Nomad Or Bust 2022

Newbie's Corner
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Introduce Yourself…

I’m a 64yo female who is living on Social Security and planning to go ft nomad in spring/summer 2022. I’ve been studying the life for over 2 yrs. I’ve watched tons of vids from some of the best van-lifers, rver’s and others living on the road, Bob Wells/CRL, Carolyn’s RV Life, Robin/Creativity RV, Carol/Glorious Life On Wheels, Chrome/Vancity Vanlife, Allecia/ABZ Minimalist, Dawn of Vanlife, Different Media, Tiny Home Tours and more. I have so enjoyed learning about the life. It has been like a dream come true.

I’m currently living in senior affordable housing and I don’t plan to do it anymore. This is my 2nd time. I moved from senior towers, after a yr, to a cottage apt on a single level property. It is not working out for me either. I am not happy. I had hoped to go on the road before I moved into this apt in July but I allowed my understanding of the rigors of nomad living to change my mind. The daily efforts necessary to keep out rodents seemed like an awful lot to go through. Many nomads seem to eventually have this problem. Even Allecia, in her big, beautiful 5th wheel, recently ended up with the problem. :frowning:

I took the easier way out and moved into another senior property. My plan was to buy a Toyota Sienna and be a pt nomad. I felt that I could endure the close quarters of a minivan if it was pt. Now that I’m going ft, I have planned to buy a used extended passenger van for more space. If I could have my way, I’d get a Class A for the wonderful space, or a Class C. Financially, I doubt that I could maintain those and rv’s are not durable enough for ft living anyway. The opportunities for parking/camping space are also more limited.

So next yr I plan to make my domicile in TX, at this time Amarillo. I will be looking for a passenger van in that area. Hopefully, I will identify several possibilities for purchase before I move my stuff into storage there. I plan to book a hotel room for about a week and buy something and get going on this next exciting stage of my life.

Glad I found this forum and I look forward to learning more to get prepared.

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Greetings & Welcome!

The unfortunate truth is that while the promoters are very effective at getting people interested in this lifestyle, and parting them from their hard earned money, most people last only a few months, and lose a ton of money in the process.

Building your own camper is rarely the best or cheapest choice available. Contrary to what the promoters want people to believe, Class C’s are people’s most popular and successful choice. Older ones in near perfect shape can be found for under $5k, and they’re move in ready. If you use them the way they were intended from the factory, they are an excellent choice. The key here, is the older the better. Ones from the 70’s & 80’s were much better built than anything newer.

Remodeling them, adding solar, or modifying them from original is where people create their own problems. I’ve had many over the years, and with the exception of roof leaks, they have all made excellent homes on wheels. Motorhomes, camper vans, trailers, or anything else with holes in the roof for vents or anything else need regular maintenance to keep them from leaking.

The free camping that frequently gets promoted is a bad joke. Most of it is in terrible places with terrible roads to get there. If it was truly desirable, odds are you’d have to pay for it. For me, the best free camping is on city streets, in close proximity to everything I want or need. I don’t find being in the middle of nowhere by myself to be enjoyable. With friends, you bet, but not alone.

This lifestyle is likely to be considerably more expensive than your affordable housing, and you’re only one tiny step away from homelessness. Your rig can get totalled or stolen in the blink of an eye. Will you have enough money to save you from some unforeseen event?

I suggest people try out the lifestyle before jumping in with both feet. Reality can be harsh, and this lifestyle isn’t for everybody. While the dream can be enchanting, the reality can be crushing. Boredom is another problem that plagues many singles. Leaving friends & family behind can be difficult, but if you have them scattered around the country, that can be to your advantage.

Cheers!

"Never gamble more than you can afford to lose." ~ Dare2Dream


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You must not get out west much because there is quite a bit of beautiful, free and desirable camping out there that is easy to get to and in some cases 5 minutes from town. For example you can stay right on the creek 10 minutes from Zion in a beautiful free spot that is 100 feet off the main road.

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Thank you for your cautions and suggestions. I’ve had a long time to think about it and study the lifestyle. I am aware of all of the challenges because I have done so much research. Nothing in this life is perfect and often we are faced with choosing the lesser of two evils, or three or four. Whatever I do, I rely on faith, research and educated guessing. If I want something I’ve never had, I have to do something that I’ve never done.

