Going Full Timing

[southpennrailroad]

My girlfriend said she wanted me to leave so I have no place to go but on the street. I was waiting for this day and I think I am ready for it. I work as a field service man and have been scouting a few places to park.

1. After work drive to the local county park and park in the shade, do some walking until they close.

2. Then drive to a side street close to work that I know of and park the night away until morning when it is time to go to work.

Extra sites is the super market near the turnpike or even travel between one exit and the other and sleep out at the rest area.

3. At work the lot is almost always empty so dis-connect and go to work. come back and start over. All within a mile or two of work. Actually looking forward to it.

Just fixed up the front kitchen area and used it to clean up as well as cook and wash the dishes. Here is the set up. Taking my time, it works great. One thing I want is a Microwave. Had the side door open (good breeze) while taking a sponge bath but the long shirts blocked the view from the screen. Washed my hair and all.

[Engineer Guy]

Here's some Boondocking Sites I've bookmarked. All have insights:

http://cheaprvliving.com/Boondocking.html

http://gypsyjournal.net/index.html

http://www.thewanderinghobo.com/Travelling/Boondocking/index.html

A sub-group of the last Site above is a City Camping group on Yahoo. You have to sign in to read it, but some folks there are in situations similar to yours. One gal living out of her Car temporarily was very happy to score a site near a guy's RV pad at his House. Power and Water were also supplied in the $150-/month price, she writes.

Some of our best stays in Scotland were in Rooms rented by Widows trying to make Taxes and expenses on wonderful older Homes after a Spouse passed away. My 'sense' is that older folks might be more understanding, and need a bit of cash on the QT. So, perhaps you can befriend someone older, or a fellow Trainspotter, to do rental space business with. How about a few 3x5 Cards on local Church Bulletin Boards? Any small Garages on older Home lots for rent?

[d30gaijin]

South Penn,

Truly sorry to hear about your eviction from the GF's place but, thankfully you have a great stealth CT conversion to live in, as well as a job to go to. That puts you head and shoulders above "street people." I hope you will get back on your feet at some point, but then again maybe this will be a great experience, though possibly an inconvenient one, for you. This economy is not pretty.

According to my senior in-laws who own a huge motor home, Wal-Mart stores let RV's park in their parking lots over night with no hassles. A CT should draw little attention in a Wal-Mart lot and, at least locally here in Boise they have private security that periodically checks out the store. If you have a Wal-Mart local to you perhaps that is an over night option?

BTW, you can buy a 110v AC 800 Watt microwave at Home Depot, Lowes, etc. for under $100. I've seen 700 Watt microwaves at (I think) Harbor Freight for about $40. Shop around and find a good deal to get you by.

Please keep us posted on your experiences and we will keep you in our prayers.

Don

[southpennrailroad]

South Penn,

Truly sorry to hear about your eviction from the GF's place but, thankfully you have a great stealth CT conversion to live in, as well as a job to go to. That puts you head and shoulders above "street people." I hope you will get back on your feet at some point, but then again maybe this will be a great experience, though possibly an inconvenient one, for you. This economy is not pretty.

According to my senior in-laws who own a huge motor home, Wal-Mart stores let RV's park in their parking lots over night with no hassles. A CT should draw little attention in a Wal-Mart lot and, at least locally here in Boise they have private security that periodically checks out the store. If you have a Wal-Mart local to you perhaps that is an over night option?

BTW, you can buy a 110v AC 800 Watt microwave at Home Depot, Lowes, etc. for under $100. I've seen 700 Watt microwaves at (I think) Harbor Freight for about $40. Shop around and find a good deal to get you by.

Please keep us posted on your experiences and we will keep you in our prayers.

Don

Thanks all! I am actually looking forward to this experience. As a matter of fact I think it has been to long a time. I am still on this parking pad on her property but will be leaving by the beginning of next month. I took a navy bath this morning and then cooked and then did the dishes. It was a trial run to see just how time was spent. This way I could get into a rhythm. Look at it like camping in the driveway.

[racerrandy]

It's a bummer about your situation, but sounds like you still have a job and a good head on your shoulders.

I think it would be a good idea to find some cheap wallpaper thats bright and cheerful to put up. It will be important to make it a home and keep your spirits up. A small place could get drab fast.

McDonalds and other places have free wifi for your internet connection so you can keep up with all your friends as well as look for places to park.

Good luck on "full timing" and hope all turns out well, you might end up liking it!



Randy

[Engineer Guy]

Surf WiFi listings here:

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=pittsburgh%2Bwifi

You can call local or Int'l via Skype while saving Cellular minutes:

http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/home

[PraireSailor]

You can go to a truck stop every now and again for a shower.
chain T/S will cost $10 but small T/S ussually only cost $5 or so
They all provide soap and a towel.

[SurfStone]

I did long term tent living for a few months and had several shower options... Had a solar shower hung on a tree, or if i wanted more "civilized" had a park with a lake about 2 mins away that had all day use with showers for $3 a day or in town there was a state park with several back entrances that were free with showers 24 hrs a day. I just ordered my new cargo trailer i'm planning to live in for 6months in mexico, so im excited but i got alot of work to do.

