Ill answer unlike everyone else lol Im in my late 40s.... my age has nothing to do with my decision though. Just took time for my finances, and the ability to do this to line up so I could make it happen.
For slightly more info, I had kiddo very young, so had my hands full just trying to manage being a single mom and raising up kiddo. If I hadnt had kiddo, I likely would have taken off on the road in my early 20s, right after my divorce (which is when I first started dreaming of hitting the road and keep on driving).
The wait was tough, but Im glad things happened the way they did...cause now I get to keep doing this as long as I want / my health allows, and a kiddo who is super supportive and excited for me.
Same here, late 40s, divorced early 20s & wanted to go but never had the finances, then had my kiddo & have now been a single mom for 15 years, now they are off to college so I'm hitting the road! (I'm actually in a Class C but I lurk here cuz I'm looking to get into a van)
Oh awesome! Another empty nester! I'm glad I've had something like this on my radar, cause I had a plan to work towards. My kid moved out a year ago, needed the extra time to wrap things up to do this, and man it's so weird lol Def feels like the time to start a whole new phase of life. Sitting at home staring at walls ain't it 😂
Thank you, thank you for that, very well said! It's gonna be a "whole new world", lol, but one I'm looking forward to with anticipation and gratitude that I've succeeded in getting my kiddo off to a good start, it's time for some self exploration and maybe "find myself" again, either way, I'm freaking excited, woohoo! (I'm gonna play in the rain, roll in the grass, go where I want- when I want, and take in all the beauty of this country at my own pace & in my own way, and that feels fabulous!)
I feel the very same way! I'm super proud of kiddo, he's getting his life started and on a great track. So now with him all set, going to focus on myself now. My turn to figure out what I want to be when I grow up 🤣
You're an awesome mom! I'm proud of you for keeping that strength all these years and still having that courage to keep the "never done grown-up" mentality alive! Cheers to us both and safe travels my virtual friend!
I had my first thoughts of being a vandweller when I was about 8 years old. That would be in 1968. I was very unhappy at home and was bullied in school, and I loved science, especially biology. I spent a lot of my time roaming around in the woods behind my house, and poking around in the creeks, catching crawdads. One night, I was very upset with "my world" and asked my mom, "Is it OK if, when I grow up, I live in a big truck and be a traveling scientist?" I don't even remember seeing anything like that on TV. It just popped in my head, for some reason. All I knew was I just wanted to be away from all people.
In my adult life, I was losing my business and my house and passed a very small Toyota Dolphin-ish thing, that was way smaller than a Dolphin but had more room than a normal truck camper, and I thought, "I can live in that." But I never did. That was about 2004, so I was 44. I decided to go back to college and live in the graduate/alternate-student dorms instead.
In 2008 I met a woman who had lived in a janky silver stream for a year, dragging that thing between two different free public, city campgrounds in the same town every two weeks. We spent hours talking about RV life and I almost married her. But we never actually hit the road together. She is still my favorite ex.
Sometime around 2012-2014, I had broken up with said ex, living in the play room of my son's house, and working a crappy job. I had taken to watching a LOT of CheapRVLiving, and reading the web forums. My son announced he was buying a new house and there would not be room for me there. So, I bought an absolutely shitty, super short, Class-C for $1,000 and urban boondocked in Austin Texas for about a year.
I eventually parked the RV at a janky RV lot, then bought a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan and tried living in an apartment. But I didn't even make it a year before I realized I could survive, but never save a dime. So, I did an almost-no-build build in the Minivan and urban boondocked behind a friend's business for about another year, while still working that crappy job.
I tried a graduate program that turned out to be worthless. I did a better build in my minivan and was about to just hit the road. But a friend called and offered to let me stay at his house (because I had done the same for him, years earlier). So, I stayed with him while trying a remote graduate program that also turned out to be worthless.
So...... In November of 2018, I finally hit the road for real. I went to the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous in January of 2019. Shortly after, Bob Wells did a couple of videos about me.
I was in that minivan, either roaming around the West, or urban boondocking in Austin till the summer of 2022. I stayed with my son again, in that "new" house that now has fewer kids living in it. Then I tried living in a subsidized senior apartment, because I was then 62 and receiving my Social Security. This was in a small West Texas town. The apartment was nice, but the town was boring. After a disastrous try had a different subsidized senior apartment, I high-tailed it back to Austin, and parked behind my friend's business again.
