I live a good part of the year in a converted van. I am not homeless. I am not destitute. I have not been evicted. I am not on the run. No, I am doing this because I choose to. I consider myself normal, although some may argue that. I own a home that I live in when not on the road. I’m retired and love to travel and my converted van give me the opportunity to travel and live where I please. Mine is a new high top van, meaning it has ample headroom for basically anyone, even my grandsons who are over 6’ tall. I have outfitted it so it’s very comfortable, even with solar power so I can live off-grid for a couple of weeks at a time.
Over the years, I've met many people who live in converted vans as well as various other types of RVs. From million dollar Class A motor coaches to Class B and Class C motor homes, fifth wheels, travel trailers and even a couple of cars one of which was a Prius. I’ve also met people that have purchased old school buses, metro buses, old Greyhound buses and converted them into very beautiful motorhomes with the latest in technology. Some live in the old VW pop up conversion vans from the late 60’s and 70’s. As far as converted vans go, the VW camper is probably the original converted van that started it all. This is just a small sampling of what I run into. There are also the box trucks, think U-Haul type trucks that people convert and live in. There’s also cargo trailers converted to mini homes and even ambulances. I think the most unique conversion I’ve seen thus far was a converted horse trailer.
Horse Trailer
Yes, a horse trailer. The couple living in it had purchased it from a farmer, cleaned it to the point it looked new and simply built out the inside which was remarkable to say the least. This conversion was as nice or nicer than most Class A RV’s I’ve seen. It had a full and modern kitchen, living room with big screen TV, king bedroom and a full bathroom.
A great many of these folks are minimalists, especially the ones living in the smaller vehicles such as vans. The people I’ve met range from retirees to those still working, to recent graduates trying to find out where they belong to those who just want to drop out of society for whatever reason.
Beach Camping
I’m not talking about meeting all these people in RV Resorts or RV parks either; I meet these people in free camping areas such as the beach, National Forests or on BLM Land or locations that are far back off the beaten path not easy to find.
National Forest
The ways in which (some) of these people support themselves on the road vary quite a bit. For the most part, I meet a lot of retirees with pensions and or social security. Then there’s others that need an income to support their lifestyle. I’ve met quite a few traveling nurses living the van lifestyle.
I’ve met others that rely on CraigsList for handy man jobs wherever they travel around the country.
Handy Man
There are others who ‘work camp.’ There is a company out there called workamper.com where those looking for work can find something. I think it’s mostly seasonal, but some of these folks only want seasonal work. Amazon has seasonal work and I’m told even offer parking space for your van or RV with hookups. With the Internet practically covering the planet, a lot of these people depend on it for their livelihood. They work remotely, etc. I’ve met some that will stay in one location for a period of time and get a temporary job at Walmart or some other company that hires temp labor, clerical, etc.
Regardless of what the situation is for these folks I meet on the road, most seem fine and genuinely happy, much happier, I might add, than many people I see that drive that traffic every day to get to a cubicle job that they don’t like. Most seem to be living the American dream, whatever that may be for them.
The way I view it is these people are pursuing happiness and freedom and I say, “more power to them.”
Source: Most of the photos in this blog are provided courtesy of pixabay.com.
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