Greetings from Chicago!

[ghost-highway]

Hey Everyone,

I came across some of Bob's videos which lead me to this page, and I have been reading through it ever since. I figured it was about time I sign up for the forum and say hi. Like many others here I'm looking to downsize and actually start enjoying life. While I don't have a full plan in force yet, I just started the process of getting rid of the things I don't need (or never really needed in the first place) and I hope to start building up a van next year. While I've never been a full time nomad, I have spent over 20 years traveling across the country and abroad while I was more active with music. All of these trips were done in vans, involved sleeping on floors, camping, and figuring out were to do laundry and shower. Most of these trips were done in old vans past their prime that I had to keep running while on the road. (My last ride was a 93 GMC, Vandura shorty I loved dearly.)  So until I get it together, I thought it would be nice to get some inspiration from others here, offer some help and advice if I can, and get to know some of you.

Safe Travels - J

 

[highdesertranger]

Welcome ghost highway to the CRVL forums! 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. highdesertranger

 

[Wabbit]

Hi Ghost Highway and welcome. Nice to meet ya. If we ever meet over a camp fire, I can bang on a rock and you can jam with whatever instrument you do, and we can entertain the wildlife! I play a pretty mean rock, but most of the acoustics are from my skull(which is what I use to bang on rocks). Sounds OK I guess, although I hear more "ringing" than anything. Best of luck to you and hope everything goes smooth with your build out.

 

[michele0203]

Hi Ghost highway and fellow Chicago dweller! I found this site about a year ago and hope to make it to the RTR in January.

 

[FlowerGirl]

Hi Ghost-- Welcome! It sounds like you've got a lot of the hard part mastered already: learning how to keep an old van running, figuring out laundry and showers, getting acquainted with sleeping on floors or camping...It sounds like whenever you're ready to intentionally set out for your adventure, you can proceed confidently, knowing you know how to DO all this. And yeah, the downsizing might just be the hardest part ! But no undoable--  Anyways, welcome and I look forward to reading how your journey will start to take shape!

 

[ghost-highway]

Thanks for all the kind words, and it's nice to see someone else from Chicago on here. Just read through the info for the RTR and it would be nice to make it out for that to learn some things, get ideas and meet some of you all. Not sure what my January is looking like yet, but I'm already thinking about how to set up my Equinox to camp out of just in case.

 

[Queen]

Welcome! 'm from Champaign-Urbana but have lived in the city a couple of times and go there often, if I ever won the lottery I'd have a place on the Lake as a home base!

 

[ghost-highway]

I've been down to Champaign-Urbana many times, and these days you pretty much need to win the lottery to even pay rent in Chicago.

 

[Queen]

I've been down to Champaign-Urbana many times, and these days you pretty much need to win the lottery to even pay rent in Chicago.

I hear you.  My niece and her husband make a small fortune compared to any amount I've ever made, and they found it tough in the city.  Three bedroom loft (a one bedroom before they had a baby) was almost $3000 a month; they bought a house in Wheaton and even with the costs of living there and the taxes, it's close to a wash.

 

[ghost-highway]

That sounds about right. I actually have a friend who moved down near your area because it made more sense. He now owns a house with a nice backyard for less than what rent in the city cost. I moved out of my last place when the owner decided to "update" the place by painting and putting in a new fridge and doubled the rent. I'm pretty lucky were I'm at now, but the area is changing so it probably won't be long. Buildings are being bought, knocked down and turned into high price condos. Progress I guess????

 

[Queen]

Yeah, C-U is still very affordable. You can get a very nice house here for under $125,000, and if you just want a little 850 sqft two bedroom, they can be had for $80,000.  It's a very nice place to live, and things here are just easier than in the city, but I still feel the pull of the city often.

 

[Pebbles]

Hey, Howyadoin? Born & raised in Evanston, three words, PURPLE, and GO CUBS!