My wife and I are finishing up our first month since we bid adieu to landlords, renting, and the shackles that kind of lifestyle represent for us.
We've been living out of our van, a "converted" Ford E-350 Club Wagon. It's a large van, but it's still a van. And I use the term converted very loosely.
Still, we love our little tiny home on wheels. It gives us plenty of reason to get outside, which is where we really want to live (emphasis on LIVE!). But today, as we're planning to head out later this week from the spot we've camped at for the past few weeks, our home gave us a little problem.
We've started the van and just let it run for a few minutes each day. I figured opening the doors would turn on the dome lights and drain the battery. And I didn't want to just let the engine sit completely idle, and then try to start it cold after not having run for weeks. It's an older van after all.
But yesterday I went to start it and it wouldn't crank. Maintenance is up to date and it's generally in good shape. So I figured that I did in fact run the battery dead with the dome lights. And that's what happened. Nothing a jump start couldn't fix, but it was a lesson learned. A minor inconvenience.
I expect that living out of a van will bring with it plenty of other challenges I can't foresee yet. But all in all it is still a great deal better than working hard just to spend 50% or more of my income in rent for a property I have no equity in, but am contractually bound to for the duration of a lease.
Later this week we leave New Mexico with fond memories and a newly acquired slower pace of living. We'll head east, and make our way through Texas and decide on our next steps after visiting family in Louisiana.
And we'll try do do it just as relaxed and chill as possible. As we learn to relax, we've go the best role models: these two lazy cats.
Have you traveled through Louisiana or southern Mississippi? What are some "must see" natural areas or weird roadside attractions we shouldn't miss when we get out that way?