Life on the road

[cyndi]

a pretty well balanced article about the why and how to of van life, IMO. And how it's being marketed. 

"...[font=Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Search for #vanlife on Instagram, and you’ll be flooded with countless images of vans parked amid captivating landscapes, often with a beautiful girl in a bikini alongside. But you won’t find many accurate depictions of what van life actually entails..."[/font]

https://mountainx.com/news/van-life-what-happens-when-the-road-leads-to-asheville/

 

[lenny flank]

CNN is working on a van-dwelling story for their website. They just interviewed me yesterday. I'll link to it when it's posted.

 

[AbuelaLoca]

Saving money, traveling and Independence are my priorities, but this... this is my "ideal" for van life: "Two people with diametrically opposed ideals wound up working together. And ultimately, that’s a big part of what van life is about: getting out of your comfort zone and making things happen."

 

[eDJ_]

Over the years TV Programs such as CBS Sunday Morning had reporters on the road covering stories about interesting places and events.   Charles Kuralt was an innovator in this with his "On the Road" series which evolved into CBS Sunday Morning.  Of course he traveled in an FMC Class A which was self contained and probably more necessary for what he was doing.

His rig looked something like this one.  I saw it once in a story he was presenting.

But more and more,  the news media is implanting these stories in various news shows.

The RV industry is hot right now and no longer the domain of Retired Seniors.  All ages of people
are beginning to want to get into this way of life.  Many construction or contract workers are living out
of home made RV's or older factory built ones they can pick up cheap to get started in. 

Presently the spending habits of a few very wealthy people influence the lives of the rest of us.  Many are
choosing to be without Houses now and live mobile.   In my area alone the land line phone service is $35 a month and they are wanting to put a $17 a month surcharge on it claiming most people are now on Cell service thus
the Phone Grid has diminishing numbers of people using it so they need more money to keep the Phone Grid
viable. 

With a couple of memberships to  the nationally franchised Gyms,  a person with a Van containing a bed, kitchenette, and their clothing and personal goods would have most of what a House would offer them.  WIFI abounds now,  and Cell Phones are more common than ever.   Thus a person who goes on the road is nearly as connected as one who lives in a House with all of the "grid service amenities".  Some feel that the vehicle life,  which may not be as easy as living in a House,  is a worthwhile trade off to be free of neighborhoods that don't suit them.   Finding work is easier as you can travel unbound where as living in the sticks & bricks limits you to the work available in that region.