Hi all! I've been stalking Bob's site and now blog for months now and it has been a huge inspiration to me and goals that I didn't think were possible. I just finished reading Bob's Blog post on <a href="http://cheaprvlivingblog.com/2012/08/taking-a-gap-year-or-a-gap-life-the-present-vs-the-future/">Taking a "Gap Year" or a "Gap Life"</a> and it stated exactly my dilemma. I'm 24 with a Bachelor's in Interpersonal Communication with an interest in someday going back to school for a Masters in some form of counseling therapy. I'm about $10K in the hole with loans and credit debt because of school and I'm strongly considering VanDwelling to help push me ahead financially and free myself from debt, save up some more money and see the sights in America and possibly beyond and then decide what to do from there. <br />The issue is, What to do from there? I'm considering taking a year, after everything is paid off and such, to travel and spend my time <a href="http://wwoof.org/">WOOFing</a> so by the end of it all, I could say on my resume that I spent a year volunteering. <br />My family is against the idea of VanDwelling and prolonging my entry into the "Real" world of "Big Girl" jobs that will help steer me towards an easy retirement. But as Bob wrote, what if I live to retire and die soon after? What if I don't live long enough TO retire? What will I have struggled for? <br />I'll agree with my family that one of my faults is a failure in successful long term planning. I believe it will take me under 3 years to pay off my debts (if I move into a van and save on rent), save up for traveling and hit the road. Beyond that, I have no idea. <br /><br />If any other 20-30 somethings see this, what's your story and what helped you decide what to do?
On the Fence
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SirJoey
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<br /><span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif;"><strong>Wow. 20 something. <br />I can't remember that far back...</strong></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif;"><strong>Oh, BTW, welcome aboard! <img src="/images/boards/smilies/wave.gif" alt="" align="absmiddle" border="0" /><br /><br /></strong></span>
Welcome to the group Mefinaw! I started 3 years ago at age of 34. Was a dream of mine as a youngster to travel and live a mobile lifestyle. After 16 years of working for the man, and being completely owned by all of my wonderful possessions decided to get rid of everything. Which was a real pain in the butt I recommend if its something that appeal to you try it out for a few months if you like it keep doing it. Looking back if I would've started younger instead of blowing my money trying to keep up with the joneses Id be a lot further ahead from where I am now. Hope that helps. Once again welcome<img src="/images/boards/smilies/wave.gif" alt="" align="absmiddle" border="0" />
Berg, I have spent the last few months going through everything I own with a fine tooth comb and everytime I sweep through, I find more things that I honestly don't need. In college I needed 3 carloads to tote my stuff around. The current goal is to whittle down to a single carload with room for my big drum! I'm a sucker for technology but god, has technology helped with the downsizing! By selling all of my books and replacing it all with digital copies, digitizing my old photos and backing up all of my movies and dvds and such onto hard drives - it's AWESOME! Everything is now at my fingertips and I lost nothing. <br />Your experience working for Dah Man is the same feeling of loss I feel. I see everyone around me trudging to pay a mortgage and waiting for retirement, but they're miserable now! My dad the other day said to me, "I'm 45 and I get a full cushy retirement in only 7 more years! Don't you want that?" How do I convey politely that I don't want to have to wait that long to enjoy my life to the fullest when I have the power to do so now??<br /><br />Where have you visited? What are you living in? How do you make enough to live by? Where do you see yourself in 10 years?<br /><br />Thanks for the welcome!
Pikachu711
Well-known member
Welcome to the group Melfinaw!
<br /><br /><br />Arizona is where I been hiding out since I started got my old pooch with me so dont go get to do alot of exploring she gets tired quickly, also the family is in southern AZ. <br /><br />Been living in my 1989 Dodge Turtle Top Van which has every feature of a house (well almost)<img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" alt="" align="absmiddle" border="0" /><br /><br />Had some investments while I was working and went to cash before the collapse in 2009. Wish I had all those Mortgage, boat, snowmobile, fourwheeler, and car payments back though guess yah live and learn. I may have to go back to work one day, but never back to the rat race. You don't need much money when you don't have any bills.<br /><br />Ten years from now ???????????melfinaw said:
The way I see it, is if we can live like this now, with enough to get from point A to point B and eat well and live well, why do we have to rejoin the rat race? Ever?<br /><br />Man you sound like you had some awesome toys! <br /><br />I've never heard of a Turtle Top van. haha!<br />Glad you cashed in before the collapse!
Okay, I don't qualify as a 20-30 year old, but I can say that at 46, after working towards retirement, full time, at a job I didn't particularly enjoy but made enough money to support me, the kids, keep a roof over our heads, and a car in the driveway, I recently lost everything, and don't even have retirement funds available to me. There are no guarantees in life. Follow your heart, follow your dreams. They say that things worthwhile are worth waiting for. Why wait for them? They may not be there at the end of the waiting period. That is all I have to say. Except, "WELCOME!"
