I'm failing at Van Dwelling

[Steve1950]

Where I live there are quite a few apartment complexes for low income seniors and families. The building I'm in rents for less than $600/mo. and you have to be low income to get in, but later if your income rises, you can stay. It is only 6 years old and very, very nice with all energy saving features and appliances. A lot of people here qualify for a subsidized rate so their rent is even less.

You are doing the same thing I am. I too live in a low income apartment. I only pay $225 a month. They are available in most counties and sometimes there are waiting lists but you just have to keep applying at as many as you can. Eventually something will come available. It's so comforting to have a safe and comfortable place to live that I can afford.
She needs to start looking into these. She will be so much more comfortable.

 

[bullfrog]

I have to say I admire your courage to confront you problems. Many would have quit by now, it is a special person that can keep on keeping on seeing just how far they can go beyond what they thought they could. Maybe you just might make it yet. Best wishes, keep trying to make it not as bad as it seems!

 

[RoamerRV428]

So sorry you got so sick. I sure hope you are improved now!

Sometimes it is good to scream, kick something, rant and rave and have a monster good cry about crap that goes down in our lives. Life won't ever be simple. Sure we have 'sail thru' days of bliss but most of everyone's days have that blip in them that drive us batty. I truly hope things settle for ya and you find a nice safe spot to land and regroup.

 

[WanderingRose]

Being ill while traveling is especially difficult because of the extra tasks involved in daily living.

You want to just curl up and sip tea, when you can get yourself off the toilet and a bucket out of your hands, but it’s not that simple.

Add to minimally caring for yourself, a pet that can’t just be turned loose out the back door.

In my much more situationally stressed and agitated times, I had some periods of IBS and what were probably gall bladder attacks that were near crippling, and what you experienced sounds similar, Headache. Severe cramping and sitting on the toilet, while vomiting violently into a bucket.

I carried a generic anti-diarrheal with me at all times. Thankfully, those years have passed.

May you now be past this difficult trial, and have a safe and uneventful trip to AZ.

Whatever nurtures and soothes you, make some time for that when you get where you can sit comfortably for a few days.

Safe journey.

 

[Headache]

I was thinking of you today. Meant to text but got distracted. Sending good mojo for a truly fabulous day tomorrow. Blue skies, a tail wind, clear and traffic free roads. And a gut that isn't exploding

Thanks for the good wishes.  After a brief stop in Henderson for supplies I have arrived and nothing exploded with either the van or myself.

Now I just need someone to clean out this damn IAC before I break something.  It's always something.

 

[Headache]

Headache was also not on the road when she got sick. That's a blessing in itself.

 An even bigger blessing would be you answering your PMs there sweet lumps.   

Thanks for the kind words regardless.

 

[Headache]

Most of them only charge you 30% of your income.

You're not telling the whole story about that and it's those evil little details as to why I can't afford that "only" 30%.

Now add in the cost of utilities and for me the cost of my car insurance going up.   Now I'm at 50%.  No way I can afford that, not unless I want to live in a perpetual state of financial crisis which is something I'm living now.  At least I'm not under threat of eviction by van camping. 

See that's the ugly side of dwelling living that doesn't get talked about like it should, just like this. BTDT. Hated being stressed out for 11 months out of the year worried my rent was going to go up. No thanks.

 

[Headache]

I have to say I admire your courage to confront you problems.  Many would have quit by now, it is a special person that can keep on keeping on seeing just how far they can go beyond what they thought they could.  Maybe you just might make it yet.  Best wishes, keep trying to make it not as bad as it seems!

Sadly I don't really have a choice in the matter.  I'm out here whether I like it or not.

 

[Headache]

In my much more situationally stressed and agitated times, I had some periods of IBS and what were probably gall bladder attacks that were near crippling, and what you experienced sounds similar, Headache.  Severe cramping and sitting on the toilet, while vomiting violently into a bucket.

Naw my gal bladder is okay.  This was a full blown PTSD panic attack.  Never had one before.  Hope to not repeat it.  Lemon ginger tea with probiotics and psyllium husk are my friends.

 

[Headache]

So as I mentioned previously I have made it guts intact. The only accident was that I didn't stop in time for my dog so I have some pee to clean up. I'll take it.

I have a special request of those who like to send Christmas cards. Last year was pretty cool because I finally got to meet and camp with people I'd only known online but since I was new I still felt detached and lonely.

This year I'd like to do something a little different. I'd like to be added to your Christmas card list please. I got a box at the laundry in Ehrenberg, #217. That's NOT the post office. Thanks in advance if you include me.

 

[Headache]

It's nice to see the Christmas lights up on others rigs. I'm putting mine up on Monday. My buddy from Canada will be leaving tonight or early tomorrow and have a 4 day drive. I can hardly wait!

I've learned what a respectable distance is between myself and others when I pull in somewhere to camp. Any closer and I feel like they are up my ass, any farther and I feel isolated.

I was talking with Jim one day and he showed me about how far away someone was camped, it was his sort of ideal for what a "close" distance was. I've learned that with the exception of a few close friends that it's also an acceptable distance for me. Close enough to wave but far enough you have to shout to say hi. I like it.

Tried out my shower tent and while it's a reasonable substitute when it isn't cold and windy I did have to put it on the ground because of the wind the day before yesterday. I also have to figure out something else for flooring. I bought those floor "tiles" that are black and they cushioned the ground very well. However they are slippery when wet and I had to step around the mud coming up from between them.

