Planning on joining the Nomad life

[bartman72]

Hi all, new member here. I’m 48, almost 49 yr old male going through a divorce. Recently stumbled across some videos about the van life and instantly became intrigued…have been researching and trying to learn as much as i can.


After some time thinking about it, i’ve decided i’m going to become a van dweller also…have been homeless a few times in my life so should be an easier adjustment for me, just that i’ll get to travel.

Anyway, decided i’m going to keep working my current job for the next year so i can pay off my debts, finalize the divorce, and save up to get a van and work on the build.

Hopefully at some point I will see some of you out on the road after that.


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[RvDreams]

Welcome bartman72 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.

 

[travelaround]

Welcome to the site - I'm sure your earlier experiences will help you adjust to vanlife. Good idea to travel around for a while. So long as you keep aiming that direction it will almost certainly come to pass.

 

[nature lover]

Welcome BARTman. The Best advice I can give anyone I’ve repeated here often. Stop spending and save. My goal is to have enough money in savings that I can replace the whole rig if I have to. I’m not there yet but I’m far enough along, living full-time for the last year, to know what kind of peace of mind that kind of savings could get you. I honestly think that if I had a $20,000 nest egg I’d only spend half or less than half On my rig and put the others aside for the inevitable. repair and/or replacement. My recent encounter with a tree that jumped out in the middle of a forest road in front of my van proved to me again how vulnerable my lifestyle is. I am literally one incident away from being homeless. I haven’t left it stop me but there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think I’m taking a real chance here. I’m not saying it hasn’t been worth it but I know how much better things would be if I had that type of security blanket. I don’t mean to be a wet blanket for you bartman, just trying to give you some good advice. You can take it or leave it. I hope you Find what you are looking for.

 

[eDJ_]

Welcome to the CRVL Forums  

Loads of good info here and plenty of opinions. 

But starting with the best dependable vehicle you can find will probably be your first challenge.  I have an extended Ford F 350 high top but if I were to replace it I'd likely be looking at an aluminum bodied Step Van with Diesel engine. (because I live in the southern tip of Ohio and would only travel south from there in the winter) 

The next challenge would be figuring out where you would want to go.  I've spent plenty of time looking thru Southern Living & Midwest Living magazines and other travel magazines.  Some will travel every day and others only travel a couple days a week.

I'd invite you to check out the two links below.  They may be helpful for you now.