My First Week

[ShawnaNana]

I’m just about to finish my first week living in my beloved rough and ready 2000 Ford Explorer. A second-generation family heirloom (AKA hand-me-down from my grandparents), it's survived collisions with other vehicles, deer, and one unfortunately placed tree, with all the scars to prove it! 

About Me: 27, single female, working full time in a fixed location. I was renting a room, but realized it was silly to pay for a room I was rarely in. Not only that, but moving into my truck was like a challenge to myself. Pushing my own limits in efficiency, minimalism, and anti-tradition. Finally!

The timing couldn't have been better; I received a job offer in Seattle yesterday. As the gentleman went over some details, he said, "I just need to nail down a start date, so don't pack up your apartment quite yet." I laughed.

Anyway, hi everyone! I'm excited to be here! If anyone has tips/tricks for Seattle (actually Lynnwood area) vandwelling, or just cool places to go, let me know! I'd be happy to meet anyone who may be in the area as well (once I get up there, that is!).

Thanks!

Oh, also, here's an album. Slowly finding tweaks to make things nicer as this is just a bare-bones, no luxuries set up.

 

[rvpopeye]

Welcome aboard Shawna !
We'll answer any questions you may have.
In the meantime check out all that is already on the site .
You'll also probably not have to wait too long for answers to the questions in this post!

 

[eDJ_]

Welcome to the CRVL Forum  

Wow,  are you off to a great start.  LOL  And a hand me down battle scarred vehicle too.

How few young women are as lucky as you are to have this life you have now.  I think it
will make a difference for you in time.   A lasting difference.

 

[cyndi]

Shawna! Welcome to the CRVL forums!

To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips & Tricks" post lists some helpful information to get you started. We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[ArtW]

Welcome to CRVL!

 

[SUV_RVing]

If anyone has tips/tricks for Seattle (actually Lynnwood area) vandwelling, or just cool places to go, let me know!

Lynnwood is right next to Edmonds, and from there you can take the ferry over to Kingston (~$14 each way) and then drive over to the Olympic Peninsula, which is an incredibly beautiful part of the state and country!

 

[lisamac]

I'm a newbie. but WELCOME. Lots of great info here

 

[BobBski]

Welcome and congrats on the new job.

 

[VanGrrl57]

Welcome and congratulations!

VanGrrl57

 

[TrainChaser]

Sorry to be the downer here, but I live in W. WA, and I don't see a lot of options for parking your rig. This is a highly-populated area. No BLM, not much National Forest this side of the Cascades. You're probably going to have to camp in stealth mode, so look up everything on that that you can. Sometimes fairgrounds will rent out spots in the off-season, but it's not free. Another source may be El Cheapo RV parks, which may have more than a few problem people living there.

IMHO, the best thing to do is find someone who will let you park on their personal property, away from the road for safety. Offer to trade something, like weeding or lawn mowing, etc to pay the 'rent'. Don't inflict yourself on them, begging for bathroom/shower rights, water, favors.

Good luck! And be sure to let us know how it's going.

 

[Cheli]

Welcome and congrats! Good for you for realizing that living in your vehicle is better than renting a room. You really can do it in any vehicle, you must feel so free!!!!

 

[eoewan]

I love reading about young adults who are doing what I always wanted to do. I guess for me it's the old adage 'better late than never'.

 

[ShawnaNana]

Hey everyone, thanks for the replies! I was off wandering for the weekend and forgot I posted this!

My project in Seattle has been delayed, so I'll be living the small town life a little longer, bummer! That's ok, I've found a good rotation of places to park all within a few minutes of work. Some nights I wake up wondering where I am, but the morning sun always enlightens me again

To TrainChaser - I have been living stealth-style since I started. I think Lynnwood will have a lot of good options as far as residential areas and whatnot, so I'm not too worried. BLM and other free land is a luxury to me...

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

Hi, congrats on moving into the mobile life. Pretty impressive you're doing it in an Explorer, looks like you have it set up quite well with all the basics and still have enough room to do Yoga! Hope the Seattle job eventually pans out, but sounds like you're doing ok where you're at.

Matt

 

[DannyB1954]

I had a friend that would stealth camp in his car. He bought a cover for it. He would leave a window open when he parked, put the cover on the car and sometime later came back and got under the cover and jumped into the window. He painted the licence number on the outside so nobody was interested in stealing the cover. Nobody ever bothered him.

 

[ShawnaNana]

I had a friend that would stealth camp in his car. He bought a cover for it. He would leave a window open when he parked, put the cover on the car and sometime later came back and got under the cover and jumped into the window. He painted the licence number on the outside so nobody was interested in stealing the cover. Nobody ever bothered him.

Wow, that's an interesting idea! I'm not sure I could get away with it, though.... Not to mention a cover for my truck would probably be pretty expensive. I've thought about just going straight to the police and seeing what they would recommend for me. I know it's legal to live in your vehicle here, and I've already spoken with one officer who cleared a spot for me to park... It was just a little more high-profile of a spot than what I prefer...

 

[DannyB1954]

Car covers start around $50 and go up to about $150 . He was living in the San Francisco Bay Area where it got chilly at night. He didn't have to worry about someone seeing his windows getting fogged up at night. It gave him some privacy. People walking past never lift the cover. They will look into windows while walking by.