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For the past few years now, I've been watching a YouTuber who chose to live in her van for the past 5 yrs now. She's a divorced lady w/ an adult son who lives on his own w/ his own family & she's not that close to her extended family, so it's no problem for her. She has nothing to tie her down to 1 place so it's great for her. I like seeing what she does out of curiosity & live a tad bit vicariously through her in a way. (She talks about what she does for the restroom & everything too.)
However, would I really want to live like that myself? No, so I wouldn't want to date someone in that situation either. They could be the sweetest person on earth, it's not about that. I'd just want/need more space & stability of it all. I can't just sit up in a van to relax all night permanently. That's NOT relaxing to me. Sure, it's a fun adventure for probably a few weeks at the most, but after that, that's it.
I've watched LOTS of other vandwellers on YouTube here & there too & some of them have some fancy vans, so if that's what they want, fine. I still don't want it myself. If I was totally alone in this world & had no one, I'd still just live in a small place somwhere (preferrably just a small home that I own...NOT a tiny home) & live out my life.
Last edited by Forever Blue; 02-22-2021 at 06:01 PM..
This has drifted waaaayyyyy away from a Relationship topic.
Not really most of the comments are related, a look at the poll tells me that many would not be interested for the downsides people are bringing up. even in doing my research it seems that even the women that love that life were forced into it by circumstance and grew to love it once they got used to it to the point that they don't want to leave it even when they get the chance to.
That the most interesting and surprising thing I learned in my research. it's more common for men to go into that lifestyle by choice. But both men and women in the lifestyle all talk about the freedom and feeling like they have been unchained.
This thread isn't much about relationship. It's about living style.
Moved to appropriate forum.
Actually it's about the possibility of finding a relationship if I choose this lifestyle, so now you move this thread to a forum populated by 90% men (as there are very few truly frugal women)
At least that's been my experience, I'm 50 and I've only met like 3(shoulda married that last one )
I read in a forum last night where some guy parks near industrial parks and construction sites because from the outside it looks like a work van so nobody notices him(he has a made up AC repair business name on the side of his van lol)
Doesn't that sound romantic...
Quote:
I make roughly 2K a month my electric bill alone runs close to $600(100 plus degree summers) factor in water, gas, insurance, property tax, yard up keep, cleaning supplies, home repairs(my house was built in 1950), security system monthly fee.
My total expenditure last year (excluding taxes, charitable giving, and health/vision/dental insurance premiums and deductibles) was less than $17k. I lived in a cheap city in a cheap apartment. I've dated plenty and am now in a relationship. You have enough income to live a relatively settled life if you're willing to move, so the attraction of van living clearly isn't about the money.
Actually an apartment would increase my monthly expense's as my house is paid off...
And I would not be living on rice and beans lol, even now I eat rather well on $50 a month(I am a good cook with a ton of cheap recipe's) and you can park a van anywhere and they make 4x4 camper vans
and the "energy-consuming appliances, waste disposal," are one and done cost's (on average that equipment lasts for years). Basically I've factored the actual "living" which is in my comfort zone and I would actually end up with MORE disposable income for dating, as 79% of my current income would not be going to utilities, taxes, home owners insurance, yard care etc etc
But yes the only issue with dating would be "perception" because women tend to be more a slave to aesthetic comforts, even though women are usually reluctant to enter that life they tend to take to that life with more gusto once they are in it, I've read a ton of stories how couples hit hard times get into that life to save money and once they get on their feet it's the woman that does not want to get back on the grid once they got used to not being under the stress of maintaining the "stick and brick" normal life.
But it's finding someone willing to try it in the first place that may be the problem lol
I gotta call BS on this, so glad you're having fun, but you showed your rear here.
Nobody can eat "rather well" on $50/month. I've been super low income for a long, long time, and there is no way in Haides you eat rather well on $50/month.
You might find a woman who finds it fun to have a fling with you, but any woman with any semblance of quality about her, regardless of her income, won't be interested for long.
And, no, you can't park vans or camper vans anywhere. There is just so much about your posts that prove to me that you don't have a van that you live in full-time. I get that this is entertainment for you, but I, for one, see through you.