The reality of living in affordable housing is harsh and it’s not for everyone. While a used Class C would be my dream, and while the older, used ones are affordable to purchase, they also can be totaled or stolen in the blink of an eye. In fact, people are stealing more vehicles to live in now than ever. I believe that more money has to be invested regularly to maintain a Class C than to maintain a van. As I mentioned, parking a Class C is more challenging than a van, especially in any town where you would want to blend in.

No matter where we live, we all need reserve funds of 3-6 mos. While I don’t want to live in the desert at all, if I wanted to occasionally visit, I know I could find suitable BLM or national forest parking places for any temporary boondocking that I would want to do.

I’ve already been stopped once by my own considerations, which was ok. I got a chance to do something else that I was interested in, live in senior affordable housing. As you said, living the nomad life is not for everybody. As I said, in my original post, senior housing is not for me, I don’t care what discount I am getting.

There are many nomads who were forced into the life. Many did not have a chance to study and plan. They were caught off-guard and blind-sided. Making a conscious decision to embark upon a new journey in life is infinitely better. Jumping in with both feet is sometimes needed. Some people just need to just do it. I stopped myself once. I doubt if I will be stopped again. I also have additional plans in conjunction with and beyond ft vanliving but I am preparing to be an indefinite nomad, as needed.

It is good of you to try to help by bringing up serious considerations. You post nice quotes in your signature line too.

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I agree. The desert may not be where I want to live, certainly, but it’s worth visiting for various lengths of time and at various times of the year. We all can pick where we want to go. Those who don’t want to do off-roading or venture into the most rugged, remote wilderness areas do not have to. The desert and surrounding areas have many beautiful, safely accessible locations and things to see. It’s not worth it to me to bang up my vehicle on bad or no roads.

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Greetings!

@Bretly,

If you’re talking about North Creek off Kolob Terrace Rd just past Virgin, yes, I’ve been there, and every time it was over run with ATV’s & all night partiers. Same crap even several miles in.

I know the west very well, it is among my favorites, especially the PNW, and I do know a handful of truly great spots, SOMETIMES , but they are few & far between, and even then there’s a good chance they’ll be over run with idiots when you arrive.

I’m not much of a desert rat, with the exception of Quartzsite during the big shebang. I prefer the forests, with lakes, rivers, or streams.

20+ years ago, there were tons of great sites, but so many have been closed down or destroyed, All the attention is really ruining it for everybody, and it’s only getting worse.

Cheers!

"Never gamble more than you can afford to lose." ~ Dare2Dream


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Greetings!

GREAT! I’m so glad to hear that. I wasn’t actually trying to discourage you, but rather wanted to make sure you knew both sides of the coin, since the internet can be very misleading at times.

I usually stuck to MH’s that were short, under maybe 23’, so they could be parked in many parking spaces, with a little care. My biggest problem was draining all the plumbing in below freezing weather. Other than that and roof maintenance, I don’t think it was any more than a plain van, except when I had solar panels that required frequent cleaning, which was a constant pain where a pill wouldn’t quite reach.

I wish you the best, and maybe we’ll run into each other at a rally some day.

Cheers!

"Never gamble more than you can afford to lose." ~ Dare2Dream


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@Van_Dweller - I did not have the same experience while I was there and we were there for about a month, though out of season, but this is just one example of many. Even in the PNW there are great camping spots, but I suppose it’'s really in the eye of the beholder on what is desirable.

I don’t mind the desert for a couple months. There is a lot more to do and see there than on would think. I agree though, I would take swimming in crescent lake or tooling around the olympic peninsula over any desert. Just can’t do that all year round.

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Greetings!

For a few years, I enjoyed visiting ghost towns in the desert, and with friends that had dune buggy’s or sand rails, it was a blast. Burning Man & slab city were okay too, but the desert by myself and without toys just isn’t for me… I enjoy Quartzsite for the big shows too.

