Gyroscopic Investing

moda, I'm already accounted for. To be honest for me personally I think it is important to be with someone who counteracts some of my quirks and for us to bring each other back into balance. I think diversity in a relationship can be a big plus.

Near Big Bend National Park? I may have to look into this. I loved that area on the trips I've been there. I was fortunate enough to see the Yucca blooming there.

As for the RV idea I think I've pretty much come full circle on my ideas. Growing up poor living in a trailer park was the last thing I ever wanted.

In college I was offered the use of an RV for only the park rent. I was really afraid it would scare off the girls. I wanted to meet people and lived in the dorm for a year. While I met some great people I might have met interesting people without the expense of the dorm. Later in college I met a guy living in the trailer park. He never had a problem getting all kinds of women to go back to his place. Maybe they saw it as a kind of amusement park ride, but it certainly seemed to work for him. Looking back I think what a brat I was to not take that deal in the trailer park.

I now have a roof top tent mounted on a utility trailer that I travel with (bought it in Texas) and really wouldn't mind a larger trailer. Being mobile and letting go of possessions can be a great experience. I could definitely see living in an RV for a year or more, but that may be a ways off in the future. Meanwhile I'm contemplating a trip to Mexico this next winter in my old land rover (without the trailer).

alvinroast wrote: Near Big Bend National Park? I may have to look into this. I loved that area on the trips I've been there. I was fortunate enough to see the Yucca blooming there.

Big Bend National Park is one of the great undiscovered treasures in the U.S.  I love the contrast between the Chisos Mountains and the desert floor and Rio Grande River.  It is so far away from anywhere that few people, even Texans, go there.

Slightly off the subject:  I love the geography, but I suspect few people would want to live near there.  In the late 1980's, my New England-born wife (then girlfriend) and I took our first long trip together out there.  I had lived in Texas for most of my late-teens and twenties.  As we were driving toward the park after flying into Midland-Odessa, I told her "I feel so safe, there aren't any other people here to mess with us."  She immediately replied "I'm absolutely petrified.  There aren't any people around."   It was the first time I truly appreciated the difference between introverts and extroverts.

 

Can you live in an RV that isn't attached to the grid for a few days? For example suppose I wanted to live cheaply. If it's $20/night for a hookup/parking at an RV camp.

Can I do that for 1 night, and then leave and park out in the middle of nowhere for 1 or 2 nights? Is there a water storage thing in most RVs so I can get enough water from the 1 night of paid hookup that will last me a few short showers? Also if I am in a nice climate, perhaps I don't need A/C or heat and I can have enough power in the built in batteries that I can go without electricity hook up for a few days?

MediumTex wrote: The other night satellite photo I think is great is of North and South Korea.

I'll bet the star gazing in North Korea is awesome (if you can get the boot off your face long enough to look up):

This is the map people in North Dakota look at when they want to feel better about their night life.

TripleB wrote: Can you live in an RV that isn't attached to the grid for a few days? For example suppose I wanted to live cheaply. If it's $20/night for a hookup/parking at an RV camp.

Can I do that for 1 night, and then leave and park out in the middle of nowhere for 1 or 2 nights? Is there a water storage thing in most RVs so I can get enough water from the 1 night of paid hookup that will last me a few short showers? Also if I am in a nice climate, perhaps I don't need A/C or heat and I can have enough power in the built in batteries that I can go without electricity hook up for a few days?

Yes, most RVs have water storage and propane for cooking, however, most do not have enough batteries to run an inverter or power significant appliances for longer than a few minutes.  In the ones I've used, the batteries are sufficient to power dim interior lighting for a few nights but that's about it.  Also, the water and sewage tanks are not designed to last longer than a few days, depending on usage.  Don't expect to be able to take daily showers.  Perhaps if you limited yourself to brief showers every other day, you could make it last half a week.

The last time I used an RV was in the 80s, though, so take all this with a grain of salt.  I'm sure they have new RVs with solar arrays and rows of batteries that allow you the luxuries of home, but I'm guessing the cost for those is also significant.

Storm wrote:

TripleB wrote: Can you live in an RV that isn't attached to the grid for a few days? For example suppose I wanted to live cheaply. If it's $20/night for a hookup/parking at an RV camp.

Can I do that for 1 night, and then leave and park out in the middle of nowhere for 1 or 2 nights? Is there a water storage thing in most RVs so I can get enough water from the 1 night of paid hookup that will last me a few short showers? Also if I am in a nice climate, perhaps I don't need A/C or heat and I can have enough power in the built in batteries that I can go without electricity hook up for a few days?

