Letting Go
Are you familiar with the country song by Suzy Bogguss called “Letting Go”? It’s a drippy song about a child moving out and the parents letting go. This post is nothing like that touching song.
This is about Andrew coming up with an idea for moving out. He just let his parents in on this idea last week. He wants to buy an old cargo van and live in it on the street. Not quite homeless but almost.
I think that I showed great restraint when he presented this plan. I am showing great restraint as I write this.
He has researched this on the web. He says he can get a gym membership for a place to shower. He will live on non-perishable dry goods and eat out.
I told him that we should put this out as a poll so his siblings and family and friends could weigh in.
So go ahead, leave a comment and vote.
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April 27th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Sounds like an idea I would have come up with. Still sounds like an idea I would come up with…
April 27th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
It does sound like something you would do IngerLis, also, I could see Ammon or Tommy (a single Tommy) doing it. Am I the only sane one in the family?
April 27th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Been there done that (ironic, I know). I lived out of my VW bus for a few months between homes. May I recommend a camp stove to cook on next to the cargo van, you can’t live on the garbage they sell at restaurants.
I loved being in the bus while I was moving. Having a new destination, a new bike ride, a new trail to hike, a new mountain to climb or whatever I wanted was a blast. When I had to settle in one place for long, it got old quick. You can only get kicked out of so many parking lots at 2 am before you wish you had something permanent. It’s hard to believe, but people don’t like it when a kid in a cargo van decides to park in front of their house. Camping spots get expensive. In Seattle humidity, jeans mold in the closet of a VW bus. Non-perishable dry goods+no vacuum = lots of crumbs that attract bugs.
I have some very fond memories of nights spent in that bus in some wonderful locations, but it’s not as glamorous or easy as it sounds. If you’re as high as Jack Karouac, anything sounds fun.
April 27th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
Go for it! There will never be a better time for such a wild idea as now. It sounds like fun every time I see a van pass by rigged to live in, but we recently visited a park behind Walmart by the freeway that had a few vans parked that people were living out of permanently, and not by choice… it was an ugly scene, definitely not fun.
Just do yourself a favor and get a van actually designed for such a thing (like a Volkswagon or something… at least you can raise the roof so you can stand up and they have sinks built in), that would make your idea more sustainable.
Oh, and be sure to park in places where you won’t be fined or have your “home” impounded.
Your idea would make the most sense if you plan on traveling around.
Don’t let your girlfriend’s parents see where you live.
April 28th, 2009 at 7:36 am
I must say it sounds kind of interesting. I dont think its quite my thing though. I have a strange deep seated need to own land and I love my backyard.
Our neighbors had thier son and daughter in law do that but they parked in front of the house, it took up a lot of good parking space.
P.S. the poll is great but if Andrew is like anyone else in the family he will do what he wants, regardless of what we think!
April 28th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
I think Jay and I are the only ones that said “Go for it!” I agree that if Andrew was going to live out of a van, now would be the best time. When you’re older you will know better but if you do it now you will look back on the memories and thank yourself for doing it while you were young.
I see this as one of those young indian things…go live in a van down by the river…and hope to survive. You have to use your skills of finding burgers and chips and keeping your van clean enough that bugs don’t take over. I see this as a very spiritual experience that will make Andrew a better person.
Once you’re married the idea goes out the window. If it seems to work out well, this could be a very economical way to live during college.
April 28th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
My companion and I are actually thinking about this right now. We’re about to get kicked out of our place and the stake has yet to find a place for us to live, so we were thinking about just living in our car.
I think you need to make sure that you have a power source that won’t kill the car battery, what would you do if you couldn’t play your bass?
May 31st, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Red, it sounds like something my second oldest son (now age twenty) could come up with at any given moment. In fact, this could be a conversation I may have already had with him. I can only compliment and tell you that it takes a really intelligent and patient set of parents to have raised a child so gifted that he has the ability to think outside of the box.
Hence, you should think outside the box, too. A possible response would be that this would not be legal because every person needs to have a return address on their outgoing mail.
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:52 pm
It’s now or never, years will pass jobs and children will come. Don’t look back on your life and wish that you would have done something wild and crazy, do it! Sorry Mom I am sure that is not what you wanted to hear, but I am sure Andrew will be fine. May I also suggest finding a way to volunteer all that time you will be saving (without the TV, and other time wasters of home). Think of the Volunteers of America, soup kitchens, big brothers ect.