Dedicated Newbie

[Matt71]

Hi everyone,
I'm Matt, a graphic designer and photographer from Michigan.

My wife Janet and I have become pretty dissatisfied with life in general and have made the decision that we're not going to continue to live life by the rules. Our days have become interchangeable, our jobs unbearable, and our future prospect unsatisfying. It's time for us to take the world by the horns and explore it like we always wanted to.

Our plan is to save as much as we can, purge as much of our "stuff" as possible, buy a used van (most likely a 2000 to 2003 E150 or E250), deck it out, cash in my 401K and see how far we can get following the moderate weather.

We have quite a few obstacles we need to hurdle first and we have given ourselves a year to get past them.
1) Our house is under water.
2) I have an unreasonable amount of college debt
3) We have 3 cats that barely get along
4) We have very little startup cash
5) Not sure if we can make enough cash on the road to be comfortable

Here's a LINK to the journey as we've currently envisioned it. We're pretty sure we can save and work enough to make it into August where we will have to determine if we can continue or go back to the daily grind.

Here's a MAP of trip.

Eager to hear what you all have to say. We're very excited and terrified at the same time.

Matt & Janet

 

[kyonu]

First of all, welcome! My GF and I did this very same thing recently. Gave up our brick house (rental anyways), sold all our possessions and moved into a Class C RV. We have given it the year at my current job to pay off debts. Hopefully my job will allow me to work from home so I don't have to quit it as it's not totally unbearable right now!

It is exciting, but be prepared for a world of change. Good changes and definitely bad changes.

Here are some tips:

1. Shit will break. Excuse the language, but this means two things: Plumbing will be a real pain the in the ass (sometimes literally), and requires extensive research and care.
2. Two people who have never done this before may not be satisfied living in a van. You're going from huge space and personal distance when you need it (and not getting in each other's way) to no moving around space and always getting in each other's way. Even in my Class C RV it sometimes gets too cramped when we're moving around. That brings me to point 3:
3. Look at getting a real RV (small or large, your decision). If you're lucky you can get it for under 10k, and it will be a full dwelling worth of stuff for real cheap. I see Class C's and A's from the 90's on Craigslist all the time going for less than $5000. That's cheap for comfortable living. Also it's already built, saving you from headaches later one (but sure does come with its own, like anything else)
4. Most RV parks don't allow vans. For example the one I'm in you have a limit of a MINIMUM length at 25 feet. The only exception is small trailers, but they have to be classified and registered as a dwelling (IE all the amenities). I can imagine many other parks are like this.
5. NOTHING will ever be as easy as it seems. You have to go into this thing realizing that life will be difficult, annoying and even hateful at times. If you go into this thinking it's the perfect way out of socialism, you're going to have a real bad time. You have to expect the bad things in order to have a good time.
6. If you keep a cat, and stay in the van, do ONE cat. You can't imagine the impossible duty of 3 cats in one small place. MAYBE in an RV, but a Van is just way too small and the odors will be killer.

I can't think of more right now (right off the bat), maybe later, but heed the warnings! My GF and I have only ever been camping a few times, years ago, and we moved into this RV already feeling cramped. I could imagine it being WAY worse in a van.

 

[Matt71]

Kyonu,
Thanks for the tips.

1. Shit will break. Excuse the language, but this means two things: Plumbing will be a real pain the in the ass (sometimes literally), and requires extensive research and care.

This is one of my biggest worries. I've done some research on the most common problems to pop up on Ford vans and plan to have each thing check out before we hit the road. I'd rather she;; out some ash early on than end up with my whole house in for repairs 3 months in.

2. Two people who have never done this before may not be satisfied living in a van. You're going from huge space and personal distance when you need it...

My wife and I generally don't have problems being in close proximity. When we're at home we're generally planted in the same spots most of the time as it is (usually in front of a computer or TV). The plan is to be outside the van often, hiking, meeting people, sight seeing, etc.

3. Look at getting a real RV (small or large, your decision). If you're lucky you can get it for under 10k

That's not really in our budget. At the moment I'm budgeting $3000 for a vehicle and about the same for interior builds and repairs. The bulk of our trip money is going to come from my 401K which I can't get until I quit my job.

4. Most RV parks don't allow vans.

I've been keeping an eye out for this as I plan. There are some stuck up RV parks out there with rules on what kind of vehicle you have or how nice it looks, but from my research they are mostly higher end parks outside our price range. Haven't seen anything about minimum lengths for vehicles, but a lot of places have maximum lengths. State and National parks don't care from what I've seen. Any place that offers tent camping really can't turn us away as we'll also have a good size 6-man tent to set up next to the van if we need to.

,Matt

 

[cyndi]

Welcome to the CRVL forums, Matt! You've got a few issues, but nothing insurmountable. Three cats in a van would be the toughest one for me. Keep moving forward, sometimes just a baby step at a time, towards freedom.

To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips & Tricks" post lists some helpful information to get you started. We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[Matt71]

Note: We have no intentions of bringing 3 cats on the road with us. They don't really like the car and are old and set in their ways. It's more a question of what to do with them. We might bring ONE cat if we can be relatively sure of it's safety, but we're a bit concerned about the heat in the vehicle. We do plan to follow the 70 degree weather, so it might be ok.

,Matt

 

[akrvbob]

Matt, we all have different ethics we live by, but if I were you i'd give serious thought to keep working your jobs and stop making your payments. One of two things will happen, 1) they'll try to work something out for you to stay in it and keep paying and if the payment is low enough maybe you can rent it out. 2)stay in the house without paying until the process is over and they kick you out. That used to take about 9 months and I would guess it still does.

