
These young SF professionals choose to live in RVs - auctiontheory
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/These-young-SF-professionals-choose-to-live-in-RVs-4778625.php
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SwellJoe
I've been living in a motorhome for nearly five years now. Mostly travelling
full-time. I parked for a total of about 3 months in the Palo Alto and
Mountain View areas on a couple of occasions...just on the street. I have
solar power, and propane for cooking and running the fridge, and big water
tanks, so I can go weeks without hooking up. Mine is quite a bit larger than
Tynan's at 34.5', but I think my next rig may be smaller. There's definitely
value in being able to drive/park anywhere, and my current rig does not have
that quality.

I started out in Mountain View; was paying $2145/month to rent a house. The
motorhome lifestyle isn't significantly cheaper, when travelling a lot, but it
has a lot of other advantages. At least, for me, the advantages outweigh the
negatives.

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da02
What's the gas mileage when traveling on a highway?

Do you know of any others who did this in other countries?

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sanswork
I get about 10mpg with mine(30' with an E450 chassis).

Not so much young people but Australia has "Grey Nomads" who tend to be
retired people that spend their time travelling around the country living in
their RVs full time.

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SwellJoe
The oldtimers in RVs are called Snow Birds here in the US. They are the
predominant group living fulltime in RVs here. I've met a lot of retirees in
my travels.

