nervous but thinking about taking the plunge

[Darkhematite]

Hello, just signed up today though I have been lurking off and on for a few months now. &nbsp;A few years ago I traded a small honda car for a 15&nbsp;passenger&nbsp;dodge van to use as a camper a couple weeks a year for music festivals and such. &nbsp;I threw a bed in the back and blacked out the windows and called it good. I loved that old van, but things changed and I needed to sell it. &nbsp;Now, I'm 2 years divorced, living in a 3 bed room house that I don't need, mowing a lawn that I don't like, and was looking for something cheaper. &nbsp;I remembered how much fun I had tooling around in that massive van. &nbsp;Over the last year I have thought about all different kinds of vehicles to call home from a old school bus down to a motorcycle. &nbsp;I think I have settled on a older ford van without the extended part in the back. &nbsp;Ford because they still build it on a frame and I can turn it into 4wd down the road. &nbsp;The shorter body so as to have better off road&nbsp;clearance. &nbsp;<br><br>I live in the North West corner of Arkansas, in the&nbsp;beautiful Ozarks. &nbsp;I believe I would like to stay at my current job for at least another 5 years or so. &nbsp;By that time I will be&nbsp;completely&nbsp;out of debt, and should have a little nest egg put away. &nbsp;I hope to have the van out of town most weekends in the rolling hills and think it's a wonderful fantasy to wake up next to a different river, or stream. &nbsp;On work nights I'll come in to town and park at friends or family driveways, so I'm not too&nbsp;terribly&nbsp;worried about keeping&nbsp;stealth&nbsp;though there may be a night here or there that I need to park in public. <br><br>Now the holdups. &nbsp;As I mentioned I am living in a 3 bedroom house. &nbsp;I bought the house with my now ex-wife, and I was&nbsp;luckily&nbsp;enough to keep hold of it in the divorce. &nbsp;At the moment most of my money is going to keeping it up and paying the&nbsp;mortgage. &nbsp;I don't want to just walk and destroy my credit, and I can't really afford to purchase a new vehicle yet. &nbsp;Also, I have a very large motorcycle that I bought to go see my 10 year old daughter that has moved with her mom to Florida. &nbsp;I plan to keep this motorcycle, and a classic car that is the only&nbsp;memento&nbsp;from my grandfather. &nbsp;I know I can store both of these locally, and will most likely do just that, but I'm not&nbsp;completely&nbsp;happy with that plan. &nbsp;<br><br>Thanks for letting me blab on about me, and I welcome any insight and pitfalls I'm not seeing. &nbsp;I'm trying to keep a straight head about it, but it's difficult to not&nbsp;romanticize&nbsp;the idea. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

 

[blkjak]

welcome .... blkjak

 

[akrvbob]

The easy answer is to sell the house, but in some parts of the country that just isn't possible in this economy. If you got a box van you could keep the bike with you inside it. I have a friend who carries a Kawasaki Vulcan 900 in his box van with him. Box vans have terrible mpg, but they have great stealth and lots of room. <br>Bob

 

[Darkhematite]

Thanks blkjak. &nbsp;<br><br>Bob. &nbsp;Right now, I'm upside down in the house. &nbsp;I owe more money that it is worth. &nbsp;Though I'm working out a deal with some people that need a house in town where they will take over the&nbsp;mortgage&nbsp; and I'll be able to walk out. &nbsp;Once it's payed off to the bank, it will be their house. &nbsp;For me, this is the best case scenario, as I'll still be able to park there once a week or so. &nbsp;If it works out. &nbsp;If not, I will try a "quick sale" and if that will not work, I may end up just walking. &nbsp;I hate to do that, but it's coming obvious that the monthly cost of the house is&nbsp;stifling.<br><br>I thought about a box van long and hard. &nbsp;But with my desire to be in the back woods on weekends and vacation weeks, I just don't think I would be happy with the off road capabilities of a box. &nbsp;Though I know I won't be happy with the off road capabilities of what ever I buy and will be adding parts to it as I get the finances. &nbsp;So, I will look again, now that I think about it, it seems I have seen some smaller boxes that might fit me just perfectly. &nbsp;As for stealth, how does one make going in and out of the box look natural? &nbsp;Do you simply wait till nobody is around? &nbsp;<br><br>Thanks for the feed back. &nbsp;&nbsp;

 

[akrvbob]

If you do decide on a box van you need to be sure it has a pass-through between cab and box. That way you don't have to go out the back door, you go through the front doors. <br><br>Here is the sad fact of vandwelling that&nbsp; I discovered a long time ago:&nbsp; it involves lots of compromises and you don't get all that you want. We all had to make hard decisions and things we really wanted to have have to be let go of. <br><br>In many ways the things we love are equally dead weights around our neck. Throwing them off is both tremendously painful and tremendously freeing. The great risk is that in trying to have everything, we end up with nothing<br><br>The bottom line is you may have to make some hard decisions and compromise some of the things you want. For me gaining the level of freedom I have found is worth the many, many things I had to give up. Only you can decide for you just what you are willing to give away.<br><br>Fortunately for you, you have 5 years to figure it all out. I wish you the best! <br>Bob

 

[Coffee Tim]

Welcome.&nbsp; I also live in Northwest Arkansas, Benton County.&nbsp; Glad to meet you, enjoy the forum.

