Work And Travel, Living Like a Gypsy
With the economy in the dumps and the job market as poor as it is I assume that many people would consider a job requiring travel who previously wouldn't have. People who live like gypsies while working are a minority, but they're not uncommon. Admittedly it's not for everyone. Some people instinctively know that it's not for them and avoid it. Some people, myself included, loved the lifestyle, but circumstances change, and so does our lifestyle. Some people wouldn't live any other way.
Lots of people have jobs that require them to travel. To my way of thinking the difference between a person who travels as part of their job and a gypsy is that the former is always looking forward to returning home, while the gypsy is at home in their travels. It's largely an attitude.
This article is not meant to entice anyone into living like a gypsy. That's in your blood, either you will or you won't. Rather, I'd like to share a few lessons learned from my years on the road.
Since living on the road means travel, the most important consideration is how are we going to travel? Occasionally this may entail flying but usually it means driving. Keep in mind that we're talking about living on the road, not taking a vacation. I advise against using a bus or Amtrak for this kind of travel. Once you're at your destination you're still in need of transportation if you got there by bus. This isn't an issue if you drove there yourself.
With gas prices as high as they are I encourage car pooling and sharing travel expenses as much as possible. But I want to travel in my vehicle and split the cost with others. I've been in situations where I wanted to visit different attractions that are fairly close but can't because I don't have my vehicle. With my wheels, I'm in charge. Remember, this is your life not just a work trip, and there's more to life than just working! Also, if you decide to quit a job for any reason, you don't want to be stuck for lack of transportation.
What type of vehicle is best for a gypsy? I highly recommend a pickup. My favorite vehicle was a 1984 Chevrolet 3/4 ton, 4X4 pickup, with dual gas tanks, manual hubs, a 350 engine, and standard transmission. Having a 4X4 can be indispensable if you need to travel off road, or on poorly maintained back roads. It's also handy in the winter. With a pickup you can travel with whatever gear and work tools you need, a set of mechanics tools for wrenching on your own vehicle, camp gear, and a few toys.
Breakdowns are a huge pain but they're going to happen. Be proactive instead of reactive as much as possible and keep up on the maintenance. Do whatever you can do to minimize the severity of breakdowns, and how often they occur.
Actual living arrangements will depend on the area you're in. Many people stay in motels. In a big city that makes sense, but most of my jobs were out in the country. I got to the point that I felt like motels were largely a waste of money. Fortunately I've always enjoyed camping, so that's what I did. But you need to realize that there's a huge difference between a recreational camp out, and working out of a camp site.
With camp trailers there are pluses and minuses. It's convenient to have a small home on wheels that you can hook onto when it's time to move and simply drop off when you've arrived at your destination. Naturally the larger the trailer, the more creature comforts there are. With the largest camp trailers you're courting disaster if you attempt to take them off road and into the back country. So you're looking at parking them in RV parks. There you'll find water and power hookups, and septic tanks. They usually have a small store on site and laundry facilities. Their cost is often as much as some motels. Don't count on seclusion in an RV park, often times they're more crowded than living in an apartment complex.
If you want to use a trailer and camp off road or in the back country, a smaller trailer is called for. In this case you're giving up the hookups and amenities that you have in an RV park. This means packing in water, the necessity of emptying your sewage tank occasionally, and keeping the batteries charged and propane tanks filled.
For a few years I had a 21 foot camp trailer that I enjoyed. It was large enough to have a lot of creature comforts, but was small enough to take off road in some places. After I sold that trailer, I started living out of the back of my pickup. This is the period of time that I have my fondest memories of being a gypsy. I had a cab high sleeper shell on the back of the pickup, and I put plywood on the floor so that I had a flat surface there. An old army cot set up with a couple of foam bed rolls and a sleeping bag made an excellent bed. Some of the gear fit under the cot to economize on space.
A tent is an indispensable item. If you're in an area where it's practical pitch your tent and make camp. If there are enough people in your group that someone's always in camp, you don't need to worry about breaking camp when you leave for awhile. Make improvements around camp as you have the time. It's amazing how creative people can get with these improvements. If there's fairly long periods when no one is in camp pack up everything but your tent and bed when you leave. They reserve your camp site, and they're easy to replace if they're stolen.
A major issue when working out of a camp site is personal cleanliness. On some job sites there are showers, most mines will have them. It's possible in some places that you can use pay showers such as the ones available at truck stops. I've found that a solar powered shower works well if you have a secluded area where you can hang it and take a shower. The biggest problem with a solar powered shower is that it's easy to overheat the water. But you can always add cooler water to bring the temperature down to a tolerable level.
Coolers took up most of the space in my pickup. Old coolers work great to store things in. I used one old cooler to throw cook gear in; camp stove, white gas, skillet, dutch oven, coffee pot, utensils, and lantern. Another cooler was used for dry goods; canned goods, pancake mix, bread, things of that sort. Then there was a cooler used for produce and meat that needed to be kept on ice. Finally, there was a large water cooler. Canned drinks were also thrown into this cooler. Depending on the temperature ice will last two or three days.
Use work clothes that haven't been ruined at work yet as your good clothes. This cuts down on space taken up with luggage. Being a gypsy is fairly casual, so you're not dressing to impress anyone. This is both practical and cost efficient. When old clothes are worn out save them instead of throwing them away. They make excellent fire place tinder.
Depending upon how much travel you're doing and how often you're moving, it may not be practical to establish a mailing address, even a P.O. Box. In the 80's I'd send money orders to my mother and she'd collect and pay my bills for me. Now days with online banking and billing I'd have it set up so that I could pay all my bills online. Computers are so prevalent any more that it shouldn't be a problem to find one that you can use for a short while to take care of bills.
The "toys" you travel with for recreation will vary from one person to another. I carried a set of horseshoes, fishing gear, and a few guns. This worked well for me. Attitudes have changed since the 1980's and I would make it a point to know the gun laws in each state before traveling through them with guns. Even back then California had such a hard nosed reputation when it came to guns that I packed mine away out of sight and left them alone while I was in that state.
I was pulled over by the state police in New Mexico once. It was a fairly minor offense and they let me go on it. However, I had a New Mexico Drivers License, Arizona plates on my truck, and a mailing address in Utah. This had them scratching their heads and they considered hauling me in just to sort things out. Fortunately for me they didn't. Now days I think they would. If I were still living the gypsy life I would pay more attention to my personal "papers", so as not to set off alarms or raise any flags with the police or anyone else in authority.
In short, with the economy and the job market being in the poor shape they are, I believe that traveling for work is a more viable option for many people than it once was. Call it being a gypsy if you will. Using a little common sense, it can actually be an enjoyable experience. It's even became a lifestyle of choice for many.
Written by robertheston
Freelance writer
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