Van Sizes/ Working from a van

Hello everyone,
I lucked into teaching online classes through a university this fall and probably spring and am thinking about converting a van to travel in, but need a small desk or something similar as well as a bed so I don't have to hang in a coffee shop or somewhere else and can have a consistent place to work. Somehow a designated work place gets me way more motivated.

My girlfriend and I will probably be in Vegas this winter and I will have the van as a second vehicle probably doing short trips to places like Joshua Tree, Bishop and up to Utah where her family is. Thinking one week home, then one on the road. I have a tacoma which I am keeping, but wanted something more stealth for working in and sleeping in.

I am leaning towards an econoline or similiar chevy cargo van that I could deck out, but have seen a cool astro with the extended top. I have a good deal of automotive experience and will by a beater first, anyone have cool pics or advice from folks working (via computer) and not just living in their vans? Pics would be extra rad! Anyone been able to work from an Astro or Minivan? The gas money savings would be cool, but the big size of the cargo vans is nice too.

I'm in the same boat (van?) as you. I can travel a lot and work remotely for parts of the year. Unfortunately I've been doing it out of my subaru– which sucks but is doable. I've been researching what I would "move into" next. This is what I've gathered:

Cargo Van- To me these are kind of overrated. I don't like the gas mileage and it takes some work to make it comfortable. They are reliable and easy to find. cheap to maintain.

Astro Van- I have a bunch of friends with these and the standard conversion: back half is a bed with storage underneath. Some have a small kitchen behind the drivers seat. After spending a little time in one of these I can say that they feel cramped. I don't know how long I'd last in one of these. MPG is pretty good.

Older bus/westie: Nice, but slow, constantly need work. Hard to go incognito in.

Newer (93+) eurovan: If I had a lot of extra money I'd probably swing for a newer eurovan weekender edition. I wouldn't even need a pop top. The weekender has a good fold down bed in the back and a good table for working at. Ok gas mileage 16-19mpg. Sadly they never did a TDI version in the states. Somewhat expensive to maintain... I have been seeing these more on craigslist now for pretty cheap.

Sprinter- I wish. $$$ Would be sweet to have one converted with a good desk space, aeron chair, and 24" lcd mounted. lol.

Odyssey/Sienna Mini van: I think this is what I'm saving up for. Reliable, easy to find used, great mpg (20-29 depending on the year/make). I wouldn't do anything fancy– I'd gut out all the seats except maybe the middle behind the drivers seat and setup a good work space. I would just sleep on a sleeping pad on the floor and spend most of the time sitting on the ground level. Tint and black out all the windows. Throw a box on top. No one ever looks twice at these vans.

Mount some solar panels up top, get a good 3g wifi card, and a small one gallon propane tank + two burner and you're set for a mobile living space.

I always thought the van living style would be awesome until I was invited for dinner in a truck popup camper. Wow. They rock!!! Use your 4x4 truck but have a badass home on top. Inside you will have standing room even if you are tall, a bed, a table, all the hookups for a laptop providing you have a solar panel or generator. Comfy for four ppl for dinner. And you don't have to buy a new vehicle if you already have a truck. It sure is nice to have 4x4 and clearance when heading to many crags. And low profile when driving.

My 2c

I was thinking about the cargo van for stealth style camping as I am hoping to do some California style surf camping in it as well. Anyone know what are the best cargo vans for mpgs? I heard he Chevy v6s are nice, I know they aren't amazing but 17-18 would be awesome.

There are several threads on here about vans, van conversions, etc. I'm not sure how to find it, but someone also posted a link to a complete step-by-step Chevy cargo van conversion with numerous photos. In general, engine size comes in inverse ratio to fuel mileage, but both GM and Ford have made significant improvements in recent years- my '93 Ford with a 5.8 (older style engine) gets around 16mpg highway, but my friend's '02 Ford with a 5.4 (newer style engine) gets around 20mpg highway, and it has more power. The Astro/Safari is smaller, but they don't save much fuel, since the 4.3 V6 engines are from an earlier time (pushrod style)- they won't do much better than about 17mpg highway. The thing about a V6 in a full size van is that they have to work harder than a V8 (more downshifting) so you'll probably find that a V8 engine is no more expensive to operate, and you won't spend as much time in the climbing lane on mountain passes. If you want AWD, the Astros and the newer full size Chevys had that option, but if you don't need that, you'll save some fuel and have more choices for less money. In my experience, the drivetrains in the Ford E series vans have gone the most miles with the fewest repairs, but GM has made enough reliability gains that you'd probably be fine with one of them.