catlova
Member
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2018
- Messages
- 14
- Reaction score
- 0
Welcome!
What brings me here...
Hi everyone. I find myself interested in van-life recently. I currently live with a roommate and close to work, but I long for my own space as I have never lived on my own in my life (Bay Area native explains why I guess lol). I also have never had my own pet, which I find sad since I love animals and even work in a dog-friendly office. (My roommate has an elderly cat so another pet in the household is not welcome.)
I check craigslist pretty regularly for studios but they are higher than I am willing to pay. I could afford them, but I also have dreams of early retirement and travel so it seems a waste of money.
What happened recently was I came across a cute tiny studio that was actually priced affordably a few towns over that I thought could work for me. I surprised myself by calling the number on the ad, and spoke with the lady about her place. (I had not been planning to move so soon but wanted to jump on this great deal.) Nothing ever came of it - I'm sure she found someone very quickly. But during the time when I was considering the place, I realized how much of my stuff I was willing to give up so I could fit in there and have a place of my own -- and not even near my work. I'd already been interested in tiny houses but wouldn't have a place to put one near work either and would have to save up to buy or build one and then end up paying RV fees to live which is not the end of the world but vandwelling provides a better option.
So I began reconsidering vandwelling because I realized I am willing to give up a lot of stuff to live small. I binged watched a bunch of youtube and have been reading everything I can about it. The more I learn the more certain I become that this can work for me. Bob's youtube channel especially made me realize I could do this if I put my mind to it and took action.
The main reason i am so interested is because I can save a lot of money and put that toward my retirement. I can figure out my expenses, which will of course be much lower each month, and then save a nest egg that I can draw off of for travel/living. I went many years without retirement (never offered at my work places) and then socked away about $50,000 on my own in a 401k in just about 1.5 years. But that's all I have which at almost 40 is not enough. However, if I do this vanlife thing, I can save even more and my expenses will be lower so I can eventually (and fairly quickly I think) get to a point where I can travel. :heart:
So I plan to save up for a stealth van, build it out, and then move into it. I plan to park nearish or in the city where I work, and continue to work full time until I have a nest egg that I can draw from for an extreme early retirement. I have been interested in early retirement for a while, so I'm already familiar with the math needed to make it happen:
25 times your annual expenses, and draw off 4% from your nest egg investments each year
(It's all explained well over at Mr. Money Mustache's website, or Choose FI, although they are mainstream compared to vandwellers!)
The one thing I'm worried about is finding places to park where I can be stealthy and won't have to spend a lot on gas driving far from my work. I also need to find places to park where my van will be safe while I'm at work. Parking is pretty bad in the city where my work is, but you are able to find some places and I think if I do a lot of research beforehand, I should be OK. That is my plan, anyway. This weekend I was thinking I might try to do some reconnaissance lol. Try to find potential future parking spots or areas. I have some ideas already but I need to research more on that front. I want to have a number of places I can draw from so I can vary my parking each night to avoid capture...er, getting knocks on my door.
Which Van?
As far as the van goes, I am leaning toward a Chevy Express cargo van, extended, and installing a high top on it with Fiberine. So my budget has to include enough for both of those, and of course, trying to find as low mileage as I can. I am thinking $20,000 for the van, adding the high-top, and converting it to livable. My goal is to save up that amount by my next birthday, so I can buy the van on or near my birthday.
Stealth is really important since I plan to work full time in an urban setting for quite a bit to save up money. I'm not sure how long it will take, but I want to save up not just enough to travel, but to have a nest egg I can consistently draw off of for traveling. Another idea is to save up for a small home, tiny home, or real estate I can rent, but for now the plan is just to start saving a nest egg. Anyway, back to vans..
I have been learning so much lately about different conversions, and I've been so impressed by people's choices out there. I think for myself I will design my van eventually in this way:
light-weight items and light-weight build out where possible
simple and non-electric where possible (I can charge many things at my work)
no solar panels for now - need to be super stealthy as this will be my home to avoid paying a high rent
I do want insulation and a light weight wood paneling I think, some nights it gets cold here
storage for a small folding bike and inflatable kayak
storage for work clothes
I'm not sure if I am too tall to sleep width-wise across the van or if I'll need it to be length-wise (I'm 5'7")
The People in my Life :heart:
I love the people in my life but I know some of them are not very open to this and I'm not sure they'd be supportive. So I am keeping hush about it for now, which is why I feel the need to start this journal and share my excitement and planning thoughts here. I think I will introduce this as building a camper van and then just start living in it and those that can know without freaking out will find out and the others I'll keep quiet about it.
Maintaining My Anonymity
For obvious reasons, maintaining my anonymity is super important right now. I need to be stealthy to make this happen smoothly. But once I have my nest egg and can quit my job and start traveling, I'll probably loosen up and get out there into this community. I may be a bit general at times when it comes to my personal life, just to avoid identifying myself. Hope no one minds. I know I'm leaving a digital footprint here but I'm hoping to remain anonymous and at the same time make some new friends and learn all I can from you helpful peeps. I wonder if there are any other full-time workers who are being stealthy living in a van? I seem to come across a lot of people who are traveling but my intentions are to work until I have a big enough nest egg to retire on.
