"Where Do You See Yourself..."

For myself, I've given it a lot of thought and decided I want the following:

I want to live in an RV permanently. I want to be able to pick up and drive anywhere I want to in the country and take my home with me.

I want to have a plot of land to park it on, with a water pipe and septic tank to connect to when I have my home parked at "home." I want to use solar for electricity, with a noisy old generator for backup so I won't have to sacrifice comfort if it's cloudy. I'll probably want a storage shed on the property. After I get the RV septic system in the ground I want to rake off all the topsoil and cover about an eighth of an acre with gravel so I won't have to mow it, and let whatever is left of the ground grow. (I don't wanna mow no mo!)

I want an RV with no motor. I want the biggest RV that can be towed by a truck. If the motor dies, I don't want to have to replace my home AND my transportation. Wherever I travel I want to be able to park my home, and then detach my truck and use it for major transport jobs.

I also want to have an electric bike on hand for running around town, but not a prebuilt. I want a bike that has been converted into an electric bike by installing a motorized wheel. That way if something goes wrong, I can pull the defective part off and replace it myself. A lot of prebuilt ebikes, if something goes wrong you have to throw it out and buy a whole new (expensive!) bike. "Why not just a regular ole bike? Why does it HAVE to be an electric bike?" Well... From what I've seen, elderly people don't have such good knees.

I want to live in a state and county where there are no building codes. Yes such places exist. That way the county can't make me build a "real" house just so they can get their tax money. When my home is "home" on my plot of land, nobody will bug me about how I live. I think I should live on a back road, ideally about two miles from the highway, to reduce the number of nosy busybodies who might poke their noses into my RV living.

Initial costs will be a bit high, but long term running will be water bill, food, gas, truck insurance, propane and a small property tax. And I'll be able to pull up stakes and take my whole home (except the shed) with me whenever I want. To my neighbors I'll be "that strange old man who lives down there, a bit odd but probably harmless."

There are a lot of people who get a camper, fifth wheel or RV when they retire.
I looked into buying one for evangelism and for business at one time. Did you know that there are natural gas generators? I bring that up because you want a generator for a home base. If / when the power grid goes down, you'll have a heat source AND electric source if you have natural gas hook up.

If I go that route I think propane would be better. There are some refrigerators that run on propane. And a lot of RV stuff is already set up for propane.

I've thought about limitations...

I like to sleep cool. I can take a lot of heat in the day, but at night I want to be cool. But running an AC to cool the whole place might be more than the batteries can sustain.

Did you know there are blankets/bedliners that cool your bed? Instead of covering up to stay warm, you can cover up to stay cool.

Yeah... That might be the first thing to be sacrificed if I get married.

For myself, I've given it a lot of thought and decided I want the following:

I want to live in an RV permanently. I want to be able to pick up and drive anywhere I want to in the country and take my home with me.

I want to have a plot of land to park it on, with a water pipe and septic tank to connect to when I have my home parked at "home." I want to use solar for electricity, with a noisy old generator for backup so I won't have to sacrifice comfort if it's cloudy. I'll probably want a storage shed on the property. After I get the RV septic system in the ground I want to rake off all the topsoil and cover about an eighth of an acre with gravel so I won't have to mow it, and let whatever is left of the ground grow. (I don't wanna mow no mo!)

I want an RV with no motor. I want the biggest RV that can be towed by a truck. If the motor dies, I don't want to have to replace my home AND my transportation. Wherever I travel I want to be able to park my home, and then detach my truck and use it for major transport jobs.

I also want to have an electric bike on hand for running around town, but not a prebuilt. I want a bike that has been converted into an electric bike by installing a motorized wheel. That way if something goes wrong, I can pull the defective part off and replace it myself. A lot of prebuilt ebikes, if something goes wrong you have to throw it out and buy a whole new (expensive!) bike. "Why not just a regular ole bike? Why does it HAVE to be an electric bike?" Well... From what I've seen, elderly people don't have such good knees.

I want to live in a state and county where there are no building codes. Yes such places exist. That way the county can't make me build a "real" house just so they can get their tax money. When my home is "home" on my plot of land, nobody will bug me about how I live. I think I should live on a back road, ideally about two miles from the highway, to reduce the number of nosy busybodies who might poke their noses into my RV living.

Initial costs will be a bit high, but long term running will be water bill, food, gas, truck insurance, propane and a small property tax. And I'll be able to pull up stakes and take my whole home (except the shed) with me whenever I want. To my neighbors I'll be "that strange old man who lives down there, a bit odd but probably harmless."

Finding a place without building codes here is a challenge. They are out there, but they get bought up quickly cause everyone else is looking for that too. County governments are all too eager to pass new codes to get more money.

Yeah.. Something like that ☝

I want to get a van and build it out into a camper van. I also want a few acres to build a home base.

Having a off grid place would be ideal I think, but I'm not sure yet what I would want to live in when I'm not traveling around and camping and such.

Finding a place without building codes here is a challenge. They are out there, but they get bought up quickly cause everyone else is looking for that too. County governments are all too eager to pass new codes to get more money.

What I'm thinking of as far as a house has changed a lot over the last couple years. I've thought about everything from tiny houses, to shipping containers, metal buildings, pole barns, etc... I just haven't settled on anything. You never know, I might end up staying right where I am. I've still got about three years before I leave factory work.

Another thing I'm slowly implementing is minimalism. I'm trying to get rid of as much stuff as I can cause I really don't want to move all that. It just needs to go!

Good topic @Lynx !

"...In (retirement) years?"

A lot of us here (not all) are single, and a good chunk of us are not kids any more. I'm only 46 but I've been thinking lately about what I want my life to be when I retire. Such thoughts got me curious about the rest of you.

For those already retired:
- What did you plan your retirement lifestyle to be like?
- Did it turn out that way or did you wind up in a different situation?
- If your plans worked out and you got the retirement you planned, was it all you hoped it would be? Would you go back and change anything if you could?
- If your plans did not work out, did you wind up in a better situation or not as good as you planned?

For those not yet retired:
- What do you plan to do with yourself after you retire?
- What housing situation do you plan to have for yourself?
- Any other details you want to add.

Of course all this is subject to change. Technology may move on and present a better option than solar. I may find a lady and get married, and she might not be too enthusiastic about permanent RV living. We may have a great technological breakthrough and finally not have to use a septic system any more. Who knows?

Sure. I've thought similarly. Seek first the kingdom. My thought... highlight the dream and then find the lady that fits. Surely He is faithful to bring along the right person to walk by your side.