Hello, y'all! I'm really considering getting an Ollie and living a fairly free life. I am 25, and since 24, for many months now I have struggled with what I call a quarter life crisis. I have been living on my own, with a solid professional career as a licensed massage therapist. Then I kinda felt this unceasing existential dread and became very nihilistic. Everything in the world seemed to be terrible, and I felt trapped, like I was a hamster on a wheel that I didn't want to be on. I don't want to keep renting, but I don't know where I want to live to own my own home. I keep accumulating more stuff - furniture, washer/dryer, decorations, pots, pans, books, on and on... I want to check out of this society where I work hard until I'm old and if I make it that long then I can retire (maybe, if I'm lucky) and enjoy my last years, and somewhere in between there I need to marry and have kids and a house and settle down. I understand that many people like this lifestyle. I thought I would, in fact. But I want out.
I casually looked up RV living one day and then fell into a hole where I started learning about all the different kinds of RVing and camping and all the different vehicles and homes available. Basically, I fell in love with everything about Ollies. I can have some modern conveniences I love (such as showers, I love showers so much lol), but I can also be eco-friendly in ways I cannot at an apartment - I can use a compost toilet, be much more aware of power and water usage, and leave a smaller destructive footprint behind when I die. I could even learn to use a bow and arrow, and occasionally hunt and fish (with proper licensure and during proper seasons, of course). I can travel all I want and explore America and Canada. I can come back to home base and visit friends and family when I want to - no more worrying if I can afford the time off, or if I have the time on my off days in the first place! I can work as a massage therapist, yoga instructor, and movement therapist while I am on the road for income. Limitless possibilities when my home is on wheels! And definitely more of a boondocking/wild camping kind of thing, RV parks have never appealed to me.
So I am now preparing a 4-5 year plan to 100% own my own truck, own my own Ollie home, and pay off my student loan debts by age 30, so I can truly live and enjoy life. When I figured this out, that this is what I want to do, it's like all my anxiety fled from me, and I now have a set goal to achieve for a dream life (as much as one can get a dream life, anyways, in this old world).
I just had a few questions:
- I am 6 feet 1 inches tall. The Ollie is 6'6"... Will that be cramped feeling for me? Anyone else a similar height level?
- Can I realistically ship my Ollie and truck to Hawaii to explore Hawaii? I've been there once... perhaps backpacking there for a vacation would be more ideal than an Ollie?
- Can I realistically ship my Ollie and truck to Europe for travels? What about Australia/NZ (I know I'd need one of their right side driver vehicles, though). Or would this venture be mostly limited to North America? I could also do Mexico and South America, but I feel like that would get more dangerous...
- Is this a good investment? I think yes - if I live in it for 5-6 years, that would be the amount I paid for an apartment in that same time, just stuck in one box in one place. I definitely see myself living in it for more than that, though. If I ever sell it, the resell value would be better than a RV.
- Realistically, what kind of terrain can I expect to go over with a truck and an Oliver camper trailer?
- Also, for towing an Oliver and doing off road stuff, is a manual transmission or automatic transmission better? I love manuals.
Thanks for any and all input! :)