Mainstream RV living

[jacob]

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la ... story.html

Judged by the comment section, I see not much have changed.

[EdithKeeler]

Those comments are... irritating when they venture into the political. But it’s interesting when someone says “it’s really hard to live on $2k a month.” Millions of people do it every day, and not necessarily by choice, but they make it work. I agree that as a society it’s probably not desirable that elderly people scrub toilets to be able to pay for food, but it’s dismaying sometimes to read the opinions of Americans—who live in a country supposedly founded in part on a value of “rugged individualism”—to be trashing people for choices they make that are outside the mainstream.

[IlliniDave]

The assumption behind most of the comments is that it is a last act of desperation for people, which for some is false. The idea doesn't appeal to me beyond doing it for one year while I'm relatively young as an adventure and a way to see the western US, and there's probably some validity that for most at a certain age it becomes a little unviable, but mostly it sounds like the majority still does not allow their thoughts out of the box.

[Mister Imperceptible]

I’m strongly considering an RV purchase. I will look to dig up threads in the forum with details. The main problem is that my current residence is where it’s currently below zero degrees Fahrenheit and I’m wondering how feasible that is in the short term before I achieve FI and can just drive away.

[jacob]

Not that feasible unless you take special measures. Most RV brands have zero insulation (not much better than a tent). Arctic Fox is an exception. However, there are ways such as tarps, bales of hay around the skirt, heat tape wrapping to protect the tanks, or ... burning lots of propane. There are people skilled enough to overwinter in RVs in WY, so ... (but they have giant tanks of propane next to their rigs outside).

[Mister Imperceptible]

I remember you referring in a post somewhere about a specific line of latitude that I was north of, so I put the idea down until a like-minded colleague several decades my senior with a real estate empire mentioned it to me. I get a lodging subsidy because my current client is over 200 miles from my parent’s house (where I have stubbornly maintained my permanent address). $2000 subsidy a month could pay for an $50k RV in 2 years.

Perhaps I can stay in the RV for 8 months out of the year, and throw my money away in rent for just the winter.

[bryan]

One of my friends in Silicon Valley lives in his van. Originally he wanted to just pay someone to up-fit it, but everyone within a 2 hour drive was booked solid for months. He ended up DIY out of necessity, like the majority of folks. When your home is your van, you can probably afford to spend a little extra on (i.e. divert expenses into) it.

The sentiment in Silicon Valley is accepting of alternative dwelling, especially if you have a rational reason (e.g. save $$, shorter commute, adventurous, etc), especially if it's impressive on the inside or outside (so many people want to see it). It seems the only people that don't like van/RV-dwellers are those who must have their street parking (residential/business) to themselves (or if the van/RV looks like it might be the home of a mentally broken individual), otherwise it crosses all socio-economic divides (that I've witnessed).

[jennypenny]

In my experience, when people see others living in an RV or van or similar, they think it's cool and want to check it out. When they only read about it, they think it's pathetic/creepy. Odd.

[unemployable]

Well if we gave a shit what other people thought of our lifestyles we wouldn't be ERE, right?

I basically do this for a week or so at a time but with a small SUV. Park at trailheads, sleep in it, hike, drive to next trailhead, repeat. Lived out of it for a couple months while I was between dwellings. An SUV or pickup will get you a lot of places an RV won't.

[bryan]

@jennypenny, yeah that's probably right. Unless those only reading about it have a family/friend that have done it and were happy. It really was a mind*&#@ to read such horrible comments over the years on more mainstream articles, meanwhile youtube and instagram channels out there making it sound great (or at least really not that bad).