The Ark

I got the van to carry my stuff in last week: I had been without a motor vehicle for five years: partly because I couldn't afford one and riding a bike would be better for me, and partly because it would be better for the atmosphere if I didn't have one. Well this is a heck of an adjustment: from bicycle (or rather cargo tricycle) to behemoth of a van.

I give all my transportation machines nicknames: this is the Ark. While the Ark is going to be great for moving my stuff, and I am also going to need it to carry supplies from the hardware store to build raised beds and fencing and stuff, after that I probably won't need it much. But I may need it for my Plan B:

Plan A: get ~2 acres with a small house or hunters cabin already on it. That is going to be much easier on me, and I am as I said 61 years old.

Plan B: Get ~2 acres WITHOUT a small house or cabin on it. Build a house.

Plan B is far less desirable, though it has its advantages. I can build to my needs rather than adopt a house designed for other people's needs (my needs are definitely different from most.) But I honestly would rather not spend 6 months building a house essentially by myself; that is a labor I can do without. The main factor in whether I get Plan A or settle for Plan B is cost: I want to get the land with the house if possible for under $50k. That could be a tall order.

IF Plan B winds up being the case, what I will do is get all my stuff loaded into storage near where the land is, and then come back to Dallas and convert my van into an RV of sorts. Put on solar panels, get water containers, get some very basic cooking equipment, futon and sleeping bag. It still needs to be readily convertible back to a cargo carrier once I have my structure built, and I will need to carry cargo in it while living in it too, so it will be very bare bones. More like camping in a van with a few amenities than a true RV.

I really don't want to go with Plan B and maybe I won't have to. There is no denying that it would be tough on me, a truly arduous undertaking. But I am prepared to go there if need be. This is not just some optional lifestyle change for me, it is something close to a mission. My land, and my dwelling on that land, will be my Ark in whatever future awaits.