Who lives out of their camper?

[ntsqd]

If you bought land you wouldn't leave college debt free, at least not until the land re-sold. In the mean time it should have appreciated a little. Which is an ROI that you're not going to get from many other living arrangements.

 

[jha6av8r]

If you bought land you wouldn't leave college debt free, at least not until the land re-sold. In the mean time it should have appreciated a little. Which is an ROI that you're not going to get from many other living arrangements.

This isn't a good idea unless you're planning on keeping it for a long time or it's in a location that's appreciating fast and people are falling all over themselves to buy in, IMO.

 

[lostnot]

We stayed full time in ours for a month in the everglades. I have lived on the road full time for 10 years but in a large bus conversion.. I have known of people living out of far less than a camper. I met a guy who lived in his 2 door ford focus. he took out the front passenger seat. His problem was wanting to live in Key West where rent is extreme and camping illegal except in camp grounds. Another story I saw on tv was of people living in a tradesman van in Manhatten.

If you really want to or need to there are ways to do it. Google stealth camping for ideas. Toilet and shower can be over come. Truckstops have pay showers, pita pottys and pee bottles to name a few.

Also you can leave the top up if you keep the speed down to 35 or so.

 

[ntsqd]

This isn't a good idea unless you're planning on keeping it for a long time or it's in a location that's appreciating fast and people are falling all over themselves to buy in, IMO.

Why is that? Assuming it doesn't depreciate he'll get nearly all of his "rent" money back. If it does appreciate he may get all of it back. I'm failing to see a problem with it. If he rents it's all gone with no return possible.

 

[Dusty]

I have been living in my Grandby shell with solar, flip couch, 2 batteries and an Engel fridge and 20 gallon propane tank with camping stove since September. Did the National Forests on the way down to South Florida from Illinois and a few other free county FL campgrounds. i always look for CGs with showers but have a 2 gallon pump shower as backup. Now I am on Pine Island near Fort Myers and park nights in a guy's front yard. I pay a hundo a month and found him via Craigslist. I joined the county swimming pools and the county recreation/fitness center so have two places with good showers and I get a nice workout. Late spring I will go to Colorado and do the same thing. Lather, rinse, repeat. For CO I will buy a lightweight inflatable kayak and have two Tenkara fishing rods. CO Nat Forest CGs have no showers so city/county fitness centers are in my plans. Next winter---?

 

[WyomingBackcountry]

If you bought land you wouldn't leave college debt free, at least not until the land re-sold. In the mean time it should have appreciated a little. Which is an ROI that you're not going to get from many other living arrangements.

Having debt on land wouldn't bother me as much as having student loans because I know the value would go up. The problem is find land thats cheap enough for me and still in a reasonable commuting distance. That is pretty much where that idea just died off for me.

We stayed full time in ours for a month in the everglades. I have lived on the road full time for 10 years but in a large bus conversion.. I have known of people living out of far less than a camper. I met a guy who lived in his 2 door ford focus. he took out the front passenger seat. His problem was wanting to live in Key West where rent is extreme and camping illegal except in camp grounds. Another story I saw on tv was of people living in a tradesman van in Manhatten.

If you really want to or need to there are ways to do it. Google stealth camping for ideas. Toilet and shower can be over come. Truckstops have pay showers, pita pottys and pee bottles to name a few.

Also you can leave the top up if you keep the speed down to 35 or so.

I have know people to live out of their cars. I would need a better nights sleep than that but they seem pretty content with it. I feel like people would be more likely to report me to the police for living out of a car than a pop up camper though. You can be stealth but in a small town like mine people are bound to find out.

I have been living in my Grandby shell with solar, flip couch, 2 batteries and an Engel fridge and 20 gallon propane tank with camping stove since September. Did the National Forests on the way down to South Florida from Illinois and a few other free county FL campgrounds. i always look for CGs with showers but have a 2 gallon pump shower as backup. Now I am on Pine Island near Fort Myers and park nights in a guy's front yard. I pay a hundo a month and found him via Craigslist. I joined the county swimming pools and the county recreation/fitness center so have two places with good showers and I get a nice workout. Late spring I will go to Colorado and do the same thing. Lather, rinse, repeat. For CO I will buy a lightweight inflatable kayak and have two Tenkara fishing rods. CO Nat Forest CGs have no showers so city/county fitness centers are in my plans. Next winter---?

