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full-time tent living...anyone doing it?

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  • #31
    Re: full-time tent living...anyone doing it?

    Originally posted by TNONMYMIND View Post
    I've seen all kinds of blogs and websites written by folks who have decided to live
    full-time in RV's...
    and I find them interesting to read but as I/we are living on a fixed income that
    type of lifestyle is way out of our price range...

    love camping with a tent and saved up enough to buy a 9x12 kodiak canvas...
    want to try our hand at living full-time in a tent,traveling around this great
    country of ours and seeing what the country looks like outside of current location...
    before we are too old to do anymore traveling...

    long story short is there anyone out there(on this forum) that is living this kind
    of life, and would be willing to share their insights, trials, experiences here?
    No I haven't lived in a tent or RV full time but my husband and I have been talking about what we want to do when we both retire. We want to do some traveling and see this beautiful country we live in.

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    • #32
      Re: full-time tent living...anyone doing it?

      I have lived in a wall tent for a month running a tree planting crew. It was at 7200 feet for the month of April. Every time it snowed the whole camp of 30 guys wanted to be in there enjoying the wood stove.

      Tent camping gets old after awhile. Especially if you are over say 50-60 and it snows a lot. I have worked out of tents for long periods, and would not do it by choice. Even with a travel trailer I am usually ready to come home after a month. But I have a spectacular home that is more private than any campground.

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      • #33
        Re: full-time tent living...anyone doing it?

        I bought the Berkey water treatment system for both home and traveling use. It's an outstanding unit!
        Visit me at Campward Bound for more camping information.
        sigpic

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        • #34
          Re: full-time tent living...anyone doing it?

          for those who might be interested...an update on our camping adventures or misadventure as the case may be.
          21 days in April.(TX and Maine)
          22 days in May. (Tennessee State Park & Cherokee National Forest)
          19 days in June. (TX state park & ex-husbands' backyard)
          18 days in July. (TX and Tennessee State Park)

          Days not camping each month were spent in motel rooms while on the road, or avoiding setting up in pouring rain.
          We are headed back to TX to regroup and possibly get a different vehicle, one that can
          tow a small utility trailer or small pop-up camper.
          setting up and breaking down campsites is becoming a bigger project each time we do it
          and the vehicle is needing more attention mechanically...so it's time to make some changes...will continue to update
          as I am able...

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          • #35
            Re: full-time tent living...anyone doing it?

            TN, have you considered being a campground host? Free rent...
            2018: Any way the wind blows; doesn't really matter to me....Too Meee....

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            • #36
              Re: full-time tent living...anyone doing it?

              IRATE MORMON: We just signed up to be hosts at some campgrounds here in Texas...haven't heard back from any of them yet...
              hopefully we'll know soon if we'll be accepted...

              HOGSNAPPER: not ignoring your comment...just trying to figure out what we have learned
              Observation #1: don't camp in Maine in April...weather will change in the blink of an eye(at least temperature-wise)...
              observation #2: definitely don't camp in Texas in June, July, August unless you want to be eaten alive by chiggers, or die of the heat...

              One trick we learned from a friend, (after going to bed without supper one time, because the food wouldn't cook in the dutch oven)
              When cooking in a dutch oven, put the bottom coals needed on a cast iron griddle instead of on the ground, then set the oven over
              the coals and cover with the rest of the coals needed...the cast iron skillet will serve two purposes...if the ground is wet/damp it will
              keep the coals from going out and it also distributes the heat more evenly...

              Will add more ideas as I think of them...we're still learning as we continue with this adventure...
              Tennessee was a pleasant time, even with the rain...
              with the coming changes in the weather in the eastern U.S. we are looking at the western states for the next chapter of this
              adventure...anyone have any suggestions where to spend the fall and winter months in a tent full-time?

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              • #37
                Re: full-time tent living...anyone doing it?

