Living in a van down by the river

[Runum]

There are some success stories. This lady has been tooling around the SouthWest in her RV for several years, mostly staying on BLM land. She works online, so she can live anywhere.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISk1RmcxcHU

That can't be a success story. There are no images of hot girls in micro bikinis, taking outdoor showers, and eating vegan, in front of a stunning sunset. LOL

 

[loop101]

For the OP's original question, you could rent a room from someone, and then avoid being it. You could work out of your car, and you would still have a real bed and shower to go back to. If the car thing worked, you could just pay the home owner $50 a month to let you continue to use their home address, and he could rent the room to someone else. I lived in a house once where the closet under a stairwell was being rented out to some short guy who paid $40 a month in rent.

I don't think anyone here can really tell you if you will save enough by living in your vehicle to make it worth doing.

I've lived off-grid for years, and you end up spending all your time taking care of basic stuff, like where to get water, warm or cold food, where to dump poop, etc. You basically become a scavenger. If you take a crap in your car, you will be dealing with that before you work on any websites.

 

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[Blackadder]

Just saw this and thought of this thread.

It’s like the old saying, Santa loves rich kids more. People with money have nicer vans and a more fun and relaxed time. Most of the kids in this video were either forced into it (It was better than sleeping in a car) or kind of fell into it. It takes money to make Instagram worthy shots. Listening to a group of hippies grouse about how it’s unrealistic is no different than listening to people in low income housing gripe about how the homes in better homes and gardens are unrealistic. People paying 10k for a class B RV of course are going to have a different experience than people spending 120k on a custom campervan.

 

[Runum]

We don't do a van but we do a small cargo trailer by the ocean. We also traveled over 8500 miles in 2019, border to border. We chose that over a van because of mobility. We like making a base camp wherever we are and then being able to explore out. With a van, you have to pack up and secure all items before going to the store for groceries or going to Planet Fitness for a workout and shower. We enjoy putting our trailer in secluded spots and connecting with nature. To each his own. Happy trails.

Welcome Happy 2020

 

[Jakeeck]

Colorado is the best imo. I stayed in one spot for a month and a half. All places I stayed were free parking.

Campendium.com and sort for free spots.

I went back to renting because in the winter months you're basically restricted to arizona, and it gets boring there quick. I liked being around lakes and greenery, and AZ doesn't have any of that.

 

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[Jakeeck]

Ahh, winter, is it that bad though? I've heard of people dwelling in their vans during winter.

I wouldn't mind boring the whole point I'm thinking of doing this is forcing myself to work on the business without any distractions.

Thanks for the site man.

I actually stayed in Denver from October - beginning of December. Worked at a co-working space. Basically spent all my time there and then slept in my van on the street, and it got down to 9 degrees as a low one night. It was manageable enough with a couple layers of warm clothing, a good sleeping bag and 3 other blankets (one being heated), but it was definitely a challenge. Some people have heaters and better insulation and have less of an issue.

 

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[Jakeeck]

Yea, everyone's different. I'm totally a city boy. But it wasn't like.. a big city. It was just urban. But I do think it would have been dope to be out in nature.

Honestly if it weren't for girls I'd probably just do the van thing and travel the country. But then again, I'm sure there are girls that would love that too. I remember reading a data analysis on OKCupid's data science blog and they found these three questions were the best statistical predictors of if a couple were likely to stay together:

View attachment 25627

The Best Questions For A First Date

How asking certain questions can reveal much more

theblog.okcupid.com

Oh well, maybe one day.

Yeah the girls thing is difficult. I actually found myself not caring about it, but that may not be sustainable long-term. I also used to be a hardcore lifter/stayed in pretty ridiculous physical shape, but out in the van I lost all care for that. I had nobody to impress. Walking a lot was good enough exercise for me.

