Camper vans?

[Kevin D Pem]

Thinking of purchasing a camper van should be easy. But maybe it isn't.

 

[TR25]

For the pricing of them, the complexity, and of course the modern drivetrain, I see no reason to purchase one. But a lot of older retired people/couples seem to like them, have them.

 

[MNC]

I only watched a few minutes seemed to be a lot of half truths. I don't have any interest in a van so I wont dig any deeper.

 

[BGMAC]

Just curious on how construction vans escape this. Many of these vans are privately owned and DYI built. I don’t think it’s fair that just one industry is targeted.

Personally, I think stop all this mess. We’ve been customizing vans since the 70’s.

 

[TR25]

Just curious on how construction vans escape this. Many of these vans are privately owned and DYI built. I don’t think it’s fair that just one industry is targeted.

Personally, I think stop all this mess. We’ve been customizing vans since the 70’s.

Work vans.....interesting indeed.
Why the dif? IMHO, there is more money to be made/taxed from the higher dollar rv vans, from the manufacturer(s) and from the end users, the ultimate payer of such things.

That's the only way it makes sense to me, as another form of regulation and source of revenue.

 

[TR25]

I was recently at a walmart and while there, saw an elderly woman in a 'camper van' pull in. She made definite eye contact w/me as she drove by....I had my truck camper.
I watched her drive to the far corner of the parking lot, back in, then shut it down. She lowered all of the window coverings then disappeared for the night. Early next morning, still no sign of life from that van.

I think this is the demographic that does things like that. My bet is she is very active on the internet, so that's why she's like that. I dunno....I can't see it, living in a small (though in this case/demographic, very expensive rv van) and at the end of daylight, cocooning yourself inside, shutting the outside world out. Then get up the next day and do it again.

Clearly different strokes for different folks, but I'd think, "Is this how my life is going to end up? Alone, a ghost drifting about, silently navigating around people who are living with purpose and meaning?"

A bit of a wider conversation there, but interesting POVs none the less.

 

[Underboss]

I was recently at a walmart and while there, saw an elderly woman in a 'camper van' pull in. She made definite eye contact w/me as she drove by....I had my truck camper.
I watched her drive to the far corner of the parking lot, back in, then shut it down. She lowered all of the window coverings then disappeared for the night. Early next morning, still no sign of life from that van.

I think this is the demographic that does things like that. My bet is she is very active on the internet, so that's why she's like that. I dunno....I can't see it, living in a small (though in this case/demographic, very expensive rv van) and at the end of daylight, cocooning yourself inside, shutting the outside world out. Then get up the next day and do it again.

Clearly different strokes for different folks, but I'd think, "Is this how my life is going to end up? Alone, a ghost drifting about, silently navigating around people who are living with purpose and meaning?"

A bit of a wider conversation there, but interesting POVs none the less.

Well you have no idea how many miles she drove that day, how tired she was and its walmart, no one should be setting out chairs in the parking lot. Frankly she did the right thing. The people who think its a campground have ruined it for those of us, like her, that use it as an overnight stop.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

For many it's a survival strategy! Sometimes life choices, are not choices at all.

Walmart, and other parking lot choices are one step up from sleeping under a bridge. Usually by someone still trying to be a productive part of society, and staying close to the job.

Been doing this for quite a while now.
Why didn't they manage their finances better? You ask.

Bubbles burst. Fund managers make bad decisions. Dieing spouses have care that exceeds insurance coverage. Houses burn. Tax leans after such events are not forgiven by the same criminals that this video was made to warn us about.

All is good though! That is until the unexpected happens to us.

Compassion is a wonderful thing, and carries much more weight when the person giving it gives without having lived under the weight of it.

 

[TR25]

Well you have no idea how many miles she drove that day, how tired she was and its walmart, no one should be setting out chairs in the parking lot. Frankly she did the right thing. The people who think its a campground have ruined it for those of us, like her, that use it as an overnight stop.

My experience is "van life" people aren't campground people for the most part. Also, for the older, single female, the smaller size of the van would be more preferable to that of a class c and lower to the ground than a truck camper. No back up/turning issues that comes with bumperpulls. So there is some self selection going on there.

And stealth/urban camping you don't want to stick out, have people know you are camping. Also, single women don't want people to look at them and know they are a female alone in that van.

Other people can indeed ruin a lot of things.

 

[TR25]

For many it's a survival strategy! Sometimes life choices, are not choices at all.

Walmart, and other parking lot choices are one step up from sleeping under a bridge. Usually by someone still trying to be a productive part of society, and staying close to the job.

Been doing this for quite a while now.
Why didn't they manage their finances better? You ask.

Bubbles burst. Fund managers make bad decisions. Dieing spouses have care that exceeds insurance coverage. Houses burn. Tax leans after such events are not forgiven by the same criminals that this video was made to warn us about.

All is good though! That is until the unexpected happens to us.

Compassion is a wonderful thing, and carries much more weight when the person giving it gives without having lived under the weight of it.

I have a quite diverse background, even having to re-invent myself a few times, lost everything twice. And I did [mostly] live in a van for 10 years during one of those -reinvent times.

In life I've looked to others as how to do something..but also, how NOT to do something. I used to go to a rec center during the day and swim for rehab. I'd see a lot of old people there who were very deconditioned, obese, or losing weight to flappy sking hanging around. They really struggled. They were my motivation to get healthy again and make sure I don't wind up like they are--struggling physically to even do some basic function things.

I don't know their stories, but I knew I could look at them and know how they wound up wasn't how I wanted to wind up. I guess I have compassion for them as I feel sorry for them, but that's it. They were the ones who ate like they did and kept doing it and allowed the deconditioning of themselves to take place. Could be for many different reasons--I don't care really. I just do not want to wind up there.

That woman's van was one I'd guess cost well over 100 grand, so she wasn't hurting for money. A lot of people wind up living in vans/vehicles due to, as you said, next step is sleeping under a bridge.
Or they are working poor and fate/decsions hit them.

OK. Now they have a place to live, don't have to pay rent. If that's where they are, well then, they can get started to get their life back or develop a new, better one. The latter is what I did. Some have been under the impression they can make a lot of money doing yt vids of their vanlife. Fine. I don't care, but that's not a good plan for a variety of very good reasons.
"Where will I be in 5 years?" is what those people should ask. Better off? Saved enough money to get a better van or rv? Get skills and experiences for a new vocation?

The ones who don't ask themselves that and/or answer it in a realistic way are the people living under a bridge, but they have 4 wheels under them. They get a flat tire or two and they have to panhandle, internet beg for people to give them money....and hope they get it until the next time something happens in the future and they still haven't improved the condition of their life.

BTW, I'm not denying there are people at a dead end that can't improve on much. These would be the SSDI people, the old retired single people with health issues, etc. Part of the reason I wound up in a van was I looked into my future and didn't like the lack of options I was going to have. Thus that period of my van life was to improve who I was, add many skills and experiences to my toolbox so in the future, when I decided to quit, I'd walk out of it faaaar better than I went into it.

That worked out so well, I kept living in a van actually for more years.