Off-Road Solo: Living in a Jeep Full-Time for 1 Year - A Woman's Adventure!

well I think uh we should learn a little bit more about how you live in a jeep I personally want to learn that's my crazy dog chasing bird hawk beautiful and a little bird chasing the hawk it's funny how little birds can chase them around and welcome back to my next video today we're meeting Sarah hi Sarah and this fabulous Jeep love my Jeep I also love jeeps in fact that's the only thing I I really Envy is people who can have a vehicle and go really deep into the back country and it does yes that is built super well are those the tire size is really one of the most important things on the Jeep are those 40s no they're 37 37 37s I wish I had 40s but for traveling I can't have 40s yeah that's not a very practical size yeah that's really too special 37s is great yeah so that's most of you don't care about that but in the Jeep world that's a really big deal it is yeah and I love Jeeps I love the idea of being in the backcountry I bought my side by side as a easy way for me to be able to do that oh yeah but you got to be a minimalist to live in a jeep oh yeah and so you are bare minimum in there and short and short yes that is also very helpful very helpful and so you must be full-time now are you are you part-time I am full-time so I started traveling 17 months ago and originally I was towing a 16-foot travel trailer behind my Jeep and then September 1st I decided to store my travel trailer and then just try traveling in just my Jeep so I built out the inside of my Jeep and uh to live in and it's a lot easier for me to just travel with the Jeep than it is with the trailer right so a lot easier right and you're doing a rooftop tent that is a storage bag actually so I sleep on the inside I don't do the rooftop tent because of the fact that I feel more safe and secure sleeping inside of my Jeep than I would on in a tent I agree so yeah hard sides are always better and you have a puppy although hoisting her up there isn't all that hard a little bigger dog had become a big issue oh yeah yeah and so something a question I always ask everyone is why here you are wandering around in the back country and the Jeep and so I think a lot of people want to know what what brought you to that so I lived in Vegas for 16 years um the reason why I moved to Vegas originally is because at 30 years old I had never met my father so I hired a private investigator to find my father met him at 30 moved to Vegas to get to know him and have a relationship with them a few years ago he was diagnosed with early stages of dementia and so I moved him into the house with me and took care of him and then because of his dementia he wasn't you know all there in the head and everything so one night I came home and he shot and killed himself in front of me and then after that I lost my best friend to pancreatic cancer two months later and so I sunk into a huge depression and I had a really good job that I worked out for like 10 years in Vegas and I kind of engulfed myself into work just to stay busy all the time yeah for about a year and a half it was just depression and working a lot and stuff and then I took a trip to Sedona Arizona one time and I met this girl that was traveling in her Forerunner and living out of her Forerunner and she told me the reason why she started doing it was because her brother committed suicide and this was her therapy to go be with nature and stuff like that and so it just clicked in my head okay maybe this is a sign I'm a hiker I used to be a rock climber I loved Outdoors you know so um turned in a six-month notice to my job and planned it out for six months on how I was going to make it work and just gave up everything and became homeless in my vehicle and I have to say in my 45 years this is the happiest I've ever been and it definitely has been my way of working through everything that I went through so of course my I have suicide in my family and I can relate a little bit to what you've experienced and it had a very profound effect on me also changed the course of my life yeah makes you stop and think is you know do you want to wait or do you want to live now and you've chosen to live now yeah so it's very very admirable I had to do something yeah I had to do something so yeah it's easy to sink into that depression and just stay there so um I admire your courage and so you're young still uh you're not on social security or anything like that so uh how are you supporting yourself I did have a savings um and when I left Vegas but when I left Vegas I just traveled full time and uh just enjoyed it for like four months and then that savings started going down uh so yep so I started picking up seasonal work camping jobs and uh I did that for a little bit but I started a YouTube channel a year ago and when I started the YouTube channel I started making income off of YouTube my patreon my Instagram um so basically that's what I'm doing now is I just make the money off my social media and that's how I'm able to travel and live very minimalists very minimalist because