Author Topic: Urban Van Dwelling  (Read 4004 times)

zoltani

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Urban Van Dwelling
« on: April 07, 2016, 11:35:58 AM »
Has anyone here tried urban van living? I am thinking of it as a way to save extra money and also use for trips to the great outdoors. I have been wanting a cheap van to convert to an RV for awhile now, but hold off cause it just isn't necessary. That got me thinking about full time van living while holding down a professional job. Could be tricky but could work?

I am thinking if you have a gym membership you can go there and shower in the morning. Laundromat for washing clothes, maybe a composting toilet for emergencies. Issues with police kind of worry me.

Tips and tricks to urban van living would be appreciated?  Where to park? How to avoid detection or problems with the law?

pbkmaine

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Re: Urban Van Dwelling
« Reply #1 on: April 07, 2016, 11:52:34 AM »
Check out Dagiffy1's Journal: Living in a Volt.

mozar

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Re: Urban Van Dwelling
« Reply #2 on: April 07, 2016, 01:39:34 PM »
Seems like the biggest problem is parking. Safe neighborhoods don't want people living in vans parking there, unsafe neighborhoods are unsafe. There are lots of van life vlogs on YouTube you can check out.

teadirt

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Re: Urban Van Dwelling
« Reply #3 on: April 07, 2016, 01:50:08 PM »
I've contemplated this a lot, actually. I still might do it sometime, although I just moved from a city of ~150k with bountiful surrounding public space to a giant metropolis of 5 million and endless sprawl. So I think that complicates things a bit... I'm here building up my stache and living with SO who is in grad school, so van life might be more plausible a few years down the road.

Check out http://www.cheaprvliving.com/ if you haven't already, it presents a fairly romanticized view of van life but with a lot of practical tips included. The guy who runs this site was also featured in the documentary, which is available on youtube, called "Without Bound"

Also, If you can find it, check out the book "Walden on Wheels". It's about, among other things, a guy who lives in a van while attending grad school at Duke. It's a pretty entertaining read.

I think about doing this a lot but haven't had the courage to take the plunge yet. I wonder if it would be feasible in a parking garage, of which there are plenty here in the city...

retiringearly

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Re: Urban Van Dwelling
« Reply #4 on: April 07, 2016, 01:55:52 PM »
This isn't "urban", but he converted a van and lives/travels in it now.

http://vandogtraveller.com/

zoltani

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Re: Urban Van Dwelling
« Reply #5 on: April 07, 2016, 04:54:13 PM »
I would be fine traveling and living in a van full time, parking on USFS land or wherever I can. But urban van dwelling while holding down a professional job is a different beast. Also, I don't know what my coworkers would think of me if they found out.

 

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