Trending - Living in a van down by the river

[W2R]

Live in a van?

No way, no how, not me. Maybe when I was in my teens or twenties, but not now. That would be a huge step backwards at this point in my life.

I just got my Dream House last year, and not only that, it's right next door to Frank. I plan to stay put and enjoy living in my Dream House until I take my very last breath (hopefully many, many years from now).

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rodi This isn't a new concept - but it is trending. When I was in high school one of my dad's friends had a son going to UCSD. He lived in a camper van/PU in the student parking lot. He kept his camper in the lot near the gym/pool... and used the showers associated with the pool. Campus police tried to hassle him about it -but the parking permit didn't limit the hours and there were no posted signs forbidding overnight parking. They couldn't really ban overnight parking since the library was open 24 hours. The son of my dad's friend ended up graduating with zero debt. Probably because his rent was parking permit he purchased each quarter.

I recall seeing someone doing this at Duke University here in North Carolina.

People can make fun of it, but if you're single, active and don't spend a lot of time in your house (or "house"), it's not a bad set up. Shower at the gym or your fancy office. Eat on the go or get simple stuff (or get a DC powered mini fridge and a cook stove), dine with friends or visit a restaurant. Set up your van near a library or 24 hour Walmart/Target for access to the facilities.

Definitely not somewhere I would want to live for more than a couple days at a time but it's an interesting lifestyle. I'm surprised it catches so much flak from a bunch of weirdos here who's main common interest revolves around defying tradition by dropping out of the working world one to three decades early.

Right after we upgraded to a minivan and I started exploring the interior and all the fancy pants features it had (given it was $8000!), my first thought was "wow I can probably rig this up with a bed and DW and I can stealth camp if we're on a road trip somewhere". OMG guess that makes me a homeless wannabe.

Edit: I realize I'm 36 and still up for doing crazy/stupid/eccentric $hit before I get old and curmudgeonly.

[RobbieB]

I've slept in a van a couple of nights parked in the street. Yeah, back when I was young. Took a pee in a bottle and poured it out the window into the street. The other would have been more difficult and harder to get rid of the evidence.

But I was 21 then and 61 now. Not going there again.

[Souschef]

No way in hell! We live in a +55 mobile home park in Santa Paula CA. We love it! The Santa Clara River is near us, but not close enough to worry about.

[Ronstar]

Probably spent only 5 or 6 nights in a car, maybe 1 or 2 in a van. None down by a river, but rather by a lake. Most of my time spent away from home was 5 straight months in a tent. Showered at the nearby beach club or my parents house.

[purplesky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lcountz Have you seen the High-top vans being sold today? They are not crazy priced, and could easily be set up as a teeny tiny house on wheels.... I'm considering buying one next time to outfit as a very temporary RV from which to camp for two days and go fishing...You could put a rug on the floor, a cot, a cooler and a porta potty, and a 50 gallon plastic water container and you'd be set....Plenty of room. Thye make so much neat camping stuff today...for one person, it'd be fine. The Nissan NV, or Ford or Dodge all look like great choices. I could see it.

On the day that I Took delivery of my jeep wrangler from the Jeep dealer there was a guy buying one of those tall Dodge vans.

He told me that he was going to convert the van into a camping van and live in it for extended periods of time while traveling with his wife.

Having a newer vehicle definitely would be nice for better reliability and fuel economy.

[Totoro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EastWest Gal It's also known as homelessness.😦

Houselessness?

Reminded of this bit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilipDBclxRc

[tmm99]

Living in a van and take a shower at a local gym and cook frozen burger on the side walk? Isn't that what homeless people (who still have vehicles) do? It would be mega depressing for me to live like that.


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[Big_Hitter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmm99 Living in a van and take a shower at a local gym and cook frozen burger on the side walk? Isn't that what homeless people (who still have vehicles) do? It would be mega depressing for me to live like that. Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

sounds like a permanent tailgate party to me

[YVRRocketSurgery]

How about renting a van as a AirBNB rental for $50 to $80 per night?

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmm99 Living in a van and take a shower at a local gym and cook frozen burger on the side walk? Isn't that what homeless people (who still have vehicles) do? It would be mega depressing for me to live like that.

