I came across this article from the Associated Press a few days back and thought it may be of interest. Seems more and more people are turning to living in RV's and automobiles as a alternative to being flat-out homeless. It's raising concerns with communities who have to face a growing population on transients living on the streets, and having to accomodate those who are trying to deal with tough economic times.

All of this may be something for those who are considering fulltiming to take in mind as they may see more and more communities not putting out the welcome mat for fear of a flood of the "downwardly mobile".

Here is the link to the full article.

ConwayBob

We are all just a mortgage or rent payment away from being homeless. Of all the "luxuries" I own, the trailer will be the last thing to give up in financial crisis, just for this reason. If all else fails, I will have my own roof over my head that will be hard to take away. Living on a city street in it is not my plan, however.. but.. never say never. You don't know what is just around the corner.

I see this in my area, on forest service land frequently. Folks stay and move on to the other side of the mountain after 14 days in the many dispersed free areas. One often wonders about their financial resources.. you have to have a little extra to maintain and move the rig. There certainly are no jobs up here, for the most part.

I did just this myself in Oregon, long ago, during financial bad times, in my VW camper van. Oddly, I did not consider myself completely homeless as I was living in a shelter I paid for and provided for myself. I just didn't have a permanent address. I functioned day to day normally. I was legal, clean and fed and did not "live" among bad types..

Outside of the influx of RVs coming into folks driveways here so they can save on storage fees, there is one Toyota Chinook with it's top popped that has recently shown up at a house down the road. I wondered if they were living in it, or if it was just vistors on vacation etc.

Right now, even tho I don't like the giant motorhome in the street down the way, I have a little tolerance for it now as I am aware that folks will loose their RVs if they can't afford to store them. The motorhome has a for sale sign on it as well.. so they are making an effort to get it off the street for now. (I have NO problem with folks keeping them in their driveways along with their cars, as that is how mine is stored as well)

It's a sticky wicket.. but one I think will be happening more frequently. I'd rather have someone in their own space than under a tree in a park.

I will add, however.. the article is somewhat misleading.

The woman has been living in that RV for 5 years, and is not a product of recent poor economic times. She is on disability for mental illness.

It may have been better to interview a recent home loss subject if they were trying to put the point across about the state of things currently.

There are 3 Class "C" 22' 1970's motorhomes on my block parked at the curb. They are complying with the new regulations for moving since San Diego instituted twice a week street sweeping, replacing a twice a month schedule. The side effect of the upgraded sweeping schedule is that vehicles are no longer abandoned in one spot for a month or more, as the sweeping moves have been vigorously enforced...

Good point Gina, I didn't see that but you are absolutely right..

Living here near Myrtle Beach, a tourist area, we have our share of homeless and runaways, but I haven't heard much around here like what the article describes, although I do see a influx RV's overnighting in the Wal-Marts and shopping mall parking lots, with the occasional threadbare one in the mix.

While the Real Estate market here has stagnated, there's still growth going on, probably a lot of building that had been planned during better times. There are foreclosures, but obviously not as much as out in California.

But I find it very interesting that in a way, history is repeating with a growing transient poor enduring tough financial times...a kind of "Grapes of Wrath" effect. I just hope that there's not a trend with communities throwing out the baby with the bathwater, in trying to avoid having to accomodate a pool of poor transient squatters, they restrict those who are not in dire straights but would rather enjoy a fulltiming lifestyle by choice.

ConwayBob

Haven't read the article, but I am on a yahoo list for people who choose to live in their van/truck/whatever. It's been interesting to say the least to learn about this lifestyle. One thing that struck me is their insistence that not having a permanent address is not equal to being homeless.

Many of these folks 'fulltime' because they choose to. They like the freedom and they don't see why they should be tied down. Sounds a lot like the discussion of fulltiming going on here, yes?

It is definitely a growing subculture. More so for many reasons. I expect a lot of aging baby boomers are at that stage where with kids grown & gone, they have made enough to be independently comfortable, and are still healthy & young enough to enjoy a great adventure. They can make a fulltime mobile lifestyle a really great experience.

I myself will have to hold off a few more years before I can "vagabond", although if I could hit the road today, I wouldn't hesitate.

Personally as a realtor in California, I'm considering renting out my house, buying a 13' Scamp and spending the next year or so traveling around the country until the market picks back up. Its something I've always wanted to do, and what better time to have the "excuse" to do it?? Its a matter of turning lemons into lemonade.

Maybe in the process, people will realize they can live in smaller spaces quite comfortably and not be a slave to their mortgage payments. (Now, my biggest challenge- what should I buy, a Scamp or a Casita??)

Paul, my preference is naturally a Scamp, but Casitas are VERY nice. But to fulltime in one, whatever you get, get one with a shower/toilet.

Ah yes, fulltiming as a matter of choice.

