[blackwasp]

Here's another thread (Introducing our Custom Force Traveller Caravan – A dream come true!) that I read today.

I have voted for yes, as given the chance, I would jump on the opportunity. In terms of work, I'm sure many of us are able to work remotely and can manage work on the move. Don't get me wrong, it involves a lot of planning and other things - eg. stable internet - perhaps at a cafe, etc, but should be doable.

However, the main consideration for me would be this:

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

4) If I live in a camper van permanently, what would the address on my Aadhaar card & passport be? And where would Amazon & Swiggy deliver my purchases?

As it is, life is difficult without a permanent address, but a rental agreement works. For business purpose, one can get a virtual office from companies like WeWork, but issue of Aadhaar card is still there. But I'm sure there must be some option.

For Swiggy and Amazon, you can order it to your current location, or expected location in the future. Thankfully, Indians are helpful and will hold your parcel (kirana store, a hotel etc.)if it comes before you might reach.

[Ulysses]

Living in a Mobile Home permanently is not an intelligent solution, because for many other things such as banking, insurance (even the insurance of the Mobile Home itself) one has to have a permanent address.

Assuming one has a permanent address, for example, parental home, living in mobile home can be an option for certain period of time in a year, like a long over-landing tour.
However, one has to keep in mind that both the law and law enforcement in India have not progressed much since the middle ages. So, other than extortion by RTOs of various states and cops, one can anytime face serious security threat from anybody ranging from thugs to "simpleton" villagers (who sometime gets scared of a boogeyman stealing their children, or goats or anything and then goes on a killing rampage). There are umpteen number or reports where overlanders robbed or even killed by these "simple country folks" and local goons.

One thing, which should have happened (but not happening much) is availability of safe and secure camping site. There are many people who own lands in countrysides (and some of them are at truly scenic locations), which is lying idle through the year (or at least part of the year). Such places, can easily be converted into nice camping sites and then rented to mobile homes. From my personal experience, many coffee estates in Karnataka, Kerala etc. has lot of empty places, which could be easily converted into camping sites (as they already have electricity and water connection and the estates generally have some kind of fencing and some people available for looking after the campers) However, as my knowledge goes, this is not happening really, may be there is some reason for this which I don't know. But if any such ecosystem develops (by individual initiative, not from government), overlanding trend can really pick up in India.

[RROD]

I voted too quickly .
I am OK with a temporary holiday trip. May be day/week or a month.
Not sure if I can live in the van for the rest of my life, mostly no.

[14000rpm]

Guess the OP got the answer to the question - yay or nay!

My neighbor bought this Campervan some time ago to "Live in it".



Not because he fights with his wife and needs another place to sleep. Lol.

He got himself a job in a city 4 hours drive away from Helsinki. His work contract condition says he needs to be in office in the other city for 3 days a week mandatorily. He takes his Great Dane with him and lives in this Campervan in the parking lot of his employer for those mandatory 3 days and drives back. Even in Winter. Living on board like this for Short hauls is fully manageable in Campervans but fulltime- the verdict is already out.

[ajmat]

Frankly the camper van works

• When you want to enjoy natural beauty like in the US
• There is infrastructure for refilling water and disposing of waste
• Where there is a facility for parking and using public transport.

This might work in please like the US, Australia/NZ as well as limited places in Europe. However, the rising crime rates do not make this a safe option.

Camper vans did workout in California where accommodation costs were prohibitive and the office provided all the basics - gym, showers and a large parking lot.

[Mystic]

Last week I was on a 4K kms long drive for 17 days for Maha Kumbh as per route below. A self drive camper van would have been a perfect choice if one can hire such a van as we spent a lot for accommodation which is not worth the money spent. Another biggest challenge is finding a veg only restaurants (these are becoming rare these days).

In India technically we have a very limited camping sites to park but we have a parking space in every gas station for overnight safe parking. May be this needs to be regulated or commercialised so that both gas station owner and camper van owner are in win-win situation.

On teambhp, I found such camper vans can be hired and am not sure if such facilities exist in all states.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/comme...harashtra.html (MTDC introduces Camper Van and modified Marazzo for touring in Maharashtra)

[ads11]

Originally Posted by am1m

I know a couple of friends who used to live in mobile homes, in the US and in the UK. One of them even did his PhD while he was living mobile, and got a job as a professor in a reputed college. For the first few semesters, till he could move into a home, he continued to live in a camper, on the campus!