You could def find a girl to do the whole van thing if you really put effort into it by:

1. Going to more popular camping areas
2. Going to van life/RV meetups.. there are actually quite a bit of them.

 

[ChrisV]

2. Going to van life/RV meetups.. there are actually quite a bit of them.

"Hey girl.. come here often? "

 

[loop101]

If you live in your car, will you have a place to eat, work, poop, sleep, shower, and park? Will you have a legal address, healthcare, electricity, wifi, food, and water? Designing websites in your car does not sound like a lot of fun. Most successful stealthcampers I've seen spend as much time outside of their vehicle as possible. The best states ("Big 3") for a mobile life-style are South Dakota, Florida, and Texas, all 3 have legal ways to live in a vehicle, for different reasons. SD always had a lot of mobile farm hands who moved around a lot. TX is similar, plus they don't like Feds telling them what to do. FL has a lot of people who live on boats, and don't have houses. There are a bunch of YT channels about it, though the most legit ones have disappeared. Now it's a lifestyle niche, and there's a ton of people trying to milk the niche. There are a lot of people who live in their vehicles while working a 9-to-5 job, they shower at Planet Fitness for $10 (monthly), and keep their rent money for themselves.

 

[ChrisV]

If you live in your car, will you have a place to eat, work, poop, sleep, shower, and park? Will you have a legal address, healthcare, electricity, wifi, food, and water? Designing websites in your car does not sound like a lot of fun. Most successful stealthcampers I've seen spend as much time outside of their vehicle as possible. The best states ("Big 3") for a mobile life-style are South Dakota, Florida, and Texas, all 3 have legal ways to live in a vehicle, for different reasons. SD always had a lot of mobile farm hands who moved around a lot. TX is similar, plus they don't like Feds telling them what to do. FL has a lot of people who live on boats, and don't have houses. There are a bunch of YT channels about it, though the most legit ones have disappeared. Now it's a lifestyle niche, and there's a ton of people trying to milk the niche. There are a lot of people who live in their vehicles while working a 9-to-5 job, they shower at Planet Fitness for $10 (monthly), and keep their rent money for themselves.

Lol, I didnt even know this was a YouTube thing. Man they have everything on YouTube.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7379aanKuZE


This chick is freakin awesome. You gotta love her Energy.

How to Live in Your Car, Save Money and Be Free

 

[Jakeeck]

This is an interesting concept.
I currently live in a bit of a shithole. A couple weeks ago I was all about "I gotta get the hell outta here". That was my motivation.
Now, having read the books, I'm thinking more along the lines of "stick it out while its cheep".
I can't beat the $450/mo. I'm paying now. Already do most of my work at the local library.
Not sure if the mobile nature of a van would be inspiring or distracting for me. Certainly something to think about now.

If you're only paying $450/mo for rent you wouldn't be saving much if at all, unless you're just going to stay where you are and not travel around at all.

Gas + repairs that come up will equate to about that.

I put about 4k into my van in repairs in the 9 months I had it. Didn't buy the best van but it wasn't a total beater either. Then there's the upfront cost of making it livable (if you don't buy an already converted van). Mine was only semi-converted with a bed, but my solar setup was about $1k, and then another $500 for a nice low-energy RV fridge. Then a bunch of little things like propane stove ($50) and stuff starts to add up pretty quick.

 

[ChrisV]

I see the point everyone is trying to make, but I call bullshit. If you can't take care of business at home you are not going to do any better just because you live in a van. It is an excuse, an action fake and a dodge of responsibility.

"I'm movin' to a van to grow my empire." Yeah ok. Let me know when the millions start flowing and be sure to bring your food stamps with you.

No he makes a good point. I mean I don't know where the hell you guys live that you're getting rent for $600/mo, but I live in New York. Here a 1 bedroom will run you ~$1500/mo. By cutting that cost you can likely quit whatever job you have and actually have time to work on whatever business you're planning. I did the same shit. Sold my place, banked the money, and took a bunch of Data Science classes with all the free time I had. Smartest shit I ever did. You strike me as someone who comes from a wealthy family, and if that's so, it would be harder to understand. I come from a well-to-do family as well, so I can't even fully understand. Like if the shit ever were to really hit the fan for me, I could call my family and have them bail me out. But not everyone has that, so he's doing what he needs to do.