[southpennrailroad]

Well Just spent the second night out in the launch site park and except for the passing train it is very quiet. I actually like the trains. That is weird. I found I am losing weight. Need to get to target to try a scale. But my diet is usually just eating sandwiches and breakfast of eggs, sausage and toast. I walk the parking lot twice B4 eating or just after. Does target allow over night camping ?

[jwhite]

I read one time in a blog or message board about this guy and his stealth camping adventures and he would find a area where there was construction going on where it was normal to see trailers that companies would be working out of,and he would park there.
He wrote that he would try and find a company that would let him set up and live there while they were building and would help out by being around after hours to help keep vandalism and theft down and would clean up and would burn the wood scraps to cook over at night.
He would also be available to be a goferit /flunky and go to the store for them pick up lunch ect and generally made some extra cash along the way.
the job site had power, running water, porta-johns ect, and he could stay for months and some times move on with them to a new job site.

[southpennrailroad]

I just got chased out of the launch park. Now I am now at Walmart. Checked in with the front manager and was OK'ed. On a hill and feeling the wind. Nice! Tried a scale today and went from 240 to 221.

[d30gaijin]

I just got chased out of the launch park. Now I am now at Walmart. Checked in with the front manager and was OK'ed. On a hill and feeling the wind. Nice! Tried a scale today and went from 240 to 221.

South Penn,

What the heck is the "Launch park" or "launch site park?" You mention it in two messages but do not describe what you're referring to. Are they somewhere you were camping? If so, where is/are it/they at? A public place? Private place?

Losing weight at our age is a good thing for our bodies. Simply eat less. We can get by on a lot less than we think we need. That's what I did to go from 6'1" 206 to 6'1" 180. I feel a lot better now that I am not hauling around the equivalent of 5 extra five pound flour sacks (go to a local store and hoist a five pound sack of flour and you'll see what I mean, then imagine five of them weighing on your legs, knees, and hips). Eat less, eat healthy, and enjoy life.

Please keep us informed how you're holding up. I, for one, am praying for you.

Don

[southpennrailroad]

I just got chased out of the launch park. Now I am now at Walmart. Checked in with the front manager and was OK'ed. On a hill and feeling the wind. Nice! Tried a scale today and went from 240 to 221.

South Penn,

What the heck is the "Launch park" or "launch site park?" You mention it in two messages but do not describe what you're referring to. Are they somewhere you were camping? If so, where is/are it/they at? A public place? Private place?

Losing weight at our age is a good thing for our bodies. Simply eat less. We can get by on a lot less than we think we need. That's what I did to go from 6'1" 206 to 6'1" 180. I feel a lot better now that I am not hauling around the equivalent of 5 extra five pound flour sacks (go to a local store and hoist a five pound sack of flour and you'll see what I mean, then imagine five of them weighing on your legs, knees, and hips). Eat less, eat healthy, and enjoy life.

Please keep us informed how you're holding up. I, for one, am praying for you.

Don

An island in the river is accessed via a park built just for the islanders who live there. It is a place to launch the boats like a marina but only for people using the river and access to the island.

Thanks for the advice. I can already feel the difference and plan to get down to at least 150 lbs.

[Engineer Guy]

I saw a used version of this Pump at a Flea Market Store today. New or used, I think this Shower solution is pretty bright:

http://hubpages.com/hub/Homemade-Portable-Shower-for-Campers

With the usual Shurflo Trailer Pump, you can also 'push' cold water through valved, Type M flexible Copper tubing coiled up and placed in the Campfire, or on a Propane Cookstove. Or, hand pump through cold water [especially with a temp gauge on a tee] to increase laudable weight loss! Store hot water and use it reasonably soon thereafter via gravity or pump feed. For storage, I've used a small, empty Cooler hung from a Tree limb off a rope and pulley.

The Poster here who uses a Pressure Cooker w/Temp Gauge for hot water also derived a neat solution...

Next month, while SUV camping solo around Lake Powell, I plan to use a ~$6- Solar Shower from Wally World. If it's chilly, I'll heat it inside a SUV Window w/o ambient temp or wind losses. Historically, the weather is good:

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=Page,%20Arizona&wuSelect=WEATHER

My 'one fuel' solution is a spare container of unleaded Gas carried externally. It'll run the Coleman Stove and provide cooking/backup water heating; serve as campfire starter [done it often sparingly]; and provide backup gas in the middle of effin' nowhere out there in AZ and UT.

[oklahomajewel]

You can go to a truck stop every now and again for a shower.
chain T/S will cost $10 but small T/S ussually only cost $5 or so
They all provide soap and a towel.

I have a friend that works for a trucking reload company here , and says that truckers that use their Fuelman cards at truck stops will get lots of coupons for free showers , for like Flying J , Petro, and Love's .... for example. She talked like many of them get those, but never use them and give them to her and she'd end up with LOTS of them. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

I somehow stumbed on a website about living in a van (maybe on youtube) really good info actually!

Hope you're doing well.