Holiday Humbug???

Christmas was really fun for me when I was a kid. I think most of us had fond memories of Christmastime. But... as we got older... we became more and more disenchanted with it.

My recent past has been one filled with a lot of bah humbugs.
Every time the year rolled around, I'd be miserable. It was also the time when I would get sick a lot.
This was when I was in my 20's. Those were really bad years... a lost decade, if you will.

But then, I began to change my mentality.
It began with a new diet of daily fruit intake.... took care of the seasonal sickness big time.
I never had to take a flu shot and I weather the seasons in near perfect health. Flu's last only 24 hours. Yes, the aching bones, high fever variety.

With new health, came a newfound sense of what this season is all about.

It is what you make of it, I find.
I no longer celebrate the shallower aspects of the holiday. That's what really depressed me, anyway.
the thought that we should be extra nice just this one time a year? That's bogus. If I am gonna be kind this month, why can't I carry it over all year round, right?

I face this holiday not with a sense of dread anymore or cynical humbug.
I just face it with the mental state that I am determined  to be happy no matter what.
And this is what is important; I never let anyone dictate HOW I should be happy --during this holiday or whenever. That's the root of all misery, I find, when we are pressured to have that postcard perfect Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving or Christmas and anything less than that is cause for depression or sadness.

I don't expect anything nor am I pressured to conform to what this holiday is supposed to be.
I give gifts when needed, and I don't give gifts when I clearly don't want to. And most important of all, I give gifts only to those whom I feel need or deserve them. I don't buy gifts just because. People already have way too much crap in their lives. I must do my part to not add to the clutter in their homes.

the result of all this is there is NO pressure on me to "have fun".
And because there is no pressure to have fun... I have a jolly good time... Not just this season, but all year round.

Merry Christmas, Hannukah and all that good stuff!

Oh wouldn't it be looovely!!!

All I want is a room somewhere... far away from the cold night air... in one enormous van oh woooudn't it be lovely?

That song is in my mind tonight as I curl up to sleep in my little home.
A little fire warming my feet and all that...
I cannot believe I am having the time of my life!
I just attended a party tonight and what a happy thought it was that my home was just a few steps away... I suffered a hang nail... no problem... run down to your home and get the nail clippers. :) Forgot anything? It's right there... at home... a few steps away.
Tonight I listen to the pitter patter of rain on my roof... It is very soothing to me. I have woken up to many magic mornings lately... Magic mornings are what I call waking up to a gentle rain and you curl up again to sleep...

oh it is lovely... loooovely.... lovely...

The portable heater

I am typing this in my little home tonight. Oh, what a good feeling it is to have a little fire... in my vehicle.

sounds strange and you'd think this was a dangerous thing, but I oddly feel at home with it now. 

The plastic smell that comes from it when it is new is mostly gone now. 

So all that's left is a nice warmth.

Having fun so far. So thanks to Tippy for suggesting this model. I had to buy one of those little handy lighters though to start the flame each time. It only cost a dollar so no worries!

good night, America. :)

A Blessing of a Peaceful Life

Today I am reminded yet again of how lucky I am.
A dear aunt passed away last year and I am just finding out her kids are still fighting over her estate. Two of the older sons are married, have jobs and they still want a portion of whatever she left the two younger sons who are still in school.
They are fighting over the value of a house that is underwater in the mortgage. Underwater!

If you were a decent human being, you would just say heck with it and give the two younger sons her house. They have lived their most of their lives anyway...
You would think these two older sibs would look in on them and ask if the mortgage is being paid off or what expenses need to be taken care of. The two younger fellas are a high school kid and a college sophomore for crying out loud...
But no...

 Instead, the two older sons use a lawyer and try to divide the house four ways. They don't even apparently care where their two half brothers end up in. It's not like the two younger brothers have done anything terrible. They're good kids just trying to do well and stay in school. And these two older jerks --grown men in their 30's with their own homes and families still want to grab the house from under their younger half brothers.
These things I will never understand about some people.
It's plain greed and avarice.

It's my dear Aunt's one year anniversary today.
She must be turning in her grave.

Living it UP!!!

Today was a good day.
Got lots of work to do, but hey... there's always time for a little getaway in the middle of the day...

Met up with Steve from the van living forums for our second restaurant lunch.

