Fall is Here - Time for Change

Oh, well - Summer has finally sunk beyond the horizon. The weather here on the BC coast is beginning the cooler, more rainy pattern, which means it's time to get on it. As you probably noticed during the summer, I slack off considerably. No work if I can help it. Enjoy the season to the max. Take off, eh!

For the summer, I've been bouncing around BC, my home province for the last 25 years or so. It truly is beautiful here - I'm lucky to live here. But, as a result, I've only used computers for emails, no blogging. No time. Had to fish, hike, bike, wander, canoe, play guitar, check out wildlife, go to new places, go to old places, beach it, camp out, go to music festivals, visit the cities, go see friends over there or anywhere, and so on. For the last three months or so. It's been great. But as a result, no new posts. You probably thought I fell off the face of the earth. Well, in a sense, I did.

But, fall is a sobering season. You can't just hang around outside; it starts getting wetter and cooler and darker. You start thinking about the winter and all that entails. Living indoors more. Shelter from the storm. Work (that cursed four letter word!). But, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's just part of the cycle of being. So, my fellow vandwellers and newbies, let's get on with it.

I'm doing some quick work on the island, where I've been sorta based on the last year or so, then I'm going to go to a major, coastal urban area to live at least for the winter. I have a plan. It's the main reason, I call myself, 'The Urban Vandweller'. You see, the place I'm moving to has been embroiled in constitutional lawsuits with regards to criminalizing the homeless. Which, is essentially what vandwellers are, according to the authorities. So, I have posted anonymously because I'm going to a conservative, anti-me city. To work, flourish, live as a vandweller, for as long in one area as I can get away with it. Without loosing my van. Which is what they will do, if they can prove you're a vandweller in Edmonton, Alberta. Well, we will see what happens in Coastal BC urban territory.

As this new adventure unfolds, I'm going to try and post very often, detailing events, trivialities, methods, trials and tribulations along the way. For those of you new to this lifestyle, my efforts are for you to see what you may be up against. For you seasoned vandwellers, well, I'm probably going to bore you to tears, but, you might get a giggle.

The US economy is in the shitter. Many people have lost their conventional homes. Alternative cheap housing is badly needed. We're sorta OK here in Canada, but housing is so expensive, that for me, vandwelling is a viable option, almost necessary so I can enjoy freedom. So, I want to see if I can stay in one urban area for years. That's right, same area, for years. I don't know, maybe five or longer. Take advantage of the savings and simplicity. As I have done before, function as a working and social person, engaged in society, and make it work again. This will begin in a month or so.

I have to do some final build out on the van, window treatments and curtains, for privacy and stealth. I haven't really required them recently, because where I've been, I didn't need them. Now I do. So, there will be some articles about the van. But, the ideas expressed above are what really excite me. I've only lived in one major urban area before as a vandweller for around one year, so to do it continuously for longer presents new challenges. We'll see.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention, we got some favourable press by a magazine writer who I helped with a article in Maclean's, a national weekly publication. Here is a link to the article, http://www.macleans.ca/culture/lifestyle/article.jsp?content=20080820_12314_12314 . I almost got on a talk radio show with CBC, our national radio network. But, I missed the boat because the programme series had moved on by the time I was in touch.

I hope all of you have had a chance to enjoy the summer. It is my favourite season. Fall is here - time for change.