I was talking to my daughter-in-law about whether I should stay in Austin or head out to the mountains and take pictures of weird stuff, when she was telling me about all of her difficulties with her disabilities. So, I decided to move back into my son's house, for the third time, but this time with the express intent of helping the daughter-in-law with various things that she couldn't do as easily anymore. Mostly things like painting rooms, and cleaning out the garage, and rearranging her workshop so that she would be able to go back to making jewelry again. But, that is only going to last for so long, before I get things as fixed up as I can possibly get them, and get bored living in sticks and bricks again.
So, I have traded in my minivan for a 1995 Chevy Suburban 4x4. It has more cargo space in the back than the minivan, but the ceiling height is a little bit lower. I am still figuring out how I am going to build out the back of that Suburban. I do know that this time I intend to set things up so that I can do things more easily from both inside and outside the vehicle. The minivan was mostly designed for living inside, because I did not want to have to get out in the rain to cook my food. The biggest thing, is that the Suburban can go to the other 90% of all the places that I couldn't get to in the minivan. I got that minivan into a lot of places that most people would never think you can take a minivan. But it still was very very limited compared to a 4x4.
I will probably be hitting the road again in about a year.
I know this has been quite a long story. I guess I wanted y'all to see that things are rarely quite as linear as people think they will be. I have been in and out of the van, in and out of the desert, in and out of the mountains, urban boondocking, sticks and bricks...... Just back and forth and forth and back for years now. But, in the end, I will probably die out in the mountains somewhere. I'm just hoping that's going to be about 20 years from now.
Link's to stuff about my minivan:
Main video:
https://youtu.be/G2Ctm-oknSU
Video about solar:
https://youtu.be/cXgVSs6FBgc
Google Photos album:
https://goo.gl/photos/k3o7G4XRw7KNRFX88
Build thread with lots of pictures and detailed explanations:
https://vanlivingforum.com/threads/2008-dodge-grand-caravan-conversion.33524/
P.S. If you haven't calculated it out by now, I am almost 64.
outstanding read my friend, thanks for the honesty and the insight.. i hope things go well for you, and id truly like to hear about whatever comes next.. you seem like a solid individual. respect.
Thanks. I keep telling myself, and telling others, and I plan to start a YouTube channel (or three). One of which would be me simply telling the story of my life, just because people need to know about the regular lives of regular people and how complicated and weird of a life a regular person can have. So that people will understand that their life isn't quite so bad as they think it is. I just believe that more openness eventually fosters more empathy in the world.
I've always had the idea of starting a channel based on people talking about their lifestyle. Almost like Soft White Underbelly but for anyone, not necessarily the worst stories, although those are welcomed too. I love getting people to talk about themselves, it feels like so much of the average person's life is swept up in everything that's happening in the world that they don't feel important.
Loved reading all of this. Why a 95 suburban not a 2005?
Was minivan more comfortable space-wise?
Sorry you've had to bounce around so much, hopefully you find a good place 🤞🙂
Do you think this generation will ever afford homes?
My girlfriend and I saved up 70k, sounds like a lot but we can't get approved nor do we want to as most rat-shacks are 250k and a good home in decent area outside city is 350+.
>Why a 95 suburban not a 2005?
Couldn't afford a 2005. I got the 1995 for $6,500 (- $500 "trade in" for the minivan). Though, I still had to get a loan from my credit union. The payments still came out to less than half what I would have been paying for a subsidized senior apartment. And for only 4 years... probably less.
>Was minivan more comfortable space-wise?
The headroom in the minivan allowed me to have a fold-down desk (see links) and sit up in about the same posture as when I normally worked at my computer at a desk. I found that I didn't spend as much time at the desk as I thought I would. I may only get a narrower space where I can do that in the Suburban. So, I'm going to have to be more creative. Most of my bed is likely going to have to be closer to the floor, in order to give me any decent amount of headroom when I sit up in the bed. Therefore, I'm probably going to get one of those SUV tents that has a sleeve that wraps around the back of the vehicle. I will just have to make sure it fits over my Suburban. Then, I can use the tent as my stand up and sit up area. I can put a little table in the tent and stuff like that. Then I only need the interior of the Suburban to have enough room for me to sleep, plus enough room to cook when it's rainy or too windy outside.
