caseyc
Well-known member
Well, now I've done it! I gave my 30 days notice to vacate my apartment. Now I'm committed! The count down timer begins!
I had been thinking about doing this for the past couple months, but distractions got in the way. I had been prepping and modifying my van for over 2 years, and it's finally done and is about as comfortable as I can make it.
The thing that made it harder for me to make the decision to leave my apartment is that it would be difficult for me to get another apartment for the same current monthly rate, which is lower than the current market because I've been there for past several years. That's why I know once I make the commitment to do this full time, I'm going to be doing this for an indefinite amount of time, which means aaaaawwwwhile short of a big pay increase or winning the lottery.
As soon as I leave my current apartment, I know the landlord will jack up the monthly rate by several hundred dollars easily. Honestly, I'm having a hard time even keeping up with the current (lower) rate without slowing getting myself deeper in the hole every month. I used to make decent amount of income, but lately it's been on the decline.
At the least, I will pretty much stay close to the neighborhood which I'm used to. Only major hassle is having to move and park the vehicle regularly, as in every day. Oh well, at this point, I'd rather move the vehicle every day than paying rent. I'll be doing the urban boondocking thing, if that's the right terminology. I won't be leaving city life any time soon. I prefer the city versus being in the boonies.
I already renewed my gym membership so that I'll have a place to shower and clean up. Actually, I'll be signing up for 2 different gyms. One gym is nearby my neighborhood for easy access. The other gym is a chain so I can visit a gym most anywhere. It's also important that I have a gym in different locations that's open 24 hours everyday, which makes things easier.
Although I have plenty of stoves and cooking supplies, I pretty much won't be cooking in my van. I'll be eating outside pretty much all the time. Yes, I know that gets expensive, but I have lots of choices that are relatively low cost. I won't be going to McDonalds or other fast food places, by the way, haha!
About the only thing I will "cook" in the van is boiling water for coffee or tea, haha! Maybe the only other thing I'll cook is Chunky soup in a can (or Progresso soup), which I really like. It's easy and filling, especially for a quick snack. I have a butane stove that's very portable and compact, plus a very small pot large enough for the content of a soup can.
As for places to simply hang out before going "home to the van" at night, I have plenty of choices, such as the park, the mall, libraries, downtown shops, etc. I don't really like going directly from work to the van, mostly cuz I'd be bored probably. Plus my van has limited space so I start to feel "closed in" and constrained if I stay inside too long. Hence I'd rather be outside and about among people.
I've already created a spreadsheet of what I'll be saving by not paying monthly rent. In one year's time, I will have saved over $14,000 by not paying rent to the landlord. Instead, I will deposit that amount into my savings. It's important for me to replenish my savings because over the past several years, I had been laid off my jobs a few times and used up too much savings.
I'm also at a point in my life that I'm realizing if I had to rely soley on social security income on retirement, that amount won't be enough to even pay monthly rent, let alone paying for anything else. That in fact does worry me about the future. Rent keeps increasing, including cost of living for everything. So finding a method to adapt to this eventuality is important.
I sometimes wish I had something like a RoadTrek that is fully self contained, plus is tall enough to stand up. But for now, I'm content with my modified conversion van. Maybe one day if I have enough funds saved up in the future, I might splurge for a RoadTrek 170 van. I can always dream, haha!
Additionally, I had been dating someone I met recently. This too made it more challenging for me to make a decision to leave my apartment. What if she thinks I've gone bonkers?! That was something I wondered about, even worried about a bit. But in the end, I decided I need to do what is right for me despite whatever outcome or residual collateral effect might occur.
Lastly, it was a good thing I went to the recent RTR Quartzsite event. That gave me a chance to see that others are already doing the same thing. All those peeps at RTR seemed normal to me.
I'm encouraged that others before me already had the courage to do this full time. Now it's my turn!
Well, that's about enough for now. These are the thoughts going through my mind at this current time. It's pretty much impossible to share these same thoughts with anyone else in my circles, cuz they simply wouldn't understand. Hence I'm sharing these thoughts with you guys here on this forum.
