Greetings from Minnesota

[amygdala1]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Greetings, All--[/font]
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Happy to have found this space as I get ready to pull the full-time nomad trigger in 2022. Looking to make some friends and contribute to the amazing community I've come to learn about while watching YT videos and reading what people so generously share about their lives on the road.

Several summers in high school in the mountains of Montana and Wyoming was what first hooked me on the freedom of having everything I needed in my backpack. 40-some years later, I'm preparing for a life well-lived from a hard-sided tent. Mine will be a Prius, given that what jazzes me is reliability, superior gas mileage and that fabulous built-in generator.

Living and traveling in Europe for three years when I first got out of college proved to me how well public transportation could be done, and I promised myself that one day, I would end up somewhere with a transit system that would allow me to live that way in this country.

That opportunity presented itself in 2012 and since then I have been car-free, experimenting with intentional living situations involving renting rooms from friends. This has allowed me to sock away cash for retirement that would have been spent on car ownership and upkeep. While I am privileged to want to be on the road and I am blessed with great health, my finances in this precarious economy plus my preferences for freedom all point to choosing this solution for myself. Once I hit the road, obviously I will flip to sticks-and-bricks-free instead.

I fully committed to my exit-from-conventional-culture plan in August of 2019. In addition to intentional community living, being a hammock sleeper, an unschooling proponent (I'm a former public school teacher), a Community Rights follower and a slow/real food eater, all make embracing the alternative, full-time nomad existence pretty much a natural next-step for me.

Since this fall I've practiced camping a few times in a Prius; gotten rid of the little furniture I still owned; downsized and focused the possessions I have toward my goal instead of just buying more "stuff"; experimented with different types of non-electric cooking methods and freeze-dried foods; ordered maps from my local DNR for dispersed camping locations near me to try out next summer; familiarized myself with the year-round snowbird concept of climbing altitude in summer and hanging out in the desert in the winter; and limited my collection of road gear to a 6' X 6' shelving unit. If it doesn't fit in there, it's not coming with me.

I'd love to attend the RTR/WRTR this year, but I'm just not ready yet; 2021 for sure! I will be in Tucson for a week in March of 2020 and plan to explore nomad spaces as much as possible then.

I'm envisioning doing mostly boondocking in urban and natural settings while I see what I haven't yet seen of this great country and visit with friends and family for the first year or so. I teach classes that I want to offer in person in the various locations that I love and want to return to on a regular basis, so I am starting to establish relationships with venues that will be interested in hosting me. After that, wherever the road takes me is just fine with me. 

I'm a single cis female, would entertain a relationship with a fellow nomad at some point, but what I'm really looking forward to is friendships with my travelin' brothers and sisters while we all benefit from and respect Mother Nature's bounty.     

Thanks for your time, and I look forward to getting to know you while we support each other in the lifestyle we're building. [/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Cheers![/font]

 

[highdesertranger]

Welcome Amy to the CRVL forums! To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips, Tricks and Rules" post lists some helpful information to get you started.

Most of our rules boil down to two simple over-riding principles: 1) What you post should provide good information (like your introductory post), and 2) Any response to someone else's post should make them feel glad they are part of this forum community.

We look forward to hearing more from you.

highdesertranger

 

[txmnjim]

welcome to the forum! i'm also in MN (Rochester) and leaning toward a vehicle
like a Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna when we make the move for the reliability
and gas mileage. i expect in 5 years, when we can take off, the price of gas will be
quite a strain on our limited resources. happy trails!
jim

 

[Gardenias]

Welcome!

 

[amygdala1]

Thank you, highdesertranger and Gardenias. 

Thanks, txmnjim. Good to know there's some other folks from the tundra here. Are there any real-life get-togethers in the state that you are aware of where people to get to know each other and talk about their plans/travels? Or maybe htis question belongs in a different thread.

 

[txmnjim]

none that i'm aware of. that would be cool though if we built this movement
up to where each state had it's own chapters and get-togethers...

 

[sleepydogtravels]

A woman assigned the title of female at birth, so not trans. Because she's using the phrase, it's generally safe to assume that she has an open mind and open heart without prejudice

 

[Gardenias]

I had to look cis up too. After reading the meaning, it seemed redundant; though, maybe for some, it's an important distinction?

