Gal-Gone-Camping

You Decided To Live On The Road, Great! Now What? Steps To Get Started

So you’ve decided to make a lifestyle change by living mobile in an RV or other vehicle.  What’s the first steps? Whether you are going to be a full timer or part timer, you will find some great tips here.

What you can do now…

You need to prepare as much as possible for this lifestyle change.  Below are some things you can do now before you ever hit the road:

1. Pay off your debt.  If your goal is to live as inexpensively as possible, you need to start paying off all your debt now.  It’s not going to do you much good to live mobile if you still have a bunch of bills to pay. I am in the process of getting my bills down to just my utilities, vehicle payment, insurance, and miscellaneous expenses such as food, gas, etc., so when I sell my house, the proceeds can go into a “road retirement” account.  Make a plan and stick to it.  It’s a great feeling to pay off those creditors–one by one.

2. Start getting rid of stuff.  If you are like most Americans, this is going to take a while, so you need to start now.  I asked myself the question–“Can an avid collector become a minimalist?”  I have collected antiques for years and I still love them, but I am over it.  I travel a lot, but always come home.  Once I accepted the reality that “home” is not really gonna be “home” someday because there will be nothing left for me here, my attitude totally changed, and I no longer want to collect anything.  Find out what the hardest part of this entire process was for me in an upcoming post. You may have the same feelings.

3. Do your research! I can’t stress this enough.  Learn everything you can about living and/or working on the road. There are a lot of people living this way, and there are so many different methods.  I am sharing everything I learn through this blog, but there are so many other great resources out there from experienced roadsters who have been doing this for years.  Take advantage of their knowledge.

4. Make sure you have your income stream lined out. Unless you are drawing social security, disability, a pension, or living on a life savings, you will need some sort of income on the road.  There are several things you can do so start exploring those options now. You can find some information on that on the Working Mobile category. More ideas for making an income on the road will be posted soon.

5. Prepare a budget. After you pay off your debt and purchase your rig, figure out how much it will take to realistically live on the road. Of course this will vary according to the individual, but you should be able to come up with a ballpark figure.

6. Practice the lifestyle.  Even if it will be some time before you become a full time nomad, you need to practice the lifestyle now.  If you don’t have the rig you intend to live in now, you can use whatever vehicle you currently have, modify it, and practice by taking weekend trips.  More on this subject will be discussed later.

Get ready y’all!

See ya down the road….

Catrina