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A Nomad can be a Homesteader
For Those with Itchy Feet and a Green Thumb
Wouldn’t you love to have a little piece of land like this as a homestead? The author shows you how you can. (Notice the ready access to water.)
- It gives you a real, permanent address–which is becoming more important in this security conscious world.
- It gives you a place to go when you are too old or unhealthy for the road.
- It gives you a place to store your excess stuff.
- If some emergency should arise, you have a port in the storm.
- If you get tired of the road, you just go “home.”
- Most vandwellers who choose to have land get it in the desert, which is easy to buy very cheap off eBay.com. Often, they spend their winters in the desert on their very own land.
For all these reasons I own an acre of land in Northern Arizona that I paid $2000 for–my taxes are $25 a year. Homesteading is a logical extension of the home-base idea. Just like many of us have “itchy feet” and are compelled to travel, others have a “green thumb” and are compelled to garden and grow things in the earth. In this guest post Shawn shows us how you can have both itchy feet and a green thumb by spending 5-7 months a year on your homestead working it, then butchering all your small animals, freezing the meat and canning your produce. – Bob
By Shawn the Rabbit Tamer
If you have found the courage to live in a vehicle, and the ambition to “work camp” your life no-doubt is very simple and very rewarding. At this point, you may find you have an abundance of money and you might feel the need for a place to call your own. For this article, I will be talking about buying a piece of land.
Buying your homestead...
Buying land can be expensive. A very modest 80 acre property can easily cost 200k and up, and anyone who is work camping and paying cash will quickly realize it will take a long, long time to save enough money. So we will stick to small-sized properties, up to a couple acres. These generally cost less than 10k (in the country) and 1/2 acre is generally enough space for a small family, an RV and a large garden. Just like living in a van, remember that less IS more because you will learn to utilize the space efficiently. It’s going to be cheaper because you don’t want a home on it! Instead, you will park your RV on it to live on while you are working it in the summer (satisfying your green thumb), then you’ll drive the RV away in the fall to satisfy your itchy feet.
When selecting a piece of land the most important thing to look for is access to water. Water from a year round stream or river is best, a clear lake is good, a pond is manageable, and harvesting rain water is possible, even if the water is within walking distance of your property and not on the property itself. This will be your back up source, however we will be using a water well as our primary source.
The author in his little piece of heaven.
In most places public utilities, such as water and sewer, are readily available, but I discourage their use due to the expense of setup, the recurring payment, dwindling supply of fresh water, the constant increase of chemicals used to “treat” the water, and growing demand will ultimately lead to an expensive, undesirable, and possibly undrinkable water. My advise is to make sure when selecting a property that you can pound-in or drill a water well. While this may sound like a daunting task, you can pound your own well into the ground (up to 50′) in soft ground for a cost of $200- 300 dollars in materials plus a little extra for a hand pump.
The septic tank is something more of a unnecessary luxury that I will discuss briefly. While a septic tank is nice to have, it can also be rather expensive to install and requires unpleasant and regular maintenance. Might I recommend a simpler and very cost effective solution, one that is especially appealing to gardeners: Humanure! Compost the fecal matter completely and use it to fertilize non-edible plants such as young trees, bushes, and flowers and apply diluted urine (1: 10) directly to garden plants. Or fill a 5 gallon bucket half way full with wood ash and urinate into the bucket; within a few weeks, the nitrogen content of the wood ash will be as high as Miracle Grow. Get the classic book “The Humanure Handbook” here from Amazon.com http://amzn.to/2axTwDs
Trash disposal is very simple as well: paper and organic matter gets composted and added to the garden. Wood, and fabrics get burned. And plastic, glass and metals must be hauled off. The good news is that scrap yards pay for the metal. Glass and plastic is more difficult, I often take it with me into town to pitch it into a public trash can. Of course, recycle whenever you can!
The tax man cometh…
The next thing you need to be aware of when selecting a property is taxes and association fees. While taxes are a personal decision and the lower the better, I highly recommend avoiding association fees, because a small recurring fee every month becomes very expensive over a long period of time. Also, association fees are enforced by levies and liens on the property and may possibly result in the confiscation of your property if you miss payments or violate their terms. When you purchase your property, be sure you own it outright, without hindrances, and the deed is free and clear. And do your homework, because some people can be very tricky or be unknowingly selling an encumbered property. Its best to select an unzoned or agricultural zoned property.