Thanks and Happy Traveling!
What brings me here...
Hi everyone. I find myself interested in van-life recently. I currently live with a roommate and close to work, but I long for my own space as I have never lived on my own in my life (Bay Area native explains why I guess lol). I also have never had my own pet, which I find sad since I love animals and even work in a dog-friendly office. (My roommate has an elderly cat so another pet in the household is not welcome.)
I check craigslist pretty regularly for studios but they are higher than I am willing to pay. I could afford them, but I also have dreams of early retirement and travel so it seems a waste of money.
What happened recently was I came across a cute tiny studio that was actually priced affordably a few towns over that I thought could work for me. I surprised myself by calling the number on the ad, and spoke with the lady about her place. (I had not been planning to move so soon but wanted to jump on this great deal.) Nothing ever came of it - I'm sure she found someone very quickly. But during the time when I was considering the place, I realized how much of my stuff I was willing to give up so I could fit in there and have a place of my own -- and not even near my work. I'd already been interested in tiny houses but wouldn't have a place to put one near work either and would have to save up to buy or build one and then end up paying RV fees to live which is not the end of the world but vandwelling provides a better option.
So I began reconsidering vandwelling because I realized I am willing to give up a lot of stuff to live small. I binged watched a bunch of youtube and have been reading everything I can about it. The more I learn the more certain I become that this can work for me. Bob's youtube channel especially made me realize I could do this if I put my mind to it and took action.
The main reason i am so interested is because I can save a lot of money and put that toward my retirement. I can figure out my expenses, which will of course be much lower each month, and then save a nest egg that I can draw off of for travel/living. I went many years without retirement (never offered at my work places) and then socked away about $50,000 on my own in a 401k in just about 1.5 years. But that's all I have which at almost 40 is not enough. However, if I do this vanlife thing, I can save even more and my expenses will be lower so I can eventually (and fairly quickly I think) get to a point where I can travel. :heart:
So I plan to save up for a stealth van, build it out, and then move into it. I plan to park nearish or in the city where I work, and continue to work full time until I have a nest egg that I can draw from for an extreme early retirement. I have been interested in early retirement for a while, so I'm already familiar with the math needed to make it happen:
25 times your annual expenses, and draw off 4% from your nest egg investments each year
(It's all explained well over at Mr. Money Mustache's website, or Choose FI, although they are mainstream compared to vandwellers!)
The one thing I'm worried about is finding places to park where I can be stealthy and won't have to spend a lot on gas driving far from my work. I also need to find places to park where my van will be safe while I'm at work. Parking is pretty bad in the city where my work is, but you are able to find some places and I think if I do a lot of research beforehand, I should be OK. That is my plan, anyway. This weekend I was thinking I might try to do some reconnaissance lol. Try to find potential future parking spots or areas. I have some ideas already but I need to research more on that front. I want to have a number of places I can draw from so I can vary my parking each night to avoid capture...er, getting knocks on my door.
Which Van?
As far as the van goes, I am leaning toward a Chevy Express cargo van, extended, and installing a high top on it with Fiberine. So my budget has to include enough for both of those, and of course, trying to find as low mileage as I can. I am thinking $20,000 for the van, adding the high-top, and converting it to livable. My goal is to save up that amount by my next birthday, so I can buy the van on or near my birthday.
Stealth is really important since I plan to work full time in an urban setting for quite a bit to save up money. I'm not sure how long it will take, but I want to save up not just enough to travel, but to have a nest egg I can consistently draw off of for traveling. Another idea is to save up for a small home, tiny home, or real estate I can rent, but for now the plan is just to start saving a nest egg. Anyway, back to vans..
I have been learning so much lately about different conversions, and I've been so impressed by people's choices out there. I think for myself I will design my van eventually in this way:
light-weight items and light-weight build out where possible
simple and non-electric where possible (I can charge many things at my work)
no solar panels for now - need to be super stealthy as this will be my home to avoid paying a high rent
I do want insulation and a light weight wood paneling I think, some nights it gets cold here
storage for a small folding bike and inflatable kayak
storage for work clothes
I'm not sure if I am too tall to sleep width-wise across the van or if I'll need it to be length-wise (I'm 5'7")
The People in my Life :heart:
I love the people in my life but I know some of them are not very open to this and I'm not sure they'd be supportive. So I am keeping hush about it for now, which is why I feel the need to start this journal and share my excitement and planning thoughts here. I think I will introduce this as building a camper van and then just start living in it and those that can know without freaking out will find out and the others I'll keep quiet about it.
Maintaining My Anonymity
For obvious reasons, maintaining my anonymity is super important right now. I need to be stealthy to make this happen smoothly. But once I have my nest egg and can quit my job and start traveling, I'll probably loosen up and get out there into this community. I may be a bit general at times when it comes to my personal life, just to avoid identifying myself. Hope no one minds. I know I'm leaving a digital footprint here but I'm hoping to remain anonymous and at the same time make some new friends and learn all I can from you helpful peeps. I wonder if there are any other full-time workers who are being stealthy living in a van? I seem to come across a lot of people who are traveling but my intentions are to work until I have a big enough nest egg to retire on.
Thanks and Happy Traveling!