This isn't directly related to PF in itself, but it'll also make sense why in a minute.
When thinking about vandwelling, the numbers completely make sense. There is no rent or mortgage. There is no homeowners insurance. No property tax. No HoA fees and regulations.
Certainly, there are vehicle-associated costs, but they are usually ones you would normally incur from just having any regular vehicle. Well, maybe a bit more, but the cost savings are still a no-brainer.
The real downsides are more psychological and social. For example, full-time vandwellers can pretty much forget most social and dating scenes because even voluntarily choosing to live in a van down by the proverbial river still carries a lot of negative social stigma. The loneliness can be hard to bear, and heaven help you if you are also claustrophobic.
The unquantifiable variables are what really gets you. I also realize that this level of living is most likely below the standards of even many here at SA.
That's also why I can't quite get as excited about this prospect, even though this is what I am ultimately choosing to do. I am fairly confident it is physically doable. I just have to get over that hump in my mind that perhaps I am resigningmy fate to something worse or less human somehow.
Then again, I am living well in a fairly big house right now, and in a great neighborhood. Everybody else in the neighborhood thinks I am well-off somehow. And yet, I already feel the loneliness, the resignation of my fate, and so forth. So, me making this choice to experiment with vandwelling may not be as bad as I imagined.
And it is only an experiment. I don't know if it will actually work out. I don't know how far I will be able to take this. There are lots of unknowns.
Luckily, the small kid in me thinks this awesome, like some kind of goofy summer camp adventure that I am going on. I am going to hang on to that part, because there's nothing to be gained by simply dreading it. Plus, it will also push me out of my comfort zone, and towards something that I hope will actually better my life in some way. The same way it got me here on SA in the first place.
Unquantifiable
May 7th, 2014 at 04:07 am
May 7th, 2014 at 12:29 pm 1399462186
May 7th, 2014 at 01:37 pm 1399466264
This is especially true for female vandwellers, which I was surprised to find out there are several. It seems women in general feel especially vulnerable in cases like this, and often need and have extra stealth and security.
Anyway, there are vandwelling communities online, and the general feedback I am getting is that some amount of anxiety about making such a transition is entirely understandable, although if it continues and the lifestyle doesn't work for me, I can always go back to regular living.
However, many stress that they have found this life much preferable and are happier than if they were living in conventional houses.
May 7th, 2014 at 01:38 pm 1399466301
May 7th, 2014 at 01:59 pm 1399467558
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/duke-grad-student-secretly-lived-in-a-van-to-escape-loan-debt-194021112.html
?
I read his blog, too. Fascinating.
(A Duke grad student who lived in a van while he went to school so he wouldn't have to take out loans, for those of you who don't want to click on the link.)
May 7th, 2014 at 02:28 pm 1399469330
Anyways, the Duke grad student was both the first and the last student that have or will ever be able to live in their van on Duke campus. The university has quietly drafted new regulations to specifically prevent this sort of thing from happening again, and future students can be expelled if they are caught doing so.
Anyways, I was indeed planning to meet up with him, but he has since graduated, and last I read, he was backpacking somewhere in Alaska. I guess that too is not surprising as many vandwellers are also outdoorsy by nature. Whether it is the untamed wildlands or the fresh snowboarding slopes that beckons them, for this lot, living out of their vehicle is merely a means towards their primary passion.
As for me, I am simply a crazy man who is out to save money. We shall see if this will suit me as well.
May 17th, 2014 at 01:59 pm 1400331583
And frankly, I'm angry to hear about Duke drafting those rules. It's like making rules saying "you aren't allowed to be poor and be a student here."
That, in my opinion, is heading in the wrong direction.