Yes, most RVs have water storage and propane for cooking, however, most do not have enough batteries to run an inverter or power significant appliances for longer than a few minutes.  In the ones I've used, the batteries are sufficient to power dim interior lighting for a few nights but that's about it.  Also, the water and sewage tanks are not designed to last longer than a few days, depending on usage.  Don't expect to be able to take daily showers.  Perhaps if you limited yourself to brief showers every other day, you could make it last half a week.

The last time I used an RV was in the 80s, though, so take all this with a grain of salt.  I'm sure they have new RVs with solar arrays and rows of batteries that allow you the luxuries of home, but I'm guessing the cost for those is also significant.

Back in 2001-3 I had a small trailer-type RV with only a 30 gallon water tank, two propane tanks, and two 12-volt batteries. With the help of a solar panel and a portable generator I was able to camp with my daughter for significantly longer than half a week, even with brief showers. My daughter was even able to watch some TV. I lived this way for two years after my wife died (she would have never done it). Pulled the rig all the way to Alaska from Florida and back, camping in free or cheap campgrounds.

If I hadn't remarried my dream was to eventually buy a pickup camper, equip it with solar panels and plenty of batteries and live totally off the grid. With a rig like that you could get away with parking it on the street and nobody would know the difference if you didn't stay too long. When I was looking into it I remember seeing one that had a slide-out kitchen and an 80 gallon water tank. What more could a man ask for?

My second wife is from the Philippines and grew up showering and washing clothes in a bucket so my dream rig wouldn't seem like much of a hardship to her. Currently we're planning on retiring to the Philippines but we may still try out the dream for a while.

HB Reader wrote: Big Bend National Park is one of the great undiscovered treasures in the U.S.

Agreed. Spent some time hiking through it back in 1996 or thereabouts. I remember there was one place you could just walk across the border at a narrow place along the Rio Grande into a small Mexican town and there were no border guards to be seen.

Also remember almost starting a forest fire while camping on top of the Chisos mountains by foolishly setting a match to some used toilet paper during a very dry period. I managed to put it out in a panic but I came within seconds of getting my name in the news.

As for the rest of West Texas, I have very pleasant memories of good Mexican food.

jackh wrote:

HB Reader wrote: Big Bend National Park is one of the great undiscovered treasures in the U.S.

Agreed. Spent some time hiking through it back in 1996 or thereabouts. I remember there was one place you could just walk across the border at a narrow place along the Rio Grande into a small Mexican town and there were no border guards to be seen.

Also remember almost starting a forest fire while camping on top of the Chisos mountains by foolishly setting a match to some used toilet paper during a very dry period. I managed to put it out in a panic but I came within seconds of getting my name in the news.

As for the rest of West Texas, I have very pleasant memories of good Mexican food.

If I recall correctly, the little Mexican town is/was Boguillas, or something like that.  It was amazing to simply walk across a sandbar and hop over a few stones given how the rest of the border is/was so protected.  I guess that area is/was so remote in both the US and Mexico that even smugglers usually find easier routes.   

I think I just found either the most awesome trailer high-rise structure I've ever seen, or the most dangerous...

If you could pull up the stairs it might be very defensible for the coming zombie apocalypse...

Storm wrote: I think I just found either the most awesome trailer high-rise structure I've ever seen, or the most dangerous...

If you could pull up the stairs it might be very defensible for the coming zombie apocalypse...

  Where on Earth did you find this wonderful jungle gym for completely fearless adults?

Lone Wolf wrote:

Storm wrote: I think I just found either the most awesome trailer high-rise structure I've ever seen, or the most dangerous...

If you could pull up the stairs it might be very defensible for the coming zombie apocalypse...

  Where on Earth did you find this wonderful jungle gym for completely fearless adults?

Someone posted it on Facebook.  I honestly have no idea where this is.

What do you mean dangerous? Every stairwell and deck there seems to have handrails. That's an awesome pic. I suppose the only real danger might be earthquakes.

alvinroast wrote: What do you mean dangerous? Every stairwell and deck there seems to have handrails. That's an awesome pic. I suppose the only real danger might be earthquakes.

That pic's been around the internet for at least a few years.  I remember seeing it back in 2007 or so.

It looks like some kind of white trash Shangri-La.