So.... Why Did You Choose to Live In A Van?

[akrvbob]

steamjam 1,

You are my latest hero!
Bob

 

[GotSmart]

Obamanomics. in one word.

A van is the right size to carry just enough to get by, without becoming a hoarder.

In this economy, older people are unable to be hired. I have 40 years work experience, and a BS in Communications. But I have been disabled 5 times, so no employer will give me the time of day. I will get clearance from my latest surgery in June to hit the road.

I still managed to raise 3 daughters:s on my own. Now that the youngest one is graduating from college, I can relax and see the country. I will be using her address as a home base for my insurance and registration. Since I will be keeping my library and excess furniture there, I can have a "renters" policy that will also cover what is in my van.

I will have my tools, and recommendations from former customers, so almost any part of the country I go to I will have contacts that can find me a short "handyman" job to make a little cash. By setting up the van just right, I can transport full sheets of plywood so I can transport materials.

I will have my Silver Sneakers card to be able to use showers at health clubs all across the country, akarvbob is giving me honest advice on setting up solar, so I will have everything I need. My old cat and I will travel around and be able to stay in a warm place in the winter. The cold weather really hurts our old bones.

 

[Patrick46]

steamjam 1,

You are my latest hero!
Bob

no doubt!!! Mine too!!!

 

[akrvbob]

GotSmart wrote:
Obamanomics. in one word.
==========

Let me make this very clear; we are NOT going to allow any "I hate liberals" or "I hate Republicans" "It's Bushes Fault" "It's Obamas fault."

Anyone that doesn't understand that should PM me and I will help you to understand. It simply will NOT be tolerated. Nor will we allow any hints at it or "joking" about it
Bob

 

[GotSmart]

GotSmart wrote:
Obamanomics. in one word.
==========

Let me make this very clear; we are NOT going to allow any "I hate liberals" or "I hate Republicans" "It's Bushes Fault" "It's Obamas fault."

Anyone that doesn't understand that should PM me and I will help you to understand. It simply will NOT be tolerated. Nor will we allow any hints at it or "joking" about it
Bob

Sorry~~~ I did not mean it that way. The whole political system is broken. Both sides are caught up in the "owing" favors to the lobbyists. The common man is being thrown aside. Obama just happens to be President, and as the head man takes the generic blame. When I was first in the workforce, the "problem" was Reganomics.

The whole set up where the buying power is much less than when I was a child. The economy is in need of a real fix. The answer will take a lot of political discussion and debate. I understand this is not the place. I honestly do not have the answer.

Where I am at, that word is used to describe the current state of the economy by both R and D.

Nuff said about that. I just know that I am in a real fix because of the state of the economy, and the lack of buying power of my dollar. I burned my body out raising my children by myself to this point. If I say more, I will start getting bitter. Not the place for that.

 

[AimlessWanderLust]

While we're not exactly in a van, but a truck camper, I'll leave our short story here too.

Midway through college, we suddenly "woke up" and wondered what the hell we were doing. We were chasing the "American Dream" and suddenly wondered why. We thought we wanted it all: career, house, kids, stuff, etc, but we really don't. What we really want is experiences. The experience of adventure and seeing the world. There's just no time left for adventure if you're tied down and committed to bills and jobs... so we knew we had to do something different.

We were nearly done with college, so we decided to just finish it. We had and still have a ton of student loan debt. Having the degrees yield higher paying jobs so we can pay off our debt faster. We moved into a pop-up truck camper in college to reduce the loans we'd need to take and we loved it more than we thought. The lack of rent and other bills was great, and we loved just taking spontaneous trips on the weekends and spending the whole summer in the mountains.

We're now in a hard-side truck camper because it's a bit more comfortable in the Colorado winter. We're both working and putting every penny we can spare into paying off our loans. Hopefully we'll be debt free by the end of this year. We'll save just a little (maybe change vehicles), then quit our jobs and seek the freedom and adventures we so desperately crave.

 

[Patrick46]

Wonderful AWL!!!

I wish I wouldda stuck to 'my' original plan back when I was younger.

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

Steam: Wish you luck, what a brave thing to do

 

[caseyc]

Congrats Steamjam1 !!

I envy your courage that you can simply buy a van for $800 with minimal preparation in short time and make a run for it. Awesome! I wish I were more like that myself. I've been prepping my van now for over 2 years and finally got to the point of being able to live in it full time if I want to. I just have to settle other odds and ends in my life, but I'd say I'm already over 90% on my way. I guess I should consider myself fortunate I've had the time to prepare, but still, I admire your courage just to make a full commitment after only a short time! Please keep us updated on your progress!

Casey

So I decided (Halloween night 2013) to sell everything I own, pack up only the bare essentials into a $800 Dodge van, and just go for it. It took me two months of preparation, trial, error and some missteps, but I'm "on the road" I enrolled myself at the art academy, and this time I'm doing it PAY-AS-YOU-GO.... I'm going to be the oldest mofo student at that school, but I don't care. I don't have time to worry about such trivial things anymore.

 

[Simran]

To the original poster: I chose a van for two reasons mobility & economics. I've been living in it for two years now and have found myself working in one location for 11 months with no end in sight. I've recently bought a bus to afford my self a little more room. I no longer need a home that is mobile at the drop of a hat and I think this will fill the bill nicely. I probably won't put 500 miles a year on it unless I go to the RTR; which is in the plan one of these days. Maybe I'll make it next year and just keep the van for another year. I can do that; it's paid for. Come to think of it so is the bus. Oh I love beating the system!!!

