#boondocking

When I was young and on a short dead end road, a wise person once proposed the idea to me of whether or not I’ve ever thought about what is beyond work down the road.  She said "what would happen if you got up for work, got in your car and just passed up work,  just kept going?“.  Well that’s exactly what I did one day leaving everything and one behind.  
      In the beginning there were times when I was extremely lonely wondering and questioning my decision. "why am I here and wtf am I doing?‘   When I called home to talk all I got was "come home”, "what are you doing?“  I soon realized that was on a lone path and just stopped calling at all.   One of the biggest challenges for me being having friends in the traditional sense.  I have always been bad at keeping in touch with the people of my past and by the time I come back around or make contact we have lost relation to each other.  It would be awkward to come to them with personal matters or problems.   Life for you is so different that most times they couldn’t relate to your issues anyhow.  To keep reading visit my blog here http://www.nomadic-lifestyle.com/blog/best-part-of-life-on-the-road

Every night before bed, I lay in bed with my boys and we watch our favorite YouTube channels together.  Afterwards I was checking my website stats and Caden(7 y/o) asked me what  nomadic lifestyle meant.  I gave him a brief explanation and he thought that sounded really cool.  “I want to do that” he said.  I said “you do do that, you’ve forgotten more places you’ve been than some people will go and see in their lifetime.”.  We laid there for a while regurgitating memories when I really started to think about what a joy it’s been with my kids and how lucky they are to have these experiences.  There have been times where I have been overwhelmed by the thought of thinking how much my life has changed since having kids.  Worried that I’d never get to live all my dreams ever again.   The hardest part was going from being a complete vagabond with nothing and no real job but having all the freedom I wanted, to being able to support a family.  I had been spoiled as a fisherman working less than half the year.  I absolutely could not function working year round waiting for a one week vacation, the people around me miserable because the feel “stuck” with no options and life the same day in day out. To finish go here http://www.nomadic-lifestyle.com/blog/nomadic-lifestyle-and-three-kids

The most important part of your whole set-up when living in a van is the bed.  Do not skimp on this.  I am a fan of the half bed half couch setup.  I like to have the ability to sit up comfortably and have half the cabin space to stretch my legs.  It gives you the illusion of more space and  allows transition from sitting to laying, allowing you to feel less cramped in your tiny home.  I have found that a bed platform of 27" wide is plenty enough space for me to sleep.  Build you a raised platform that has hinges and can be accessed from the top and the bottom.  My personal design on my new custom project will use half the under side of the bed to house all the “guts” battery bank, inverter etc. and the other half will be a drawer for either clothes or tools.   Finding a custom sized mattress that does not cost a gazillion dollars can be challenging.  I found the best way to get a cheap and luxurious product is to look on Craigslist for a gel-foam or memory foam mattress topper.  The are less than a fraction the cost of a custom foam mattress and 10 times as comfortable.  I personally found a queen sized gel-foam topper that was NIB for a clearance price of 35 dollars.  It is 2" thick and when cut in half and doubled will give me the custom size that I need and a most luxurious nights sleep.  A custom mattress of this quality I found for no less than $400 online.  Read the rest here.. http://www.nomadic-lifestyle.com/how-to-set-up-your-van.html

The choice of a parking spot is one of the most critical decisions a vehicle dweller will make. The choice of parking spot for a night will have much to do with safety, security, quality of sleep, and avoidance of police. Considering the fact that more and more communities are passing laws that make it illegal to sleep in a vehicle, stealth is of utmost importance if in the city. If one is boondocking in the wilderness, this is of little consideration. So, the choice of parking spot creates an incredible challenge. Let us consider several different scenarios, and analyze the pros and cons of each.  Every time you drive look around with stealth camping eyes and make a game out of identifying all the good spots around town.  As you progress you will start to pick out spots subconsciously in your daily drives/commute,  you will have so many saved up in your bank that picking a spot will be of little or no effort. For full page go to http://www.nomadic-lifestyle.com/how-to-find-a-good-parking-spot.html For lots of info