That's some fancy homeless living! The homeless people near where I live sleep in camps in the woods, cook whatever they can scavenge (though eat plenty of fast food too), and don't shower other than sink bathing in the grocery store/restaurant bathroom.

Parked in front of the homeless shelter (it's next to the children's museum lol), you'll see some with cars (never seen one with a van oddly enough) and all their possessions crammed in the back seat or trunk. They sleep in the homeless shelter bunks, but must be out by 8 am and can't re-enter till 5 pm.

A decked out sweet van, access to gym/work shower facilities, and ample $$ to eat out whenever or cook simple stuff in your van?? That doesn't describe the homeless I know about. It's also one thing when you're 25. Most of the homeless I've seen at the shelter and around home are much older.

[tmm99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FUEGO That's some fancy homeless living! The homeless people near where I live sleep in camps in the woods, cook whatever they can scavenge (though eat plenty of fast food too), and don't shower other than sink bathing in the grocery store/restaurant bathroom. Parked in front of the homeless shelter (it's next to the children's museum lol), you'll see some with cars (never seen one with a van oddly enough) and all their possessions crammed in the back seat or trunk. They sleep in the homeless shelter bunks, but must be out by 8 am and can't re-enter till 5 pm. A decked out sweet van, access to gym/work shower facilities, and ample $$ to eat out whenever or cook simple stuff in your van?? That doesn't describe the homeless I know about. It's also one thing when you're 25. Most of the homeless I've seen at the shelter and around home are much older.

OK maybe upper crust homeless folks? I watched people like that (a whole family living in a van and another in a school bus, I think) on either 20/20 or Dateline. Mega depressing nonetheless..


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[grasshopper]

I was kicked out of my apartment my last semester of school. I had a 1963 VW split window bus tricked out for travel, well slow travel. I lived on the PCH just south of the San Francisco city limits, or for a change of scenery Half Moon Bay close to where I had a night job. Did that for almost 2 months taking showers at my GF's or school. To be 22 again.

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmm99 OK maybe upper crust homeless folks? I watched people like that (a whole family living in a van and another in a school bus, I think) on either 20/20 or Dateline. Mega depressing nonetheless..

Except it's just single people for the most part. Sometimes couples (like Travis and Amanda at FreedomwithBruno though they ended up in campgrounds as often as not and it was really a microRV instead of a permanent living arrangement).

I'll agree with you on the family thing. If you have 5-6 people living in a ordinary passenger/cargo van, that seems pretty cramped. Some might call them hippies instead of homeless though.

[purplesky]

One of the big hassles of the van life is finding places to park and just be able to relax.
It would get old real fast having to worry about the police harassing .

And dealing with Walmart managers would get old also.

And the shower and bathroom thing? Sounds like fun.

"Living in a van down by the river" would pretty much suck.

I played in a band through my entire 20s and I have lived in a van. Van life is overrated!

[kitesurfer2]

i've been know to sleep in a van...

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kitesurfer2 i've been know to sleep in a van...

OMG Ur homeless lol.

[kitesurfer2]

living in a van full time is totally different than what the wife and i do. we have been know to sleep in as tent for 30 days straight. out of 10 years we may have slept in a hotel a dozen times. we prefer stars, fires, meeting people...none of that in a hotel room. sorry for the thread jack.

[Fermion]

Living in our RV down by the river is tough. I mean it is a grueling 60 foot walk to our sailboat and the park only has 550 acres for walking around. It gets expensive too at $9 a night which only includes water, electricity, sewer, internet, lawn maintenance, security. I also feel a bit bad I am not able to support the local government with property tax.

[poorcarver]

I worked as a contract engineer about half of my working years. If I was away from home as opposed to local, I lived in a van, had a gym membership where I stopped in the morning on the way to work, worked out, showered and so forth and went to work. After work I mostly stayed in Walmart parking lots. As a rule I got breakfast in a diner, like a lot of folks and got dinner out like most of the other contractors. I saved on the cost of hotel/motel. I was clean, properly dressed and groomed, and ahead $300-$500 on the week. If I were going to go back to employment, which is not going to ever happen again, I would do the same thing.