At Home In The Woods

[Obed]

My wife and I live in a camper. We have lived in a camper for most of the past 12 years. We would like to live in a house. I will share in this thread our quest to live in a house like normal people.

Obed

[Couple of Achers]

That will be wonderful. Take lots of pictures. We look forward to seeing the progress. Good luck.

[Obed]

I started doing contract computer work in 1997, so we bought the camper and moved to eastern NC. Our plan was to work 4-6 months at a job, get another contract somewhere else, and move around. Well, the first contract lasted 4 years in the same spot. So much for the plan. When my last contract in Charlotte, NC ended in 2006, we finally returned home to Tennessee after 20 years away.

[Obed]

Here's where we have kept all our stuff since we've been living like gypsies.

[kebo]

Do you already have some land? Or perhaps that is the first step in your quest for a more permanent residence??

[Obed]

My father-n-law knew an elderly woman who owns an empty 1/2 acre lot in the county outside of Knoxville. The lot used to have a single-wide on it. We were able to rent the lot and move our camper and storage trailer onto the lot. Our intention was to live in the camper on the lot until we could find more permanent living arrangements. That was over 3 years ago. We still live on the same lot in our camper. The best laid plans of mice and men...

Here I am wiring the electrical panel to which we plugged in the camper.

[MotorSeven]

Yep, been there, done that......my wife & I lived in a 24' Class C motorhome for a couple of years, stepped up to a 38' travel trailer for a year & a half, then back to a 20' Argosy Airstream trailer for 6 months while we built our Quonset hut w/apt. Now that we have been in the 500sqft apt for over 2 years, we have started building a log home(my build thread is below this one somewhere). My initial move to the MH was a necessity....the big "D". By doing all that we were able to save enough money to buy land & build. We just have a truck camper now for vacations.
We are just east of you North of Morristown.

RD

[dave1949]

Glad to hear you are moving towards your goal. Your avatar looks like you have one stump out of the way already

Be careful what you wish for! Ever here of neighbors?

Look forward to your posts.
Dave.

[Obed]

While we were living in Charlotte in 2005, we bought 61 rural acres on the Cumberland Plateau located 1 1/2 hour west of Knoxville, TN. The property is very scenic with a mature forest, bluffs, waterfall, creek, and river. When I was hired in 2006 in Knoxville for a permanent position (not contract), I was able to work out a deal with my employer to work 2 days a week from home. With this schedule, we intended to build on our rural property, and I would commute to Knoxville 3 days a week. However, having family in Knoxville, my wife really wanted to live closer to Knoxville. Thus, we now have 61 acres for sale. Unfortunately, the real estate market is not real strong right now. Some pictures of the property are shown below.

[Obed]

RD, your story does sound similar. Wow! And you're not that far from us. We did save a lot of money by living in the camper. However, now we're in the painful spending mode.