This time, we both agreed to visit Chama Gaucha, this awesome Brazilian restaurant here in San Antonio.
This place is my Disneyland of steak. You won't go to any of those other places once you go to this one. For the price and the vast selection, (it's a steak buffet with an awesome salad bar) you can't beat the value. ($26 per head)

For those who aren't familiar, Brazilian steak is one of the best ways to enjoy a cooked cow.
You get your veggies from a great salad bar and then you sit down and enjoy your meal as dozens of waiters come to your table wielding large metal skewers. On them are all the cuts of steak you can have. They slice you off a section depending on your preference of doneness. It's always warm and they always come around to offer you more and more.

Cuts of rib eye, sirloin rubbed with garlic, top sirloin, rump cap (their house special), lamb chops (my favorite that goes well with their signature horseradish dip), lamb leg, bacon wrapped medallions... the selection is freaking awesome. Combine that with great ceasar salad, marinated mushrooms, 8 types of cheese including blocks of parmesan, grilled onions, bell peppers, 4 types of salsa, salami, prosciutto, steamed asparagus...
a fine time will be had by all... :)
This is what life is for! Good food, good company... Great conversation.

Just the sheer enjoyment of the moment.
I finished it all off with 4 cups of coffee and lots of creamer... great for digestion.

Skipping dinner tonight!


Cheers and good night to all.

Life's curve balls

So here I am settling down to a long learning experience doing this van living thing. My portable heater just came in today. The solar panel (15 watts) came in 2 days ago. Of course, I still need a bunch of things to make the solar setup even work inside the van.

But life is ever changing and one thing this life has taught me is to be flexible in dealing with life's curve balls.

Because of family obligations, I may not be able to continue my van adventures for a while.
The money I was hoping to save up is now instead going to support my parents. (Dad just lost his benefit) So being that I am gonna support 2 households anyway, mine and my parents', it doesn't make sense to continue living in the van when I can move in with them for a while. (I am paying for it, I might as well partake in the benefits of a stick and brick once again) I'll be occupying my old room there from when I visited them in the past.
In this economic times of uncertainty, might as well consolidate the 2 and become one for a while till I can get more income going in.

Well, that's the latest but that ain't gonna come about till next year still.
So I got a month to enjoy my van... and this great experiment. Although the solar setup may have to wait now that things have changed somewhat... What's the use of having it if I am gonna abandon the project thirty days from now.... I may also have to leave the van in storage because my folks live overseas.

Plus side... I get to go to the land of my origin again and catch up with everyone there. And be with my folks. So it's still a good thing....
The independent living van experiment will be put on hold when that time comes...

Till then.... Let's live it up!

Two and a half months

By now, it's become routine for me to end my day sleeping in my little home.
It's raining softly right now over the metal roof of my van.
Very peaceful and very quiet.
Vehicles pass by in the night, but I hardly hear them.
I hear the same thing when I was in my apartment. Plus I no longer hear any car alarms going off or rowdy neighbors slamming doors or coming home drunk. The silence is priceless. :)

I say good night to my fellow campers in these woods .... the little squirrels in their tree hollows and the raccoon which I know is there but I hardly see because he is so careful in his concealment.
I can barely wait to be on the road.
But it'll have to wait...
Other matters need attending to right now.
Busy with work and with life. :) Christmas is right around the corner.

Stay warm out there.

Project goes on...

Tonight, as I sit here in my heated lodgings, I flicked on my laptop and browsed...
Maybe it's my desire to keep learning and keep educating myself, but I searched for solar panels for sale. Found  a small one for real cheap Sunforce 50033 15 Watt Solar Panel 12V Battery Charger Kit.
80 bucks free shipping. So I said, well, why not? Let's continue on our quest for energy independence. So a few clicks later, now I am awaiting my new solar panel. So I guess this is it!
My reading of other people's blogs finally pushed me to order my first solar panel.
Next up is a battery and some installation thingies for my roof.
I'll probably get the battery from wally's when the solar panel arrives.
We'll see what happens then. :)

Stove

One of my dreams is to get one of those ice cream truck or those mini shuttle bus types and outfit it with an old fashioned stove for winter purposes.

Car heater

Car heater worked out fine last night. I coincided it with a short drive I had to make. So I cranked the heat up all the way and it kept warm till I slept that night. It was a straight sleep this time --one little wake up around dawn when I found out I lost one blanket layer... But with that straightened out, slept again and woke up great this morning. A bit chilly changing clothes, but manageable.

