soulfullspirit

Hi fellow riders, as i sat by the side of the road i wondered is there any one else out there who is living on the road, with there whole worldly assets beside them. A sobering thought as I see my 47th year coming up. (yea i know i am still young compared to some of you old fellas).
Would be nice to know i am not alone in this life style, i feel my biggest asset is my health the bike sure keeps you fit, we come into this life with nothing and leave the same way, so if your in the same boat and dont mind sharing please let me know it would help knowing there are other travellers out there cheers

JoelS

You know, there's a lot to be said about the simplicity of living a life like that. So long as you have enough money set aside for repairs/maintenance, food, the occasional night in a hotel for a shower, etc., then have a blast! I've often thought that after the kids are grown up and moved out it might be fun to sell everything that isn't essential and living out of an RV or some such. Bring a couple of bikes along and have a blast.

DScott

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...93#post8770493


Are you really on a pushbike? What's that?

But more importantly, have you found that girl yet?

RideCO

::Raises Hand::

I have been living similarly since I was 20, I am now 37. I do own a car, and always have, and with the exception of a few summers in Alaska and many other short periods, I have always had a residence, often a week to week or month to month hotel, sometimes a high-end condo

For me it's about seeing as much of the world as I can, a life about experience. I have lived/been in virtually every corner of North America, and now I have plans for the rest of the world. It would take a book to list the things I have seen and done, the people I've known. And I still have decades to go.

I have always been able to fit all my possessions in my car, currently a ford explorer. I move from place to place, job to job, career to career. I am clever enough to have done ok for myself financially. Sometimes better then others, sometimes totally broke, living in a tent in Alaska or in a car, and sometimes living in luxury.

The hallmark of my life has been my willingness to get up and go, move out of an apartment or whatever and get on the road, on a whim, with no particular destination in mind (Done this maybe 10 or 11 times?). Last time was 10 months ago, I ended up here in Grand Junction CO. I have loose plans to go again next month, back east a little bit, maybe Denver, I won't know until I get there. A return to SoCal isn't out of the question, I do miss surfing. I would go today but I need a little more cash.

Downsides: No family, career advancement is challenging.
Upside: It really is a marvelous world.

Machka 

Have you been to the Living Car Free forum? There are several threads in there about simple living and home-free living.

https://www.bikeforums.net/living-car-free/

I am currently in the process of a mega-downsize (see my Getting Rid of Your Stuff thread in the Living Car Free forum) and will be living extremely simply in Australia with my husband in about a month's time (see the How Simply Do You Live thread/sticky).

Randochap

Been there before; may well be there again. Presently watching "Survivor" on the big screen.

Chieftan

With all due respect,...we may have come into this world with nothing, but we certainly shouldn't be leaving with nothing. We should have built a lifetime of experiences and friendships, and through those, somehow contributed something that leaves the world a little better than when we arrived. Normally, this is done through hard work and raising a family. Somtimes, the results can be extraordinary. More often than not, you just try to work hard, help those that can't help themselves and provide others(Your children, if you are blessed with any) with oppurtunites to achieve more than you could. Sorry for being a party pooper, but this seems like too much of a self-gratifying, self-indulgent lifestyle to me.

Tom

Machka 

The American Dream.

But not everyone has the American Dream or wants to have the American Dream ...... some people prefer a simple, happy, adventurous lifestyle instead, full of experiences and memories and travels ... rather than work, work, work and the accumulation of material goods.

agarose2000

How do you guys earn money to survive?

Machka 

I have no idea about the OP ... I have no idea who the OP is ... but I've been doing temp work for about 5 years now. It's great because I can set the time period I want to work, and then when my contract is up, I can go with no hard feelings or anything. In fact, I've ended up returning to the same place several times. I really enjoy temp work ... I've enjoyed the work, the experiences, the people I've met ... and the fact that it has allowed me to head off on cycling adventures for a month or so at a time.

