Robert Wells - How to Live in a Car, Van or RV--And Get Out of Debt, Travel and Find True Freedom

In the spring of 1995 I was going through a difficultdivorce. My finances were stretched so thin I could no longer afford to live inan apartment; there just wasnt enough money to pay rent. On my way to workevery day I drove past a parking lot that had a box van with a For Sale signon it. One day I was on my way home worrying about my finances and the ideapopped into my head, Why don't I buy that van and move into it? The ideastruck me as crazy, but I didnt really have any alternative, I was prettyclose to being homeless, so I pulled in to look at the van. It was acontractors box van and they said it ran great but it was so ratty looking(which it was) that it embarrassed the boss, so they were selling it cheap. Iwent to the bank right then, and took out the last of my savings, $1,500. Thatnight I gave notice to my landlord that I was moving out and threw a sleepingpad down on the floor of the van, laid out some blankets, and officially becamea vandweller.

I won't kid you; those first few weeks of living in the vanwere not pleasant. The turmoil of the divorce already had me in an emotionaluproar and on top of that I was reduced to living in a van. Many nights Icried myself to sleep. But over a period of time as I made the van morecomfortable and got used to it, I started to fall in love with being avandweller.

At the first of each month, when the rent used to be due,I really loved living in my van because that money went in my pocket! Infact even after my finances recovered from the divorce, I chose to keep livingin it. I lived in that box van for the next six years. In 2002 I remarried andmoved into my new wife's house. Then something very unexpected happened, Itremendously missed living in the van and hated living in the house.

It was a great house in a beautiful area but on the first ofevery month we had this huge house payment due. Plus the utility bills keptcoming in and going up. Worst of all, it required constant work. The lawn hadto be mowed, the snow had to be shoveled, and the toilets had to be fixed. Theone thing you would think I would love about the house was all the extra room,but I hated that most of all. It was such a huge waste of space. All that spacehad to be dusted, vacuumed and cleaned constantly. Even worse, it had to beheated in the winter and cooled in the summer. It seemed like we were constantlylooking at new furniture and trinkets to fill the space. I missed the economy,simplicity and freedom of my little box van.

In 2008 I finally admitted to myself that I simply could notbe happy living in a house, so I divorced for the second time and moved backinto a vehicle. This time I lived in a Ford F150 pickup with a home-builtcamper on it. As of this writing (2012) I am living in a converted cargotrailer I pull with my F150.

It isn't possible for me to be any happier! I work as acampground host in the National Forests in the summer (either the Rockies orSierra mountains), and take the winter off by drawing unemployment and living forfree on BLM desert land (generally Arizona or Nevada). By getting out of thecity and reconnecting with nature, I have found a new joy and peace of mindlike I had never known before. I owe all that to living in a vehicle.