Hope I get there

[AnonymousDog]

I'm not on the road yet but my wife and I have a 4 year plan to get there. Honestly I'd be out there now but but she needs more security such as a regular income so when I'm able to start drawing SS we'll hit the road.

If it were just me I'd be vanning it right now similar to what Bob and a lot you do. I don't need much and I prefer to travel light. The plan we have together is to full-time in a smaller Class C possibly. I'm tempted though to still get a van and trick it out to be self contained for solo camping trips until then. Maybe that way I can still get my kicks in until we can make the full-time leap.

I guess I'm worried that by the time I get going there will be much more restrictions on being a nomad. I'm seeing more and more articles about crackdowns on BLM land and boondocking areas and other aspects of the nomadic life that will suck the fun out of the lifestyle. Plus with all the Instagramming and Youtubing going on crowding is looking like a problem. I'm not out there though so I don't know what it's really like. I just know that I want to get there.

Anyways, I love this site and all the discussion and info here. You keep me going. Can't wait to get going though and maybe meet a few of sometime.

--Kev

 

[highdesertranger]

everybody and their brother advertising it and trying to make a buck off of it doesn't help. highdesertranger

 

[B and C]

I feel your pain, I am stuck for another reason. If you have the means, making a van for yourself (and the wife doesn't object) sounds reasonable. Do some solo camping and traveling to get your feet wet. You'll be an ol' pro by the time it comes for the real deal.

Seems the internet brings the bad with the good.

 

[AnonymousDog]

I get that people need to make a living to pay bills but these "Instagrammers" and "Influencers" really rub me the wrong way. I read an article recently about a guy who ran an ice cream truck that got so tired of the influencers asking for free ice cream in return for a post that he put a sign up saying "Influencers pay double". Good for him.

I do some mild extended trips in my SUV occasionally but need a little more space than that. Just being able to sit up without banging my head would be an improvement.

 

[Qxxx]

I guess I'm worried that by the time I get going there will be much more restrictions on being a nomad. I'm seeing more and more articles about crackdowns on BLM land and boondocking areas and other aspects of the nomadic life that will suck the fun out of the lifestyle. 

Dear Mr Dog, do not worry about this sort of flash hysteria. There are always local problems with squatters and rule breakers, especially in and around cities, but you'll likely not be RVing there. The wide open spaces beckon. 

Look at the broader picture. The RV industry overall has over $100 billion impact on the economy. That's what you'll joining, not a bunch of squatters throwing their crap in the street. I just returned from 5 weeks driving through WA, MT, and ID, and RVs were everywheres, and in many places there were RVs boondocking. I was the tiny exception, camping in my van. At Quartzsite in the winter, there are 100,000 RVs, and even at RTR, there were mostly genuine RVs, Van nomads are a drop in the bucket. I've boondocked all over AZ and SoCal, and the vast majority around were commercially built RVs. Do not worry, be happy, make your plans. No one is going to quash a $100 billion industry because of a few idiots here and there who lack common sense.

https://www.rvia.org/business-indicators

 

[AnonymousDog]

Not being able to experience it first hand has an impact on my perspective. I'm sure the reality of is not as dire as I might imagine it to be.

 

[annabell]

I feel your pain, I am stuck for another reason.  

Why are you stuck? July in Houston would not be my dream situation, for sure.

 

[Qxxx]

Not being able to experience it first hand has an impact on my perspective. I'm sure the reality of is not as dire as I might imagine it to be.

Dog, I surmise from your first post above and talk of a Class-C that you're working towards a more or less regular retirement, and not in a situation where you've lost everything and must contemplate living on the street with nothing. 

You might get a better perspective for your personal situation if you go to one of the more mainstream RV forums, where people have made a more or less smooth transition from S&B to retirement in an RV, and have the wherewithal for some years of travel. Those are the sort of experiences you want to absorb at this point in time. You will notice some threads here are so full of hysteria and conspiracy talk that the moderators have to "routinely" shut them down due to abject frustration.

 

[B and C]

Why are you stuck? July in Houston would not be my dream situation, for sure.

My wife has dementia and I am her primary care taker.  Our plan was to leave after Christmas and come back by Thanksgiving.  Those plans got derailed the first year.  Houston is not the place to be from about June 1st to Halloween.  Scorchers.

