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ronin

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Total newbie here. I've watched a bunch of YouTube videos, and the idea of being free to go wherever we want, whenever we want, for a lot less money than staying at hotels is very appealing. And who knows if, God forbid, a hurricane or fire or some other disaster makes our home unlivable, having the skill of living out of a vehicle seems very useful.

We're not really equipped for it yet -- with my wife, our dog, and myself, our little Honda Civic isn't going to be very comfortable to live out of. But I figure we should get a tent from Walmart and try camping out on some BLM land (we've only tried camping outside once, and that was on a Kampgrounds of America location). I think if all goes well, we'll look around for a larger vehicle. I looked on Carvana for a used Ford Transit Connect, but they seem pretty pricey at the moment (not all that much cheaper than buying a new one, it seems).

Anyway, good to meet you all, and I'm guessing I'll see some of you folks somewhere down the road sometime!
 
Welcome to the CRVL forums ronin! Try forest land instead of BLM land if you find it too hot at this time of year. https://www.fs.fed.us/recreation/map/finder.shtml

To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips, Tricks and Rules" post lists some helpful information to get you started.

Most of our rules boil down to two simple over-riding principles: 1) What you post should provide good information (like your introductory post), and 2) Any response to someone else's post should make them feel glad they are part of this forum community.

We look forward to hearing more from you.
 
We just recently did an 18 hour drive in a tiny chevy malibu, loaded up with everything we own (admittedly not much!) and a dog. Passing through Austin Texas, there were no rooms available. They quoted us prices $200+ and suggested we come back another night. The Google reviews all mentioned literal human feces on the shower curtains. None of the gas stations were open or would take our debit card. We pushed through into the dark of night and ended up pulling over at a rest stop. We were totally sleepy but determined to escape that mess of a place. We slept two hours sitting straight up in our seats.

- and then we woke up. That's when the bug bit us. The night air was refreshing, the dog was chill, we had escaped the crazytown and saved $200. Nothing bad happened. We spread some Goober (peanutbutter and jelly mixed together in the same jar) on some bread and had a little snack. We walked the dog, piled back in, and pulled back onto the highway.

Ever since we got where we were going, we just can't shake that feeling that everything here is so overcomplicated. $200/night for WHAT? Boring views, crappy air, noise, and human feces on the shower curtains? I don't think so, SIR!

The point of this rambling story is to encourage you to not just go camping for a weekend but to go somewhere far away, without planned stops. Take water and 3 days in any direction won't kill you. Try to reach that point where you have to figure it out for the night. Above all, refuse to spend a single red cent more than you have to.

That said, I respect your strategy and look forward to hearing the updates. Welcome to the forums!
 
Hello Ronin, Welcome to the forum, we’d love to hear more about your journey. There are many ways people on here or you can ask questions. I am not one of the white ones but I have a lot of opinions to share. I am the worlds best expert on my own opinion. My first opinion is welcome I hope you find what you’re looking for.
 
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