Filling the hours....

[VanLifeCrisis]

Went there and there was only one for my area, a hepatitis C meetup group :\&nbsp; There are good things and bad things about living in rural america <img rel="lightbox" src="/images/boards/smilies/biggrin.gif" class="bbc_img">&nbsp; If i expand it to 100 miles there is more though.

 

[dragonflyinthesky]

Yahooo Blueberry, Surfing lessons. We have some of the coolest people here on CRVLiving.<br>Dazer, thank goodness you don't need the meetings for hep c. I misread your post at first.<br><br>Dragonfly<br><br><br>

 

[She_websitetoolbox_import3114]

Thanks blueberry I just joined a slow walking group. One of things on my bucket list is to walk all the trails on Long Island. This group is way up my alley.

 

[David]

How about take the time to develop a income source while you are on the road. Learn to make money online, learn to code or some other task that you can do from anywhere to make a few bucks.

 

[caseyc]

Glad you guys found Meetup.com cool. There is also a smartphone app for Meetup that you can install to make it easier to find out what's available for events. I constantly get their email reminders about all kinds of events. Actually it became TOO many email reminders, plus email replies from various group members, I had to disable the freakin' function for automatic email reminders, haha! <img class="emoticon bbc_img" src="/images/boards/smilies/rolleyes.gif">&nbsp; I stopped using Craigslist.com for events because that site has nothing but junk and scams nowadays for a long time.&nbsp; As some have found out, yes, you may need to expand your coverage to a wider area in order to see more event groups! <img class="emoticon bbc_img" src="/images/boards/smilies/eek.gif">

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

@<span id="post_message_1278585631">Dragonfly:&nbsp; <img src="/images/boards/smilies/rofl.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle">&nbsp; I see how that could have happened.&nbsp;&nbsp; <br><br>I think i will try to learn some new skills.&nbsp; I always wanted to try my hand at autobody stuff, and since my van is a rust bucket this is my chance.&nbsp; Just can get expensive to learn new skillsets like these because they require a minimum of tools, and sometimes you never get good with just the minimum.<br></span>

 

[MrNoodly]

Switch from being a consumer to a maker/creator. You don't even need to be good at the thing you're making. It only needs to be interesting to you. With luck, others will like your stuff too.

 

[offroad]

MEETUP.COM does have an issue, in that many events might be 100 miles away.&nbsp; that costs gas money and time.&nbsp;&nbsp;Four hours roundtrip, and 20 gallons of gas in a 10mpg vehicle.&nbsp; Could cost you $100 for one trip.&nbsp; Free surfing lessons might be worth it for some.&nbsp; Make sure you investigate public tranportation, and using a bicycle too.

 

[Freedirt]

I've neglected to read any of the thread apart from the OP, so pardon if this has already been suggested.

Meditation, while certainly not for everyone, has proven capable of sucking up to seven or eight hours out of a day for me. Granted, this was a possibility only after I began to astral project, proceeding years of dabbling in the practice.

 

[fredj608]

The cure for boredom is curiosity. &nbsp;There is no cure for curiosity. &nbsp;<br><br>Perhaps you could jump-start your ennui by reading Thoreau's "Walden". &nbsp;Then Steinbeck's &nbsp;"Travels with Charlie". &nbsp;Then William Least Heat Moon's "Blue Highways". &nbsp;Then Ken Ilgunus's "Walden on Wheels". &nbsp;Then Teale's "North with the Spring". &nbsp;No particular order, of course.....<br><br>If none of these speak to you, consider a different path for your life to follow...... &nbsp;But don't make excuses. &nbsp;If you want to do auto-body, then apprentice yourself in a body-shop. &nbsp;Work at finding a way to do it without spending money on tools, which seems to be an issue for you.<br><br>This isn't meant to be harsh, but to urge you to think about what you're doing and why. &nbsp;Everyone has to make his/her own life. &nbsp;The emphasis in the previous sentence should be on the word "make". &nbsp;<br><br>Woody Allen said, "Life is 90% just showing up." &nbsp;But maybe it's that other 10% that really counts....<br><br><br>

 

[offroad]

love Teales "north with spring"&nbsp; there are a few subsequent dirivative works from similar authors.&nbsp;

 

[Terry]

Well now you don't need anything or anybody to actually teach you to do body work. No one taught me how to fix cars and I made a decent living from rebuilding and selling wrecked and junked cars. All it takes is a want-to attitude and a good "eye" to know when thing will be good enough to go with. If you need training sources to get information from, there is always this thing called the internet.

