Small trailer and what to pull it with?

Cool thread.   Check out 'Chasing AdVANture' on YouTube.  

Cunningstunts wrote

For me that'd be 7 years (to 45).  I tell you what, every year I feel it more and more haha....

For me, a big thing is going to be getting fully out of debt.  I'm almost there, I only have my mortgage.  Once you hit that point and assuming you have the equity to transfer for housing should you need/want to move, then you're are in a lot better position for any of this.

I'd run the numbers now and figure out what kind of investment you have to put in for a van, what it will cost to live at a ski area for 4 months and see where that puts you with working the rest of the year.

We're the same age. No kids for me though.

No debt besides mortgage. Good amount of equity (bought it at the height of the market in 2006, but value up 15% since then if you believe Zillow). After 7 more years of saving, I think I'll be okay.

I run the numbers constantly (I'm kind of a math fan). The money shouldn't be an issue (knock on all the wood in the world). It's more a question of lifestyle design. Vanlife sounds cool to me now (and my wife is on onboard), but maybe in 6 years, I'd prefer 6 months of work followed by 6 months of living in a ski town seasonal rentals. Or quitting my job completely, selling my house and buying a duplex with my brother somewhere awesome.

Just trying to keep my options open as I work through the "nose to the grindstone"/high earning years section of life.

DomB wrote

Cool thread.   Check out 'Chasing AdVANture' on YouTube.

Love that video. That guy is a talented artist, ski designer, & ripper.

MC2 5678F589 wrote

We're the same age. No kids for me though.

No debt besides mortgage. Good amount of equity (bought it at the height of the market in 2006, but value up 15% since then if you believe Zillow). 6 figures in retirement account. After 7 more years of saving, I think I'll be okay.

I run the numbers constantly (I'm kind of a math fan). The money shouldn't be an issue (knock on all the wood in the world). It's more a question of lifestyle design. Vanlife sounds cool to me now (and my wife is on onboard), but maybe in 6 years, I'd prefer 6 months of work followed by 6 months of living in a ski town seasonal rentals. Or quitting my job completely, selling my house and buying a duplex with my brother somewhere awesome.

Just trying to keep my options open as I work through the "nose to the grindstone"/high earning years section of life.

I'd advise against the kids if you want to retire early.  I must say though, I'm surprised at how much the tax laws and system favor people with kids.  I read an article a long while ago that showed how someone in my situation (wife and 3 kids) had more expendable income with a single salary than two people working with no kids.  I think for a lot of situations it is true.

Debt is always the enemy.  The less debt I have, the closer I am to freedom.  I actually had a hard time getting loans when I was young because I had no debt.  I never wanted it, but for buying a house it became a necessity.  I really wish I would have paid down my mortgage quicker when I was younger.  Not that I think my house will increase much in value, it's just the fact of paying all that interest that irks me.

I have no qualms about "not working".  Even a job I like is still a job.  The sooner I don't have to do anything like that, the better.  And don't get me wrong, I love building and creating stuff, it's the system of nonsense that one has to go through in the financially run world that really burns me out.  Peoples fear and greed, which controls pretty much everything, is kind of a downer on any real progress or innovation.  But I'm also of the mind it isn't at all necessary.  I'm not ready to give up and homestead, although I've thought of it, but I think a lot of what America has been selling me is BS and I'm OK leaving it behind and having a simpler life.  Everyone is different though and you have to decide if your contribution to society is worth keeping up or when it's time to check out.

Sorry dude, but that last statement is so depressing.  I know what you're trying to accomplish, but it sounds like you're going off to serve time in prison or something.

Cunningstunts wrote

Peoples fear and greed, which controls pretty much everything, is kind of a downer on any real progress or innovation.

I really respect your lack of indebtedness.  It sure is liberating, but geez, I'm 180 degrees opposite in the sentence above.

D.B. Cooper wrote

Cunningstunts wrote

Peoples fear and greed, which controls pretty much everything, is kind of a downer on any real progress or innovation.

I really respect your lack of indebtedness.  It sure is liberating, but geez, I'm 180 degrees opposite in the sentence above.

Realizing that and working toward the opposite is the first step.  Trust me man, I'm far from wealthy or financially secure for the future.  I just try not to worry about it too much and make the best decisions I can with the information I have.

D.B. Cooper wrote

Cunningstunts wrote

Peoples fear and greed, which controls pretty much everything, is kind of a downer on any real progress or innovation.

I really respect your lack of indebtedness.  It sure is liberating, but geez, I'm 180 degrees opposite in the sentence above.

I think fear and greed do great things for short term "progress" & innovation, but terrible things for the long term. We've made lots of advances in our ability to allow stock traders to make lightning fast stock trades, but not a ton of advances in carbon sequestration, for instance. Lots of advances in food that looks good, but not a ton of advances in tomatoes that taste good (as wh mentioned in the other thread).

No idea how to solve that problem

MC2 5678F589 wrote

I think fear and greed do great things for short term "progress" & innovation, but terrible things for the long term. We've made lots of advances in our ability to allow stock traders to make lightning fast stock trades, but not a ton of advances in carbon sequestration, for instance. Lots of advances in food that looks good, but not a ton of advances in tomatoes that taste good (as wh mentioned in the other thread).

No idea how to solve that problem

I guess I should have emphasized REAL.  By that I meant those that advance human kind intellectually, spiritually or emotionally i.e. science, art and recreation.

I wasn't exactly thinking of artificial flavorings as great advancements of human kind, despite the fact I've indulged in them more than I care to admit, but you may think otherwise.

I was thinking more along the lines of medicine (although the drug companies are questionable), scientific exploration and discovery - which in its purest form is progress, but is often stifled by application in engineering and products which may abuse resources, pollute, have unintended effects, etc...,  public lands and parks have been one of the great inventions of the last century, but unfortunately, came out of necessity of overuse and abuse of wild lands.

I should have mentioned that the problem is simple and there really is no solution.

Everything we do is reactive.  In order for us to be reactive, there has to be a problem.  This is deeply ingrained in our evolutionary fabric.

If we could determine the consequences of everything more readily in the innovation phase, there would be less of this, but we can't, so there isn't.

Fear and greed are the same thing.  The two forces that drive humanity are fear and love.

Harvey wrote

Fear and greed are the same thing.  The two forces that drive humanity are fear and love.

Pretty sure I can change your mind.

https://newatlas.com/2018-best-camper-vans/57756/

Yum

https://tucson.craigslist.org/rvs/d/pahrump-ford-350-4x4-motorhome/6817854981.html

Just saw this on the thruway, my dad says the top pops up to sleep too.

Very cool, Junior. And, everyone that I have ever known that has or has had a Honda Element raves about them.  A friend (and an Amazing tele skier) who is also a mechanic, loves his and sleeps in it while visiting various ski areas.

They certainly put a lot of utility into those things, lots of useful internal volume for something that small. I always liked the double door arrangement too.

I have used Hotel Subaru several times. A cooler and my butane camp stove with an air mattress in the back has been plenty fine.