Current Situation: I'm nineteen years old, I have 3 really good awesome friends, and one spectacular girlfriend. I'm living at home with my LDS mother, father, sister. 5 Months ago i'm sitting in a jail cell for a Weed related DUI, possession of mary, possession of paraphernalia. possession of tobacco as a minor. Being on a choke hold by my parents, my father random drug testing me. And me smoking mary jane in my room burning incents and listening to my favorite bands.. I live in a incredibly religious(the mormon religion) which is literally brainwash people type of town in Utah. with few interesting people, with even fewer none judgmental people.. This very night me and my best of 12 years were sitting in my upstairs listening to some awesome music. I say i want to move into my van. drop my family. work with my brother bringing in money. and just live in my van. Sleep out in the desert, or just in a friendly neighborhood. I'm looking for the wise people of the hipforums to give me advice on this possible endeavor for me for the next 6 months or so. Thank you =)
Twodogs, he has a massive thread about this very thing, I am not sure where it is exactly, but READ IT
1) Stop smoking shit 2) obey your parents 3) adopt and embrace the mormon faith 4) go to college 5) accept missionary work in some small shithole of an african village 6) become a talk show host and model your format after Herb Jepko Hotwater
I got my eyes on a vw camper at the moment, thinking about buying it, one of the new ones. It will clean me out nearly and I'll have to find work so it's a gamble, and also living in it does pose some problems with the climate we have in the UK....
honestly, it's a lot harder than it looks. I'm not saying you wont be able to do it, I don't know, but you should have a VERY well thought plan unless you want to be crawling back within a week.
:rofl: OP: It is totally possible, dude. If you have a van, why don't you consider a road trip of sorts? You mentioned friends...
You obviously aren't going to follow the mormon standards....I say there's no better way to find yourself than doin the van thing. I want to do it, and one day will. I just can't yet bring myself to venture away from my family. The motha fuckas are way too cool. And the weather in KY is not van weather
I lived in my van in New Zealand for almost a year, touring the country, working in orchards and farms doing seasonal work, parking up beside gorgeous rivers & in the wilderness, sometimes outside people houses of friends I'd made and used their facilities etc...taking dips in the lakes and rivers...loved it!! Instead of just taking off,why not think about taking a kind of working road trip like this for a set amount of time, I suggest several months & pool some money together as a group and work out a time frame for getting around from place to place, I think you will find yourself through this journey and you will see that their are an infinate amount of ways to live your life, places to live and passions to discover. BTW. From your original post sounds like you live in tight ass Russian state not the US. Here are some photos of my van. I painted it and built a bed and a table type thing in the back for cooking etc...
you are fucking insane to try this but hey, its your problem. possible problems: run out of money van break down in the middle of fucking nowhere with no money someone steals your van someone sets your van on fire someone rapes you while you are sleeping in your van food? gas money? the US might not be a pretty place in a few more months. I'd stick with my family just a bit longer. Things could get pretty ugly pretty quick, and you will be wishing to be back home.
I disagree with Ganjaking. So what if your van breaks down and you run out of money, it's not the end of the world. These problems can and perhaps will present themselves, sometimes these are the best as well as the worst of times and after traveling around the world for 6 years I found that there is always a solution to a problem and usually things are no where as near as bad as you think. And you can always go home. As for your personal safety, just use your common sense when parking up, camping...it's that simple... I travelled as a woman alone in Pakistan (2 months), India (3 months) Nepal (1 month) China (3 months) Vietnam (1 month) Cambodia (1 month) Thailand (So many times I've lost count) Malaysia (2 months) Indonesia (1 Month) New Zealand (1 year) Australia (2 months) USA (2 months) Canada (1 month) and lots of other places in Europe. The biggest things that happened to me were I had my travelers cheques and a little cash stolen in Nepal while I was asleep on a bus going to Kathmandu - I was sensible enough to keep my passport seperate and emergency cash stashed on my person, so I just called the cheque company and they cancelled the stolen cheques and re-issued new ones within a few days! BUT the best thing was that from this experience I met these brilliant Nepalese people who helped me out and we ended up buying and selling and exchanging electronic goods and that was one of my reasons for being in Kathmandu. it was a great experience that came out of something I originally was terrible. The only other bad experience I had in 6 years was i crashed a motorbike in a jungle in Cambodia! Luckly I had talked a couple of guys I'd met in Vietnam and again in Cambodia into joining me on this 4 day boat and road trip into a remote area in the East of the country and they helped me out and I got a small plane back to Phenom Penn and got to a clinic for care, but I ended up meeting the guys again in Thailand and started a relationship with one of them. Fab times! I'm don't think you should be afraid of going out to explore the world, living away from your family, but you need to have good common sense, good instincts and be sensible and honest with yourself about how you are going to get by finacially & live, luckily you live in a country where they speak your language and you can work without visa problems, so you have two big things for success right there! I've often used the internet to secure casual jobs in the area I want to go to before I set of to go there. It means I can enjoy my travels and know that i'll have a job and a money coming in around a certain time. Make goals, save money, plan and go!