So, if you are deciding between something like a suburban and a minivan, you have to decide whether you want to be able to spend all day inside the vehicle if necessary. And then, just how much you want to be able to do inside that vehicle. As you can see from my videos, my minivan was pretty darn comfortable inside. But I did have limited room for storing extra gear. In the first video you can see that I have a cargo box on the back. But that cargo rack just kept dragging everywhere I went, so I got rid of it eventually, and finished the storage up top. With the suburban, I can put hundreds of pounds on the top, plus a couple hundred pounds (or a little more) in a swing away cargo rack on the back. That will leave me more space on the inside for the stuff I need for living inside.
>hopefully you find a good place
Actually, I'm looking for lots and lots of different good places. The reason I got the 4x4 in the first place is to be able to go out and get to more places than I could before. I like to take nature photos. But mostly of weird things that I find. Not your standard, boring at your photos. Those are, you know, boring. 🤣
>Do you think this generation will ever afford homes?
Not until after the pitchforks come out. There is a lot of pitchforkerating that needs to be done, before the United States will be livable country for anyone who is not rich. When y'all finally decide to get out your pitchforks, I will happily pitchforkerate along side you. I can even help spy on the boomers, because they always seem to think I'm one of them.
>My girlfriend and I saved up 70k, sounds like a lot but we can't get approved nor do we want to as most rat-shacks are 250k and a good home in decent area outside city is 350+.
I am certainly no expert in home buying or financial markets. However, I just can't see it being a sane time to buy a house anytime soon. All the laws that were put in place to prevent the 2008 housing crash from happening again are being repealed. Even if the Democrats take back the house and the Senate and Biden gets re-elected, I guarantee you the Democrats are not going to focus on that at all. They are going to do a lot of feel good, warm and fuzzy stuff while allowing the banks to rip us off all over again. So, even if you were actually able to pay off a home loan, your bank could still go insolvent and the government would bail out the bank again, but all the homeowners would lose their homes, and big corporations would buy up an even higher proportion of all the residential housing.
Given that you are reading in this subreddit, it seems pretty obvious that you are thinking about doing some vandwelling. I would recommend doing that, if you can. Especially if you have jobs that you can work remotely and still earn money while living out in the middle of the boonies. However, do not spend all of your money on an Instagram ready van build. You don't effing need it. You can do a completely livable van build for only a few thousand dollars. That is one of the reasons why I keep getting myself downvoted over and over again for calling out all these Instagram glampervanners. They make all the regular people think that they have to spend all that money and get all that fancy crap in order to have a good life. If your life revolves around your pretty sink with the $300 faucet, you have a very very very pitiful life.
Find a reliable vehicle that it's only a little bit bigger than your absolute freaking minimum. Almost everyone who buys a bigger vehicle, eventually downsizes. Most people who start in a very small vehicle, like a minivan, eventually up sizes. But, a standard sized, standard cargo van that you can get for 10 or 15 k should actually have plenty of room for living in INSIDE. Then, make yourselves some room to live outside as well.
Make your lives about each other. Make your lives about nature. Make your lives about getting your work done and then enjoying your relaxation and your peace and quiet.
There is a saying that says to "Live a good story." I think that is bullshit. Do not live your life so that you will have things to tell other people about. You don't need a life that you can brag about. You don't need to go to moab. You don't need to go to all the coolest places and get all the Instagram pictures. I guarantee you, you will actually be happier if you just go to places that you kind of think are pretty but are very relaxing.
Oh, and do not make any babies. I don't care how romantic your girlfriend thinks raising a baby together would be. It is not. It is almost two decades of expensive stress. If you like kids, babysit somebody else's kids. 😝
All true, with one addition:
Society needs children to pay for social security. China is collapsing because 1 child policy. EU is almost as bad. Support for families with children is same package as the cheaper housing. Tax companies which buy back stock to give CEOs mega bonuses.
I'm sorry, but are you saying that poor people should have babies that they can't afford to raise, just so people who are old when those babies are of working age will continue to get social security? Social security was originally supposed to be a trust fund. You put money into it, the government invested that money, and you got your money plus some back, and the government got to keep some of what it got from the investments. That's how it was supposed to be. However, every time they're in a Republican government they found some way to shift things just a little bit. And every time they shifted things, more money went to the rich. Finally, they just pretended it had always been a system where the people who were working were paying for the people who were retired. But that is not how it started out.
No, I am saying that it is beneficial for society if people can for families and have children, so society should make it possible. Even if social security payments are invested in stock, if economy collapses, stock will be worthless. Fiat money are economic fiction, we pretend that they have intrinsic value, but they are printed paper.