 

[amygdala1]

Thanks, everyone, for the welcoming good wishes.

Gardenia, it is an important distinction. My choosing to name my gender is something I learned as an inclusive practice, in addition to stating what personal pronouns I prefer to be addressed by (she, her, hers), to acknowledge that I understand that people exist who don't identify that way, and I honor their situations by bringing attention to the diversity present in every room, whether we realize it's there or not. 

Thank you for your kind words, sleepydogtravels; keeping an open mind is not the easiest thing to do in this world, and if I manage to pull it off on occasion, then I'm doing alright.

txmnjim, I think I'm going to start a thread for Minnesota folks to see who would be interested in getting together throughout the year, and if anyone is interested in doing some dispersed camping together next summer. There are some great spots in national forest land near your neck of the woods, no?

 

[txmnjim]

txmnjim, I think I'm going to start a thread for Minnesota folks to see who would be interested in getting together throughout the year, and if anyone is interested in doing some dispersed camping together next summer. There are some great spots in national forest land near your neck of the woods, no?

no, the national forests are mostly in the northeast. we have some nice state parks and such.
we went to Mille Lacs this fall, but up by Duluth are some nice areas with dispersed camping...
and summer is definitely the time to do it

 

[badmotorscooter]

I watched Suanne's video on living in a Prius quite some time ago. You probably already saw that one. So I did a search on YouTube and came up with tons more!

Here is a link of the search, plenty to choose from:

https://m.youtube.com/results?search_query=Living+in+a+prius

 

[amygdala1]

Here is a link of the search, plenty to choose from:

Thanks, badmotorscooter, that was very kind of you! Yes, Suanne is my hero in Prius hard-sided tent living; I rewatch her videos every few months to lock in the knowledge. I actually hung out with one of those folks in the search results, David, a few years ago here in Minnesota--so cool to meet folks in person.

OK, I give up; I've searched everywhere I can think of to figure out how to create a signature to add to my posts. Can you help a fellow society-opt-outer, badmotorscooter?

 

[amygdala1]

no, the national forests are mostly in the northeast. we have some nice state parks and such.
we went to Mille Lacs this fall, but up by Duluth are some nice areas with dispersed camping...
and summer is definitely the time to do it

Ah, yes--I am still finding a place in my brain for the dichotomies of state/national and parks/forests. 

I contacted the DNR and got some paper maps for Hay Creek Unit in the Richard J. Dorer State Forest, and Sand Dunes State Forest for dispersed camping. That's what I was referring to in my own mind   Have you been to either of those spots?

 

[B and C]

OK, I give up; I've searched everywhere I can think of to figure out how to create a signature to add to my posts. Can you help a fellow society-opt-outer, badmotorscooter?

When you have 10 posts it will show up under your user CP.  Oh, and welcome.

 

[badmotorscooter]

Well, someone beat me to it...

 

[amygdala1]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I get it. Now I just need to craft a clever but subtle tagline to have in the wings.

Thanks, Brian, and no worries, badmoterscooter, we're all in this together, right?

 

[wayne49]

Six posts down, four more to go.

 

[amygdala1]

I'll try to make them count 

 

[txmnjim]

Ah, yes--I am still finding a place in my brain for the dichotomies of state/national and parks/forests. 

I contacted the DNR and got some paper maps for Hay Creek Unit in the Richard J. Dorer State Forest, and Sand Dunes State Forest for dispersed camping. That's what I was referring to in my own mind   Have you been to either of those spots?

driven through the Dorer SF many times and hiked through Beaver Creek SP. its quite a beautiful area.
mostly hill tops are SF and base is private property, so not as much camping areas as you might think.
as the info says, "The RJD Memorial Hardwood Forest is unique in that the state does not own
most of the land. In fact, the state only owns 45,000 acres out of the 1 million acres covered
by the forest."

 

[amygdala1]

"In fact, the state only owns 45,000 acres out of the 1 million acres covered by the forest."

Lol!! They say that like it's a good thing. 

I wonder who, or what piece of paper, feels entitled to all that land.....

Well, this shall not deter me from my mission. Tell me I can't do something, and just watch.