The point wasn't to spend as much time in front of monitors as possible. It was that there are times in my life where I need to retreat and be away from people. (Basically, I'm trying to manage a lite un-diagnosed agoraphobia) sometimes for as long as 6 months, sometimes it can be a couple years, but usually just for a week or a few days.
Ho boy, things are starting to move fast and I'm getting really nervous & anxious.
- Thread starter morkani
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tx2sturgis said:
FYI: I do make money off this. Just that I don't need it anymore as a source of income so I call it a hobby. I used to survive off it. It was another way of trying to manage my trepidation of being around other people. It was a way for me to do so online. My audience actually finds me very entertaining and I take comfort in that. It helps give me encouragement. I'd rather not quit this. But it comes at a price. I wind up spending a lot of time indoors. I've done a few live streams which I enjoy (fishing streams and the like, I did one 30 day trip around the country 2 years ago in a live stream) & had planned on combining the best of both worlds. Letting me stream when I needed to retreat, and explore my environment & do live streams when I did not feel afraid to go out and about.
Even though most of bobs videos promote the used rv's opposed to new ones, I have seen some of his video's where he talks about how RV's aren't designed to be lived in and will have the same pest & mold & other issues involved with living in a RV thats designed to be used a few times a year. This was why I wanted to build myself. Either box truck, schoolie, or renovate an RV. of those 3, the box truck seemed most likely to be able to fit what I wanted.
I have now been convinced this was a fools errand (which actually, is why I came to these forums in the first place. So thanks for this everyone
. ) I will be looking for other ways to live a life I prefer instead.Turtlelady
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Hi, Morkani.
This is an interesting thread. IMHO, you have been given a lot of good advice. It never ceases to amaze me how kind, patient, knowledgeable and interesting folks on this forum are. I admire your courage to launch yourself. You headed out confident that you could land on your feet. You made a wise choice to join the campfire here and introduce yourself candidly, asking for specific advice. Please keep us updated.
My questions for you: What kind of vehicle do you currently drive? Have you ever been to the Phoenix, and Quartzsite area? Are you retired? Over 55? Would you consider living in a mobile home community for a time while exploring nearby desert and future vehicle options? You seem willing to travel pretty far for the perfect vehicle and new life.
We have a family friend who moved from "the East" to the Phoenix area. After a brief month to month rental period to learn the area, they bought a ready to move in NICE older mobile trailer home for very little money, and paid a "lot rent" of less than $400 a month. I was shocked at this option. After subsequent visits to this friend, I realized the overall yearly expense was a bargain for a lovely, comfortable home in a safe, very pleasant location with desirable amenities of community and proximity to adventures in nature of many types. It was in a very well maintained but not fancy gated over 55 community with a pool, exercise room, social hall, laundry facilities, The mobile homes seemed close together for my sensibilities, but the folks there knew how to respect privacy and when and how to show concern, etc. They were from all over the USA and beyond. No mowing the grass![font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif] [/font][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif] [/font]
In time my friend decided to buy a motorhome and hit the road. The exit strategy was relatively easy. The trailer sold quickly. There is apparently a lot of turnover and units come up for sale often on short notice. Seeing first hand was believing for me. Visiting these communities, touring units for sale and visiting several of the many RV sales lots for used and new vehicles was helpful to clarify our needs and fears. There is a wide range of types of communities and rental lots in the wider Phoenix area. I am happy to have filed them in my future options playbook. Recently I was advised of a community that has well equipped special interest workshops. I plan to visit there when traveling is safer and the stars align.
For now we have stayed in our sticks and bricks as home base for hubby's health needs. We bought a short wheelbase hightop commercial Cargo Van for traveling & adventuring to meet my current business and getaway needs. At 8' 9" the height of my van limits my options sometimes in the daily errands runs -- mostly lately at drive up window locations. Our van can pull a trailer in the future if needed. But realistically, as an aging driver, I don't think I will likely ever use it to do that with anything very big unless I hire a hotshot driver to relocate a trailer for me.
I bid you happy discoveries as you explore the many options for this next chapter of your story.
This is an interesting thread. IMHO, you have been given a lot of good advice. It never ceases to amaze me how kind, patient, knowledgeable and interesting folks on this forum are. I admire your courage to launch yourself. You headed out confident that you could land on your feet. You made a wise choice to join the campfire here and introduce yourself candidly, asking for specific advice. Please keep us updated.
My questions for you: What kind of vehicle do you currently drive? Have you ever been to the Phoenix, and Quartzsite area? Are you retired? Over 55? Would you consider living in a mobile home community for a time while exploring nearby desert and future vehicle options? You seem willing to travel pretty far for the perfect vehicle and new life.
