Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/09/06/let-me-tell-you-about-living-m.html
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Thanks for sharing the details!
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I love a good travel story.
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That’s a nice piece of writing. Thanks for sharing the details of both hardship and hope. There are a lot of folks out there living right on the edge of financial crisis, just like your own experience.
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Thanks for sharing your story. It’s hard to live in Vancouver without money (I know, I’ve been there). I hope you can make a go at it in Alberta (and also keep writing great things for Boing).
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There’s driveway space, power, and water should you decide to pause in the gulf islands.
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Cool.
One editorial note: The switching between wife partner wife partner is kind of confusing. I found myself wondering if they were the same person. Then you get married. Some consistency through the titling or making a hard shift in the titling at the point where the marriage comes up would make it more readable.
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You probably won’t find this out until it’s too late, but there are hidden costs to living in Alberta, as opposed to other provinces, like provincial medical care covering fewer things, or social services helping with less, and provincial level employment laws being skewed towards supporting employers over employees.
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Super cool. Thanks for sharing!
@SeamusBellamy
I can’t offer any of those things, but if you wind up in Tucson, and are really, really bored, I’m good for a drink or two and dinner, and a few pointers on cool stuff to check out, but there are probably better people here for that (only been here ~5 years).
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Great story mate. You are a GOOD writer.
From a fellow traveller / Australia
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As always thanks for sharing @SeamusBellamy I am a bit jealous but my line of work sadly does not translate well to being on the road like that.
Also some Candian content about motorhomes…
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@SeamusBellamy, thank you for sharing that part of your life. It read quickly and left me wanting more. Goddesspeed to you and your wife this winter!
Likewise. I like what I do. A little over a year ago I switched positions to a job that no longer requires I be on the road more than half the year. Not that I miss the blur of airport terminals, but staying in one place is surprisingly hard for an itinerant like me.
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Good article - thanks for sharing.
Thanks. As someone thinking of taking a very leisurely cross country trip with a trailer when my time at my current job ends; I love hearing about your on the road living experiences.
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What a great travel story! Btw, I also really appreciate your recent writeup on rechargeable batteries … and just replaced my ancient energizers with the Eneloop Pros.
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Jealous!
Have thought about doing this for a while, but with 2 kids in tow it’s a whole different story - window has passed and we’ll have to wait 'til they’re in college or moved on before we could consider such adventures. Maybe one day…
Something I need to read up on is the financial details of such a life. Not just the costs of a camp-ground, but the costs of a decent RV, monthly payments, life-span of an RV (used vs. new vs. ancient), maintenance costs, costs for propane, diesel fuel, mileage etc. If we were to embark on such a jaunt, I’d like it to be with a significant financial buffer in place - say enough to live on the road for 5 years without working at all. Also I’m wondering if you have a (non-parental) permanent home base or storage unit to store all the things that don’t fit in the RV, or did you just ditch it all? What do you do about mail? How do you order stuff online and get deliveries? How do you deal with vehicle registrations, monthly bills (cellphone etc.), and access to medical care, without having a “real” address? Looking forward to more writings on this!
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[N]o one wanted our RV parked anywhere near their homes. […] No one in the neighborhood wanted us there. After a couple of month’s of fighting with bylaw enforcement, we admitted defeat.
The sense of freedom, even in hardship that being able to move your home, anywhere, at any time, affords, is intoxicating.
Little bit of a contradiction there, innit?
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And car insurance.
I once lived in my pickup truck topper for two years, traveling randomly in search of work: John Steinbeck without the dog. No car insurance and running from the law got me jailed once and it cost $400 to get the truck out of impound.
Not all who wander are affluent…
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The problem I have with living on the road like that is that if your vehicle gets mechanical problems, you’re facing homelessness while it gets repaired.
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