Trying to keep Tabs on my finances

I finally got around to restoring my car, so I can take it in for this year's state inspection without getting weird looks from anyone. Naturally, I can't help but feel a bit saddened that this camper project didn't take off.

Still, perhaps it was for the best. Living like that full time would have been rough, and deep down, I knew that. I did become a bit more car savvy along the way, so I guess it was at least a good learning experience if nothing else.

Also, a lot of the gear and tools are still there, and having them has made me very well-prepared in case of any road side emergencies.

Still though, I can not help but ruminate on what possibilities are lost, what pitfalls I may have avoided, and what will happen next in my life. It's weird. Time marches on, but you just never know what happens next.

I just got this nice email.



Also, my first entry using strictly just my phone. Kind of a pain, but cool that it works.

So I decided to take a picture of my dinner because I figure you guys might get a chuckle out of it.



The crazy part about all this was that I KNEW to check the meat for absorbent pads. I even TOLD myself, "Self, be sure to check the bottom of the meat for absorbent pads." I guess I must have been really tired for not one but TWO pads to slip by me entirely.

The bad part was that one of the pads actually ripped open, and I had to make sure I scoop out as much of that gunk out as possible. Bleh.

This isn't exactly financially-related, but now that YouTube has basic chatting, I just saw a conversation where a guy is pretending to be gay, and therefore he can be "trusted", try to solicit texts of sexual acts (or sexts for short) from this underage girl on there. I've already reported him, and left her a message to warn her of these kinds of danger out there.

Ah, well, since I am here, there is something free I could mention. YouTube also stream different types of music style on there for free. You'll have to google it, but

here is one such example. When I am on the computer, I will often times open a tab of music to run in the background. Why not use an actual music service? I don't know. I kind of jump back and forth really. Either way, it's free so feel free to give that a try.

Oh, and here's a bonus of sorts. I just discovered this guy who I think is just incredible.

Hmm, so 2017 has not been a good year for me financially. Things have barely been kept afloat, and honestly, I have no one but myself to blame. And... I really don't have much beyond that to say about that other than that I hope 2018 will get better....

In related news, I just got done helping my mom with some of her taxes. I don't know what their net worth is, but I am beginning to think they don't either. I was looking through some of their assets, and then I started adding them up, and then said to my mom, "Uh, did you know you have probably $1.5 million in assets here?" And her response was like, "Oh, really?" Ok then. That and who knows whatever else they have squirreled away, but you definitely couldn't tell that if you looked at them. Wearing used clothes bought from Goodwill, and eating only leftovers half the time. I guess she doesn't think of it in those terms, but just want to be financially secure and happy. Classic sleeper millionaires.

Ran across an interesting picture set a little while back.

When I saw that, I felt incredibly fortunate about where and how I am living right now. It's really been an incredible blessing.

However... is it wrong that another part of me is thinking, "HMMM... I wonder if I can build something like that?" Hahahaha.

I mean don't get me wrong. I don't want to live in tiny run-down boxes, but it's clear that I don't have problems with small living spaces. In fact, to me, they're more like cozy and efficient.... Plus, small spaces don't have to look run down. Look at this nice airplane seat.



There's something appealing to me about the idea of being able to DIY my own dwelling.

I know. I am crazy. Crazy like a fox!

After all the work and the money spent, I hate to admit this, but my idea for living in my car has failed.

I am simply enjoying too much the convenience of having a private toilet and shower I can use anytime I want. Going mobile, this aspect has been just too difficult for me to try to accommodate, especially with how cold the weather has gotten lately.

But again, the vehicle still works perfectly fine as any other commuter car, and it still works supremely well as a short term, temporary camper whenever I am on the road. Way better option than paying for any roach motels, thanks. In fact, it is so super convenient that way, I've decided to just leave everything as is.

But as a permanent living arrangement... sadly that will not work for me. Sad because if it could work, that would have saved me so much money, it wouldn't even be funny.

This also has other implications, because it also made me realize that tiny houses would not work for me either... or rather, it would if I could get plumbing done for water and sewer like a conventional stick house. Unfortunately, when you do that, it no longer qualifies as a "camper" and is then subject to city building codes, which would make them illegal dwellings.