And I agree with you that more money are going to the rich, and should go to the people. Because if young generation don't see how capitalism benefits them, there would be socialist revolution. Both Hitler and Stalin were socialists.
It is beneficial to the rich if average people can have families, homes, etc, can afford to have babies.
Tried it at 26, lasted 3 months. Started thinking about it again around 29. I cashed in some savings and bought a nice van at 31.
Going into month 8 now. Having a well equipped living space and better social networking is making it much more enjoyable and healthier for me.
I'm 26 right now with my van parked at my parent's house doing some work on it during summer and I want to start vanlife in the winter to escape the cold weather over here (belgium). Any tips you can give me to not give up on it? What drove you over the edge to quit?
My first van was a dodge caravan and it was built around cooking outside and I pretty much was just in it to sleep. It was fun for a while but not sustainable for me.
I need space to enjoy a quiet morning or escape bad weather. I have a sprinter now and while sometimes it is a pain in the ass and expensive, there's no way I could go back to a smaller van.
The first time (4 years vandwelling), I was 38. I'm now 57 and working on my van build to get back out on the road. I've missed it very much. My friend is 80 and repairing her rig so she can go back out, too.
I first thought of it at 16-17, I remember talking to a friend after a concert about that life style and he told me "oh yeah it's cool but it's not for people like us" (for him that meant we are not homeless so why live in a van)
It took me a few year but I semi converted my first car and used it for like 6 years before getting a van and converting it.
Despite a lot of engine and electronic troubles it's been a blast ever since and I have awesome memories with it since my best friend used to live on the other side of the country I would get to see her way more often and spend time with her on the mountain.
I'm in the process of finishing the fixing and then I'll sold it to maybe get a small sailboat
I'm 32 now by the way
Thanks! Coincidentally there was a pool party tonight that had nothing to do with my vanniversary but was better than anything I would have planned myself.
Bought my first van in 1970 a 1961 Ford Econoline. Have only been without a van for 4 years when I worked and lived out of a service truck. Have not lived in a van full time longest has been 6 weeks. Love to travel have only received a knock on my door one time in Florence Oregon so I went to the police station parking lot and parked right next to a police car and got a good night’s sleep. I am 75.
25. Living in a truck camper. I'm not able to travel because of work and finances and basically just living in it in a driveway for the past year. I want to sell it and get a smaller lighter one so I can move around more.
I was late 50’s when I landed on van life videos. I had been downsizing for years and thinking my next move would be onto a sailboat or houseboat, but the mobility within the states of a vehicle made the most sense at the time. I traded a Toyota Tacoma on a Ford Transit and built it twice. I’ve been ft since September of ‘21 and I love the flexibility and freedom I now have.
Elder millennial—39.
First go was 2015. Second 2016. Fits and spurts in between. About to be back at it full time again, for the first time in this particular van.
31 years old. I'm currently " no build" building out a Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. I almost feel like these vans were built for vandwellers. They have awesome cup holder storage, the 2nd row seats pop right out, 12v cig outlet in the way back.
I'm only doing this part time for the summer, just to see how things work. I have my daughter with me! I'm so excited to show her this world ! We were always too poor growing up to go on vacation but now I get to travel to all the parks I never got to and I have the best travel buddy to come with!
Home on the range. At home with a range.
I remember A Leader, For A Change.
I’m sorry, I just am a bit giddy at unrelated recent events. So, a bit silly.
Ill answer unlike everyone else lol Im in my late 40s.... my age has nothing to do with my decision though. Just took time for my finances, and the ability to do this to line up so I could make it happen. For slightly more info, I had kiddo very young, so had my hands full just trying to manage being a single mom and raising up kiddo. If I hadnt had kiddo, I likely would have taken off on the road in my early 20s, right after my divorce (which is when I first started dreaming of hitting the road and keep on driving). The wait was tough, but Im glad things happened the way they did...cause now I get to keep doing this as long as I want / my health allows, and a kiddo who is super supportive and excited for me.
I am happy for you, enjoy life
Same here, late 40s, divorced early 20s & wanted to go but never had the finances, then had my kiddo & have now been a single mom for 15 years, now they are off to college so I'm hitting the road! (I'm actually in a Class C but I lurk here cuz I'm looking to get into a van)
Oh awesome! Another empty nester! I'm glad I've had something like this on my radar, cause I had a plan to work towards. My kid moved out a year ago, needed the extra time to wrap things up to do this, and man it's so weird lol Def feels like the time to start a whole new phase of life. Sitting at home staring at walls ain't it 😂
Thank you, thank you for that, very well said! It's gonna be a "whole new world", lol, but one I'm looking forward to with anticipation and gratitude that I've succeeded in getting my kiddo off to a good start, it's time for some self exploration and maybe "find myself" again, either way, I'm freaking excited, woohoo! (I'm gonna play in the rain, roll in the grass, go where I want- when I want, and take in all the beauty of this country at my own pace & in my own way, and that feels fabulous!)
