Well, hello, I suppose

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wParam

New member
Joined
Nov 24, 2022
Messages
1
Reaction score
4
Location
Atlanta, GA area
Man... it really brings a smile to my face to be interacting with an old OLD school forum, still active in 2022. :D I've joined several communities like this over the years, but never actually made an introductory post.

I've got a lot of imposter syndrome, since a lot of posts I see in here are people who have been doing van life for many months to years. I've been dreaming about it for ... well, since 2000, I guess, when one of my old friends and I drew up plans for converting a school bus. It was an ambitious plan, involving secret passages because of course it did because we were 17 or so at the time. That never happened, of course, but back in 2020 I started really getting in to watching van life videos, and thinking seriously about how I might make it work in my vehicle.

My car is a 2016 Subaru Forester, a very small SUV, which means my biggest foe so far (aside from being 6'5") has been clutter. But a lot of that is because I only started doing this "for real" this month. I still wonder if I belong here because I'm still using the physical address of the place where I was, haven't switched to a mail forwarder yet or anything like that. I still very much have the training wheels on. But no matter how much the constraints of a tiny space annoy me... I still want to make it work. It's close enough that I'm sure it can be done, and the challenge of finding the solution has so far sparked my interest as nothing else has for a long time.

I finally wanted to be able to post on this forum, and the sign up process encouraged this kind of self post. I dunno how much detail is considered normal, if anybody has any questions for more info, I'm happy to answer. I've been reading this forum for a long time, mostly I'm thankful for the stories shared, both good and bad, because the good stories give me good feels for how good things can be, and the bad stories give me genuine challenges to face as thought experiments: to think, how would my setup fare in those circumstances? Tons of good insights gained by studying the good and the bad.

-wParam
(I mean, anymore I wonder if I should sign things as my internet name or real name. I like wParam and I have a number of real-life friends who call me by that name, but my actual name is Brian if anyone prefers to use non-internet names. ^^;; I don't mind either one.)
 
Welcome! The space issue is a consideration for me as well, as I have two horses. Because of the boys, I won't ever be a "traveling around" type, but I want to reduce my footprint.
With the horses (and a dog), there's just too much stuff to fit in the minivan. So I'm building a vardo to tow along, which will be living space for me and the dog. Many folks also tow a cargo trailer of some type.
There are many roads to Rome. You do what works for you.
 
welcome to the forum. quite a few "wannabe's" like myself here. maybe one day it will happen? good luck on your adventures!
 
There's a wide variety of people here and I would say you definitely belong.
Though I hope you hear that soon from more experienced members (I am definitely a less experienced member).
I have a Honda CRV and am still working on getting set up for short trips (people here talked me through it when I had to give up on cooking my brains in a solar-oven-on-wheels during triple-digit heat last summer). So I'll be very interested in how it works out for you in a Forester, which I think is even a bit smaller.
Looking forward to hearing more about your adventures and lessons learned!
 
Welcome Brian! Of course, you belong here! Everyone is welcome , no matter what type of home they have, where and how they travel, or if they are just curious about van life. All we ask is that you follow a few rules - Tips,Tricks, and Rules
 
if you have the dream and the determination you can achieve your dreams.
 
Welcome wParam!

I traveled for two years in a Forester. As you have discovered there is not a lot of room for storage; you are shifting stuff around a lot. And you spend most of your time outdoors.

Lots of experienced people here on living in a small space.
 
If it’s working, your good. You sound young enough. I beat my body up trying to put food on the table and raising kids. So I got into a camper... first a truck camper and now a medium size trailer.
As we age our health might dictate what we can live in minimally. Main thing is to live in your means... health, means and preference determines what you travel in.
I hope your able to save and make upgrades as you move forward. Be kind to your body... listen to it. Get outside and exercise... welcome to the group.
 
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