So What's Your Story?

[Theadyn]

-Were you forced into this lifestyle by circumstances? Or see something coming and got proactive. And if so, did you come to enjoy the lifestyle?

-Were you just sick of the rat race and wanted another option? Rat race, keeping up with the Jones'es, the consumerism fog, the hamster wheel, etc.

-Anyone just get sick of all the time and money wasted on sticks n bricks home?

-Are you full time? If you aren't, do you plan on being full time?

-There is going to be good and bad with any situation, of course. Do you feel you've gained, or will be gaining, more good over bad? And why?

-Do you find that people embrace your choice or sort of look down/feel sorry for your situation?


Just curious, I suppose. I've been reading a lot, most stories about people living full time in their wheeled vehicles (in whatever form you have) and they are portrayed in a not so fantastic light. I am sure if you are forced into living, say, out of your car due to situations beyond their control, they won't look at the positives. And most, it seems from reading or watching videos, just want the chance to get back into the mainstream thinking of people must live in a house and get back on the hamster wheel. I want to hear stories about those who embrace it. I've only seen about one youtube documentary showing the positives. They are few and far between. In my own head just feel we are still being led, by news and such, how this is not a viable option that should be looked at in a positive light.

My story is, I am fed up with consumerism, hated all the weight on my shoulders with a house, see stuff coming in the future that will leave me homeless and trying to prepare for it, want to be somewhat mobile, leave a smaller footprint, want a tinier place, want to get back and feel nature again, and don't care what people think.

 

[Van-Tramp]

I have always been pretty minimalistic my entire life. Always rented, never cared to take on a mortgage... very few belongings, etc. When I bought my van in 2010 I was primarily looking for a way to escape civilization for a few days at a time (camping) and going to explore the country.

Through 2010 and 2011 I spent more time on the road than at "home". This put a big strain on an already strained relationship with my GF (at the time) of 18 years. By late 2011 we were well on our way to separation when she was arrested for Domestic Violence. The Judge would not allow her to live under the same roof as me, so I gave her the apartment while I got to go do what I wanted to do... live in the van. She was happy, the judge was happy, and I was happy. I've been full timing since.

I am infinitely more happy since making that choice. I am debt free, more social, and more active when I am living in the van. I have never cared what people think, and still do not (to a point). I've always lived outside of societies scripted ways so it is not much of a change for me. My family (Mother, Sister, and Brothers) thought I was losing it, but have since accepted it and even envy it to an extent. I am closer to them (and all my Nieces and Nephews), my son, and my Ex, then I have ever been in my entire life.

 

[dragonflyinthesky]

If I don't get everything sold/given away/settled and out of here By Dec. 31st of 2014, I feel I may roll up and stare out into space forever. Everyone I have stayed here for all these years can go to hell and make it on their own. I have self sufficient kids but needy relatives and friends. Screw everyone that can never get enough out of me.

 

[66788]

One day while stuck in a traffic jam I decided I have had enough of cities. I like where I live, but summers are way too hot and after 40 years of living in the same town, it's time for a change. I'm now retired and have no family, so socially I'm the perfect candidate for this lifestyle.

I don't like the way our society wants us to be structured by having a permanent address, cell phones that are monitored, internet connections in your name also monitored, and the 9-5 job. The first thing I am going to do is pull the battery from my throw away phone and use it only for emergencies. My internet will be free wifi when available. I will not pay property taxes on anything. I will be an invisible moving target. I guess this is my way of protesting the current condition of this country.

Freedom IS important and it is disappearing at an alarming rate. Grab what is left of it while you can.

 

[Sameer]

My best friend of 40 years decided to live in France, he gave me his van. I was retired and wanted more adventure. Found Bob's website and followed the instructions. Thanks Bob and everyone else who's ideas I used!!! I am fulltime and loving life and the freedom. I am totally free and at peace. Last Summer the Northwest-Winter in Quartzite and Imperial Valley-This Summer Colorado and Arizona. Looking forward to returning to Southern Arizona and the Imperial Valley this Winter. I am one of three million people living in a variety of vehicles and living free in the USA! Isn't that what we are supposed to do? Live free and be happy? I am filled with the wonder of Nature and Creation! My dog, Mr. Pico and I have the most wonderful life imaginable. Some of my old friends and family have put me aside, so I have found new friends and "family". Once you get a 'taste' of true freedom...you cannot return to anything less!

 

[Reno]

Forced, but totally willing to have an adventure! Friend's wives don't want you to stay long, even if you"re sleeping in the van, and women on dating sites will hang up on you once they find out. So... Find out who your real friends are, make some new ones at the RTR, and Happy Motoring!

 

[decodancer]

Loved my job, hated the nitpicking boss that came along with it. I've always loved RVing and have spent weeks at a time in a van or TT through the years. I was on a weekend trip to a KOA and spoke to one of the workampers there. Decided that it was the perfect life for me and a few months later I landed a job in NH. Almost three years fulltiming now and know I made the right decision. My friends support and even envy me at times. My Mother has stopped worrying about my current situation though still worries about the future. Everyone else is pretty accepting, they wouldn't do it but if I want to, why not.