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thorum
Obligatory link to Tynan's excellent blog:
[http://tynan.com/?sort=rank](http://tynan.com/?sort=rank)

~~~
kristofferR
And here's a couple of post he's made about his RV:

[http://tynan.com/rv2012](http://tynan.com/rv2012) (2012 Walkthrough)

[http://tynan.com/living-in-a-small-rv-introduction](http://tynan.com/living-
in-a-small-rv-introduction)

His book about his RV-lifestyle:

Tynan Smith - How To Live In Luxury on the Side of the Road in an RV

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006XLK2LW](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006XLK2LW)

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asciimo
Does anyone recongnize the Famous Pickup Artist? [http://tynan.com/how-i-
became-a-famous-pickup-artist-part-1](http://tynan.com/how-i-became-a-famous-
pickup-artist-part-1) Note that he garnered this reputation prior to living in
an RV.

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drpgq
I was wondering if that was him. Certainly reading about him over the years.
I'm not surprised he's living in an RV.

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schmrz
You read the whole article (while ignoring the fact that you have to follow a
link to get to the second page) and then the last sentence is that he's not
really living in his car anymore. What's the point of this article?

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patio11
_What 's the point of this article?_

A fairly safe sentence: This article cost less to write than it will make in
ad revenue.

Another fairly safe sentence: What is the point of any arbitrary article you
find in a newspaper?

The dangerous sentence follows that one.

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mattchew
Ooh, ooh, does it also start with "what is the point . . . "?

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ganeumann
The article mentions that it's illegal. Is that enforced? How would they know
you're living in the RV? Do you have to move the RV every day because of
parking rules?

I'm wondering why nobody does this in NYC (at least, that I know of.)

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ams6110
NYC can get really cold in the winter. RVs are not really well insulated;
they're designed to be used in the summer; few people go camping in the
winter. It would be expensive to heat at best, or you'd have to add a lot of
insulation.

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VLM
Most traditional RVs or even conversion vans like the rialto have more or less
uninsulated plumbing which will be destroyed the moment it goes below freezing
unless you winterize which is a huge pain, or have the plumbing removed or
convert a van yourself and simply never install A minimal van conversion
probably consists of little more than blackout curtains and a sleeping bag...
If you're willing not to have plumbing, you could probably buy a conversion
van without working plumbing fairly cheap. Much as houses with destroyed
plumbing tend to go pretty cheap.

As a homeowner with occasional $400 heating bills in the frozen north I
disagree with expensive to heat. RVs, especially conversion vans, are small
vehicles. My parent's RV furnace literally physically could not burn $400 of
propane in its furnace per month if it ran 24x7, which of course it doesn't.

This is a solved problem in the frozen north because of two hobbies probably
not very popular amongst the most urban SF residents... deer hunting and
snowmobiling. RVs get quite a bit of use indeed for those activities (I don't
personally do either, but I do enjoy snow shoeing and there's nothing better
than a RV at the end of the trail). Its much colder than NYC where the locals
use RVs, its really no big deal.

Another interesting point is if rent costs $3000/mo in Manhattan, you need to
calculate how much propane you can burn to meet $3000/mo... I think you'll
rapidly determine you could live inside an operating (small) rocket engine for
$100 of propane per night.

The primary insulation problem is sound insulation not so much heat
insulation.

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alexdevkar
I like reading about RV-living and micro-apartments in a similar way as I
liked reading Into the Wild. There's lots to like, but I'd never actually do
it. I just don't think I could get comfortable with the sacrifice of comfort
and safety (even if it is only a perceived reduction in comfort and safety).
And plus my wife would divorce me.

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VLM
Try a live aboard sailboat rather than the land-bound cousins. Some women find
a dude owning a boat is an aphrodisiac. Most male boat owners have the
inaccurate belief that percentage is 100% (its probably only about 50%).
Source: I sailed a lot as a teen (although not a live aboard).

The funniest part of the whole situation, that I've observed, is the women see
this guy spending like a drunken sailor on the boat, assuming that means 1)
he's wealthy, I mean obviously he owns a 29.9999 foot yacht 2) he can spend
money on me the same way as he spends on the boat. And usually it does not
work out that way.

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samspenc
Just FYI: rents are similar in NYC, though I doubt people would use an RV here
since: (1) parking is limited (2) parking is expensive (3) hard to find
parking which also provides power and gas.

Question though: how do people living in RVs shower? Monthly membership at a
gym? (Asking because a friend suggested that was likely the case.)

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msisk6
Most RVs over 20-foot or so have showers with hot and cold water. A lot of
campgrounds for RVs also have showers along with laundry facilities. Gym
memberships are common, too.

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ccallebs
I'm doing this in Austin currently. Inspired by Tynan, I got a Rialta as well
and have been using it as an exercise in minimalism. So far, it's worked out
very well, even in the extreme heat.

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toddnessa
That's what I like about the mind of an entrepreneur- the ability & desire to
innovate.

San Francisco has through the roof high rent? Well, why not innovate & live in
an RV? An innovative way to overcome the problem of containing personal costs.
Also, this is a way to actually own something that can open up some very cool
travel possibilities as well.

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protomyth
I get the feeling if you're going to "innovate" RV living, you'll do it in
North Dakota and not SF. Lot of people with a lot of money now and a housing
market that hasn't caught up.

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wyclif
Too cold in ND for RV living in the winter; no insulation.

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protomyth
uhm, well, they have been doing it for a couple of winters now

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wyclif
Sure, it can be done. People do a lot of crazy things. But it's not
sustainable.

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protomyth
The other thing is that they build RVs with insulation that can handle the
winter.

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Sukotto
Are there RV parks in SF that are on within a reasonable walk/bike of a main
public transportation line?

I may have the option of moving to SF for work in the next 6 months and am
trying to get a feel for what options are available.

Since the general consensus is that housing is ludicrously expensive I was
tentatively thinking about RV or boat as a more frugal option.

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kansface
There are no RV parks in SF. There are hardly any parking lots- most of those
are quite small so a RV couldn't stay there. At best, you could find a parking
space for a few hundred dollars a month.

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VLM
He specifically lives in an ancient VW Rialto. Its a conversion van. From the
outside it looks like a van, because it is one. Anywhere you can park a
"normal" van you can park a Rialto. You've probably parked nearby one, or a
modern sibling, in a grocery store or something without even knowing it.

You can't get away with that using a full size class A, or even a little pop-
up trailer.

Real RVers know the real problem of RVs for road trips or urban live aboard is
finding a dump station downtown. I suppose you can always use the local mega
corp parking lot. Antics like that are what leads to attempts to ban RVs, of
course.

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ams6110
Randy Quaid in _Christmas Vacation_ .... "shitter was full!"

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rvivek
Average rent for a 1-BR is $2990/month in Castro? Come on.

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brackin
No one lives in a 1 bed. I share a 6 bed in castro and it's way more
affordable per person.

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jonknee
Then what's with all the 1BR's up for rent?

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hayksaakian
Supply and demand

