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Anyone on here ever do this as a single, not a "we"? There was a poster here for a time named stepka who I believe must have died by now (last I heard from her she had terminal cancer and was on palliative care), and I know she lived in her van for a time by choice.
I recently half-joked with my late bf's son about becoming a "floater", drifting around to visit him and others because I don't know where to go. I have a home, but I let a homeless brother stay "temporarily", and I am now resigned to the knowledge that it will never again be my home to enjoy and the only way to get rid of him is to sell and leave the state. Wandering for a time may be the answer. Not sure about the RV thing though as a person alone without mechanical skills, and I don't want to enter a world again where I am a single surrounded by grinning happy couples. BTDT as a divorced mom in the burbs for many years.
Nothing personal against grinning happy couples lol, but it is sad to be around you for too much time.
Not wealthy, but I have a decent enough income that I could probably pull it off. Where do the oddball floating-alone types go?
I think this beats the cruise ship idea!
Just as words of encouragement, in 2016 my single 47 year old sister bought a 36 ft. RV (the driving kind). She had never driven one before. She picked it up from the RV dealership with minimal instruction, loaded up her dogs and drove it to Texas from Florida - stopping along the way in Walmart parking lots. She is/was a traveling nurse. She left Texas after about 6 months and went to California - driving over and through mountains. She had a flat tire along the way. She made a great deal of money as a travel nurse in California and accepted a long term contract to stay there for 5 years. She is still out there. I guess it just depends on how badly you want something. I was amazed at her resolve. We're still waiting for her to come back to the east coast.
My point is that there are other singles out there that you would meet along the way.
Anyone on here ever do this as a single, not a "we"? Where do the oddball floating-alone types go?
I think there's currently an older woman in the RV forum who lives out of her car with a cat. I haven't followed the thread closely, but she goes all around the country. https://www.city-data.com/forum/camp...situation.html
If I ever end up doing it'll just be me and a dog (don't have one now, but would adopt one for safety and companionship). I'd want to do it incognito in an ordinary van, so no RV or travel trailer. I think having a van opens up parking options and running in 'stealth mode'.
Just as words of encouragement, in 2016 my single 47 year old sister bought a 36 ft. RV (the driving kind). She had never driven one before. She picked it up from the RV dealership with minimal instruction, loaded up her dogs and drove it to Texas from Florida - stopping along the way in Walmart parking lots. She is/was a traveling nurse. She left Texas after about 6 months and went to California - driving over and through mountains. She had a flat tire along the way. She made a great deal of money as a travel nurse in California and accepted a long term contract to stay there for 5 years. She is still out there. I guess it just depends on how badly you want something. I was amazed at her resolve. We're still waiting for her to come back to the east coast.
My point is that there are other singles out there that you would meet along the way.
Where did she park the RV for 5 years in CA? Was it possible to keep it in the hospital parking lot, or did she haul it to the hospital every day from somewhere else?I'm a retired travel doc, but I drove regular rental cars when on contracts all over the country, and stayed in either hotels or rental apartments, depending upon the length of a contract. The lifestyle, however, was primarily a hard work, far from just enjoyment of constant travel (though I did enjoy the constant travel - but there was an overwhelming focus on something other than travel in those travels. I honestly could not have handled a camper in addition to everything else).
I did encounter a travel doc who drove/lived in a huge camper with his wife & their many kids. The wife was a nurse, but devoted herself to full-time homeschooling the kids. Interesting family, and very smart folks btw, both the parents and the kids. But I think they abandoned the camper plan after a year or two, and settled in a regular house (in a good school district :-), which probably required a perm job.
I debated with myself using "Homeless" in the thread title. I don't want to compare myself to someone who is truly disadvantaged and homeless, thus the (Temporary) and "By Choice" additions.
In the sense that we don't have even as much as a landlord/tenant relationship with anyone, though, we are indeed homeless and it's a freaky feeling for a pair of 67 year old pampered Americans. We've been out before in the camper for months at a time but always knew we had a place to scurry back to, if needed. No more.
On the other hand, we're watching a new hurricane form in the Atlantic and while we're worried for our friends, we've got a whole weight off our shoulders being 1000 miles away.
Today is our wedding anniversary. We sat around the campfire last night and had some beers and marveled at where we are. This would have been fairly unimaginable just a few years ago. We need to leave this campground a week from tomorrow, and we don't know where we'll go. We're a little scared, but we're also rocking it.
"The journey is the reward" - Steve Jobs
I love your attitude/perspective! One day at a time and congratulations on your wife's recovery from BC. I know first hand how that goes.
We had to live in motels for 6 weeks after we lost our home in a fire. I hated it. Not being able to cook healthy meals was the biggest turn off. You can only do so much with a microwave. But to each, their own. Van living has never appealed to me. I like to take a shower when I feel like it too.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by evening sun
.... Van living has never appealed to me. I like to take a shower when I feel like it too.
