The mobile mentality

[ganchan]

I believe I will be leaving my Austin apartment this summer -- and unless I simply rent a room somewhere else, I'll be doing the full-time vandwelling thing. But I even though I can do my freelance writing work from anywhere in the country, I notice that I'm still thinking in terms of "Okay, which overnight/boondocking places in the Austin area can I make use of?" I really only have to be in Austin once a week, for client meetings/networking; the rest of the time, I can be wherever I like. It's a mindset that takes some getting used to.

If you're doing the nomadic thing, did you find that you first needed to mentally "untether" yourself from your longtime surroundings?

(Incidentally, feel free to recommend good free Austin-area overnight sites for those days when I do have to be in town!) 

 

[DannyB1954]

Many find gym memberships helpful. A 24 hour Gym may give you a place to park as well.

 

[Wabbit]

It is surprisingly hard to "untether". We have our vehicle, but really no place to work on it. I want to just pack what we have and head west...but...what if? I'm not sure at this point I am acting cowardly or trying to be prudent.

 

[MrNoodly]

I was mentally gone from my house, neighborhood, city, state, region and half of the country about ten years before I ever hit the road. I wasn't untethering, I was getting out of prison.

 

[eDJ_]

I've wondered about this in the past myself.   I tend to see it as having a "nomadic philosophy" that one can adhere to and truly understands.

There are thought to be 9 types of intelligence.

http://fundersandfounders.com/9-types-of-intelligence/


I'm thinking the nomad would embrace "naturalist",  "intra-personal", and "interpersonal" intelligence as the core of being out on the road and on their own.   From this one would define their own set of ethics for how they will conduct their life each day.  It may only be a simple oath similar to what a Boy or Girl Scout would memorize.  It could contain what they would feel to be real and important to them. (this probably realized before they chose the nomadic life, or what led them to choosing it)  And there should be some thought given to an evaluation technique in order to help assure one stays on that path.

Younger people may simply go by a definition of themselves.  "I'm a Techno-Gypsie"  but in time that will need to expand.  Then through life and time the philosophy will change to suit our different needs.

All of this will vary with different people.  But I could still see a basic nomadic philosophy evolving here that most of us could use as a starting point.

 

[LMTLMT]

Many find gym memberships helpful. A 24 hour Gym may give you a place to park as well.

^^This.  Gym membership helps a lot.

 

[ganchan]

Yeah, a Planet Fitness membership might be just to thing to keep me showered (more or less) while I pull the occasional overnight stay.

In fact, staking out familiar sites in various cities could help me ease "off the tether" psychologically: "Oh, there's my Planet Fitness for the night. There's my Starbucks for tomorrow morning." Etc.

 

[jonsun]

I realize your statement is about psychology, but just FYI, camp shower kits are cheap, take up little room, and work great.

 

[ganchan]

Yes, I'm also going to get a DIY shower setup (and one of those stand-up privacy tents) for when I'm at campsites and other rural areas.

 

[DannyB1954]

My solar shower: Take a 2 gallon weed sprayer, spray paint it black with plastic paint. Cut off the spray valve and splice on a sprayer made for rinsing off dishes at the kitchen sink. Fill the sprayer with water and set it in the sun, maybe even the top of your roof. Cover the sprayer with clear plastic, (the sun will want to warm the jug, and the wind will want to cool it. The clear plastic over the sprayer will act as a greenhouse). Shower before the sun goes down.

 

[DuneElliot]

Since I moved out of home at 18, with $70 in my pocket and bag of clothes and moved to another country where I barely knew a soul my life has been mostly nomadic from the beginning. I never settled in one place for very long for the first four years, and I didn't even have a vehicle at the time. After I had a truck I had a little more stuff but I still moved every six months for different seasonal jobs. I had never been tethered to a place or a job untilmy parents bought the house I currently live in. I still had the itch, but a free place to live in a beautiful state was hard to say no to. I did disappear every summer for a long road-trip, lots of mountain camping and horse-riding/backpacking and trips to Europe.

What I'm saying with thi, very inarticulately, is that I think most people who have had a "normal" life are going to find it harder to step back from what they know and what is secure because that is human nature. Even though I have lived a pretty nomadic life for most of my adult years, just being in one place for a couple of years has made me complacent about the security a house and job brings...but it also irks me that I have any feelings like that. I don't want to stay AT ALL, but I do love it here.

 

[TrainChaser]

Ganchan:  I was looking around, and there aren't a large number of free campsites within easy reach of Austin.  Here are the ones I found.

Owl Creek Park at Belton Lake, 10 miles from Temple:  FREE for up to 14 days.  Picnic tables, rest rooms.  https://freecampsites.net/#!2939&query=sitedetails

Iron Bridge at Belton Lake, 14 miles from Moody, TX:  FREE for up to 14 days.  Picnic tables, rest rooms.  https://freecampsites.net/#!2951&query=sitedetails

Cedar Point Campground, about 2 miles from Tow,TX:  FREE.  You may stay 5 nights in a row, or 10 nights out of 30.  Picnic tables, vault toilet, no potable water.  https://freecampsites.net/#!8084&query=sitedetails

Camp Creek Camp Creek Recreation Area (56 miles NW of Austin):  FREE.  You may stay 5 nights in a row, or 10 nights out of 30.  One vault toilet, no potable water.  http://www.lcra.org/parks/recreation-areas/Pages/camp-creek.aspx   &
https://freecampsites.net/#!8087&query=sitedetails




Scenic Overlook, West Point TX (44 miles SE  from Austin) may be good for only one night:  https://freecampsites.net/#!99079&query=sitedetails

 

[Rollo]

I realize your statement is about psychology, but just FYI, camp shower kits are cheap, take up little room, and work great.

Any ideas to showering inside Van? Catching excess water other than a holding tank underneath Van.

 

[Radar]

My solar shower: Take a 2 gallon weed sprayer, spray paint it black with plastic paint. Cut off the spray valve and splice on a sprayer made for rinsing off dishes at the kitchen sink. Fill the sprayer with water and set it in the sun, maybe even the top of your roof. Cover the sprayer with clear plastic, (the sun will want to warm the jug, and the wind will want to cool it. The clear plastic over the sprayer will act as a greenhouse). Shower before the sun goes down.

This set up is awesome.  Been using it since I started my vandwelling life 9 months ago, on January 1, 2017.