OK... Last night WAS cold...

Freezing, as a matter of fact. When I woke up there was frost on the windows.
Went ok, but yeah, THAT was cold...
Went to Home D to see if I can get a portable heater... at $90 a unit... a canister costing $4... and each canister only lasting 5 hours on a low setting... kind of put me off, to be honest...
Made me think twice... how much will I be using this again?
Reminds me of the fan I bought. Now, it's just lying around unused. Was only able to use it maybe 4 times.

Well, for now, I am going with more layers...
time to bust out the 3rd blanket. :)
the only time it's gonna be chilly is when I dress up. :)
Well, gotta dress up fast, is all.

Cheap digs, Good Eats

My one vice is eating good food.

I like buying ecologically produced food, quality brown eggs, etc.. It may be more expensive, but I view it as an investment towards my health. If I ate inferior foods (cheap, processed, etc.), I would certainly pay for that later anyway when I buy medicines to cure my ailments.

Anyway, this new cheap life has afforded me even more options with food... and dining out. :)
I find I dine out often these days, but that's maybe out of the fact that I still don't have a functioning kitchen to myself. I only do cooking when I am in friends' and family's homes. It's gonna change eventually, I believe.

I look back on those days when I had an apartment but had to eat ramen all the time. I'm sure I wasn't alone in this...  I am glad I woke up to the reality and made steps towards a life where I keep my money as much as possible for my own benefit...

Met a fellow Traveller!

Recently met a fellow traveling enthusiast! Was a wonderful meet up and great to meet Steve from the forums.
It was lunch at a local Chinese restaurant. They had excellent egg drop soup and my sweet and sour shrimp was very good.
Afterwards, I showed my conversion job having brought Great White along.
It was a fun meeting Steve and am looking forward to meeting other van dwellers one day.

Getting coooold!!!

Well, as expected, it is getting cold now.
I am touched when people ask me how I am doing in my new home this winter.
Well, it is cold. But no more colder than when I was in my apartment anyway. (did not use the centralized heating to save on electricity) So no different except a smaller space.

I have been remiss in getting a space heater. I keep forgetting in my busy schedule. Perhaps I will get one end of this week.

It is manageable, though. The cold is what I was waiting for. It sure beats sweltering, that's for sure. Nothing is more uncomfortable than sweating in your bed unable to sleep.

But the race is surely on to find a better vehicle by next summer. Either that, or I'll just get an apartment just for the summer months... We'll see...

Have a good week, all!

The new bed

Well, all the other bothers aside, the new bed is working out well.
The futon frame matches perfectly with the foam.
Almost like it was meant to be.

Tonight is a cold night, though.
And I'm pretty down with a looming flu.
This'll be a test.
Getting sick is part of life.
It'll be fine, I suppose. This is part of it.
I embrace it with a freedom and the fervor of a mad fox.

See you tomorrow.

Want to Vanish

Usually I am an upbeat person. I still am.
But I am exhausted dealing with the people around me and in my life in general.
I want to disappear for a while and boy I was sure tempted today.
I just wasn't feeling well today.
Otherwise, I would have just taken off for lands unknown. Being tied to one spot is really driving me crazy. I should not have volunteered for this or that... or to offer my assistance to a relative...
I am cursing my kind nature right now.
Sometimes it can be a weakness.
Now I can't take off until I see my charges off to a good state.

More than that, I am really tempted to just take off and vanish for a while. No e-mail, facebook or any of this crap. I'm tired of it all.

Ah well... this too shall pass.
Maybe I am thinking this only because I feel pretty crappy right now.
Well, that too shall pass.

New futon bed!

Here is a view of my current setup with my closet area on the left. I moved some of the heaviest crates with my books there on the left side of the vehicle so weight distribution is more balanced.

MY New Futon arrangement: I took out that folding part and kept the basic wood and steel framing. Put some crates in the center (storage and stability). Here is the bed propped up to show the crate storage beneath.

Here is the back of my van more organized this time around... (laundry basket on the left and various knicknacks like books, cotton balls and astringent)

The futon bed with frame in place.

Here is something I did recently. I put all my backpacks on hangers and hung them in a row on the shower rod. 

Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

I sure have plenty to thank about this holiday. Where to begin? Well, it's not as if I haven't listed all these things in another post elsewhere...

Being a van dweller is one thing to thank about. Sure, it's not a condo or a ranch house, but it sure beats being in a tent for more than a year... (just ask any random resident of Port Au Prince to see how they'd consider my lodgings palatial)

Being independent finally from the land lord is another thing to be thankful for.
I do want to own my own land one day, but it'll be on my own terms --not someone else's.
(and picking up a discarded futon frame thrown in my old apartment complex)

I have plentiful food stocks... savings in my bank accounts... good health (except for carpal tunnel but it ain't that bad)... Many things to be thankful for.

Finally, I am thankful for family and friends.
True to my attempt at seriously doing this van living, I really don't impose on them at all for anything. Not showers, not meals, nada. (except of course when we come over at their invitation, and they serve us food... )

Last of all, as a sort of P.S., I guess I am thankful I had the guts at all to try this out.
It's been paying off nicely and slowly over the days.
I look forward to even colder nights (I happen to like the cold and sleep well like a bear). It's gonna be plenty fun and I can just feel it!

Cheers and happy holidays to all!

Homeless part 2

So 2 months into this... how does it feel?
People ask me how the van thing is going...
I say it's going wonderfully.
Do I miss having an apartment? Sometimes, yes. Sometimes, no.

Do I dwell on it a lot?
Not really. I think that's one of the keys to overcoming the anxiety that comes at unexpected times.

I have a home. And when I hear people talking about the economy and nearing the end of the rope, I actually feel secure that I have my home on wheels and I can just drive away and setup somewhere else.
It's also a good feeling knowing your assets are all liquid and can easily be carried to another destination.

I find it is relearning a new definition of the word "secure" from the meaning we attached to it since we were small.
It's different for everyone and I know that.
For me, my definition of security now lies in the knowledge that I do have the resources available and ready for me anytime I am in need. And this means that my assets aren't locked up anywhere where I cannot move them fast and immediately.
That's now my new reality. :)

What about "Security"?

So living this life of vagabondery...
Living our lives without as much as a by your leave...
Gypsies free as the wind...

What about security? Don't you get asked that? What about your own (usually financial) security?

Well, living like this doesn't mean I should remove my responsibilities towards ensuring my own well being.
It's just that because I have pared my life to very little overhead, it doesn't take much money to maintain my life.

But mistake it not, I feel secure.
I make money... sometimes plenty of it.
I save some too... sometimes in places I cannot touch so I don't spend it.
Having said that, I must say I invest my money in people... not corporations.
Friendships and loved ones, not in stocks.

And here's why:

When you spend your money on people, I believe you get a better return on your investment in terms of companionship, love and loyalty.
Take this example. I have a wealthy aunt out on the West coast. You can never count on her to help financially or otherwise. Not even her own sisters could ask for aid.
She loves talking about "personal responsibility" and coming up "the hard way" --sound familiar?
Oh, you bet it does.
In fact, my relatives who all talk like that... are all curiously wealthy... but have very few true friends.
Then of course, the financial meltdown happened and all that money my aunt was hoarding "for her own security"?
Well, you can guess what happened to all that trust placed in a corporation and complete strangers...


I have another aunt farther away in our homeland... she saved almost nothing during times of plenty --always lending and giving people aid and money. But when hard times struck, those who criticized her (Aunt #1 included) said: "See? if she saved all her money, she would not be in this situation she finds herself in!"
But then, those who she helped and she was kind to helped and rallied around her. And money does come... sometimes from unexpected places (one source was me --I never needed her aid, yet I donated because she was my aunt and in need --yeah, the guy with the least salary among my relatives had something to give.).
My aunt did not get a bonanza in return. She got enough to get her over her crisis... just enough. Today, she is doing better than ever.

So, who among the two aunts can you say lives a life more secure?
Every year around this time, we see reruns of "It's a wonderful Life". I think another lesson can be learned from that which does happen in real life... Not just that you matter, but what I draw from that is that George Bailey gave everything he got without holding back... and in the end, everyone whom he helped really did rally around him in his time of need.

It's really a micro version of what social governments strive to do and are all about. We all need each other and no man is an island. The community helps one another in times of good and bad.

