Newbie Sort of

[Scott3569]

Allow me to Introduce my self, and apologize early for a possible long post.. I will try to keep it as short as possible.. That said, I have one very important question which is where all this leads to.. 

My name is Scott, I am not new to camping, my father was a forest ranger in the Adirondacks of NY State, grew up in the small town of Lake Placid New. Needless to say, We went camping often, practically every summer.. 

Also, I am not new to traveling the states, I drove tractor trailer for 13 years, and I have seen every state in the lower 48, every city, and a lot in between.

fast forward to now

I am converting a dodge Minivan into a camper van, in the process of taking care of some mechanical issues. don't have a problem with this at all, My plan is to gut out the entire rear portion of the van behind the driver and passenger seat. and build it from there.

Now, for the real reason for this post and why I am here..

I am single, Have an extremely small social circle, and I have been trying to figure out a way, to be completely Van mobile, living in my van.
I have heard about these mail forwarding places.. But for my situation it's no good. because the mail forwarding is not recognized, with many important government agencies, as a residential address.

At the moment my van is not even covered with my insurance, because the address is registered as a business not residential.

Yes, I know many probably use a friend or family member to overcome this.  However, in my mind, this is not really a long term solution.. 

So, I am looking for solutions to be completely independent, at least with having a residential address.. 

I actually have Some ideas, depending on how many others are in this same boat..

 

[landyachtman]

Welcome to the CRVL forums! 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.

Most of our rules boil down to two simple over-riding principles: 1) What you post should provide good information (like your introductory post), and 2) Any response to someone else's post should make them feel glad they are part of this forum community.

We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[RvDreams]

Welcome to the CRVL forums! 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.

Most of our rules boil down to two simple over-riding principles: 1) What you post should provide good information (like your introductory post), and 2) Any response to someone else's post should make them feel glad they are part of this forum community.

We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[bullfrog]

Escapees.com in Livingston Texas is a mail service that qualifies I believe as they are a post office and your address appears as a resident address, I would check it out.

 

[Cammalu]

You can use escapees in Texas. Many, many do

https://www.escapees.com/

You can read about their mail program or contact them at this link.

 

[Cammalu]

Bullfrog you are about 1 second faster than me this morning. You must be on your second cup of coffee.

 

[Scott3569]

Escapees.com in Livingston Texas is a mail service that qualifies I believe as they are a post office and your address appears as a resident address, I would check it out.

So, this would mean, my resident or domicile would be in Texas.. If I am assuming correctly

 

[bullfrog]

I believe they have expanded to some other places as well. They came about because of the needs of transient workers like when the Interstate Highway System was being built. They can meet all your needs and answer all your questions just contact them. They even run a Care Center incase you are injured while on the road. Just search their site and consider joining if it meets your needs. It was what I did 20 some years ago. There are several personal decisions and circumstances their people can advise you on.

 

[Ravella and X]

Aloha Scott. I am an Escapee and use Escapee's mail forwarding service. my domicile is in Florida, so my bank branch, insurance, vehicle registration, and "street address" (which is on my drivers license) are all in Florida. my mailing address is in Livingston Texas.

Please take the time to visit the Escapees website and read about their mail forwarding service AND domiclie issues.

My only issue with address in over 3 years of nomadic living has been using the damn walmart grocery pick-up app with my credit card (because of my billing address). The app rejected the card- and worse, the idiots at walmart in AR tested it by charging 0 on the internet, prompting my credit card company to shut down my card for possible fraud. I use my debit card for the app ever since, with no issues.

for Escapees mail service, you can choose either Texas, Florida, or South Dakota as your domicile (and change between them if you like- without changing your mailing address).

 

[bullfrog]

If you don't have one yet I would highly recommend getting a passport before starting nomadic life. It makes ID so much easier as it is pretty much universally accepted.

 

[Scott3569]

Aloha Scott. I am an Escapee and use Escapee's mail forwarding service. my domicile is in Florida, so my bank branch, insurance, vehicle registration, and "street address" (which is on my drivers license) are all in Florida. my mailing address is in Livingston Texas...

for Escapees mail service, you can choose either Texas, Florida, or South Dakota as your domicile (and change between them if you like- without changing your mailing address).

Thank you, I have visited the site, I will do so again.. this is something I definitely need to figure out..

 

[Wb2020]

I use Dakota Post and have all vehicles, legal domicile, at this address. South Dakota is a nice easy state for full time travelers. No income tax, no V inspection, only renew V registration every 5 years (online) and more. Also, only need to stay 1 night in SD, take hotel or campground receipt to dmv and wa la you’re a South Dakota resident. SD is my choice for my non / home base.

 

[Scott3569]

thank you for the information.. you wouldn't have any more information about the benefits of SD?

 

[Gofar]

thank you for the information.. you wouldn't have any more information about the benefits of SD?

Well, their Governor is beautiful.