Hi my name is Mike, thanks for accepting me I’m looking into this lifestyle for my later years and I’m keen to do all the research and weighing up all my options before I make a decision this site looks like a great place to begin .
Greetings & Welcome!
It can be a great lifestyle especially if you love traveling, and are either retired or have a mobile friendly source of income. I worked as a traveling construction worker for 30 years, and we traveled to places that had natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, landslides, etc. to help them rebuild their communities. Many of the workers stayed in motels, but I enjoyed having my own home on wheels that would take me anywhere.
Once that got to be too physically demanding, I switched over to an online income, which has been very good to me. For the last couple of years I have been kind of reverse snow birding, South of Miami in the summer, and Minneapolis/Duluth MN in the winter while helping elderly friends. Bad weather choices, but luckily I’m set up to handle whatever Mother Nature throws my way. I can make my living from inside my cozy van, while still helping my friends, so other than the weather, it’s a win/win for everyone.
It’s never too soon to start looking at Camper Vans & RV’s. Many different layouts are available. Imagine living in it. Is everything convenient? Will you be comfortable in it long term? Remember, do to weather you might get stuck inside for days on end. If we take all the “what if’s” into consideration ahead of time, it can save a world headaches down the road.
While YouTube, Instagram, and the like are fun to watch, they don’t tend to be a very accurate view of the true lifestyle. They tend to only show the good times, some of which really never happen in real life. Living on wheels isn’t an escape from the things we need to do each day, and in many ways it actually complicates matters. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t change my life for the world, but understanding the good, the bad, and the ugly, ahead of time can greatly improve your transition.
It was easy for me, I had a great job waiting for me on the opposite side of the country. I had worked for them previously while still in school, so I knew a lot about their lifestyle. Motels didn’t appeal to me, so I bought an old VW camper and off I went. It gave me everything I wanted or needed. A comfy bed, kitchen, bathroom, heating, cooling, and power, all in a tiny rolling home on wheels. Nothing overly fancy, but I was a homeowner on the cheap, and one I could take with me as a bonus.
Don’t get too caught up on the idea of building your own. The promoters don’t care about your happiness, they’re only after your money. A used factory built unit is almost always the best choice, and will hold it’s resale value the best. With one single exception, I have never paid more than $2,500 for any of my campers, and I was very happy with all of them. Most were from the 60’s through the 80’s. When I listened to the promoters, I lost over $30k in a year, and it was the most miserable camper I ever owned. I’ve lived in my current rig, a 1973 Dodge Travco hightop camper van for over 10 years now, and not counting normal maintenance, I have less than $1500 invested in it, and even though it is approaching 500k miles, it still drives like new, and is totally reliable. The point is that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to be totally comfortable.
Hope this helps a little, and we’ll look forward to hearing more from you.
Cheers!
"Opportunities are everywhere, but only action makes it happen." ~ Van_Dweller
Hey
Thanks for your wonderful reply
I have replied to another post elsewhere before I read this - sorry just getting to grips with navigating this site
Nice to meet you and I look forward to indulging with all of you on here
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hey! welcome to here! u will find lots of friends and good knowledge here.
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congrats! share your first adventure here 