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

Hello, and good luck <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle">&nbsp; Do you have plans for income once you are out there?&nbsp; Storage for vehicle will add up in addition to your regular expenses.&nbsp;

 

[Darkhematite]

Thanks for the warm welcomes. As soon as I joined the forum, my computer crashed. But im back online now.

Arkvbob. The passthrough idea is a great one. And as for dead weight, thats a lesson I'm having a hard time learning.

DazarGaidin. Ill most likely store these large items with family or find a work trade. But thanks for keeping me on my toes.

Coffee Tim. The pleasure is mine. Most things I find is people dwelling in the desert. (Probably my fascination with 4 wheel drive) its great to hear from a local. I'm in Fayetteville

 

[caseyc]

Welcome to you! Feel bad for ya, as I've been there and done that! When I was young and stupid (I could start all my posts that way, by the way <img class="emoticon bbc_img" src="/images/boards/smilies/biggrin.gif">), I too bought a house, hated mowing the lawn, and after the divorce, got stuck trying to get rid of the house.&nbsp; Long story short, I filed for bankruptcy, moved on with my life, and my life is now much improved versus when I was stuck in a bad relationship spiraling downwards out of control.&nbsp; Sometimes you just have to stop the bleeding immediately and decisively, instead of over time bleeding to death. Obviously, any decision you make will be painful and full of compromises. But many before you have travelled that dark&nbsp;road, and have emerged to come out of the tunnel standing tall. Good luck to you! -Casey

 

[ilovemyvan]

Hi there,<br><br>Have you considered renting your house? This might be a short term or long term solution depending on the economy and housing market.&nbsp;Living in a vehicle would free some funds&nbsp; so if you still have to&nbsp;&nbsp;put a bit of money towards&nbsp;your house every month it could be looked at as an investment. Who knows it might be a nice source of income for you once&nbsp;it's paid for and you're on the road. Just an other possibility.<br><br>Wish you luck.<br><br>Nicole<br><br>

 

[Darkhematite]

Caseyc, Thanks for reminding me that I'm not the first person to get into a stupid situation. &nbsp;That helps, maybe more than you know.<br><br>SoxAndNicole, I'm considering a few options. &nbsp;Short Sale, Renting, and even just walking away from it. &nbsp;I'm not sure what will be best, it depends on what the market does in the next year or so. &nbsp;It'll probably take me that long to feel comfortable cutting the safety net. &nbsp;The house is in a college town, so I might be able to just make the mortgage from rent, and sell it down the road once some equity is built up. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

 

[caseyc]

You're welcome! You'll make it through! Hey, I'm extra stupid because I've been married and divorced 3 separate times in my life! Each time, each different wife managed to deplete my savings, made me miserable,&nbsp;and one wife wanted all the pots and pans! Geez!! I'm sure my life would be better off had I simply done the Oprah thing with a long term relationship without marriage! <img class="emoticon bbc_img" src="/images/boards/smilies/eek.gif">&nbsp;&nbsp;My only saving grace&nbsp;was that I was adament about not wanting kids because I was always unsure of the longevity of the relationships. Nowadays, my credit is excellent again, with lots of credit cards with zero balance, with&nbsp;little debt in my life, albeit not much savings either because I like to spend too much. I earn enough income to pay rent with enough left over for my toys. I have no problem meeting women, I simply make p!ss poor decisions, haha! <img class="emoticon bbc_img" src="/images/boards/smilies/biggrin.gif">&nbsp; The point is this, if I can make stupid mistakes over and over again, and still recover...so can you! <img class="emoticon bbc_img" src="/images/boards/smilies/thumb.gif">&nbsp;Countless guys before you have gone through&nbsp;the rite of stupidity passage.

 

[Darkhematite]

Rite of sutpidity passage, I like that. &nbsp; &nbsp;Part of the reason I'm staying at my 9 to 5 for so long is to pay off child support until my kid is 18. &nbsp;Though I lucked out and kept the EX out of my retirement, I'm barley staying afloat now to pay some back bills. &nbsp;But, I figured starving now is better than starving later. &nbsp;

 

[offroad]

Dark - thanks for being responsive in your posts.&nbsp; too many just post one message.

 

[Darkhematite]

Yeah, I kinda bailed as well for a few months. &nbsp;I had computer problems right after signing up for the forum. &nbsp;But, I'm back online for now. &nbsp;

 

[caseyc]

Hopefully your ex will remarry another poor sap, and the new guy can take care of your kid, then you can maybe renegotiate child support payment?? You seem like a responsible guy to want to work to make child support payments, even though it seems like a large financial burden. I suppose if it got really bad enough, you could skip town, get a job paying cash under the counter, and "slip out the back, Jack, makin new plans Stan, you don't need to be coy Roy, just listen to me".&nbsp;&nbsp;Sorry, those are lyrics to an old song I like, haha! <img class="emoticon bbc_img" src="/images/boards/smilies/biggrin.gif">