"Between every two pine trees there is a door, leading to a new way of life."
-- John Muir
Since I retired several years ago, I've been an avid traveler. This love of travel first took me to Ecuador, a small country on the equator, located on the Pacific Ocean in South America.
After several lengthy trips to Ecuador, I fell in love with the country and its people and actually considered moving there. However, family won that tug-of-war and I decided against moving there. To satisfy my passion to travel, I purchased a rather large motor home and began exploring this wonderful country. After several months, I learned many lessons. I learned that this large motor home was just too big for me as a solo traveler. I also learned that most folks tow a second vehicle behind to use for running around in when their motor home was parked in an RV park. I also learned that not having that second vehicle limited me as to where I could park my motor home. I was also limited on driving in some larger, heavily populated cities. I wanted to do some boondocking but large RV's just aren't adaptable to most off-grid locations, such as desert roads and seldom traveled dirt roads in the forests. I also learned that large motor homes have a ravenous appetite for fuel. A vehicle that gets only 8-9 miles per gallon of gas can get into one's budget rather quickly.
During my time on the road I've met quite a few like-minded people. They travel and live in motor homes, travel trailers, pickup campers, school bus conversions,
tour bus conversions, 5th wheels, old ambulances and even cars and tents. What caught my attention however, was the number of people living in converted vans. When I saw some converted vans, my thoughts took me back to the 60's and 70's when the flower children were living in VW buses and pop-up camper vans. That was probably the genesis of the converted van movement.
I'm not talking about people living in converted vans due to them being destitute, I'm talking about people who are doing what they love to do; enjoying life and visiting all the wonderful sites this great nation has to offer.
After seeing all that a converted van has to offer, I decided that was the route I wanted to take. I sold my motor home and bought a basic cargo van and began the process of converting it into a small home on wheels. I now have my little home on wheels and it's perfect for me as a solo traveler. I travel when I want and where I want. I'm no longer limited to small towns and I can park it where a regular car can park. I can traverse desert roads and forest roads with ease and can boondock anywhere I please and am no longer limited to expensive RV parks.
I found that most of the "van people" I met roam this wonderful country after having walked away from the hustle and bustle and high pressure stressful jobs and city living and of course some were doing it in retirement. Most of these nomads had some money saved, some didn't but found ways on the road to earn money to fund their travels. Nevertheless, most of the people I had discussions with were very content with where they are in life and seemed happier than most of the people I see on the streets every day. They seemed to be more in touch with life and were for the most part all minimalist. They feel they are living the American dream of being free to live as they please in the greatest country on the planet without someone telling them how to live their lives. Quite a few of the younger people I spoke with, those who were not old enough for social security or other types of pensions were astute enough to earn money on the Internet. Some are earning from Craig's List and the list goes on. I continue to be very impressed by the creativeness of people I meet for ways in which they find to live out their dreams without a lot of material things or money.
Source: Most of the photos in this blog are provided courtesy of pixabay.com.
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