Thats awesome! How do you like the Tenkara rods? I have been wanting to get my hands on one for a while! Where at in Colorado are you headed? I venture south for some fishing quite often. Gotta switch it up sometimes.

On another note, the thread posted about the guy living out of his trailer inspired me. This sunday I am going to take a weeks worth of clothes and live out of the truck for a week...maybe 2 depending on how the first week goes. Living only 10 minutes from a national forest should make this really easy for me outside of packing the RTT up every morning. I will also do some urban camping to see if the cops will bug me at all.

 

[Dusty]

Thats awesome! How do you like the Tenkara rods? I have been wanting to get my hands on one for a while! Where at in Colorado are you headed? I venture south for some fishing quite often. Gotta switch it up sometimes.

Well, the Tenkara rods were on sale on Black Friday and I bought them and had them shipped to me at the place I was parking lot camping in Fort Lauderdale. Have not used them yet. Not fishing here on Pine Island even tho it's a kayak fishing place. But very shallow with oyster beds so no inflatables out there. I will go to the Pawnee Grassland first then Fort Collins area. Boulder area and maybe Idaho Springs area last. Staying CO from mid May til mid Sept.
Also, I made an 'arctic pack' out of Reflectix. Very simple and just cut the stuff a wee bit bigger than measured and no velcro needed as the sides just hold it in place. Cover all the windows and the sides and it works fairly well. Stick the big stuff behind the seats in the cab.

 

[bmiracle]

This is totally doable. I'm in the same situation, but right now I am living out of just a camper shell in Bend, OR and am on the verge of moving into a FWC Falcon. I have a $20 gym membership where I work out and shower, a PO BOX for mail, coffee shop for wifi, and work and go to school. For what I am saving in living expenses I have yet to take out a student loan. What I like about this lifestyle is that it makes you active outgoing person not having the ability to plop down in front of a TV and waste time.

 

[craig333]

You guys are making me think maybe I should have tried that when I was young and uh young. Of course back then we didn't have wifi or even cell phones~

 

[MarkBC]

When it comes down to what's do-able, you don't need a camper, a shell or even need a vehicle -- lots of homeless people live under a tarp... a tent if they're lucky. I've seen their camps in the N.F. in central Oregon.
But I still wouldn't want to do it just because I could -- unless I had to. But yes, it's amazing what you can do and get used to if you have to.

If I was going to live that way I'd rather be homeless someplace south of the 35th parallel...and west of the Rockies -- too many bugs in the southeast.

 

[WyomingBackcountry]

Well, the Tenkara rods were on sale on Black Friday and I bought them and had them shipped to me at the place I was parking lot camping in Fort Lauderdale. Have not used them yet. Not fishing here on Pine Island even tho it's a kayak fishing place. But very shallow with oyster beds so no inflatables out there. I will go to the Pawnee Grassland first then Fort Collins area. Boulder area and maybe Idaho Springs area last. Staying CO from mid May til mid Sept.
Also, I made an 'arctic pack' out of Reflectix. Very simple and just cut the stuff a wee bit bigger than measured and no velcro needed as the sides just hold it in place. Cover all the windows and the sides and it works fairly well. Stick the big stuff behind the seats in the cab.

Very cool. I am about 45 minutes from Fort Collins. I love that town but just enough for a weekend visit. A little to busy for me.




This is totally doable. I'm in the same situation, but right now I am living out of just a camper shell in Bend, OR and am on the verge of moving into a FWC Falcon. I have a $20 gym membership where I work out and shower, a PO BOX for mail, coffee shop for wifi, and work and go to school. For what I am saving in living expenses I have yet to take out a student loan. What I like about this lifestyle is that it makes you active outgoing person not having the ability to plop down in front of a TV and waste time.

Awesome! I saw guy that lived out of a camper shell. I wish I had one instead of a bed rack for dry storage. How much does a mail box cost? I really want to do this to force a change in my lifestyle. I hate that I find comfort in doing nothing and just watching TV or just laying in bed. I miss having creativity and find things to do.




When it comes down to what's do-able, you don't need a camper, a shell or even need a vehicle -- lots of homeless people live under a tarp... a tent if they're lucky. I've seen their camps in the N.F. in central Oregon.
But I still wouldn't want to do it just because I could -- unless I had to. But yes, it's amazing what you can do and get used to if you have to.

If I was going to live that way I'd rather be homeless someplace south of the 35th parallel...and west of the Rockies -- too many bugs in the southeast.

