Did you make bad choices? What’s your story?

[LERCA]

Someone posted on here that those of us in cars etc had made bad choices. I certainly didn’t. I am writing this with with love and compassion so please don’t argue and get it taken down. I’d like to hear your stories. Is this a choice or did something happen? I watch a lot of Bob’s videos and I’ve seen all kinds of rigs. Why are you here? Choice or did something go wrong? Are you happy now? I am not happy with the lack of space. And I will probably never in the future (5 years) live on more than $1500. Please don’t tell me to buy something bigger and cheap. I can’t fix anything and mechanics charge an obscene amount of money. It’s true I often think of checking out since I don’t foresee things changing. If you’re a true nomad not a weekend holiday traveler was this a choice?

 

[izifaddag]

Yes I saw that comment too and it definitely ruffled my feathers. 
I wrote an explanation but I just deleted it. Not choices, not my decision. 
Am I happy with it? Yes I feel fairly happy with it but I fall into that bracket of retirees who are forced into it. I thought life would be a little better than a shed on wheels. I wish I had $1500 a month. An extra couple of hundred would make a big difference. Only yesterday I found out that my income was going to be slashed by 1/6th for compulsory medicare. 
Oh joy! That'll teach me to live the high life lol.
The problem I see is that I have a horrible feeling that various authorities are going to squeeze the nomads trying to make us conform. Once the country was an empty canvas and you could just go and live somewhere easily. Now they built a strip mall and you can't park in the street. Sleeping not allowed. Etc. Everybody is trying to monetize the wide open spaces or do a NIMBY thing.  That is rather sad I think. 
Florida is a good example. Finding a spot to park on a beach without a cop shooing you off is very difficult. Miles and miles of coastline has been bricked in with condos limiting your ability to access that public land i.e. the beach. It is a metaphor for what I am saying. Sorry I am wandering.

 

[Malamute]

When I was semi-nomadic in the past it was by choice, I simply loved being outside and camping in the hills all the time. Ive become somewhat civilized, i live in a log cabin instead of a tipi or out of the back of a truck, but foresee the time when I will likely be semi-nomadic again, in a season way to avoid winter. Back to central Az and get out of the snow country once family obligations are done.

 

[Spacedredd]

In late 2016 I had to figure out a few things in my life... I had retired from the USAF Reserve a year earlier and I'd been working for a major computer corporation. Even being an Airman I had difficulty adjusting to a post USAF lifestyle. My job was remote, so initial plan plan was to get a modest small RV and tow my Wrangler.

Well Feb 17 rolls around and I get laid off... I wasn't there for very long so my payout was not that much, but better then a sharp stick in the eye. After taking care of some responsibilities/obligations I found a cheap RV... I had to sell my Jeep and tried to go to work at a Amazon warehouse... The RV had so much wrong w/it. At one point I said no more repairs and I have to figure out something else.

2 years later Jan 2020, the VA came through and now I have a little bit of $$$ coming in monthly. Plus in 9 years I will get my USAF retirement/medical.

As of 30 May I am officially a nomad. Not b/c I have too... I want to... I don't do well in the corporate world and I want to see this great county we live in.

 

[izifaddag]

"After taking care of some responsibilities/obligations I found a cheap RV... I had to sell my Jeep and tried to go to work at an Amazon warehouse... The RV had so much wrong w/it. At one point I said no more repairs and I have to figure out something else."


And that is why I opted for a brand new enclosed cargo trailer and building it out to my own spec. I have just seen too many YouTube examples of rot boxes. I believe a clean slate is better.

 

[MrNoodly]

Ah, this is about vehicle choices. I thought it was about life choices, like choosing to get married, or choosing to stay at a job I hated, or moving to a part of the country that didn't work out for me. 

 

[travelaround]

I've tried vandwelling by choice. I could easily have stayed where I was. Now I've got a half-acre with an old mobile home where I'm waiting for the coronavirus to be gone so I can travel again.

 

[crofter]

 ....I am not happy with the lack of space....

