cytog64

Have you ever been a business traveler homeless by choice? What was your experience?

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By a weird combination of planned work trips, vacations, and an apartment lease expiring I am likely going to be homeless by choice during the months of October and November.

Part of this feels genius/empowering (like I am hacking the rat race system) and part of it feels like I will be breaking some law of the world. I live in California so the savings of 2100$/month in rent will be great.

Can you think of anything I should take care of while I still have a month to go?

I am going to get a PO box. I've been having packages sent to the office address I work at sometimes when I am home.

rubesl

If you get a P.O. box you can sign up for the "Street Addressing" option and then you can have packages (UPS, FedEx, etc.) delivered to the P.O. box as long as the address on the package is the post office's street address, like: John Doe, 1234 Main St., #706, Los Angeles CA 98765 (#706 being your P.O. box #). A postal employee will sign for the package & put a slip in your box to pick it up at the counter. The only thing you can't have sent there is alcohol (they won't sign for it). It works great & I've never had any problems with it. Also, then you wouldn't need to send packages to your "sometimes" office.

cur

this is nomadicness, not homelessness. i did this for 2 months and it helped that i had squeezes in berlin and chicago. it was a bit 'rough' not having my own space and living in hotel rooms is overrated but that's me. the cost savings is mos def worth it and you should give it a try. after 2 months i just got a crash pad in a barrio that was $500 a month and another 2 months later i loved it more than i thought so i decided to move there.

if you want to be really chintzy, skip the po box and just get general delivery, but the pitfall is that you have to pick up any mail within 30 days and general delivery hours is obviously not 24hrs. i see on the internet here the service is applicable to package deliveries, but again 30 days. it was useful when i needed a piece of mail every so often in cities where i didn't have friends. why don't you just keep getting stuff delivered to the office?

xxBUJxx

Sounds like an adventure to me!

Allan38103

You will still be accumulating a lot of "stuff" (things you want/need, but don't take along on trips), even if you don't have a permanent home for a while. If you have an office, use that space; if there's a warehouse or storage room at the office, ask to use it.

Hotel for several nights at a time, or a different one every day? Rental car for several days at a time, or a different one every day?

Get at least two plastic storage "totes" of the appropriate size. (One is to keep dirty clothes) It's easier to carry a plastic container holding everything than it is to make multiple trips back and forth to your room.

You'll probably want at least two of everything (toiletries, clean clothes, etc.) One stays in your "travel" pack, and the other in your "non-travel" pack. It's easier than having having to sort it out every time you move.

The_Diamond_Z

I've done a similar thing several times until it occurred to me I was just living somewhere else.

Are you going to be nomadic or just moving to a new place?

My comments are aimed at the nomadic/frequent mover life.

One thing I learned is that if you're going to be nomadic for any length of time, you need a permanent address. Once I opened a box with a UPS store and pointed all my mail toward there I've never looked back. It's well worth the annual fee and they don't get the junk mail shots that the post office and delivered mail get. The store doesn't have to be near you or even in the same state and costs vary a lot. Each store is a franchise so read the reviews before choosing one. If you're not in a position to pick up your mail from the store then arrange a forwarding schedule.

If you own stuff, figure out what you will want keep that is important on a lifetime scale and put it in a safe deposit box somewhere near the UPS store. Get rid of everything else. It can be a cleansing experience but remember at some point you might not be as nomadic. Put aside funds to repurchase all the stuff you're getting rid of (e.g. furniture, car,etc).

I tried storing stuff but after a year I just had stuff that was a year older. I didn't have to worry about storage fees, but if I didn't need my stuff after a year...then I didn't need my stuff. The answer was the same 2, 3, 4...years later.

If you're going to be moving around a lot then invest in the tools. If you're nomadic by car then storage crates are a good idea but if you're going to fly then where do you keep the crates? I've done both and it's a different toolset. Get the right tools, insurance, and travel-friendly clothes, containers etc. Things cost more as a nomad and relationships are harder.

A lot of nomadic issues turn out to be very domestic. Where will you do laundry? What's the plan for illness or when you're in between work trips?
If you need a utility bill as proof of address...what do you do?

Finally, if you move around frequently then you're going to burnout. Plan to have some gaps in being nomadic.

There can be a cost-savings for sure but it can also take a lot out of you.
I did all of this stuff in my early twenties, it was an adventure and I've never regretted it. I don't think I would do it in my thirties or beyond.

cytog64

Great feedback everyone! Thanks.

The PO Box "Street Address" is something I was unaware of and like the idea. Also, I like the UPS suggestion.

I have studied this concept i've called "homeless-by-choice" for about 10 years. The term of nomaicness is interesting...maybe that will help me improve my google searches as I haven't used that term. I've followed the VanLife# youtube tagged videos for a few years. I had a fun conversation with a retired lady a few weeks ago at Bolsa Chica State Beach in California who lives out of a camper van.

I figured some of you have taken this much further than I plan to go. A few of you sent me a PM with some great comments too. I appreciate that!

I have actually moved 5 times in the last 7 years so I have become very efficient at personal junk. Right now, everything I own other than a computer chair/desk will fit in my little VW car. I don't have a wife, kids, or other human responsibility so I can do whatever I want. I'll be celebrating a 34th birthday somewhere over the pacific ocean international dateline (LAX-BNE) this weekend.

Not much is actually changing for me as I am usually traveling for work 75% of the time so this means Flights, Rental Cars, Hotels, and Meals are paid for. In the next 90 days I will actually need to find a place to sleep about 5 nights(I have enough hotel points to cover that). As for hardships, I sometimes have to do "sink" laundry when I cannot find a laundromat or hotel laundromat (i do not like paying $20/article of clothing). I do own a car that is paid off, insured, licensed for another year, and have free parking available close to my home airport.

Loren Pechtel

I've never done it as a business traveler but I've been a nomad for 7 1/2 months once while growing up. We used a relative as a mailing address.

Amelorn

I did this for three months by car around the US and Canada.

Electronic communication takes care of virtually all mission critical stuff: banking, credit, insurance.

I did find crises relatively magnified in suckage- car needed a new transmission, so that screwed up making my friend's wedding. Attacks of costochondritis made physically moving things over 1 pound painful, shingles on my leg was a joy, and a time-sensitive potential emergency all gave me a sense of extreme vulnerability. When the car's transmission was out, and I had a costochondritis attack, my computer needed repair.

Costs were higher: meals were had out in some form. A balanced, low-carb diet came at a pretty penny. Money flew out for lodging and gas.

I saw some great places, but it did definitely have downsides.

cur

awesome man you got it set, now only you can decide if this life is for you

now save save save (it's quite obvious you have the right mindset if you know how to sink your laundry), diversify, and in a few years put a chunk into some high risk investment that you love and believe in. one of my very few regrets in life is being too conservative with my savings, i wish i went the entrepreneurial route sooner. but yeah this is just old man cur speaking at the camp fire

ditto on the above comment on the internet, i cancelled my po box cause everything i need is electronic (and general delivery or a friends house or client's office if i need something). but if you're churning cc or something then a po box is prob useful

enjoy your liberty son

Kagehitokiri

there are others on FT who do this, or who move every few months, etc

unfortunately the discussion that is on FT is not in dedicated threads

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...llionaire.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...rt-2006-a.html

a FlyerTalker blogger - onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/04/14/my-one-year-anniversary-of-living-in-hotels-full-time/