But the rest of us aren't talking about saving money.. we just think it would be badass. 'By choice.'

Yea, whatever.. RV. We’re basically talking about converting a Sprinter into an RV. I think all of us do pretty alright financially. We’re not talking about taking the “Free Candy” van and putting down a piss-stained mattress. We're talking a nice little mobile setup.



I'm with the RV thing but RVs are too big. Like an RV you can’t even park anywhere aside from RV parks. It’s like “okay i’m here with my RV.. beep beep, do you have 6 parking spots i can borrow?”




Plus If you’re under the age of 76, you should not have one of those.

But back to the OP, there are plenty of people on here who moved back in with their parents in order to have time to do their thing. Same principle, he just obviously doesn't have that option.

So yes, I definitely advocate it. You’re gonna have to sacrifice in the beginning stages of a business. I’m sure he prefers living in his comfortable apartment, but the fact that he’s willing to suck it up for a year and live basically in a shithole is doing what you have to do to get where you want to get. But I will admit your posts cracked me up.

 

[lewj24]

Maybe it's not about growing an empire but more like cutting costs while at the same time focusing on starting the business.

I earn an ok wage but I am poor, no major assets, so not having to pay 700 bucks every month plus utility bills in addition to all the rest of expenses is a big plus.

Say you have 15k dollars saved up and your monthly expenses are 1400 bucks (rent + car + food + misc). If you are looking at quitting your job and going full time on the business then:

15000 / 1400 = about 10.5 months of full time work on your business

if you remove rent plus utilities, say 700 a month for the cheapest rent.
your total expenses will be close to 700 bucks.

15000 / 700 = about 21 months of fulltime work on your business

In addition to that being out there in a self imposed homelessness kind of makes it very real, so you kind of have to work. Some people say to focus on other things that you can do while having a fulltime job. Well personally the only thing I can do is development & art, both take time, lots of it to get something off the ground.

Having said that, I have not made my mind.

Thanks a lot for the feedback.

Are these your real numbers? I can't tell if you just made these numbers up or not.

This idea seems idiotic unless the numbers actually add up. This is the most important question. Do the numbers work? How much will you actually save by doing this? How much will it cost? How much time will you save? How much time will it cost?

You're dancing around the real questions. You're "mentally masturbating" and not considering that it might not be so green on the other side.

Things you disregard now will become more time consuming and challenging. Things like cooking, showering, doing laundry, sleeping, etc. They could even cost you more money or more time. What's your plan for these things? How much will they cost?

I feel like it will cost you more than you think and you will end up working a job while now living in your car. A step back for no reason.

Lets say you will save tons of money and, using your numbers above, you will now have 21 months to work on your business instead of 10.5. Is this even a big deal? I don't think it should take you longer than 10 months to start making money on your business. If it does, your living situation isn't the problem.

If you have 10 months saved up why don't you quit your job, stay in your place and if you don't make a penny in 6 months throw in the towel and give yourself 4 months to find a new job. Then rinse and repeat.

 

[bdb]

I’d say do it man. It will further remove the script telling you happiness is found in materialistic things. Happiness is found in the struggle onto the materialistic things

Hey appreciate that, maybe leaving material things behind for a while is something everyone should do at least once in their lives ?

Looking at your numbers I feel very lucky. I'm living in Brazil just 100km from Rio de Janeiro, paying just 300$ month for an apartment and i'm at 4 blocks from an amazing beach. the world is crazy. At the same time people pay 1500$ for one bedroom in new york wtf.

That's pretty good, don't think I haven't thought about moving to a cheap country for a while to make the money last

Okay, so based off your numbers you save 15k per year. But you say you are going to quit your job so you actually will be losing 12k per year (not including money used to start a business). How long can you sustain that? Whats the plan if you go broke? Why not just keep your place and quit your job? Do you really have to live in your car to do this?

I can definitely look for a cheaper apartment in a little secluded town but I would be stuck in there with a lease, not sure if that's better or not than being mobile.
The plan if I go broke while living in the car/van is to find another job. As a dev in my humble experience, it's much better to be mobile when you are looking for jobs.

