Part time vs full time

[Riley_Vanner]

Hi all,

   what did yall do when you first started out? I'm currently in a situation right now in life where I just can't pick up and leave. I currently don't have a van yet or an SUV for that matter until I can afford to replace my car. What kinds of things can you do to acclimate to van dwelling while remaining close to home and not going on long trips? I know it's all ideas right now and that's what I have to go on but I'm stuck at the moment. 

any advice would be helpful at this time 
TIA

 

[shadowmoss]

I discovered last year that when I told down the back seat in my 4 door sedan ( as in not hatchback) Mazda3 I have enough room to sleep with my feet in the trunk and the front passenger seat pushed forward. Cheap blue pad from Walmart and their 30 degree sleeping bag and I can do weekend trips in most any weather. That is what I did for RTR last year. They had porta potties a available there so I didn't have to replicate a potty. Something like that can be a start to head out someplace close for an overnight.

 

[maki2]

use a tent

 

[flying kurbmaster]

Move into the bathroom

 

[Riley_Vanner]

I wish I could do that with my car but unfortunately I have a 99 chevy Prism. I do have camping equipment that Ive been slowly accumulating. Thank you for your suggestion.

 

[Kaylee]

Move into the bathroom

... and shut off the water.

Seriously, dramatically reduce your use of showers and other running water during non-work days. You don't have to cut if off completely. Start gradually, and see how it makes you feel.

Kurb is right on, the bathroom is usually about the size of a van.

Do you have any significant camping or other outdoor experience?
If your aim is urban, it's not an issue, but if your aim is Nature, there's lots of low-cost or free nature oriented trips you can take locally, to build your experience and see if you like it.

 

[Riley_Vanner]

I don't have much camping experience as an adult but definitely as a kid. I'm gathering some thoughts for this summer.

 

[jacqueg]

1) Go camping, with whatever vehicle and equipment you have. Maybe just an overnighter at a local county campground. Pitch a tent if you can't sleep in your car. Do this in all kinds of weather. Summer is easy, you need to throw in some real-life rainy day experience. There's no better way to define what is most important to YOU when it comes time to get your first nomadic home. Heck, you might find out that a car and a tent are exactly what you want.

2) Mark off a van-sized piece of your living room. Live in it for a week. This means sleeping, entertaining yourself, cooking, keeping yourself clean, and pooping. What 'furniture' do you need to do this?

 

[jeanmarie]

Riley, make the best of where you are. Work hard at you job, pay off your debt, live frugally, and save your money. If you will have to work while you travel, take stock of your job skills. Are they portable? Is there a market for them where you want to go? If not, do something about it. Get the skills you need. There is a world of difference between living simply on the road without some things because you choose to do so and actually being deprived of those same things because you can't afford them.

 

[RoamerRV428]

another one for go camping with a tent in your car and wander, use state parks in your area, start to learn how to find good boondocking sites if they are in your area location etc. Just do it More you are out and about camping the more you learn what you truly need or desire in your life when on the road.

 

[Van-Tramp]

For SUV or car living I have advised others to take EVERYTHING you own and put it on your bed. Then live that way. Eat, dress, work, play all on your bed, with the pile of belongings.

You can up-scale that to a van by measuring out a 6 foot wide and 8 feet long space (12 feet long if you plan to get an extended van) in your room and move everything you have into that space. Try living in that small of a space and see how things go. You will find a lot of your belongings are simply getting in the way, not being used regularly.

 

[Dingfelder]

Really good suggestions here IMO from a guy who hasn't made the transition yet but is trying to work toward it. Try boxing/bagging anything you don't strictly need and seeing how you do without it.

As in, maybe you have 10 forks ... do you need more than one or two or three? Box/bag the rest. Plates? Bowls? Lamps? Sheets/blankets? Ditto.

It gets harder when it comes to clothes, since so many of them are actually useful and you can see yourself paying money to replace them, unlike say a stainless steel fork which will last forever. This is hard for me too, since I kept getting gifted fantastic and useful jackets when I already had some great jackets. Can you narrow down what you want or find valuable even if you're not too attached to it ... to what instead you actually need? Because a small space provides almost no ability to work it out later.

I'd say something even worse -- you need more space to account for redundancy -- that is, in hot weather, you need MORE clothes than you really think you need, because you will sweat through and stink up what you have so fast. So ... being just perfectly THERE with your space needs isn't even enough. You need space for redundancy. Maybe an extra pan, if you like cooking. Etc.