Long story short, I need to stay put for now, living in the house I am currently in, and try to figure out what my next move should be, if any.

To be honest, I am not sure what to do next, or at least what I want to do next. I suppose I will wait and see how things pan out, but for right now, I am going to go into sort of a financial hibernation mode, and bleed as little money as possible.

I know I haven't been on for a little while, but I have a question for you guys.

In light of the protests and even riots going on in Charlottsville, Virginia, I am seriously considering joining the protesters (against the white supremacists).

For what it's worth, this can be done very cheaply as I live fairly close to that location, so the drive, especially in my camper car, would be very low cost.

Anyways, please feel free to let me know what you think of it.

My house-car is a work in progress, so it was inevitable that revisions or improvements would eventually come along.

First, I noticed that as much as I like the aesthetic touch of the flowers, they keep dropping these plastic pellets and petals, especially when I roll down the window and air blasts on them. This has lead to a lot more effort in brushing my bed than necessary. Also, the metal clips that holds them on the roof has scratched my head at least twice. Sadly, they must come down. The Christmas lights too then, since I realized that I barely use them.

A second revision I am making is that I am taking out my water tank, because as it turns out, that's way more water than I actually need. Yes, I did start out with some kind of long term survival in mind, but in practice, I am overflowing with clothes that need to be there and no place to put them, and a large water jug that is way overkill while taking up a precious large amount of space. Put these two together, and I am basically going to replace the water jug with my clothes instead.

Final revision is how I cover the back of my window, which is basically a couple of these neat pants hangars, strapped upside down. I know that sounds weird, but they work remarkably well, and can be done from the inside (or outside) and bonus is that it helps to hang a semi-wet towel, which is what I have holding up and blocking the screen. Bonus is that it conceals even better than the original screen.

My house-car is coming along quite nicely. It actually works well for what I am getting, but yeah, not going to lie, I do dream of having more space, but then, the air conditioning would not work well if that was the case.

Finally, it's been a week and I am still coughing. This is insane. However, it has steadily improved with each passing day so I am hopeful that I'll be back to "normal" in another couple of days or so.

I had a fun time with the guys. We proved very adept at staying boring and low-key indeed haha, but we did eat some really nice seafood. Wow. So this is what being spendy tastes like.

However, I woke up by 4am on Friday, with my throat burning and coughing non-stop. One of the guys is a smoker, and I think whatever he was smoking really set off what seems like an acute case of Bronchitis that I am still suffering as I type this. I woke up again at 4am last night from the coughing and the non-stop phlegm. Yay.

The condition plagued my entire weekend. It was so bad that I actually spend most of the nights in my own car, and slept better in there than in the hotel room. The upside is that it is slowly but surely improving.

Here are some funny stuff I snapped while I was there:







There it goes again! Why are these thumbnails sideways and upside down? Are you guys seeing this too? At least clicking them seems to show in the proper orientation.

Finally, here's a poor attempt from me trying to capture

some dolphins that were near the shores.

Anyways, just got back home last night and Dr. internet says I need to take it easy so I will do that for now.

Yesterday, I arrived at my intended destination... about 2 days early. So, having some time, I figure I might as well check off one thing that's been on my bucket list, which is to touch the ocean.

Yeah, it sounds like a simple one, but I have never actually gone out into the edge of land before, and looked out into the infinite Atlantic... and just touch it.

However, achieving this turned out to be easier said than done. Mostly, it had to do with the atrocious lack of parking (without paying some crazy fee). Finally, I saw a place that I might be able to get away with it for free-ish.

Anyways, here it is, in video even!

I have to say, the beach is far bigger than I imagined. Also, I accidentally got my shoes drenched by the ocean. Luckily, as you guys know, I am used to wet shoes by now, and I was already prepared with a second pair to wear.

A buddy of mine from way back is getting married, and we are all meeting up this weekend for his "bachelor party". It's in quotes because basically we're all a bunch of low key, boring guys. We are not going to bars, strip clubs, or even casinos (which there will be some nearby). We are just going to hang out, catch up, and maybe eat some nice dinner somewhere.

