From Austin Texas, howdy y'all

[Guest]

Hello everyone! I'm from Austin and can not express how happy I am to have found this site and forum. It is so comforting to see others who are doing something I have thought of but I always seem to shoot it down for my own personal reasons. All of you are an inspiration.

Here is my situation. I now live in a house, the same house for 14 years, late 30's, no children, no wife (but a wonderful girlfriend who supports the nomadic lifestyle) I have a job that I enjoy for the most part though the pay is not so hot, but I do not have to explain to y'all the reasons vandwelling captivates me. However, I would love to hear some of your opinions on an important matter if you don't mind.

I own my house (the bank actually) and it is very comfortable, it has also been my biggest excuse for not being able to travel or become nomadic. The big reason is the thought of possibly wanting to return to a house and not being able to purchase one again. Times have changed, I do not make the same money, it's hard to get a loan etc... The house needs things to be done if I were to rent it out and i have no money, all of my savings is tied up in the house and if it was rented I would not have a reserve to fix anything should something break. The last few years I have been getting rid of things with the thought of breaking free always at the back of my mind. As of now the house is scheduled to go on the market the first week of November, yes about three weeks away, and I would appreciate your thoughts on a few things. What or how do you feel about wanting to return to the old way of living for different reasons but not having a house for retirement, investment, "comfort"? Who here has vandwelled only to return to old ways, how did it go and what would you do different? Or who here has no intention of going back to old ways, how do you plan to live the later years of your life when health becomes an issue? I might want to have children in a couple of years also. I'm so very torn. My heart and soul pulls me strongly to become mobile but my old self can't seem to let the other side of me go. I know I am not to the first to be in this situation, I'm calling out to y'all.
I appreciate any opinions.

 

[gypsydreamer]

<br />edited

 

[Guest]

Hurray for ATX!!! You do understand why Austin is also a great place to have as a home base, it's an amazing city if we have to be in one. As for being your friend with a Mustang, no I do not have a Mustang but I do have a short white school bus with stickers all over the back windows so if you see that driving around do honk, chances are good it's me : )

 

[ttpadilla]

Welcome, Austinboat! I live in Sacramento, CA, and have felt "stuck" here, for about a decade.&nbsp; The primary reason I stayed, was that I had kids here, and a shared custody agreement with their father, but that consideration was no longer valid after last July, when their father moved to San Diego, and the kids went with him (who wouldn't choose San Diego over Sacramento?).&nbsp; So with the kid excuse gone, I couldn't let go of a decent paying job, and was still stuck in Sacramento.&nbsp; This July, that excuse became invalid when I lost my job.&nbsp; Then the house became my excuse... It is actually pretty terrifying to considering just letting go of a piece of perceived security, like a house.&nbsp; After a few months, however, I realized that it was sucking me dry!&nbsp; Mortgage plus utilities was more than my unemployment check, and I was rapidly going through my savings.&nbsp; <br /><br />Like you, I have many repairs to make on this house before it would be rentable, and I have no money to do so.&nbsp; After trying to find even a minimum wage job (which would never keep up with the mortgage) I decided to just let go... I don't want to be stuck somewhere because of a piece of real estate.&nbsp; I don't want to work every day at a job that I hate in order to keep a piece of real estate in a place I don't want to be.&nbsp;&nbsp; Few of my upper middle class friends will understand this decision, and perhaps one day I'll want to go back to a permanent dwelling, but I'm going to travel until I find the place that feels like home.&nbsp;

 

[HoboBerg]

Welcome aboard Austinboat! I left the rat race about 3 years ago and as of right now have no intentions &nbsp;of returning. As far as my golden years go or if I get sick of travelling Id probably just settle in a rv court &nbsp;.

 

[Pikachu711]

Welcome to the group Austinboat!

 

[Vanhellsink]

