Hello

[Garrettwolf]

Greetings From Tennessee!! 

I am new to this sight and I am trying to learn all I can about this style of living, I currently live in a stick and brick I am researching vans and life on the road. 

I have ALOT of questions, few concerns. 

First let me introduce myself, my name is Ed, I'm 52, and tired of constant battle in American life. ( house payment, car payments , blah, blah , blah ) 

I hope to find myself, I feel I have led a false life, van dwelling has really struck a cord in my heart for some reason.

I am to young to retire, and I have limited funds as of now. I'm giving myself a yr to get into this lifestyle. 

Im curious about finding work on the road, traveling , taxes, insurance, fuel costs, break downs , hell, everything. Lol

Thanks for this wonderful site, 

All conversations are welcome, help me learn.,,

Sincerely,

Ed.  ( garrettwolf )

 

[Gunny]

Welcome Ed. It's a good place to meet friendly folks and get some sound advice.

 

[highdesertranger]

Welcome ED 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

 

[ArtW]

welcome Ed, I'm sure you'll get all the help you need here

 

[PathofAsha]

Greetings From Tennessee!! 

I am new to this sight and I am trying to learn all I can about this style of living, I currently live in a stick and brick I am researching vans and life on the road. 

I have ALOT of questions, few concerns. 

First let me introduce myself, my name is Ed, I'm 52, and tired of constant battle in American life. ( house payment, car payments , blah, blah , blah ) 

I hope to find myself, I feel I have led a false life, van dwelling has really struck a cord in my heart for some reason.

I am to young to retire, and I have limited funds as of now. I'm giving myself a yr to get into this lifestyle. 

Im curious about finding work on the road, traveling , taxes, insurance, fuel costs, break downs , hell, everything. Lol

Thanks for this wonderful site, 

All conversations are welcome, help me learn.,,

Sincerely,

Ed.  ( garrettwolf )

Welcome Ed, 

I'm new to this forum as well and about your same age. I don't think you should look at this way of life as retiring but as a different way of living. Trust the process. The hardest part, I think, was extracting oneself from the stuff. The rest will fall into place once you're out and about among your tribe. Meaning finding work, etc. 

Bob has some great videos on youtube and this website is full of tips and how to's. Just take your time. Get set up with a mail forwarding service first. (My tip) 

Also it might help to ask specific questions. Make a checklist, keep a notebook as the process evolves.

Hope to see you out there.

 

[Garrettwolf]

Welcome Ed, 

I'm new to this forum as well and about your same age. I don't think you should look at this way of life as retiring but as a different way of living. Trust the process. The hardest part, I think, was extracting oneself from the stuff. The rest will fall into place once you're out and about among your tribe. Meaning finding work, etc. 

Bob has some great videos on youtube and this website is full of tips and how to's. Just take your time. Get set up with a mail forwarding service first. (My tip) 

Also it might help to ask specific questions. Make a checklist, keep a notebook as the process evolves.

Hope to see you out there.

Thank you pathofasha, 

All great ideas, I have watched about every video, Bob has made, they are terrific, I did not mean to sound like I was retiring this way, not my intent at all. I was merely saying that I'm to young to retire so I will have to find income on the road. 

How long have you been on the road, and what setup do you currently have? 

Have you worked while traveling, or do you have a steady income ? 

Hope I'm not being too nosy 

Thanks ,

 Ed

 

[eDJ_]

Welcome to the CRVL Forum    

I think you can find everything you are looking for right here.  Just slowly immerse yourself into reading
the forum and going back into earlier threads and reading forward.   You may want to open a note pad document and save links to threads that you really like and contain info you feel is valuable to you to have
for quick reference.

I have a couple of sites below that may give you some ideas for a starting point.  One for building out an empty
Van and the other for planning where to go, where to stay, where you can relax, clean up,  change into clean clothes and much much more. 

So welcome to new beginnings for a new life and shedding all the old worries.

 

[rvpopeye]

Welcome aboard Ed!
Plenty of info here ,read and ask as you go along , a year is plenty of time or no time at all depending on how you look at it!

 

[DannyB1954]

If you follow this forum for a while, you will start to see how we really do spend a ton of money on things that we really don't need. Perhaps this insight will allow you to better prepare for your retirement. Vehicle dwelling by necessity limits what possessions you can haul around.
I lived a lot of my life in vehicles, (mostly boats). Today I live in a house but I can see that the more that I have the more burdens that I have to maintain them.
Welcome to the forum, welcome to the tribe.

 

[PathofAsha]

Thank you pathofasha, 

All great ideas, I have watched about every video, Bob has made, they are terrific, I did not mean to sound like I was retiring this way, not my intent at all. I was merely saying that I'm to young to retire so I will have to find income on the road. 

How long have you been on the road, and what setup do you currently have? 

Have you worked while traveling, or do you have a steady income ? 

Hope I'm not being too nosy 

Thanks ,

 Ed

Ed, 
I understand about the retirement comment. Apologies, my misunderstanding. Yes, finding an income of some kind is important and sometimes it's helpful to make connections like you're doing on this forum. 

I've been on the road on and off over the last 25 years after serving in the military. Workcamping during the summer and clerical/accounting during the winter. Ski resorts used to supply housing to employees, not sure about it now. Keep an open mind. Took a couple years off here and there to work at some high paying jobs. 
I'm now a disabled veteran and had to stop moving around a few years ago. Currently in a park model in southern CA. Although I'm less mobile, I'm still planning to get back out there, in a truck camper this time. 

It shouldn't be too difficult to make money. If you have a talent there's a website www.patreon.com to post your stuff and get "sponsors". 

If you own your house maybe think about renting it out to help fund your new life for awhile. Ideas...

Good luck

 

[PathofAsha]

Greetings From Tennessee!! 

I am new to this sight and I am trying to learn all I can about this style of living, I currently live in a stick and brick I am researching vans and life on the road. 

I have ALOT of questions, few concerns. 

First let me introduce myself, my name is Ed, I'm 52, and tired of constant battle in American life. ( house payment, car payments , blah, blah , blah ) 

I hope to find myself, I feel I have led a false life, van dwelling has really struck a cord in my heart for some reason.

I am to young to retire, and I have limited funds as of now. I'm giving myself a yr to get into this lifestyle. 

Im curious about finding work on the road, traveling , taxes, insurance, fuel costs, break downs , hell, everything. Lol

Thanks for this wonderful site, 

All conversations are welcome, help me learn.,,

Sincerely,

Ed.  ( garrettwolf )

Ed, 
Just to supply a link to my fav frugal travelers. Kevin and Ruth seem to have most things figured out. They work 3 months every summer in a Canadian park and travel the rest of the year. Enjoy.