We watched a video about people who are living good lives in RVs, vans, trucks, and so on, several of them very happy on around $500 a month. The program is under an hour and it certainly held my attention.

I first heard of Without Bound because Bob Wells, one of the people interviewed for this program, has a website and runs a forum at Cheap RV Living. I check in there often and share ideas with others. This program  is well worth watching if you’ve thought of wanting a simpler life. There’s a lot of discussion of how much less resources you can use this way, and how you can create the freedom to do what you most want to.  Inspiring! These people have informal get-togethers, and I hope to make it to one in the near future.

Another video is along the same lines. In just over ten minutes, a young woman describes her life in her permanently parked school bus, located in northern New Mexico. Emily Jahnsen has a degree in film production and is passionate about sustainability. Here is her program:

As both videos emphasize, there are many ways to live simply but few as simple as not having a conventional house or apartment. But doesn’t that mean you are homeless? I like how Bob Wells answers that question: he says that people are homeless because they can’t afford a conventional home, and they are unhappy about their situation. In contrast, vandwellers and others living in vehicles by choice are typically very happy about the greater freedom they have to live as they believe in. So no, they are not homeless… they just have a home that society (including friends and relatives many times) doesn’t understand.

Kelly and I have full-timed and part-timed in a variety of vehicles. See my blog post, Rolling Shelter, about the book (and ebook) Kelly wrote recently on vehicles we have lived in. And it’s already out of date… since it was published, we’ve added the motorhome we’re in now. Where will it all end?