elocs3981
Member
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2019
- Messages
- 13
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- 3
When I first considered nomadic fulltime vandwelling in anticipation of retirement I viewed it through a rosy lens of how exciting and adventurous it would be and besides, when you retire aren't you supposed to want to travel and see the country? And then there was and still is the possibility that the mobile home court where I live could be sold and it would be 'everybody out' because my court is on a small river even though it's in the city. Once it was on the flood plain, but that changed in the last 10 years and so the price of its land has gone way up. I look across the river and see expensive homes with boat slips while they look across the river and see...trailers. It's easy to envision condos with a dock on the river with a hotel being built up front on one of the city's main and busy streets that leads to the Interstate just a mile away. So my plan B was just choosing to move, but the possibility of being forced to move.
Then we may lose sight of the psychological aspects of fulltime vandwelling that can get lost in the excitement and adventure of travelling and seeing the country. I have lived in my home for over 28 years now and it is alive with memories for me, especially of my daughter as she grew up from a baby and the tears are flowing now even as I type this in the anticipation of never seeing this place again because I know it will happen one day one way or another.
You really can get set in your ways as you get old and it creeps up on you largely unnoticed. I think of what Monk from the tv series of the same name said: "I don't have any problem with change, I just don't want to be there when it happens".
Trying out vandwelling is like dating before marriage, which is good, but in the end dating is not marriage. Until some time passes before you cut those ties that anchored you to your pre-vandwelling life, you might not recognize that you made a mistake where you cannot just simply return to where you were. In another reply here, somebody alluded to the failure rate of fulltime vandwelling that is chosen as a lifestyle but I'm not sure how easily that can be determined. Here on these forums we read of those who are fulltimers who love it even with the bumps and problems along the way.
I think you would be hard pressed to find many YouTube videos of those who have tried it and either failed or ultimately didn't like it as much as they though they would. People love to hear about successes, failures not so much.
I can see how living as a vandwelling nomad would be easier for young people because that's what you do when you are young--try out new things for as long or short as you want before moving on to something else when its easier to do before you've put down a lifetime of roots.
But I still enjoy reading about vandwelling and watching the videos and seeing what people have done, but we are all different. It's a skill I would like to learn and have in preparation for 'just in case' much like having a storm shelter.
So I will continue to learn how to do small and simple things to my van and have done some for stealth camping that can be easily undone. I can enjoy vicariously seeing what others have done or are doing without needing to do it myself just as I learn from others' mistakes in life without having to try everything out for myself.
Then we may lose sight of the psychological aspects of fulltime vandwelling that can get lost in the excitement and adventure of travelling and seeing the country. I have lived in my home for over 28 years now and it is alive with memories for me, especially of my daughter as she grew up from a baby and the tears are flowing now even as I type this in the anticipation of never seeing this place again because I know it will happen one day one way or another.
You really can get set in your ways as you get old and it creeps up on you largely unnoticed. I think of what Monk from the tv series of the same name said: "I don't have any problem with change, I just don't want to be there when it happens".
Trying out vandwelling is like dating before marriage, which is good, but in the end dating is not marriage. Until some time passes before you cut those ties that anchored you to your pre-vandwelling life, you might not recognize that you made a mistake where you cannot just simply return to where you were. In another reply here, somebody alluded to the failure rate of fulltime vandwelling that is chosen as a lifestyle but I'm not sure how easily that can be determined. Here on these forums we read of those who are fulltimers who love it even with the bumps and problems along the way.
I think you would be hard pressed to find many YouTube videos of those who have tried it and either failed or ultimately didn't like it as much as they though they would. People love to hear about successes, failures not so much.
I can see how living as a vandwelling nomad would be easier for young people because that's what you do when you are young--try out new things for as long or short as you want before moving on to something else when its easier to do before you've put down a lifetime of roots.
But I still enjoy reading about vandwelling and watching the videos and seeing what people have done, but we are all different. It's a skill I would like to learn and have in preparation for 'just in case' much like having a storm shelter.
So I will continue to learn how to do small and simple things to my van and have done some for stealth camping that can be easily undone. I can enjoy vicariously seeing what others have done or are doing without needing to do it myself just as I learn from others' mistakes in life without having to try everything out for myself.
