(Inconspicuously Homeless and Self Unemployed)
LIVING IN THE NATIONAL FORESTS
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Little did I know in 2007 that just a few years into the future I'd be living in my van. It isn't
the best place to turn SIXTY years old.
Several events happened around that year. My landlady had passed away and her husband decided to sell the house I'd rented for a dozen years. The shop where I'd worked part time was undergoing some changes and would eventually be sold. And my mother would pass away. The house was located across the street from where my sister owned her home and my mother had a bedroom in her house and mine. It worked out as I could mow her lawn and mine at the same time, without having to load up and travel across town. If she needed any repairs, I was just a phone call (and a minute) away. Most of my life I've been unemployed or working for minimum wage. At sixty, I doubt there are any job openings for me. I buy stuff at yard sales and sell them on the side of the road. So I make enough to pay my auto insurance, license tag, and gas to get to the next national forest or campground. Luckily, I learned about these and that most are free for up to two weeks, then you have to move only about twnety five miles. And you start your camping experience all over. Since I don't mind eating food from the can, I buy groceries when I have enough to pick up deals. As I look back, it comes to me that I'd never gone camping. EVER! I've slept in my car at the beach or in a sleeping bag for a night or two (borrowed because I never needed one). I don't hunt or fish. But I'm a good horse trader. So I can trade stuff I pick up at yard sales for cash or food. Another thing I've learned to live without is COOLING. That means I don't buy ice. Most of my food and drink is at room temperature. One good thing is I've cut out soda pop from my 'diet'. Mostly I drink tea, coffee, and water. Once in awhile hot chocolate. I picked up a coffee pot and a propane stove at a yard sale for five bucks. The tanks cost about three dollars each, but last quite awhile. Shopping is a learning experience. The fact is, the dollar stores are my main source of food. They are much cheaper than Wal-Mart or most grocery stores. Their off-brand soups are okay. And they have trail mix (banana chips, raisins, dates, peanuts) for a couple bucks a bag. Their crackers are a little over a buck. There are about a dozen really good food items (kinda salty, though) that are meat and a buck. Like potted meat (3 for a dollar), Vienna sausages (2 for a dollar) and various spam like items. Oats are cheap. A two week supply for breakfast is about $2.00. I don't keep anything cold and don't care for milk, so my oats get a sprinkle of cinnamon. And a little extra hot water. YUM! The public libraries provide me free access to the internet and books. Most have book sales year round and a small box full of good books costs about two dollars. After I get finished reading the books, I resell them, and get some grocery or gas money. I don't get a check or a pension. So I live from day to day. Usually it only costs a few gallons of gas to move to the next camping area. Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama have a lot of National Forest land. So a person can see the country (U.S.A.) for very little expense. I hope to spend the summer of 2010 in Kentucky. They say it has a lot of flea markets and swap meets. So maybe I can just bounce from one to another and cover my expenses. Which are few. 
Here I am sitting on a rock next to a creek at the Albert Pike Rec Area in southwest Arkansas. This is one of the places where you can stay free for thirty days if you're outside the fancy campground. They have hot showers. It's about twenty five miles to town and way out in the middle of nowhere. It's actually rare to find a campground area where the 'free' campers can use the hot showers and get access to water. Many times I fill up about a dozen water jugs while doing laundry. There just isn't any way to avoid this expense. But when the weather is nice, I rarely use the dryers. A NOTE: There are a lot more homeless people than the government wants anyone to know about. The National Forests are full of them. Most have traded up to a tent and haven't been living in a cardboard box. The people I meet are really nice. They had good jobs, but were way over their heads in debt for houses and cars and fancy toys. When the bust hit, they had no choice but to move out and instead of going to live with relatives, they chose the forests. I also meet a lot of people living at flea markets and swap meets. Luckily for them, there are thousands of these places dotting the United States. Flea Marketing and selling at Swap Meets creates a way for people to feed their families. I do this and it is really the only way to survive. There just isn't any program I'd qualify for. I'm in the group least likely to need or get assistance. Single male. When I turn sixty two the Social Security check will probably only be a few hundred dollars a month. Not enough to afford food and a place to live. And cover general expenses. My meager savings is pretty much gone. After trading around a few vehicles, I've got a nice big cargo van. It only gets about 12 mpg and so I try not to move too far at one time. After I got it I had to replace the front end last year. This year it required two new tires and a battery. So it eats up more resources than I do. But it's home and no options but to keep it running. There haven't been any car payments in my life for several years. That's made all the difference in how I live my life. Insurance twice a year, a tag/license plate each year, are my main required expenses. A whole lot cheaper than rent. Actually, together (about $450 a year) they are less than a month rental. The two pictures above were taken at campgrounds about 35 miles apart or less than $10 in gas. So this is six weeks total camping in one move. I stopped at the grocery store in Glenwood, AR on the way. Also a Dollar General and Family Dollar within about three blocks of each other and I usually go to both for the deals. 
Another great thing about the national forests, there's always some campfire wood nearby. Nearly every campground has 'free' campsites with tent pads, fire pits and port-a-pots. |
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This page has been visited Counter Added 8:00AM central - Feb. 17, 20077 |