we sold our motor home..it was 40 ft long..too big for me... we traveled around and thought about the rv lifestyle... not for me..i wanted to be planted.. home..traveling around..everyone is a stranger.. we downsized 7 years ago..moved near our daughter..bought small single wide..3 lots in a small farm town of 1200 people... thank God we did.. our daughter and our son-in-law handled everything about my husband's illness...hospice and all.. I am truly grateful for them..
I know overnight Walmart parking used to be popular among RVers traveling from one destination to another. At that time it was strictly overnight only, no awnings out, etc. We never had occasion to use it but knew people who were very pleased with it. It’s good to see reports that it’s still available, at least in some places. . 40’ is very long and more than needed for one person. We had 2 at different times. One was 27’ but the one I loved most was the first one, only 20’, not longer than a full sized van, just wider and taller. But, it’s not something I want to do alone either. It’s such a blessing and good foresight to have moved near your daughter. It’s wonderful for you to have family around during this time, Teresa.
I think the Walmarts here stopped the parking too. Too many tourists come here and plan to make Walmart their home I guess.
I drove by today. The restriction is on semi-trailers. I think that overnight facility must attract trailers and when it's full, they go looking for a likely spot.
Some Walmarts are trying to get away from the long-standing policy of welcoming overnight parkers, and some city governments are encouraging this. As for living in a car, van, or bus, there are bunches of podcasts from people doing this, and I find some interesting. I think I could live on a bus because that can be decked out like a motorhome, but it would be difficult if I didn't have adequate shower facilities. I might look like a bum sometimes, but I often shower more than once daily. Problems of hygiene living in a car or van would be more than I'd want to put up with long-term, and this would increase greatly with the introduction of pets. I suppose I could do what I had to do, but it wouldn't be idyllic.
When I had my Blue Bird school bus, I grabbed a water cell from an RV at the junk yard and mounted it on top of the bus. It didn’t last long because when I filled the thing, my mileage went down considerably because of the weight. The idea was right though. During the warm seasons, the water got extremely hot because of the sun and it produced a great shower.