I'm not getting rich off my YouTube yet so but yeah so I just live extremely extremely minimalist so right well if you reduce your costs low enough you don't need a lot to live on that's true so yeah the two really go well together almost require each other minimalist lifestyle so it's that sounds really really wonderful and uh so folks uh you should go check out her Channel I think you'll be really glad you did tell us all your channel um so my YouTube is wandering Gypsy but it's cheap see and then my Instagram is the same thing it's wondering underscore gypsy some so go check those out you'll be really glad you did and uh it's your channel is growing and uh paying you supporting you on the road at your minimal lifestyle it is yes that's really soon yeah I'm very blessed for that yes people out there think it's easy it's not easy it's a job it is a full-time job yes it is yep you uh you have to do the filming you have to do the editing but I also look at it as it's a job I love too so I'm getting to do what I love so if you're in a bad place in your life and I know from all the emails I've gotten over the years many of you are there's hope there's a way forward I believe this lifestyle healing in nature is a big part of it so check out uh Sarah's channel for that and um maybe even contact her on through Instagram or YouTube orberg meal did we give your email do you want to give your email my email is wondering Gypsy yahoo.com yeah yahoo.com so let's take a look at your Jeep like I was saying I um if I switch to any vehicle it would be a four-door Jeep that's what I supposed to do yeah she was actually originally built for rock crawling I used to do a lot of rock crawling when I lived in Vegas so that's why she kind of looks like that right there is because she was a rock crawler but for me to start traveling I had to do a lot of down grades on her for me to take her and travel with so if you're going to rack up some miles it you've got to have it more stock for longevity yeah then I'm not giving up the tires no no no no no okay so I'll try not to nerd out on on Jeep and the Jeep world so I don't drive you all crazy but I can't promise anything uh and so let's go take a look at the Jeep well being short like I said helps a lot so um I did have a lot of upgrades done underneath the hood uh for the traveling and everything so I do have this soft top on right now and as you guys see the soft top is slanted in the back so it doesn't give me as much room as a hard top would yeah but I have a hard top waiting on me in Vegas right now so I'm putting a hard top on and then that is a storage bag so it gives me extra storage but I'm taking the storage bag off and I actually am putting some hard cases up there because that is a pain in the butt to get to and have to unzip it untie it and you know all that stuff so um and these little things right here because I'm short are steps are for me to get up there I have one on each side so makes it easy for me to get up there and get the stuff out of the storage bag so then I have the trash bag this thing comes in handy right here because as you guys know a lot of places like BLM when you stay stay on bln there's no amenities or anything so meaning no trash so you have to pack it in pack it out take your trash out this is one of my favorite things on my Jeep believe it or not um is this tailgate table you bet I love this tailgate table so I can cook this is how I make my coffee right here uh this jet boil comes in handy and then this is my washing station so it's a two and a half gallons that it holds the water and then here's my soap and everything then I also keep two one gallon jugs of water inside the Jeep to fill it here's one of my solar panels right there and then I keep the other two solar panels down here and then I have my fridge which is definitely a lifesaver because I love to cook Mr Buddy Heater yes the Mr Buddy Heater so one of the things I do because I am at these spots for at least a couple of weeks so I I do have a tent up there in my storage bag right so I do take my tin out and I set it up and the tint is my lounge area so for when it gets windy or rainy I have my tent to hang out inside of so the Mr Buddy comes in handy for that also because sometimes waking up in the morning it's really cold so I just go to my tent and I turn that heater on and just heats up the tent like that got a nice big winch there yes and that has come in handy out here in quartzite I've already rescued a small school bus and also a sprinter van be careful with these big vehicles going in these washes now so that sand sucks you down oh yes it does so my two these are two 100 watt solar panels and then I have another one in the Jeep and these keep my jackeries I have a 500 watt jackery and a 240 Watt jackery and it keeps those charged plus all my like laptop and you know cell phone and all that other stuff and uh the jackery keeps my fridge charged for a couple of days so I mean it's uh this this whole system has been working for a year now Handles in the fridge you'd probably have pretty minimal draw right