Newbies here! Wondering whats its going to be like to be homeless....

Thesandmans · Member

Newbies here! Wondering whats its going to be like to be homeless....

Dougwe · Chief one feather

Welcome to the gang Thesandmans, enjoy here and out in the playground.

Is your forum name anything to do with the "Sandman" Panel Van?

The answer to your questions is really a personal choice thing. Me, I have been what I call a "Part Time" Grey Nomad. Travelling most of the year then back to base camp until the feet get itchy again (only a matter of weeks).

I have a Avan Camper and Toyota Prado. I have thought of travelling full time but never was sure about it. I have had continuous problems and expenses with the Prado and on my journey from Gippsland Victoria to Townsville Q'land a couple of months ago the tug broke down twice. I'd had enough so made the decision to by another tug (see other posts) and sell home base then become a "Full Time" Grey Nomad.

I'm sure I have made the right choice and more than likely face a few hurdles to jump in the near future while making the final changes but I will overcome those I'm sure.

I wish you luck with your decision's and future plans.

GaryKelly · Guru

At the moment, you're trying to compare the unknown to the known. It frightened me too but after belonging to this forum for a year or so, I've learned that what you leave behind no longer matters once you're enjoying the nomad lifestyle. All those things you thought were important. and perhaps necessary, no longer are.

Pejay · Guru

Hi from us too, and welcome to the forum,

For us, just taking that step to retire was a biggy! but we have got over that (came real quick actually!) and now we have no 'ties' we can head off whenever we wish - within reason of course. We still have a home base, and yes we too grappled with the idea of selling up, but for the time being we shall keep our 'base'.

Again welcome and enjoy your travels - the main thing is to keep safe whilst on the road.

Pejay

shekon · Guru

Hello from me also. I am a full time solo. Love it. At this stage after 7 months on the road, if I never see a house again then it will be too soon. I have always enjoyed a house, decorating it, styling it, and all that comes with it, but now I love the freedom.

As far as downsizing, I had about 3 weeks from go to wow, so did not have a lot of time to think about things too much, I have since rid myself of other things that I thought would be needed in my MH, and discovered they were not needed at all. As an aside it was 2 years in the planning and investigation before I did eventually take to the road.

The freedom of being able to do what I like, go where I like and stay where I like is wonderful. I am just starting to realise that I can make those decisions and all is well with the world. It is amazing how much "stuff" we have, that we think makes our lives complete and then discover that the "stuff" has nothing to do with it at all.

So, what will happen when and if I want to come off the road, I have no idea. The future will take care of itself, and those decisions will be made at the time. For me I have no idea because I really do not know where I eventually want to live, if anywhere permantly again.

There is something said for a day where one wakes up and the biggest decision one has to make is , " Do I stay or go" make a cuppa and spend the day comtemplating the question.

I love being a gypsy. So take your time, do your research on the type of accommodation that will suit you and then just go do it. Put the things that you cannot give away or sell into storage and enjoy the freedom of life. Your journey will be yours and different to others, however the knowledge here is invaluable to get you going.

Sharon.

exa41 · Guru

Hi and welcome , I guess I am a chicken in some respects ,absolutely love being on the open road but like the security of home . I also was made to leave work prematurely which sparked the problem of how to go about things . We were fortunate that we already had our coaster and a 44 year old son that wont leave home so we have someone to care take .For you it is going to be a personal decision but the lovely people on this forum have mega years of information at hand , just ask and ye shall receive .

gunnago · Senior Member

HI there and welcome I am now a solo was on the road f or6years with my lovely man we packed up and took off love the lifestyle lost my man and got my son to come and pick up my 19 ft van and truck and now feeling housebound after 6 weeks in suburbia cant wait to pick up my coaster and hit the rd again asi love being a nomad and having such a great support group in the grey nomads catch u out there somewhere sometime happy travelling heather

aussietraveller · Guru

The dream of being free to travel in the playground also appeals to me but so does the security of having a home base my question is what happens if you in the long term change your mind it could be difficult getting back into the housing market, what happens if you become disabled or too old to travel this may sound pessimistic but I think I would buy a villa or unit and invest the balance in my travelling home.

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

I fervently believe the lyric of The Rose pretty much sums it all up -

It's the heart afraid of breaking

That never learns to dance.

It's the dream afraid of waking

That never takes the chance.

It's the one who won't be taken,

Who cannot seem to give,

And the soul afraid of dyin'

That never learns to live.