Barring any financial disaster, you can make a really good life investing in stocks and bonds... the proliferation of retirement communities is proof of this. And that's their choice... to live there in gated apartments... their children (most often) living far away... them and their spouses going on cruise ships... it's a financially secure life with no surprises. Then of course, they'll will be able to afford a caregiver to wipe their bottoms when they reach old age... and a high class hospital for the end of life care... (getting the one visitor they get a day, if at all)... If they're happy with this, hey, that's their choice.
In my experience, though, having witnessed this type of life a lot in others... it's a life not worth looking forward to.
of course, it would be great to have the best of both worlds... to invest in your loved ones and in your own stock portfolios. But that scenario is rarely the case for normal folks. It's mostly either or for the rest of us.

I choose to be George Bailey --or be like Aunt #2. They are blessed in friends and family... True loyalty and love can never be bought.

Temporary stuff

So the other day, I was online on one of those social networking sites and my Mom posted up pictures of her visit to my cousin (around my age) who has this really nice home in some subdivision. So am I jealous? Do I feel bad? Not at all.
He sacrificed a LOT to get that house --working long hours most probably and having only weekends as a respite if any. His vacation is limited to the 3 weeks he gets annually and has to rush through places to get everything done. He has to go to the office come Monday without fail. That is his choice.

I chose a different path. One where I do earn less, but enjoy my life more. I get to knock off and go on 2 hour lunches if I want to... come in late or clock off early. These kinds of jobs pay less, but the freedom it affords those of us who have them is priceless.

When we consider geological time, everything we build on this earth is temporary.

I have another cousin who also had a grand home. But he died recently (age 45) due to cancer (may he rest in peace).
So what was all that effort all about, then?
If you knew you had cancer and had seven months, would you not regret spending all those hours in the office under stress when you can be enjoying your life, your spouse and your children more?
So what if little Johnny cannot have his own WII?
Suddenly, having that ipad isn't that important anymore, isn't it?

To top it all off, my poor cousin spent a huge chunk of his life in bitter acrimony with his sister and her husband. Only at the end did they reconcile --minutes before he expired.

And for what? Because he thinks his new brother in law is not as wealthy as he was and was undeserving of his sister? What a lot of good years wasted on hate and arguing... and what a senseless way to live one's life.

And it has been proven that cancer is affected by people's mood. Happier and more positive people heal their cancers faster --sometimes overnight while negative people usually heal slower or their cancer gets worse. You just have to ask yourself: "what if"?

The lesson I drew from all this is that everything on this realm is temporary.
Very, VERY temporary no matter what some might think or assume.
We all have an appointment with death. Whether we are given 7 months to live or 7 decades, why is it that we only change our priorities when we are at death's door?

So what do we want to get out of our 80 years of existence?
Do we really want to spend the majority  of our lives (as Nigel Marsh puts it) doing things we don't want, to please people we don't like and to impress people we don't love?

My answer is I don't want to bother with accumulating all this extra "stuff". No matter what happens, you will always end up wanting more and you will lose it all in the end and all you got to show for it is a lavish funeral if you're that wealthy. (which does your dead body no good anyway since you're going to rot no matter what)

I want to get just enough. And "enough" can mean many things to different people.

My definition of "enough" is 3 decent meals a day plus snacks... adequate shelter, clothes and a purpose in life.
My purpose right now is to make educational stories and history books.

When we look at nature, birds spend less time building nests and more time enjoying each other. A lot of us do the exact reverse. We spend a lot of time accumulating things and less time enjoying our loved ones. And as many of us know, time is running away fast.

At the end of each our lives, we will ask ourselves if all of what we were doing was worth it.
I don't want to reach the end of my life to ask that question.
I will ask myself today.

Arranged a little bit

Sunday today. Opened up the back of Great White and rearranged a few crates to better make my living space more efficient. I still am not fully decked out the way I want it, but once again, it'll do for my current purposes. I just don't want to trip all over the boxes and things I have scattered on the floor.

I saw a 22 foot Damon escaper 1992 on the internet. That kind of layout, I really dig with the kitchen at the back with a door exit there at the rear. So today, I mostly spent looking at other RV sites and dreaming and calculating... :) Always good to have a goal up front... something to look forward to.

The simplicity of life

As I type this, I am lying in my snug little home.
I entered tonight through the back doors of the van like I have been doing lately. I have to stoop to get in and the very act reminds me of how little birds have to scrunch themselves in order to get into their nest.
They hesitate at the opening, look around and then go head first into the hold and suddenly vanish inside.