If you don't move often or at least have a base camp, get a tent. When I am in the forest for the summer, I get a tent to hold my site, and as a place to hang out other than the van. I spend about $150 on it, and it must be a tall one that I can stand in and use for drying stuff in the rain.
-crofter

 

[barleyguy]

I'm only a part time nomad, 3 or 4 months last year and planned for going forward. But it's definitely by choice. I've been working over the internet since 2016 and got tired of sitting indoors constantly. I tried renting an office but that didn't scratch the itch, so I cancelled the office, bought a used fifth wheel, and tried working from the road.

Short version is that I love it so far. I feel more free. I also feel more focused because I'm not thinking about my lawn or my neighbors or any of the other domestic worries of living in a town. So for me personally, 100% on purpose.

I believe it was Bob that said "the difference between homeless and van dweller is the homeless person wishes they were back in a house".

 

[desert_sailing]

I also chose this lifestyle, because I could see the writing on the wall. I wish I had seen it years ago.

At one time I did subscribe to the notion that the best consumer makes the best person. When a person surrounds themselves with  group think it is hard to recognize the flaws. All I was doing was making fat cats fatter and slowly killing my soul.

There is no guarantee that we won't lose everything..I can  limit those losses by having nothing (no debt as well)... LOL that will show 'em!
Van life liberates my views, liberates my bank account. No longer will I have to be attached to those that cause distress (bad neighbors/community).. I will be a better consumer because I will only be able to carry the most important things.  I won't be induced at every turn by corpratists seeking to  pillage my pockets and the self absorbed drones we see every 10 feet that demand applause (respect) or else.

I am terrified that one day I may have a serious medical issue or lose my tongue and lose my job and then lose my house.
If I were to go about life thinking it can't happen to me I would be nothing but a fool. Bad things happen to good people all the time. I am not as near as special as I think (used to). 

My rig is nearly ready to go. I have already had several missteps building it out and none of it has not been easy.. physically, mentally , or financially.
I am not doing this because I think it is glamorous or hip. This is for me, simple existence on my terms...well, as close as I can get to MY TERMS.

Ideally I would be on a 30 something foot sailboat halfway to the Cook Islands..

In the meantime I am working on building a big soul instead of a big house all from the (comfort?) of my tiny home with wheels!

 

[barleyguy]

I also chose this lifestyle, because I could see the writing on the wall. I wish I had seen it years ago.

At one time I did subscribe to the notion that the best consumer makes the best person. When a person surrounds themselves with  group think it is hard to recognize the flaws. All I was doing was making fat cats fatter and slowly killing my soul.

There is no guarantee that we won't lose everything..I can  limit those losses by having nothing (no debt as well)... LOL that will show 'em!
Van life liberates my views, liberates my bank account. No longer will I have to be attached to those that cause distress (bad neighbors/community).. I will be a better consumer because I will only be able to carry the most important things.  I won't be induced at every turn by corpratists seeking to  pillage my pockets and the self absorbed drones we see every 10 feet that demand applause (respect) or else.

I am terrified that one day I may have a serious medical issue or lose my tongue and lose my job and then lose my house.
If I were to go about life thinking it can't happen to me I would be nothing but a fool. Bad things happen to good people all the time. I am not as near as special as I think (used to). 

I'm with you on not being in debt and having a plan B. I'm debt free other than my truck (diesel pickups are unfortunately expensive), and if I lost everything else I could live in my RV.

Also with you on trying to think for myself and not follow the herd. Sometimes I feel like the media is pulling people's strings like puppets.

 

[LERCA]

IZ I’m so sorry. I hope you get food stamps in your home state. At least you can do your own build. I hope you have some support system. Sending you good vibes and strength. As far as the amount of money I live on right now it’s $659. when I can retire at 63 it will go up plus some of that is my retirement savings.

Crofter I would use a tent with a caravan only. I can’t sleep in it because of my back. Right before my my 21 st birthday I was raped and it’s a long boring story but had an ectopic pregnancy as a result that wasn’t caught and almost died. But it left me with a legacy of panic attacks and a terror of being physically vulnerable. So I could never sleep outside alone in a tent even if my back could take it. I travel with a gun but with my luck I know I’d likely end up in prison if I used it. I also taught in a state prison and a lot of those guys especially the most violent offenders are out on the roads because there is no other place for them so I am even more leery.
I guess those who are not out by choice don’t have the luxury or ability to read the forums regularly.
Edit: I should add that when I get my full amount of money I am considering moving to another country where I can work part-time. I have taught English overseas and was a teacher almost 30 years so I can do that plus translation/interpretation in another country and return home when I need to.