Cheers - John

Kisha · Senior Member

Hi, as a home owner I enjoy the stability in knowing I have a secure base to return to. My own little place of space which will always remain more of a financial asset than the home on wheels will ever be. If your home is to large and requires a lot of upkeep then may I suggest a smaller home that requires less of your time, which would also enable you to have your home on wheels. I love the luxury of knowing my home is always there for me. I wouldn't be comfortable being homeless after experiencing the luxuries that owning your own home has to offer, and still I am a happy traveller......Kisha.

Roving-Dutchy · Guru

Since our retirement 18 years ago we have both suffered major illness and surgery and we would have found it very hard to recuperate if we didn't have our own home to go back too, if we did move would probably look closely at one of the specific RV villages were there is room for your MH or van but you can pack up and go away and the upkeep of the garden is looked after for you.
Cheers
David

Andrea · Senior Member

Thesandmans wrote:
...
How do you get over 'leaving home'. Have you found it all worthwhile?

Hi, Thesandmans, and welcome!

As has already been said, whether or not you keep a home base is a very personal choice; however, John and I did sell everything six years ago (and getting rid of all those 'precious things' becomes easier as you go!), and took off in our 5th-wheeler. So far we've not looked back - as Sharon says, we gather so much 'stuff' but feel so much freer after we've disposed of it.

The prospect of illness worries many. When we were in Victoria two years ago John had a mini-stroke which left him with double vision; even though his special glasses correct that and he's been passed for his licence, I now do most of the driving. I discovered at the time that I COULD quite readily hitch up and otherwise manage the rig on my own.

More recently (six months ago) while in Port Macquarie John was to have a hip replacement; unexpectedly, while on the operating table but before the surgeon started, he had a heart attack. Subsequently, after getting two stents inserted and being given blood thinners, he developed two bleeds on (but not in) the brain. That earned him a helicopter flight to Newcastle and a hole drilled in his skull to release the pressure; we came close to losing him that time! However, he did recover fully and, on Monday week, he'll finally get that new hip.

We spend a lot of our time property-minding, in rural & semi-rural areas - anywhere that has room to accommodate our house, as we like to live at home. smile We've been offered space for as long as we need it at two local properties, but even failing that we know that we can find somewhere to prop while John recovers; after that we'll be heading s-l-o-w-l-y back to Adelaide and then Perth to catch up with our sons and their families.

So, for us, this lifestyle is still working well, and like Sharon we'll keep wandering for as long as we can; we may eventually end up in a park somewhere, or we may just have to eventually sell the rig and try to find alternative accommodation. Once again, though, many would not be able to leave so much to chance, as they see it.

All the best in your research and desicion-making; perhaps we'll see you on the road some day!

Cheers -

Andrea & John

Thesandmans · Member

Hello everyone

Thanks so much for your replies, much appreciated.

Doug haha, you are showing your age. No our surname is actually Sandman, and the worry is as the years have gone by less and less people have asked us that question lol.

Aussietraveller your concerns are the same as we have discussed. We do realize that we will never get back into the property market to the level that we are now, as our funds are needed to travel. However that is also not what we want, and have actually been talking about downsizing anyway. Its just that we are suddenly finding we need to make decisions as in now.

We are now getting some good solid financial advice and are hoping that maybe we may be able to work things so that we do have a base, even just a little unit or as David says and RV village might even be an option. Still have to look into all that although we are a little concerned about the extra costs of maintaining your home base like insurance, council rates etc, and have been a bit shocked by some BC fees. But I do love the idea that our 'stuff' is sitting there ready to come home to if we need.

Hi Andrea

Wow you had a rough time, so glad to hear John recovered, and I love that you are still in your 'home', just shows how much you must love it. Interesting reading about property minding, I only came across that doing research yesterday and we thought that really appeals to us, we have lived on acreage and love looking after animals! Also could not help but notice your photo, this is the sort of set up we would love to have if $ allow. We know you are supposed to start small lol but we are downsizing so much we need to have as much space as we can! Hope that makes sense. Do you have more information about your rig in the forums?

Thank you again to everyone, I love reading your feedback.

So tomorrow we are off to our first ever caravan show, the one in Brisbane naturally, dont laugh I know it's taken us 50 years! Bit worried really about how much tomorrow could eventually cost us lol. We will probably have another 5000 questions after spending the day there!!

Thank you, feeling better now just chatting about this.