That picture is not reality. Unless you're unemployed, you're not parked out in the red rocks of AZ/UT living a freewheeling lifestyle. You're parked on a side street in a city, near your job and having to move every evening because they don't allow overnight parking.
Yup. Reality is the kicker. When will people wake up?
I think that the necessary shift to work from home for many office types (myself included) in the last year, has shown a lot of companies that it's more viable than they ever thought and they can save themselves the expense of maintaining a big office for people to work in... My job is about to be declared permanently "remote" and I bet a lot of others will, too. That will free up a lot of folks to wander, especially if there is a way for them to set up a workspace in a mobile arrangement, with reliable internet.
I actually know someone who is "nomadic." But not in the same way, I think, that the OP envisions it for himself. She is a musician, and she wanders the earth and performs in various places and works Renaissance Festivals and tourist industry stuff, in non-Covid times, of course. She also writes magazine articles, and she's been a regular at Burning Man. The really cool thing about her lifestyle is that she has a really robust network. People everywhere (multiple continents) know and love her, so anywhere she goes, she can reach out and find somewhere to stay, a gig to perform, things to do...
She's hunkered down for longer periods with family or friends in relative isolation, and has done some virtual concerts and a lot of writing, but the way she lives, I think, makes her really good at adaptation. She got a big truck and a vintage Airstream camper a few years ago, which she has had quite a time keeping in good repair, I think she's practically had to rebuild it...but she is willing and able to learn new skills and do whatever needs doing, it seems.
And she dated a guy who lived in a van, "off the grid" for a little while. But her relationships tend not to last. And she also writes songs about exes, so... Yeah. lol I love her to bits, and I marvel at her life, but I also know it would never be for me. I like to collect stuff, and nest and interior decorate, and I really like my creature comforts and stability. I like having a solid home base to return to after going on adventures. I don't think I'd be happy if my whole life were an ongoing adventure, like that seems to me.
Going on adventures? Give me a break. I sleep in a king size bed and take steam showers after working out in my basement gym.
I gotta call BS on this, so glad you're having fun, but you showed your rear here.
Nobody can eat "rather well" on $50/month. I've been super low income for a long, long time, and there is no way in Haides you eat rather well on $50/month.
You might find a woman who finds it fun to have a fling with you, but any woman with any semblance of quality about her, regardless of her income, won't be interested for long.
And, no, you can't park vans or camper vans anywhere. There is just so much about your posts that prove to me that you don't have a van that you live in full-time. I get that this is entertainment for you, but I, for one, see through you.
I have not owned a van since 1993, I said I was thinking about going nomad. Have not done it yet.
And every discount store grocery store sell's a big as tub of stew meat(it's sometimes called something else) the tub's look like the containers they put your custom paint in at home depot, anyway it's a months worth of meat for one person for about 30-40 bucks if you get beef, chicken, pork or goat but if you get the ones that are a random mix they are between 20-30 usually around $27 it's the stuff my late grandmother who grew up during the depression used to call "pieces and parts" because it's basically the meat that was scraped off the bone or left over when the butcher made all the cut's that are put on display. get some tortillas and or pita bread and seasoning which is cheap there is a ton of different meals you can make. I do that now to feed myself and my food tastes good.
My total expenditure last year (excluding taxes, charitable giving, and health/vision/dental insurance premiums and deductibles) was less than $17k. I lived in a cheap city in a cheap apartment. I've dated plenty and am now in a relationship. You have enough income to live a relatively settled life if you're willing to move, so the attraction of van living clearly isn't about the money.
Actually that life would allow me the most disposable income. more of my paycheck in my pocket, I'd even afford to take women on nicer dates.
Though it is discouraging that for the poll only one woman said yes(a very attractive one though), and only one said maybe, seems men are more open minded in general. But I kind of guessed that from watching the youtube videos, seems men are more likely to be cool with joining a woman in that life than the other way around. from what I see women can be in that life and date people in and out of that life while guys seem to mostly only attract women already in that life.
Last edited by ChileSauceCritic; 02-22-2021 at 10:35 PM..
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(as there are very few truly frugal women)
