Retired on Social Security He Chose Peace in a Mini Class A

Not as fancy as a charging stations, but it gets the job done. I sleep with my bedroom window open so I can I can watch the sunrise coming, you know, as it gets light. Hi everyone. Welcome back to my next video. Today. We're meeting Mark. Hi Mark. Hi and you are in class A here. Thank you. We're in the LTVA long-term visitor area here in Fort Slyke. How are you liking the LTVAs so far? I'm I'm loving it. I'm kind of kind of going slow kind of using my way into it meet people and stuff, but I'm really liking it and really having a good time. And so how long have you been on the road? I've been on the road since May 1st. I spent five months in Brookings, Oregon, you know RV park and then October 1st. I left there and started headed down here and I've been here since like the middle of October. I've been camping since I was 10 years old. I actually had a smaller RV years ago. So I've always loved camping outdoors and with the economy, you know, it's kind of financial, you know stuff, you know, I don't own a house or have big money or anything. So it's just kind of a way to, you know, to live the best life that I can on my social security. That's a 2002 Winnebago Artiska Sanova. It's got the Chevy workhorse engine in it. I got some 100 watts of solar which has been working pretty good for me. It keeps my house batteries charged up and my e-bike. Well, let's take a look inside. This is my RV and I'd like to show you some of my mementos. This is a fishing rod that my mom bought my dad before I was born. So I, you know, I was getting rid of stuff. I didn't, you know, one of the things I wanted to keep so I found a place and mounted it up there. This is my rig, kind of basic, you know. It's got everything you need. RV. Yeah, everything I need is right here. I don't have an inverter so I can't run like my toaster. That's maybe, maybe one day I'll get an inverter or maybe one of the power station so I could, I'd like to be able to make toast and coffee in the morning, you know, electric rather. Now I just do the pour-through coffee. I got a fridge. It's, you know, plenty of room, more than I really need for just one person. You know, it runs off propane or electricity like most of them do. I have quite a bit of coverage space. I've got quite a bit of food, rice and beans and instant potatoes. So then you've got a slide, I see. Yeah, I have a slide. So far, knock on wood, haven't had any problems with it. I know these old RVs have a lot of problems and I know you don't really recommend them for a lot of people, but I kind of felt, I kind of felt like I had, you know, some mechanical ability and stuff to kind of fix little problems and stuff. So I'm hoping that, you know, it'll work out good in the long run because they are, you know, lots of things need fixing. Well, these old Winnebago's are one of the best. They are pretty quality construction. That's kind of what I read that they said is one of the better constructed ones and this does have a fiberglass roof. So that's good. I guess the other roofs can be expensive to repair. Those are a big problem. But yeah, Winnebago just overall makes a very good rig. One of the things I've always really loved about these Class A's is how open they are. All the light that comes in, you can see so much. That's one thing. I had a Class C before, a little 19-foot Class C and, you know, to look out the windshield, you had to stick your head down to look out. But this one is just like a great big picture window, you know. When I'm at the coast while I was in Brookings, I could look out there and see the ocean, you know. Now I parked here. I parked it this way so I can watch the sunrises. The sunrises are just beautiful. Yeah, it's sort of the sunsets, but I don't know. That makes the whole thing worthwhile as far as I'm concerned. I love, I sleep with my bedroom window open so I can, I can watch the sunrise coming, you know, as it gets light. I really enjoy that, waking up early and watching the sunrise. Yeah, if anybody asks me, I'm going to buy an old RV. What should I buy? I definitely say Winnebago. You can just see the quality in these things, far better. So I wanted a place for my tools. Oh, yeah. So I put my toolbox right in here. Nice. So I have, I even have another toolbox with more tools. That's a nice rack. It's a Harbor Freight rack, and I just put this on there to kind of nest the front wheel up in there. Sure. So here's your electric bike. It's getting around really good. These, these electrics have gotten a great reputation. You know, yeah, that's what I heard. That's why I bought it. I went online, everybody said like it's the most popular one and they see, you know, pretty reasonably priced, but I just love this thing. I have over 1,200 miles. It gets me around. I mean, I haul my water. I do all my grocery shopping on here. When I, when I was in Brookings, I put, put my bucket on the front and my, my crab traps and stuff down here. There's like, like three quarters of a mile down to the dock where you crab. So I was always going crabbing and I mean, grocery shopping, you know, rode all over town, rode right on the beach in Oregon, right, right next to the waves. So yeah, I just love it. I mean, I've always had motorcycles and stuff. So I had to get rid of them to come out here. So going into town riding, that's like my daily adventure. Keeps you healthy and young and moving. And yeah, you know, even though, you know, it's an electric e-bike, I still pedal a lot because I found out if you don't pedal, you don't get the range. The only bad thing I'd say is I think maybe, maybe I ride it too fast or too hard, but I don't get quite the range they say, but you know, I love it. I turned it up to where it'll go 28 miles an hour. Oh, wow. It comes at 20, but I watch a YouTube video and then you just go, it's got a computer. You go in there and you just change the computer setting. They'll go up to 28. For charging my e-bike, I had, I used to have a boat with an electric motor. So I had a deep cycle battery. So I bought a 400 watt inverter and I just put it all in this box here and I keep my charger. So this is like a charging station just for my, my e-bike and then I have a plate. I have this plug here. It's the same as over there so I can plug my solar panel into here or over there for my house batteries. Yeah, so I can go back and forth and I, and I try to keep this one charged up. I can also use this for charging phones or, or any, any low power kind of thing. Right. Kind of just another backup way. It's like I had the, I had the battery in the box. So, you know, the whole setup cost me like less than $50. Very nice. Not as fancy as a charging stations, but it gets the job done. As long as it works. Yeah, kind of like, you know, use what you have. Right. One thing that I noticed right away is you have a labyrinth here. So did you make this? Yeah, I did. And what's the symbolism of a labyrinth to you? I hear it's just like a way for people, a good way to meditate as you're walking. That's kind of what I've heard. I don't know a whole bunch about them. I kind of know how to draw them because my brother taught me. He, he knows a lot more about them than I do. I really appreciate everything you've done, you know, kind of for the, you know, the community, helping people out, you know, educating people about, you know, you made a different lifestyle or, you know, possibility of how to spend your retirement years. There's lots of people out here having lots of fun. Yeah. Yeah, that's for sure. It's pretty amazing. Well, Mark, thank you so much for sharing your home with us. It's a beautiful, beautiful Winnebago. You, you did really well with this one. Thank you. So folks, I know you've got, you've been inspired, got some great ideas here. If so, then like us on YouTube, subscribe to the channel, hit that thumbs up button, and we'll see you on the next video. Bye now. Bob Wells also hosts two YouTube channels on well-being in the inner life. Find them at the Examine Life Daily in quote of the day with Bob and Autumn. Thanks for watching folks.