 

[Tony's Dream]

I am finding these articles very interesting. I keep coming and going from this web site. When I first joined it seemed like this was a website site for people who sold everything and lived on the road. Traveling to see the world. As time passed by, I began to see it as people living in a van/car instead of a home. Is the whole idea about simply living in a van/car versus living in a home? Or is it about leaving society and traveling instead of staying in one spot?

 

[user 423]

Is the whole idea about simply living in a van/car versus living in a home?  Or is it about leaving society and traveling instead of staying in one spot?

With 10,000 users, you're going to see a whole lot of different circumstances.

 

[B and C]

You will find part timers, people forced into this lifestyle by circumstances, people that don't want the burdens of home ownership, those that want to travel cheaply. Probably others I can't think of off the top of my head. It is very much a bunch of different reasons.

What's your reason for being here?

I'm stuck at the house for the foreseeable future caring for my terminaly ill wife. The plan was for us to travel 10 months, come home for thanksgiving and christmas to visit family, rinse, repeat. We got one good year in! I came here in 2014 looking for possibilities for when I retired, learned a lot and we went to RTR's. I now hang around trying to pass on some things I have learned. When I am able to travel again, I don't forsee me spending much time on here. I will be out there doing it again.

 

[LERCA]

Today I went to Target and counted four sprinters with people living in them. Brand new and beautiful. I’m guessing since they were shiny and new it’s just for fun and they have money. But I don’t know for sure and am curious as to people’s stories. I guess I’m still angry about the guy who posted that those of who ended up in vehicles had made bad choices. I wonder how many of us did. I certainly didn’t. And if you did you have my sympathy. In other areas of my life I made some terrible choices like financially supporting two husbands and then losing everything in the divorces.

I‘m not an idiot,I know there are various reasons people are here. I’d to hear about people’s lives (if you’re comfortable sharing) who live full-time in a vehicle. If you have a problem with this thread just pass us by. To those who have told their stories thank you. And when you’re out there alone reading the forums and watching Bob’s videos it can be a source of comfort, support and help. He changed my life and my way of thinking and I’m eternally grateful.

 

[Trebor English]

It is my opinion that I have avoided most of the bad choices.  Waay back in 1962 when I first got paid to work for someone my mother told me that I had to put away 10% so that I would have a better life when I got old.  I did both, 10% and I got old.  Now I need to continue to spend no more than 90% of what income I have to not run out. 

I was fantastically lucky to have had such a smart mother.  My history of zero bankruptcies and no alimony is to her credit.  She was a child in the 1920s and grew up in the 1930s.  The waste not, want not attitude that I got from her has been good for me.  Many people have not had the teacher and role model I had.  Without that my life would have turned out very differently.  I could be in one of those four shiny new Sprinters but with my cheapitude I don't want it.  I know it would be unsustainable long term even as long term is getting shorter.

 

[user 423]

In other areas of my life I made some terrible choices like financially supporting two husbands and then losing everything in the divorces.

Isn't this contradictory to your statement that you 'did everything right'? Of course we don't know any details as to why you supported two different husbands but, as you say,terrible choices were made.

 

[LERCA]

Trebor,
my mother taught me the same and thank goodness I did save what I could towards retirement (and God bless Lou my financial advisor) but since I had to stop working so early my pension took a huge hit. I don’t know if I should empty out my retirement funds (when I’m old enough) to buy something in an affordable area or do something else or use the money to supplement my tiny pension. But yes I never had debt and I lived within my means and saved what I could. I’d be in a lot bigger trouble had I not. My brother is the opposite and even though he works and makes a lot of money he’s in big trouble now with overwhelming debt and lots of credit cards. Plus he had a child very late in life. That’s very expensive for him.

 

[ByeBye]

Bad choices?...no regrets here. I am living the grandest life I ever have.
I have always been definitely individualistic and don't promote my method but I never saved for retirement, mindfully. Oh, had the occasional 401k or equivalent but cashed them.

I am a thriver, I see the Universe as one big horn of plenty just waiting for me to open myself to abundance.

My cup will be half empty never again

Income is exactly poverty level and I feel like a King, often.