I have been in school during those 5 years too, but I have now (mid-April!) graduated with a Bachelor of Education so I can teach. I might opt to sub here and there in Australia and/or Canada (if we return here), or I might take a semester, or a year in a school, or whatever ... I'll see what happens. And with a B-Ed Rowan and I can travel to other countries where I can teach. Most of those sorts of teaching jobs seem to be short-term. If not teaching, I've got education and experience in a whole heap of areas, so I can probably pick up other temp work.

And Rowan's and my expenses are very low. Rowan and I will be living in a very rustic cabin in Australia ... with no electricity or things like that ... for a while. Plus I'm in the process of getting rid of a large portion of my stuff, so we could be quite portable if we wanted to be ... able to pick up and go wherever we want to go.

simongrant

I read the OP as meaning we come here with no material possesions and leave the same way,in that i believe he is correct.

Simon

LostBoizdown

I've met two couples that are living either a transient or semi-transient lifestyle as a matter of choice:

the first was a older-middle-aged couple that was in the process of selling all of their belongings, including their house, and buying a sailboat. She was a nurse and he was a handyman, jack-of-all-trades, if you will, and they set sail from New York and sailed down the coastline of the Americas. When they needed repairs or food, she would take up a job as a nurse, and he would do odd jobs for some money until they could set off again.

The other was a couple from Australia who I met while on a mini-vacation in Budapest. He was a gourmet chef and they were traveling from city to city across Europe while they figured out where their lives were going. Last I heard from them they were headed to the French Alps where he had gotten a job at a fairly snooty ski resort.

I have a certain romantic notion about doing that sort of thing, having only the possessions I can carry with me and exploring the country, meeting people and having all sorts of jobs. I just don't think I can make it work. Maybe if I check out that other forum....

UGASkiDawg

Career advancement is completely overblown except for the money part

You are correct it really is a marvelous world

UGASkiDawg

Machka I don't believe Chieftan was talking at all about material goods. He was talking about living for something bigger than oneself. This can be something as simple as having and raising the next generation of humans, or it could be devoting one's life to educating others. Living a life defined by something beyond just getting the next thrill or adventure.....

I often find myself getting jealous of those who don't have children and can pick up and move on or do whatever they please. Then I have one of those moments with my girls that make me feel sorry for anyone who does not have kids. I didn't have children till I was 40 YO and I sowed some wild oats and chased adventure. I sometimes miss that old life but not very often and nothing is as deeply satisfying to the human soul as raising children....JMHO.

alicestrong

The last I looked, the world was quite populated, thanks very much.

Oh, I'm a parent, but I certainly don't begrudge the people who choose not to be.

badhat

Righteousness!

wanders

Same here and emphasis added. I do admire and am somewhat jealous of those that can and do live more independently.

badhat

i'm a parent too, and i'd say the last thing the world needs is people who dont wanna be parents doing it cuz they feel social or moral pressure to raise kids.

jrobe

In the old days, they would have been ashamed to admit that one had "no assets and living on the road." Now they tell the world.

MissKristen 

Moving to Living Car Free forum...

badhat

chicken

Foofy

People who live like the OP don't need much money to get by. You'd be surprised how far $100 can go.

There's a youtube user named Desertphile who lives a pretty simple and very happy life. At the moment he's not living-on-the-road, as he has a job and a comfy living space provided to him. He's extremely intelligent and cool. https://www.youtube.com/user/Desertphile Seriously guys, check out his page and subscribe to him. Most of his videos are not about simple living though, and as far as I can tell he doesn't own a bicycle. He has a truck, currently.

I don't live on the road myself. I own a car, live in an apartment, have a low-pay bute sufficient job, and go to school. That being said, I admire the simple life, and sometimes find myself dreaming about dropping out of school, scrapping my car, never going back to work, packing some clothes and small things, and cycling far away.

UGASkiDawg

[edited - MissKristen]

Who was? There were, are and always will be idiots and evil people...what's that got to do with anything?

UGASkiDawg

Who said anything about pressuring anyone?

Chieftan

[QUOTE=UGASkiDawg;8879639]Machka I don't believe Chieftan was talking at all about material goods. He was talking about living for something bigger than oneself. <snip> QUOTE]

Exactly. Thanks for the clarification.