I see vans everywhere now.

[phoenix900]

Didn't realize how MANY people are living in vans & Rvs in s cal until my last homelessness bout & now. We're all over! Hope to meet more of ya.

 

[Ryan24]

Yeah, it is really surprising once you are out there and see it first hand! Just means new friends to make with similar lifestyles!

 

[yesican]

<p>Its true...I never noticed ANY vandwellers before, and now I see many.&nbsp; You know...I wonder what else in life I'm missing because of ignorance?</p>

 

[Guest]

this is true. i never noticed them unless they were God-awful gawdy. now i see them all over. on my recent trip, i stopped in the orange store park lot in smallish town in the wee hours to rest a bit. there were a few big rigs, but a good many cars/vans also. and i am pretty sure they weren't all just traveling on vacation. it actually was comforting. i didn't feel alone in a strange town in a parking lot. there was a waffle house right there too. i think we will see more and more of this. i see want ads all the time now for peeps looking for vans they can live in.

 

[Guest]

also, at one park i stayed at for the night, a man came to collect the nights rent on a little golf cart, for the park. i just knew he was a work-kamper but didn't ask. just instinct i guess. there were signs at every state park offering work for the summer.

 

[byeceeya]

Maybe it would be a good idea (I've been wrong before) to have some kind of obscure "I.D." sticker to slap on a window or bumper, like "VDG" (Van Dweller's Group) or something, so when we do come across one another, we'd know they are one of us?<br>

 

[sl1966]

Here's the thing about van dwellers that occurred to me. You only notice the ones who fit the profile as you personally expect them to look like. Most people never notice the ones who don't fit that profile.<div><br></div>

 

[SoulRaven]

I try not to fit any profile other than just fitting in, trimmed beard, nice hair cut, and being clean dressed/bathed when entering the mystic world of reality... I need no hassles, questions, or looks down their nose at me... Just my personnel preference, keep out of plain site by blending in...<br><br>

Here's the thing about van dwellers that occurred to me. You only notice the ones who fit the profile as you personally expect them to look like. Most people never notice the ones who don't fit that profile.<div><br></div>

 

[sl1966]

I try not to fit any profile other than just fitting in, trimmed beard, nice hair cut, and being clean dressed/bathed when entering the mystic world of reality... I need no hassles, questions, or looks down their nose at me... Just my personnel preference, keep out of plain site by blending in...

<div><br></div><div>Yup Steve, that's the best way to do it! Reminds me of this quote ...</div><div><br></div><div><span style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">“Obscurity and a competence—that is the life that is best worth living.”&nbsp;</span><br style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">―&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1244.Mark_Twain" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 0); text-decoration: none; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " target="_blank">Samuel Clemens</a><span style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">,&nbsp;</span><i style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/2513337" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 0); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Notebook</a></i> </div>

 

[angeli]

If obscurity was Samuel Clemens' goal, it looks like he didn't live up to it!<br>

 

[sl1966]

If obscurity was Samuel Clemens' goal, it looks like he didn't live up to it!

<div><br></div><div>I can kind of &nbsp;agree with you, but he did write it under his Mark Twain pen name. I changed it to Samuel Clemens since that was his real name. The maxim isn't any less true given his rise to fame which gives it all due weight.</div><div><br></div><div><img border="0" align="absmiddle" src="https://vanlivingforum.com/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif"></div>

 

[Lucy]

Okay, story time (no offense to Mr. Clemens, but I'm going back to the OT). There's a Walmart about a mile and a half from my place that obviously allows overnighting. Ever since I started reading up on van-dwelling, every time I pass that Walmart I swing around the parking lot and just see if I can spot anybody.&nbsp;<div><br></div><div>There are these two conversion vans there, and ALWAYS there. I mean, for at least the last two months. They move from spot to spot but, day or night, they're always there. (And&nbsp;if I go by and one of the vans isn't there, I get worried about them. But they always come back by next time.)&nbsp;So I have no doubt people are living in that lot, but I figured it was just the two of them.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>So last night I was out at 10:30 PM, meeting a guy for a sale of one of my knickknacks on Craigslist. It's later than I usually go, so I figured I'd swing by and see what the late-night scene at the Walmart is like. And I was shocked. The back of the lot was FULL. RVs, vans, trucks, cars. People living in tiny old Subarus, clothes hanging in the windows, sleeping in the front seat. I would guess that maybe half of the people there might have been just passing through on vacation, or living where they were by choice.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Man, I don't get into politics and whatnot, but that was a seriously humbling sight. The economy is forcing this life on a lot more people than I realized. I only wish more of them knew to look up sites like this one and read about how many options they have.</div>

 

[Spirituallifetime]

I notice vehicles parking in many places and wonder if people are living in them also. Last winter I was parking at a truck stop for a couple of weeks I didn't want to pay for the gas to drive 50 miles &nbsp;to go home every day. Yesterday I did see a conversion van on I80 in northern Nevada with solar panels mounted on top. The only reason I knew they were solar panels I was in a semi truck looking down on them and could see how the cable went through the roof to the inside of the van.&nbsp;

 

[sidat202]

I see alot of people living in their cars here to. But alot of them don't look like they are doing it by choice.

 

[Pikachu711]

I saw alot of the same thing while I worked security. A property I was working was adjacent to a Walmart store. Over the&nbsp;months I was assigned there I started noticing the same vans, RV's, passenger cars, etc. in the parking lot. Some of the vehicles I came to recognize on a regular basis. It wasn't always the same vehicles but some spent too much time in one location. Now whenever I go to my local Walmart I drive around the parking lot to see if I can spot people camping there as well. I normally find&nbsp;anywhere from a few to a dozen or more any given day.<br /><br />Now that I'm a little more aware of the "tricks" to being a van dweller I can spot them that much easier. Amazing!

 

[Spirituallifetime]

Here in Northern NV there are a lot of job at the gold mines but not enough housing for people to live in. The RV parks are full in most places near the gold mines. Some people come to get jobs at the mines and don't get them so have to live in RV or car at walmart but some have jobs and no place to live. It's kind of rough in the winter here too, it can get real cold and lots of snow. It can get below 0 degrees here in the winter!&nbsp;