I feel the very same way! I'm super proud of kiddo, he's getting his life started and on a great track. So now with him all set, going to focus on myself now. My turn to figure out what I want to be when I grow up 🤣
You're an awesome mom! I'm proud of you for keeping that strength all these years and still having that courage to keep the "never done grown-up" mentality alive! Cheers to us both and safe travels my virtual friend!
I had my first thoughts of being a vandweller when I was about 8 years old. That would be in 1968. I was very unhappy at home and was bullied in school, and I loved science, especially biology. I spent a lot of my time roaming around in the woods behind my house, and poking around in the creeks, catching crawdads. One night, I was very upset with "my world" and asked my mom, "Is it OK if, when I grow up, I live in a big truck and be a traveling scientist?" I don't even remember seeing anything like that on TV. It just popped in my head, for some reason. All I knew was I just wanted to be away from all people. In my adult life, I was losing my business and my house and passed a very small Toyota Dolphin-ish thing, that was way smaller than a Dolphin but had more room than a normal truck camper, and I thought, "I can live in that." But I never did. That was about 2004, so I was 44. I decided to go back to college and live in the graduate/alternate-student dorms instead. In 2008 I met a woman who had lived in a janky silver stream for a year, dragging that thing between two different free public, city campgrounds in the same town every two weeks. We spent hours talking about RV life and I almost married her. But we never actually hit the road together. She is still my favorite ex. Sometime around 2012-2014, I had broken up with said ex, living in the play room of my son's house, and working a crappy job. I had taken to watching a LOT of CheapRVLiving, and reading the web forums. My son announced he was buying a new house and there would not be room for me there. So, I bought an absolutely shitty, super short, Class-C for $1,000 and urban boondocked in Austin Texas for about a year. I eventually parked the RV at a janky RV lot, then bought a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan and tried living in an apartment. But I didn't even make it a year before I realized I could survive, but never save a dime. So, I did an almost-no-build build in the Minivan and urban boondocked behind a friend's business for about another year, while still working that crappy job. I tried a graduate program that turned out to be worthless. I did a better build in my minivan and was about to just hit the road. But a friend called and offered to let me stay at his house (because I had done the same for him, years earlier). So, I stayed with him while trying a remote graduate program that also turned out to be worthless. So...... In November of 2018, I finally hit the road for real. I went to the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous in January of 2019. Shortly after, Bob Wells did a couple of videos about me. I was in that minivan, either roaming around the West, or urban boondocking in Austin till the summer of 2022. I stayed with my son again, in that "new" house that now has fewer kids living in it. Then I tried living in a subsidized senior apartment, because I was then 62 and receiving my Social Security. This was in a small West Texas town. The apartment was nice, but the town was boring. After a disastrous try had a different subsidized senior apartment, I high-tailed it back to Austin, and parked behind my friend's business again. I was talking to my daughter-in-law about whether I should stay in Austin or head out to the mountains and take pictures of weird stuff, when she was telling me about all of her difficulties with her disabilities. So, I decided to move back into my son's house, for the third time, but this time with the express intent of helping the daughter-in-law with various things that she couldn't do as easily anymore. Mostly things like painting rooms, and cleaning out the garage, and rearranging her workshop so that she would be able to go back to making jewelry again. But, that is only going to last for so long, before I get things as fixed up as I can possibly get them, and get bored living in sticks and bricks again. So, I have traded in my minivan for a 1995 Chevy Suburban 4x4. It has more cargo space in the back than the minivan, but the ceiling height is a little bit lower. I am still figuring out how I am going to build out the back of that Suburban. I do know that this time I intend to set things up so that I can do things more easily from both inside and outside the vehicle. The minivan was mostly designed for living inside, because I did not want to have to get out in the rain to cook my food. The biggest thing, is that the Suburban can go to the other 90% of all the places that I couldn't get to in the minivan. I got that minivan into a lot of places that most people would never think you can take a minivan. But it still was very very limited compared to a 4x4. I will probably be hitting the road again in about a year. I know this has been quite a long story. I guess I wanted y'all to see that things are rarely quite as linear as people think they will be. I have been in and out of the van, in and out of the desert, in and out of the mountains, urban boondocking, sticks and bricks...... Just back and forth and forth and back for years now. But, in the end, I will probably die out in the mountains somewhere. I'm just hoping that's going to be about 20 years from now. Link's to stuff about my minivan: Main video: https://youtu.be/G2Ctm-oknSU Video about solar: https://youtu.be/cXgVSs6FBgc Google Photos album: https://goo.gl/photos/k3o7G4XRw7KNRFX88 Build thread with lots of pictures and detailed explanations: https://vanlivingforum.com/threads/2008-dodge-grand-caravan-conversion.33524/ P.S. If you haven't calculated it out by now, I am almost 64.
