“Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people, living life in peace
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one”
~ John Lennon
Soundtrack for a Sunday morning…
I’ve been contemplating buying land for a little over a year now. I’ve done some preliminary investigation online and really have not been able to decide on a location. Most are either too hot in the summer, or too cold in the winter or both. I want unrestricted land (so I can live in my van or a tiny home there) and there are some spots that allow that with certain caveats. Almost all land in AZ requires you to have septic in order to live on it for more than 30 days out of the year. I’ve talked with Matt about it and he too seems interested on and off. Lately he’s looked up spots nearby and wanted to go look at some properties. I decided I’d go with him. I have mixed feelings about buying land near Kingman, AZ. There are pros and cons to all of it.
My biggest problem is that I need all the facts to make a decision and there is just too much information to be gathered. How much does the land cost? Is it truly “unrestricted” (meaning you can live in anything on your own property)? How do I know if it can have septic put on the property (perc test?) or if it is buildable? And then I started looking at large sheds. They would be such a great beginning of a tiny house. And I started thinking about what would be necessary to insulate, wire, plumb, drywall, add in solar and maybe propane heat or a mini-split? How much does a kitchen sink cost? How many cupboards/cabinets would I need? How much am I physically able to do myself? Hell, I skipped the first part—how will I GET to the spot where my tiny home would be? Can I rent a backhoe? Can I run one? Maybe a Bobcat? Too many things, and I’m sure I’ve missed half of them. I managed all of these details when I bought a rundown carwash and converted it into my soap factory, and then later into my home and massage studio. But that was 20 years ago. I was much younger and had lots of help. I’m sure I can figure it out; just not this week.
BUT…I have to start somewhere and since Matt was going to look and there is BLM land to camp on nearby, this seemed a good time and a good place to start my hunt for land.
On my last night at the campsite near Kingman, we had a beautiful sunset and some unexpected visitors.
Later that night when I took Cosmo out to pee before bedtime, he alerted to something. I could see nothing by the light of the crescent moon, so I turned my flashlight and pointed it to the ground. I worry about rattlesnakes and scorpions, and as I was searching for them in front of me, a large bull ran past us, so close I could feel the breeze he generated as he passed. So many times I’ve been cautious about snakes and scorpions; It would be ironic to be taken out by a cow.
Wednesday morning we packed up and moved west heading between Golden Valley and Oatman. We stopped to do laundry and then went to Walmart for supplies before heading up a pretty rugged road to the makeshift camping spot in the middle of nowhere. It was hot. The spot wasn’t nice. I was beat from laundry, chores and driving. I backed into a large rock trying to get settled and that didn’t help my mood. I stewed in my van for an hour or so and then Matt texted that he was going to look at some properties in his side-by-side. I joined him. Oatman is known for its wild burros, and we encountered several groups of them.
The few properties we saw were mostly flat and very rocky. There were some yucca trees and various desert scrubs and cacti.
There were many parcels on wide open land. The ones that we had listings for were on dirt roads and were adjacent to occupied lots. One adjacent lot had a mobile home, a wall made of old car tires, and a small camping trailer in the yard. Another had a few shipping containers, a large camper and a few vehicles in ill-repair. The lots were under $5,000 for over 2 acres. The price was right. The neighborhood? Not so much. The parcels were deep and I guess if one cleared a very long driveway, you could get deep in and farther away from your next-door neighbors. But it seemed most cleared a spot near the dirt road and set up either an old single-wide mobile home, or some sort of camper or even a school bus. The “neighborhood” was comprised mostly of poor people, and I suspect mostly people who were sick of rules, regulations and government in general. I guess those are my peers, and yet, something about it seemed unsettling. I think I was mostly bothered by the closeness of the people who would be living next to me. Permanent neighbors. Ugh. We saw some lots in wide open, unoccupied parts as well. They seemed better until I realized that at any minute someone could buy the lot(s) next to me, and I’d have close neighbors, for better or worse. The area was half an hour from civilization. I think I could do that if I was alone. I’m not sure I could be “in the wild” with other wild people, even though that’s pretty much been my life for the past 5 years. I think permanence was the issue. Now, if I have neighbors whose company I don’t enjoy, I pack up and move. I am not sure I can give up that mobility.
I drove back to the BLM land near Kingman on Thursday morning. I’d seen enough to know that I needed to do more research and a bit of soul-searching before continuing to look at property. I pulled onto the dirt road where Matt and I had camped. At the very end was the perfect spot, but it had been occupied by a woman in a van with her dog. I drove down and saw it was now open, and I pulled in, got set up and Cosmo and I explored it a bit. It was even nicer than I’d thought. The weather was cooler (by a few degrees than Oatman was, but the wind was quite strong with lots of gusts. We walked some, but mostly stayed inside for much of the day. But even that was fine as the views out every one of my windows were awe inspiring, and they changed as the sun went from east to west. I was, as the saying goes, “a happy camper.”
Lessons From The Road: I think my disappointment with the land and people near Oatman, AZ was largely due to the fact that I’m not ready to give up this life just yet. At some point, if I had kids, they’d take my car keys away from me. If I live long enough (and I am planning on that) I will at some point be unable to drive anymore, or my van will just not be able to go another mile. Where will I go? How will I live? I think somewhere between van life and hospice, there might be land and a small but permanent way of life. Oatman area could provide that. But when I drove back to the BLM land east of Kingman, AZ, I felt a weight lifted. No more thinking about building tiny homes, or buying an ugly, used camper to live in. I looked around me.
My current back yard is gorgeous. I can see only one bumper of a neighbor’s truck through the trees down the road. I have an amazing view of the adjacent valleys and of the mountain ranges beyond. I’m in relatively good health for an old man. It will be good for me to keep looking at future options, but for now, I’ve decided to keep living my best life. I will decide on an alternative when the time draws nearer.