can get advertisements put on your vehicle and companies will pay you money. Any suggestions here? And anyone planning a simmilar trip? We will bave approximently $12,000 for the trip. Will this be enough for a year for two people (food is always an option, not a requirement hehe). Any good jobs we can do along the way to get back some cash? If you're out there...let me know any ideas or suggestions you may have for this post-college "real-life" education!

have you learned anything since you asked this question? we're planning the same thing, 6 months to hopefully a year. but we have much less money!! have you learned any interesting tricks to doing this?