One main point to consider is most of these people don't live in vans because they want to live in vans or travel. That is not the purpose. The primary driver is usually a passion or outdoor hobby/sport that consumes them and that they want to pursue. Rock climbers and white-water kayakers are two classes of people who travel over the US pursing the best spots for their passion...

Your post made me chuckle because I know and work with just the sort you've described. Being in a geoscience dept, it should come as no surprise that most of my colleagues (staff or students) are outdoorsy types. Climbing, bouldering, fell running, mountain biking - these tend to be some of the most common pursuits amongst them. Particularly climbing and bouldering amongst Gen Z members (most all the PhD students in my office do it). To go on a slight tangent, a handful of them only look to learn to drive and get a car so that they can drive out to the Peak District or other more remote spots to go climbing and camping etc. In that vein, they go for the van life trend. It's just a natural extension of that logic.

One former student essentially bought an ex riot police panel van, stripped it and redid it himself into his own DIY mobile home. He was out and about across the land on his climbing adventures. I remember another reason being the sense that Gen Z tend to have about getting on the housing ladder being so difficult, they might as well disengage and live mobile.

There are some amusing consequences to this. One current staff member where I work still lives in the same van from their PhD days with their partner. A common joke amongst the other PhD students was when they had to be reminded to move their van from wherever it was parked on campus due to parking time limits. They got by using the showers in the dept or the gym, had mail addressed to their office, and pretty much lived nomadic. A large part of this was also the cost aspect. Not having any council taxes or utilities as such meant they could stretch their stipend a lot further. Did mean they had to stay wary of campus security catching them sleeping in their office.

All that being said - while I could and have lived in caravans when out working for weeks at a time, I don't think I'd swap out having a fixed base though.

[2nd_gear_7krpm]

Originally Posted by arnav17

- May attract Legal trouble.
.

Isn't this enough to put a full stop to your whole plan? Firstly, as far as I know, you'll never get an approval from the RTO to modify the whole van, to make it as a home. When a simple change of paint colour without an approval can lead you into trouble, imagine where you might end up with such major modification!! Consider the following situations and think about what would you do if you were to face them, god forbid:
1) You hit someone or get hit by somebody- good luck with the insurance situation and getting the vehicle back from the police;

2) Unless you park it in a private property, you're always living off the government land. One fine day when you're enjoying the sunset on a mountain with a cup of coffee, forest officials are at your door (van's door ) with a list of violations under 100s of vague environmental laws - you want to fight it in the Court? Hahaha, take out 10 years of your life;

3) In India, neither the Constitution nor any of the laws recognize camper vans on the road as a 'habitual adobe'. So your privacy isn't guaranteed - cops can search your vehicle without a warrant, seize it on the pretext of simple things like pollution not under control etc.

I can go on and on.

I have come to terms with how my country functions. You can either live a life abiding the laws or fly high considering yourself to be above the law (you know what I mean, your ability to 'manage' the system basically), but you can't fly high abiding the law.

I'm happy to be proved wrong. Good luck!

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by DicKy

Watching USA based movies, cartoons, comics, for me caravans/motorhomes/RVs were a childhood dream.
.

There was a schoolmate whose Dad was a senior Pilot with Air India in the 1970’s-1980’s and who was also traditionally wealthy. His parents used to turn up once in a while to the hills in their Opel Rekord station wagon with a caravan hooked to it.

Now that was seriously cool for some of us who had only seen these things in comics, films and suchlike.

Tintin - Black Island, Lady in the Van, We’re the Millers, the new Day of the Jackal, etc.

However, while I have rented and driven lots of cars on holidays and otherwise when travelling abroad, I haven’t yet mustered the courage to take a camper van holiday anywhere.

Thing is while it is a very attractive possibility in places of great natural beauty like New Zealand and Australia and Canada and America, the safety aspects, rising crime rates and things like that cause concern.

In India, no, it will not really be an option to consider, for me. The lack of infra and clarity in the legal standing plus potential incidences of crime etc, will obviate this option completely for me.

I am quite fond of my comforts, mod-cons and ‘the settled order of things’ - meaning a nice hotel or guest house or club room on terra firma with clean toilets and nice hit and cold running water and a dining table to sit at and have my meals.

Adventure is fun. But ‘controlled circumstances’ are ‘more fun’. Getting older and lazier and more comfort oriented I think. (Even though in my Head I am Indiana Jones!)