Our van has a shower (actually (2) - indoors and outdoor) heated by engine, propane, or electricity.
I added the same to our 50 mpg station wagon for shorter trips.
Healthy eating can be a problem, but I head to the Produce section early in the moring and ask for 'culls' (cosmetic damaged fruit and veggies).
I prefer 1-2 months out at a time. I like to have a home / workshop. Thus having a few destinations to call home, in desireable locations that have differing climates works well for me.
I don't have a fixed physical home location either. I've lived most of the past 3 years in a rental furnished vacation apartment in Germany. I have had success with US Global Mail in Houston TX. I use my private mail box address in TX for my USA income taxes, retirement pension, social security / medicare, banking, investment account. If I get a physical piece of mail (not very often), they scan the envelope and send me an email. I login and examine the outside of the envelope and read the senders name & address. I decide if I want them to discard it, forward it to me via mail, or open it and scan it and let me view the PDF scan. Sure, there is an additional fee to have them forward the mail or scan it, but that is just one of the little fees that comes with having no physical home address.
An advantage of the Texas address is I don't have my fixed address in a state that levies income taxes. Lots of RV people do this, as well as many Americans living outside the USA. Several other no income tax states (South Dakota in particular) also have several well-rated mail forwarding services that let you have an address in that state.
I have been living nomadically since 2019, mainly in Latin America, returning to the US for 2-3 months at a time with a person who keep a space in home for me for anytime I needed to return to the US, the arrangement was great till it wasn't. Even though since I no longer have access to that airbnb, I struggled to find a suitable solution for getting my mail, post office boxes have tripled in cost and the mail services providers can be a problem getting some legal types of Gov't mail as they won't send some mail to those street address because they recognize them are business addresses. Luckily, I kind of solved the issue and am using my daughter's address for all mail.
I do miss knowing I had a place I could return to when the need arose, but, I wouldn't trade these past four years for anything. My experiences living in other countries has been wonderfully ehilarating.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801
Anyone on here ever do this as a single, not a "we"? There was a poster here for a time named stepka who I believe must have died by now (last I heard from her she had terminal cancer and was on palliative care), and I know she lived in her van for a time by choice.
I recently half-joked with my late bf's son about becoming a "floater", drifting around to visit him and others because I don't know where to go. I have a home, but I let a homeless brother stay "temporarily", and I am now resigned to the knowledge that it will never again be my home to enjoy and the only way to get rid of him is to sell and leave the state. Wandering for a time may be the answer. Not sure about the RV thing though as a person alone without mechanical skills, and I don't want to enter a world again where I am a single surrounded by grinning happy couples. BTDT as a divorced mom in the burbs for many years.
Nothing personal against grinning happy couples lol, but it is sad to be around you for too much time.
Not wealthy, but I have a decent enough income that I could probably pull it off. Where do the oddball floating-alone types go?
I think this beats the cruise ship idea!
Mightyqueen, I am solo, of course it is nice for people who are able to share in cost and or responsibility when traveling in such a way, but, honestly, until recently, I never gave it a thought. I don't think I would have made as many wonderful relationships as I have if I had a significant other with me. Yes, you can still gain much in developing great friendships a traveling couple, but, I just know, the people I met and have long standing friendships wouldn't have happened. I've been invited and stayed with a Peruvian woman and her family just last year whom I met during while on a long visit in Mexico. I actually met her and a friend during that visit in 2019, so I am still in communication with both ladies, the other one is originally from Peru, who has and presently served in the US military for over a decade, she too had invited me to visit, unfortunately, even though she was for a time living not more than and 1-1/2 hour away, I never made it over to her home for a visit and now she is station in Asia. Anyway, I have met other solo women and men, many who I remain in contact with over these 4 years of traveling solo. However, at this point in my travels, it would be fun to have a fellow traveler along, ever so often, to share in some experiences with.
I do envy those who are able to drive, because if I did, I would like the host and travel the US staying in some kind of van getting to know other states around the US.
I along with my wife and cat lived for 2 years in an 18' travel trailer. We were in AZ.and OH. 2011-2012. It was cramped but, we had all we needed while our "stuff" was in storage and we were paying off debt. It was a choice we made to get out from under financial strain and it was a great choice. When we got to Ohio we bought a house and that was the only debt we had. We were and still are relieved to have done what we did and enjoyed the time spent on the campground. It's a great feeling. I recommend it for those struggling with debt or, just want to get relief from the everyday struggle.
That sounds excellent. I strongly support living in campers, as long as people park them in appropriate places (ie, campgrounds or trailer parks), rather than invading city streets as it's happening in the cities on the West Coast (along with all other more disturbing features of mass homelessness). But living responsibly in a camper seems like a really good way to live, at least for a while.
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heated by engine, propane, or electricity.
