Living In a Van

Well, the cause of his death is debatable. Some claim that his death was due to starvation.

You know, you can use your van's engine to warm up that hot water for your Top Ramen as well. :)


He wrote in his own journal what he eat (actually drank, I believe) and that he knew he was going to die.
 
Yea, well not a good example. In real life that guy also starved to death.

Yes, well the purpose of the story was not to get Greaper to start eating poisonous plants or berries. The purpose was that this college educated kid was able to live in a short bus by a river with no money and it worked for some time. Perhaps Greaper might be able to find a better deal if he is also in the market for a short bus...
 
I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned just sleeping on a recliner in the crew lounge? I've done it. Not too bad, just have to wait for an overnight for the shower if your airport doesn't have one.

And yes, its sad when a professional has to sleep in a van, couch, closet, shed, be away from your family to just survive the low pay. But hey you get to FLY for a living!!!<sarcasm> Gets thats where the choice is tough, choosing between staying in a profession that we enjoy or putting family, money first.
 
Thanks for all the responses guys. I think for the time being I'm going to do the crash pad thing. At least until it gets warmer. I'm going to agree with all the posters that have said it sucks when this is what being a professional pilot comes down to. I'm even a capt, but money is still pretty tight between my mortgage, daycare and commuting.

As many of you know my Dad is a pretty senior capt at the biggest major. He keeps telling me to stick it out that it gets better (Then he has to rub it in that at least I'm not getting shot at while I'm paying my dues like he did.) I guess that's pretty good advice for all of us, even if it is hard to remember when you're getting the poop kicked out of you dodging thunderstorms in a Carter era turbo-prop.
 
Thanks for all the responses guys. I think for the time being I'm going to do the crash pad thing. At least until it gets warmer. I'm going to agree with all the posters that have said it sucks when this is what being a professional pilot comes down to. I'm even a capt, but money is still pretty tight between my mortgage, daycare and commuting.

As many of you know my Dad is a pretty senior capt at the biggest major. He keeps telling me to stick it out that it gets better (Then he has to rub it in that at least I'm not getting shot at while I'm paying my dues like he did.) I guess that's pretty good advice for all of us, even if it is hard to remember when you're getting the poop kicked out of you dodging thunderstorms in a Carter era turbo-prop.

Hey, at least the engine intake anti-ice always works right?
 
I'm sleeping in our crew lounge right now. It's saving me a much needed $80, considering I have less than $100 until payday because of unexpected major expenses.

I don't have to do this. I could live in Houston or Cleveland for half what I do now and drive to work. Instead I commute to Newark because I like this base and I love where I live. So I have to put up with a few tough nights.

When I can afford it, I plan on getting a Presidents Club membership to make things a little easier. Just don't have the money now, so I'm getting by in this recliner. Oh well.
 
Sleeping in the crewroom is great. However, we've been threatened with being fired if we're caught doing that. Nice! :(
 
Sleeping in the crewroom is great. However, we've been threatened with being fired if we're caught doing that. Nice! :(

I know of someone who does this. I think its pretty dangerous and stupid. He always looks really tired, and the only time he gets real rest is when he does stand up overnights, and thats only for about 3 or 4 hours, and they dont even have to give you rest.
 
I know of someone who does this. I think its pretty dangerous and stupid. He always looks really tired, and the only time he gets real rest is when he does stand up overnights, and thats only for about 3 or 4 hours, and they dont even have to give you rest.

Where I used to be based, dozens of pilots and flight attendants would do this on some nights, having come up the night before from where they live. One showed me a nice little bed he constructed on the floor using multiple airliner seat cushions after the recliners ran out.

It was accepted by most all of us because nearly all pairings were uncommutable on both ends. I never did it because I had a crashpad though.
 
If I might recommend:

-The Brown Jug on Michigan's campus. It's over on South University, and a great place to go grab some drinks.

-There's also a B-Dubs on Michigan's campus, on state towards the north side of campus.

-I would personally avoid Good Time Charlies. The food is alright, but the service blows and when we stopped hanging out there years ago because of stupid policies like cutting people off after 2 drinks.