I had been thinking about doing this for the past couple months, but distractions got in the way. I had been prepping and modifying my van for over 2 years, and it's finally done and is about as comfortable as I can make it.
The thing that made it harder for me to make the decision to leave my apartment is that it would be difficult for me to get another apartment for the same current monthly rate, which is lower than the current market because I've been there for past several years. That's why I know once I make the commitment to do this full time, I'm going to be doing this for an indefinite amount of time, which means aaaaawwwwhile short of a big pay increase or winning the lottery.
As soon as I leave my current apartment, I know the landlord will jack up the monthly rate by several hundred dollars easily. Honestly, I'm having a hard time even keeping up with the current (lower) rate without slowing getting myself deeper in the hole every month. I used to make decent amount of income, but lately it's been on the decline.
At the least, I will pretty much stay close to the neighborhood which I'm used to. Only major hassle is having to move and park the vehicle regularly, as in every day. Oh well, at this point, I'd rather move the vehicle every day than paying rent. I'll be doing the urban boondocking thing, if that's the right terminology. I won't be leaving city life any time soon. I prefer the city versus being in the boonies.
I already renewed my gym membership so that I'll have a place to shower and clean up. Actually, I'll be signing up for 2 different gyms. One gym is nearby my neighborhood for easy access. The other gym is a chain so I can visit a gym most anywhere. It's also important that I have a gym in different locations that's open 24 hours everyday, which makes things easier.
Although I have plenty of stoves and cooking supplies, I pretty much won't be cooking in my van. I'll be eating outside pretty much all the time. Yes, I know that gets expensive, but I have lots of choices that are relatively low cost. I won't be going to McDonalds or other fast food places, by the way, haha!
About the only thing I will "cook" in the van is boiling water for coffee or tea, haha! Maybe the only other thing I'll cook is Chunky soup in a can (or Progresso soup), which I really like. It's easy and filling, especially for a quick snack. I have a butane stove that's very portable and compact, plus a very small pot large enough for the content of a soup can.
As for places to simply hang out before going "home to the van" at night, I have plenty of choices, such as the park, the mall, libraries, downtown shops, etc. I don't really like going directly from work to the van, mostly cuz I'd be bored probably. Plus my van has limited space so I start to feel "closed in" and constrained if I stay inside too long. Hence I'd rather be outside and about among people.
I've already created a spreadsheet of what I'll be saving by not paying monthly rent. In one year's time, I will have saved over $14,000 by not paying rent to the landlord. Instead, I will deposit that amount into my savings. It's important for me to replenish my savings because over the past several years, I had been laid off my jobs a few times and used up too much savings.
I'm also at a point in my life that I'm realizing if I had to rely soley on social security income on retirement, that amount won't be enough to even pay monthly rent, let alone paying for anything else. That in fact does worry me about the future. Rent keeps increasing, including cost of living for everything. So finding a method to adapt to this eventuality is important.
I sometimes wish I had something like a RoadTrek that is fully self contained, plus is tall enough to stand up. But for now, I'm content with my modified conversion van. Maybe one day if I have enough funds saved up in the future, I might splurge for a RoadTrek 170 van. I can always dream, haha!
Additionally, I had been dating someone I met recently. This too made it more challenging for me to make a decision to leave my apartment. What if she thinks I've gone bonkers?! That was something I wondered about, even worried about a bit. But in the end, I decided I need to do what is right for me despite whatever outcome or residual collateral effect might occur.
Lastly, it was a good thing I went to the recent RTR Quartzsite event. That gave me a chance to see that others are already doing the same thing. All those peeps at RTR seemed normal to me.
I'm encouraged that others before me already had the courage to do this full time. Now it's my turn! Well, that's about enough for now. These are the thoughts going through my mind at this current time. It's pretty much impossible to share these same thoughts with anyone else in my circles, cuz they simply wouldn't understand. Hence I'm sharing these thoughts with you guys here on this forum.