I can keep the place and the car but then it's two expenses instead of one.
Thanks for making me think this through.

You’re talking about saving $1k/mth.

What can you do to earn an *extra* $1k/mth instead?

What if you put your ingenuity and energy into earning more money rather than saving money?

What do you need to do to get a client **this week** who will pay you $250/mth?

If you got an extra $250/mth client this week then what does that do to your runway?

Can you get a new $250/mth client each month? What would that do to your runway?

Can you get a new client each week? What would that look like in 3 months?


As much as I like the idea of the freedom (and cool factor) of having a mobile van office I could live in at a stretch, I think you’re asking yourself the wrong questions. Do it because you can, not because you need to.



The super computer between your ears is going to solve whatever questions you ask it.

What if you were to ask yourself better questions?

wow I'm getting the legendary guys to reply.
To be honest, and I know this might be a shock here in this amazing forum, I don't think I like having to deal with clients personally.

I used to work for a digital agency where I would manage a bunch of clients and I hated it, I just don't like having tons of meetings and spending all my time managing clients, explaining and trying to convince them to give me their money.

I know this will sound very immature but my ideal success is developing a product that people want to use because it's useful, cool or whatever where I just have to work to make it great.

I’m with @Kak on this.

The job of the business owner is not to answer questions, but to ask better questions.

What if you were to ask yourself better questions?

For sure, I'm open to ideas, trying to think this through before pulling the trigger.

 

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[ChrisV]

I don’t mind dealing with clients, but I’d much prefer just building stuff and having money get deposited in my bank account. I’m not saying you can’t just do the later, it’s just that I suspect you’ll do better engaging the market and actually speaking to people.

Listen to Rob Walling’s “Start Small, Stay Small”.

Also... don’t have pointless meetings, and only deal with people you like dealing with? Don’t build the agency/business that you didn’t like working in?

At some point you’re going to have to persuade someone to give you money.

I don't know if everyone has to deal directly with clients. I mean you love people, which is definitely an asset, but if you look at some of the OPs posts he talks about being involved in ventures like building apps. He's a programmer. I think it also depends on the people. Some of my clients I love literally like my family, and some of them make me ant to strangle myself with a mouse cord. I have come up with a pretty good system of weeding out the frustrating ones though.

 

[bdb]

Agreed. There are some types of businesses where we don’t have to deal with clients as much as others.

Each to their own (of course)... it’s just that even guys who build SaaS products often say they engage the market in conversation at the beginning - lest they build something people don’t want.

You guys have agencies correct? I don't think I could do the agency thing and have a bunch of clients to manage, it's almost as having a normal job.

For example there are many great people in this forum creating companies and a lot of their time is spent cold calling clients and such. I admire those guys but I couldn't do that every day because I don't enjoy it.

Also you said, I can look for ways to increase my monthly income instead of reducing my expenses. I fully agree but I have already tried many things, all of them related to development (mobile apps, web apps, etc) none of them gave me a reliable income in order to quit the slowlane job. In fact I worked on so many spare projects that I got job offers due to those, granted all of them were small due to time constraints.

Finally I have never tried doing ecommerce as you need a sizable starting capital and invest tons of time into learning what sells and what doesn't, etc. That's why I stick to development and art as that is what I know and have been doing for years. I think I have higher chances of making it there.

Having said that, I am not closing any door, currently open to anything but I've already tried a few things in the past.

Appreciate all replies guys.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Similar related story, although this more so involves vagabonding.

This couple dreamed about frugally traveling around in a van — until reality smacked them in the face

Maybe #vanlife isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, one woman found

www.marketwatch.com

 

[ChrisV]

Listen... I think you have to realize that most instagram feeds are bullshit. Anyone can selectively post pics that look nice. Social Media is notorious for zooming in on the good and ignoring the bad.

I think this stuff has more of the appeal of going camping and having an adventure and building confidence then being all luxurious.

