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When I am in Tucson in the cooler months, I have seen private RV parking spaces listed in the "RV for sale" section of Craigslist. Most of these are much less expensive than the many large private "RV resorts", especially during the peak visitor season of December to end of March. Most of these private RV parking spaces are on the outer perimeter of the city area, in places that would seem pretty quiet. They include water, power connection and sometimes a connection for holding tank.
The big caveat to this is, one must have a fairly well insulated RV with good heating system. Tucson has cold nights during the winter season, meaning temps often below freezing. Add in some wind for a little more chill. It would be miserable in a cheap RV with a poor heating system. Last winter I lived in an uninsulated brick building apartment with drafty cheap single pane windows, and that was not so great either, even with a good furnace. Yes it was inexpensive, but it would be even worse in a cheap RV.
OP, its very doable. We have known 80 year old ladies that Rved. We've done for the last 3 years. Visited family mountains, national parks. There is a lot to learn. Read up and learn on various forums, youtube. A lot to consider before you leap. Hardest part is making a lot of friends and then they or you move on.
I'm guessing that since they're selling the dream in order to gain a following and make money from all this, people put on a happy face whether or not they're truly happy. And of course they're going to say it worked for them. They're feeding peoples' escapism fantasies. Who doesn't want to quit their job and live footloose and fancy-free?
YouTube lifestyle videos are about as "real" as "reality TV."
Lol, think what you want. I lived in my van from August ‘18 until this past May and now I’m in Santiago Chile and I really miss my van. LOL. I have no YouTube channel or blog and don’t plan to. I paid for camping probably less than 10 times during the months that I was traveling and discovered that sleeping at Walmart wasn’t such a bad option after all. I mean, if I’ve just been hiking by a beautiful mountain lake all day, or seeing the sites in the city then what care I where I sleep? I keep an eye mask to block out the lights. Also I try to give back by picking up some of the trash that I invariably find in the parking lot.
At first I got really lonely but then I made some friends on the road and we would separate and then come back together for camping for some days. I joined HelpX.net and spent a few weeks at a commune in CA where I really connected with the group and now we all still keep in touch. I met friends at the RTR and we still keep in touch as well. There was even a bit of romance...I met at man at the Walmart in Tucson on New Years Eve morning and he was also living out of a van but it ultimately didn’t work out. We both got our hearts a little broken but there were too many red flags.
I can’t wait to get back home to my van lol, but for now I have a brand new grand baby here and that’s pretty special. A friend here in Santiago suggested that maybe I should buy a van here and hit southern Chile. Hmmmmm....
Edited to add....the biggest downside to vanlife is that no matter where you go, there you are. If you had problems at home, you will have them on the road. You must take your self with you and tho that sounds obvious, I think that many fantasize that their life will change. Like they’ll finally find the discipline to lose weight or they’ll finally write that book, or whatever your dreams may be for yourself. Nope, those things will still take discipline and motivation.
When I am in Tucson in the cooler months, I have seen private RV parking spaces listed in the "RV for sale" section of Craigslist. Most of these are much less expensive than the many large private "RV resorts", especially during the peak visitor season of December to end of March. Most of these private RV parking spaces are on the outer perimeter of the city area, in places that would seem pretty quiet. They include water, power connection and sometimes a connection for holding tank.
The big caveat to this is, one must have a fairly well insulated RV with good heating system. Tucson has cold nights during the winter season, meaning temps often below freezing. Add in some wind for a little more chill. It would be miserable in a cheap RV with a poor heating system. Last winter I lived in an uninsulated brick building apartment with drafty cheap single pane windows, and that was not so great either, even with a good furnace. Yes it was inexpensive, but it would be even worse in a cheap RV.
Interesting but I lived in my unheated van in Tucson this past winter and never got too cold at night but I have a king size down comforter to sleep in and that has made all the difference. I will admit that there were mornings that I did not want to spring out of bed lol. I slept down to 22 degrees in comfort and I always thought that if it were to get colder I might get a small electric heater and check into a campground but that issue never came up. That’s the advantage to a van is that you have a smaller space to heat and so it will also keep some body heat in.
We're currently looking at converting to full-time by the end of this year. No way could we do a van, though - too cramped for the 2 of us + pets, but I applaud those who can. We're looking at used Class C's or A's (30-35ft range), but it seems like most of those are gassers limited to 5000 lb towing capacity. We absolutely need to keep our car, but it requires being towed on a trailer (can't be towed 4-down or 2-down), which that combo will be over capacity. Huuuuugeee price jump to the diesel models that can tow that much. So we're weighing the pros & cons of paying extra for a diesel motorhome vs one of us driving the car separately between parking/camping destinations.
Either way, we know it's not going to be all whimsical - our reason for full-timing is just location-flexibility.
I've been on the road for six weeks - not a full timer - but one of my main concerns would be violent weather. Just in the course of my short time on the road I've deal with flash floods, close lightning hits, very gusty wind, huge trees around me that I thought might break and fall down on my rig.
Maybe the weather isn't as bad out West in the desert, but east of the Mississippi where I"m traveling, it has been something to consider every day.
I can't see living a life of constant travel. If I full-timed, I think I'd stay in an area for 3-4 months at a time then move.
I've been on the road for six weeks - not a full timer - but one of my main concerns would be violent weather. Just in the course of my short time on the road I've deal with flash floods, close lightning hits, very gusty wind, huge trees around me that I thought might break and fall down on my rig.
Maybe the weather isn't as bad out West in the desert, but east of the Mississippi where I"m traveling, it has been something to consider every day.
I can't see living a life of constant travel. If I full-timed, I think I'd stay in an area for 3-4 months at a time then move.