 

[AnonymousDog]

B and C, sorry to hear about your situation. My mother had dementia and it's a terrible disease.

 

[AnonymousDog]

Dog, I surmise from your first post above and talk of a Class-C that you're working towards a more or less regular retirement, and not in a situation where you've lost everything and must contemplate living on the street with nothing. 

You might get a better perspective for your personal situation if you go to one of the more mainstream RV forums, where people have made a more or less smooth transition from S&B to retirement in an RV, and have the wherewithal for some years of travel. Those are the sort of experiences you want to absorb at this point in time. You will notice some threads here are so full of hysteria and conspiracy talk that the moderators have to "routinely" shut them down due to abject frustration.

Geez, if I didn't know any better I'd think you were telling me to take a hike.

Actually I think I fit in with the mindset of a lot of the people here. Just because we may travel in a different kind of vehicle makes no difference. We're not going to be one those retirees living comfortably off our savings. We do have a little saved up but we're going to have work to live just like I think a lot of the people here have to do. I spend a lot of time in the Money Matters forum for ideas on how to it.

 

[lenny flank]

 July in Houston would not be my dream situation, for sure.

I spent a month in Houston during the winter. It rains there in winter. A lot.

 

[Elbear1]

Heres me thinking outloud. This stuff is a trend right now. Its actually just beginning to wane. At least 30-40% are just "living it up" especially the 20-30 somethings. This isnt a socio-economic, philisophical, political ideal. Its hot babes on instagram cool.

And not to be macbre but the older crowd are not going to be around or able relatively soon. Because of baby boomer demographics being what they are of course were seeing a popularity explosion there.

The best we can do is fight the harrassment of public land and be a good steward for now. There's about 600 million acres of public lands, you have the right to enjoy them. In fact the popularity of them might just be their saving grace.

 

[MrNoodly]

...but she needs more security such as a regular income...

So start developing that now. Then, even if you don't end up on the road you'll have that income.

 

[Qxxx]

We're not going to be one those retirees living comfortably off our savings. We do have a little saved up but we're going to have work to live just like I think a lot of the people here have to do. I spend a lot of time in the Money Matters forum for ideas on how to it.

Naw, I wasn't implying you should leave, sounds like you are pretty much in the middle moneywise. I can't help much with money matters after retirement, other than that there are thousands of camp hosts all over the west. Many times that of the number of "cheap RVers" around here. The local segment is really insignificant, as compared to the total number of RVers and campers out there. With 100,000 RVs around Quartzsite in the winter, do you think they worry about a few at RTR? They're happy to take whatever money you give them.

But you started out this thread with the following comment, which I think is vastly overblown, as indicated by the stats I gave. Namely RVing is a $100 billion a year business, and just because a few idiots are causing some trouble here and there, and it's being blown out of proportion, the world isn't going to be shutdown.

I guess I'm worried that by the time I get going there will be much more restrictions on being a nomad. 

In my 2 years of traveling around part-time in my van, camping and boondocking in 7 states in the west, I've seen not much besides a lot of happy people enjoying life. Fulltime RVers have been around far longer than this forum.

 

[AnonymousDog]

So start developing that now. Then, even if you don't end up on the road you'll have that income.

Working on that. Haven't nailed anything down yet but hope to eventually.

Naw, I wasn't implying you should leave, sounds like you are pretty much in the middle moneywise...[snip]

I got that. I really didn't think you wanted me gone. I guess I'm the type of guy that enjoys something but when it starts to get popular, I start to lose interest. That hasn't happened here though. The urge to go is stronger now than it's ever been. But I'd hate to see the few bad apples ruin it for the rest of us.

 

[Qxxx]

But I'd hate to see the few bad apples ruin it for the rest of us.

Not gonna happen. Bob wells continually gets the question in his live chats, and pooh-poohs it. Look at the statistics,

8 million RVers, $100 billion industry.

1000 times more than maybe 8,000 people on this forum

A few idiots here and there with no sense whatsoever, and who trash everything they see. Idiots have been around since the beginning of time. Go out and enjoy the world, and forget about the sky falling. That's what I'm doing.

 

[AnonymousDog]

That's good to hear. Thanks.