When i retired early in July 2005 Melanie and I did not know where we wanted to live (we had an apartment in NYC). So we bought a Casita and traveled for 14 months. Then due to my father's illness we settled in Philadelphia for 18 months, but never intended to stay.

Now my parents are in a senior citizen home closer to the rest of my family and since May 1st we have been fulltiming again.

We are not homeless. Our home is where we park it ( http://escapees.com/ ). Due to the cost of gas we decided to stay in upstate NY for the summer (with trips to Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, New Jersey, Toronto, etc).

We intend to travel some this fall and end up
1. working/camping in Death Valley
2. Campground host in NC or Texas
3. staying in Pecan Park Campground in San Marcos where we spent the winter of 2005/2006

BTW a 17 ft Casita is small for two.


Joseph and Melanie

Paul, I'm thinking that if you're thinking about full-timing it, get a 17'! It's nice to be able to leave the bed down all the time, but still have a table and seat to sit at (I have a SDX). Scamp or Casita, probably doesn't matter, though I'm partial to my Casita!

Exactly!

I have been intentionally "homeless" for a bit over two years now, and so many people have a hard time understanding the concept of intentionally NOT having a home base. And if they can grasp the concept of RV full-timing, it is only as something retirees do as an extended vacation. Not something someone who is far from retirement would do intentionally, and while still working.

It is always nice to run across people who actually "get it"...

*grin*

- Chris

Another news piece, this time as a video. Just follow this link...to see how Santa Barbara CA is reacting to growing numbers of homeless who are inadvertantly "fulltiming".

my new move to fulltiming should come pretty easy (after 31 years 'camping out' in my coast-to-coast semi-trucks) ... but, I had to get cornered before I made it happen ... lost everything I owned in the 2008 Humboldt fires, so I traded the 42mpg Civic in on a new Ford van, and (after visiting the factory), ordered my new Casita 17' FD, which I am scheduled to pick up mid-October ... I hope their 'finish' dates are reliable, as I'm wearing a hole in my friends' sofas , need to get rollin' ...

Pull a seat or two out of the Van and sleep in there!

I highly advise considering joining Escapees and using them as a domicile, home base and mail address.

cargo van, no seats ... why would I sleep in a van when I have a new Casita ? ... I already have home address, mailbox, etc ... don't need Escapees ... thanks anyway

sorry, not awake yet ... I see your reasoning, you meant for me to sleep in my van while waiting on the Casita (I didn't catch that, at first) ... yes, I could do that, in fact, I have a brand-new mattress in the van now, still haven't tried it out, as more comfortable in the house ... g/f watches my P.O. Box, so mail not an issue, etc...

I have often thought my "ideal" traveling rig might be a van or suburban pulling a Scamp or Casita sized trailer. I would rig up the van for sleeping and the trailer for everything else.

My wife and I have done it that way with our full size diesel Jimmy after removing the rear seat. We are both closer to five feet than six, so it works for us. Since she is an evening person and I am an early morning person, we can get quite a few extra miles in when needed.

Any one considering fulltiming should understand that the mail address is not important for getting mail, it is important for Driver's License, Vehicle Registration, Insurance, State Taxes, and a whole raft of other stuf that stems from our society's presumption that real people have fixed addresses.

Jimmy, if you don't actually own any property in Calif and don't plan to actually spend much time physically in Calif, you might save a bundle of money on state income taxes, vehicle registration and insurance by legally changing your official domicile to Texas or South Dakota. Just a thought for you to consider. The factors are different for each of us as to what's best.

I noticed on my recent trip quite a few people in SP's in the mid-west that appeared to be, maybe, homeless. It was all the stuff they had that made them appear to not be normal campers. I could be wrong but I don't think so.
This wasn't 1 or 2 sites but quite a few. Most were tenters also.

you're probably right ... whilst 'camping' in my van, (after my forest fire), I saw people living in their cars, almost everywhere I parked overnite ... I'm a retired trucker, have seen that before, but rarely, not to this current extent ...

Here's a link to a recent article about a proposed "Car Camp" in the Seattle, WA area. The proposal looks like it's going through.
Car camps could house Seattle's homeless

after the fires here in 03, RVs on the highway were a common sight after the evacs were lifted. You knew they were living there, and they did not seem to be moved along, but slowly the #s dwindled. I suspect after the displaced acquired more traditional housing.

With the impending loss of one of my pups, I can start thinking about moving the rig closer to work and fulltiming to save money and commute time.. coming home on weekends if I chose.

Having done the opposite recently (Living in the trailer for 3 days a week on weekends) I have a pretty good taste of what it would be like, and I have no problem with it at all. Without hook ups, no less, for me, it is not a difficult life. Water and waste storage/disposal is the only real inconvenience for me, and even then, it only takes a few minutes every few days. Certainly less time than maintaining a traditional house day to day.

Tell me about it, I just spent 8 hours working in my friggin' yard getting it ready for winter. Between the spring cleanup and the winter prep, I'm ready to get the chain saw out, then asphalt the whole yard! (The best tree is a stump )

This is not to be confused with a "regular yard."