I wonder where you are? I know the weather has been unusually bad in the Midwest this year with half the states experiencing flooding, esp in southern IL and MO, but even in KS and NE earlier this spring. Also I’ve heard many reports of tornadoes, so I’ve had many of the same concerns. Tornadoes are what scare me the most, followed closely by flash floods. I noticed when camping in the desert that many people were clueless about camping down in washes. Also, many folks forget to look up when camping under trees to see what kind of branches might be overhead. I have on occasion forgotten about that too. Once when my kids were babies we were tent camping and forgot to check until later in the eve when the wind kicked up and we looked up and saw a huge branch hanging over the tent! We had just gotten the little ones to bed and now we had to move everything.
One bit of wisdom that I’ve learned about tornadoes is this: they used to say don’t try to outrun a tornado but batten down the hatches and find the safest place but now they say go ahead and drive away if you have a clear route out.
But that said, I really lucked out on my trip...had one day of entire rain and that was in SD lol. I talked to a woman at the RTR (rubber tramp rendezvous) in AZ in January, and she had followed roughly the same itinerary but always a week ahead of me, and she had terrible weather the whole time so I think I just got lucky. Even Seattle was sunny. Lol. So yes, the weather is better in the desert but you still got have to watch for flash floods and wildfires are more of a concern out west.
I’m glad you lived to tell the tale! Nobody guaranteed us we’d be safe traveling but safety is never guaranteed anyway.
I wonder where you are? I know the weather has been unusually bad in the Midwest this year with half the states experiencing flooding, esp in southern IL and MO, but even in KS and NE earlier this spring. Also I’ve heard many reports of tornadoes, so I’ve had many of the same concerns. Tornadoes are what scare me the most, followed closely by flash floods. I noticed when camping in the desert that many people were clueless about camping down in washes. Also, many folks forget to look up when camping under trees to see what kind of branches might be overhead. I have on occasion forgotten about that too. Once when my kids were babies we were tent camping and forgot to check until later in the eve when the wind kicked up and we looked up and saw a huge branch hanging over the tent! We had just gotten the little ones to bed and now we had to move everything.
One bit of wisdom that I’ve learned about tornadoes is this: they used to say don’t try to outrun a tornado but batten down the hatches and find the safest place but now they say go ahead and drive away if you have a clear route out.
But that said, I really lucked out on my trip...had one day of entire rain and that was in SD lol. I talked to a woman at the RTR (rubber tramp rendezvous) in AZ in January, and she had followed roughly the same itinerary but always a week ahead of me, and she had terrible weather the whole time so I think I just got lucky. Even Seattle was sunny. Lol. So yes, the weather is better in the desert but you still got have to watch for flash floods and wildfires are more of a concern out west.
I’m glad you lived to tell the tale! Nobody guaranteed us we’d be safe traveling but safety is never guaranteed anyway.
This summer my travels were from FL though GA, SC, NC and back. NC is where the flash floods were, SC a couple of mornings ago had a lot of down trees (worried about tornado). I got up a 4 a.m., dressed and was prepping to move to a solid structure when the winds were up and trees moving. I worried about a direct lightning hit though if I ran to the structure. Anyway, that's all done. Now dealing w/ heat (back in FL).
I've been on the road for six weeks - not a full timer - but one of my main concerns would be violent weather. Just in the course of my short time on the road I've deal with flash floods, close lightning hits, very gusty wind, huge trees around me that I thought might break and fall down on my rig.
Maybe the weather isn't as bad out West in the desert, but east of the Mississippi where I"m traveling, it has been something to consider every day.
This is what we worry about as well, but mainly for severe thunderstorms. Do you hide in a shelter somewhere during such storm events (tornado threat)? Or hope for luck that the tornado isn't strong enough or doesn't hit? Book a hotel/other lodging if such severe weather is in the forecast? I'm not as worried about the run-of-the-mill storms, but the heavier ones are a big concern for sure.
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I can't see living a life of constant travel. If I full-timed, I think I'd stay in an area for 3-4 months at a time then move.
That's what we plan on doing. Moving an RV is expensive (poor gas mileage plus more expensive wear & tear than a car), plus it seems like you get a much better rate at campgrounds by going monthly rather than nightly/weekly. Ideally, we'd stay 3-6 months, depending on what's going on, then we'd move to the next location.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Originally Posted by BrianGC
We're currently looking at converting to full-time by the end of this year. ...We absolutely need to keep our car, but it requires being towed on a trailer (can't be towed 4-down or 2-down), which that combo will be over capacity. Huuuuugeee price jump to the diesel models that can tow that much. So we're weighing the pros & cons of paying extra for a diesel motorhome vs one of us driving the car separately between parking/camping destinations.
Either way, we know it's not going to be all whimsical - our reason for full-timing is just location-flexibility.
Really tough to drive everywhere in tandem (2 vehicles), can be easier to buy / use 'share-cars' when you arrive... or have a very lightweight 'Alum Skeleton trailer', that car can move around the campground when needed.
With our whimpy Rialta, I will drive our very light toad on Mtn passes. (It will become a diesel if the VR6 ever craps out) But... it is a HEAVY rig for it's size.
If it was my choice...I would do a small Class A Diesel Pusher of early 1990's vintage, preferably MECHANICAL (pre-ECU diesel). (Preferably a 6BT with a P7100 inj pump) dependable, simple, parts, and mechanics EVERYWHERE.
There are a lot of diesel pushers FS in my TEX town (many with very low mileage @ $40k - $120k)
Seems there are alot with CAT diesels (not cheap to fix or operate).
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We had just gotten the little ones to bed and now we had to move everything. 
