Another Adventure

[Low Key]

Hello!

This is my first post, but I've been lurking for a while. Learned a great deal from Bob and all the posters. Thanks!

There's so much about vandwelling that fit's with my idea of a life well lived that I can't wait to make it happen.

I'm in the process of selling off most of my posessions, building my savings and looking at vans.

Going to set up an office in my van and work from there. Probably steath camping the city for a while before I hit the road on to work from a boondock camp.

I am a grant writer and nonprofit consultant by trade, but it's not my first career. I've also been a bootmaker, engineering technician and worked at REI selling some of the gear Bob writes about.

This experience will be another great adventure in the long journey of my life.

Best of luck to all of you.

Ron

 

[PastTense]

Welcome!

Do you expect to do much traveling?

 

[Patrick46]

Hiya LowKey!

What part of the country are you in?? Any hobbies or other neat stuff you'd care to share??
What about van....any you've got your eye on yet??

Welcome to the asylum!

Patrick out West.

 

[Low Key]

I am in Portland, Oregon. I expect to take quite a few trips up the Columbia River Gorge, to the Coast and SE Oregon desert. The trips will happen as work allows. It really comes down to juggling clients and finding quiet spots on public land with 3G for work.

I used to hike and backpack but a recent injury has me worried. So I've been thinking about astronomy (time to get a telescope) and painting. Oh, and I like to road bike. But I really just want to spend as much time as possible in nature & write, read, learn, be.

Just another introvert!

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Welcome Low Key.

You sound like the perfect candidate for vandwelling.

Margie is from West Linn and we spend a good bit of last summer touring, catching up with friends and her family. I really enjoyed the run up old 101 just before tourist reason boomed. We lived in Astoria for 2 yrs, so spent a month in that area having fun with the boy and old friends. Bend was a hoot...my buddy and I took a cab to crawl the breweries and drank waaay tooo much good beer
Had a great time and the weather was simply beautiful, save for a couple rain days. Can't ask for better.

Hope to catch ya on the road.

 

[sassypickins]

Welcome Low Key ~ I'm also in PDX and have plans similar to yours - to travel Oregon for starters. I found my 2002 E 350 ext/hitop not too long ago.

I'm driving myself crazy at the moment trying to understand how to put my house electrical system together. I just keep reading and making notes. Some here say it's easy, so I'm trying to believe that. I figure one of these days the electrical system in my brain will have no choice but to make the right connections so I can get on with it.

 

[akrvbob]

Low Key wrote:
fit's with my idea of a life well lived
= = = = = = = = = = = =

The fact that you've taken the time to actually think about what is a "life well lived" puts you far ahead the great majority of people!! So many Americans are sheep just following the orders society dictates to them-- just going through the motions of a living-death.

You're off to a great start, I'm really looking forward to seeing where you go! We're here to help in any way we can!
Bob

 

[Patrick46]

Hey Low-Key.

...We're not too far from each other, as I'm down in Coos Bay, over on the south coast!

Quite a few of us from the great PNW on here!

 

[blkjak]

welcome from s.w. florida .... blkjak

 

[Low Key]

Thanks for the welcome everyone.

Jay & Margie, Bindi: Even after a lifetime of drives on 101 I never tire of the Oregon Coast. Astoria is fun. I ran the Great Columbia Crossing 10k a couple years back and it was a great way to experience the town. Didn't even rain on me (!!!). Bend is a cool town. I never miss the Deschutes Brewery when I'm there (or a soak at Paulina hot springs if the season is right). I'm looking at being in my van by the end of May, so we indeed meet on the road. I hope to make the RTR if nothing else.

sassypickins: I too am looking for some kind of hightop. I find a little headroom to be good for thinking and writing. Do you travel outside of Oregon much? I've had a enough of the rain and grey to last a lifetime and am ready for more sun.

I wish I was great with electronics, but beyond building microchips I'm not much help. I'm sure I'll get more experience with auto electronics as I plan to solar it up. Why pay for juice?!

Bob: hard times, admitting ignorance, discovering worthwhile mentors, testing out their advice and plenty of navel gazing helped me to understand who I am and who I am not. But more lessons, probably some hard ones, remain before this journey is done.

Thanks for the warm welcome. Look forward to philosophizing with you around the campfire one of these days.

Patrick46: Coos Bay is a beautiful area. Do you plan to stay there or will you wander?

blkjak: Thanks! I hope to visit Florida someday, it looks beautiful.

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Low Key....you've made the trip thru the hardest lesson. From here on out its pretty much a downhill run. Shifting to a new lifestyle should come easy if my guess it correct about you.

You know the old saying about lemons....Well, I learned to make lemonade a long time ago.
I'd bet you did too.

 

[Patrick46]

Patrick46: Coos Bay is a beautiful area. Do you plan to stay there or will you wander?

I'm a resident here, but now that the kids have flown the coop, we're getting back into travel mode.
Will I stay here or wander??....only time will tell...but we're gonna start snowbirding this next year. The grey and rain gets on you after a spell.
(at least we don't hafta shovel it!!)

 

[Low Key]

I was in CostCo the other day. I'm hardly ever in CostCo. I'm not a member but my friend Al is and he needed a hand wrangling a heap of China's finest.

So I helped Al.

Ever since I read Bob's post a while back about minimalism (not that I can find it) going to the store, any store, has not been the same. I'd contemplated having more of a life by owning fewer things (became obvious years back: things own you, you don't own them) and Bob's post let me know it was time for a change.

CostCo was brimming over with giant TV's, woks only a family of 10 would need, 27-paks of TP, like that. Not much of it I'd need in a van, or that I wanted to spend any of my life worrying about.

Though, the TP was tempting. If you've ever been without, you know what I mean.

These days when I walk into a store I see almost nothing I want, apart from food, and it amuses me to no end: life in a van allows for few extraneous possessions.

What am I going to do with all that time not given over to unnecessary possessions?

That's a worrisome question that must wait until I have my van. Out in the woods, sitting in my chair, sipping Scotch & watching the sunset I'm sure it's a question I won't even remember.

 

[WheelEstate USA]

I know what you mean. We can walk thru an entire WalMart during an overnight stay in the lot and easily walk out leaving behind an empty cart.

 

[Dragonfly]

Welcome Low Key and happy travels! You are starting out in one of my favorite states of all..and Ohhhh that Oregon coast. We have friends up there and hope to clip them as we drive by one time soon.

@Patrick46 Can you still stay free at the 'one unnamed place' there? Spent much of a wonderful summer there a few years ago. We explored Oregon for the 3rd or 4th time about 5 years ago. Always amazing.

@sassypickins: We started out in '77 in an old van, and at one point had a bubble top van we lived in for quite awhile with our son and 2 cats. I miss that van..the high top. We have a long passenger van and aren't going to wait for a bubble top to come along..we have our van ready for traveling now so in Dec. we're out of here in what we have.

Oz

 

[sassypickins]

@Oz, hi. Congrats on getting your van ready for travel and for keeping your sense of adventure so alive and well. I do feel very lucky to have found my high-top van and am enjoying it very much here in Oregon.

I hope the OP Low Key found that sunset in the woods and will come back here and regale us with the tale one day soon!