Nightmare Fuel: The Thread

Cult Icon · August 22, 2018

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I find the whole mobile life thing interesting as I travel a lot myself and can see how it can save a fortune on taxes and bills..

I drive a SUV and I in the back I can fit a 2 sleeping spaces and cargo. Also, secured cargo on the roof and the rear.

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However, it seems so limiting and such a hassle in so many ways. Your social life, bathroom, food, power, and hygiene is shit. Parking mobile homes requires fees and trips to special parking areas that can take a lot out of a day since it's illegal to park in, say, a strip mall. I don't think I would bother with a mobile home but just use a SUV and take out the seats.

My personal library is important to me and that would mean that I would have to read everything that I really want to read and then pay for external storage for that and my prized possessions.

I do not listen to her videos about Bus life but it seems eccentric to me and not something that is good for her if it is indeed long term. The bus she is showing should have curtains for the windows. Too many windows! Also, it seems such an extreme move if their goal is to "see everything". A lot of places are boring & not worth such herculean efforts. And being with only her mom all the time should get tiresome. The gas price for the bus must be extremely high and it can't be all that reliable, mechanically and especially after such heavy mileage.

The problems can weigh heavily on a "permanent vacation" sort of lifestyle.

The whole lovers as gypsies that some do is decidedly romantic.

But Rachel is with her mom!

She might be the most beautiful woman to live in a van............

Sanni · August 22, 2018

It does raise the question why not become a backpacker and travel the world instead. For Mom, the bus life can make more sense but not for Rachel unless she needs to stay in the U.S. for her work, doesn’t want to travel alone and doesn’t have any friends or family who would be her travelling companions.

Cult Icon · August 22, 2018

19 minutes ago, Sanni said:

It does raise the question why not become a backpacker and travel the world instead. For Mom, the bus life can make more sense but not for Rachel unless she needs to stay in the U.S. for her work, doesn’t want to travel alone and doesn’t have any friends or family who would be her travelling companions.

Being a backpacker in the US is too difficult and dangerous (the country is too big and the population density is low). The great value is to explore mother nature, and one cannot do that on foot. All they need is a small cabin and they could drive from place to place and explore every state:

Her videos show her being excited/gesticulating but is it really that wonderful?? It seems like a money issue related to retirement and taxes.

Sanni · August 22, 2018

I dunno, to me it’d make more sense to backpack in Asia, Europe etc. than to be tethered to a bus and visit mundane places and go, “Oh, there’s an art festival here,” that you cared nothing about a second ago but have to go to make travelling via a bus make sense and check out some lighthouse that again you normally wouldn’t care to see but have to go because that’s the kind of limited sightseeing that the bus life offers.

Cult Icon · August 22, 2018

There is an unfathomable amount of quality sightseeing and hiking to do in the USA due to how empty and diverse it is. It's like Africa but green. Most of it is mother nature so one would have been able to cope with it and be prepared to deal with its needs. Particularly if they go deep into the mountains and the woods, for safety they need firearms due to the wildlife. Also, the Bus they are traveling with is less flexible in certain types of terrain.

I don't see bicycles/Canoe on their Bus yet so that is something they need to get.

The euro/asia trip you are talking about makes more sense to backpack.

In the US if you backpack you are very restricted to towns, cities and you would accumulate a lot of motel/hotel fees.

Sanni · August 22, 2018

I can definitely see the appeal of road tripping in the U.S. The distances are long so having a motor vehicle makes the most sense and you can see and experience vastly different climates, vegetation, animals etc. in different parts of the country. Driving along the Pacific Coast Highway would be a dream.

But I guess I’m just not granola enough to see the attraction in living and driving around in a bus staying at grey concrete places like Bob’s Oar House and going to a random art festival. It seems more like an obligation to go because you have to find something to do to justify travelling in a bus.

Cult Icon · August 23, 2018

10 hours ago, Sanni said:

But I guess I’m just not granola enough to see the attraction in living and driving around in a bus staying at grey concrete places like Bob’s Oar House and going to a random art festival. It seems more like an obligation to go because you have to find something to do to justify travelling in a bus.

I think a part of travel is doing your research and understanding the history of the place in.

With traveling long distances (up to 700 miles a day) it's a bit like you plan a few sights, and then mostly improvise what you are going to do, which offers surprises most of the time. You have the GPS and internet (if there is signals) so you aren't going in blind. If you are well equipped with outdoors gear and have days, you can go in deep.

On the road I have seen arrangements where they drive the mobile home and a car is being dragged along in the back.

Last weekend I was in rural upstate NY and I drove past a gigantic fair, filled with carnival food and antique/flea market type of junk. The fair was at least 2 miles long. I didn't stop by .

Cult Icon · August 23, 2018

There is a lot of ?? and less than ideal things going on with Rachel cook and her mommy. Doesn't she wish that she brought along a man, especially if he is a boyfriend and knows how to do the outdoors?