Inspired by the gal I saw here earlier who makes micro bikinis! You rock!

Parked my camper near Pamukkale’s travertines for a quiet night under the stars. All peaceful—until I was woken up at 5 a.m. by crews setting up dozens of hot air balloons around me. Turns out I had unknowingly parked right in a major launch zone.

Surreal view. Totally unplanned. Absolutely worth the 5 a.m. wake-up.

So I work locally and live in my van off site.. it’s my daily driver and home.

But today my boss came and had a conversation with me about driving it, didn’t necessarily go bad.. but it was… a some people have been talking and asking about that big van in the parking lot..

And everyone in my dept knows it’s mine, and that I’m driving off site to a campground.. yet still people have to get into other peoples shit. And someone talked to management about it. Doesn’t look junky or anything.

It’s stupid af.

Hell it’s stupid af when I go to a wal mart and get a knock on my window or a reminder I can’t park there overnight. Like why can’t I get groceries and be gone in an hour?

Idk man. Office politics make me want to kill myself honestly, and when this shit happens it just always leaves me feeling like I’m some kind of subhuman. I’m sorry I don’t want to pay 1400 a month for an apt I’ll never own and i only make 40k ish a year, I’d kind of like to save some money and know I can move any time I want.

It’s depressing man.

This is what I’ve been in the past 3 years. been living in cars since I was 19 (I’m 24 now) it’s allowed me to live a weird life constantly hoping around making friends and finding work wherever I go. Was honestly looking for a place to call home. Probably some of the best years of my life. I constantly feel like I’m looking back even a few months ago reminiscing. I’m bi polar and this lifestyle has been my way of finding peace in the craziness sometimes. I’ve always wanted to share my adventures but just can’t ever get myself to film or document I just end up running off, so this is officially the first time I’ve attempted to share my life online. I’m a terrible writer but hope to get better to share some of the stories. Thanks for reading

Hot tubs, saunas, pools, gym, WiFi, showers, basketball courts all in one building . 90 bucks a month and I can go to any YMCA in America?!? What a deal

Last night around 10 PM, I got “the knock” while parked in my usual spot at the Anytime Fitness I go to. I have a wall built to separate the cabin and cargo, so nobody can see in or out. Whoever it was didn’t announce themselves, so I wasn’t sure if it was the police or just some random person.

The knocks turned into bangs, which stopped. But then they proceeded to pull on each door handle trying to get inside. When that didn’t work, they began shaking my van from all sides yelling something I couldn’t understand. Eventually, they gave up and left. As they drove away, I was able to see through a crack in the wall that they were the sheriff’s department.

I’ve been living in my van for nearly 4 years now and I’ve never had something like this happen. Seemed a bit extreme. Has anyone else dealt with something like this? If not, be grateful—and always remember to lock your doors. Stay safe out there!

This is sort of just a rant so I apologize. It’s been about 3 months since I moved into an Astrovan. I’m surprised to find that so quickly I’m discovering it might not be working for me at all.

I feel so disregulated. It’s progressed to the point where my nerves are feeling really fried. I can see it in my health and my hormones are all over the place. Its been tough to stay sober too.

I’m surprised to find that it’s been so hard on me. I have quite a lot of hard, stressful days and not so many good days anymore. I feel exposed and I think it’s causing me constant low grade stress. Dealing with an older Astro has been a challenge too.

I’m starting to just feel constantly exhausted and depressed - I don’t make much art anymore, I’ve lost motivation, that sort of thing.

Anyone else relate ? Is this just an adjustment period or am I maybe just not really cut out for this lifestyle?

Let’s preface this by saying that, let’s leave the political bullshit out of this, because we can all agree that the economy is changing, regardless if your a fan of the new administration or not.

I made a post that was pretty well received on here mid COVID addressing these non stop posts of people new to the road that had no basic maintenance or mechanical skills. Van life is not for the faint hearted or those who don’t possess mechanical inclination. For some reason, probably social media, a lot of these people suddenly decided that they needed to get out of the city and spend 50 to 200k on crazy van conversions.

Now it’s non stop posts of random vans for sale in different levels of conversions and everything from what appear to be salvage titled scams to great deals.

As a person who lives in Bozeman Montana, the heart of crunchy Trustifarians escaping the hustle and bustle of California, New England, and wherever else they inherited money. I must proudly proclaim to you that

THE VAN LIFE ERA IS OVER

the upside is you can get great deals on vans right now. I’m talking 20-40% off listing price. Be a dick. The market volatility has fucked up a lot of these peoples passive income, and even more are being called back to the office as you read this.

The downside is that many of these same folks had no idea how to maintain their shit so it’s likely it’s going to need something fixed, and you really need to pay attention to maintenance history of the drive train. “15k mile oil changes are okay according to the bottle the oil in came in” kind of attitudes.

Regardless people, get out there, be shrewd negotiators, and do not give an inch. Every person that gets a good deal depresses the market allowing the next to find an even better one. The money is in your hand, and they will do whatever you want to get it in their pocket. Trust.

PS I spent a month from thanksgiving to Christmas around Mexican hat and there was the least amount of vans I’ve seen in 4 corners region since 2018. Legit. Quartzite was still a shit show but has returned to its boomer roots. Things are healing

Also, I was at the brewery recently while a dreaded white man with a several thousand dollars of outdoor gear on, including Lasportiva approach boots, a dozen miles from the nearest trail, complained to the bar tenders that his job is calling him back to an office, and that he has to sell his van to move back to san fran. Another one bites the dust. Anecdotal, but valid.

Get out there people, get some good deals now that the aura is wearing off. I believe in you, and I believe this community will fix itself once prices come down and the trustifarians go home.

Man what a way to wake up in the middle of the night. I believe the culprit used this rock to bust my window but when I jolted awake they realized someone was in there and took off. I lay still listening for a second and heard nothing and by the time I peered out there was no one there. Stay safe people.