 

[Blackadder]

This is the only van I'd ever consider going the vanlife route in.

View: https://youtu.be/K-DblLmlOPM

View: https://youtu.be/U5_AZj1wrJ4


Mainly because it solves three pain points for me, I like a good long shower (endless shower) and I don't want to freeze to death in the winter (underfloor heating) And I hate beds by the back door (It's just lazy design that blocks the doors)

 

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[amp0193]

Here's my YT channel if anyone wants to see my build. I started in October 2018.

GB Adventures

Watched your 2018 recap... glad to see you guys enjoying life and getting out there!

The cargo trailer is sweet!

I have dreams of converting a sprinter van one day.

 

[ChrisV]

This thing is freakin sick

View: https://youtu.be/-Aa7MqwophA?t=298

 

[YoungPadawan]

This thing is freakin sick

View: https://youtu.be/-Aa7MqwophA?t=298

I imagine the people looking at living in a van probably won't be rolling in a Mercedes... Lol

Probably something more along the lines of:

 

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[ShamanKing]

Motorhome parked in Utah. Trailer at the beach.

View attachment 25716View attachment 25717

Should we get cooking? (Sorry Breaking Bad fan here lol)

 

[Vitaly the Winne]

Anywhere parking lot that's open 24 hours I found best. Or Rest Areas work, but there's no wifi at the ones around here. But Fast food places were open 24 hours/day and usually you could get wifi outside, so that was honestly the best. I would switch it up so I wasn't over-staying my welcome at any one place. I had a power-strip in my car so I could charge my laptop, a sleeping bag rated for 30 below if it ever got cold and didnt feel like running the engine all night

Also the confidence you gain from it it unbelievable. Like my whole life I feared 'what gonna happen if everything hits the fan and I lose everything' but I really don't fear that anymore. It show you that almost no matter what.. if you were to lose pretty much everything you can still live pretty well. I honestly recommend it for everyone. Part of me kinda wished i didn't even have the car and make it with only camping gear.

That's awesome man, I was seriously considering this as an option in case everything breaks down and I've got my car and mind to rely on. How did you get mail, and have your car registered?

 

[ChrisV]

That's awesome man, I was seriously considering this as an option in case everything breaks down and I've got my car and mind to rely on. How did you get mail, and have your car registered?

Well part of the time I actually owned a place, it was just too much driving (long story.) But after that I just had it sent to my parents house and they would call me if anything important and I'd go pick it up. Worst comes to worse you can get a P.O. Box. They're like $60/year around here. And car registration you just pay every 2 years here. Insurance I had to pay for too.

Hey guys,

I've been thinking about going full time with my business instead of dedicating my best hours to my slowlane job, but I need to pay for the roof over my head plus vehicle expenses and food every month. What do you guys think about living in a vehicle in order to quit my job, cut expenses and do actual work on the business every day?

I'm a developer and I'm finding it very hard to come home after a long day of work and start coding websites & apps for my business. I tried waking up earlier but again 3 hours a day (max I could do efficiently without it affecting my slowlane job) is not enough time to get some of these development projects to a MVP state. My biggest concern is not feeling comfortable in a vehicle, but then that might be an additional help in forcing me to put the long hours to get out of that self imposed homelessness.

I know this does not apply to those with families but has anyone done it in the past successfully ?
For those who have experience, Is it harder to get a business going if you are living in a vehicle ?
Is it nonsense ? would it be better to move to the cheapest apartment in the cheapest state instead ?

Go try doing it a few nights a week as a trial run if you already have the van. I think you'll be fine. A van you can literally install a small desk inside lol. But I mean you can always go to a Starbucks and use the WIFI. I actually prefer Cafes and the library and still use them to this day.

Living in an apartment again but now already wishing I was back out on the road this time of year

That's what I'm saying. There's nothing like that freedom. I had friends texting me like 'you can come stay here if you'd like' I was like 'no that's okay lol.'

In my opinion it's best to do this somewhere urban. That way you can just get food whenever you want and everything is near by.