 

[Hereandthere]

Not fulltimers now, have a doublewide mobile home that's pretty nice and paid for, but in a cold climate.

We've done a lot of living in vehicles and are currently getting set up to take off in November for 4 or 5 months in the southwest with our two dogs, hopefully including the get-together at Quartzsite. (Never been to Q...) This may turn into more.

We're both writers, can live anywhere, can't live on our social security though it dos pay for most of the groceries.

 

[user 2252]

I have always valued my freedom and learned this at a young age in the 60's. I would guess that 60's culture brought it to realization. I love directing my own path, never been one to take orders. Now that I am free from self imposed responsibility,(chose to marry, have children, a job, ect, ect.) and time is getting short, I can live my life as I see fit. God, I love the road!! I attended my first RTR in 2012 in a car and a tent and have moved up to a nice little Chevy van after witnessing from others as to how it is done. I spent the last year making preparations for full time and can't wait to get moving!! I love living with the least amount of stress, not having all that materialistic crap to deal with, just sleep, eat and wander. I dont need a clock as much anymore ( what a slave driver! )Whatever happens in between is meant to be. Thank you Bob and all the others I have met for showing me how to REALLY live life to the fullest! (Oh, did I mention I'm still learning and loving it.) So to answer some of your questions Theadyn, I have chosen this lifestyle and glad I did.

I can safely say I am sick of the rat race, working to give my money to someone else.

Yes, I feel I have gained peace of mind, which in turn promotes a healthy body.

I haven't heard much from friends and family about my choices, but it wouldn't matter anyways.

 

[zombiewriter]

About four years ago I became interested in extreme minimalism and withdrawing from 9-5 society. I'm not full time yet, or even part time, but I'm working toward it. I'd like to live in a van or RV full time, but my partner of 17 years isn't interested. This has created some tension between us, but she is supportive of my desire to be more independent and take "vacations" by myself. We're paying off bills and saving money with plans to get a used truck and camper in the next year or so.

I'm also a writer, and love that I have the option of working wherever I am.

 

[riffraff]

As I write this my van move-in date will be in 2 days and I'm far from ready. I moved here (San Fran) 2 months ago from Minnesota to live with a friend for 3-4 months until I got a job in my field (computer programming). I had been selling things on ebay for several years and returned to California to start working again. I am confident I can get a job in the area (no better place for it) if I can get up to speed again which will take 1-2 months, although I still had lots of stuff I wanted to finish selling on ebay. That's what I did for the first month successfully. Everything was going along as planned.

The place I am living was owned by my friend's father who passed away at the beginning of this month (Aug). I was informed that I'd have to move out at the end of the month. All my efforts went to finding a new place. I just needed a room, and surely there would be something available. After contacting about 25 different places on craigslist and visiting 8 of them, it became painfully obvious that nobody will rent a room to me because I'm unemployed. It doesn't matter that I have 6 months of rent/expenses saved up and a plan to get working. It was a huge waste of time and gas.

Plan B, move into the van. Grabbed some vandwelling related e-books on the kindle (including Bob's!), started a gym membership, put most of my things into storage and have had the van looked at. Got a tune-up, the windows tinted and ordered the things needed for getting a dual-battery system along with solar. I'm going to try and do some simple insulation this weekend and toss the twin sized mattress on the van floor. It's going to be a bit rough for the first week at least until I can get everything installed.

I know you were looking for more of the stories that involved becoming a vandweller by choice, but this is all I've got. I think things will turn out ok. I just need to survive for 2-3 months or so.

 

[RogueRV2]

Although being forced by a lack of income, I can see the advantages. The most important is getting my freedom back. I too, would be an invisible and moving target for as long as that can last, and that might be only a few years more.....

One day while stuck in a traffic jam I decided I have had enough of cities. I like where I live, but summers are way too hot and after 40 years of living in the same town, it's time for a change. I'm now retired and have no family, so socially I'm the perfect candidate for this lifestyle.

I don't like the way our society wants us to be structured by having a permanent address, cell phones that are monitored, internet connections in your name also monitored, and the 9-5 job. The first thing I am going to do is pull the battery from my throw away phone and use it only for emergencies. My internet will be free wifi when available. I will not pay property taxes on anything. I will be an invisible moving target. I guess this is my way of protesting the current condition of this country.

Freedom IS important and it is disappearing at an alarming rate. Grab what is left of it while you can.

 

[akrvbob]

Great topic:

1) I was forced into it by a divorce--I simply couldn't afford rent
2) I hated it at first!! But soon fell deeply, totally in love with it.
3) Been full time for 13 years (but not continuous--6 years then a break and then 6 more years till today)
4) NEVER plan to live in a house again!
5) My family only cared if I was happy. I've been doing it so long there are no "normal" house-dwellers left in my life to frown on me.

Like Van Tramp, being a vandweller has made MUCH more SOCIAL than I ever was living in a house.
Bob

 

[Suanne]

Good, thought provoking questions for me.