Ok, I'm off to my room....

I actually knew folks in BulgeMobiles who carried weed-whackers and power blowers so they could keep their sites clean -- Takes all kinds...

If you do, Donna, you'll be runnin' with some fine company. I once read that the NASA Rocket Guy, Werner Von Braun, hated yard work and paved his entire yard with green colored cement.

Then paint it white for winter... I like that idea

In 1987 while going through a divorce, I decided to "full time" so as not to have to carry a mortgage and apartment rent, buy furniture etc. etc. etc. I found a '70 Airstream Safari Special 23' and moved into a "trailer park" in San Diego. It was an interesting experience. Some of my neighbors were "normal" folks doing what I was doing. Some were retirees following the sun. Some were itinerant tradesmen following construction work. Some were "on the run" from the law. A surprising number were mentally ill or otherwise less than competent. One of my neighbors (a woman) flew out of her trailer one afternoon screaming that she'd been robbed. When I calmed her down and found out that she hadn't been confronted, she just claimed that someone had been in here trailer. I asked how she knew, and she told me "they" had been visiting her regularly and beaming things into her head, and she knew "they'd" been there because the thread she'd left on the screen door to her patio was missing.

I went back to my Airstream without comment and left the rest of the folks gathered around her to be her audience.

As an observer of the human condition, it was a fascinating place to live. Things really haven't changed all that much in twenty years.

Roger

Full timing is not a new thing, the concept has been growing in numbers for years. But fulltimeing out of "have to" is a sad reality of our times. But I think why it's so easily done in these times is that for the last 20 some years the idea of being free to journey where you want has made the idea something a lot of people dream to do. Now because thats the only way they can afford to live, it's not such a awful thing and it's a great alternative to a homeless shelter or under a bridge. Too bad the people who have to, won't be able to afford the gas to journey. But hopefully they will be safe and warm. When Dh and I owned the Rv park (seasonal) I would venture to guess that a majority of our guest were full timers probabaly 70%. Our park was built for big rigs so that was mostly what we got in so we saw a lot living the journey, because they wanted to. It's sad that people have to do it, to survive. Robin

Donna, Seattle is run by a bunch of politicians that don't realize what they are doing. Of course the people of Seattle vote them in. What they all can't understand is that if you provide for homeless, you get more homeless. Word travels fast in the homeless community as to where the best places are to be homeless. The better you make it, the more you have. Like feeding pigeons. I don't know what the answer to the problem is.

I understand what you're saying Roger. We have the same thing here, only it's for transients... and I'm not talking "newly homeless," but those that will not or cannot fit into regular society due to drug or alcohol problems. But, they are a part of society and have to go somewhere. I think it's better to provide a safe environment where garbage and human waste can be disposed of properly, rather than under a bush or in an alley.

What keeps these types of populations down here in our area is the RAIN.

Hey Rodger, pass along to the movers & shakers of Seattle the plan Myrtle Beach SC used to use when dealing with homeless folk...they'd just put em' on a bus and send them down the road to Charleston. It lasted till Charleston figured out what was going on and complained. I kid you not.

I too am a California Realtor; but keeping going selling the foreclosures which I'm sure you know is our only market. However---will be fulltiming by choice-I always said I'd do it when I hit 70. So 2010 is the year. I think those of us that are fulltiming; and especially the single women; it would be fun to be able to meet up now and then. Anyway; I think your idea is a good one.

ah yes... if you read the second post on here.. my "plans" or I should say, preparations, have paid off.

I will soon be one of the ones with no place to go. My home will be foreclosed on sometime after the next 90 days. I see no point in returning to it after I leave my current seasonal position in Arizona. I will only have to move into the trailer then. Might as well get it over with.

I have an offer to do some technical consulting with an electronics manufacturer in Flagstaff, but thats no place to be in the winter in a 17ft rig. SO... to save money and actually utilize all this fodder I have spent tons on for comfortable boondocking.. I will be living at a Long Term Visitor area on BLM land near Quartzsite. I can pick up units I need to work on and do them in QZ, then take them back to Flag every couple weeks or so.. so not only will the Burro be my home, it will be my office too.

At least this will be easer than living in my bus. I had to drive it out of my campsite everyday to look for work. In these times, the internet and a cell phone are the norm, I can hunt for jobs from just about anywhere as long as I stay connected.

I am not real worried, I know I will clean and be comfy. And it will be an adventure as well. Like someone said, I will be doing something different.. and possibly darned fun. I will drink my lemonade happily.

It sounds like you've planned well. Don't be a stranger. Come to the gatherings. We all enjoy seeing you and your animals as well as hearing from you. Wishing you the best in your "retirement" Just make sure you have enough cat and dog food. You shouldn't be lonely.

edit: I've started a new topic with this comment.