Many of my favorites in the PNW were destroyed by fires in the last couple of years, so I’m not sure what I’ll find when I return. Several towns & most campgrounds around Detroit Lake in Oregon were destroyed. Same with a bunch in Washington. Such is life I guess…

Hopefully I’ll get to go ice fishing & ice sailing out of Duluth Mn. again this winter, before I head back towards the PNW. Looking forward to some dungeness crab, and catching & smoking some salmon in the PNW. So many things to do, and at my age (75), I’m not sure I’ll live long enough to do them all.

Overall I can’t complain much though, there isn’t a whole lot I’d do differently even if I had the chance. I’ve lived the life I’ve chosen my whole life. :slight_smile:

Cheers!

"Never gamble more than you can afford to lose." ~ Dare2Dream


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@TheCreativeRover

It sounds like you are making a very conscious choice about your next stage in life. I admire you. And it sounds like you are going in with eyes wide open.

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Thanks, Erin. I think we can plan the rest of our lives and end up never doing the thing. We will always feel like we don’t know enough when we decide it’s time to do it. Many things just have to be learned along the way. I think it helps a lot to seriously evaluate what we feel we must have in the beginning, then we can make sure we have that to make the transition more tolerable.

Are you on the road? If so, I’ll look up some of your posts to take notes. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Yes, it would be nice to run into you at any of the numerous events across the country. I know you’d have many more tips to share because you love reaching out and helping others.

If I ever got an RV it would have to be more than 23’ to make it worth my while. I hope I’ll be somewhere else during below-freezing weather. :laughing: Don’t want to be anywhere where I have to do all that much winterizing, just a little to combat frost.

I was surprised to learn, through all of the reading and studying that I do, that solar panels do need to be cleaned regularly. Not that I’ll have any in the beginning. Just commenting on what you said. I guess a lot of newbies don’t realize that type of maintenance needs to be done. I guess I thought that they are self-cleaning… :rofl:

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BTW, in addition to those YT nomads whom many feel are misleading others, I’ve watched lots of vids also about why some people left the life, the truth about vanlife, the cons about nomad living, what they don’t tell you, problems on the road, unexpected emergencies, etc. I’ve balanced my education very well by biting the bullet and listening to stuff that most would rather not hear. :anguished:

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Plenty of nomads are very happy with no-build builds. They work out great for their purposes and give them an opportunity to do something that they have only been able to dream about.

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Greetings!

@TheCreativeRover

If I ever got an RV it would have to be more than 23’ to make it worth my while. I hope I’ll be somewhere else during below-freezing weather. :laughing: Don’t want to be anywhere where I have to do all that much winterizing, just a little to combat frost.

I like the smaller ones so they’ll fit in a regular parking spot.

I was surprised to learn, through all of the reading and studying that I do, that solar panels do need to be cleaned regularly. Not that I’ll have any in the beginning. Just commenting on what you said. I guess a lot of newbies don’t realize that type of maintenance needs to be done. I guess I thought that they are self-cleaning… :rofl:

The solar promoters seem to always forget the most important details…

BTW, in addition to those YT nomads whom many feel are misleading others, I’ve watched lots of vids also about why some people left the life, the truth about vanlife, the cons about nomad living, what they don’t tell you, problems on the road, unexpected emergencies, etc. I’ve balanced my education very well by biting the bullet and listening to stuff that most would rather not hear. :anguished:

That’s GREAT! YOU will be much better prepared than most.

Plenty of nomads are very happy with no-build builds. They work out great for their purposes and give them an opportunity to do something that they have only been able to dream about.

I’m actually a huge fan of no-build builds, and am actually living in one. It can be done dirt cheap too. I usually suggest RV’s first because it’s an easier transition, from traditional living. Then the transition to something smaller is easier, and you have a much better idea of what you want and need. Cheap RV’s still seem to be the most popular choice though…

When I first started out, I don’t think I had a choice of a motorhome, I think they came later. My choices were a travel trailer, a truck camper, or a camper van. I chose the latter, a 1961 VW Westfalia, which served me well for a good long while, and turned out to be an excellent choice.

Cheers!

"Always avoid expensive solutions to cheap problems." ~ OffGrid


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Not typically, from experience and reading you are only losing about 5% efficiency by not cleaning them.

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If I ever decide to get any, it helps to know that I can clean them less often. Thanks!