| What are alternative lifestyles and why would | | | | choose to live in tents, RVs, cabins, underground |
| they require alternative housing? To answer the | | | | homes, rental rooms and anything else that's less |
| first part it is easiest to give examples. Then the | | | | common than the houses, condos and |
| answer to the second part becomes self evident. | | | | apartments that most people call home. Here are |
| One winter we were camping in our conversion | | | | a few more of these housing options. |
| van at a hot springs area in Arizona. We met a | | | | - RV Boondocking. I've talked to people living in |
| man who sold stuffed animals on the side of the | | | | Rvs that cost $200,000 and ones that cost $600, |
| highway. Having been through a bad divorce, and | | | | so the selection of accommodations is varied, to |
| having little money, he was living in the van at | | | | say the least. |
| places like these hot springs. Every day he drove | | | | - Permanent travelers. Housing is whatever works |
| off to the nearest highways and set up his | | | | for the moment for those who work various |
| stuffed animals for sale. He claimed to have sold | | | | jobs as the travel. |
| $4,000 worth the first month, so his low cost | | | | - Houseboats. There are whole communities of |
| living meant he could save the money and get | | | | people living on houseboats, and they usually don't |
| back on his feet. | | | | have to pay property taxes. |
| Meanwhile, another neighbor at the hot springs | | | | - Basements. Even some people with good |
| was living in his old RV. He had a house, but he | | | | incomes choose to live in the basement as they |
| preferred to supplement his social security by | | | | build the house above for cash. No mortgage |
| renting it out. This meant he lived in his RV for a | | | | sounds nice, doesn't it? |
| few weeks at each location, often for free, and | | | | - Log cabin squatting. Yes, there really are people |
| spent evenings sitting around campfires talking to | | | | living out there in the national forests, moving |
| travelers like us. | | | | when they get caught every five or ten years. |
| A friend of ours lived in a shack that he built for | | | | - School busses. Apparently old busses sell cheap. |
| $3,000 on a small piece of land he bought for | | | | We met three young men who lived in one in the |
| $7,000. He was there for enough time to pay off | | | | deserts of Arizona, and anywhere else they could |
| the land and sell it for a profit. This is illegal in | | | | park it for a month. |
| many areas, of course, because of things like | | | | - Offices. A couple I know almost moved into the |
| occupancy permits and minimum square footage | | | | office building they owned. It was on the river and |
| requirements. Usually, however, you can camp on | | | | had showers, so why not? One less mortgage |
| your land, so a $2,000 used RV parked on your | | | | too. |
| land makes for a cheap and legal housing | | | | A national magazine recently did a write-up on |
| alternative. | | | | people who lived in the jungles of Hawaii. Rents |
| Other Housing For Alternative Lifestyles | | | | are high in Hawaii, and life on the beach is good - |
| Alternative lifestyle doesn't mean "low income" of | | | | at least for younger people who can tolerate |
| course. There are other reasons for living | | | | camping out for years. Alternative lifestyles and |
| differently and needing different types of housing. | | | | alternative housing are often more for the |
| Whether to save money, to travel, to live | | | | younger crowd. Then again, tell that to the tens |
| creatively - there are many reasons why people | | | | of thousands of retirees living in RVs. |