FrankB Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 I'm a whitewater kayaker and hiker in the pacific northwest, so this isn't out of my realm of possibility. My wife is home so paying rent on another apartment I will spend very little time in sounds ridiculous. There are a few of my classmates planning on doing this most of the year. I am currently in the process of finding a van and outfitting it. I have the bathroom and shower situation already figured out. Have others done this during rotations? Vans? RVs? Campers? What recommendations do you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpsman89 Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Rock climber and hiker myself. This is total dirt bag stuff, and its totally awesome. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanime Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 I'm planning to spend a few nights in a truck shell down by the school myself. I live in the mountains and don't plan to move for school (because it's expensive and I have a very strong dislike for city life)... So my Tundra will likely be home away from home at times. I figure it'll be great for clinicals as well, when the time comes! Study at the library or coffee shops, sleep in the truck, shower at the gym! A life of luxury! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reality Check 2 Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 How about a tiny house on wheels and parking it in someone's backyard like a garage apartment? I couldn't do it myself and have been out of school forever, but I know folks who would let students borrow a patch of acreage. Something to consider. Or become a housesitter for folks who travel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrankB Posted June 10, 2016 Author Share Posted June 10, 2016 lanime - I'm in the Seattle class ahead of you. Keep in touch and I'll let you know how it works out. Dirtbaggin PA-S, I can live with that. As long as I don't look like I'm a dirt bag kayaker in clinicals I should be ok...no offense to dirt bagging kayakers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PA-S Zoidberg Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Hey fellow 2018 MEDEX folks! I am planning on rigging the tonneau cover of my Tacoma with side screens and a tent style door for my fair weather rotations (I am AK site so winter may be tough doing the truck camping thing). Also a dirtbag climber/mountain biker here. See you next month. -JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanime Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 The location of the people replying thus far makes quite a statement about the PNW lifestyle! Haha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator rev ronin Posted June 11, 2016 Administrator Share Posted June 11, 2016 Yeah, I and most of my classmates used Craigslist or contacts with the previous classes for housing during rotations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrox Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 I'm late to this post, but I am a single female living in a travel trailer during PA school in a warm southern state. I live in 147 sq ft and can say that this is the absolute best decision I could have made. It does have some drawbacks (7 minute hot shower, wait 20 mins for more hot water), but I am in a park with older neighbors, its the perfect study environment. And its mine. No neighbors above or below, no bland apartment that I can't personalize without paying a fine. I can do wth I want to do when I want to do it. It is a fraction of the cost of what I would pay in rental or apartment. I loves it. Propane or electric heat when cold, the most wonderful AC unit when its hot. boom. PA Barbie comes with her own travel trailer! And if you have to move around for rotations, you move. I haven't had to do that yet, but that was one of the major motivators for choosing this lifestyle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpsman89 Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 I was talking to my wife about this. I think we would totally do it if we didn't have kids (2) . I am not too fond of having the kids with us in a travel home in an RV park. I would be interested if anybody else has done that but I feel like the kids need some private space to run around and the like, i.e. a backyard. Anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrox Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 I have neighbors with kids! You would be surprised how well kids adapt to pretty much anything! If you found the right place, it could work! Lots of library study time if you need absolute quiet like me and have kiddos inside! But doable with the right trailer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrankB Posted January 16, 2017 Author Share Posted January 16, 2017 Somehow I'm only traveling during 1 rotation...don't know how that happened. I did buy a van, but set it up for kayaking/camping rather than a true living situation. We needed the 2nd car anyway. Several classmates are living out of RV's and vans, so far from them it has been a huge success. Cheaper and more mobile. It does take a certain type of personality to pull it off. The majority of people in my class are from the PNW, very acclimatized to outdoor activities and would use the vehicles well past clinical rotations for recreation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedicinePower Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Check ahead to make sure it's allowed but Walmart often allows overnight RV camping. I think a Class C motorhome is a good idea and you can get some for really cheap. Just make sure to have a lot of duct tape available. http://www.walmartlocator.com/rv-parking-at-walmart/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
south Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 One thing I am realizing now is that I damn well sure should have done this during the entirety of school. I attended an expensive school in a warm tourist area with a high cost of living, and I was essentially single as the kids are with their mother. It was a slam dunk decision, or should have been anyway. I even had money to buy something outright at the time. School took care of that! Would have saved me multiple tens of thousands of dollars, no exaggeration. I guess with all the moving parts (more than most) I did not think it through well enough. I liked my comfortable apartment, but it really hurt me financially. If I had to do this again - trailer with dual cab truck, house stuff disposed of and/or in storage, fill up the vehicles with essential clothes and such for the 2.5 years and head for a quiet RV resort for $~500 a month plus electric. Slam DUNK. Would be great for locums jobs as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren R Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 You are hard core. None of my classmates took that approach. If that doesn't work out of you, check out airbnb, craig's list and check with your PA school or the site to see what other students have done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrox Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 I pay around 390-400 a month depending on electricity. that includes water and trash pickup. Is it a sacrifice? maybe. But it's one that has allowed me to pay my egregious health insurance and high cost meds while in PA school. My place is tiny but it doesn't lack anything an apartment has, except for washer/dryer hookup... a shed out back is going to take care of that soon with a combo washer/dryer. I feel blessed every day that I can walk up in this piece and know its mine, a feeling I have never experienced before. I'm sure homeowners must feel the same way, but I don't have a mortgage. And honestly, the more I think about it and my breathtaking debt from this, my second master's degree, the less likely it is I will be leaving my cozy little shack any time soon. I may do this until all my debt is paid off... I want to work in rural America anyway - as long as I can find a nice SAFE park, like the one I am in now, I think this is a lifestyle I am wont to maintain. Maybe(definitely) I'm a little nuts, or maybe a little nomadic, but imagine all the fun locum work I can do without having to sublet or do short term leases! #trailerparklife ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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