Van Dweller

If I decide to live in the US in 2012, I’m thinking of getting an RV or preferably a van and live in it. Drive to the warm areas of the US, visit friends for a few weeks or months, and eventually learn to live in places where I don’t know a single person.

I’m pretty close to that right now; my current roommate I’ve only met once snowboarding, though I see Tommy at least once a week.

I worry about showers and laundry. Laundry can be done with laundromats. Showers I feel will be like living at Black Rock City, using baby wipes in between showers. For real showers, I can couchsurf and get a shower and bed. It’d be nice to figure out how to get real showers, though.

I think it’d be a great learning experience. I’d learn to not worry about rent, what I truly need to sustain myself, and the mobility would allow me to see more places without figuring out where to live next.

I do worry that my increasingly vagrant/hermit lifestyle will get me too isolated from the rest of humanity. Not feeling a connection with long-term friends could have a mental impact on me. I’m already pretty isolated, staying home all the time, reading books. My only interactions are when I go do yoga or go to a men’s circle. If I travel all the time, those scheduled human interactions will be gone.

Food is another concern. Refrigeration, specifically, since I’m sure I’ll have lots of fresh fruits and veggies. If I park in the shade all the time my food might survive, but there’s no guarantee of that. Maybe I’ll just have to make frequent trips to supermarkets and farmers’ markets.

My van will smell like kombucha and fresh fruits all the time.