Hacker News Reader

Comment by forgotmypw17 | Hacker News Reader

I loved out of a minivan for 1.5 years and it was one of the best experiences I've had. Cost almost nothing, too.

Did you work during that time? Living in a minivan and vacationing in a minivan are 2 drastically different things.

At different times, I did part-time remote work, which was more than enough to sustain me, worked as a home assistant for a family member, and did not work at all (living primarily freegan lifestyle then)

What did you do for showering, cooking, etc?

I lived out of a tent for a couple of summers. Getting a gym membership was an easy way for me to have access to showers. At the time I mostly just ate food that didn't require cooking though I certainly could have used a camp stove easily.

I showered less frequently, but there are many options out there, such as:

Friends and allies, beach and camping showers, gyms, pirate bath.

I did not cook much, and just ate things like nuts, bread, and cheese. But I had a simple wood stove that runs on little sticks. (Look up rocket can stove.)

Generally speaking, for most things, it was just a matter of "stay calm and improvise".

I had a friend doing the van living thing, he was coming by every day or so to shower at my immobile home. It got kind of old and I told him he was going to have to start cleaning it once a week to continue on. He said fine. Then he proceeded to never show up again lol other than to drop by and say howdy.

Sounds fair...

It helps to have a habit of leaving every place cleaner than you found it.

It sounds like your friend had other options, and you were able to remain friends?

Yeah I'm pretty sure it was the closeness to my house from where he parked on a relative's farm.

> I l/o/ved out of a minivan

Very telling lapsus. Or, I see what you did there.

Yeah, that was a typo, but I did love it.

Is there anyway to do this without having CPS seize your children or the school refusing their enrollment? Theoretically if you live in a minivan can you just park it in the best school district and have at it?

In the US if a child meets the definition of homeless in the McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act then schools must allow them to register without proof of residency. Children living in cars meet this definition.

Note though that homeless students can still be required to provide reasonable proof of residency in order to receive an admission preference based on where they are temporarily living.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McKinney%E2%80%93Vento_Homeles...

That sounds awesome. Might be worth looking into the best school district in the US and buying a minivan, if that life is amazing as it sounds. Property taxes would be non-existent. Wonder if we could just get 2 or 3 minivans and make a 'room' out of each one. You could use one to tow the other ones every 3rd day to avoid violating park laws, so they wouldn't even all have to run.

Most of the military kids i knew that grew up moving around every couple of years fucking hated it. Just when you were getting ready to really know some friends really well it was time to go. I would hate that. I have a few true, friends who are like family that I've known since grade school. I would hate to deny my kid those long term friendships. I'm sure it depends on the kid though.

I lived that sort of childhood for different reasons, and it was trying at times, though I didn't hate it. Life-long friendships are nice.

I don't think vanlife necessarily means a life of roaming the country without a stable location. For example, I spent most of my van living within the same couple of cities, more than half in just one.

The other thing I want to say is that the factory model of education is on its way out, and I personally would not send my child to a public school if I had a choice to home-school. Socializing and making friends is important, and I think there are better ways to socialize and make friends than in a prison-like forced boredom complex.

not everyone has that opportunity though. over here kids are so busy with learning after school that they have no time to be outside making friends, and any kid not in school would be completely isolated.

but if you are staying for a few years in the same place why not rent a house or apartment? i guess it comes down to a cost comparison. but also, in fact, if the point is to have the freedom to move then i feel renting makes me much more free, because everything i own is easy to transport, easier than a trailer even, and so the whole world becomes accessible to me. (as long as i can get a resident visa at least)

i didn't hate it but i am sure it was a big contributing factor why i didn't have any friends during school and always felt like an outsider.

I'm 99% certain it would completely suck with children. It could be cool on your own, or maybe even as a couple, but with kids I can't see it. Not to mention the social stigma the kids would face at school, especially in the best district.

I'm not so certain, if only because how many obstacles and problems people imagined for me when I told them the idea, compared with how surprisingly easy it was when I actually went for it.

I think mindset is still the biggest factor.

For example, there are all sorts of things you can get picked on for at school, and I think the most important bit is teaching them to navigate the process itself.

Going to what is almost certainly a rich kid area while your child lives out of a minivan that gets towed around every three days is 100% going to make them a social pariah and miserable at school. Maybe when they're 16 and can drive the car away on their own feelings could change.

Yeah just imagine the abuse your kid would get for living out of a van. The other kids would mock and bully your kids merciless

I think it depends on the district. Sure a rich neighborhood or private school would probably make their lives a living hell, but poor->lower middle class probably wouldn't get bullied any more than any other kid.

Not sure what poor or lower-middle class communities you've lived in, but where I grew up, kids who were insecure about being clearly being disadvantaged by society's standards made a pretty big deal about the little they did have, and readily lorded it over those who didn't. If you all lived in the same shitty apartment complex but one kid had a nice pair of kicks, it was pretty noticeable. Beyond that, the only other people in poorer communities visibly living in vans are probably severe addicts and other folks not willing to or capable of living their lives in closer step with most other folks. Those are some pretty tough social stigmas to overcome.

It's certainly more complicated if you have human children, especially if they're "on the grid" (not everyone's are).

I have very little knowledge in this area, so I won't offer advice. CPS is definitely a risk, and you have to navigate that.

Was it down by the river?

Very often it was. It is one of the best places to park. By the lake and by the ocean is great too. You can go for a swim first thing in the morning.

I'd be lying if I said the thought didn't have some appeal to me.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com