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I love traveling, most recently because I am looking for a new place to call home for a little bit . From SC, I have traveled out west for the 3rd time , this 3rd time being the longest in Phoenix for 2 months(leaving tomorrow) . Going to do some hiking in the PNW then check out Sacramento. The PHX heat and desert wasn't for me. Has anyone lived in their vehicle for a while , while doing something similar?
I dont have a whole lot of money so constant hotels and Airbnb stays are limited to every couple days only. What was your experience like and how did it turn out?
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Yes, I spent 2-1/2 months living in my 1964 Skylark Wagon in 1971. I was a freshman in college then, a friend and I took the whole summer off for a cross-country road trip. We drove 18,000 miles, and were in a total of 44 states. We did camp out some here and there but mostly he slept around our stuff with the back seat down, and I slept in front (bench seat) with a pillow against the armrest. At age 19 we had a great time, and enjoyed it, and experience I'll never forget. No itinerary, just go where we wanted and stay as little or long as we wanted. Of course gas was only 25-30 cents so the entire cost for me, including food and some minor repairs was only $500. The only real problem was finding a quiet place to park without drawing attention. We probably got hassled by the cops over a dozen times, but none arrested us, we just had to move on. Ah, that banging on the window, and "You boys can't sleep here."
seems like a lot of folks are documenting their car-life on youtube - looks too uncomfortable for me - not a life I'd enjoy.
That is REALLY pushing the definition of "living". Living in a car means you are homeless. I can promise you I will never be homeless. I may have to turn to a life of crime, but I'd do that before I was homeless and had to live in a car. And I LOVE my car!!!!
Having grown up with Depression Era parents, I was taught a certain way and now in my old age I don't think I could change what was beaten into my brain as being "the way" if I wanted to. (And I don't.) I may spend extended amounts of time away from home in the winter months, but I will always have my house to come home to. I understand that people can fall on hard times, but when they choose to not have a job and rely on charity and handouts to live, my "would be 102 if he was still alive" father is spinning in his grave at the notion of someone not having a job and paying their own way.
What makes me shake my head even more is people who are dumb enough to be donating money to these lazy bastards. My money is mine. Try to take it. I dare you. LOL!!!
Check out utubes on car living. There are some who are traveling that way.
I wish I'd thought to do it on my trip from Minnesota to Arizona to see if I would like it. But, it was the first time I had ever driven that far and even that was scary for me.
Yet, when I think about it, I paid for somewhere to sleep only. And I had to drag things in from the car and drag them back out in the morning. Then I worried about the car all night. Did not get a lot of positive sleep.
I had saved for the trip but really didn't spend much time 'smelling the roses'. I regret that now. I don't know if I would have done much different travel wise though but I didn't give myself the chance to find out.
I prefer my van, which I traveled in from August ‘18 to May ‘19. I spent most of that time out west with some time spent also in Louisiana and Arkansas. Loved it and can’t wait to get back out on the road again. I often see people parked in their cars in Walmart parking lots but it doesn’t look very comfortable. My van is quite comfortable for me.
Quite a few parking spots in truck stops are taken up by people sleeping in their cars. No one hassles them. It does look uncomfortable and I feel for them, but they seem younger and better able to bounce back than I would be.
I use the truck stops occasionally traveling from Silicon Valley to Scottsdale and back, rather than doing the hotel thing. That's strictly in spring, winter and fall, though. Summer is too bleeding hot to sleep in the van. I pulled into Barstow today, it was 109. I got a free hotel room with points from the Hilton Honors program. I'll have to load all this stuff back into the van in the morning. But it's worth it to get out of the Easy Bake Oven.
There was an article on MarketWatch recently about a couple who tried living in their van:
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Yes.... This couple had stars, but we're wimps. (Banged his head once and retreated to house for the night....). Van / car living is much easier as a single person. No one else to worry, ask, or complain. Need to move location in the night?.... Move!
Adventure is never easy, trials reveal simple joys. Do what best suits your requirements. I do some of everything. Sometimes it works out, sometimes I identify what not to do tomorrow.
Interesting article. I keep watching utubes and the more I watch, the more I learn.
Since I now qualify for, and moved into, income based housing, there's less pressure on me to change my life. I have the basic camping gear and will probably give camping a try.
I am seeing more people who have opted to keep a home base and travel as they can. That intrigues me as I waited a long time to get section 8 and now that I have it, I'm very hesitant to even think of giving it up for van life.
Yet, my heart yearns to travel. I want to tour Tennessee and Maine. I would like to visit all the places I researched while deciding where to retire. I picked Arizona for a few reasons.
The cost of living, the beautiful sunsets and majestic mountains, and most important, my allergies didn't flare up and I could breathe freely. I still have allergies but they're nothing like they were in Minnesota. Oh, and I've even forgotten how bad my arthritis was. I seldom, if ever, am bothered by it.
My allergies are what stopped me in other places. If you've never experienced it, having allergies can be miserable. But having grown up and lived in Minnesota most of my life, I didn't even know there were places where I could actually breathe. I'd never experienced it before I visited Arizona.
I still would like to visit the other places and the only way I could realistically afford it is to travel there and camp in some fashion.
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