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Old 08-10-2011, 07:39 PM
 
Location: where you sip the tea of the breasts of the spinsters of Utica
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Here, Mac. This is NH, but Vermont has more of them: Intentional Communities in New Hampshire
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Old 08-11-2011, 08:49 AM
 
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Thanks Woof. Seems Weired...
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Old 08-11-2011, 09:04 PM
 
Location: where you sip the tea of the breasts of the spinsters of Utica
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Look who's calling the kettle black!
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Old 08-11-2011, 10:04 PM
 
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I've been stealth van living for 2 years now. If anyone is interested, I can go in to more detail.
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Old 08-11-2011, 10:26 PM
 
Location: where you sip the tea of the breasts of the spinsters of Utica
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Yes, of course we're all interested. That's what the thread is about.
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Old 08-12-2011, 07:53 AM
 
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Woof, Maybe the intentionals just have dry looking sites. Or maybe I am just a bit overly independant. I never did march to the beat of another drummer very well.

The last place I wanna be is where everyone sits around eatting sun flower seeds and dreams about bambi, finger painting and basket weaving all day.
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Old 08-12-2011, 09:58 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Woof View Post
Yes, of course we're all interested. That's what the thread is about.

Picking the vehicle
: for what I wanted, the minivan was too cramped and has too many windows. Didn't want to get arrested for indecent exposure; didn't want to have curtains all around as that seems a bit suspicious. A Ford TransitConnect would have been perfect, but they weren't around then, and I wouldn't buy one new anyhow. I ended up with a GMC box van. 10' bed; 6' ceilings; rear, side, and front door; and wood floors. The extra head room is nice as I don't have to crouch all the time. Natural light comes in through the translucent roof. The vehicle is your home; buy the best you can afford. Only thing I wish were different were I wish I had the V6 instead of the V8.

Parking: Getting up early is important. If you leave a neighborhood before others get out of the house, there's a good chance they'll never even know you were there. This ties in to having a regimen.

Have a regimen: In order to not lose personal items and have some order in life, I like to have a regimen. Get up at the same time. Everything has its place in the van. Regular workout schedule. Etc.

Hygiene: Important if you don't want to look like a bum. I believe some gyms are as cheap as $10/month. You can work out and have a place to shower. Use the laundromat religiously. Brush your teeth with a bottle of water. Gargle your toothbrush to clean it off. I believe it important to keep up appearances if you don't want to get harassed by 5-0 or nosy do-gooders. If you don't stink or look like you live under a bridge, it's much less suspicious.

Cooking: I try to eat healthy because it's so easy to fall in to the trap of eating junk. The times I cook, I use one of those small steel service pans as a charcoal grill. Fruit is good because it keeps without refridgeration and can be eaten raw. Also, food lasts longer than you think without being cold.

I'll add more later.
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Old 08-12-2011, 10:53 PM
 
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Weather: I've stayer in the Northern states during the winter down to 0 degrees. Going South is a good option at that time. If it's not possible, it's not so bad. I have a cheap 0 degree and 40 degree sleeping bags -- when it's real cold, I'll use both. The only hard part is getting out of bed. BOOM! It's cold. There's no way I could stay in Texas in the summer though.

Some places are better than others for parking overnight. Walmart is always an option, as are rest areas. Beach towns are pretty laid back and I think they're more used to people living in vans.
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Old 08-12-2011, 11:03 PM
 
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Oh, if you have a car already, you can try it for a week to see if it's for you. Pack a bunch of stuff, live in the car for a few days.

I also try to stay in one place for at least a week or a month. While traveling is nice and the urge to move is strong, I think you can't really experience a place until you feel the Zeitgeist. That's really what it's about. First, figuring out the lay of the land, then getting to know the people, the attitudes, the vibe of the region, etc. On the surface, much of the USA is the same: strip malls with a Chili's, Walmart, McDonalds,.... But once you start to live like you belong, you notice every region is different.
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Old 08-12-2011, 11:18 PM
 
1,337 posts, read 1,518,380 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mac_Muz View Post
Woof, Maybe the intentionals just have dry looking sites. Or maybe I am just a bit overly independant. I never did march to the beat of another drummer very well.

The last place I wanna be is where everyone sits around eatting sun flower seeds and dreams about bambi, finger painting and basket weaving all day.
I tried to get one going in NH a few years ago. It was more of an informal kind of thing more so than most intentional communities. I was conversing with people of similar politics to myself for a few years online, and we tossed the idea back and forth....... everybody wanted to do it..... but it ended up a bit like herding cats. Everybody was just a little bit too inflexible in that we couldn't really agree on the finer details (e.g. Where specifically to live. Some guys wanted to live down more southern NH because they were obsessively concerned with finding a jobs.... I was pulling more for northern NH because it was more conducive to the overall plan. That, and we were all broke SOB's for the most part, so the money just wasn't there for the 150 - 300'ish acres we wanted to try to split).

Anyway, after about 2 years of going back and forth with the guys, I finally gave up because it wasn't happening, so I just moved myself and said adios.


Most of the intentional communities probably would not be your thing, both because you like to do your own thing (the little "power struggles" in intentional communities can be an annoyance - and the "rules" that some communities come up with sometimes rival a Homeowners Association from hell type situation and you start to feel like you are in the military. They dictate what you must do, when you must do it, this, that, and lots of other things), and because of the politics. Many of them tend to be left-wing oriented, though the specific philosophies vary.... They would probably grate on your nerves, nonetheless. I think it's a good concept, though.... if done to ones liking.
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