I'm in college, so cheap travel is my specialty. I cut costs by looking for adventures off the beaten path, cheap attractions and low-cost flights. But some fellow travelers are taking cheap travel to a whole new level.
Some are cutting their expenses by cutting hotel stays and eliminating home base. There's an entire culture of travel that use RVs and other vehicles as portable houses, essentially making the road their home. You'd save by eliminating your mortgage (or rent, as it were) and also eliminating the need to pay for a hotel. But is what is living out of a vehicle like?
The New York Times Magazine published an interesting slideshow on road culture about those who use their vehicles to sleep in Wal-Mart parking lots during their journeys called "Paradise Paved." The vehicles range from large luxury RVs in which the passengers have everything they need, including a nice set of China in case they need to entertain, to small sedans. The passengers are also varied, from overnight travelers to those who journey across the country from day-to-day. All have slept in their vehicles overnight in a Wal-Mart parking lot.
The rules, laid out in the slideshow, are these: don't stay more than one night, don't set up camp with a grill or awning and shop there as a courtesy to your host.
Now, I love driving as an alternative to flying, but I'm not sure I could muster up the courage to sleep overnight in a car in such a public spot. What do you think? Would you have a Wal-Mart slumber party to curb your travel costs?
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