Who was it that said that a cynic is nothing but an idealist who has been disappointed once too often? Perhaps it's time to admit that I was a romanticist and idealist in wanting to live permanently in an old mining town, and live car-free. I certainly made it work for about three years, and must make some effort to see it as a partial success from the big picture perspective.
A non-RVer must find halfway desireable and affordable housing within walking/cycling/bus distance of a grocery store and other necessities. Usually he would need a job to live in such a place, unless he likes living in a pit-bull-filled barrio or next door to a meth lab. It's why most people need cars to increase their search radius -- and James Howard Kunstler be damned.
An off-the-road RVer should have some advantages over a regular house or apartment renter. The RVer is providing the "house" after all; he just needs a patch of gravel to park it on. Still, RV parks are usually miles away from shopping, and located on a busy highway. There are downtown "trailer parks" which are very cramped or full of undesireables.
The best type of luck for a newbie geezer like me would have been to find a 55+ RV park that allowed car-free living. This town is just a bit too small for that.
It's also too small for an official cycling or hiking club, which made it harder to meet people in town. It's all very well to romanticize walking down the stairs from an above-an-art-gallery apartment downtown to a bagel or coffee shop, and then running into a friendly crowd of regulars who actually know my name. I even had a small bit of success with that. But do I need to cling to such a modest success?
I was at the mercy of one RV park and a handful of neighbors. When the luck finally wears out, there's nothing left but stoic resignation or getting back "on the road."
It brought a wry smile to my face to consider getting my rig back in shape to get on the road. I actually had to try to remember the details! Let's see now, which way do you turn the steering wheel when you want to back to the right? Gee, maybe I should study one of those "how to be an RVer" websites. Grin. (Seriously many of them are quite useful to newcomers to RVing.)
A non-RVer must find halfway desireable and affordable housing within walking/cycling/bus distance of a grocery store and other necessities. Usually he would need a job to live in such a place, unless he likes living in a pit-bull-filled barrio or next door to a meth lab. It's why most people need cars to increase their search radius -- and James Howard Kunstler be damned.
An off-the-road RVer should have some advantages over a regular house or apartment renter. The RVer is providing the "house" after all; he just needs a patch of gravel to park it on. Still, RV parks are usually miles away from shopping, and located on a busy highway. There are downtown "trailer parks" which are very cramped or full of undesireables.
The best type of luck for a newbie geezer like me would have been to find a 55+ RV park that allowed car-free living. This town is just a bit too small for that.
It's also too small for an official cycling or hiking club, which made it harder to meet people in town. It's all very well to romanticize walking down the stairs from an above-an-art-gallery apartment downtown to a bagel or coffee shop, and then running into a friendly crowd of regulars who actually know my name. I even had a small bit of success with that. But do I need to cling to such a modest success?
I was at the mercy of one RV park and a handful of neighbors. When the luck finally wears out, there's nothing left but stoic resignation or getting back "on the road."
It brought a wry smile to my face to consider getting my rig back in shape to get on the road. I actually had to try to remember the details! Let's see now, which way do you turn the steering wheel when you want to back to the right? Gee, maybe I should study one of those "how to be an RVer" websites. Grin. (Seriously many of them are quite useful to newcomers to RVing.)
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“What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.”
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