-Although I wasn't "forced" into this lifestyle, I do recognize that it saved my sanity. I needed to do something radically different than what I was doing in order to process/grieve/deal with some big life changes that all happened in 2008 (early retirement, death of my daughter, financial losses).

-Having worked my way up my career ladder, I found myself in a job that was a terrible fit for me. It was the first time I actually disliked my job, and realized that I was slowly killing myself by going to work each day. When I figured out that I could retire early (while my husband also had taken an early medical retirement) that's what I did. Although I was already entertaining thoughts of traveling very light, I'd not discovered vandwelling yet.

-Right now I'm a part-time vandweller with 6 months being the longest period of time living out of my vehicle. Although I could very easily and happily become a full-timer, I love and am committed to a man who does not share my love of vandwelling. So, I make myself content being a part-timer.

-The gains (vs. losses) from living the vandwelling lifestyle are immense. Being frugal, on the road, living out of a small space with nature as my backyard ... this is where I am who I really am. And then, to have found other people who also love this lifestyle is a joy beyond words. Among vandwellers I'm around folks who "get me;" I've found friendships.

-For the most part, my extended family has always seen me as one who breaks the norms. I was the first among my aunts/uncles/parents/cousins/brothers to be on welfare, get a divorce, earn a college degree, (female to) have a career ... so, in their eyes, traveling and living out of a vehicle is just another in a long-line of unorthodox choices. But, among my brothers, traveling is in our genes. So they not only get it, but are travelers themselves (internationally, on a motorbike, in a 5er). My in-laws and the few friends I have outside of vandwellers don't understand, but they haven't tried very hard to talk me out of it either.

Suanne ... who could use a bit of vandwelling sanity right now

 

[freenez2]

I'd researched van dwelling for years and prepared for its eventuality. No one ever retired from where I worked. They were either fired, quit, or died. When the job out-sourced I was ready so it was an easy transition.

 

[rvwandering]

We (actually I, Karen, but we both have the rambling gene) chose this lifestyle. Traveling and experiencing new places has always been something that made me happy so settling down to a conventional life seemed like prison sentence. Working to get more things, bigger things and better things just because it was expected never made sense to me. When we were very young we packed up our VW van and traveled the country for a year. That was the end of anything conventional for us. Even though we bought a house (fixer upper in the city) and got steady jobs we were just planning our escape which came 16 years later.

We've been fullingtimers since 1993 and love it. I can't think of anything that is really bad. As with any lifestyle there are parts that aren't enjoyable such as dumping waste tanks, discovering that a planned night time stop is not going to work, vehicle breakdowns, etc. The good stuff - traveling this beautiful country, meeting wonderful people, and visiting family and friends who are scattered around - definitely wins!

We've found that most people don't understand why we want to do this. Most of our friends and relatives are pretty much homebodies. They might take a week or two vacation but they would never consider fulltiming.

I've noticed that a lot of people visit the forums, full of plans and enthusiasm, but many don't follow through. The ones that do are happy with their lives, whether they came to it by choice or were forced into it.

 

[Hereandthere]

We've been fullingtimers since 1993 and love it...

Wowee! Does that set a record around here?

 

[accrete]

Greetings all, and yes a fun topic, touched on various times in other threads, but always enjoyable to revisit the "whys".

For my wife and i we do live full time in an RV, by choice.
When we got married 31 years ago we quickly moved into a 32ft TT at the base of Mt. Rose in Reno Nevada just over the hill from Lake Tahoe. We loved it!!
Then i got a job opportunity that moved us up to the big city of Portland Oregon. The TT was left behind and we moved into an apartment and were renters never wanting to own land or a home. In ~1989 an interesting job opportunity brought us to the Oregon Coast. We got a sweet rental deal on a farmhouse on an acre of land for next to nothing and actually stayed there for nearly 20 years waiting for the kids to head out into the world on their own...and chomping at the bit to get back into an RV full time. We would drag the kids to nearly every RV show that hit the Portland or Seattle areas! Trust me when i say they were both very excited to hear we had purchased and moved into an RV again.

So we do full time, but we are also basically in one spot. My wife picked a nice park (an RV & Golf Resort on the Oregon Coast) about 4 miles from our employer (Costco Wholesale) and we might be in this same spot even 10 years from now. LOL> yea that doesn't seem like the RV Life to some, but this lifestyle is so pleasant and simple. We are both minimalists in that we like small cozy (we actually think, three years into living full time in our 38ft 5th wheel it is too big!) and simple-to-keep surroundings by choice. The farmhouse and all the land was too much, but to good of a deal to pass up with kids growing up (and homeschooling them until they both headed off into the US Air Force.)

Some of you know we also have an adventure rig. It is a van conversion plus small 15 foot trailer. This is what we take out every 5th or 6th week for a week up in the hills (forestry land & roads). This is also the rig (or similar set up) we would like to retire in when the time comes.

We don't have to live this lifestyle, but we choose to for its simplicity and (if you plan it so) affordability. Our jobs are allowing us to live on about ~40% of our income and the rest is socked away for another day. But we lack no good thing and are happy and content with the simple life.

Best wishes to all those who come this way.
Thom