love driving/upgrading/tinkering with my vanagon too.  personally i liken it
to how i used to be with computers, building them, upgrading them, toying
with every operating system i could find.  but really it's how i feel any
hobby is something one enjoys doing and this relaxes one, otherwise it ain't
a hobby. :)

peace,
-Ry
1991 carat 4spd

On Fri, Aug 20, 2010 at 7:27 AM, J Stewart <fonman4277@comcast.net> wrote:

> 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 K�belwagen (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).
> >
>