Vicki and Rob

Andrea · Senior Member

Thesandmans wrote:
...
So tomorrow we are off to our first ever caravan show, the one in Brisbane naturally, dont laugh I know it's taken us 50 years! Bit worried really about how much tomorrow could eventually cost us lol. We will probably have another 5000 questions after spending the day there!!
...
Vicki and Rob

I've written (bragged?) about our van several times, Vicki and Rob; just do a search on the forum for 'Southern Cross'. Their factory is in Meadowbrook, in southern Brisbane. Ours was number 11, but they're well past 50 now.

And do have a look at SC at the show tomorrow - and say 'hello' from us!

Cheers -

Andrea & John

buffy61 · Senior Member

Thesandmans wrote:

Hi everyone

What a great forum, we are newbies here and are already picking up lots of helpful info.

So here is a short intro and our situation. We are at a turning point in our lives after redundancy at age 55. Luckily we have a good home and are now on the verge of selling up after years of work, looking after big homes, big properties and more work!

We plan to head off into the sunset in a 'biggish' van or 5th and see our country, and have a well earned rest. [We know you are not supposed to start off big but we think its the only way we will cope with such a big 'downsize']

All this sounds great and it's an exciting prospect for us, but financially we may not have enough $ to buy another home/base/apartment for maybe five years.

So we are hoping that some of you have done the same or similar thing and know how this feels. For us it's very scary, looking forward to a big adventure but scared about being 'homeless' while out there. We have travelled a lot but of course always have that comfort of coming back to our lovely home.

We are having a bit of trouble getting our collective heads around this lol. Are we going to miss our comfy recliners that we so love to enjoy in front of the idiot box after dinner? Are we going to miss our big comfy bed? Loads of cupboards and storage space? Our special momentos from our trips?

Or will it be what we are hoping for..a liberating and massive cull and declutter, no more dusting, mopping and vacuuming miles of floors, loads of windows and bathrooms to clean, lawns to mow and gardens to weed.

[In the past we have travelled to Africa and become safari addicts, and hope to get back there for a very long holiday one day if we can, but right now we have our nine year old beautiful border collie to care for]

I am not expecting a miracle answer, but I would just really love to hear anyones thoughts and opinions who has been there and done this. How did you cope?

How do you get over 'leaving home'. Have you found it all worthwhile?

Thanks in advance !!

-- Edited by Thesandmans on Tuesday 3rd of June 2014 11:07:33 PM

-- Edited by Thesandmans on Tuesday 3rd of June 2014 11:08:28 PM

Well...first off, you are both young and if you choose to work to top up the kitty while you travel that is also an option! We are doing this and so far I have more work than I would like!! :)

financially, we werent in the position to keep the house AND travel in a caravan big enough for us!

I hear what you are saying about needing a decent size home to travel in.

We too are homeless, and it doesn't really bother us. If we could afford to have a home AND travel, we would do this. But renting out our home was also with problems, particularly as our home was NZ and we were in Brisbane.

Will you miss your recliners? NO! The comfy bed? NO..because you will have this in your new home! You will also have a different view as often as you want to. You can still watch TV...well, when there is a signal!!

Storage space? You make do! And as you travel you will find you need a lot less than you thought! I seriously have to consider if I want to take the new over locker with me after all!! :(

Once you get your head around the declutter in and get in the mindset of 'do I really need to buy that?' It becomes easier!

As for housework...OMG! I love that I can clean the whole van in less than an hour! Although, it does currently take me a while to do the washing with the twin tub washing machine...may need to go to the brissie show and investigate replacing that for an easier version!

Got over leaving home pretty easily as we had moved countries a few yrs prior to hitting the road! Once you just do it you will wonder why you worried so much!

have fun at the show...careful! Very easy to buy so much at those shows!!

Bebbo · Member

yes, see the SC boy's at the show, they have 3 vans on display. Andrea, number 65 now. Glad to hear John is getting better. Graham

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Seems the earlier you make the decision the better .. Yes even health wise it seems better..

Andrea & John.. Hope things work out and John gets better.. Sure brings a HUMAN side to things..

Finances come into it.. We will be renting our home out.. To my son's mother inlaw..

As said we feel if we sell ?? The way the market is in Sydney [outer] we'll never get back..

