Thoughts about strategy to get out of S & B

[LeilaLight]

Hello, everyone -- 
I am a single mother, currently still in S & B apartment (boo) while waiting for Teenager to finish high school and head to college.  At that time, I'll be mid-50s.  I will have about 10-12 years to work after Teenager leaves before retirement, so I plan to stay in the city where I have a decent secure job.  My dream is to retire on the road -- RV living or Van living.  To get there, I need to make a transition to save up for the small RV rig I'd want, and I thought I could do so by trying out van living.  If I like it, I could stick to the van. So here are my ideas...

1. When Teenager leaves for college, rent a room for least rent possible (still probably 500 per month) and save the difference until I can buy the RV rig I'm considering.  This would take me about 2 years, best as I can tell.  Pros, I guess, are relative safety (still living in someone else's home or having roommate), convenience, and not stealthing in the city where it's illegal to sleep in one's vehicle.  

2. When Teenager leaves for college, immediately get a cargo van or other super stealthy vehicle and outfit it for stealth living in the city. I could keep a gym membership for showers, and a storage unit for closet/garage to maintain my work wardrobe and any items I'd want later for the RV. I easily could get out of the city to local boondocking locations on weekends and days off for a sense of freedom from stealthing.  I think by stealth camping with no rent, I could save up enough for the RV rig I'm considering in about 10 months. So at that point, I could make a decision about continuing to stealth to save more money, or purchase the RV and move to an RV park lifestyle until I retire. 

I'm really attracted to option 2.  One concern I have -- what about if the van were to break down. Would I have to try to disguise the fact that I'm living in it before it could be seen by a mechanic? How would I do that if it's my only vehicle and it has broken down?  I have less concern about couch surfing with friends if my home were overnight at the mechanic's shop. 

Thoughts about any of this from experienced city stealthers?

 

[Van-Tramp]

Option 2 is very plausible if you do two things;

1) Buy a van that does not require a computer science degree to work on (older than 1996, preferably late 80s)
2) Use this time to learn to fix it yourself. You can get parts so cheaply for the old american vans. Buy a part, watch a youtube vid, and replace it yourself. Do it with your kid and teach him a valuable lesson too.

You can even take weekend trips with the kid NOW. Those are moments you with borh enjoy for a long time

Ps - stealth living in cities is a myth. Dont fool yourslef that the police, and neighbors, wont spot you within 72 hours. They will, save yourself that headache

 

[LeilaLight]

Ps - stealth living in cities is a myth. Dont fool yourslef that the police, and neighbors, wont spot you within 72 hours. They will, save yourself that headache

Great points, thank you.  If I plan to move around a lot and have a vehicle that looks inconspicuous (no obvious fans, camping gear) will that help me be left alone?  I am not afraid to be alone in my car, I just don't want the cops to hassle me.  I know the strategy of pulling up at the sleeping location at bedtime, go right to blackout conditions and leave early.  I'm thinking I could have ten or more sleeping spots scouted out and rotate so I'm not in the same place all the time.

 

[Van-Tramp]

Yes, using all measures of slealth will get you an undisturbed nights sleep or two (or maybe more) but it is inevitable that you will be getting a knock at the door. It isnt a matter of IF but a matter of WHEN. Even rotating many spots, the police are not idiots on the subject of pepple sleeping in their vehicles. It is quite easy to spot to be honest.

There are some ways to remedy that other than traveling out of city limits: check with local rv parks about monthly rates (usually much cheaper than an apt rent). Or check with lical fraternal organizations (Moose, Elk, etc) as many have space and willingness to allow members to camp on their property for periods of time. But, dont put it in your plan to stealth urban camp without being noticed for any length of time. That just isn’t a reality.

Renting a room is smart and can be had for dirt cheap in many areas. In fact, get the smallest room possible and try living in that small a space. Eventually, cut that room in half and live in that smaller space. Lay it out like a van. Cram all your belings into the tiny soace and learn what it feels like first. Then, once you have all your ducks in a row with the kid, savings, and repair know how, you can go at the van dwelling full time. It is the path to a successful and happy time in your van. Shortcuts will bring misery.

 

[John61CT]

Living in an urban area depends on the jurisdiction and most importantly the area.

You can always rotate to suburban / country areas and commute in, train station parking lots can be very cheap.

A single woman will get lots more slack from LEO than a guy.

 

[DannyB1954]

Sometimes you can find RV parking on Craigslist also.
I had a friend that would stealth camp in a 4 door car using a car cover. He would park and leave the passenger window down. Put the cover on and if nobody was around lift up the cover and go in through the open window. If people were around he would just go for a short walk.

He parked near apartments usually. He spray painted his license plate number on the back so people would not want to steal the cover. Nobody could see steamed up windows or even considered anyone was inside. He said nobody ever lifted up the cover to see if it was empty. If people did see him go in he said they would just assume that he had forgotten something. He made money on the side as a magician so illusion was his specialty.

Other than that I like the idea of a van.

 

[Whitey]

Or buy a van that people don't object to seeing parked in their 'hood. I'm up in Vancouver, Canada and I overthought the stealth aspect and wasted a year before pulling the pin.

Maybe things are different down in the States because people up here really don't care if you live in your van as long as you're clean and you move it. I bought a '15 Savana and had a high top installed (still looked like a contractor's van) then added 400 watts of solar, (which is kind of flying the flag) and never a negative comment much less a knock.

