Boondocking, Moochdocking, Tiny Homes, Vanlife, etc

[Revoltingest]

Who else is interested in such things, eg, downsizing, living on the road, etc?
Moochdocking is what I do. I'll be away for a week+/- living in Mr Van. I've
designed him for my style, which is to "mooch" off of utilities & services on
the road & where I stay. I've never had to go more than 2 days without
finding free electrical hook-up, bathrooms, parking spaces, & even the
occasional nite indoors.
I dislike motels...they're spendy, they require that you find them, that they're
available, & they might have bedbugs. When tired in Mr Van, I just find a
safe place, eg, truck stop, rest area, Walmart. When I can't power my
microwave, I have plenty'o food that's fine cold.
Mr Van is more of a mobile tool crib than an RV. But he's got 2 bunks,
one of which is storage when Mrs Revolt isn't along (95% of the time).
So he's spartan....no AC, no TV...just fans, folding chairs, & a bucket
for a sink. But he's spacious (when not carrying machinery inside),
convenient, & has windows all around.

Who does anything fun that's remotely similar?

 

[ChristineM]

Might as well sell your house and live on the cheap in mr van. Plus you'll have the advantage of making it difficult for mr tax man to find you.

 

[John53]

20 years ago the wife and I travelled around for 14 months with a trike and trailer. Slept in a tent and mostly stayed at free camp sites if available. Every week or so we'd pay to stop in a carvan park so we could do washing. It was fun but I wouldn't do again, I prefer not having to build my house every day.

 

[ChristineM]

I have a friend who every few months says **** it, she locks the house, jumps in her car and drives. Wales, the Lake District, the Peak District, Scotland, whichever way the car takes her. She lives rough, sleeping in the car, reliving herself in the bushes, buying food and drink as she travels. She'll be gone for between a couple of weeks and a month and returns filthy, stinking and mentally refreshed.

Personally i prefer hotel rooms with a hot bath and room service.

 

[ChristineM]

20 years ago the wife and I travelled around for 14 months with a trike and trailer. Slept in a tent and mostly stayed at free camp sites if available. Every week or so we'd pay to stop in a carvan park so we could do washing. It was fun but I wouldn't do again, I prefer not having to build my house every day.

View attachment 58608

Nice bike

 

[John53]

Nice bike

It was lots of fun until I developed balance issues and had to sell it. Well mostly fun, doing running repairs on the side of the road when it broke down wasn't fun.

 

[Revoltingest]

Might as well sell your house and live on the cheap in mr van. Plus you'll have the advantage of making it difficult for mr tax man to find you.

No prob in him for a couple weeks, but Mr Van is not
a full time home. Besides, our house is cheap living.
The rental portions pay all the taxes & utilities.
We have a home loan only for the purpose of lending
out the money at higher rates.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

I have a friend who every few months says **** it, she locks the house, jumps in her car and drives. Wales, the Lake District, the Peak District, Scotland, whichever way the car takes her. She lives rough, sleeping in the car, reliving herself in the bushes, buying food and drink as she travels. She'll be gone for between a couple of weeks and a month and returns filthy, stinking and mentally refreshed.

Personally i prefer hotel rooms with a hot bath and room service.

"roughing it" is a three-star with the hot tub out of service?

 

[amorphous_constellation]

I've read a book or two on that, and related books about traveling, and sometimes watch some of the many youtube channels dedicated to that. I don't know, I'm sort of fascinated and revolted by it. One mishap on the road, and who knows what legal trouble you get it in.

I thought I heard there was some state out west where you can have residency by only occupying property for a small amount of time, and you'd probably need that for maintaining a license and insurance, and getting mail etc. That sounds like a hassle

 

[ChristineM]

"roughing it" is a three-star with the hot tub out of service?

That is rougher than i want to get.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Who else is interested in such things, eg, downsizing, living on the road, etc?
Moochdocking is what I do. I'll be away for a week+/- living in Mr Van. I've
designed him for my style, which is to "mooch" off of utilities & services on
the road & where I stay. I've never had to go more than 2 days without
finding free electrical hook-up, bathrooms, parking spaces, & even the
occasional nite indoors.
I dislike motels...they're spendy, they require that you find them, that they're
available, & they might have bedbugs. When tired in Mr Van, I just find a
safe place, eg, truck stop, rest area, Walmart. When I can't power my
microwave, I have plenty'o food that's fine cold.
Mr Van is more of a mobile tool crib than an RV. But he's got 2 bunks,
one of which is storage when Mrs Revolt isn't along (95% of the time).
So he's spartan....no AC, no TV...just fans, folding chairs, & a bucket
for a sink. But he's spacious (when not carrying machinery inside),
convenient, & has windows all around.

