I used to be the same way, couldn't enjoy driving my Vanagon anywhere for fear it was going to break down. That was one major reason I sold my last one, an '84 Westy. But with the '85 I just bought, I decided I had to stop worrying about that and just enjoy the ride, and I am. The only time I had a bit of angst over driving the '85 was a few weeks ago when the wife and I took it to a Brooks and Dunn concert-she would have killed me if it had broken down and we missed the concert. It didn't, and in fact the Vanagon was a huge hit with the crowd in the parking lot (Nissan Pavilion, aka Jiffy Lube Live in Va.) 

Jeff Stewart 

----- "Joy Hecht" <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU> wrote: 

I don't really like to drive my van - I'm always afraid something is going 
to break down. But I like to simply be in my van. I feel like I'm at 
home. Now that I'm living in a house again, I particularly like to just 
take a cup of coffee & hang out in the van and read or something. I don't 
do that in front of my house - maybe because the street is so steep, it 
wouldn't be comfortable? - but sometimes in other places, like leaving the 
gym, I'll do that. I guess I kind of miss living in the van, and that 
feeling that this cozy place is home. 

Matt, congratulations on the baby! 

Joy 

On Thu, Aug 19, 2010 at 7:39 PM, Matt Thyer <matt_thyer@hotmail.com> wrote: 

> I love to drive my van about that much too. It really makes me happy when 
> I 
> wave to someone else driving one and they wave back. Even happier if they 
> beat me to the punch (which is a hard thing to do). I like to fiddle with 
> my van. Gets me to relax and use my brain all at the same time. Often I 
> open up the garage, put some music on the stereo or a good book, and then 
> spend some time working on the "next" project. Nothing is that much of a 
> black box that I don't feel comfortable at least taking a look and I'm 
> always learning something new. I often wish I knew more about these 
> vehicles so that I could be universally effective at keep them going. 
> 
> I like to talk to other people who drive them. My son and I went to a VW 
> get-to-gather last month and I talked to all sorts of people I wouldn't 
> have 
> otherwise met. I liked watching my son covet the DOKAs and splitties. 
> He's 
> 13 and he's been talking about saving up for a Kübelwagen (think they're 
> his 
> favorite) that we can work on together. 
> 
> More than just about anything else right now, I'm super excited that my 
> wife 
> and I are having a baby and I'm making Zeno into the perfect road-tripping 
> vehicle to support the two of us and this prospective person who's on the 
> way. That's just cool. And completely impossible with any other vehicle I 
> might own. 
> 
> MT 
> http://zenoswagen.wordpress.com/ 
> 
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of 
> Michael Sullivan 
> Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2010 2:03 PM 
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM 
> Subject: Is it Calming to Drive a Vanagon 
> 
> I know it is a little off-topic...but here goes. 
> 
> 
> My van relaxes me. 
> 
> I cannot take the dog in the wife's car. 
> I cannot drive w/o a/c if I want to unless I am by myself(in the other 
> car). 
> I can't wave to folks while driving the wife's Mazda even tho it's really 
> fast and fun and looks cool. I still feel like a girl while driving it. 
> I went to the doctor cuz I had an irregular heartbeat. Prescribed rest, 
> vacation, herbal remedy and some Xanax. 
> Retested after taking the day off and driving the van to the beach and back 
> and passed the stress test w/o taking anything, except the herbal stuff. 
> You do the math. 
> Michael in San Antonio 
> 91GL Weekender AT 2.1L 'Gringo' 
> 
> BTW-Just sayiing this cuz I really think the van is more than 
> transportation 
> but a way of thinking. (And i'm just driving a GL. Wait till I get a Syncro 
> Westy w/o Fridge). 
>