Broken Down in Vegas
A breakdown is bound to happen when travel full time. And boy oh boy did I breakdown in a very dramatic way right outside of Vegas.
Here’s the rundown of what happened, how I got everything fixed and some tips I would offer to fellow travelers.
I was driving down the highway when I heard a huge rush of air someing from below the van. I pulled over immediately thinking one of the tires blew. All of the tires were in tact so I tried turning on the van again and heard the rushing of the air. I called my insurance roadside assistance which has towing included.
When the tow truck eventually made it to me, they had to tow my 41 miles back into the nearest town. Progressive was so helpful with finding a shop that had good ratings and arranging a tow truck driver to come help me. The driver arrived, put my van on his flat bed truck, and drove me and my dog a ride into town. It was 12:50am when I finally got to the shop so the driver put the van in a spot and I went to sleep.
When I woke up in the morning I went into the shop and talked to staff about what I had heard and asked if they could take a look at it. A few hours later they diagnosed it as a broken catalytic converter that would need to be replaced. Unfortunately, the replacement part was going to take five days to come in. The shop was SO helpful and accommodating knowing that I was in the van full time and didn’t know anyone in town.
The set me up beside the building, hooked me up with their wifi and a power cord so I didn’t have to worry about not getting enough solar while parked beside a building. The also introduced me to the other business owners nearby and showed me where I could walk to get food / walk my dog.
When the part came in, it took a full day to get the replacement places in the van and the shop allowed me to work from their waiting area with my dog.
So here are some tips when the inevitable happens while on the road:
Have a designated “van fund” with money set aside for unexpected repairs. This repair cost me $3,600 and if I did not have money set aside this would have been a really huge problem, not just a massively annoying and expensive problem.
Stay calm and explain your situation to the shop. People are kind and usually want to help but they can’t help if you don’t tell them what’s going on.
Fix things immediately (if you are financially able), it will save you money in the long run and will help keep your van on the road for longer.
Reach out for help. The hardest part of traveling alone is not having people in all the places you travel to who you can rely on to come pick you up or offer a place to stay but a phone call goes a long way and helps keep things in perspective!
