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I am currently living in Tennessee and I am hoping to leave soon as it's too hot and humid for my liking (not lately though). I am currently in the process of selling my home and will be living the rest of my life in my camper. Where should I put down my roots?
Cool summers with plenty of sun, snowy winters
Hilly terrain
Not too far from family in Tennessee and Missouri
Plenty of fresh, clean water (gotta have muh lakes)
As little regulations as possible (especially off-grid and gun regulations)
Near a city with plenty of things to do
I'm thinking somewhere near Pittsburgh or Green Bay would do me fine, but I could be wrong.
Look into the high hills east to southeast of the Tri-Cities in NE Tennessee. Pretty populated when you add the cities and outlying areas together, for activities / shopping / etc. Conservative. Several big lakes in area.
But if being above 3,000 or 4,000 feet is not enough to address your temp / humidity concerns, look elsewhere.
Have a tentative top 3 and focus on researching them. Keeper or toss and move on, at least for awhile. Can always add back but may not make progress to a decision juggling 12 places at once. Probably should visit the selected location in person before committing.
Have you figured out your "off-grid" power solution? Generator, propane, solar, etc.
You should dry run living in a camper for a few weeks before moving anywhere to be sure you got it all figured out acceptably.
I am guessing you want more seclusion than being a campground host somewhere, but that could be an easier, legal place to start. Might meet people with knowledge and skills to learn some useful stuff from about camper maintenance, upgrade and repair. There is a wide range of campgrounds from busy / full service to pretty secluded / not used much besides summer weekends. Lots of places shut down in winter, so you probably need a B place. Maybe closer to family & friends. Or further south.
Easier to start in late spring / early summer.
Have a worked out budget / reserve.
Not going to wade into legal / not locations, beyond this: the quickest way to have setbacks or fail will be to try not legal.
I am currently living in Tennessee and I am hoping to leave soon as it's too hot and humid for my liking (not lately though). I am currently in the process of selling my home and will be living the rest of my life in my camper. Where should I put down my roots?
Cool summers with plenty of sun, snowy winters
Hilly terrain
Not too far from family in Tennessee and Missouri
Plenty of fresh, clean water (gotta have muh lakes)
As little regulations as possible (especially off-grid and gun regulations)
Near a city with plenty of things to do
I'm thinking somewhere near Pittsburgh or Green Bay would do me fine, but I could be wrong.
After doing some research, I think I might head off to South Dakota.
Edgemont has very cheap houses and I'd guess a good chance there may be affordable land to buy or rent. South end of Black Hills area. Hot Springs area if Edgemont is too remote. Big lake in area. Rapid City not close but reachable.
Or in east SD, maybe somewhere outside Brookings. Lots of small lakes.
Either place will have serious, long winters and probably wind issues at times.
My opinion, the winters in South Dakota and, to a lesser extent, Michigan, are pretty harsh for camper living. I did that for two winters in a very northern state and keeping the damn thing heated was outrageous. A couple of days I had my towel freeze to the floor in the time it took between me getting out of the shower and putting some underwear on.
One of my favorite sites for comparing weather is Weatherspark. Just google "Weatherspark (cityname)" and you'll get some great charts.
A few summer heat and humidity numbers: (Average July high) / (percent muggy days)
Little Rock - 93F / 90%
Chattanooga - 89F / 85%
Charlotte - 89F / 80%
St. Louis - 89F / 71%
Asheville - 83F / 58%
Morgantown - 84F / 49%
Sioux Falls - 85F / 39%
Grand Rapids - 83F / 36%
Minneapolis - 83F / 31%
Boone (NC) - 78F / 31%
Burlington - 81F / 23%
Duluth - 78F / 20%
Coeur d'Alene - 86F / 0%
Portland - 84F / 0%
Seattle - 79F / 0%
San Francisco - 72F / 0%
Generally speaking, the entire eastern US is humid during the summer, the interior west is dry but has no lakes, while the PNW has lakes and rivers and virtually no humidity. You can escape the heat in the southeast by going higher elevation (Asheville) but it's still relatively humid. The lower Midwest is just as hot and humid in the summer. The northeast and far upper Midwest (e.g. MN, MI) have cooler and less humid summers, but summers short and can still be hot and humid now and then - we have 90 degree, muggy days even at the Canadian border in Vermont, just not every day.
If you're not looking to live in a climate controlled box all the time, you really can't beat the PNW. The summers in South Dakota still get pretty hot, and they're still fairly humid - hotter and more humid in fact than someplace like Boone, NC.
If you're not looking to live in a climate controlled box all the time, you really can't beat the PNW.
Maybe. The only PNW state I would head to would be Idaho because Washington State and Oregon are run by commies. I've also heard that Idaho is being invaded by Californians, does that apply to the Spokane Area too?
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