Hi Austin and welcome (I love Stevie Ray Vaughn, Austin boy I think)<br /><br />They are all valid questions that I think most of us that live a nomadic lifestyle have had to consider one or most of them at some stage. Personally, I have no reference point for materialistic or financial security or any history of being in one place for more than a few months - I am a nomad and new it from a very young age, so I have no understanding of returning to anything I once had. In regard to comfort, what is comfort to one may not be to another. Living in a big house isn't for me, but put me in a tent or small enclosed space and I am as comfortable as I can be. As far as getting to the point of being too old to travel, I will park up permanently somewhere I guess when I can't do it any more,(just to state I am not in a van "yet" but live from a backpack traveling around the world) somewhere I am close to medical assistance in an emergency, but that's a long way off I hope.<br /><br />I've met many people all over the world who travel with children, home schooling them as they go with the children gaining the added first hand education of meeting people and going to places they probably would not have gone cooped up in a classroom. All these children I met appeared to me to be well adjusted, intelligent young people who seemed more interested in the real things of the world as apposed to x-boxes, iphones and the like.<br /><br />Austin, may I suggest you initially just put your toe in the water without too much expenditure or commitment and trial the lifestyle for a while , it doesn't have to be all or nothing just now perhaps. Having a taste of this way of living first &nbsp;may help you understand what is more important to you at this stage of your life, give you some basis for comparison I have met people who rock themselves to sleep on nights with the romantic wanderlust dreamings of being a full time nomad at the end of each month when the bills are due, only to realize the lifestyle once being lived isn't for them, they preferred the security of static living. &nbsp;It's not for everyone, even though many believe it to be, especially if you aren't wealthy. It can be tough being a self funded wanderer often doing things for money you would prefer not to do so as to get to the next place, or not have to work for another six or &nbsp;twelve months - that's my experience anyway, but I will make that sacrifice or trade off to maintain what is at the core of who I am - a nomad.&nbsp;<br /><br />These decisions are yours alone, and not simple ones. Good luck and welcome again to the forum.<br /><br />A quote I like.<br /><br />"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sail. Explore. Dream. Discover."<br /><br />

 

[dsps91]

Welcome Austinboat,<br />I've sometimes wondered, do we ever really own a piece of real estate ( when you have to pay property taxes ), or are we just leasing it from the man.

 

[wildmountainhoney]

Hi Austinboat! Great to see ya here! I'm in Texas too! Thanks for asking such thoughtful questions! I haven't experienced a life on the road yet, so I cant offer any advice in that department... but, I sure hope to in the not too distant future! Best of luck to ya!

 

[Guest]

Hi Austinboat....<br />Welcome from New Mexico! <br /><br />I am among the older group here, in my retirement and have done the nomadic thing all my life in one way or another. When I met my wife of today, 27 years ago, I was living in a converted bus and told her that "this was who I was" and I wanted no other way of life...well, I soon learned that I should never say never....haha....It wasn't only a couple of years until she got a small inheritance from a passed on grandma and it was just enough to make a down payment on an acre of taiga and small cabin on the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska. <br /><br />The thing here that was an enormous lesson for me was that with great difficulty, I let go of the label "nomad" and suddenly became freer than ever before....I could own a cabin and a bus and do what I wanted to do...I was no longer a prisoner of my own idea.<br /><br />That leads up to 27 years of traveling around the country following my wife's career after I became too broken to work, selling, buying, selling, buying, selling and finally buying the place we have now. <br /><br />It is in the town I was looking for all my life, we have a third of an acre with three buildings...the shop I always wanted..109 degree mineral water coming right out of the ground and it is completely paid for....we always kept our desires down to what we thought we could afford...always with the idea that we could pay any of the homes we had, off in a matter of a few years. That gave us more and more equity every time we moved and now it is a great deal of equity in a home that cost us $400 a year in taxes.<br /><br />I am only telling this story so you can see that there are those who won't diss home ownership but who enjoy it greatly and yet still travel a lot....we travel the world now and have been in very many places and this winter will again...I will also spend a month or two living out of my van in Mexico this winter...<br /><br />The thing is that we never believed that we needed to put life off in order to build and own a monument to ourselves. We kept our desires in line with what we could realistically afford. It may not be much but it is all ours.<br /><br />In your circumstance, perhaps you can trade the house you are in now, for a smaller and more manageable place you can pay off, so you can retain a home base and still travel. Even though a lot of folks on here say they will never go back to a sticks and bricks..including Bob Wells, there are many who seem to want a home base to travel from.<br /><br />I have seen several people mention it and several who are doing it....In my view, if things really tighten up...like I think they are and will...I don't want to be in my van and not be able to afford or find fuel....I want to be in a place where I can grow food and have my own water....<br />Bri

 

[Bodhi]

Welcome Austin... Houston here!&nbsp; I am also "tied down" curently with dreams of breaking free!&nbsp; <br /><br />My house experience might be of help to you.&nbsp; I have rental properties but currently do not live in any of them.&nbsp; I have moved in with my parents to be super-close if they need me.&nbsp; They are 85 and 91... and this is becoming quite a job in itself.&nbsp; I also work 40/wk and make decent money.&nbsp; Even if I were to be able to break free of the job I still couldn't hit the road like I might like to.&nbsp; <br /><br />The kid thing... I have one (27 yo)... and I love him... but I fear he will never fully get out of my pocket.&nbsp; LOL... kind of joking.&nbsp; I have a friend who decided long ago to have no children - she took her husband to Paris (France, not Texas)&nbsp;for his birthday this past weekend.&nbsp; I'm just saying.&nbsp; <img src="/images/boards/smilies/wink.gif" alt="" align="absmiddle" border="0" /><br /><br />I hope you enjoy your time in here.&nbsp; I sure do!&nbsp;<br /><br />Bodhi