-If you want great Chinese, my vote is for China Gate, also on South University, and just across the street from the Brown Jug. Good stuff, right on campus. There's a parking garage right behind it.

-Go to the Western Michigan v. Michigan game this coming fall. It's the opening game, Western Michigan (my alma mater) has a change of beating Michigan (Emily's alma mater) and the tickets are probably CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP because, well, they're playing Western.

-Michigan hockey is also a pretty good show, and tickets don't cost that much. The CCHA is a great college hockey conference that always seems to have somebody in the frozen four, and produces a bunch of national champions.

That's all I've got for now. If you've got any questions about the area, feel free to PM me or Emily. She went to school there, I hung out there a lot in college. It's a cool area, and one of the few places in eastern Michigan I'm willing to live (I much prefer the west side of the state).
Awesome! Thanks for the pointers, man. I'll definitely have to check those places out! The captain I'm flying w/ used to live in this area, also, and recommended I check out a dueling piano bar near Ypsi. It should be cool.
 
I saw some movie about a kid who doesnt want any money, so he burns all of his. Then he moved to Alaska to live in a short bus that was close to a river. His short bus had a wood burning oven in it and a place for a sleeping bag. He was able to bathe in the river and he got his food from hunting and finding berries.

This was all based on a true story, so it can be done for cheap. Vince Vaughn is also a farmer in the movie.


Great movie!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LAuzT_x8Ek

http://tv-links.cc/movie/into-the-wild.htm
 
Colgan discourages this.

I would keep it on the serious DL, if you're planning on it. If you step out of the van with a Colgan ID on, right as one of the passengers that you're taking to Charleston walks by, it probably wouldn't look good. It might be better to get a crashpad. You're going to have to pay for the van plus parking unless you plan on driving it home all of the time?
 
Colgan discourages this.

I would keep it on the serious DL, if you're planning on it. If you step out of the van with a Colgan ID on, right as one of the passengers that you're taking to Charleston walks by, it probably wouldn't look good. It might be better to get a crashpad. You're going to have to pay for the van plus parking unless you plan on driving it home all of the time?

I think the unrealistic plan was to keep the van in the employee parking lot, which is paid for by the airline.
 
I don't think the employee parking at IAD is anywhere near the Potomac so please spare me the "Van Down By the River" comments (though anything a little more creative and funny is welcome). Also, yes I know it will be cold in the winter. I've slept in the back of my VW Golf on sub 20 degree nights here in CT. Just wondering if anyone else has considered or done this?
The Potomac is only a few miles to the north actually, but I'll spare you the comment anyway.

If you want, I'm sure my parents would rent you my old room just south of IAD in South Riding...

I think it's an interesting idea as long as you can get enough rest. Warm comforters and a soft surface and you're all set...
 
Just so you know, it's not just pilots who sleep in RVs/vans. My father was a Western Airlines A&P Mechanic when he got furloughed from SFO (about 30 years ago). He then got transferred to SLC and took our sweet Winnebago Chieftan RV to live in during the week for 6 months. He would commute home on the weekends to visit (mom would cook his meals for the next week and freeze them for him to take back...talk about "Leave it to Beaver" times) :). He then got transferred to LAX for a year and a half and took the Winnebago with him and again commuted home on weekends. He then interviewed with United at SFO and was hired before Delta bought out Western. He didn't have the pilot cheap streak in him and actually parked the RV at RV lots. :rolleyes:

When I first started flying at United, there was a pilot who was famous among the ranks that had an RV in the employee parking lot at an undisclosed airport. He fully welcomed anyone to stop by for a cocktail after work hours (he was a great guy!). He regularly hosted parties on his RV rooftop (so I've heard) during the summer. Also while I was based at another airport this past year, there was at least one guy who had a camper conversion on his pickup truck that didn't move for the past year in the employee parking lot. I never saw him, but I think that was his crashpad. Hey, free parking, a place to live...go for it.

I have also encountered a lot of "crew room rats" who use the crew room sleeping quarters as their crash pad. Don't flame me for using the term "rat" they proudly display it on their flight bag stickers.

Do what you've got to do. It's just sad that airline professionals have to resort to this. I doubt our CEO's are thinking of these alternatives...
 
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