six months off the road
Next week will mark 6 months since I leased an apartment and I have some thoughts.
having modern conveniences
Having limitless water, hot water, a toilet, and a dumpster is freaking amazing. Only a vandweller would be so excited about this, I know. But I am continually amazed and grateful.
I used the gas oven extensively in the winter since it was, in effect, free to use; the heat would help warm the apartment and run the heater less. I’ve used it a couple times since it warmed up, but not much.
Having a full-size fridge and freezer makes buying in bulk and on sale practical again.
temperature control
Temp control is quite nice, but more important in an apartment than while snowbirding. The central heat is 100%. Cooling in this old apartment, so it’s only 90%. It’s been >100F the past few days (hot spike) and the evap has kept interior temps ≤78F. That’s where I would set it if I had conventional A/C so it does not bother me. Doesn’t work as well during monsoon season when the humidity gets up into double digits (gasp!!!) but temps tend to be lower then anyhow. Overall I am satisfied.
being in one place
I’ve never been an “itchy feet, gotta travel” type, so being in one place is fine with me. Assuming I don’t hate the place, of course, and I really like El Paso. If I won the lottery1 I’d build a little hacienda out there in the rural outskirts.
It’s nice that Muffin has a little yard where she can bop around off-leash.
have I changed?
I don’t think so. I still live frugally, and I haven’t bought anything that wouldn’t go back on the road with me. Having the space to unload the van and a dumpster for disposal means I probably own less than before. Certainly more appropriate things than before.
will I go back on the road?
That is the plan. I’m in the apartment to facilitate getting my spinal issues addressed at my home V.A. hospital. I’m making progress but it’s frustratingly slow. I don’t know if I can make both surgeries happen before my lease expires in December.
If my lease does expire before completing the surgeries I would renew here. There are even cheaper apartments but finding a place that would accept Muffin and her square pibble head was a serious problem. This landlord only does yearly leases, but I’d rather move back into the camper and hit the road in December rather than June anyhow.
I will say that I’ve made surprisingly little progress on changes to the van. Part of it was a busy first few months and now the heat. But I need to get a handle and be ready to roll again in December if it comes to that.
the underlying question
The big question here is if I could afford it, would I live in a “normal” dwelling rather than in a campervan??. In the past my answer was no, I wanted to stay in the camper. Now I think the answer is maybe. There have been three basic phases, economically, to my vanlife:
- living on a shoestring for most of it
- increased liquidity in 2025 while in the van == able to save quite a bit since lifestyle didn’t change
- that new 2025 liquidity but renting an apartment == same spending habits but only able to save a little each month because rent + utils eat most of it
rent, or save and build
Now if I was able to move back into the camper and save what I’d been saving in about 12 years I could build a functional ~offgrid[^offgrid] tiny home on my sister’s property. I’d be 72 by then. If I live to 83 as the actuarial charts and my father’s lifespan both suggest I’d have 11 years in it. Less if I needed to go into assisted living for some reason. But it’s really humid in NE Texas and I hate that.
Food for thought
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“if I won the lottery” is a tool I use to understand what I actually want. ie, if money were no object. Sometimes I think I want something but then imagine being able to do the thing for real and often just let it go. ↩