 

[fluffabear]

Welcome from WA state! <br /><br />I started vandwelling almost 10 years ago, and have done it off and on since. I say off and on because I lived in houses during harsh winters, and when I was dating someone. I live in a house at the moment while I fix up my new class C (the van I was in needed a new transmission and I traded it for the RV). <br /><br />I would say that the desire to be in a brick and mortar is the strongest when I don't have adequate warmth. I love the outdoors and love adventuring, but if I get super cold my joints ache something fierce. My solution is better insulation, cold weather clothing and a catalytic heater.<br /><br />See you around!

 

[Guest]

Wow, thanks everyone for all your opinions, they all help. It's very true these types of decisions are ours and ours alone, everyone's situation is very unique but in every case a big change was made or is being considered. It's so difficult to break from years of training, though a few of you were fortunate to follow your heart early on. In my early years the goals were all whacked, like wanting fancy cars, a boat, a big gaudy house, and while that was a kid's lofty dream I worked hard at it but never really came close. I just worked all the time and when I wasn't working I was wandering the undeveloped land around the outskirts of town, camped every rare chance I had and many dozens of times slept in my back yard with all my camping gear I didn't have time to use. All that time working multiple jobs, working holidays and missing family events etc...

Anyway, that all changed when I worked myself into he hospital twice. Our body will shut down when we are hard enough on it and it should. My point is I had to go through all of that to know what was really important, it literally happened at one moment while walking a trail and I've never been he same. I really appreciate all of you who have made the decision to leave the traditional way behind and I truly understand why it is so hard for others to do the same. It is a lifetime of misinformation and distractions. Even still, this is a tough thing to do for me. It's really nice to hear from all of you, knowing y'all are out here living your true dreams are an inspiration.

The plans are still to sell the house, as excited as I am it still scares me something fierce.

 

[blkjak]

welcome .... blkjak

 

[VanTrekker]

<p>Welcome from Iowa...&nbsp;Austin, TX...&nbsp; What a great city!<br /><br />Oh, the Riverwalk... I love that restaurant called Dick's Last&nbsp; Resort.&nbsp; What a fun place!</p><p>V.T.</p>

 

[Guest]

Thank you everyone for responding an introducing yourself. Here is the latest on my situation, and here has been plenty of restless nights deciding and planning all of this.

I decided to try to refinance my house at these crazy low rates in order to rent it out and have a little surplus from the rent. It is being kept as an investment since I am still transitioning into this new lifestyle. That part being said, if I am unable to get the rates reduced, and I'll know by early next week I'm selling it immediately. The main difference short term; keep and rent means broke, buy whatever car or maybe a truck that I can afford and meet y'all out there with maybe a few pot stops. If I sell; it will mean shinier paint and a van is in the future with enough money to get wherever I so please. A large part of me hopes the financing doesn't work out : )

In any case I look forward to joining all of you and hopefully meeting some of you one day.

 

[Guest]

Oh crap I mean pit stops!

 

[Guest]

Cool, sounds like a plan, Stan...see ya there...enjoy whatever the universe brings you....<br />Bri

 

[Guest]

I AM DOING IT!!!! I have no posted much since I introduced myself but lots has happened. I put my house on the market 45 days ago, had lots of people look at it, had to low ball offers and the last one we came to a good agreement for both, better for them kinda. Anyway, we are under contract and scheduled to close by March 15th. Things can still happen to delay it or it could even bust but it could just as easily happen. So yes, I am close to coming out there to make some new friends and can't wait to meet y'all.

Time frame wise, it will be about 3 months or so before I shove off but in he meantime there are lots of hinge to do. One thing I expected, and could maybe use some help on. He emotions are sporadic and somewhat confusing. How did y'all deal with the reality of making the initial transition? All I can think that could help, and it sure does, is to remember why I am doig this in the first place. It helps smother my fears a little but I is still sad in some ways. I'm sure every one of you experienced this to some extent. Do you mind Sharon a few of your stories and maybe a quick sentence or two of advice?

For now I'm goin by Austinboat because that was my first email and it seems to have for at the time. In he near future I would love to adopt a road/trail name. Maybe some of y'all can help once I am out there and adapting to my new life. In a few ways I am starting over from scratch but I believe it's to live the life I am meant to ultimately live. Living our lives our way, it takes great strength to do that I think.

Austinboat

 

[blkjak]

<span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>welcome .... blkjak</strong></span>