It really doesn't take much to be happy, I am finding.
I thought this would be harder than I imagined, but as I live day by day, I find it becoming really easy to live like this.
(again the thought of if I only did this when I was 30, I'd probably have more saved up now than... well, you know what I mean)
I have the basics of shelter, food and clothing. And the nights aren't as cold as I first imagined them to be. I actually sweated last night because of all the blanket layers (2).

So snug in my little nest, it is nice to contemplate life and all of its simplicity.

Why we have to make things complicated for ourselves is what amuses me these days.
Of course, I can talk like this because I am single and have no other responsibilities. So this life is suitable for me and my current situation.

I love what I am doing and the freedom is incredible.
Free like a bird. Living with the squirrels and the deer just outside my door...

Something to think about

I sometimes wish I did this way earlier. I'd be well along by now if that was the case.
I know it's bad thinking about all the wasted paychecks paying landlords when I could have been RVing from the time I was 30.
But hey, this education and eventual realization came late.
It's ok. I know NOW.

Some people find all this out when they are about to retire.
Lucky to have realized all this now while I am sort of still young.

Now for the thought of the day.

Just imagine if your income annually was 80k... and you sacrificed for 15 years and lived frugally and in an RV... by the time you are 35, you'd have close to a million dollars. It staggers me now the sheer amount of money that goes to landlords and banks.. not to us.
Sure, flipping a home is the only way you can actually make money with that investment. Some people are happy doing that. But for the rest of the people? They fritter away what would have been a fortune renting and paying for things they think they need so that society would accept them.

A million bucks by the time you're 35. Imagine that.
No 401k will ever do that for you.

Homeless?

Been watching videos today of the homeless across America.
While technically, this applies to me, I consider myself fortunate still.

Here's why...

I chose to go homeless, it wasn't forced on me.
By doing so, I have freed myself from monthly expense of maintaining an apartment.
Many people I know have apartments, but are just a paycheck away from complete disaster. That won't happen to me. By removing the millstone around my neck, I have essentially negated a huge burden on my financial situation. If my paychecks stopped tomorrow, I'd actually last 2 years on what I have.
2 years!
Can many people say that when they are saddled with all these expenses each month trying to maintain all that space?
I just needed a place to crash and sleep for the night since I am a workaholic. And the van works really well for that.

So, I am homeless... but far from helpless or wretched.

It's almost like being prepared for death anytime it happens. I ain't gonna be caught unaware by life's curve balls.
To me, it doesn't make any sense to keep continuing to pay for a place when you lost your job. Some people wait until they can no longer afford to pay for the place they stay in... but by that time it is too late. Your bank account is tapped out, you got no options.
"The Man" has you once again over a barrel.

Well, aint' happening to this homey.
Houseless for now, but do have a plan.

This is my first fully paid home without a huge overhead.
This is stage one of my mission for total off grid independence.

It begins today.

all purpose disposal

I bought this oil filter disposal unit as an emergency pee bottle at night just in case I am out on the road.

first trip out!

Just got back from the Gulf of Mexico riding on Great White. Performed like a dream... It really is sweet to be able to travel without bothering to pack at all... whatever I needed was right there... no more of the "Darn, I left it at home!" realization... Even when I checked into the hotel room... all I needed was to pack a small bag upstairs... if there was anything I needed... well. it was just there at the carpark.
I came down here for a conference so the hotel was taken care of.
What a weekend! I can get used to this!

the finished rig

Ah, the van is done! Well, almost. :) All we need is a few more tweaks... we'll see.
I've taken advantage of the ever useful shower rod.  I bought 3. 2 of them go at the back and the front. The third becomes my clothes rod... fastened to the seatbelt metal loop by plastic ties. Very useful those.. plastic ties... and bungee cords. I bought some window curtains from wallyworld to cover the sides... I strung a tight line from front to back using the ever-available seatbelt bolts to secure them on top... then threaded the curtains all along the length of the van... I gotta say... this setup sure warms the vehicle! I really want to go up north and test out this setup... but for now, I'm still burning down here in Texas.