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

Oh i plan to do the body work on my van either way...i already have a lot of the tools and it must be done. wasn't making an excuse ...just stating a fact that there are limitations and tradeoffs to learning new trades and skills.

not sure i am down with meditation ...tho i do like relaxing and listening and getting. in tune to nature. <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle">

 

[Ziggy Moon]

Dazar... doing body work on your van does have the possibility of keeping you busy for the day. In my opinion, doing body work is a fun hobby to learn (<em><strong>notice, I did say hobby</strong></em>).<br><br>When my brother and I were wee little ones (10 to 15) our Dad and his friend would buy, fix up, and sell old vehicles... guess who didn't get paid to do all the body prep work - yeah, slave labor provided by my brother and I, We Hated It!!! However, in hindsight, I can now see and appreciate the knowledge I gained from those agonizing days. <br><br>I never considered this type work for a living... as a matter of fact, I know I would hate doing it for a living. I'm not a pro, but, for the most part, I can get it done. It's fun and I do enjoy doing it when ever I have the time to just piddle around - just as I like shade tree mechanic'ing and many other things.... I'm all over the place with some of the things I do, possibly attention deficit disorder..? I'd rather think that I'm a Jack of all trades, and absolutely master of none.<br><br>Just do it, Dazar! Find anything and everything to do - some things you'll enjoy - some you will not.... but you'll learn. <br><br>The other night I started reading a book on making home made soap (as in bathing soap bars)... yeah, maybe girly for some men, but I'm very secure in my manhood.... besides, some chic's dig it... LOL <img src="/images/boards/smilies/biggrin.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img">....... J/K

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

<img src="/images/boards/smilies/rofl.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle">&nbsp; I think ive read an ebook on that.&nbsp; Someone on this site wrote it or blogged about it.

 

[MrNoodly]

<span style="color: #999999;"><em><strong>"</strong></em></span><span style="line-height: 18.18181800842285px;"><span style="color: #999999;"><em><strong>The other night I started reading a book on making home made soap (as in bathing soap bars)... yeah, maybe girly for some men, but I'm very secure in my manhood."</strong></em></span><br><br>Think "Fight Club", man.</span>

 

[OneManWolfpack]

I've been living in my van for almost a&nbsp;month and have stayed within the same city (I still work)&nbsp;with random camping trips on the weekend. I'm hardly ever bored.<br><br>To bide my time I:<br>-Workout 3 hours a day (1 hour cardio in morning, 1 hour weights with 1 hour cardio in evening)<br>-Read a book at the library or a coffee shop.<br>-Play online games, anywhere with wifi....I also have a library that let a guy download wow onto their computers..I see him playing it everytime I go to the library.<br>-I bought a battery operated keyboard and have a guitar and I jam out on those once and a while.<br>-Visit friends and family<br>-I walk around a lot, I'll find an area that interests me and then just park and walk around for fun.<br><br>On the weekends I'll find a place with free camping and then swim/hike and sometimes someone will take me out on their boat. If I can't find&nbsp; free camping I rent a camping spot for $20 a night and then invite friends over and split the cost with them and then it becomes online $2-3 a night depending on how many people show up.

 

[BC Guy]

Slingshots can be cheap entertainment.&nbsp; http://slingshotforum.com has lots of info on store-boughts and making your own.

 

[TxGypsy]

I spend quite a bit of time cooking.&nbsp; I enjoy cooking and usually cook for everyone that is nearby.&nbsp; I do mostly solar cooking, so it takes a bit longer.&nbsp; I swim for at least an hour a day at the nearby YMCA.&nbsp; Playing the fiddle takes up at least another hour.&nbsp; Playing with and taking care of my little dog.&nbsp; Doing a bit of exploring....a bit of knitting.&nbsp; Heck I need more hours in the day.

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

Note to self, park near TxGypsy <img src="/images/boards/smilies/wink.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><br><br>I couldnt imagine working out 3 hours a day, you are an animal!&nbsp; Library here is a small affair and hardly ever open, but i do want to check it out if i can catch it.&nbsp; Hiking sounds good...definitely get in shape here that way in the mountains.&nbsp; A lot of kayakers on the elk river...maybe i will get an inflatable.&nbsp; One of my sleep spots is a popular out of the way launch spot apparently.