What brings you to this lifestyle?

[WanderingRain]

we have the same reason, Brianbear. save money. live small. <img rel="lightbox" src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" class="bbc_img"> live smart.<br><br>Just yesterday, my sister floated the idea of her and our other siblings helping me buy a new RV. She means well, and said we'd share it among us and it'll be my home for when they aren't using it.&nbsp;(!)<br><br>I just politely declined by saying that's not in my plans yet. <br>To some of us here, what was just suggested is a downright insult to their lifestyle, I suspect.<br>&nbsp;<br>I can get my own home. And the reason I am doing this is not so someone else can drive off with my house on their vacations.<br>This is all about independence and free living. And of course, human dignity.&nbsp;<br><br>Besides, the models she is pulling from Craigslist are not really to my liking. <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><br>Like Master Bob says: Find out first about what your needs are.<br><br><br>

 

[super duty]

My one-word answer : ditto

All of us are goong to be passionate about this question I should think. I have been yearning for this lifestyle foer a while, started with a dream of a larger sailboat (have a racing dinghy) and sail on (away from other people) now its more of a way to stop chasing the cheese on a fishing pole (rat race). I hear ya Area 51.

My dad worked hard and dreamed of retirement, dying at 58. Not me, I used my IQ to set myself up to not having to work-for-the-man by 55 and I beat that by 10 years. A recent accident set me back, I will be living the dream real soon.

 

[KatnCarl]

<p>Carl and I are drawn to this life for two reasons: practicality and living to match our values. <br><br>Practically speaking, this is an attempt to get our butts out of student loan debt! If we are going to live our lives in the way we wish AND get out of this debt that we incurred when we were young, then we are going to have to drastically reduce our cost of living! <br><br>And value wise, everyone that has posted above has said what I could have said. We have just started, but it is my hope that by being less encumbered we will be able to live according to what we hold dear, rather than submitting to "supposed to's." (You're supposed to buy a house, you're supposed to know where you want to settle down, you're supposed to work in one place your entire life...etc.)<br><br>I have always been able to share life with my loved ones, create space for quality time with my friends, and still find time for internal work (spiritual, physical, etc) ONLY when I am able to stay true to myself. <br><br>Taking on this reduced, out of the norm life is the way I am choosing to do just that. <br><br>Kat (of KatnCarl)</p>

 

[cleanheart]

Wow! Great thread and interesting to read all the great stories. Thanks all!<br>I've had itchy feet for years since I moved home to IL.....and I'm getting tired of moving the furniture around! LOL Hard on my back.&nbsp;<br>I want to do this first for financial freedom, get the van paid off the very small debt I have and then save some and hit the road. This is my ultimate goal. I have friends I want to see and this is the best way to do it.&nbsp;<br>After reading all these great posts I'm just getting so excited to get going! I hope it warms up soon so I can get started!<br>Marsha

 

[WanderingRain]

Good luck with your future adventures, Cleanheart!<br>Yeap, it can get addictive after a while. Although I am coming home to my base for a while. I got some books to finish. <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><br><br>

 

[ShesJustJodi]

I have read this thread twice in the last week. I am so blessed to find this forum of people who understand my need for movement. My aunt and uncle bought a Winnebago bus (now I know it was a class A) when I was around 10. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world! A house that could go anywhere at anytime. Whenever we went to their home for the holidays, I would stay in there as long as they let me. I imagined how I would have a traveling home someday and go wherever I wanted to at any time. This dream has always been a part of me, and as I got older, and my kids went through high school, I realized that I could have this dream.

I got married at 18, had the kids at 19, 21, 23, and 27. My friends all went to college and started careers. It bothered me at the time. As my kids got older and we moved across the country to Florida, I realized that I had done it right for me. Now I have three in college and one in high school, and i am young enough to enjoy my freedom. They all know that all bets are off when Pete graduates. LOL After being a single parent for years, I am currently weaning them over to life with their dad and stepmom, who we all love dearly, so I can take off in a few years. Until then I will continue my cross country road trips in my car. I have included them in every step of my planning, so they understand this is for real, and it is a choice. I have raised four kids to live their dreams and be true to themselves above all. They see me planning and it is nothing more than practicing what I preach. <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle">

 

[ickkii]

I'm going to try to avoid a life story here, and say that 10 years ago I entered foster care at 13 and it changed my perspective on living. I've lived in a few dozen homes, and ran away from most of them. When I was 14 I slept in a dried retention pond pipe while I was on runaway, this was the first time I ever slept outside. It sucked. I was exposed to living in all types of environments, from vehicles, abandoned houses, tents, bushes, sheds, you name it - I've slept in it for at least a week.<br><br>That's when I realized houses are arbitrary. I was never homeless without a house, I had a home - planet earth. I decided what matters is that you have a comfortable place to sleep at night, a place to shower, &nbsp;a pot to piss on, and food in your stomache. I didn't see a need to pay 700 dollars a month in my area to rent a kitchen and a bathroom. Food can be bought or made almost anywhere, and I'm no stranger to public restrooms. Showers could be done at gyms, and with the money I saved I could easily convert a van into a comfortable place to sleep.&nbsp;<br><br>I'm a free market capitalist when it comes down to it, and for what houses cost in terms of money and time, I knew I could stretch my money further with alternatives. So I decided to live an alternative lifestyle, there's no reason for me to waste my time and money conspicuously consuming resources I don't need. The Joneses can go right ahead. I'm frugal.<br><br>So I got the idea for a solar powered van, and decided to live on earth, and sleep in a van.<br><br>Traveling isn't essential for me like it is for some of you, I'd still like to see more the world regardless. After sitting in a greyhound from oakland to tampa for a week - when I got back home and saw sparkling water, blue skys with white puffy clouds, and green palm trees, everything negative I felt disappeared. I felt like I was where I belonged.

 

[BamaDuke]

I don't want to start a political discussion, but much of my reasoning was driven by work demands and&nbsp;by tax policies.&nbsp; I owned a very nice 1100 sq ft home on top of a hill with 3/4 of an acre to equip as I wanted. I purchased it and spent a fairly large sum to make it perfect for my last home. Tower for my ham antennas, shop for the Jeep, and a hot tub for the waitresses with tired feet <img class="emoticon bbc_img" src="/images/boards/smilies/wink.gif">&nbsp;&nbsp; I fully intended to live out the rest of my life there. Work, after promising not to, promoted me. This required relocation. I sold the place for more than I paid, but transaction costs on both sides, plus the improvements which were not reimbursed, resulted in a fairly large dip in my savings account. <br><br>As I did not know my new town very well, I chose to rent until I could decide on a location.&nbsp;During this period, I looked closely at home prices. Texas funds nearly all of it's city and county governments with property taxes. Most homeowners pay approximately 3% of their home's value per year, all in. A nice 3/2, in a decent neighborhood will incur over $5000 per year in taxes. As I intend to retire someday, I wish to minimize this. Home prices, realtor's protestations aside, are not rising faster than the fees/costs/taxes associated with homeownership.&nbsp; If I were 30 instead of 50, this would not be of consequence, but I have college expenses to pay now, and retirement savings to fund. <br><br>I simply chose to minimize my monthly expenses for housing.&nbsp; A cold analysis of owning a home for a few years until retirement shows it probably will not be a profitable investment. I also have the ability to move for a new job with only the cost of gasoline. I have chosen to maximize freedom, rather than assets. Most of my friends and coworkers live a more conventional lifestyle, and when a storm comes through they jokingly offer their couch, but when the tax bill comes in January, they all wish they could live in a van down by the river. <br><br>Bama