                Malamute's words have power. Tent living is not for everyone. I would have enjoyed my long tent experiences more if I wasn't working at the time. My uncle lived in a tipi for 6 months at a time. Please spell the Shoshone word the way it was intended.

                I had a Sioux style 18 footer for a number of years with a 3 pole set, much like the one in the photo. I have been having tent parties in the winter for over 30 years. The most memorable ones were with the tipi. I use the past tense because the cover finally rotted out. People really like to watch the full moon rise thru the smoke hole. A fire heats the lodge when used properly with a liner. The firelight reflects off the sidewalls so no other lighting is needed. I have had 25 people in the tipi together and it is still a topic of conversation at parties years later.

                Setting up a tipi properly takes some doing. Putting up a wall tent especially with an internal frame is a snap by comparison. Hauling tipi poles on a vehicle up to 26-28 feet is also a challenge. The best solution I found was a canoe trailer.

                One time we set up the tipi at a trail ride in the mountains above Sisters, OR. In the middle of the night, a young mare got loose and started pushing the side of the canvas. She eventually bit a hole in the wall and tried to bite a friend of mine, an ex-roughstock rider asleep on a cot. After that we called her "Nightmare."

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                • #38
                  Re: full-time tent living...anyone doing it?

                  well we are on our way...got word on Monday(past) that we were accepted to work as volunteers...
                  headed down to "Pedernales Falls State Park" in Johnson City, TX just west of Austin, TX.
                  Will be there the entire month of September doing whatever may be needed.
                  This is our first time at doing this, hope it works out...
                  If anyone is in the area check the park out...

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                  • #39
                    Re: full-time tent living...anyone doing it?

                    Good luck, TN - I'm all about going on the cheap!
                    2018: Any way the wind blows; doesn't really matter to me....Too Meee....

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                    • #40
                      Re: full-time tent living...anyone doing it?

                      started Aug. 26 as campground hosts...made it through Labor Day weekend...CRAZY
                      worked with another couple this time but we will be on our own come this weekend(SEP 6,7,8)
                      don't expect as many folks as last weekend though, which is okay...
                      State Park has only 70 sites with electric/water...also has a primitive tent camping area which
                      requires a 2 mile hike to get there...
                      temps this past weekend were hovering around 100* all weekend...people still filled the sites...
                      mass exodus on Monday...lots of cleanup...
                      like what we're doing, only wish we could actually get to the river and falls areas. not able to do
                      the hike down and not accessible by vehicle...
                      best part is we get to camp free for the next 4 weeks...

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                      • #41
                        Re: full-time tent living...anyone doing it?

                        Tell us how it goes, some of us are curious!
                        2018: Any way the wind blows; doesn't really matter to me....Too Meee....

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                        • #42
                          Re: full-time tent living...anyone doing it?

                          Very curious here, what type of work, activities are you doing? Hope it all goes well! :cool:
                          sigpic

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                          • #43
                            Re: full-time tent living...anyone doing it?

                            Quick update: Park host position at THIS campground involves the following:

                            Make rounds of the park around 7:30 A.M. to determine if new campers came in during the night,
                            write out reminder tickets to check in at headquarters, and bring to headquarters any tickets we wrote
                            clean up sites as they are vacated by campers
                            we also sell ice and firewood and answer questions as they arise...
                            sometimes have to get the ranger or park cop to handle any problems

                            we signed up online for park volunteer program and have to be available for a minimum of one month

                            some parks need volunteer workers for up to 3 months at a time...

                            State Parks, National Parks or Forests have some type of volunteer program.

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                            • #44
                              Re: full-time tent living...anyone doing it?

                              Working as a "pay dude" has never had much appeal. You have to be there all the time and you have to deal with the public.

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                              • #45
                                Re: full-time tent living...anyone doing it?

                                On this side of the country, the primary responsibility of volunteer camp hosts is to clean the bathrooms. At least once a day; usually more often on week-ends. I'm not ready for that ...
                                Total nights sleeping outdoors in 2013: 28

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