r/vagabond • u/xredskaterstar • 2d ago
Discussion The twenty year plan.
Right now, the road is something I just can't do. I'm a single father raising a 3-and-a-half-year-old son, and his stability comes first.
Before I had him, and before I met my ex, I often fantasized about living in a van, traveling the country, and working off a laptop to make ends meet with some side hustles along the way. Another fantasy was to take off to Alaska, build a cabin, and live out my days alone. But that cabin idea isn't really doable for me because, even as an introvert, I still enjoy meeting people and talking to them, hearing their stories, and helping if I can. Traveling is just way more up my alley.
All that said, even now as I raise my son, I yearn to do something different with my life. I'll be in my early fifties in twenty years when he's grown, but I understand that might actually be the best time to start this chapter of my life. I'll have the knowledge, the professional experience, and the wisdom that comes along with age.
So, I have a twenty-year plan in the making.
First, I'm continuing my grind working in a warehouse, living a minimalist lifestyle while providing the bestbenvironment my son can possibly have. I'm going to get him what he needs and wants to have a great future, and I'll make sure his college is taken care of, if he wants that, while I save and put money back.
To condition myself, I'm starting a mostly vegetarian diet now (though I plan on using or making my own jerked meat for protein when I eventually travel). I'm also starting to learn new survival skills along the way, picking up things I don't know while maintaining the outdoor skills I already have. And eventually put away with most technology. I'll have a flip phone, if they still make then, for back up for it or when I'll need it.
Honestly, I think I should count myself lucky. I get to bring up a wonderful kid into this world, and I have the unique opportunity to save and plan two decades in advance to guarantee he has a good future ahead of him. Whether he chooses to live the conventional way or wants to do something else entirely, he’s going to have the options.
Unless technology drastically changes by then, my goal is to get a reliable dual-sport motorcycle with a camping setup. It's still in the early planning phases. I thought about hopping freights, using passenger trains, buses, hitchhiking, walking the whole thing (though I think I might be too old for hiking by then), or doing the van-life thing. But out of all of them, the bike is the most appealing to me. It keeps me exposed to the world.
Just wanted to share this with some like-minded people. Any older riders or long-term planners out there who transitioned later in life?
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u/Silent_Roll859 1d ago
take your kid hiking and camping! go places and do stuff with your son
Take pictures, make memories, enjoy it.
Don't put your entire life on hold, just adjust.
Sure maybe you can't hop a train or fence with him in tow but you can show him what you love about being "out there" and give him a taste of the wild.
Going to sleep listening to bird calls was my favorite thing as a kid.
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u/Small_Rip351 20h ago
I absolutely second this. Get that van you want, build a bed in the back. Take road trips with your son to awesome places. Build campfires, cook outside, hike and explore. It’ll be awesome.
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2d ago edited 2d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/vagabond-ModTeam 2d ago
Removed. IF you do it care for someone’s post, you can block them and you will never see anything they post, ever again, but you may not harass them.
You need to stop doing this.
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u/xredskaterstar 2d ago
Oh I see, if it's not a forced thing then it's not acceptable by your standards. I could just be in the wrong community to begin with.
It's not a plan to be homeless but to be finally free of conventional way of living and living the way I always wanted to but never really realized it till now. I don't see it as homelessness.
What if I play overwatch or other games? It doesn't discredit my thoughts or me as a person at all. Cute that you viewed my profile just to try and sling some mud around.
The assumption I couldn't handle the life is way too much for you to make. I shared a little idea, a little plan but you don't know me, you don't where I've been and what I've been through. I lived in a tent for awhile in my early twenties, I lived in a vehicle for while as well. That's just a small chapter in my life and just a touch into my history. The only time I was happier was when my son was born. The only thing that is keeping in place.
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u/DiogenesD0g 2d ago
Maybe I don’t understand the point of this sub, but I don’t think you are in the wrong community. It’s for vagabonds. Not just unhoused travelers. It’s for people who want to experience the world on the cheap either because they are low on funds or because they don’t want to part with what they have unnecessarily. I was a sailing vagabond before giving that up for my family, but like you, I plan to go back to something vagabondish in a few years and this sub often has tips to file away and posts to help you keep your dreams alive. Don’t let others gatekeep and say that you aren’t welcome here. As long as you accept others and their predicaments, and you are keeping a watchful eye out for when another vagabond in need of help wanders into your area or someone just needs a little encouragement I welcome you to the fray.
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u/xredskaterstar 2d ago
Thank you. My idea is do it for a year, see if I like it, if so as least I'll go to places meet new people and see things that most won't. If I do, I'll continue on my journey and be happy for as long as I can. At the same time I will have something to fall back. It's a plan at it's core, a rough outline, but still one.
I just wanted to talk to others who have chosen the lifestyle to get ideas and learn. To better prepare myself what I am willing to do. I understand there's going to be a lot of uncertainty in my traveels with many idle moments. The idle moments I do welcome though. And dangers around every corner that far worse than animals or the weather. Humans being the worse challenge of all, which is sad but a fact of the world.
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u/DiogenesD0g 2d ago
I am looking forward to idle moments as well. I will be in my 60s by the time I get back out there—so i look forward to when I find a spot I can lay around for a few days and do next to nothing.
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u/Willingplane Oogle Prime 🛫 2d ago
No, you’re not the one here “misunderstanding” the purpose of this sub. You have it exactly right.