The only catch if you can call it that is that it's very far away for me. Roughly an 8 hour drive. That also means that I can't cheat by coming home for any reason... which I confess I have been doing. Well, sometimes, I forget my vitamins, or forget my can opener, or just want to use the bathroom in peace. No, this weekend, I will truly have to live "out there"....

Uh, ok even then, they have booked a hotel room, and wow is that place expensive. Seriously, it's double what I would have paid, but it is right in front of the ocean. However, I am not the one getting married here, so I'm just going to bite the bullet on this one.

Having been preparing and practicing to live in my car all this time, I must say I feel supremely prepared for this weekend road trip. It feels great to have something you do be useful in a situation like this. In fact, it's overkill.

I'm also going to take my time getting there and explore my surrounding. Why drive for 8 hours straight when you don't have to, right? There are plenty of rest areas along the way, and hopefully, they're even nicer than the ones I've seen so far.

Wow, the parks sure are busy. Memorials Day weekend and all that I guess. I'm typing here at the park that's fairly packed



Edit: Wow, how did this picture end up upside down? It's hilarious though so I'm just going to leave it.

Just wanted to chime in that I am still here and still working on transitioning to my new lifestyle. I am at a point where things are starting to become routine. The novelty has worn off, and now it's just a matter of learning as I go with what I should be doing each step of the way.

I guess something like this need practice too.

Hey gang. Hope you'll pardon me if I haven't updated recently. Thing is, I caught some kind of bug or something, and have been coughing quite a bit lately. All I know is that the car's air conditioner makes the cough worse, so I've been spend the last couple of nights sleeping at home.

I am still living mostly out of my car though, if nothing else because I am getting used to it.
Everything I need or mostly want is packed into the car already. It is super convenient to basically have everything with me wherever I go, and know where to find it.

I am still experimenting with various sites around town to see how well it works for me throughout the day and night. For example, for some reason I have never visited the biggest park in the city before, so I decided to make that a priority. Here's a quick picture I snapped of it.



I tell you, it was somehow prettier in person than what the picture is showing. There is a very calming quality about being surrounded by all these trees and green leaves....

Unfortunately, I am also getting a greater exposure to the weather and insects, and that's not always pleasant. With my cough and a large bug bite on my neck that still hasn't fully healed, it's tempting to just keep living in a house.

However, this exposure is to be expected. I am still determined to make this lifestyle transition, or at least give it my very best shot. Why? Well, if nothing else, I guess you could say that I can be a rather stubborn person when I want to be.

There's a fine line between determination and stubbornness though, and I think where that line lies depends on how one answers the question, "Does the benefit of continuing this path still out-weigh the cost?" For now, it still does.

Taking this line of thought a step further, I have often wondered exactly how other vandwellers do it. How do they cope when they struggling?

Naturally, I suspect many of them love traveling to begin with. However, many that do it only out of wanderlust don't always do it full time. They travel as much as they can, but ultimately, these are seasonal part-timers.

Some are perhaps like me; just pig headed enough to try to make it work and maybe they managed to surmount the teething process.

However, I think the majority of people that ultimately end up being a full-time lifers... I think they live this way because they have no choice. Like, for whatever reason, it's simply not a choice that is available to them, or at least it's not a choice in their minds.

If you look at a lot of their interviews and videos, you'll see that many didn't start out this lifestyle by choice. Some will come straight out and say that too. Life dealt them a harsh hand somehow, and they ended up in their car or van simply because they had nowhere else to go.

To be fair, many will tell you that they actually prefer this lifestyle, but even so, I can say with certainty that this is not an easy lifestyle to transition to. Doubly so if you are not doing this by choice.

The reason why I am pointing this out is because I've raised this question to them before. I've asked the full time community just why they continue to do this, and how do they cope. I asked that because I was intrigued by their mindset, and I also wanted to glean wisdom that may help me cope with my own transition as well.

Unfortunately, I find that while some were quite polite and answered thoughtfully, by and large, they were also very defensive about their lifestyle. It was as though I had stepped into something unpleasant that they would prefer that I do not question.

