Hey there everybody, welcome back to the channel!
In today's video, I want to take through five easy steps
on how to get yourself a little more organized and
set up an efficient game plan to becoming a full-time Nomad.
Now I want to start by saying that there is no right or wrong way to do this lifestyle.
But, the point of this video today is just to kind of clear your head if you're
planning right now. Where to start with planning, and kind of a little bit of an order.
Now we'll get this list kicked off with number one, and that is to decide
what you're aiming for. And this really just means to ask yourself the question:
Why do you even want to be on the road?
What is it that you're aiming for?
And what kind of lifestyle do you really want to live?
Step 1 is really just to decide what you want as far as:
Do you want to be full-time on the road?
Do you want to just do it as a part-time thing?
Maybe work seasonal, maybe just find locations once a year. All of that is really up to you.
And like I said before, there's really no right or wrong way to do it.
Now that brings me to step 2 which is decide what you really need in your setup.
Now maybe you have some kind of work where you need to bring equipment with you, that's understandable.
That is a necessity. You want to go over your necessities first. Those are the
most important. Now a huge part of the lifestyle is really just learning how to
adapt to several different situations, based on what you decided to bring.
For example, if you're one of those people that is very temperature sensitive in
wherever you are, if you're in the winter up north and you can't sleep in the cold
you might want to have a heater in your setup. And if you're down in Florida for
the summer, you probably want some a/c.
So if you're looking to start this lifestyle off-grid and you're not looking to rely on campgrounds for
electricity and water hookups and all that, you're going to have to take into
consideration things like battery life. So having an AC system is dramatically
going to decrease your time off-grid.
The way I did it, I just kind of rebuilt the insulation. So I have great insulation inside the scamp, and with just an
exhaust fan in the top it's more than enough to keep us comfortable.
Now if you're starting this journey on a budget kind of like I did, you're going to want
to take these things into consideration and plan them out to every little detail.
Because you're going to be trading out comfort in one way or another to live
this lifestyle I can promise. You're going from living in a house where you
have constant heat, and running sink, and toilet, and all these things that you
don't really even take into consideration in a normal life until
you get on the road. So things like clothes storage, and food storage, and
having a toilet. Do you want a toilet to take up all that space inside your rig?
Or, are you okay with going out into the woods and pooping like a bear?
So to wrap up step 2 in a nutshell, it's really just deciding the definition of a "need" for yourself.
Some people might be okay with needing a toilet. Some people might be okay with needing a
little extra space for their enormous collection of clothes. This just kind of
varies for many people, so decide those things for yourself and then we can move on to step 3.
Now step 3 is going to be picking your setup.
This is going to play off of steps 1 and 2 a lot. You're gonna have to decide things like
how much living space are you really okay with? If you already have an
existing tow vehicle, what's your vehicle's tow capacity? Stay under it
it's just, stay under it! If you go over and even if you don't go over, at some
point on the road you're gonna have a problem you need to fix. And that brings
me to another point, make sure you have some cash to back yourself up.
You don't want to end up stranded. If your home is your vehicle, and your vehicle is your home,
You do not want to end up stuck in one place I can promise you. It's just a mess.
You end up having to rely on people, or hitchhiking, or something.
I've been there, and I've done that. So just take that advice for word.
You're gonna also want to think about things like clearance. Especially if you're living off-grid.
A lot of the roads leading out to those free spots are not the best. They're not
well-maintained, most of them are not paved. So make sure you've got enough
clearance underneath your setup, as well as over top and you're not hitting any
trees or anything on the way up.
Which brings me to my next point. And that's gonna be detach-ability.
So I don't even know if that's a word first of all, but basically I'll explain it to you like this.
So my camper set up, I've got my car that pulls my camper. I live off-grid a
lot of the time, so if I go up to a spot and I really like it, or if it's the only
option around and I'm so glad to find it and I do not want to lose that spot, I
can detach my camper and leave it there for whatever my allowed time limit is
and just kind of go back and forth doing what I need to do.
Whether it be going to get groceries or gas and I can leave my home in one place and detatch.
Another thing I love about being able to detach my home from my vehicle
is that I can do things like go to town and get groceries on normal gas mileage.
So down the road this will save you a lot of money in gas. If you've got
something all-in-one, you kind of have no choice, you're always towing the same
weight everywhere you go. This also brings me back to your own
specific needs. Something like, if you need to be able to be stealthy in your
setup and you need to be able to live near or around a city where you might
not be so allowed to stay. Something like a van setup is way more stealthy than
something like maybe a giant bus.
But if you are thinking about building a bus, it's a great way to go as well.
Especially for someone like me who enjoys building, I would love to have built a bus. I did look at a bus I just
had insurance problems and actually couldn't do it in Florida. It was really
really hard to find the right insurance, but basically a bus is full
customization down to the very T of detail. And if you're into mechanics, or
if you just like the thought of a big strong diesel engine. A bus can be a
great option for long term or long distance travel as well.
Now that's going to bring me to step #4 and step #4 is building your game plan.
So if you are customizing your camper or your van or bus. Whatever it is that
you're building. Draw it out! Draw it out, draw it down to every little inch, every
piece, every part, that you're gonna need inside there and try to lay it out on a list
and build yourself a budget. Having a budget and a detailed list and drawing
will make the overall game plan just so much smoother for you. It'll make it a
lot more efficient to really get what you want out of the lifestyle.
Now once you have a game plan set for your build, or if you're simply just going to buy
something ready to go. You're still gonna want to set a game plan for actual
implementation of living on the road.
So once you're out into these places, and you have your general route lined out. Look for things like
laundry or groceries. Maybe you need internet connection for work. These are a
lot of things that go back to steps 1 and 2 of what you really need in your
specific lifestyle. But you definitely want to have a game plan of how to get things done.
Now the final step is step 5, and it's got to be the most important step of all.
Follow-through.
If it's really what you want and you want to try this lifestyle out, there's nothing standing in your way
other than yourself honestly. I mean the game plan overall can be overwhelming, I
remember it myself. Looking at all these things I had to do, all these things I
had to get together, while at the same time thinking of leaving your family, or
leaving your friends behind in your hometown. It can all weigh on you pretty heavy.
But if you take it step by step, break down your game plan and just kill
things one at a time. You'll eventually get there to your goal. My specific
game plan took about a year and 4 months. And that was tied in as well with financials.
So, I set out a dedicated year to saving my money and the additional
4 months were to build the actual camper.
But here I am! I mean, I've been across the country all the way diagonal. Just seen beautiful things all the way
to the Pacific Northwest from South Florida, and now I'm heading down the coast.
I'm in California for the first day today, and life is good! I mean,
if you really want to try out this lifestyle, do it.
And that's really the best piece of advice that I can give. I mean a whole part of this lifestyle is really pushing
your limits as an individual and really kind of custom tailoring what you want out of life.
So if there's any way that I can help you do that, any way that I can help you
on your journey to becoming a nomad,
leave a comment in the box below! Any questions you might have about the lifestyle,
I would love to answer, so you can get started on a nomadic lifestyle of your own.
If you think I did a good job in this video, YouTube can be a great source
of income on the road, so click like and subscribe on my channel and it would
support me to make more videos like this one in the future.
Thank you for watching guys, and take it easy!