FULL TIME LIVING

10.21.2025

Hoosier National Forest has no mammals? What happened to all the furry critters?

Hoosier National Forest has no mammals?

What happened to all the furry critters?

#vanlife #HoosierNational #SundanceLake #bigfoot #fulltimeliving

10.20.2025

Cold, but clear.

Cold, but clear

Cold but clear. No more rain with the high in the mid 60s.

The generator ran for five hours on a tank of gas. With an hour more and the two hours from the evening before all of the batteries were topped up with eight hours of generating. Betsy's house bank, Fatass' batteries, and a battery brick for gadget charging cost about a gallon of gas ($3). Not bad.

In Tenessee, I hope to score a sunnier spot, although even with that the weather forecast looks to be uncooperative. Cloudy, rainy days in the mix. We shall see.

I have about 10 days to go before funds replenish. Interesting.

#dispersedcamping #travelingnomad #minivanlife #HoosierNationalForest #FullTimeLiving

10.19.2025

Rain. Cold. Gas and screws. A day in the life Full Time Living

The temperatures drop to near freezing as the rain continues for another day in Hoosier National Forest. The supply run to town scored screws to fabricate a mount for the generator, some gas, and some food. #SundanceLake #dispersedcamping #HoosierNationalForest #minivanlife #generator

Rain was the main event of the day. It eventually waned at 4PM. The other two camps cleared out leaving us completely alone here at Sundance Lake. By 5 I had the generator up and running charging the battery system.

It was a bit cumbersome at the gas station trying to pump gas into the generator's tank. Spillage. I did get some in, and did get the 1 gallon gas can filled with the rest of the $20 going into Betsy's tank.

Funds are uncomfortably low. Just enough to buy a few needed groceries, screws to fabricate a hitch platform for the generator, and gas to get to Tennessee this week.

With what was in the generator's tank I got two hours of runtime. Tomorrow I will fill it up and see how long it runs and how much it charges the batteries.

Full Time Living

In 1993, I bought a 1978 Itasca Class A twenty-five foot motorhome. I thought it was going to be so cool to take my wife and children out on the open road up to the tops of mountains and down to the deepest valleys; outward to wilderness destinations and in to towns and cities near and far, big and small, exploring America, the beautiful. And, it was.

Little did I realize at the time was that I had actually purchased my dream home, and, that fifteen years later here would I be, surrounded by thousands of miles and moments of great memories of time shared with my loved ones, living the life of a full timer. Some would say tough luck brought me to this near nomadic, pseudo-hermit type of lifestyle. Some say I have become a 'fool-timer'. I say, not. Choice led by circumstance led to contentment. Life is good.

I've only been full timing since 2003 - five years. Snowbirding has not yet become part of my routine, although, the thought has crossed my mind many a cold wintry day here in Ohio. Maybe, some day. But, for now I am settled in a good spot on a friend's piece of land with plenty of firewood to burn away those dreams of warmer winter climates.

Sometimes, when I slip into a not so gracious moment and begin grumbling about everything under the sun, I wonder what has become of me. I am living in an aluminum can on wheels with a cat. Psychology might have been a pragmatic course of study back when I was in college. Not so much for illuminating what exactly is going on in my own mind, but, in the mind of those whose facial twitches betray an undercurrent of disapproving puzzlement when they learn of my unusual living arrangements - if only I could read a face - just for my own entertainment value. I love a good laugh. Who better to laugh at than myself. That, I am fairly sure, is not a sin, whereas, it is almost impossible to laugh at someone else without stepping into some bit of sinfulness. And, I do love to laugh.

I really don't have to live like this. It is not always an easy 'road to travel'. Nor, is it an easy task to convince the scoffer that full timing makes sense. To which end I can only reply,'My mind's made up... don't confuse me with the facts'.

This blog is my story.

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