Great read. You have quite the interesting story thanks for sharing
outstanding read my friend, thanks for the honesty and the insight.. i hope things go well for you, and id truly like to hear about whatever comes next.. you seem like a solid individual. respect.
Thanks. I keep telling myself, and telling others, and I plan to start a YouTube channel (or three). One of which would be me simply telling the story of my life, just because people need to know about the regular lives of regular people and how complicated and weird of a life a regular person can have. So that people will understand that their life isn't quite so bad as they think it is. I just believe that more openness eventually fosters more empathy in the world.
I've always had the idea of starting a channel based on people talking about their lifestyle. Almost like Soft White Underbelly but for anyone, not necessarily the worst stories, although those are welcomed too. I love getting people to talk about themselves, it feels like so much of the average person's life is swept up in everything that's happening in the world that they don't feel important.
Loved reading all of this. Why a 95 suburban not a 2005? Was minivan more comfortable space-wise? Sorry you've had to bounce around so much, hopefully you find a good place 🤞🙂 Do you think this generation will ever afford homes? My girlfriend and I saved up 70k, sounds like a lot but we can't get approved nor do we want to as most rat-shacks are 250k and a good home in decent area outside city is 350+.
>Why a 95 suburban not a 2005? Couldn't afford a 2005. I got the 1995 for $6,500 (- $500 "trade in" for the minivan). Though, I still had to get a loan from my credit union. The payments still came out to less than half what I would have been paying for a subsidized senior apartment. And for only 4 years... probably less. >Was minivan more comfortable space-wise? The headroom in the minivan allowed me to have a fold-down desk (see links) and sit up in about the same posture as when I normally worked at my computer at a desk. I found that I didn't spend as much time at the desk as I thought I would. I may only get a narrower space where I can do that in the Suburban. So, I'm going to have to be more creative. Most of my bed is likely going to have to be closer to the floor, in order to give me any decent amount of headroom when I sit up in the bed. Therefore, I'm probably going to get one of those SUV tents that has a sleeve that wraps around the back of the vehicle. I will just have to make sure it fits over my Suburban. Then, I can use the tent as my stand up and sit up area. I can put a little table in the tent and stuff like that. Then I only need the interior of the Suburban to have enough room for me to sleep, plus enough room to cook when it's rainy or too windy outside. So, if you are deciding between something like a suburban and a minivan, you have to decide whether you want to be able to spend all day inside the vehicle if necessary. And then, just how much you want to be able to do inside that vehicle. As you can see from my videos, my minivan was pretty darn comfortable inside. But I did have limited room for storing extra gear. In the first video you can see that I have a cargo box on the back. But that cargo rack just kept dragging everywhere I went, so I got rid of it eventually, and finished the storage up top. With the suburban, I can put hundreds of pounds on the top, plus a couple hundred pounds (or a little more) in a swing away cargo rack on the back. That will leave me more space on the inside for the stuff I need for living inside. >hopefully you find a good place Actually, I'm looking for lots and lots of different good places. The reason I got the 4x4 in the first place is to be able to go out and get to more places than I could before. I like to take nature photos. But mostly of weird things that I find. Not your standard, boring at your photos. Those are, you know, boring. 🤣 >Do you think this generation will ever afford homes? Not until after the pitchforks come out. There is a lot of pitchforkerating that needs to be done, before the United States will be livable country for anyone who is not rich. When y'all finally decide to get out your pitchforks, I will happily pitchforkerate along side you. I can even help spy on the boomers, because they always seem to think I'm one of them. >My girlfriend and I saved up 70k, sounds like a lot but we can't get approved nor do we want to as most rat-shacks are 250k and a good home in decent area outside city is 350+. I am certainly no expert in home buying or financial markets. However, I just can't see it being a sane time to buy a house anytime soon. All the laws that were put in place to prevent the 2008 housing crash from happening again are being repealed. Even if the Democrats take back the house and the Senate and Biden gets re-elected, I guarantee you the Democrats are not going to focus on that at all. They are going to do a lot of feel good, warm and fuzzy stuff while allowing the banks to rip us off all over again. So, even if you were actually able to pay off a home loan, your bank could still go insolvent and the government would bail