Living in a van while working in a city

[toshiku]

I currently work for a software company in California and had to relocate for work and am living in a new city. I'm getting sick of paying rent and would love to give the van/class b thing a try. While traveling and having access to a lot of public land or small towns I imagine parking would be easier to come by, but in a city/suburb with a regular 8-5 job in one spot, I'm wondering if it would be easier to pay for rent at an RV park during the week. That, of course, cuts into savings but finding a new boondocking spot nearby every day of the week seems like a lot of work.<br><br>Any input would be awesome!<br><br><em>PS - I'm so glad this forum exists, there's still so much info I'm finding. <span style="font-size: xx-small;">Here from www.reddit.com/r/vandwellers/</span></em>

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

RV parks are probably cheaper than rent + utilities in some areas.&nbsp; Some will rent by the month cheaper than daily rates.&nbsp; You'll just have to weigh the pros and cons and do what makes you comfortable.

 

[Noah]

Welcome to the Forum!!!<BR><BR>I think you'll find somewhat regular spots that you are safe at. Because it's new, it'll take a while to get comfortable, but after a month or so you'll probably wonder why you were worried in the first place.<BR><BR>Some people try to find 7 good spots to rotate through the week, others have 2 or 3. I've seen a rig parked in Walmart without moving for 3 months at a time which was obviously being lived in. I park in the same spot during the work week, then move on the weekends but all of the cops know me by now.<BR><BR>I'd suggest trying it for a week, then making a decision based on what progress you've made. If you really want to get out of rent, perhaps find a spot with a month to month lease which you can get out of&nbsp;as soon as you feel comfortable going 'full time'.<BR><BR>Good luck and keep us posted, we are always interested in the Van Life experience&nbsp;in different places.

 

[James AKA Lynx]

It depends on how much you have to pay and when you have to change towns. <br><br>Best,<br><br>James AKA Lynx

 

[toshiku]

Thanks for all the feedback. I suppose even if it doesn't work out full-time I'll still have something to go camping in. I have a lease at&nbsp;the place I'm in now so I have some time to prepare, &nbsp;you guys rock!

 

[toupalumma]

I have been vandwelling full time now for about a month. I sleep in Walmart parking lots in the Denver area. I use Google maps on my smart phone to locate all the Walmarts in a given area. I call each one to ask whether they allow RVs to park in their parking lot overnight. If they do, I will add a review to the listing for that Walmart that rates them by whether they do or don't allow overnight parking. I also include comments in my reviews that give details about exactly what I was told by the person I called. I also click the star on the listing, which puts a star on my Google map, so I can easily look it up again.

I live in a Chevy minivan. I'm storing the 2nd and 3rd row of seats in a relative's basement in another city. I got a $40 camping cot at Walmart that I sleep on in the back of my van. I'm sitting on the foot of my bed now, as I'm typing this.

I have a membership at 24-hour Fitness for $30/month. I can take a shower at any of their locations nationwide. There is no cheaper way to have a shower, if you don't have shower facilities in your vehicle.

I use the restroom several times each night. I tried the portapotty thing in my van, but decided it's just easier to go inside Walmart. This way, I never have to carry around the smelly stuff and look for a dumpster to get rid of it. Also, Walmart provides TP, which means I don't have to pay for it.

I'm retired, so I don't have a job. But, I could easily make this work, if I did.

 

[stude53]

<span title="Offline" class="status_offline">.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span>

 

[stude53]

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[Pikachu711]

The best advice I can give you is to have a&nbsp;"little black book" of places you discover where it's relatively safe to park overnight. Once you find a few safe places you're comfortable&nbsp;parking you've solved your biggest problem. Then you want to change the places you park on a regular basis. Spending too much time in any one location will get you noticed by people.<br><br>I'm a former&nbsp;security guard here in Las Vegas. I'm still in the planning phase but thanks to all places I've guarded I already know of a few dozen places where I can stealth park once I'm a vandweller.

 

[offroad]

enjoying how people make do. you can fight it and be miserable. or you can embrace it and perfect it. &nbsp;change is constant so you eventually will do something different.&nbsp;