Ssdi while on the road

[Davsey85]

I had some questions on disability 

I was crious how do you guys/gals manage ssdi while on the road?

Do po boxes let you set up in any state if you are essentially houseless and don't have a physical address ?

Does being nomadic in a vehicle hurt your continuing disability reviews?

I live off 850 a month in California as the state pays for Medicare.If I move away from the wildfires to somewhere like AZ and do winters in low elevation summers in higher elevations and have two po boxes for each season is this permissible?

Im hoping that Az is not going to be effected by the ecological disaster in California and looking for a good environment to live in

I have looked into just going across the Mexican border and getting a cheap place to rent for 300 in a border town.

When my health started getting worse spending the cold winter months in Yuma I flew to cancun for the winter and got better in the heat.

Other than palm springs and south Florida in winter where car camping is.illegal im not sure what else can be done 

Some people on the Facebook social security forum are telling me good luck with continuing to receive benefits doing this going to Mexico as ssa may use this against you once you leave the US and request you return for a consultative exam which typically can be a subtle way of denial 

Looking for some guidance 

Thank you

 

[Cammalu]

Escapees is your new friend. You can get mail service with them and that will give you a permanent address.

 

[Davsey85]

Hi cammulu,

Can escapees work in Mexico?
Thanks

 

[Cammalu]

I dunno. Go to escapees.com and check it out. They have been helping full time nomads for many years. I think they have about 60,000 members.

 

[Davsey85]

I seem to be having some challenges with driving.Anything more than a couple hrs a day seems to worsen my chronic fatigue syndrome.Seems that the legs get quite sore

At this pace, I'd be moving around like a snail to get places.Not sure if this is sustainable

Joining the Caravan group traveling to destinations ike Baja California perhaps they go at a faster rate

Its nice in a way to be away from people and have some personal space

 

[GotSmart]

For your ssdi, just open a bank account and have direct deposit. Use your card to draw out or pay bills.

I am lucky enough to have USAA.

 

[maki2]

Short hops of 2 hours or less between campsites is very normal in the nomadic life. So do not stress out about it. It is a non issue.

 

[Markw]

I had some questions on disability

I was crious how do you guys/gals manage ssdi while on the road?

Do po boxes let you set up in any state if you are essentially houseless and don't have a physical address ?

Does being nomadic in a vehicle hurt your continuing disability reviews?

I live off 850 a month in California as the state pays for Medicare.If I move away from the wildfires to somewhere like AZ and do winters in low elevation summers in higher elevations and have two po boxes for each season is this permissible?

Im hoping that Az is not going to be effected by the ecological disaster in California and looking for a good environment to live in

I have looked into just going across the Mexican border and getting a cheap place to rent for 300 in a border town.

When my health started getting worse spending the cold winter months in Yuma I flew to cancun for the winter and got better in the heat.

Other than palm springs and south Florida in winter where car camping is.illegal im not sure what else can be done

Some people on the Facebook social security forum are telling me good luck with continuing to receive benefits doing this going to Mexico as ssa may use this against you once you leave the US and request you return for a consultative exam which typically can be a subtle way of denial

Looking for some guidance

Thank you

As someone that is on disability, I can tell you moving around isn't a big deal as long as you have your benefits direct deposited (they will even send you a debit card...though I recommend getting your own bank account and having it deposited there. The debit card they send you has some restrictions on it.).

I have a friend that I have all my important mail sent to (SSA stuff, bank stuff etc), then I use mail services and have them mail it to me. It's like having a mail service without the extra fees.

I realize that not everyone will have that as an option, so I recommend getting set up with a mail forwarding service (BCM in Quartzsite, Mail Messages and More in Pahrump, Mailbox plus in Flagstaff etc) and having your mail sent there. You get an actual address and all the shipping services will drop your mail/packages there. Some will even email you when they get a package for you if you let them know it's coming. There are fees involved with each. Some have monthly fees but most is a per year thing. You also have to set up residency in most cases because there are federal Post Office forms involved.

Also, most mail service places will also have pick up service where you don't actually have to sign up for their mail forwarding, but they do charge per package in those cases (most are about $5 per piece for normal mail/packages, $7-$10 for larger packages). You can use these to have whatever your mail forwarding company is to send your mail to.

You can also use General Delivery at the Post Office, but keep in mind that shipping services such as UPS and FedEx won't deliver to general delivery (experienced this first hand, it was a big hassle with a couple of Amazon packages).

As for follow-ups, I've been on Disability for a couple of years now and have yet to have them say I needed one (though that could be because of my age).

 

[Melanie Haney]

I seem to be having some challenges with driving.Anything more than a couple hrs a day seems to worsen my chronic fatigue syndrome.Seems that the legs get quite sore

At this pace, I'd be moving around like a snail to get places.Not sure if this is sustainable

Joining the Caravan group traveling to destinations ike Baja California perhaps they go at a faster rate

Its nice in a way to be away from people and have some personal space

Pick a slower caravan!!!!

 

[LargeMarge]

...driving...more than a couple hrs...legs get...sore
At this pace, I'd be moving around like a snail...sustainable
... Caravan... to...Baja... perhaps they go... faster...
...nice...to...have...personal space

.
a)
We prefer rural rustic two-lanes.
We prefer gravel roads.
Plenty of personal space.
.
Our caravans are organized around the least-capable operator and rig:
* we rarely get going before noon,
* we rarely travel more than a couple hours,
* we are usually at camp and set by early afternoon.
This gives plenty of time for everybody to complete walk-arounds of each rig to check fluids and pressures, investigate unscheduled explosions, that sort of thing.
More eyes looking for potential issues can help prevent stoppages while mobile.
.
Accordingly, a snail-pace looks good to us.
Suitably, we carry our home with us, happy as a lobster or turtle.
.
.
b)
I turn 72yo in a few weeks.
During my short sweet life, I learned to listen to my body:
* if a food slams my sinuses, I avoid that.
* if sitting a couple hours -- operating a motorized vehicle -- gives me unsightly cankles, I pull over and do a walk-through and walk-around.
.
Fortunately, the dogs are willing to supervise my walk, making sure I do it right.
.
.
c)
We usually take a couple weeks Oregon-to-Baja.
We stop at scenic places to accumulate our caravan chums coming in from points afar, allowing plenty of flex for weather or traffic or mechanical interruptions.
.
We could probably make it in one thirty-hour blast/marathon, crazed maniacs conveniently ignoring all those pesky 'road-rules' and 'service-hours' required of lesser folk.
But where is the fun in that.