Convince me not to

[WanderingRose]

So, as a parent and grandparent, I have some thoughts.

You sound fairly young, and if you were a loved one of mine I would express concern about a plan to drop out of the work world entirely and live indefinitely on whatever cash assets you have.

It is a nice fantasy, but there are life consequences to long stretches of time lived voluntarily sans employment. 

I would caution against embarking on full time nomadding without a regular source of work related income, which it sounds like you intend to do. 

If you want to get out there, include in your planning work that you can do remotely, seasonal employment, etc., something that maintains income and can go on a resume when you again want or need to have real employment.  You likely will.

Aside from documentation that you have the necessary self discipline and life skills to offer a potential employer, a medical emergency could wipe out much or all of your savings. 

You don’t mention the costs of health insurance in your $1,000 a month to live on, but lack of insurance can wipe one out quickly. 

If you are not happy where you are, you owe it to yourself and to the girlfriend you don’t want to be with to leave, but you can find a way to nomad and also maintain employment. 

If you were one of mine, that’s what I would recommend.

Good luck to you.

 

[Fivealive]

100k is a lot of money for savings, 1k/month is not much money for living. I am the opposite, I have never had even 10k saved up at once but I manage to spend 2-3k/month while living in my van. You will most likely want some sort of income, but that 100k will buy you plenty of time to figure that out.

 

[wanderin.pat]

Convince you not to?  Ok.  DON'T.  Did that work?  Didn't think so.  

I 100% agree with jimindenver (and others) .... It helps if you're an old fart like me.  I'm retired, and ready to do nothing. 
I don't feel like I have a lot of choices and have chosen this life.   However, I'm glad that I did. 

If you're young enough, you can try it.  If you don't like it, you still have options.  

I wish you the best.  My suggestion is to NOT blame Bob Wells if it turns out you don't like it. 

Regards, 

Pat

 

[Headache]

You can't be convinced, you've already made up your mind.  If you hadn't you wouldn't be buying a van and ready to build.

I live in my van and I hate it.  The hatred grows deeper each day.  If you are a very frugal person and a true minimalist you can make a go of it.  I am not.  I am a failing van dweller.

Most of my issues revolve around the sanitary; washing hands after the bathroom, washing dishes, showering, doing laundry, etc. as well as medical and mental issues.

I allowed myself to be conned by the color glossy brochure videos touting how wonderful a life this is and how all these people are having the times of their lives.  What's missing in these videos is open and honest talk about the negatives.  There is NOT ENOUGH TALK about these things and it should be right there in the same video!  That's great their unicorns fart rainbows and pots of gold.  But they barely even mention all the struggles, tears, blood and moments of depression it took to get there.  That is just as much reality as their wonderful life.  Many of these people lead sponsored lives meaning they have monetized YouTube channels and other ways to channel money via donations from others.

Am I jealous?  No but I am resentful having been mislead.  Still, I made the decision to pull the trigger on this and it's up to me to fix it.  That is VERY important.  If you are not capable of owning your mistakes and taking responsibility for your choices then don't come out here.  It could kill you, literally.

This "lifestyle" isn't for everyone.  It's not for me.  I thank the Creator every day for the friends I have made that help me cope.  They know what puts me in my happy place.  I'll be camping with them again this winter until I can figure a way out of this BS mess I got myself into.  Until then I derive a small bit of redemption and self esteem by being helpful to others.

Good luck to you.

 

[wanderin.pat]

But they barely even mention all the struggles, tears, blood and moments of depression it took to get there.  That is just as much reality as their wonderful life.  Many of these people lead sponsored lives meaning they have monetized YouTube channels and other ways to channel money via donations from others.
.
.
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Am I jealous?  No but I am resentful having been mislead.  Still, I made the decision to pull the trigger on this and it's up to me to fix it.  That is VERY important.  If you are not capable of owning your mistakes and taking responsibility for your choices then don't come out here.  It could kill you, literally.

Headache makes really good points.   I especially wanted to highlight the point about responsibility.  

I agree with the importance of that.

And how unhappy one can get when bad things happen.  In my case I blew the engine on my tow vehicle.  A year later, and I'm still adjusting to that.   In fact, I'm no longer a nomad, but still living in a trailer.  Adjusting to living in an RV Park.  Thus , my need for a "Plan B".... 

Regards,

Pat

 

[becida]

I live in my van and I hate it.  The hatred grows deeper each day.... I am resentful having been mislead.  Still, I made the decision to pull the trigger on this and it's up to me to fix it. 

Find someplace you like, get a job. Get an apartment, house or whatever, sell your van (or keep it as a vehicle).
Call the vandwelling a learning experience rather than something you were tricked into trying & go on to what ever it is you're going to do next.

It's your life, live it how ever you want.... Good luck!

 

[MG1912]

... I manage to spend 2-3k/month while living in my van...

I am trying to predict a budget for when I head out on the road full-time in the near future. I don't know how much I will be spending, but I thought it would be closer to $1,000 to $1,500. What did you spend on, if you don't mind me asking?

I live in my van and I hate it.  The hatred grows deeper each day.  If you are a very frugal person and a true minimalist you can make a go of it.  I am not.  I am a failing van dweller.

Most of my issues revolve around the sanitary; washing hands after the bathroom, washing dishes, showering, doing laundry, etc. as well as medical and mental issues.

If those are your issues, may I ask what is preventing you from addressing them? I don't mean that in a challenging way, at all. I am curious what is preventing you from taking action, as I can't tell from you post. Is it the money factor or something else?

 

[Fivealive]

There is always something to buy for me, I eat out most meals because I hate cooking. I go out and drink with friends, I buy and smoke pot, I am always doing projects on the van that cost money, I bought a motorcycle and same thing, always buying new stuff for it or related to it. I am a hobbyist photographer and that comes with an endless pit of gear desires that I like to feed. Gas, flying back home from time to time to visit family, idk, I'm sure others can live a very minimal life and spend next to nothing but it has never worked out for me. I will go a couple weeks on small budget like that and then blow it on one thing or another. I don't spend a lot of time stressing over finances, for me it's easier to just keep up an income. I do freelance IT work in and around SF and I have been doing it long enough now that I can pull off a 500 day without really even trying. The work I land now days is basically just sitting around and being paid to be ready if/when something actually goes wrong, pretty much the ultimate slacker gigs. I work 1-2 days a week and then just do whatever I feel like on the other days.

 

[Almost There]

Now, I'm just the opposite of Fivealive. I don't eat out often because I like to cook (just ask my friends... ). I don't smoke pot or cigarettes and a $5.00 bottle of wine will sit half drank until I have to use it for cooking... My van is fully equipped and was done the first winter I was out, so I don't spend money on it except for normal repair and maintenance. I have all the toys I need and am pretty much a minimalist when it comes to clothing.

As a Canadian my biggest expense during the winter is currency exchange. Without it I could easily living on less than $800 a month, not including my health insurance and auto insurance. My summer costs are higher because of the higher cost of gas here!

As to hating the life we lead, I am of the persuasion that says 'if it's to be, it's up to me'. It's up to me to figure out what is going to make me happy and it's up to me to figure out how to achieve it.

I love the life I lead and am not looking forward to the days when I have to go to Plan B or C which mean travelling less or not at all and settling down in a S&B as I age out of being able to do what I do now. At 70 I figure I may only have another 15 years or so of the freedom I enjoy. I plan on making the most of every last day of it.