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Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MrRational
Do you suppose the citizens there might give you a tourism booster award?
I live here... boosting localities as possible. (And paying $47/day in property taxes for the privilege.)
There is always 'Dignity Village' ('Self governed' permanent homeless camp (for last 20 yrs))
OP: I have found... conversions / specialty camping vehicles to be expensive and uncomfortable (and potentially unsafe) in the end.
RV's have all the 'fix'ns, but are expensive to fix. Used RV's are very inexpensive, when they break, you figure out how to substitute conventional parts for repair, eventually most stuff is replaced.
RV living is not really 'cheap' (but certainly less than my property taxes).
When I travel (> 50% of the time)
$10 / day for food
$20 / day for lodging (often free)
$0 for fun (traveling is fun)
$? for transportation
Do some searching for NZ self camping, many have 'conversions' of various types. (Gypsy Wagons / trailers / commercial trucks, cars / vans)
Just watch where you step...lots of feces, urine and dirty needles. And don't keep any valuables on you or in your vehicle or you'll be robbed and/or burglarized. I see no reason to ever go to Seattle, Portland, Frisco or LA again.
Just watch where you step...lots of feces, urine and dirty needles. And don't keep any valuables on you or in your vehicle or you'll be robbed and/or burglarized. I see no reason to ever go to Seattle, Portland, Frisco or LA again.
You can park a camper in any Walmart parking lot overnight. I assume there is nothing to hook up to, but I also assume that your generator won't bother anyone there.
I like KOA campgrounds for the most part, but IMHO< state and county parks are cheaper. Most of them have some electric hookup sites.
You can park a camper in any Walmart parking lot overnight. I assume there is nothing to hook up to, but I also assume that your generator won't bother anyone there.
I like KOA campgrounds for the most part, but IMHO< state and county parks are cheaper. Most of them have some electric hookup sites.
Walmart etiquette requires you to not run your generator. A lot of Walmarts no longer allow overnight camping, not to mention it may be prohibited by law.
I did indeed. A CoolCamp. It should beady for pickup the last week of July. And with my usual exquisite timing, I will have 3 weeks to work on it and then head in for reconstructive knee surgery that will have me down for 12-14 weeks. LOL!
there are tons of Youtube channels with people living on the cheap like you want to do OP.....recommend you search Youtube for them - you can learn a lot. This sort of thing is very popular with people on low income looking for freedom to roam in their makeshift or actual RVs -
Oh, I did all of the 2 years ago when I was going to live in an RV full time. Much good information available, but they are geared toward people who want to drop out of society and they all try to make money off suckers who donate to them for some ungodly reason of which I am not aware. I stopped and thought at some point "What f this sucks and I hate it, and I have sold my home? Where do I come home to?" So now I will likely head out on an adventure maybe 5-6 days a month, maybe just to see cities. The main objective is to not pay for hotel rooms. As i said, I am not a "camper". Far too much of camping on those youtube videos involves building fires and sitting in a chair looking at a campfire. I haven't done that more than 3-4 times in my 68 years and I can't imagine suddenly enjoying it. That's why the tiny, lightweight trailer with no plumbing. I MAY, just MAY, head south for a month in maybe February when the weather here in Ohio sucks, but that would be extreme for me.
A lot of the people who do those videos are essentially poor and homeless more than anything. So many crow about the "freedom and independence" it gives them, and then in the next sentence they say that they live in their daughter's driveway. That is NOT independence. That is co-dependence of the highest order. The same logic applies to the youtube channel people who gravel for you to buy stuff through their affiliate link so they make money from you. Nope. My favorite charity is the animal shelter when I got my last 3 dogs, not some bum who thinks having a youtube channel is a job.
But I digress.....
Once I get my solar system installed I will be okay. I just need to run my CPAP, a laptop, some cooling fans, and a 12v fridge that draws almost nothing. Won't even need an inverter as everything I do is 12v.
This has been a great thread! Lots of replies with good ideas that sent me down positive thought paths.
I will be joining both as soon as I am ready to start moving around some. With knee surgery and the aftercare looming, it would be a waste of money at the moment.
Boondockers Welcome in particular is a GREAT resource.
OP: I have found... conversions / specialty camping vehicles to be expensive and uncomfortable (and potentially unsafe) in the end.
"Unsafe" is covered by the reason I won't ever set wheel into California, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maryland, New York State.... (I think that should send the message....)
This is why the big box parking lot tour would suit me fine. I like cities. I don't like "out yonder" or "the backcountry". Not a nature guy. Like if I were to go to, say, Pigeon Forge TN to see the fall colors, I would get my fill, take my pictures and videos, and then go drive as far away as I need to in order to find a free place to sleep until 7 in the morning and move to somewhere else where there is stuff to see. Maybe into NC for the NC part of the Smoky Mountains. Lather, rinse, repeat. I can get a Planet Fitness membership that allows me to go to any club so I can shower (at least weekly! LOL!!!). I can deal with buying food for 5-7 days at a time. This isn't about frugality for me. Well, it IS in a way, but paying 8 bucks for a meal is easier to swallow (see what I did there?) when I don't have to shell out 80-100 bucks for a place to just sleep. And if it's Friday or Saturday, watch A&E's LivePD, which I can do on my laptop. It's just me and a dog, and if it wasn't for having a dog with food to keep cold, I could probably be without a fridge too. But since I have one, WTH.
But first, knee reconstruction and rehab. Then to get busy dropping the 50 pounds I need to drop and get back to SOME semblance of healthy again.....
It's a journey, and a journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step. and I am still amazed at how a quote I just made up got into the Tau Che Ching, written in the 6th century BC....
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Runaway~!