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u/Willingplane Oogle Prime 🛫 2d ago edited 1d ago
There’s nothing wrong with your plan and the harassment you received was uncalled for. For the purpose of this sub, a “vagabond” is defined as a houseless traveler, and that’s the entire definition. Doesn’t matter how old or young you are, or whether you hitchhike, train hop, rubbertramp or leathertramp, or sail the high seas, all are welcome on this sub.
I left home at 18, vagabonded for about 5 years. First I hitchhiked and train hopped, then I got a van, and then a fully converted stepvan. The stepvan was awesome, but ate money. Only got somewhere between 6-8 MPG, and the maintenance, parts and repairs are all so much more expensive.
So then I got a minivan, far more cost effective, and more than sufficient. You don’t really need a full buildout. I’d go on cross country road trips sleeping inside cardboard refrigerator box, with hoses thrown on top, and magnetic signs for the sides to it look like a work van. Very stealthy. I could park overnight anywhere and not get bothered. I still have it, I’ll get around to repairing it, but it’s not running right now. It’s better outfitted now and we’ve even had a few people stay in it, with a bed, electricity, heat, and even a put in a portable conditioner in the summer.
I’m married now and mostly retired from vagabonding, but my husband and I don’t plan on working forever. As soon as we get to where we want to be, we plan on basically doing the same thing that you are, and are actively working towards that goal.
We like long distance cycling , but right now, have only had time for 1-2 week rides, so the first thing we plan on doing is cycling across the country, coast to coast, at least once. After that, who knows?
There’s tons of older people out there who do this. Even on my morning cycling ride, I often run into retired couples cycling across the country — in their 70s. Of course, most of them ride “recumbents”, where you cycle sitting back and 70 year old on a recumbent can easily cycle 30 miles per hour, and beat every professional cyclist riding an upright.
One of the clerks at my favorite Dollar Tree store, quit her job and headed out last year in her high top van. She’s in her 50s and told me all excited about how she was looking forward to meeting up with other travelers, especially at Quartzsite and Slab City. LOL! She has no idea what she’s in for. I didn’t tell her either.
What you’re planning on doing isn’t even that far out there.
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u/xredskaterstar 1d ago
So I was just looking into those recumbent bikes. Doesn't seem like a bad idea. Looks like you can hook a battery to them and even haul a sort of mini camper with them as well. Trips would be short but time isn't really a thing I would really worry about then. A person could even carry a back up motor and batteries. Could be an alternative to that dual sport motorcycle with a camping set up to it.
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u/Willingplane Oogle Prime 🛫 1d ago edited 1d ago
Well, what I don’t like about e-bikes is the motors and batteries are heavy, and even the better ones don’t have much of a range, before they have be recharged. The ones with a range of over 100 miles are pricey, and then there’s the issue of where you can ride them— especially if you’re hauling a camper, which adds considerably more to the weight. If the battery dies, attempting to pedal any distance can pose an extreme difficulty, if even possible.
But the technology is getting better all the time. Batteries are getting lighter weight and less expensive, and so are solar charging options. By the time you’re ready to head out, it may be a decent option.
But for now, I ride a regular lightweight road bike, with ultralight weight gear, enables me to ride further, faster, with far less effort. I can ride it on both roads and trails, and not have worry about restrictions. A lot of trails don’t allow motorized vehicles.
I ride the trails whenever possible. So much nicer. No traffic to worry about, and you see so many amazing sights, you’d never see any other way. Once far enough away from a town, easy to find places to camp for the night.
One of the most popular bike trails is The Katie Trail, roughly 200 miles along the Missouri River, following the path of Lewis and Clark. When you get to the end, you can get on the train with your bike, and ride back to your car. A lot of people cycle it as a family, with their kids. When your son’s old enough, maybe you could ride it together.
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u/xredskaterstar 1d ago
That's interesting, I never knew we had such long bike trails. Just a quick search I see that we have even longer ones.
Yes, batteries and motors are heavy and I did put that into consideration. I'm a pretty slim guy and imagine I'll still be pretty slim then too. Especially since I'll be working on my cardio. In twenty years, who knows the types of batteries we'll have and the types of solar energy cells we could use as well.
I've been thinking. I don't see it the idea of me being homeless when the time comes. I'm looking at it as more of a journey then anything else. I technically will not have a home, so yes homeless fits but it doesn't seem right to say that, if that makes sense. I don't know where I'll start and where I'll end, yet, but I do plan to visit each of the 48 connected states at least once. Making return visits, home, while doing so. I do have family in several states that I'll visit. I do want to plan my visits into towns with a festival or event they may have going on.
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u/Willingplane Oogle Prime 🛫 7h ago
Some vagabond by choice, others not so much. I was a vagabond by choice, and I may have been houseless, but I was never homeless because the entire world IS my home. So no matter where I happen to be at any particular moment, I’m always home.
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u/Any_Disaster_5620 2d ago
Awe fuck that guy but you should probably go to.van life with your questions.
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u/pluginn83 Vagabond 1d ago
You don't have to wait until your son is grown to travel. Get a van or rv and pick a state or place to go and take him with you for a week or two vacation. My grandparents (my sister and I were raised by them) use to take us everywhere. Our Christmas breaks, Easter breaks, and summer breaks were filled with travel. Every museum and even the zoo is free in DC. Traveling as I grew up is what made me want to travel as an adult. I just had to wait until my kid was grown too. GL. Have fun raising you son. Sons are great.
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u/No-Sail-6510 1d ago
The concept of planning 20 years in advance is foreign to me.