I went back to renting because in the winter months you're basically restricted to arizona, and it gets boring there quick. I liked being around lakes and greenery, and AZ doesn't have any of that.

Not if you get a nice 30-below sleeping bag

So yeah it def does give you the confidence to not only sustain yourself on very little, but also to deal with confrontation since you'll inevitably run into some weirdos.

Absolutely. It makes you really realize how little you really need to have a good life. It's almost Zen or Fight Clubby in a way. I went back to my house with all the couches and nick-nacks and bookshelves and books like 'what is all this shit and why do I ever need it?' But I definitely think this is easier to do in the day of iPads and WiFi everywhere. Dunno if i'd be hardcore enough to do it without that lol.

 

[ChrisV]

I wouldn't have enjoyed it in an urban area. My time in Denver was my least favorite part. The places I stayed were still within civilization - 25 min drive to grocery store/town with restaurants an hour to big city if I wanted to get fancy and go to whole foods or something.

And for sure with the furniture and stuff. I moved into my apartment 4 months ago and have almost no furniture still. No living room furniture, no TV, I still only use my hotspot instead of paying a cable company for internet.

This does a couple things:

1. I want to be more social with friends when I don't have the option to crash on the couch and numb myself with TV.
2. I have limited data for hotspot so I have to spend it wisely to not end up with terribly slow internet speeds at the end of the month, which means no Youtube/streaming binges.

It also does another thing for me... makes it basically impossible to have a girlfriend. One because I have next to no furniture, and also because I still drive the big ugly van as my daily driver

Yea, everyone's different. I'm totally a city boy. But it wasn't like.. a big city. It was just urban. But I do think it would have been dope to be out in nature.

Honestly if it weren't for girls I'd probably just do the van thing and travel the country. But then again, I'm sure there are girls that would love that too. I remember reading a data analysis on OKCupid's data science blog and they found these three questions were the best statistical predictors of if a couple were likely to stay together:

The Best Questions For A First Date

How asking certain questions can reveal much more

theblog.okcupid.com

Oh well, maybe one day.

 

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[C.Hamp]

This is an interesting concept.
I currently live in a bit of a shithole. A couple weeks ago I was all about "I gotta get the hell outta here". That was my motivation.
Now, having read the books, I'm thinking more along the lines of "stick it out while its cheep".
I can't beat the $450/mo. I'm paying now. Already do most of my work at the local library.
Not sure if the mobile nature of a van would be inspiring or distracting for me. Certainly something to think about now.

 

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[C.Hamp]

If you're only paying $450/mo for rent you wouldn't be saving much if at all, unless you're just going to stay where you are and not travel around at all.

Gas + repairs that come up will equate to about that.

I put about 4k into my van in repairs in the 9 months I had it. Didn't buy the best van but it wasn't a total beater either. Then there's the upfront cost of making it livable (if you don't buy an already converted van). Mine was only semi-converted with a bed, but my solar setup was about $1k, and then another $500 for a nice low-energy RV fridge. Then a bunch of little things like propane stove ($50) and stuff starts to add up pretty quick.

Thanks for this! You beat me to the question.

 

[loop101]

The whole YT vandweller craze was started 8 years ago by a guy named Chad, who was trying to save money so he could make a feature film about motorcycle racers who build their bikes only using free parts.

Chad, the guy who started it all:

Living The Van Life

I started living in my 1991 Westfalia Volkswagen camper van on February 1, 2011. It has been an adventure of life lessons and learning to live minimally. On ...

www.youtube.com

His movie:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMIiBYhuk08


Some others:

CheaperRVLiving/RTR guy who interview everyone:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SqJCR0t6rE


Justin (pimp)

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxxQOUd2mRM


Nate (young person)

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMhSrz-BJ4E


Mike (friendly beer head)

Living Free

Hey Youtubers! This channel is about living free. It's about a range of things from full time living and traveling in my truck camper, RVing tips n tricks, s...

www.youtube.com

 

[loop101]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wDq70_xolQ

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgA-ETq5jgw

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpsAsD-SDBM

 

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