Getting down to the necessary is a life-changing mind-boggle for most, I'd guess ... and down to the strictly necessary ONLY is near crazy-talk. I'm in a trailer and I'm struggling mightily because plenty of the stuff I have is good ... really REALLY good ... so how do I throw it out? Not easy. I don't think this is an instant process. Honestly I think it will take me a couple years, for sure, and am glad I have them. If you are not faced with an emergency, start the process now. Think what you don't truly need and get the psychological adaptation needed. It is not at all easy or natural for most people, I'm thinking. A complete change-over. That's why it's such a good idea to start early, at least mentally Long before you have your van, trailer, or RV. It's almost certainly going to take some time to adapt. Physically? Not so much. Mentally and emotionally? Yeah, that's a thing. Your thing. Our thing. Try to make it an easier thing by thinking about it long before the time comes.

 

[JD GUMBEE]

I wish I could do that with my car but unfortunately I have a 99 chevy Prism.

You know what that car actually is, right?
GEE---OH!
Or should the word "Corolla" be used?

Keep changing the oil and they last long long time.
You CAN pull a camper with it, too.

Not sure where you are, but a very realistic way of doing something towards nomadic life might be finding a teardrop group/person in your area through social media.

You can actually tow a FOAMIE with that car.
Even with an automatic trans.

Supremely cheap.

Super light.

Team up and learn how.

Check them out on YOUTUBE. Search for: "FOAMIE" or FOAM TRAILER.

There is a guy who even tows them with a Ford Festiva and another with a battery powered car.

Even if you have to tear it apart and start over twice, you can build one of these for under 600 dollars.

Base trailer from Harbor Freight, complete with legal VIN and all...is $349.

Check that against a good tent.

Tags are ultra cheap for non-commercial trailers.

You can often make a deal with a storage place for a parking spot.
(2 people I know elsewhere sweep the floors and clean the windows in the storage office monthly in lieu of their rent. It's all in speaking to the owners. Some will...some won't...but if you have time and no money, many HATE cleaning their own walks/windows.)

Starting out with a basic "foam tent on a trailer" mindset, you can build a foamie into anything you see fit.
Plastic bins and a solar light to start, then on to full satt/solar and a waterbed.

(Okay, nix the waterbed...but dont count the car out yet.)
There were people towing heavier teardrops than these foamies with Geo METRO's, let alone a Corolla/Prism.

 

[eDJ_]

Some really good news is that the month of May is bargain month for camping equipment.  I was at an ALDI Grocery Store yesterday and their shelves were full of equipment for cheap.

For only a few bucks you could find a three person pop up tent with a floor in it and screen netting.  If there are stores like Harbor Freight,  Ollie's (Good Stuff Cheap)  Dollar Tree around you,  you could purchase inexpensive plastic ground cloths to tie up overhead between some trees for shade.   But do try to avoid weekends with rainy forecast. 

There are numerous Gym's where for a small monthly fee you can stop in and use all of the features there.  Mostly getting a shower and cleaning up.  But you can recharge your Cell and watch TV there while you are at it.  Exercise if you like.  Just pull in on the parking lot, show your membership card and you and your gym bag with a change of clothing and toiletries avail yourself of some leisure time during the heat of the day.  Still a lot of State Parks have shower facilities too.  

People can travel and camp in a Car and since you have some camping experience it will likely come back to you. 

And last,  you could just use Google Maps and  the orange "peg man" with the street view to preview places you would like to visit. 

Google Maps Street View Tutorial

 

[JD GUMBEE]

eDJ, your suggestions sound strangely familiar.
Very much like the train hoppers practices.

 

[eDJ_]

eDJ, your suggestions sound strangely familiar.
Very much like the train hoppers practices.

LOL,   yeah perhaps so.   I was just thinking of what she could do with the car, and $50 bucks of camping stuff.  Tent, Sleeping Bag, Foam Exercise mat,  a used yard sale Playmate cooler, a sterno stove & boy scout mess kit with some utensils from home, cheap plastic tarps, ball of twine, misc paper goods, and a flash light. 

I would suggest she practice setting up the tent at home and then knocking it down and packing it in it's bag a few times before going out.   The tarps and foam mat could be rolled up around the tent and tied to make one big roll.   A used Cardboard Box could stow much of the other stuff.  The cooler would be a stand alone and could be left in the trunk of the car if parked near the tent site.

I knew one man who had a 5 year old son and they started out like this while using an old pre 1970 VW Bug. 
He had this luggage carrier that fit over the back end under the rear window and he made a thin plywood cabinet to
contain their misc gear in.   The rear bottom seat was removed and a plywood cut out would be fitted into it to stow larger gear on. (cooler & tent etc)

By the time the boy had reached High School age they had a Class B and went hunting and fishing in it. 

But they started out cheap and simple and moved up learning as they went.