I’ve thought about this topic a few times and whether I should write a post about it. It doesn’t fit into the bright and shiny Van Life / Instagram world. I have been suffering from sleep apnea for almost a decade, yes I really am that old 🫣.
Sleep apnea
Perhaps not all readers know what sleep apnea is and how this disease affects. Roughly summarized, people who suffer from sleep apnea stop breathing during sleep, this happens due to a narrowing of the airways.
If a person stops breathing during sleep, a natural wake-up reaction of the body takes place so that one does not suffocate. Due to this constant waking, people with sleep apnea are usually completely tired during the day and cannot manage their daily lives without problems.
If you are interested, you can read a very good summary of the reasons for the disease and the risks associated with it on Wikipedia.
Treatment
The treatment usually requires a so-called CPAP device. A respiratory mask is used to generate negative pressure and thus prevent the airways from narrowing during sleep. Again, I can refer to the relevant Wikipedia article.
CPAP device on the road
Now we span the arc to travel in the Grand California, van, motorhome or whatever else. In addition to electricity, the CPAP device also requires a place directly by the bed so that it can be used appropriately during sleep.
It sounds crazy, but that’s part of the reason the Grand California made our shortlist back in the day. Not all vans or motorhomes offer a suitable place for my device.
Power supply
Before I talk about the course, I would like to say a few words about the power supply. If we are on a pitch or campsite with electricity, I simply use the socket in the rear of the Grand Californias. It’s a little more difficult when we’re free standing or in a place where we don’t have shore power. For this case, we got our Jackery at that time, which is used 99 percent for this purpose.
With our Jackery Explorer 500, I can use my CPAP machine for two nights before it has to be plugged in again. However, this strongly depends on the environment, such as temperature or humidity, the CPAP device regulates the respiratory air humidification or temperature regulation via various external influences. Thus, the air we breathe must be heated significantly more in winter than it is in summer.
Those interested in the article about the Jackery can read it here:
https://grandcali.com/benzin-oder-solargenerator/
The location
Let’s move on to the location 😊, my CPAP device finds a place in the cabinet right above me and the awning is also a good assistant here. I think that in this case pictures say more than 1000 words.
With this location Silvie is not disturbed and for me the hose routing from above is also perfect. This works even better in the Cali than at home.
Maybe one or the other reader will find himself in this topic and now has an idea how to deal with his disease on the road. After all, over 930 million people suffer from it worldwide and 26 million in Germany. You may not even know that you are affected. Do you snore loudly? Tired during the day? Do you wake up at night and don’t know why? Then off to the doctor and the sleep lab and with my post you know how to handle it all on the road.
Have a nice day ❤️