Just passed the 1 year mark and I've got to say that it's a great life. The freedom to pack up and take off on my weeks off makes me wish I did it years ago, but things come in their proper time. Don't waste precious time and energy worrying about stealth, or your setup, or anything else. You'll work it all out in short order and it can be a fun process!

One thing I would suggest is not wasting your money on a buddy heater. Mine worked fine at first, then the filter kept clogging up with a sulfurous oily substance which eventually ended up in the pilot light tube. Repairs became a daily hassle and only lasted for an hour or so before it clogged again so I donated it to the Sally Ann.

Best of luck!

 

[Beeps and eats]

Option 2 is in my humble opinion your best plan. You can adapt to the lifestyle that suits you best. And by the time you are ready to full time I doubt you will still have the storage unit. Move slowly into it and the transition will be easy for you to adjust to. plus it takes time to find what items work best for you and what to let go of.
But the best part is that you have a plan.
Good luck with your new adventure!
Beeps.

Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk

 

[LeilaLight]

Thank you for the encouragement! I'm enjoying the planning and research process.

 

[Canine]

I have a friend (previous coworker) who owns a house and that is where I stayed when I was building my van. She was getting older and had trouble mowing the lawn and such. Nor was she very handy. In exchange for letting me stay there I offered to mow the lawn, fix her things, roof the house, change the oil in her truck, do other repairs, let her dog out, feed the cats when she was gone, etc. One time her furnace stopped working around 1:00 a.m. Instead of her needing to call an HVAC technician for an emergency repair ($$$) I fixed it and saved her a ton of money; that was cool. It wasn't easy, but I did all of that stuff and worked part time while building my cargo trailer out. I did pay $100/month when I could as I used her electricity and garage to store my stuff and to do the build. There were many nights I ended up staying in an unused room in her house when being in the trailer wasn't feasible (painting, cold, etc.) That wasn't part of the deal, but she was happy to accommodate me and had no complaints, thank goodness. I would wash her dishes or vacuum at times. My part time job was renting movies, so she got lots of free movies.

Keep in mind this is in a city with an ordinance that literally doesn't even allow parents to pitch a tent with their kids in their own back yard. Of course, no cop is going to enforce the law to the extent, but it is technically there. The only legal way to live in an RV that I know of is to pay a fee for a permit that is good for several months while repairing/remodeling your house.

My trailer was backed into the front of a dilapidated, two door garage where I also parked my truck beside it. It was on a dead end road next to the railroad tracks. The noise sucked! Sometimes the cops would be chasing bad guys on foot or in a car and since the tracks are fenced off, it was a dead end. Many cops saw my trailer many times. I would continue working on the trailer right in front of the cops as if nothing were wrong. While I didn't flaunt it, I didn't try to hide it, either. Not once did I have any sort of problem in any way. Perhaps my experience is an exception. I held no delusion that at least some LEOs knew what I was doing in that trailer.

I also was able to pick up a free slide-in camper at first not only to see how I would feel about living in a smaller space, but also to help save money. It had little insulation, no real fan, and was a hunk of junk. But it helped me out a lot as a start. A great experience.

When in a van or owning your own home, being handy is a huge plus; more of a prerequisite, really. Renting is awesome in that if the water heater fails in the middle of the night, your only responsibilities are turning off the water valve at the heater (if it has one- grrrrr if it doesn't!), then calling the landlord. They get to deal with the late hours and maybe missing work to fix your apartment. If you own it, you get to miss work and fix it. You could pay someone to fix it, but that is $$$. It pays to be handy. Right now I can't rebuild a motor. I could buy/rent the tools and rent a shop and learn how to do it properly myself, but that isn't cost effective. For that type of repair, I will pay someone good money to do it and it would still be cheaper for me. If I need to change the starter, that is a super easy repair on my (and many other vehicles) and it doesn't take special tools or knowledge. I've saved tons of money, time, and grief because I can easily do relatively easy repairs. I didn't know how to install my solar, but I spent many hours learning how to do it and did it. I still got it wrong after all that work and eventually fixed my error, but that is part of learning. The handier you are, the easier (and cheaper) your life will be when you own either a sticks and bricks house or a van. I love being independent, so that is a big motivator for me to learn stuff even if I dislike learning it. Overall, I played to my strengths when I could. One of those strengths was having a friend that was able to help. It was part luck and part nurture and part hard work. Being terribly good looking and super nice didn't hurt, either.

 

[Cammalu]

Dang Canine. That was very good of you. I am entertaining the idea of turning my big shed into an apartment (already have a separate septic tank there and elec and a water line would be easy peasy) maybe finding someone to mow and keeping up the property and feed the birds, raccoons, possums and the occasional other night critters in exchange for living here.

I’m in the country but there are plenty of jobs.

Just entertaining the thought at this time.

 

[Canine]

The shed idea is interesting. I wouldn't rent to other people as a typical home, though. I have a friend that did similar to you are thinking and rents his house out as an Airbnb. He makes a lot more money doing it and doesn't have to worry about evicting someone if they turn out to be a turd. It would be a lot easier to stop renting for a while when you are out and about or hire someone to clean it up in between renters and still make good money. The person hired would be an independent contractor, so much less paperwork regarding workman's comp, taxes, etc. You could fire the person at any time for any reason if they aren't up to snuff. Lots more flexibility with less liability for more money.

In his case, he lives in the ground floor spot so the people upstairs are less likely to cause problems. He also has an Airstream trailer that he travels in a bit. I bet he doesn't tell them when he's leaving or staying, either just to keep them guessing. Sometimes when the alcohol gets flowing and cat isn't around, the mice will play- play hard and mean to the detriment of the apartment.