Never one to throw away anything, I made good use of the plastic packaging the curtains came in... they had a small hook on top and they zipped up so you can see a couple of shots here where I placed some bath and shaving gear... pretty soon, those will be filled with various things maybe like pens, coins... etc... easy reach and in clear plastic containers so I know what's in them... and they hang high so they are out of the way. I like it so far!

new pics of the conversion process

Here's my van and the makeshift bed awaiting the foam. I'm excited about camping out!

Download my books online!!!

For a small, cheap fee, of course. :)
Check out these neat downloads for your ipad, reader or laptop:
Alice in Wonderland, Dinowars, Chronicles of the Universe, Battle Girlz, Dragon Pro and Warriors for Eternity 
http://www.amusedom.com/

my temporary setup

So, my new home on wheels under construction! Not much to look at, but it'll get there in a couple weeks' time. Excited!

phase 1: converting my van

So where am I in my conversion job?

So here I am in my progress so far:

1) Bought a 1995 Ford e-350 2 last 4th of July weekend.

STill haven't removed the seats in the back.

2) I got a portable potti and experimented and studied how it flushed. (man, I'm gonna end up cleaning this sucker each and every time I use it!) Actually going to buy another setup I can use more often --the folding seat with plastic bag setup with kitty litter and wood shavings sounds better... gonna live like a hamster! Cool.

3) Just bought a big 35 gallon bin for my bath setup. I got a theoretical plan which involves bathing in it (so it catches the water) sitting on a small plastic step stool which I already have and surrounding myself with my existing shower curtain (suspended over my head somehow --by a hoola hoop or something from the toy department is my plan so far).

So in two weeks, I will be taking out the seats.

I'll probably have a really rough setup at first... sandwiches, cans of tuna...PB and J... simple drinks... just like when I first moved to Australia with only 2 suitcases and a backpack. I figure I did it before, I can do it again... this time it'll be even easier since I have my own vehicle to live in! 

My mission actually is to consume all my food here at home in 2 months. I am a bit of a hoarder and what I have right now is enough food to last me at least 2 months...

So I have to keep myself from buying anything new anymore.

Once again, it may sound really bizarre to those who lived in fixed locations, but really, it's not that much of a stretch. 

I do have to leave great swaths of my stuff behind (like I did 2 years ago). It's ok too... 

There's something to be said for living in a Spartan way with just a laptop, a suitcase and your trusty wallet...

My very first post

Hello to all!
Welcome to my blog post. This is so exciting as I never blogged before in my life.
As some of you may already know, I have begun converting my van into a small home. I will try to address some FAQ's here to answer any questions you may have.

1) Why are you doing this?
WEll, the simple answer is: because I can and I want to.
It is said that the vast number of great books out there cannot be read by a single human being in their entire lifetime --not even if they spent every waking hour doing so. This is sort of the same way; There's just too many things to see out there, too many wonderful people to visit and too many experiences to be had that it is impossible to get it all done if I stay in one place.

2) It seems hard living in a vehicle. Why deprive yourself of the comforts of civilization?
Hard and easy are relative things. For me, I don't foresee any hardship at all. We pay lots of money to camp out, why not do it on the cheap and be able to linger longer in one locality? That can only be possible if I live wherever I go.
Granted, this will look like hardship to some people. But as I said before... it's not as if I cannot go back to my old life. That is what makes this easy to get into. At any given time, I can always run back to the same old apartment existence. Why not try it if you're not losing anything? The rewards later on can be satisfying.

3) Will this be how you will live from now on?
yes... and no. We will continue to improve my van, of course. This is what makes this a fascinating exercise and a fun one: the home is always a work in progress. And this is only phase 1...
Phase 2 is actually getting a larger vehicle that is a fullsized RV.
Phase 3 is getting some bare land out there... building a small home with my own hands... (plenty of blueprints online --and I'll be able to use my old draftsman's skills that have atrophied) But that's the subject of future blogs. For now, we'll stay in the present... and my pet project.

For me, it's become really stale living in a fixed place. Like the book analogy, we can wander the earth and never even touch 10% of all the great stuff out there. So here I am attempting to do as much as I can, see as many folks as I want as my time and work schedule permits.

5) Is this a long vacation for you?
Sort of... but not. I will be working on the road on a laptop same way I did when I went to the Philippines and Australia. The model works fine as long as expenses are pared down. (I am burning lots of gas, after all) For me, if I can mix travel, leisure and work together, that's the good life.

So come aboard and journey with me!