Who does anything fun that's remotely similar?

Asides from my car being my office for multiple jobs, closest thing I've done is add a bunch of stuff to my dX Express. Ceramic brake pads, cold air intake, tuner chip, amd always high quality and/or performance parts when things need replaced. Looked into a lift kit but it's not feasible for what I do. I want some strut and sway bars for the improved handling. A grounding kit because they're not expensive and it just might help with a few minor issues I'm having. And I want to be able to back my chair up some more to fully stretch my legs out to reduce the knee pains from driving for extended periods.
And my car is more of a goer than a shower, so no tinted windows (yet), decals or wraps, nothing more attention getting than my underbody lights.

 

[Revoltingest]

Asides from my car being my office for multiple jobs, closest thing I've done is add a bunch of stuff to my dX Express. Ceramic brake pads, cold air intake, tuner chip, amd always high quality and/or performance parts when things need replaced. Looked into a lift kit but it's not feasible for what I do. I want some strut and sway bars for the improved handling. A grounding kit because they're not expensive and it just might help with a few minor issues I'm having. And I want to be able to back my chair up some more to fully stretch my legs out to reduce the knee pains from driving for extended periods.
And my car is more of a goer than a shower, so no tinted windows (yet), decals or wraps, nothing more attention getting than my underbody lights.

Mr Van has some performance upgrades......
- A 2nd battery isolated from the primary one.
(It powers the winch & a few other things.)
- Both batteries are top quality AGM.
- Desulfating solar battery maintainers.
- Fridge, microwave, fan, vacuum.
All 110VAC.
- Fan, ceiling vent with fan, lights.
All DC.
- 2 back-up cams, one just for trailer hitching.
- Reflective bubble ceiling insulation.
- Extra rear leaf springs.
- Aluminum scissor steps to rear door.
- Class V custom trailer hitch receiver.
- Custom console between the seats.
- Desk, 2 bunks, massive storage.
- A basement for storing 2x lumber.
- Under-bed aluminum toolboxes.
- A gun safe.
- Optional bigger engine, higher rear axle
ratio, & towing setting on the transmission.

And for 2021...
- dash cam.
- TPMS (tire pressure monitors) for Mr Van
& trailers.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

- 2 back-up cams, one just for trailer hitching.

I was looking at one of those the other day and leaning strongly towards getting one. But it's now a debate if the blindspot mirrors are the best thing I've installed on my car. They're cheap, easy to install, and add such a tremendous boost in what you can see, but that cold air intake saves me a lot on gas. So much if I'm driving on good stretches of roads with minimal stop and go I can get over 30 MPG in the city, which is just a bit over the advertised stock, fresh from the factory, ideal conditions highway driving, and with an engine that has gone over 250,000 miles. And it also helps manage somewhat congested highways on the occasions it's easier and safer to just speed up before changing lanes.
I've also considered an OBDII monitor that gives real time performance feedback as well as records the performance of the engine and other systems. This would mostly be for maximizing my fuel efficiency and assisting with diagnostics.
I'm still debating on the drain valve for the oil pan. It would be nice, but it cost a bit much for as little convenience that it actually gives. I get more use out of the performance chip and all it does is it makes the gas pedal more sensitive and changes the transmission shifting to be more on par with the timing of shifting a manual (so sooner shifts rather than later). Otherwise it's been very slow to pay for itself.
I also wouldn't mind some new wheels. The ones it came with look like donuts without the hubcap. And the better looking wheels for my car are also made of a steel alloy rather than a solid chunk of steel.
And I want an awesome sound system. It came with a decent one, but it's what I mostly listen to music on so I want a great system. Like the one I heard that sounded like I was in the recording room with the drums. That was a great system.