peacetara
Well-known member
I'm in that age range, and I live full-time in my van now. (I just started a few months ago).<br /><br />I work a full-time job over the internet, I do lots of volunteer work for all sorts of different human rights groups, and now travel as I can afford it. I support 4 children, so my money all goes to them, minus $500/month. I'm currently doing a trip thru the PNW, Montana and then south for the winter. Not sure how far south, or where south, I've only planned up to Montana at this point, and have nothing planned come mid November. If I'm really cold I'll probably drive south really quickly, otherwise I imagine I'll take my time and wander south.<br /><br />I did the whole start my life thing out of HS, but had to do it a few different times, since the first marriage didn't stick, etc. But I've grown up a lot, learned a lot and am feeling pretty good about living in a van wandering the country. I miss the kids tremendously (even tho we talk every day) so I imagine I'll still spend a good deal of time around them!<br /><br />The last 3 nights, I stayed on a gorgeous house boat along the Columbia River, and while I LOVED the view, I was surprised at how much I missed my van. I'm back in it again today, and I don't think I'll do any of this staying over at friend's houses stuff for so long. 1 night, ok. 2 MAYBE, 3 nights... NO WAY!!!<br /><br />But I do have to say, I took a ridiculously long bath while there, and I loved every second of it! <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><br /><br />Welcome, and I wish you lots of success, whatever you decide!<br /><br />With Love,<br />Tara
caseyc
Well-known member
Hello Melfinaw,<br /><br />Welcome to the forum! Although I'm nearly 47, I can still remember that at your age I was far more in debt than you currently are. $10,000 is like..........almost nothing! 
That's the good part. The not so good part is that you might be having a hard time finding a job after graduation with your particular degree. When I was your age, I literally was working 3 different jobs simultaneously. I worked at a business university full time in the registration dept, plus worked as a cashier part time in the evenings, plus was working different internships in human resources management. All this while going to college part time which literally took me 10 years to graduate with a bachelor degree! During that whole time, I was running ragged, constantly popped No-Doze caffeine pills to keep awake and write term papers, and I never travelled anywhere especially out of the country. After having been conditioned for so long to work crazy hours in the past, to this day, I still barely ever travel! My last US Passport is filled with blank pages because I've never been out of the country. Even my current passport has blank pages for the past few years. I'm now working regular hours at one job only, but even still I find it hard to take time off to go travelling. What is the point of all this writing? The point is this: while you are young, single, with no dependents, and relatively little debt, this is YOUR TIME now to enjoy some wanderlust as some call it. When you get older, and you WILL get older (haha!), you too will find it increasingly harder to go do things on a whim due to all sorts of obligations. As for your dad, it appears to me that you need to escape the clutches of your parents. Heck, when I was 19, I had already started working at my first full time job and moved out of my parents place. That was the last time my parents ever tried to manipulate me, haha! A a last parting thought, have you ever watched this movie from a few years ago called "The Bucket List"? If not, it's a great movie to watch, it's funny, dramatic, and entertaining. Really puts things into perspective about life, at least it did for me. Here's a link: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0825232/">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0825232/</a><br /><br />Cheers!<br />Casey<br /><br />
That's the good part. The not so good part is that you might be having a hard time finding a job after graduation with your particular degree. When I was your age, I literally was working 3 different jobs simultaneously. I worked at a business university full time in the registration dept, plus worked as a cashier part time in the evenings, plus was working different internships in human resources management. All this while going to college part time which literally took me 10 years to graduate with a bachelor degree! During that whole time, I was running ragged, constantly popped No-Doze caffeine pills to keep awake and write term papers, and I never travelled anywhere especially out of the country. After having been conditioned for so long to work crazy hours in the past, to this day, I still barely ever travel! My last US Passport is filled with blank pages because I've never been out of the country. Even my current passport has blank pages for the past few years. I'm now working regular hours at one job only, but even still I find it hard to take time off to go travelling. What is the point of all this writing? The point is this: while you are young, single, with no dependents, and relatively little debt, this is YOUR TIME now to enjoy some wanderlust as some call it. When you get older, and you WILL get older (haha!), you too will find it increasingly harder to go do things on a whim due to all sorts of obligations. As for your dad, it appears to me that you need to escape the clutches of your parents. Heck, when I was 19, I had already started working at my first full time job and moved out of my parents place. That was the last time my parents ever tried to manipulate me, haha! A a last parting thought, have you ever watched this movie from a few years ago called "The Bucket List"? If not, it's a great movie to watch, it's funny, dramatic, and entertaining. Really puts things into perspective about life, at least it did for me. Here's a link: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0825232/">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0825232/</a><br /><br />Cheers!<br />Casey<br /><br />
peacetara
Well-known member
hi melfinaw,<br /><br />So, I work over the internet, so I have a Verizon MIFI device that gives me internet access, for when I'm not near a wifi place (pretty often). I'm much too lazy to go searching for WiFI and make it all work <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><br /><br />Anyways, I help school districts with their finances, keeping track of it all, etc. I'm deaf, so being in an office somewhere with all the hearing people doesn't make any sense really, so I asked if I could work from home, and they said sure! Now my home happens to be portable, but I still work from home! <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"> Maybe 2 or 3 times a year, they fly me in to deal with things that need to be done in person, but usually I'm just out here wherever I am, working! Recently I had a very beautiful day right above a fish hatchery in southern Oregon, looking out over their lake and the river farther downstream. I couldn't have picked a better spot to spend a day working! <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><br /><br />Not all day's are that beautiful outside my home, but it's always different! Right now it's blustery and rainy and just rather disgusting outside. but I'm curled up in bed, staying warm and working today.<br /><br />With Love,<br />Tara
WanderingRain
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Good luck with your decision. As you plainly have seen with this economy, many old folks did it the usual way... hard work, saving up for retirement, etc. "one day, when I retire, I'll see the world"! Many never went anywhere and saved like misers. But that is never a guarantee as you have seen. One bad bank decision later, and all that retirement money just vanished into thin air. They just poured money into a hole trusting a big corporation to do them right by the time they got old. Did it? NO.<br />Your advantage is that you are considering this while you are young and capable.<br />So choose wisely and choose well.<br /><br />