Finding a property that meets these demands really is difficult because these properties are considered ‘valuable assets’ and people like to keep them as an investment. And if you do find someone who is willing to sell, you will likely pay a hefty price for it. The best thing to do is talk to people around you, because it’s very possible that person may know someone who has a small property they might like to sell. This is the best method of finding an excellent property. Other good methods include motherearthnews. com’s real estate section. You might even try craigslist.com’s real estate section.
However you decide to go, it will likely take a great deal of time to save the money, a great deal of sacrifice, and it will likely take you just as long to find a good piece of property.
The first year, a good year…The next thing to consider on your path of sustainability, now that you have purchased your land, is what do you do with it. All these details vary on geographical location. However, after the livable space has been cleared, I highly recommend planting fruit trees the first year. Fruit trees are fantastic because you can leave your homestead at any time and travel about and your trees will be maintenance free and supply you will plenty of fruit and a good reason to go home.
Keeping the lights on…
The next topic is power. Solar panels and a small generator really are the way to go since you probably already have both in your RV–you are your own power company! A couple of solar panels will easily supply all of your power needs if you can live without an AC unit. A small generator is essential to run a well pump and to charge your battery bank during heavy cloud cover or during winter months. Now, on a more frugal note, it is quite easy to live without luxuries such as a water pump, and solar panels. Candles and the PVC hand pump I discussed earlier are an inexpensive and effective substitute.
An inexpensive springtime greenhouse.
In addition to fruit trees, a small garden or green house on your new homestead can provide you with a major portion of your food for the year, and raising small animals such as rabbits, chickens, and goats easily provides all the meat, dairy, and eggs you can eat. Plus they are lots of fun, easy to care for and inexpensive. And as a single guy, a half a dozen rabbits, and a half dozen laying hens, and a .22 hunting rifle provide more meat than I can eat. The animals are fantastic and they compliment the garden so well.
When I want to travel somewhere I cull and sell all the animals, and stock my freezer and take off leaving the plants to fend for themselves until I return. My food bill here is less than $10-15 a week these last couple months, unless I go out to eat. A green thumb and itchy feet can happily co-exist!
Raising your own food on your own homestead is fantastic, because in addition to it being tasty and oh-so-good for you, you can get it to where your only expense will be your property taxes. And when you’re tired and out of money from life on the road, nothing is sweeter than going home…well, except, maybe apples from your own trees.
Life is good indeed…With all the money you have saved from RV/Van dwelling, and homesteading on a small piece of land, all of a sudden you will find yourself with tons of free time and all your needs met, and life in general is very simple, and you’re happy all the time. Caring for your small animals and your growing things suddenly provides great and meaningful joy in life. Plus making money becomes a labor of love, because honestly, you have plenty of money. What to do with all this free time is up to you, but all this while you are making this planet a better place to live for yourself and the rest of us.
An inexpensive chicken coop.
I’m making Videos on my good friends James YouTube Channel. See them here:
https://www.youtube.com/cheaprvliving
I’ve found this to be the right balance for me as well. A house near Tucson for winter and the northern states for summer. I may also try Baja for winter sometime.
Cae, sounds like a great plan! Bob
Wow! Makes me wish I had a green thumb instead of a black one. 🙂
You and me both Linda! Bob
Sorry about your ‘ black thumb ‘ i could teach you how to do it, because I can grow anything !! I have been gardening since I was 5 years of age, granny told me how.
My regards. Lucy.
PS: it’s very hot in Southern California.
Nice article! Just what I’d like to be doing.
It’s very appealing isn’t it Joy! Bob
This is the article Ive been waiting for! Thank You!
Thanks Tammy! Glad to help. Bob
THIS small-scale system harvests SUN & WIND
& is what I’d want if I wanted to own my own home. http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/small-scale-hybrid-energy-device-harvests-both-sun-and-wind.html
That looks really interesting, too early to tell how practical it will be for the small scale we are looking at. Bob
Great article with interesting ideas. The challenge is finding the right property for the right price. Thanks for sharing!
Great timing posting this article. I’m presently looking for a small piece of land in AZ for this purpose. Thanks Bob
WHERE in AZ are you looking?
I thought about & considered several things in Camp Verde/RimRock which is off I17, between Phx & Flagstaff. A lot less expensive than property in Prescott.
