Returning to forums!!

[TexasTripper]

I came to Bob’s website around August of 2020, then life changed for all of us and hubby and I pretty much hunkered down at our home base. And let me tell you, staying put just about broke my heart. My husband is a plant manager for a big company so he continued to work but I feel like I stagnated. As always life goes on last month I loaded up our Promaster for a visit to family in Nevada. Had a blast but I learned a few things about myself. The Promaster was a little bit scary at times. In New Mexico there was a wind gust that took me by surprise and I felt like I was holding on to a big sail. Lucky for me I did not end up stuck in a ditch or down the side of that hill. I still want to travel, but I really didn’t like the Promaster and the thought of pulling a camper takes the fun out of my exploring.

Yesterday I got a call from a friend, her mother who is elderly had decided to sell her 2018 Dodge Grand Caravan, I only had to pay the existing loan off. So 15k later I now own a minivan (2018) with 5015 miles on it. Had my son look at it and he said high 5 mom it’s perfect .

Today I purchased a Jackery solar battery and the panels to run the small fridge i also purchased. Spending time on Amazon getting a few other odds and ends I will start my no build build haha. I don’t know where my first trip in it will be, but I figured I might go to quartzite just to look around. It’s a destination.

I truly look forward to traveling, seeing parts of the country I have never seen, and if possible meeting others who hate to sit in one place like I do. Hubby is relieved that I will leave the Promaster alone lol we joke about how I am probably the only person so started in a huge travel trailer, went to a high top cargo van then on to a minivan. I think most people move up to larger vehicles. Not me….I am different lol

See you around!!

 

[landyachtman]

Welcome back to the new forum. And there may be a growing trend of people moving to smaller more minimalist vehicles. They're more fuel efficient and attract less attention as there are so many of them out there. And above all they are pleasant to drive.

 

[DannyB1954]

If you have a home base, small vehicles are great. There are many things that I can live without for a few weeks. I can live out of my van for a month, but if I were a full timer, I would take something larger.
I made a bed for a Dodge grand caravan. it stored things in milk crates under the mattress, That year at least the owner could still sit on the bed and not hit his head. The bed was not attached and could be removed. It gave the owner a lot less frustration because before he needed to move everything to do anything.

 

[eDJ_]

For the longest time this forum had been "Cheap RV Living" which implied being house less and living in one's rig (down by the river) as if that were the home. (BLM or any other place the rig could be parked) But as time progresses and members discover new ways to live & work a hybrid lifestyle. Changes to the established patterns we've known will evolve with time. Some may want to live full time in an RV on BLM or in a southern retirement community for RV'ers provided they can afford that lifestyle. Some younger folks may live and work from full sized high top rigs as Digital Nomads and become fully adjusted to it. For those who have online working skills they may spend part of their time in a rig somewhere working in the outdoors with nature and then finding a short term sticks & bricks place in certain months of the year. This later group may be best suited to a Mini-Van rig where they may have a foot in each world and that best suit their nomadic nature. As nomads find lucrative work they may not have to be living on the "cheap" so much and find they have options that could add flexibility to their van life. Those who are faced with having to live on the cheap, may hold memberships to gyms like Planet Fitness or other similar facilities to have some of the amenities of a home when needed.