Pay yourself the mortgage and put that in savings all towards your new life. Use the 9 months to sell as much of your stuff as you can to build up your savings.

It's just an idea to consider.
Bob

 

[Matt71]

Bob,
That's certainly crossed our minds. There's a part of me that's all for walking away from all of our debts, but I really don't want to spend the rest of our lives hiding from debt collectors. I'm a photographer and need an online presence to find work, so I'd be easy to find.

Our journey will land us back home in August when we'll make the decision if van living is something we want to do long term. There's a chance we may not like it or find that we can't make enough money on the road to live comfortably (for us). Once we bail on the house there's no turning back, and I'm not sure we're ready to give a lifelong commitment just yet.

Renting out the house is our current plan. We have a housemate at the moment that will be staying behind and watching our remaining stuff and cats. We just need to find roommates for her to share the expenses - a not so easy task.

 

[GrantRobertson]

Matt,

I think your current plan is a good one. Once you miss a certain number of payments, you are in default and they can/will demand payment in full. They will not allow you to just make up the missed payments and pick up where you left off. So you have to really know you want to give up the house before you pull that trigger.

When I lost my house and car back in 2005 I never had a single collector call. The guy at the bank said it was because they knew that I didn't have any money for them to get. They essentially wrote the whole thing off. Perhaps if I win the lottery they might look more up. I think it is mostly other kinds of companies that sic collectors on you.

Finally, if you are willing to live small and minimally right there inn your own house, you could likely squeeze in plenty of roommates to help pay the mortgage. Just post a listing on Craig's List. If you charge a reasonable rate, you could probably fill your house to capacity in no time. Plenty of people live with 5 or 6 roommates in a house. Sure it is "cozy" but no more cozy than two people living in a van. A lot more Americans are learning to accept this more European style plug living.

 

[Matt71]

Living small is one thing, living in a house with 6 people I don't know is not in my comfort zone. Maybe back in my 20s.
We have to get rid of all of our stuff first too.

On a related note, one of the things I was originally considering for our journey was to visit communes and intentional communities along the way to explore how others are trying to live outside the box. We still might try that.

 

[gypsychic]

Matt & Janet,

First off - Welcome.

Wow those are some detailed links. You have put in a lot of planning. I love the maps and how it's shows months in general areas. Good spreadsheet also.

Rehoming your elderly cats can be difficult. You might try going to a few independant living places. Asking if someone would want to take an animal into their home. Be honest and upfront with prospective new owner/guardian about cat's personality, likes being alone (or not), good (or bad) with kids, dogs etc. Try to find someone who has pretty stable health so the likelihood of another rehoming due to illness is remote. My mom lived in an independent senior housing for many years and when it's a good fit a senior home with a senior pet can be a rewarding experience for both human and animal.

Given that you are planning some time to overcome your obstacles, you can purge your stuff selectively and hopeful get a little more $ than a 'fire' sale or 'moving' sale would generate. Good luck overcoming your obstacles. I've found the subreddit 'frugal' to be a great resource. Also the following books:
Tightwad Gazette
Your Money or Your Life
Dave Ramsey - Total Money Makeover
Some of the execution of ideas in the above books may be a little outdated but the thought process behind them is what was really great for me.

There's some great discussion here and elsewhere about workamping. Since you seem like your pretty good at research I'll let you seek them out.

Although I am not fulltiming yet, it is my goal. Several had said on here that they can live this lifestyle with $600 a month for a single person. People are making it, on their own terms and with their dignity intact, on small pensions and disability. That gives me hope that I can do it also. If you have some money and the ability to work every once in a while you should be able to make it. Everybody has to find their own sweet spot of expectations of comfort vs. monthly income and/or space. Everything has it's trade-offs.

Good luck! I look forward to hearing about your progress.

 

[GrantRobertson]

Well, you might could also cram a lot of roommates in there while you live in the van. If you tell people up front that you are shooting for a house full of people, and interview/vet them thoroughly, it might actually provide a source of extra income while you are on the road rather than becoming a liability.

 

[Seraphim]

Just an opinion - DW and I are extremely close and comfortable with each other, but after one month in a van - even our high top class B - was enough for us at a time. Consider a small C. Also has the advantage of water, heat and electrical systems already established.

Welcome to the tribe. Next time we head up to the UP might meet for lunch or something. If you're still in MI lol.

 

[Matt71]

Seraphim,
We'd go bigger if we had the money. I have looked at some box trucks that are in our budget (about $3000), but they're generally not in the best shape and haven't had access from the front cab. I'm paranoid about someone locking us in at night.

Once we have a van and start prepping it, we'll be making test runs up north this summer, so definitely keep me posted when you're in the area.

,Matt

 

[Bdog1]

I'd lean to the E250 at least. Things are going to get heavy. Also the extended vans don't really command much premium, hey it's an extra two feet! Taller top helps with the space but it's tuff to get everything you want.

There's two of us and two big dogs, but we camp for a month or more at a time, not full time. It's a lot easier to live "outside" the van in a campground environment. Living "inside" is tuff!

It's too hot to leave an animal inside a van on a sunny 70* day. The inside will be 100+

 

[MollyMarie]

First of all, welcome! My GF and I did this very same thing recently. Gave up our brick house (rental anyways), sold all our possessions and moved into a Class C RV. We have given it the year at my current job to pay off debts. Hopefully my job will allow me to work from home so I don't have to quit it as it's not totally unbearable right now!

Thank you so much for posting this. This is exactly what my BF and I are trying to do, and I appreciate the honesty and realness of your answers!