 

[SLB_SA]

@Headache
"I should have never, ever bought a van without a raised roof of some kind. I have spinal arthritis. I am suffering and in pain almost all the time."
I cannot imagine living in a car, truck, van, RV, pop-up, tent, etc. in which I could not stand up; hiking with a tent which is too short for me to stand is a different matter and not a problem. However your post highlighted for me the need for sufficient height. Thanks.

 

[SLB_SA]

Went to TN to hang out on a lake and kayak and fish for 2 weeks.  Local told us about a dairy making cheese etc.  OMG such a fun and great place.  Something not advertised that we could see but it made our trip a tasty treat for sure  That is all the conversation I need, point me to a good cheese farm and then I can chat up with the owners making that cheese for a bit more contact.

Can I recommend https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...actory-Loleta_Humboldt_County_California.html Loleta, CA?  Great people, great cheese.

 

[SLB_SA]

Let me explain something right now; this is my whine, piss and moan thread. 

If you can't handle what I post in this thread don't read it and definitely don't comment on it.  Seriously.  These are my opinions about MY experiences.  Hopefully they will save someone problems down the road.

Super props to you!!!  Your thread is educational and you have the right to say (I paraphrase) "Go get your own piss and moan thread if you want."  I am really interested in the experiences of people who find vandwelling challenging; that way I can avoid the mistkes of others and make my own mistakes.

 

[SLB_SA]

I just finished the entire thread. Best wishes to Headache (and everyone here).

 

[Headache]

I'm becoming very concerned about this insistence that I use Facebook for things related to or revolving around CRVL. In fact I'm getting to the point that I detest it.

I joined here because at least initially being a purposeful misfit was okay and concerns about safety were welcomed to be discussed.  I wasn't forced to go outside to discuss them.

Why is it that as a woman it's completely acceptable and responsible to discuss personal safety yet if I bring it up about Facebook it's thrown right out the window and I'm treated like I've got the tin foil on too tight?

I actually apologized in a caravan thread because I felt like I had trespassed on private property after being made to feel it was some kind of country club only Facebook members could belong to.  I've been feeling similar about the WRTR.  I've tried to participate but being forced to use a platform that does not value my online safety as much as I do so I can participate in activities related to CRVL is leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

While a huge chunk of the reason why I don't feel like part of "the tribe" is due to mental illness(aka my responsibility) this one thing isn't on me.  I'd be fine if there was an equitable option to also participate here on the forums then there would be a choice.  Instead I'm feeling forced and excluded.

It's hard to feel a part of something when I'm increasingly feeling left out and yet I don't give up easy. I volunteered for the RTR.  I'm trying.   See you there.

 

[WanderingRose]

Maybe someone will step up to coordinate RTR information for you, Blanche.

I don’t use Facebook, either, ever.

There should be another way to access needed information.

Don’t give up.

 

[Firebuild]

I didn’t feel the comment about vanlife not necessarily being for women was meant harshly, nor unkindly, but perhaps coming from not having been exposed to a lot of strong women successfully traveling alone.

Not being mechanically inclined, nor the fix it type but for necessity, are more an issue for me.

Mechanical issues definitely do hold me back, but not because women are not capable of understanding mechanical things. It's more a question of familiarity. I'm of an age when it wasn't even possible for a girl to take shop class in school: we had to do Home Ec (it didn't work - I'm a terrible cook). I didn't grow up tinkering because that was not an avenue that felt open to me, and I was willing to believe that door was closed. Not that all men are mechanically inclined - I don't want to be guilty of generalizing myself - but they were encouraged to be, though they couldn't have taken Home Ec if sewing was what turned them on, either. So we were all limited in one way or another. Hopefully we're moving past that. 

 I'm on another forum where I talk about my mechanical issues a lot and the guys there are always throwing things out like, "What's the big deal? You just disconnect the hoo-hah, run a doohickey check, remove all the whozeemawhatchits and replace with a thingamajig" like it's nothing. I wouldn't say I'm a slow learner, more of a cumulative learner.  The way my brain works, what is gibberish to me today may make total sense tomorrow, but until that happens my whozeemawhatchit is going to stay right where it is, unless removed by an actual mechanic.

As to the original post, I'm not on the road full time yet so I can't add a lot. I feel 100% certain it is for me, but if it isn't, I hope I will be willing to take the aforementioned personal responsibility.

 

[cyndi]

I'm becoming very concerned about this insistence that I use Facebook for things related to or revolving around CRVL.

As far as I can tell only the caravans are using fb, certainly not all things CRVL.
If you have been a part of the caravans is it not possible to make a personal connection and get the information you need that way?

 

[Firebuild]

Bob does tend to give the information that everyone can do this.

I think almost everyone can do almost anything - it's just a question of choosing battles. I once took a class where I learned to change my own oil. The biggest thing I learned in the class? I'm just not interested enough to change my own oil.  It costs almost the same as it does to go to Jiffy Lube, and it's not like it gives me some big sense of accomplishment.  The opposite was true when I took scuba lessons. I was terrified - I mean, TERRIFIED. It seemed so ridiculously daunting. Then I saw a bat ray soaring through the kelp and I knew I was going to do anything necessary to learn how to do this. For some, the joys of the road are exciting enough to make it worth the energy required to come up with a way of doing it that meets their particular needs. For others, those joys don't really exist, so why go to all the trouble? Once again, it comes down to "know thyself."