Frank T Hogg

A Test To See If I Can Live For Free


Not freedom, free as in no cost. Well, no, you can't but maybe you can live well by spending much less, eating better, being more healthy and enjoying life. Some years ago I realized I was working two weeks each month just to live at the house I was in. That money was not invested, it went to costs, taxes , etc. It was out the window never to come back. Sure it was nice at the lake and all but it just took too much to be there. I downsized and moved to Virginia. My current house is ¼ the size of the lake house but I am as comfortable if not more so and whenever I want to look at a lake I can drive 10 minutes to one.

Now I'm wondering if I should downsize even more. While it doesn't cost much to live here it does take a lot of my time. I have to mow the grass every 4 days and there's always something to fix, paint, make , etc. If I could afford it I could just, "Call the guy" to do it but then I'd have to work to afford it.

I told you all that to tell you this…

I've been thinking about selling all my, 'stuff' and my house and car, buying a used motorhome and living full time in that. The idea has a lot of appeal. I could travel and see stuff I'll never get to see otherwise. I could stay at campgrounds on lakes or in the mountains or desert. I could live in Florida in the winter and north in the summer. I could go anywhere, do anything and not have all the shortcomings of living in one place.

But…

Can I do it cheaply enough? Will I enjoy it or is this just a pipe dream? Only one way to find out is to try it.

I'm going to go to Rocky Knob National Campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway for a week and see. I'll have no cell service, no internet, not even a TV. How will I survive??? But during that week I'll take notes about all kinds of things I'd need to know to do this permanently. How much water, how much propane fuel, how much gas, etc. If this works out okay then I'll try it again but for two weeks and see how it goes.

There are a lot of people doing this and all seem to love it. It may not be for me but I'll know more next week than I do now and I'll let you know in more detail than you probably want to know just how it worked out.

Look for an update to this on or about June 4th.