They didn't say this, but after some rumination, I suspect that they probably think I am a lucky fool haha. You know, because I am doing this by choice, and have a safety net to fall back on, I therefore could never fully understand the depth of hardship that they've had to endure. To be perfectly fair, they are probably right. I am, in many ways, a lucky man.

It's not that they don't include me. Quite the opposite in fact, but I think when you dig deep down, this is the mind of a true dweller. Not some hippy who is doing this seasonally or by choice (like me). Rather, it's growing community of scrappy, sometimes disenfranchised group of mostly decent people, living on the fringe, not always by choice, but trying their best to make their way through life.

Ok, I am finally back at my house, and am able to update the day's events. There isn't much to tell, but I'll try to recall what I can.

As promised, I gave the parks in Asheville another shot. During the day, it was quite pretty indeed. I saw people generally strolling about and having picnics. Unfortunately, many of their areas, especially their buildings, don't allow guns, so I decided to just turn around and head back out.

On my way back, I did get very sleepy at one point. I drove to yet another rest area, and just went ahead and set up shop to sleep there. So far, I really love how I can just roll right over into my bed and sleep. I guess I was more tired than I thought, having stayed up late night driving all over the mountains. By the time I got up, the sun was about to set. I did feel very refreshed though, for what it was worth.

When I got up, I also realized that my car has been exposed to direct sunlight, and my car's AC was just struggling for all it's worth to keep up. I do park in the shade, but in this case, enough time has passed where the shade moved away.

When I got back to town, I went straight to the gym, mostly because it was the closest destination, but also because it's bad enough to go nearly two days without showering, but I also didn't want to go nearly two days without working out. I did a quick one, then came home to shower. I didn't do it at the gym because there was a bunch of people there and I didn't want to hog the entire bathroom for myself.

So, here I am, a quick experiment and road trip complete, and what have I learned? Well first and foremost, I am proud to report that I really do think I can do this. It did not go as well as I had hoped, but I think sometimes, I get stricken with the Han Solo effect, where I would run headlong into something thinking of course it's going to work, but with the added instruction, "Never tell me the odds." Haha. But if you consider the fact that I spent nearly two days out without having to pay for a single motel room, and I didn't feel as though I was suffering or anything, I would say that is a success.

However, when it's all said and done, I don't think this will work for me. Again, for a road trip and a personal experiment that I've never tried before, I think it was worth the experience. Now that I've done it though, I've decided that it's going to get really old really fast if I had to do this regularly, and I don't care for the wear and tear on the car either.

So here I am, back a day earlier than planned, but the upside is that there is still one more idea I haven't fully tried, and I can do this with the extra day I now have. I'll report back later with more details.

Ok, so let me see if I can remember from the beginning how things are going so far.

So I left yesterday morning I think. I remember seeing big gaps in not just my cellphone data reception, but even on occasion, my regular phone reception. Clearly, T-Mobile's coverage isn't as good outside my city. The reception situation only worsened as I approached the mountains, where I even have trouble picking up regular radio stations.

Let's see, I went to Boone first, because it had the coolest weather, and between that and Asheville, it was also the closest destination.

Ok, so before I got there, I stopped at a rest area, and I was so shocked at how nice it was. It wasn't just a rest area, it was also some kind of nature conservatory? For like Monarch butterflies? Anyways, I took a picture of one of its small trails here:



When I got to Boone, the first stop I made was to the fitness gym that I am a member of. Alas, my card didn't work for some reason, but I got there so late that the staff had already left. However, as I was trying my card, someone just left and opened the door, allowing me to step in and take a real quick look:



During the late night, I stumbled on the internet that there was a park that was actually open 24 hours. I was like wow I've never heard of that before. So I decided that, hey, it's 1am but I am not sleepy, and this thing is open 24 hours, and I am going to go check it out.

Bad idea. The entire place, and the roads leading up to it were completely unlit, winding, and luckily that I was wide awake because, if I wasn't, I could have also easily had an accident or rolled off a hill or something out there. When I got there, I had zero cellphone reception, no lights except from my own car, and two sketchy looking cars parked mysteriously out there. The place looked more look a horror movie location than anything to me. Literally, here's a picture of said "park":



I decided to leave and try another rest area, because that last one was so nice. I went to another one on the way to Asheville, and it turned out to be almost as nice. You know, I feel like maybe I could get away with living in rest areas. Is that crazy of me to think that? Or am I already so way over the crazy line that this doesn't surprise you guys?