I think homeless people have it rough. They don't last very long out here and quickly disapear. For me though, this isn't about being homeless. Its about making a home, something I can call mine, fix it up and live anywhere. Just having the freedom to say screw this I am moving to another state and having the ablity to do it is awesome.

On another note, I installed some LED's in the RTT tonight. That will be nice this upcoming week when reading at night. Ill be documenting my thoughts on another forum but I will relay here. I am hoping the RTT is actually more than enough for my needs and instead I will just need to work on bed organization and securtiy.

 

[craig333]

I found my backlighted kindle works much better than any attempt at trying to get enough light in my bed for reading.

 

[MarkBC]

I found my backlighted kindle works much better than any attempt at trying to get enough light in my bed for reading.

Yes, the Kindle Paperwhite really is the best device for reading -- better than any iPad or Android tablet.

 

[ski3pin]

........................ For me though, this isn't about being homeless. Its about making a home, something I can call mine, fix it up and live anywhere. Just having the freedom to say screw this I am moving to another state and having actually being able to do it is awesome.

I like your attitude, best of luck!

 

[Smokecreek1]

After about two weeks (like last spring up at Medicine lake) , especially during bad weather, living with the dog, in my FWC gets sort of cramped and the inside a mess, especially if you can not go outside much except to hit the head or let the dog out! When I went back to school n the dark ages, I lived in one of those tear drop trailers (more room in a FWC) in an RV park for a while, it was not any fun, but I had showers and the such, the camp hosts liked to feed me, had a friendly bar to patronize, & I did all of my college school work there-just basically used the trailer to sleep in. Living in it year round-it could be done, but I not sure if I'd want too, given any other choice! Like Mark I've seen allot of those "homeless" out on public lands trying to live one step ahead of the BLM/FS LEO-the two week limit! I ran into one guy out there-a vet, who was living on a small army pension and social security-had no where to go, had a old station wagon, and a tear drop trailer-had it fixed up nice-had solar for his radio, but he was the road all the time looking for places to camp because he had no real family home anymore. You can adapt to anything if you have too, so good luck doing it, maybe write a book about it!

Smoke

 

[WyomingBackcountry]

I like your attitude, best of luck!

Thanks!

After about two weeks (like last spring up at Medicine lake) , especially during bad weather, living with the dog, in my FWC gets sort of cramped and the inside a mess, especially if you can not go outside much except to hit the head or let the dog out! When I went back to school n the dark ages, I lived in one of those tear drop trailers (more room in a FWC) in an RV park for a while, it was not any fun, but I had showers and the such, the camp hosts liked to feed me, had a friendly bar to patronize, & I did all of my college school work there-just basically used the trailer to sleep in. Living in it year round-it could be done, but I not sure if I'd want too, given any other choice! Like Mark I've seen allot of those "homeless" out on public lands trying to live one step ahead of the BLM/FS LEO-the two week limit! I ran into one guy out there-a vet, who was living on a small army pension and social security-had no where to go, had a old station wagon, and a tear drop trailer-had it fixed up nice-had solar for his radio, but he was the road all the time looking for places to camp because he had no real family home anymore. You can adapt to anything if you have too, so good luck doing it, maybe write a book about it!

Smoke

I talked to the locals PD and it seems that I can stay extended times in front of peoples houses with their consent. I just have to keep moving every week - 2 weeks or something. Medicinebow national forest is 10 minutes away and since I will have to pack up daily I don't think I will get any fuss. I will just pick a new area every night and keep changing it up. Hopefully they wont bug me.

One thing I really want to do with my free time is clean up the area. College kids seem to have no respect for the enviroment. They consistently have bon fires, leaving countless glass bottles and aluminum cans in the morning. Recently some kids have been tagging the rock faces with spray paint. Wyoming is beautiful and most places are well kept but this is by far the most abused area I have seen. Hoping that living up there from spot to spot I will be able to leave it looking better every morning.

Also, sorry guys for my post above. I went to edit it and after saving it all the quotations were deleted. Not sure why but sorry to those of you browsing through the pages haha.

 

[craig333]

If you can pack it in you can pack it out. I don't get taggers. Glad to hear you want to do your part on cleaning things up.

 

[hoyden]

I just read through this thread and am curious as to what happened?! Last post was two years ago!
I've been considering similar - except I have two dogs (old pug and young heeler mix)
I am very interested as to the rest of this story!