If you don't want to BUY or RENT, then whats' the best way to live???

originally posted by: spartacus699
Okay a van it is! I'm gonna live in a van down by the river! And I'm gonna reinvent myself after my hero, Matt foley, the motivational speaker.

Now you're talking!


I've considered a class B motor home. Does anyone have any experiences with these, good or bad?

I got a 1987 class a motor home in good shape with 29,000 miles on it for $4000.

Rent for a apartment where i live is $800 to $1000 a month.

Rent for a RV space where i am living is $275 a month.

I only get $1000 a month for disability so the RV was my only option and still eat.

I go to $2000+ a month in Dec 2015 and can move to AZ by just hooking my pickup to the back of the motor home and driving off.

I've been giving this a lot of thought lately after I saw a post on Quora about a guy who was trying to save money for some AP he was trying to design... he was living in his car at night, moved it between different suburban locations, and bought a membership to a startup incubator called 'hacker dojo' in Mountain View, CA (a very nice place to live and great weather year round for living out of your car). The Dojo had unlimited internet, other like minds to interact with, and was open 24/7; it was a few hundred a year, IIRC. For showers he got a cheap 24/7 gym membership. Not bad compared to the 2K that rent starts at in the area.

Another idea is to look under 'shared rooms' and also medical employment or 'gigs' in Craigslist. There are literally thousands of people all over who are getting disability money or are retired and want/need a personal companion, nurse's aid (duties will vary), housekeeper, etc. The trade is often free room, board and a salary to boot, and often also, they're very well off and will live in some pretty nice digs. I worked for a lady in the San Diego area who was legally blind and mostly needed a driver; we went shopping and out to lunch (she always bought) and to doc appts and hair dressers. A most fascinating and intelligent woman, she and her husband lived in Japan after WWII and she had a lot of stories to tell. She was a teacher, he was an economics professor and they had obviously done well.

Just make sure the situation is win/win, and you don't over commit yourself to a situation you can't handle physically or emotionally. Typically if there is some sort of service as a go between for your employment, you'll get days off every week, or you can arrange your own situation. Another option is as the night shift aide for a disabled person. Often these include a room, and also a salary. The pay won't be great, but free housing would be. You'd basically be getting paid to sleep. You'd need a very clean police record for these, but minimal other skills. Just to be on call during the night if needed. Pick a city you might want to live in, and take a look at Craigslist!

I've done some wandering and have more experienced vagabonds in the family, and make it a habit to play good samaritan to other travelers in need. Here's a big chunk of what I've learned as concisely as I can manage on short notice:

1. Vehicles break down, run out of gas, need to be insured, get towed, and encounter registration problems when the owner lacks a permanent address. RVs are the riskiest vehicle in this category. Most of the people I've known who lived full time in a budget RV ended up losing it and being in over their head when it happened.

2. Living in developed camp grounds will cost you ten dollars a day on average twenty for an rv. They often come with plumbing and even electric access though and this can be very good news, because the difference between a traveler and a bum is mostly aesthetic to many people. But In many parts of the country you could rent a room or even a studio or bachellor (no kitchen) apartment for that. If weather, neighborhood, and work situation aren't an issue, you could even buy a house in some tragic city where houses are essentially free before upkeep.

3. Food gets expensive without a fridge and kitchen. Eating from cans can run you 5 a day easy, before cooking fuel, and many vagabonds spend too much on fast food because of this.

4. You can camp in the rough or park in the boonies for free often but it gets harsh and isn't quite as safe as developed camping. This is a few days a week option though, especially for an RV.

5. A vagabond needs a happy story to be welcome and it should fit the area. Tourist, visiting family, just moved to find work in a big local industry, etc.

I've gotta go be a roadie in a few minutes so I'll come back with a little more later. My thread about being "homeless" might have some relevance for you but it's wordy and maybe not the same as your situation.

If I didn't want to buy or rent, I'd move into my Uncles farm house on his 75+ acre piece of land out in the country. He already told me I can move in any time. No power, water or anything like that. But it has a built in fireplace and a nice stream of water nearby that runs off a mountain and is drinkable.

Lots of rabbit and deer on his place and some wild hogs too.

Sounds like paradise huh?

Totally off the grid.

I've re-read your posts in thread and given it some more thought. It seems like your situation might be a bit different than I initially envisioned but I'm still not perfectly clear about what you want to get away from and what your means are.
I gather that you'd like to live near the beach, and that to some extent you'd like to live simply and off the land. I'm not sure what options you have there - I do know that highly desirable locations tend to be deserted for a reason and that in a lot of places getting caught taking wildlife and settling on land that isn't yours could make your life more complicated than you'd hope for.

Perhaps you'd find a more conventional life very close to what you want if you researched various small towns in desirable environments.

For example if I was dreaming along the lines you are I'd probably choose Humboldt County CA- there's a seasonal work boom when legal and quasi-legal marijuana grows need trimming which makes a good opportunity to move and get established, and a lot of people up there raise chickens and keep gardens etc. Microbrewing is popular up there as well, there's a small local comedy scene, and crab season. A lot of the people the are laid back and somewhat hippie-ish, although there is some culture clash because there are also some fairly young retired or semi retired professionals living in mcmsnsions on forrested hillsides.
But I could see moving out there and building a small "earthship" a ways away from the house of someone who has a couple acres in trade for watching over their crop or animals, maybe doing some seasonal work in the crab or marijuana industry, and spending my days hiking or chatting up "travel kids" or any number of other things. That would be my place for the simple life, and it could be pretty stable and mainstream in the ways I found necessary while being free and different in the ways that interest me if I networked well.

Your place might be different, but it probably exists somewhere. Read up and ask around, here is a fine start but check other resources as well. Maybe let us know more about what you do and don't want from the solution you end up with.