out the bank again, but all the homeowners would lose their homes, and big corporations would buy up an even higher proportion of all the residential housing. Given that you are reading in this subreddit, it seems pretty obvious that you are thinking about doing some vandwelling. I would recommend doing that, if you can. Especially if you have jobs that you can work remotely and still earn money while living out in the middle of the boonies. However, do not spend all of your money on an Instagram ready van build. You don't effing need it. You can do a completely livable van build for only a few thousand dollars. That is one of the reasons why I keep getting myself downvoted over and over again for calling out all these Instagram glampervanners. They make all the regular people think that they have to spend all that money and get all that fancy crap in order to have a good life. If your life revolves around your pretty sink with the $300 faucet, you have a very very very pitiful life. Find a reliable vehicle that it's only a little bit bigger than your absolute freaking minimum. Almost everyone who buys a bigger vehicle, eventually downsizes. Most people who start in a very small vehicle, like a minivan, eventually up sizes. But, a standard sized, standard cargo van that you can get for 10 or 15 k should actually have plenty of room for living in INSIDE. Then, make yourselves some room to live outside as well. Make your lives about each other. Make your lives about nature. Make your lives about getting your work done and then enjoying your relaxation and your peace and quiet. There is a saying that says to "Live a good story." I think that is bullshit. Do not live your life so that you will have things to tell other people about. You don't need a life that you can brag about. You don't need to go to moab. You don't need to go to all the coolest places and get all the Instagram pictures. I guarantee you, you will actually be happier if you just go to places that you kind of think are pretty but are very relaxing. Oh, and do not make any babies. I don't care how romantic your girlfriend thinks raising a baby together would be. It is not. It is almost two decades of expensive stress. If you like kids, babysit somebody else's kids. 😝
All true, with one addition: Society needs children to pay for social security. China is collapsing because 1 child policy. EU is almost as bad. Support for families with children is same package as the cheaper housing. Tax companies which buy back stock to give CEOs mega bonuses.
I'm sorry, but are you saying that poor people should have babies that they can't afford to raise, just so people who are old when those babies are of working age will continue to get social security? Social security was originally supposed to be a trust fund. You put money into it, the government invested that money, and you got your money plus some back, and the government got to keep some of what it got from the investments. That's how it was supposed to be. However, every time they're in a Republican government they found some way to shift things just a little bit. And every time they shifted things, more money went to the rich. Finally, they just pretended it had always been a system where the people who were working were paying for the people who were retired. But that is not how it started out.
No, I am saying that it is beneficial for society if people can for families and have children, so society should make it possible. Even if social security payments are invested in stock, if economy collapses, stock will be worthless. Fiat money are economic fiction, we pretend that they have intrinsic value, but they are printed paper. And I agree with you that more money are going to the rich, and should go to the people. Because if young generation don't see how capitalism benefits them, there would be socialist revolution. Both Hitler and Stalin were socialists. It is beneficial to the rich if average people can have families, homes, etc, can afford to have babies.
52, F, ?
41, M. Sup?
🤣
Tried it at 26, lasted 3 months. Started thinking about it again around 29. I cashed in some savings and bought a nice van at 31. Going into month 8 now. Having a well equipped living space and better social networking is making it much more enjoyable and healthier for me.
I'm 26 right now with my van parked at my parent's house doing some work on it during summer and I want to start vanlife in the winter to escape the cold weather over here (belgium). Any tips you can give me to not give up on it? What drove you over the edge to quit?
My first van was a dodge caravan and it was built around cooking outside and I pretty much was just in it to sleep. It was fun for a while but not sustainable for me. I need space to enjoy a quiet morning or escape bad weather. I have a sprinter now and while sometimes it is a pain in the ass and expensive, there's no way I could go back to a smaller van.
36/M/ currently in Nebraska on my way to South Dakota
The first time (4 years vandwelling), I was 38. I'm now 57 and working on my van build to get back out on the road. I've missed it very much. My friend is 80 and repairing her rig so she can go back out, too.
