Newbie here, ... but when young.... I

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K9EZ

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Kindred spirits; but pretty whacky!

I'm trying to stop myself...  it defies logic; it can't possibly be me, considering living on the road. Don't tell my mom; she's on a cruise! 

By the time I was in college now working and going to school. I stayed in condos until they sold.

I lived some of the time, some of the best time; in the back of an El Camino Truck like thing with a camper shell.  A piece of ply made a platform, and cargo went underneath the bed.  It did spend some time in S.F. USA.

 I'm in Love with an idea that I thought was surely dead.  Living without all this mass!?

The heaviness of contracts and the ballast of a house with land.  And an HOA?!

I'm almost medicare age!  I can't medically exist unless I am 36-99 degrees F'.  I can't afford to fix or even run an air conditioner. For my house.
 
 No kidding.  But then with solar, and my upfit... of a van,  Maybe I could.  Maintain environmental temp of 36-99 degrees.  I struggle physically with heat especially.  It can kill me.

I need a house; whose ALTITUDE I can adjust.

My family is independent; I'm disabled from some physical stuff,  but high functioning otherwise.

I found myself in the back of a Cargo Van just now with a tape measure, and floor plans slide-showing in my visual mind overlaid on the beauty of the raw uninsulated massive cargo compartment.  Now I feel excited and want to dump everything I own...  nearly 

And thought about waking up in that van, with no dark clouds, shrouding worries. No phone service.  That feels like relieve.

When I was young I went from a non-spectacular middle-class family; well-to-do in my eyes now... from there at 14;  into the streets, my family got too into debt and began to hate life and each other, maybe because of consumer excess. 

Too much yelling etc. to stay for the divorce.
I went from a latchkey kid to a homeless kid.  I slept in the concrete back porch of the area of unfinished houses... until foster care, that got me through High School.   Please, no pity at all; the experience didn't warrant any.  It wasn't bad at all.  

After which; I did live in my car until I could afford a room.  I considered buying a van and living in it in the 70's. 

Insane; what about a family, a house, two cars, eight credit cards, 50 hours a week, stacks and stacks of papers, expectations...   I'm so done.

Save me, by telling the truth to innocence.

Please Save me from my delusional self and tell me to "be responsible"  come to my senses before I go down the path of selling all this "heavy" that is holding me down.  And lighten my ballon.
 
If you can manage a climate controlled van, you can join the crowd! Van living has all the right conditions for living with freedom rather than burdens.

I don't know how easy it would be to control the climate - but maybe others will have good suggestions on that. I do hope you can manage it. (I'm not living in a van yet.)

Welcome to the forum!
 
This why I have to build. Rather than buy. Money for sure; but I need to allocate space and electrons differently than a motorhome does.

I think this actually CAN be done elegantly with the brain trust we have on here.

Maybe even get close to right the first try.
 
Welcome to the CRVL forums K9EZ! 36-99 F is very doable. Read everything on the forums, research and plan. Sell anything that you don't need. Build up an emergency fund - you'll need it someday. You can do this! Keep us updated!

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. We look forward to hearing more from you.
 
being on wheels can help you adjust your temperatures in your van to keep you alive in the 36-99 degs. it takes to live.

I won't be telling you not to dump your heavy.
We can't wait to dump all our heavy! We did it all, from debt, to land, to struggling to pay it all off, to wanting to sell it all so badly and go for total freedom.

Run toward what will make you happy.
Having wheels means you can travel to suit your needs. Not bound to one spot and have to exist in that spot, wheels means you can move to find what suits you when you need it :)

rock on !!
 
I can get the back of my van down to 95 degrees on a hot day in southern california with just a small swamp cooler and massive foam insulation. Its realistic to be comfortable without a power hungry AC. 

This thermometer shows difference between the back heavily insulated section, and front uninsulated section. Its actually cooler where the swampcooler is blowing directly on you.
temp summ wint.jpg
 

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I have asked this several times and you keep ignoring me. are you trying to convince us that 94° with 89% humidity is comfortable? highdesertranger
 
I grew up in West Texas during the fifties and sixties with swamp coolers. They have to add humidity to the cooled area to work. Normal humidity outside during a hot summer day was six percent. I doubt the evaporative cooler got the humidity above twenty percent in the house. We survived OK but my parents went to refrigerated air when they could afford it.

Houston in the summer with high humidity is miserable, i.e. 88 degrees and 95% humidity. No one use evaporative coolers.
 
So the COOL thing to do is follow the weather, and be mobile. Consider the movie; "endless summer" from the 70's

I saw that movie as a kid; and thought, I'll never have the good fortune to go where I want. Mr. Wells may have shown me a way out into freedom.
 
RoamerRV428 said:
being on wheels can help you adjust your temperatures in your van to keep you alive in the 36-99 degs. it takes to live.

I won't  be telling you not to dump your heavy.
We can't wait to dump all our heavy!  We did it all, from debt, to land, to struggling to pay it all off, to wanting to sell it all so badly and go for total freedom.  

Run toward what will make you happy.
Having wheels means you can travel to suit your needs.  Not bound to one spot and have to exist in that spot, wheels means you can move to find what suits you when you need it :)

rock on !!

Thanks for the reply; I may dump it all; get a semi remote peice of land with an RV garage, toilet, shower, laundry, workshop.  And launch from there.  I should be able to be in 5-7 different climate zones on one tank of fuel.  Shelter with adjustable altitude.  I had thought this; then one of Bob's videos describes this relationship very well.  Confirming that the idea is viable.  Now that I think back; there were many times when I was forced by circumstance to live in a storage locker, an el Camino, and Chevy Luv truck with my own build of a pop-top camper.  All free wood.   As a kid I slept under a bridge, and " was urban camping" because I didn't have conventional housing and I had been backpacking.  I thought I was the only one in the world doing it.  I was 14.  Look at 14 yrs old; doesn't everyone want to go camping forever?
 
RoamerRV428 said:
being on wheels can help you adjust your temperatures in your van to keep you alive in the 36-99 degs. it takes to live.

I won't  be telling you not to dump your heavy.
We can't wait to dump all our heavy!  We did it all, from debt, to land, to struggling to pay it all off, to wanting to sell it all so badly and go for total freedom.  

Run toward what will make you happy.
Having wheels means you can travel to suit your needs.  Not bound to one spot and have to exist in that spot, wheels means you can move to find what suits you when you need it :)

rock on !!

Thanks for the level-headed encouragement.

That's what I was thinking originally...  I guess I got bogged down a bit in details I should just focus on unloading and design.   Why not get a 3500 sized van?  Are there difficulties or expenses in getting something "commercial" classed?
 
Thanks to everyone for replies on climate control. This is what I'm thinking: Insulate; and solar on a white van. Move with the cooler temps, try to figure out an electrically driven refrigeration system. Doable with ENOUGH electricity... this is where it gets sketchy for me.
 
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