Last week I drove to Brattleboro, Vermont to meet Justin Taylor, an builder of retrofitted Airstream trailers and custom little houses for the chemically injured.  It was amazing to have the conversation begin with Justin asking me what my worst triggers are and writing them down, getting specific about which petroleum products bother me most and which I can handle some exposure to (no on the diesel and propane, but gasoline is sort of OK.) 

I explained that I'd spent several years working on my design, that I'd explored building on a trailer, refurbishing a motor home or bus, and had finally decided on a box truck as a base.  He said he was just about to suggest it! 
 
I've had numerous conversations with potential builders in which they argued with me about the materials I wanted to use, and have heard from others that contractors often need to be closely supervised or they will substitute the materials they're used to, not understanding what a huge difference it can make. But Justin is chemically injured himself, and his entire business, started by his father Tad, is all about building chemically safe homes.  It's such a relief knowing I can trust him to build according to my guidelines.

My next step is to research trucks, and raise the money to buy one.  Unfortunately, many of the best built trucks are only available with diesel engines, and I need to start with gasoline, until something better comes along.  So I'm working on figuring out which are the best among the gasoline run ones. 

Once I have my truck, Justin will thoroughly clean the interior, put in EMF shielded wiring, plumbing, windows and doors, and then an interior wall of powder coated aluminum.  He estimates he can turn a 24 foot box truck into a finished "safe room" for around $17,000. Then there's the interior structures, shelves, counters, and an inner wall separating the moisture generating area--kitchen and shower--from the sleep and work area, plus water tanks and solar panels. 

Next step, my Indie Go Go campaign. 

After a long break while I moved to the east Coast and got settled, I am back to work on creating my Vehicle, Casa Carey.  Today I will resume consultations with Leslie Lawrence, who has built two little houses on wheels and done massive research on materials suitable for people with environmental illness. 
I have a couple of major choices to make before I can take my next steps. 

The two main categories of homes on wheels are those built on trailers and pulled by a truck, and those built in one piece, in buses or motor homes or on trucks.  The first is cheaper, and better suited for people who will mostly be in one place and will be moving their homes perhaps a few times a year.  The second is more expensive and better suited for those who want to move around a lot. Trailer-built homes are created from scratch on a flat base.  The second king are often retrofits of used buses or motor homes, which makes it harder to build exactly what you want.  A possibility that's between the two is to build on the back of a box truck, where the baseis attached to the truck, not hitched like a trailer, but where it's possible to build from scratch on a flat surface, instead of stripping out and retrofitting a bus/motor home. 

The second challenging choice is what sort of fuel to use.  I want to live sustainably and keep my mobility.  Ten years from now, I expect there will be more choices.  Right now, none are ideal. I want to design my vehicle to allow for upgrading as new options become available.  Just a few weeks ago, researchers announced a breakthrough in producing low cost hydrogen for fuel cells in a totally renewable way, from sunlight and zinc oxide.  But it will be quite a while before I can pull up to a hydrogen pump to refuel my engine.  The two standard choices are gasoline and diesel, but I have a liver condition that makes diesel fumes especially toxic to me, so that's not an option.  Unfortunately, biodiesel is not anywhere as available as it might seem, since most of the advertised sources sell B20-- 20% biodiesel and 80% petro-diesel. 

Electric engines still don't allow for more than short distance travel, with an eight hour charge only offering 60-100 mils of drive time.  The lifestyle I envision doesn't involve long stretches of highway time, but I'd like the option of traveling for 3-4 hours.  My goal is to be able to go 200 miles, and I don't want to risk being stranded.  I think my best option will be a combination of an electric engine and a gasoline one, not a regular hybrid, which charges a battery when the brakes are used, but a fully electric engine I can charge up, and the option to switch to gas when the battery gets low.  I also want to find out whether solar panels on Casa Carey can contribute to charging the batteries while I drive.  I plan to use solar power to run as much of the electrical equipment on board as I can, but when I'm actually driving, I won't be using that power in the house.  Lots to find out.