We have a family friend who moved from "the East" to the Phoenix area. After a brief month to month rental period to learn the area, they bought a ready to move in NICE older mobile trailer home for very little money, and paid a "lot rent" of less than $400 a month. I was shocked at this option. After subsequent visits to this friend, I realized the overall yearly expense was a bargain for a lovely, comfortable home in a safe, very pleasant location with desirable amenities of community and proximity to adventures in nature of many types. It was in a very well maintained but not fancy gated over 55 community with a pool, exercise room, social hall, laundry facilities, The mobile homes seemed close together for my sensibilities, but the folks there knew how to respect privacy and when and how to show concern, etc. They were from all over the USA and beyond. No mowing the grass![font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif] [/font][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif] [/font]
In time my friend decided to buy a motorhome and hit the road. The exit strategy was relatively easy. The trailer sold quickly. There is apparently a lot of turnover and units come up for sale often on short notice. Seeing first hand was believing for me. Visiting these communities, touring units for sale and visiting several of the many RV sales lots for used and new vehicles was helpful to clarify our needs and fears. There is a wide range of types of communities and rental lots in the wider Phoenix area. I am happy to have filed them in my future options playbook. Recently I was advised of a community that has well equipped special interest workshops. I plan to visit there when traveling is safer and the stars align.
For now we have stayed in our sticks and bricks as home base for hubby's health needs. We bought a short wheelbase hightop commercial Cargo Van for traveling & adventuring to meet my current business and getaway needs. At 8' 9" the height of my van limits my options sometimes in the daily errands runs -- mostly lately at drive up window locations. Our van can pull a trailer in the future if needed. But realistically, as an aging driver, I don't think I will likely ever use it to do that with anything very big unless I hire a hotshot driver to relocate a trailer for me.
I bid you happy discoveries as you explore the many options for this next chapter of your story.
morkani said:
Ok, none of this information was presented before, or at least I dont remember it.
If you need some kind of mobile nomad studio/workspace/office then that is a whole nother situation.
But still, trying to build this extreme system, and some of that in a Lowes or Home Depot parking lot, seems like it will not be easy, on top of all the other hurdles.
Good luck with whatever you end up with.
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][size=small][size=small][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Turtlelady said:
I live in such a small town, & leave the house so infreque[/font][/size][/font][/size][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][size=small][size=small][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]ntly (& just use public transportation on those occasions)[/font][/size][/font][/size][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][size=small][size=small][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif], I do not drive or have a vehicle[/font][/size][/font][/size][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][size=small][size=small][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]. Although I do have a license. I just stopped driving about 2 years ago to save $$ on insurance.[/font][/size][/font][/size]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][size=small][size=small][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I don't believe I've ever been to Phoenix or the Quartzsite area. I am retired I guess you could say, but I still enjoy doing things. I'm just not punching a 9-5 anymore. Not over 55.[/font][/size][/font][/size]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][size=small][size=small][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I've been reconsidering what i'm going to do, since my original plans were forming around that box truck. My house is under contract right now, I technically could break it. I think I loose some money if I do. But tbh.....I REALLY want to get out of my neighborhood/city/state. Current events have me feeling pretty unsafe in my neck of the woods & I think i'm going to go through with the house sale. I was thinking I would just rent a place in an area where I felt more comfortable and maybe do something later down the road. [/font][/size][/font][/size]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][size=small][size=small][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]But then I started to realize that this might actually be a good position to be in. Liquid, already tossed most of my useless stuff, not even a car. I could do as has been suggested & go ahead and get a decent van. [size=small][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]When I get depressed and need to shelter, I can just rent someplace and do so with the van parked. When I'm feeling better, I can just pack up the van and go. [/font]I was also thinking of those hightops & I think they have some 4x4 when I looked at penske ones. I'll need a vehicle anyway. I just hope I can find something suitable in the amount of time it takes for the house to close. [/font][/size][/size][/font][/size]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][size=small][size=small][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I'[/font][/size][/font][/size][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]m sacrificing some of the live streaming I would want to do on the road, but I could still do some fishing streams and the sort w[/font][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]ith the proper gear, but as has been pointed out, I'm gaining so much more.[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I think the most difficult adjustment will be air conditioning....like, to the point i'm wondering how bad it would be to leave the van on all night so the van's AC can cool down the cargo area. Primarily when sleeping though. If it's humid or warm, I do not sleep well at all, usually staying up all night. I swear though I've seen some video's of AC in van's which are more reasonable goals, so I just gotta check that out.
[/font]Yea, I'm familiar with those 55+ communities. It's deceivingly cheap to buy those homes because of those HOA fee's. I had planned to either find the van and let that choose where I start looking for a place to rent. Or I was going to look for something in Oregon, (I liked looking at Eugene). But yea, I was open to anywhere. I liked the idea of the "free bird".
highdesertranger
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if you have wheels just drive to where you don't need AC. where I am in eastern Oregon it's been a down right cool summer, you don't need AC here for sure. I mean that's one of the reasons for living in your vehicle is so that you can go to where the weather is comfortable. I was using my winter sleeping bag up until 1 month ago. highdesertranger