now it's pulling two Watts so then I took my back seat out of my Jeep and uh I built this platform right here very nice and it goes across the whole entire back side of my Jeep oh man that gives you a lot of space and then I put the went to the Dollar Store got this little rug to put there and then this is the way I keep warm when I'm sleeping I have the wool blanket that goes over my mattress so it keeps the cold from coming up and then I have the zero degree sleeping bag I have the electric blanket here and then a 800 fill count comforter so and then I have the storage bags that they make for Jeeps so I have one right here and then one on the other side and they just attach to my roll bars and then the little black bag right here is all my clothes and if I can't fit any clothes in there then I don't need them and uh fire extinguisher because definitely need the fire extinguisher and then I have little blackout curtains for my windows well I can see that you have everything you need to make make your life comfortable and and rich and full if you're a minimalist yes and it took me a lot because I thought it was a when I was doing this toe in a travel trailer and moving out of my house into the travel trailer I was like oh my gosh this is like really living minimalist but then when I stored my travel trailer and started Living out of my Jeep I really really had to downsize a lot so but I'm happy and content um like I don't even want to do it with my travel trailer anymore I'm going to get rid of my travel trailer now actually so and just do it in my Jeep I always have to ask and how do you go to the bathroom oh I should have brought that out so I do have a portable collapsible toilet that I use and then for showers of course I use the wipes a lot but I do have a solar bag shower and then every once in a while because I need to get these dreadlocks cleaned properly I will go to a truck stop or a public shower just so I can get my dreadlocks washed we think we all think you have to have a hot shower to stay clean when you know if you start thinking like a Pioneer which is kind of what you've really done is adopted the Pioneer lifestyle that you know the Conestoga wagon except it's a Jeep yeah I did a lot of research a lot a lot of research to be able to uh do this right here right and to be able to live like this okay so tell us again your uh YouTube channel everyone should go there right now right now right now don't even watch the end of this video why do that so it is wandering Jeep see so that's Jeep see okay and the same thing on Instagram except there's an unders underscore right there right and this is my little logo right there so it's uh I actually came up with how I wanted my logo done and then somebody designed it for me so it's the compass and then the peace sign and then my Jeep and then tread marks as trees and there's me hiking and there's the mountain sun and stars I will say this I know this lifestyle isn't for everybody um you know like if you're very passionate about the outdoors and you love the outdoors like I do and nature has always been my therapy even before everything that I went through with my father and my best friend you know nature was always my way of you know like going out hiking with my therapy and stuff um if this isn't your lifestyle right here there's always something that you can do that you can find that you're passionate enough um that can be your therapy also whether it be drawing singing dancing traveling in your vehicle RV tent walking walking across the United States whatever I mean just just find something that you're passionate about right healing is out there in many many paths yes it is yes it is and this is my my healing right here right this is probably saved my life to be honest with you yeah I it saved my life moving into a van the first time saved my life yeah well Sarah thank you so much for uh uh sharing your life with us and your story I know that takes courage I I know personally that takes courage and uh what amazing rig and life you've designed for yourself well thank you thank you very much so folks be sure go right now where are you going you're going to wandering Gypsy j-e-e-p-s-y and and subscribing at this very minute and you'll be glad you did thank you [Laughter] so folks if you got anything out of this video and I'm hopeful and confident you did like us on YouTube subscribe to the channel hit that thumbs up button and we'll talk to you later bye now

Channel: CheapRVliving

Views: 92,645

Keywords: car, van, RV, Full-time, nomad, camper, camp, boondock, travel, caravan, tiny, house, RTR, Bob Wells, Nomadland, CheapRVLiving, Cheap RV Living, vanlife, van life, how to live in a van, van dwelling, van tour, van conversion, living in a van, camper van, van build, diy van build, sprinter van, van living, #vanlife, van dweller, campervan, vandwelling, diy camper van, RV Life, Living in an RV, Class B, Class C, Truck Living, Living in a car, boondocking, Living in a RV

Id: 2QrTwtCgPdg

Length: 18min 20sec (1100 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 16 2023