Working for our possessions

[THATmanMANNY]

She's hot. I'd hit that.

 

[Dominos]

Living in a van was fun, but I wouldn't want to do it indefinitely. To @pooriggy's point, there is comfort in having a job and a predictable lifestyle. And creating long-lasting relationships.

We lived in the van in 2007, a year after we got married. At the time is was scary to make the leap to do it, we both had good jobs & friends. But, in retrospect, I'm so glad we did it. Our ratio of wealth:responsibility was really high; not that we were extraordinarily wealthy, but anything divided by 0 is a high number. And our responsibility number was definitely 0 then : no kids, mortgage or even car payments.

We bought the van for about $50K, and sold it 13000miles later for about what we paid for it, minus California "end-use" tax.

Van photos to lighten your Friday


Parked in Moab in October-ish

Fording a river in Capitol Reef NP:

@Delish taking a sunshower in Moab (he was less-skinny then, believe it or not):

Me cooking dinner with our supervisor:

Van and @Delish on a ferry crossing Kootenay Bay (check out those bikes!!) :

 

[Dominos]

I got started looking at pictures, and didn't complete my thought.

Sometimes when I go in the attic, and look around and wonder "where did all the shit come from? We used to live in a van with almost nothing." Life is so complicated now, i'm glad we did it when we did

 

[qclabrat]

Living in a van was fun, but I wouldn't want to do it indefinitely. To @pooriggy's point, there is comfort in having a job and a predictable lifestyle. And creating long-lasting relationships.

We lived in the van in 2007, a year after we got married. At the time is was scary to make the leap to do it, we both had good jobs & friends. But, in retrospect, I'm so glad we did it. Our ratio of wealth:responsibility was really high; not that we were extraordinarily wealthy, but anything divided by 0 is a high number. And our responsibility number was definitely 0 then : no kids, mortgage or even car payments.

We bought the van for about $50K, and sold it 13000miles later for about what we paid for it, minus California "end-use" tax.

Van photos to lighten your Friday


Parked in Moab in October-ish

Fording a river in Capitol Reef NP:

@Delish taking a sunshower in Moab (he was less-skinny then, believe it or not):

Me cooking dinner with our supervisor:

Van and @Delish on a ferry crossing Kootenay Bay (check out those bikes!!) :

these pics are so much better than the youtube fluff, that's one nice setup
wonder how different things would be now, 10 years later with the interweb everywhere

 

[qclabrat]

My wife is starting to get annoyed at my answer to any of our problems as "let's get a van and just drive around the country"

when we first got married, I commuted to work with my wife, almost killed our marriage
this wouldn't go well in our household

 

[ktmrider]

@Dominos great pictures ! Thank you for sharing . I wasn't really looking for comments like what the fuck are they going to do in 20 years while we are paying for them ... or you folks trying to explain why you think your opinion is the correct one opinions are like assholes .
I was in high mountain community at a ace hardware store grabbing caulk and ran into these guys . They made my day . I made my choices for a Secure lifesyle I couldn't live the other way , but I would never try to tell people why what I think is the best for them . I guess I should have expected the negativity . Live and let live .

 

[rlb]

Thanks for the real perspective @Dominos. I wish I was smart enough to do this when I had the chance!

Mega Millions is over $300, Powerball isn't far behind.

 

[Xler8]

IMO, like everything in life, balance is the key.

It seems that in today's day and age the scales have tipped too far in a particular direction and there are many out of balance scenarios.

 

[pooriggy]

It seems that in today's day and age the scales have tipped too far in a particular direction and there are many out of balance scenarios.

Too much work=too much stress.
0 stress, usually means your someone else's burden. I believe in today's day we are more aware of this, we may not always address it however mental and physical health are more of a thing now.

 

[MissJR]

i would actually love to do a van vacation like this... take some time off and travel... there's tons of places i want to see... i do give people credit for doing this (whether it's long or short term) but i am too paranoid about the practical things (money, health insurance) to live out of a van for very long.

and i stand by my previous VW bus opinion.

 

[ktmrider]

Too much work=too much stress.
0 stress, usually means your someone else's burden. I believe in today's day we are more aware of this, we may not always address it however mental and physical health are more of a thing now.

Too much work doesn't have to be more stress , you must have a stressful job . I have been doing 10 hour days 6 days a week building my new business here in Colorado and I have never been happier and more relaxed . So you should switch your occupation buddy

 

[JimN]

in Colorado and I have never been happier and more relaxed . So you should switch your occupation buddy

Uh, there is also one other thing in your life that might be contributing to being happy and relaxed out in Colorado

 

[ktmrider]

Uh, there is also one other thing in your life that might be contributing to being happy and relaxed out in Colorado

Haha nope I don't do that stuff anymore , I am a yoga health nut now ! It sucks too , 2 of my neighbors are growers so my costs are incredible out here . I enjoyed my weed run it was fun & I didn't go to jail in the communist state !

 

[UtahJoe]

you must have a stressful job

@pooriggy has his bad days

 

[ktmrider]

@pooriggy has his bad days

I don't get it but it looks funny !

 

[pooriggy]

I work on a golf course, I grow grass for a living...so yeah it's not rocket science. As long as the grass is green everyone is happy. I Also build golf course features with heavy equipment which I find very satisfying. I used to work for a golf course builder but that was more hectic and too much travel to jobs.
I like what I do...but I would not like it as much if I worked 60hrs./wk.

 

[ktmrider]

I like what I do...but I would not like it as much if I worked 60hrs./wk.

I think enjoying what you do is so important , but I feel the $$ trumps a lot , if you were working 60 house a week and doing 25 grand a month you might feel different . Now I understand Utah joes post . Haha

 

[Norm]

I think it is cool as hell that they choose to live in a van. I think people react adversely to what they do not necessarily understand, or maybe more importantly, lack the nerve to do. If this is what they want to do, I say cool on them for doing it. Maybe one day they'll wake up and say, "Hey, you know what? I need a den to get away from you a little bit." And that will be that.

I can live wherever I like and do the same job. But there are a lot of factors that keep me personally ground to this state. Once the kids are grown up though, all bets are off. I may push to live in a van and park it at Iggy's golf course just so I can taunt him every morning.

Edit: Here's another thing. I just started our dishwasher like 20 minutes ago and am now realizing it is leaking. And the front steps are crumbling and need to be replaced. And the fridge is almost shot. Add on top of that the $50k septic system the state FORCED us to put in and we're looking at a damn fine chunk of change there. The people in the video don't have to worry about that nonsense and I envy them that.

Caveat: it is nice to not have to wash all the dishes by hand...

 

[hotsauce]

#vanlife is so 2015. #yurtlife is next!

@Dominos and @Delish, those pics are awesome!

 

[Norm]

Is it me, or is a yurt really just the product of an igloo and teepee having a baby?