Why are you on the road (or wanting to be)?

[Sameer]

FREEDOM! Three years ago my best friend decided to live in France for the duration. He gave me his van and when I saw it I thought to my self..."I can live in this!"...I had retired twice...At 55 I was raising Goats and Chickens outside of Carlsbad, New Mexico on 3 acres of land. I had planned to spend the rest of my life doing this. After a couple of years the drought pushed hay prices from 5 bucks a bale to 13 bucks a bale, and when you need 150 bales for winter food, the whole thing became a financial downward spiral. So I sold the place and thought I would move in with my x-wife in Los Angeles. We were friends since I was 16...that lasted about a month, may be a little while longer. Then I thought living near my Sister in Idaho might be nice...that lasted 6 months...When I realized I was miserable in a little 'over 55' Mobile Home Park...I decided to hit the road. I grew up in East Los Angeles where a trip into Nature was Griffith Park or a trip to Long Beach to see the Ocean...
So now...I live in the most beautiful places in Arizona and Colorado. I have a 'billion dollar' view of the Mountains and forests during the Summer. And during the Winter I spend my time in Southern Arizona, using Ehrenberg as my home base. I love the 'great desert'. Even now it is calling my name...Yuma and the Imperial Valley are my home...it is where my Soul feels at peace. I am living the Nomad/Tribal life of my Ancient Ancestors. I see the evidence of the Divine hand everywhere I look. I am living in a complete state of Peace and Happiness and connected to something greater than myself. A state of being like nothing I have experienced in all my years. That is why I am a Vandweller.

 

[Gary68]

long story short,about 14 years ago i died,without health insurance so you know what happened to all my"stuff" infact i was in the er saturday night hooked up to a antibiotic i.v.the cause seems to be that i have low sinuses and they cause my teeth to get infected but dental x rays will not pick it up so they send me out the door until it nearly kills me ,still planing to get some sort of health,have been getting better the last couple years,to top it off social security has "misplace" my earning from the company i worked the most for so i wont be getting anything there.

so option are,at nearly 50 bust butt live in an apartment to some ss and die or go to nature where i have always felt at home

so when life has crushed me and there is no hope,i'm going to crawl out of whatever van/rv i build and go fishing

take that powers that be,defiant to the end

side note,grew up hippie,perfectly capable of living off grid self sufficient minus fresh veggies in the winter,should of paid more attention to my grandmother canning

 

[GrantRobertson]

For me, having time to think or work on my own projects has always been more important than having Stuff or keeping myself entertained. Having lived in many different cities and never really finding anything there that really interested me, I find I would rather just go for a walk in the woods than hang out at a bar, or even a coffee shop. But, if you live in a city, you often have to drive somewhere, find parking, then walk on an established trail with hundreds of other people. I'm an introvert with a bit of Asperger's syndrome, so I find it hard to stay in my own head with all those distractions. So spending a lot of time out on BLM land really appeals to me.

In addition, I have some things I still need to accomplish before I die. However, pouring money down the black hole that is rent really gets in the way. So, living in an RV will enable me to reach my goals much faster.

My short-term goal is to live in a cheap RV while continuing to work at my present job (or any better job I may get). That will enable me to save enough to finish my Bachelor's degree (only 5 credits left) and buy a used shuttle bus to convert to the RV of my dreams.

Then I will enroll in an online Master's program in CS and complete that degree while roaming the country. I have already found a program and researched all the particulars.

After that, I will settle down in one city and get my Ph.D. in Information Science. Living in the RV will enable me to have far fewer worries about money and, therefore, be able to concentrate on my studies more.

If I accomplish my goals, I will completely change education, academic research, and legal research forever. It will be possible to get an entire education from K through Ph.D. for free, from anywhere in the world, and without an internet connection. Researchers will be able to visualize all the connections between all the existing research and easily spot connections that would have otherwise have been missed. And businesses will be able to easily visualize their least cost path through regulations, ths making it much more likely for them to remain in compliance. It will eliminate any excuse to ignore environmental regulations.

Yes, with a lot of perseverance and a little luck, the time and relaxation I expect to gain from living in an RV will truly make all that possible.

 

[Queen]

I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that I am solar powered.  This is our first full summer in FL and it has been raining nonstop for two months, I'm about to lose my mind.  It's bugging the crap out of my wife too so she is now saying she thinks following the sun a bit might be a fine idea when her work gig is done. 

I'm going to make a 90% timer out of her!

 

[WriterMs]

I'm not known for short discourse, but I'll try using a list. LOL

-- Realized in the 80s that climbing the career fame and fortune ladder (like I was "supposed to") was not very satisfying though things were going well.

-- Quit my job, sold my house, drove a circle around the country visiting friends and camping in a tent when I wasn't near a friendly couch. Looked for a new "home" of my choosing. Fell in love with Montana and moved there for most of the 90s. Learned more about camping.

-- Family needs pulled me back to the mid-south a few times in the next decade but I kept escaping and living in new places. Fell in love in TN, and we lived in a couple of more new states over the course of that 10-year relationship.

-- Finally -- finally -- got myself to write some fiction after a career in PR and marketing. It was a "practice" story to get me "warmed up" for the great American novel I had in my head. LOL. The story stretched to a full novel. After a few months of "fun" sales, it seemed to find its niche on Amazon, and I was making some decent money. So I wrote a sequel and then another.

--- About 6 months after the break up of the relationship and my heart (thanks for the sympathy here ), I somehow found Bob's blog. Then read his book. Then found an old van that was cheap. I got in a little more than 6 months of mobile living/boondocking last year, and plan to do even more starting at RTR in January.

I love the isolation most of the time (great for a writer), love being in nature (since I already knew I loved camping), love the creative stimulation of new places and people, love feeling secure in my own true, steel "home," and love having a way to visit "back home" without making a commitment to be here most of the time (as in having an apt.).

 

[Electric Mayhem]

My inner idealist is really unhappy with society. I tried to fit in but I don't have marketable skills, so I'm stuck with bottom-of-the-barrel jobs unless I can get more education. But the stress of attending school while working full time would give me a nervous breakdown, and working full time is not an option if you want to be able to pay for an apartment. At this point, I'm so fed up with the whole system that I'm not even sure I want to finish a degree. It feels too much like playing into the system I oppose. So I can live in my van, work less, take free courses online or study at the library if I want more education (and I always do) and hopefully this will eventually lead to a way to make money on the road instead of being tied to city.
So for me, it's freedom from a broken system, from unrealistic expectations of society, and from jobs that take advantage of me. Also, living life more instead of languishing indoors wishing I had more money to do stuff. I end up moving about every two years anyway, for one reason or another, so I don't have a huge amount of stuff to begin with, and it seems like it keeps getting smaller. I was conversing with a friend one day when I realized I had fantasized about running away since I was a kid. Maybe books like My Side of the Mountain and Island of the Blue Dolphins didn't help the matter, but apparently I've wanted to do something like this most of my life.

 

[SC Beachgal]

What a shame, I guess you will not be attending any of the three week-long gatherings I have planned this winter in the state of Florida, we are definitely going to miss your presence.

Hi, I sold my home 5 years ago to hike in all of our National Parks.  I have a 1995 Merc. GM and a small tent.  I have been camping, hosteling and working here and there. Want to buy an van and keep right on traveling.  What gatherings are you having in FL. I would love to come to one

 

[offroad]

Bump. Good stories.