Can Mobile Homes work in India? Pros, Cons & Community Views

Wanted to know BHpians opinions on the scope of living in a mobile home in India. Examples : Force Traveller, Urbania, etc. Please express your opinions regarding this.

BHPian arnav17 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Mobile homes are quite popular abroad as I have heard and seen in movies, videos etc. But wanted to know BHpians opinions on the scope of living in a mobile home in India.
Examples : Force Traveller, Urbania, etc.

+ves:
- Flexibility in living conditions : You can get a sea view or a forest view whichever you please.
- May workout cheaper than buying/renting a house.
- No issues of hotel reservations, during travel and trips.

-ves:
- Van culture in India is still not very popular.
- As per what I have seen in movies and books, such vans require water supply and sewage hookups, and the infrastructure for that is not too great as of now.
- Small for families.
- Lack of security.
- May attract Legal trouble.

Please express your opinions regarding this.

Here's what BHPian 14000rpm replied:

Having had a few holidays stretching several weeks in a Mobile home/Camper Van, I am qualified to answer this.

Yes It is possible....

Provided..

One assumes a Minimalistic lifestyle with not much to carry around.
One is Hands-on with fixing the multitude of systems that tend to break every once in a while.
One finds a parking spot that is safe and well-lit and has access to bathroom.
One knows where to fill in clean water and dispose the Grey and Black water. Compositing toilets are not that popular in India.
One is ok with the lack of space in the vehicle which is further complicated if there is more than one person living in the vehicle full time.

I keep watching several videos of people in the US that have taken to Van life fulltime only to quit it after a few years. There are numerous reasons but the lack of an anchor is usually the top most of them all. We all find the comfort of an anchor/base location as a sense of security. Security which becomes a matter of improvisation in VanLife.

Infrastructure in India is far from there to make this concept acceptable. I'd say, it is still doable for short holidays etc. to some locations if not all.

My best bud living in Austin, TX has bought a bus in which he has lived 250/365 days during covid times.

But that's over. he's still got the bus but the days on the road have reduced dramatically. Per him, the excitement dies after some years.

Personally, I'd not make it a fulltime VanLife commitment anywhere in the world even if the infrastructure is available. It would be a holiday use and nothing more.

Meanwhile, here's what BHPian Jeroen shared this with other enthusiasts:

There is a difference of course between living permanently and just for a few weeks during a holiday.

The latter is ok, the first is definitely not ok. I have a number of friends who own them and use them extensively. Very often die hard campers in their old age move to a van. There comes a time in your life, where dragging a little Trekker tent around is simply to uncomfortable.

Doing holidays in them in Europe, US and for instance Australia is very popular. But these are all countries that tend to have good infrastructure for these vans as well.

Its a bit like our yacht. Its always ready to go, you just need to bring food and drinks and off you go. If you don't like where you find yourself you just move on. A very convenient way of exploring nature. And much more comfortable than camping with a tent.

I'm not sure it would work as well in India for all the reasons mentioned by 14000RPM.

Fine for a holiday but I would hate to live in it permanently.

Jeroen

Here's BHPian SS-Traveller's reply enthusiasts:

Friends of our daughter (we've met them too) bought a used camper van, kitted it out, and travelled over 15,000 km around Australia over 4+ months after giving up their jobs. They started social media posts hoping to monetize it, but for some reason they didn't become very popular. Came back home, sold their camper van, and settled back at home & their regular jobs.

The cons as I see them:

1) I'd have loved to travel around India in a camper van, but I can't think of giving up my job to finance such trips - I don't make or have that kind of money!

2) While the central government may allow me to drive a 7.5T camper on my LMV NP licence, the state governments & cops are going to have a field day taxing & fining me for innumerable reasons & violations - road tax for yellow plates (truck chassis = commercial vehicle), no entry for large vehicles, no parking, high highway tolls, state entry taxes, and the list can go on.

3) When I'm not travelling, where am I supposed to park that behemoth in my city? And where do I allow the waste to be dumped (okay, okay, I know - just about anywhere, like crores of other Indians), or get my power supply (hook up to overhead wires, maybe)?

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?

5) What about security? While I sleep in some isolated place, someone is going to jack up the van & put it on bricks, and steal the wheels!

6) Cannot ever sell such a camper van. There are no other crazy buyers. Just in case there are (billionaires, for whom point #1 above doesn't matter), they can & will build their own camper van from scratch. Mine isn't going to be powerful / spacious / luxurious enough for their needs!

There are no pros of owning a camper van / mobile home in India, apart from that childhood dream of visiting & seeing exotic places from the comfort of my own home. If I needed that much comfort, I'd have stayed at home, installed a giant TV, and watched the beauty of India through others' (especially vloggers') eyes. In 4k!

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