I’ve considered investing in a place with friends, one big enough I can camp in the back 40 whenever I want.
So do you plan on kicking back on your property in the future or are you going to stick to the road
I’ve been thinking about getting an acre or two and was wondering if a guy can acquire land that would be great for vandwelling on, but unsuitable for a typical house. For example: some places don’t allow septic systems (due to high water table or whatever reason), so the value of the land is much less.
I’m presently looking on landwatch.com and spoke to Luke Smith from RuralLandforSale.com yesterday re: his listings, which are all over AZ. N. AZ is what I prefer right now (for a summer home base) but desert would also be ok for winter. I would travel most of the year. It would be a plus if I could eventually settle on the land and have a garden somehow (desert?) He said some nomads he has sold to have 2 small pieces of land 1 north and 1 south. A friend told me about a land owner around Williams who was selling small pieces of land (owner financed) so I’m going to check that out. Big thing next to price is restrictions. I was thinking also that having an open invitation to camp between other nomad land owners could be a big convenience as one travel in various parts of the Southwest.
Please let me know what you find out in your follow up to the property owner in Williams. It’s something I’d be interested in.
When I pulled out of the RTR-F I went to Williams. Spent a couple of days, one of which was on the train trip to the Grand Canyon.
Williams would be a very nice place to be able to hunker down for a time. I can easily see myself buying a small parcel.
Consider sending me a private/personal message as the details may only be of interest to MEeee & maybe a couple of others.
AZClaimjumper aka Bill Cole
Will do AZClaimjumper.
CORRECTION: It’s RuralVacantLand.com NOT RuralLandforSale.com
Thanks much Chris! Bob
Also I need a physical address for AZ DL, tags, and CCW asap.
Very inspiring.
I own a very small agricultural property (1/18th of an acre) with a few fruit trees. Sadly in my (non-US) country there are laws that implicitly prohibit long-term boondocking (say more than one or two weeks) even if in your own land (it would be registered and taxed as an illegal home), and even raising small animals is subject to taxes and FDA-like controls (canaries and cats are not yet taxed).
Here a great book about doing this. Travel-Trailer Homesteading Under $5, 000: Brian D. Kelling available on amazon. maybe Bob can post a link.
Alan, it appears to be out of print, the only ones Amazon ad were extremely expensive used copies. Bob
Bob, great article! You know what would be nice for a future article…. how you bought the piece of land, the county you bought it in, zoning an restrictions and all that jazz…. how far are you to the nearest walmart… how far away from civilization are you… The only thing that worries is incase of an emergency, how far out are you before you can drive yourself to get the right help….. just giving you some ideas to get the gears going in your head… Thank you for the great resources…
Thanks John, to be honest it really hasn’t turned out to be a great choice, too many zoning restrictions and too remote. But, it is what it is and I’m not too concerned about it. Bob
North west Florida is cheap also and close to water and easy to avoid hurricanes if you live mobile. Good idea you can have a base to keep stuff without paying expensive storage for worthless junk most of us keep
Thanks Jim! I’m a big fan of the West so that’s where I spend all my time, but lots of people prefer the east. Bob
I could go one way or the other, but not both. Too complicated, and I have checked it out more than once. For me, the time I was on the road with only what was in the vehicle or the trailer could never be duplicated. To me, real estate becomes “ties that bind me”. We all have different needs, I need not to be “bound”.
Cathy, I think the majority of us are like you, it’s one or the other and the one we chose is the road! But, I like to get out all th information to help people I can, even if it’s just a few. Bob
Hi bob,
How come u do not use small motor home ,van have toliet,but u have shower?motor homes and vans cost about the same used…
Oh i am deaf . Did u ever meet and see any deaf nomads?
Allon, I have not met any deaf nomads. There may be some, but I have not met them yet.
Here’s why I don’t live in a RV:
1) Very poor MPG.
2) Their height, width and ground clearance make them terrible once you leave the pavement.
3) Most are very poorly made and fall apart–better have a big emergency fund!
4) Way too many systems to fail and suck up money
5) They are full of things I don’t need or want, like a toilet or shower.
6) What would I possibly do with all that wasted space?
I like that you still cling to your property even though it does not fit your lifestyle. My wife and I plan to be vandwellers as well, but we will be leaving our pet dog. If only there is a realtor who can guide us with the maintenance of our home and title settlement to help out.