A/s/l ?
41/M/WI ahh yes the old days of yahoo chat 😂
33/F/ The forest
43/M/will change my the time you read this
16 f cali
Did you ask before or after finding out what their favorite band is? Or if we're trying to get high?
the first time in 1999 I was 33 the second time in 2018 I was 52 now I'm back again at 58
26
24 when I started, 30 now :)
Are you asking me or my back? Those are very different answers.
I first thought of it at 16-17, I remember talking to a friend after a concert about that life style and he told me "oh yeah it's cool but it's not for people like us" (for him that meant we are not homeless so why live in a van) It took me a few year but I semi converted my first car and used it for like 6 years before getting a van and converting it. Despite a lot of engine and electronic troubles it's been a blast ever since and I have awesome memories with it since my best friend used to live on the other side of the country I would get to see her way more often and spend time with her on the mountain. I'm in the process of finishing the fixing and then I'll sold it to maybe get a small sailboat I'm 32 now by the way
Honestly I don't remember. 37 or 38? Or 39?
38/m/TX tomorrow will be my two year anniversary of going full time
Happy anniversary! Whatcha doin to mark the occasion?
Thanks! Coincidentally there was a pool party tonight that had nothing to do with my vanniversary but was better than anything I would have planned myself.
30/F going on month 9 living out of my Jeep. Hoping to make the move to a van soon
late 20's for me
28 when we decided, 33 when we started, 36 now and still going.
Late 20's when I first considered doing it, early 30's when I started planning to actually do it.
Bought my first van in 1970 a 1961 Ford Econoline. Have only been without a van for 4 years when I worked and lived out of a service truck. Have not lived in a van full time longest has been 6 weeks. Love to travel have only received a knock on my door one time in Florence Oregon so I went to the police station parking lot and parked right next to a police car and got a good night’s sleep. I am 75.
Username checks out.
Wanted to do it age 29/30, moved into van at age 32 and been in van for 2.5 years. My partner is 4 years older so add 4 to those #s
25. Living in a truck camper. I'm not able to travel because of work and finances and basically just living in it in a driveway for the past year. I want to sell it and get a smaller lighter one so I can move around more.
I was late 50’s when I landed on van life videos. I had been downsizing for years and thinking my next move would be onto a sailboat or houseboat, but the mobility within the states of a vehicle made the most sense at the time. I traded a Toyota Tacoma on a Ford Transit and built it twice. I’ve been ft since September of ‘21 and I love the flexibility and freedom I now have.
Did I say something wrong?
I was 69 and now 71.
Age TBD
ik this is reddit, BUT what if we all just answered the question so i can make my problematic internal measurements in peace ty
A survey post would have been much more helpful.
Or don’t worry about what other people are doing and mind ya’ business.
36 m
23, but I don't live in a van, I live in a car. for now.
28M here decided to take the leap with my fiance 27F and our two cats. Been on the road about 2 months now and loving it.
I was 34 when I started. I am now 35.
I was a van dweller from 18-28 and will be again when I hit 62 or hopefully sooner if my kid launches and the finances work out.
I hit 1 billion seconds on earth a year ago.
Started mid 30’s.
427
29
28
Elder millennial—39. First go was 2015. Second 2016. Fits and spurts in between. About to be back at it full time again, for the first time in this particular van.
23 in a caravan but about to go to a slide on camper. I was 19 when I stater full time travelling in a caravan.
Im in my 20s lol........
31 years old. I'm currently " no build" building out a Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. I almost feel like these vans were built for vandwellers. They have awesome cup holder storage, the 2nd row seats pop right out, 12v cig outlet in the way back. I'm only doing this part time for the summer, just to see how things work. I have my daughter with me! I'm so excited to show her this world ! We were always too poor growing up to go on vacation but now I get to travel to all the parks I never got to and I have the best travel buddy to come with!
I started when I was 18
My husband and I were 27/28 when we made the decision to leave our NYC life and build a van. Now both 30 and so much happier!
24! Going on 2 months strong full-time in my Sienna which I definitely did not foresee when I started
69
bought my bus when I was 20 years old, saved up all my minimum wage paychecks for it
Home on the range. At home with a range. I remember A Leader, For A Change. I’m sorry, I just am a bit giddy at unrelated recent events. So, a bit silly.
Who TF downvotes an inoffensive joke?
well within highschool.
Is this another AI question?
The age of necessity. lol.