Anyways, I slept there, and by the time it was late morning, I rolled out again, making it into Asheville proper. The first stop here was, once again, a local gym that I am supposedly a member of. This time, a staff was present, and he explained to me that in order to be able to access gyms nationally, I have to wait for something like a full month before "reciprocity" kicks in. Ah.

However, as I type this at a local Starbucks in Asheville, I think all this effort is rather excessive and would get dull to do on a regular basis. Some may love this life on the road, but to me, it feels more like a giant commute of some kind. I will say that Boone was certainly much cooler, and I could probably make it work on that nice temperature alone.

When I get back though, I have another idea in mind that I think will hopefully work just as well. If successful, this will eliminate me having to travel anywhere at all.

I will be coming home sooner than expected, on the account that I haven't showered last night, and I won't be able to do so tonight either due to "recipropcity". So I might as well wrap it up and come home tonight. But before I do, I'm going to give those horror mountains one more try, except this time, during the day.

The projected temperature for today, tomorrow, and Thursday is suppose to be 87, 93, and 90. Also, my schedule has finally cleared up enough that I can head out for a little road trip. I think I am also prepared enough at this point to give this a shot. So... I guess it's that time!

But where to? Well, I've spoken about Asheville before, but when I googled the coldest place in NC, the result consistently came up with Boone. The projected temperature for Asheville for the next three days is 86, 85, and 83. However, Boone is projected to be 78, 78, and 74. Even better! As an added bonus, Boone is also an hour shorter drive from where I am than Asheville.

Overall, I am not sure about putting literally hundreds of miles on the car, each way, just so I can get a little bit of heat relief. Quite the opposite, I would like to put as little miles on my car as possible.

However, when you are just roasting in heat and humidity, it's hard to describe how motivated one can become just to get away from the sticky, itchy, uncomfortably hot heat. Anyway, it's just a little road trip and personal experiment.

I've never been to Boone before, but as planned from before, there is a 24 hour gym there that I have membership access to, so I figure that's a place to start, and explore out from there.

Ok so let me finish my packing, and I'm heading out! The day has finally come! I'll share anything interesting I find with you guys. Oh, and if you guys think of any last minute advice or whatever, please let me know as soon as possible so I can go, "Oh, I wish I thought of that before I left!" Hahaha.

So I've been trying the idea that you guys recommended with the swimming or beach shoes in the shower. As far as shoes go, they are actually quite affordable. First, I just want to say it feels weird walking into a shower stall with your shoes on. I just want to say that. It's a very seriously weird feeling haha. Also, it feels very weird to let it get soaking wet on purpose.

However, I do like the part that it is very grippy since these showers don't have those seashell or starfish stickers on the bottom to prevent slipping... what?

Now, when they get wet, they get... completely wet, and they don't dry well overnight in the car. In fact, it introduces a lot of moisture that condenses on the windshield that makes it hard for me to drive in the mornings.

So, now I am having to put the shoes outside of the car, but under my front driver's side and that seems to work. You know, the more I do this mobile lifestyle, the weirder I realize my life is becoming. Just so many things I would have never imagined.. even just a year ago, that I would end up doing.

Anyways, I am pleased to report that the shoes are working out great. So, I want to thank you guys for this recommendation. In fact, I have ordered a second pair, so I can rotate the two. It takes roughly half a day for them to dry out, and I hate having to walk around wearing them while they are still cold and wet. This would be especially bad during winter time.

On another note, I haven't left town yet, although I was planning to soon. Things keep popping up so I am staying put for now... and to wait for my second pair of shoes. That and the temperature lately have been surprisingly cool anyways, so that's a welcome change.

Oh, and finally, I tried super, super hard last night to hypermile and see just how high I can get my MPG to. Here's what I ended up with:



I was so pleasantly surprised and pleased by the result. The only problem is that this is not something I can do realistically as I had to drive way, way below speed limit. But since I was driving around late last night, with mostly no traffic around, I could get away with that.

My life is weird. Why am I so weird?