 

[Audie]

Who else is interested in such things, eg, downsizing, living on the road, etc?
Moochdocking is what I do. I'll be away for a week+/- living in Mr Van. I've
designed him for my style, which is to "mooch" off of utilities & services on
the road & where I stay. I've never had to go more than 2 days without
finding free electrical hook-up, bathrooms, parking spaces, & even the
occasional nite indoors.
I dislike motels...they're spendy, they require that you find them, that they're
available, & they might have bedbugs. When tired in Mr Van, I just find a
safe place, eg, truck stop, rest area, Walmart. When I can't power my
microwave, I have plenty'o food that's fine cold.
Mr Van is more of a mobile tool crib than an RV. But he's got 2 bunks,
one of which is storage when Mrs Revolt isn't along (95% of the time).
So he's spartan....no AC, no TV...just fans, folding chairs, & a bucket
for a sink. But he's spacious (when not carrying machinery inside),
convenient, & has windows all around.

Who does anything fun that's remotely similar?

Totally cant do that here

 

[Quetzal]

Who else is interested in such things, eg, downsizing, living on the road, etc?
Moochdocking is what I do. I'll be away for a week+/- living in Mr Van. I've
designed him for my style, which is to "mooch" off of utilities & services on
the road & where I stay. I've never had to go more than 2 days without
finding free electrical hook-up, bathrooms, parking spaces, & even the
occasional nite indoors.
I dislike motels...they're spendy, they require that you find them, that they're
available, & they might have bedbugs. When tired in Mr Van, I just find a
safe place, eg, truck stop, rest area, Walmart. When I can't power my
microwave, I have plenty'o food that's fine cold.
Mr Van is more of a mobile tool crib than an RV. But he's got 2 bunks,
one of which is storage when Mrs Revolt isn't along (95% of the time).
So he's spartan....no AC, no TV...just fans, folding chairs, & a bucket
for a sink. But he's spacious (when not carrying machinery inside),
convenient, & has windows all around.

I would love a tour of Mr Van. Have you ever posted pics?

Anyway, the idea intrigues me. I like the idea of having a more reasonable living space and I think I could do it in a tiny home. It would also help with my worst habit: buying stuff.

Van dwelling looks legit but that is a bit too small for me. It would be sweet for a few weeks at a time, but that is about it (for me).

 

[Revoltingest]

I would love a tour of Mr Van. Have you ever posted pics?

Anyway, the idea intrigues me. I like the idea of having a more reasonable living space and I think I could do it in a tiny home. It would also help with my worst habit: buying stuff.

Van dwelling looks legit but that is a bit too small for me. It would be sweet for a few weeks at a time, but that is about it (for me).

I might some day learn how to post my pix on the internet.

 

[Sand Dancer]

Who else is interested in such things, eg, downsizing, living on the road, etc?
Moochdocking is what I do. I'll be away for a week+/- living in Mr Van. I've
designed him for my style, which is to "mooch" off of utilities & services on
the road & where I stay. I've never had to go more than 2 days without
finding free electrical hook-up, bathrooms, parking spaces, & even the
occasional nite indoors.
I dislike motels...they're spendy, they require that you find them, that they're
available, & they might have bedbugs. When tired in Mr Van, I just find a
safe place, eg, truck stop, rest area, Walmart. When I can't power my
microwave, I have plenty'o food that's fine cold.
Mr Van is more of a mobile tool crib than an RV. But he's got 2 bunks,
one of which is storage when Mrs Revolt isn't along (95% of the time).
So he's spartan....no AC, no TV...just fans, folding chairs, & a bucket
for a sink. But he's spacious (when not carrying machinery inside),
convenient, & has windows all around.

Who does anything fun that's remotely similar?

I really want an RV. We rented one a few years ago and it was great. I also would like a tiny house, but hubby does not agree. We are downsizing from a home on acreage to a one story condo, so I guess that is as tiny as we will get. I can't wait to be able to travel all the time after he retires in 5 or 6 years. I don't care much for motels anymore, but I do like B&Bs or AirB&Bs.

 

[Sand Dancer]

20 years ago the wife and I travelled around for 14 months with a trike and trailer. Slept in a tent and mostly stayed at free camp sites if available. Every week or so we'd pay to stop in a carvan park so we could do washing. It was fun but I wouldn't do again, I prefer not having to build my house every day.

View attachment 58608

Love this set up.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Might as well sell your house and live on the cheap in mr van. Plus you'll have the advantage of making it difficult for mr tax man to find you.

Oh they will hunt you down if you go off grid.

Count on it.