Plus we'll be helping our extended family ..

peterblack · Senior Member

hi all. dreaming of being free to travel in aussie also appeals to me but so does the security of having a home.if stuff happens. plus as others have said its a financial asset and govt doesn't asses your home.just my thoughts.
enjoy

Cupie · Guru

Welcome to the friendly forum....

Your dilemma is universal & the answer is very much an individual one. What's right for YOU is the key.

For US ..

I also got early retirement at age 57 & a bit. Fortunately, after more than 40 years of work the golden handshake was more than enough to buy our first (2nd hand) 4WD & our first (new) caravan. By the way I don't agree with the 'start small' approach. The first and only van that I have pulled is 21'6".

Being rather cautious about things financial, we decided to try out caravanning before deciding on whether or not to make it a full time thing.

As it turned out for us, full time (with or without a home base) was never a serious option. We love touring Australia but we also like overseas travel. A lifetime of superannuation contributions & a few fortunate investments enabled us to do both, while keeping the family home.

SWMBO doesn't like bush camping thou I do. We are both very involved with our grandchildren & love being a part of their young lives, while helping out with 'child minding' for our daughter.

As I am now in my early 70's we can see the time approaching when caravanning might not be the best option for us, so we will modify our travel arrangements to suit. eg. Already traded our ageing Getz for a vehicle (Mazda 3) more suited to long distance travel. Perhaps train or bus travel or even driving tours using hotels/motels or CP cabins will be options. All from our home base.

These days we enjoy shorter trips mainly to local beaches with or without our Grandchildren (eg. off to Hervey bay for a week with 2 x Grandchildren soon).

SWMBO would like to do yet another lap of the block but I'm not so sure about that.

Whatever you decide is right for you, do it soon while your health permits & good luck to you both.

sandsmere · Guru

If you have a van and vehicle to tow it with, or a motorhome, you are not homeless. smile

That's what I reckon, I reckon.

Read sheckons post . . . . . . . Have decided I am not homeless .

-- Edited by sandsmere on Friday 6th of June 2014 06:06:57 AM

-- Edited by sandsmere on Friday 6th of June 2014 06:09:23 AM

Bryan · Guru

We've decided we won't feel comfortable without a home base. We thought of a Granny flat at our son's place but we really want to be independent so we've decided to buy one of these narrow lots, all with narrow little houses clustered together. We feel with nosey neighbours within farting distance, virtually no garden, it will be ideal; for us; as a lock up and leave home base. We'll decide next week between the two suburbs that made the short list and hopefully this time next year, we would have moved in, sold our current home and be ready for the adventure to start in 2016.

It was a battle to find blocks long enough and slightly wider to squeeze a little van in as well as the house. confuse

Thesandmans · Member

Hi again everyone

Thanks again for your thoughts, lovely to read.

Well our first caravan show went well, and has fuelled the fire fortunately. Talk about initiation into the grey nomads LOL!!!

Still keen on a fifth wheeler, although concerned about some of discussions we have seen, particularly re the imported ones, which so far we are rather keen on, although some of the info seems to be a bit ambiguous. We do really like the feel of some of the U.S. ones, and are doing some more research. We spent a bit of time in one and really felt very at 'home', which we think might help with our 'heeby jeebies' lol. Dont flame us for liking the imports!!

Andrea we are going to go to the Southern Cross factory next week, the one biggish one they had on display at the show was a toy carrier so we could not really get much of an idea, and another was a bit crowded when we were there and we forgot to go back, so hoping a visit there will help. We were also very eager to see another Aussie brand/built one but the one they had on display was somewhat underwhelming, good quality build no doubt but just did not feel comfortable/welcoming, especially did not like the slide out bit which was raised and to us was a major tripping hazard.

I know we are just beginners, but when we are looking at something to live in, comfort and interiors are really important to us. Anyway I am sure there will be more about this as we go lol.

Buffy I love your advice. Cleaning the whole house in less than hour, what a treat that would be! And yes we can see now that will be able to get some of the comfort we are used to and in fact really loved some of what we saw, but of course the more we loved the more $ were needed.

AusKiwi

I agree. We have known too many people who put things off too long and then are not healthy enough to do them, we are very conscious of that and consider ourselves lucky to be able to it so young.

Peterblack

Good thought but still 12 years off pension age, so will worry about that later, we dont make plans that far ahead lol

Thanks Cupie. We too hope to spend some more time o/seas in a place that is very very dear to our hearts, Kruger National Park. We have our furbaby to consider now.

To all thanks again, loving all your comments.