 

[TheMadTitan]

We wanted to spend as much time as possible together and have a go at starting a business, and she has rarely been out of her hometown let alone out of state so naturally I had to remedy that part. We played around with a few different ideas including converting shuttle buses, box trucks, or step vans. It just seemed to us that the extra gas savings just made sense.

I'm still working on getting our van ready for the big trip, but we've been in it for around 2 months now, and every time we stay somewhere else we talk about how we miss the van even though it's just been a laptop and a queen matt stuffed on top of some pallets so far. Once we get it set up I can't see us ever trying to find an apartment again.

 

[drewman230]

I have never had much stuff before I moved into the the van. If I needed to move in a hurry I could do it in a about 20 minutes. I started thinking about how much time I spent at my apartment and when it came down to it, the only time I was every home was to sleep and shower. I started thinking that $1600+ a month for a bed and a shower is a bit much. So I looked into buying a Class B rv and saw the prices and laughed at how much money they are new. I started reading different websites and said to myself, " self you make your own mini rv with just the stuff you need " . I am glad I didn't choose that time to argue with myself. But sometimes I do argue with myself because either way you look at it. I win

 

[caseyc]

That's funny, I thought I was the only one who argues with myself, haha! I'm also glad I didn't run out to buy a brand new RoadTrek for some $80k. That would have put me in debt for many years, and I don't want that. Like you, I modified my van to make it comfy for my needs.

I have never had much stuff before I moved into the the van. If I needed to move in a hurry I could do it in a about 20 minutes. I started thinking about how much time I spent at my apartment and when it came down to it, the only time I was every home was to sleep and shower. I started thinking that $1600+ a month for a bed and a shower is a bit much. So I looked into buying a Class B rv and saw the prices and laughed at how much money they are new. I started reading different websites and said to myself, " self you make your own mini rv with just the stuff you need " . I am glad I didn't choose that time to argue with myself. But sometimes I do argue with myself because either way you look at it. I win

 

[Sameer]

I know I will take some flack for this!
I don't believe that the problems we experience come from any politics....It comes from todays sick and irreparable society.

Good Luck...Got Smart...It is a wonderful life!

 

[AimlessWanderLust]

I don't believe that the problems we experience come from any politics....It comes from todays sick and irreparable society.

You'll get no flack from me. I completely agree!

 

[decodancer]

I'm currently in a 28 foot travel trailer working at a KOA campground but I've lived in a van several times and plan on doing it again soon. My main reason was my dogs. If you've ever tried to rent with (at the time) A Golden Retriever and a Chihuahua, you'd know it's almost impossible. I worked as a dog groomer so was able to take them to work with me but we did just fine living in the van at a campground. I've gone back and forth between travel trailers, class C and van campers but vans are the least expensive and easiest to maintain. I've got 3 Poodles now and one is over 60 pounds so unless I win the lottery this is our life. Even if I did, I'd just buy a newer van and tour the country with them.

 

[Lucky mike]

I started out in an old Volare station wagon..(LOL)..worked my way up from there as needs and comfort called for.
Tried the travel trailer life....pickup trucks with tents and campers and a few vans. I finally ended up in my small class A .....Im happy here, I added solar and what ever it would take to boondock all the time.....I've had several great portable businesses over the years to keep it going.

that being said....Vans are a great way to get out here and keep your stability, if you plan it right and equip it properly it will take you everywhere.....if its because of hard times and you are planning on staying where your at, its a great way to lower total cost of living without really suffering to much and giving you a hand up!!!

 

[minimotos95]

though i have yet to officially move in(need $$$ for new motor) i have spent a lot of time reflecting:
i am stingy, love things with motors and tires, i never used much space even in sticks and bricks houses other than storage of useless crap, and don't really like traditional western society.... then once i found the awesome community there was no changing my mind.

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Brandon, you sound like many of the van/rv dwellers here.
Put all you efforts into your rig and make it reality.
No other way to find out if its for you.

 

[SoulRaven]

Sorry~~~ I did not mean it that way. The whole political system is broken. Both sides are caught up in the "owing" favors to the lobbyists. The common man is being thrown aside. ***** just happens to be President, and as the head man takes the generic blame. When I was first in the workforce, the "problem" was Reganomics.

The whole set up where the buying power is much less than when I was a child. The economy is in need of a real fix. The answer will take a lot of political discussion and debate. I understand this is not the place. I honestly do not have the answer.

Where I am at, that word is used to describe the current state of the economy by both R and D.

Nuff said about that. I just know that I am in a real fix because of the state of the economy, and the lack of buying power of my dollar. I burned my body out raising my children by myself to this point. If I say more, I will start getting bitter. Not the place for that.

Greetings GotSmart!

But alas, you DO have the answer. Most of us do I think whether we realize it or not. Living within our own means, whatever they are, and enjoying life to the fullest, is the best answer anyone can have.

We are the truly blessed, being able to enjoy life much more than many others. Once you get used to this lifestyle you will find that work is truly abundant everywhere if you're not to picky. With work comes money, and with low expenses, you will soon find that you have considerably more money than you need to live extremely comfortably.

We are not homeless or unemployed, we are fulltimers who travel with our work. Once people understand that, it helps to dispel their misconceptions of people who live a mobile lifestyle.

My family didn't understand or approve of my mobile lifestyle for many years. Yet, when they needed money, guess who they came to... After my Dad retired, I bought them a brand new $250k motorhome with all of the bells and whistles. Then and only then did they come to learn how and where my constant happiness was coming from.

They gave their house to my Brother, and spent the rest of their lives traveling and enjoying life in a way they never knew was possible. My brother inherited that motorhome, sold the house and moved in, and now for the first time in his life, he is truly happy too.

Our wheels give us our freedom and our happiness, our wisdom helps us to share it with others.

Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man