Boondocking at work

wheelsoffreedom1776 · Jan 17, 2011

  When my employer realized that I live in my rv, he began suggesting I stay in the parking lot so as to avoid commuting and provide an added level of security to the company at night. (Been doing that for a few months now).  This may be an alternative to check out for people with regular jobs and cool management. 

rcm89 · Jan 17, 2011

Yes, I have done that in the past too.  I'm a computer programmer, most of my work can be handled remotely, but sometimes I need to "be there".  It's usually just for a few days...one time it was 6 weeks.  Nobody has told me I couldn't, many even said "park over here where you can plug in."

akrvbob · Jan 17, 2011

Boy, that is a win-win situation! You are very lucky. I never stayed at where I worked. It was a very busy 24 hr grocery store, and the parking lot was too noisy. I moved a few miles down the road to a competing grocery store that wasn't 24 hour. It worked out just fine except when it snowed and then I had plows working all around me. Bob

Les H · Jan 19, 2011

One of the main reasons I went with a van this time was to cut down on driving back and forth to out of town or farther away jobs. I have used my small 14' camper once, my wife's minivan once and a hotel once. Anything more than 30-45 minutes away is fair game for the van these days with the cost of gas going up. Plus, if I'm not driving an hour and a half or two, my days can be longer and I can get done faster. On to the next one or some time off to do "me" stuff.

akrvbob · Jan 20, 2011

Les, it was something very much like your situation that led me to vandwelling. My wife and I were divorcing, so I was staying at a cabin we had 60 miles away. The 120 mile a day commute was killing me with the cost of gas and time spent driving. So I found a slide in camper to put on my minitruck and stayed at work 5 days then went home on weekends. But it was very small and too cold for Alaska. The next logical step was to sell the cabin, buy a box van, and move into it, which I did. Bob

southpennrailroad · Mar 26, 2011

Just like the OP, my boss was always joking about me staying at Walmart & Lowe's that he finally suggested that the parking lot was a good idea. That's where I am writing this now. I have a 6x10 cargo that was suppose to be for just camping but the wife died in 07 and I so;d the house's and just moved into the cargo. This year I am going to insulate after I installed a 17,000 btu Atwood furnace which in the temps at or near 0 uses a 20lb tank of propane in 3 days. Now that temps are in the night @ 20: I use one tank in two weeks. Insulation will probably increase the refills to one week. I hope. I use quilt, wool and two thin blankets at night. I bartered with the company across the road to let me park my trailer with my riding mower on it to cut his grass in return to let the trailer with my riding tractor on it to keep it there in his fenced in lot Also he does counter tops. I  need mine done. I use a 2000i Honda gen for heating water, to take sponge baths, and dishes. Also a fridge and microwave. Computer, battery charge and TV/VCR. Been in for a year now. Russ

CP · Jun 29, 2011

Since working at Home  Depot I have noticed it would be easy for a person living in a vehicle to stay in the parking lot.  They have a night crew that receives and stocks the products they sell.  A person could blend right in ....

Butternut · Jul 1, 2011

Home Depot, Lows, Target (Wal mart, of course) and malls all are great. Sounds like you have the perfect situation <a target="_blank" href="http://thetuckerbag.blogspot.com">The Tuckerbag</a>

dragonflyinthesky · Jul 1, 2011

Butternut, how is it going with your school/parking situation?

sl1966 · Jul 1, 2011

I work in a mall. Well, it used to be one and they're still converting it into office space. When I first started working here I was toying with the idea of living in my rig on the lot (with their permission of course), but changed my mind due to the extreme summers here in TX. I thought last summer was hot, but it was mild compared to what we're dealing with now. Oh, so the moral of the story is look both ways before before crossing a gift horse in the mouth.

Butternut · Jul 1, 2011

dragonflyinthesky said:
Butternut, how is it going with your school/parking situation?

Well, they tried to say it was against the rules but didn't have anything to back it up. To avoid the hastle I have moved down the street to the Barnes & Noble parking lot (super classy, I know) where theye is a small community of stealth dwellers. It's nice and pretty quite. -<a target="_blank" href="http://thetuckerbag.blogspot.com">Tuckerbag</a>

vonu · Jul 2, 2011

It wasn't really boondocking, being on a main drag in Lakewood, CO, but I lived in my first van for several months behind the Godfather's Pizza across Colfax from JCRS in the late 80's.  I was friend's with the manager and he loved having me readily available in case one of his younger and flakyer employees failed to appear, which happened on a regular basis.

dragonflyinthesky · Jul 6, 2011

Cool Buttternut, Barnes and Noble's, a better boondocking address.  I'm so ready to get my show on the road-in several months. My house tax bill just came in and I haven't even opened it. I will keep my house until I see if I can really do this. I hope I can rent it out, to renters that actually pay.  I am having a big garage sale next weekend and I am being brutal about what I am getting rid of.  Just getting into my head that I have to take this step is freeing.

Butternut · Jul 6, 2011

I've been reading your blog and it looks like you've made a ton of progress. Nothing motivates you to run away like bills can... If you could rent that would be sweet! Travel and have a pay check coming in. Hopefully your state has good tenant/landlord laws so it will be nice and easy.

stude53 · Jul 6, 2011

Diane, If you are going to rent your property and travel away, be sure you have someone that can look in on your property, hire repairs when needed, etc. A trustworthy relative, or a good property management company (usually costs about 10% of rent) can do this and ease your mind. Absentee landlords tend to have problems. How did your roof coating on Little Santee turn out? Bob (aka stude53)

stude53 · Jul 6, 2011

Diane, A rental tip! Set the rent $50 higher than you want for your rental, and write your rental contract to give a $50 discount for rent paid on time each month. Example - contract says rent is $650 per month, with $50 discount for on-time payment, yielding a fixed rental of $600. Gives renter an incentive to pay on time, and gives you an automatic $50 late fee if they don't. I used this, and rented my three bedroom home to 3 college students (usually a no-no), and never had a problem with late rent or property damage. As students graduated, the remaining tenants always found me a new tenant to share the rent. I always made one of the students responsible to collect the rent from the other two, and pay me $600 by deposit into a checking account I set up at my credit union (for deposit only, unless I personally accessed the account).

dragonflyinthesky · Jul 6, 2011

Hmmm, good rental idea.  I've heard of doing that. Thanks. Also, as to the roof coating,  we have had afternoon showers to frequently.  I am considering tomorrow, it looks clear all day.  Directions are to not let dew get on it the first night but it can be painted on a damp surface, 3 or 4 hours drying time between alternating layers. I want to do it all in one day so the clean up is easier.  It can take a brush, sprayer or roller.  I will probably go with a roller.

Saguache · Jan 1, 2012

When my employer realized that I live in my rv, he began suggesting I stay in the parking lot so as to avoid commuting and provide an added level of security to the company at night. (Been doing that for a few months now).  This may be an alternative to check out for people with regular jobs and cool management.

<div> </div><div>When I'm near my employer I often do the same thing.  Better there are showers inside the building and I have access to these which means that I'm not looking for truck stops, gyms, or a place to periodically dump grey water.</div>

ped · Jan 1, 2012

I had a security guard job once where my whole objective was to stay in my vehicle in the company parking lot overnight....and I got paid to do it!

Boondocking at work

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