Living on about $800 a month, John and Carmen Kampa are free-ranging nomads who roam freely on public roads.

Base camp in early June is on the banks of the Green River in Sublette County, Wyoming, about 2 miles upstream from the Warren Bridge. At this Land Management free campground, the river runs full bank and the grass is almost knee-deep.

Anything free is worth saving, and Kampa’s lifestyle is an economic lesson. But it is driven more by the satisfaction of living on the cheap than by necessity.

A 55 gallon water ration will last a couple for two weeks. This is about the same amount of time that a married couple stays in the same place. They don’t have an itinerary, but they are snowbirds. They migrate north in the spring, but are attracted by the warmer weather and usually move south by mid-October.

Off-grid

The couple got married in 2018. We sold two large homes and bought her used 32 foot camper.

They have lived there ever since.

They stay at an RV resort in Yuma, Arizona during the winter and travel the rest of the year. Wyoming is one of their favorite destinations because of its beauty, climate and people.

Yuma’s summers are too hot, so saving the energy needed to run an air conditioner there allows the couple to seek out their favorite areas further afield, at higher elevations.

“Of all the places we’ve stayed, Wyoming really has it all,” said John. “It’s great, it’s not crowded, and we like to make noise. Plus, the people here are genuine. You walk into the restaurant and they bend over for you.”

Plus, in Cowboy State, camper drivers don’t get run over by traffic.

“We’re not used to that sort of thing,” said the 63-year-old former airline pilot. “Wyoming is like stepping back in time.”

learn to live simply

The couple arranged this frugal lifestyle during their extended vacation in Vietnam. They spent 18 months traveling through Southeast Asia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

They went to Vietnam for vacation, but after the pandemic hit and the cost of a return flight ticket jumped to $4,000, they asked themselves why not stay here.

During their stay they bought motorbikes, traveled around the area including Bali and Kuala Lumpur, spent a lot of time on the beach, made friends, attended weddings and parties, and became part of a small community.

According to John, people there live on less than $300 a month. They rented an apartment with an ocean-view balcony for $320 a month and said they could easily eat for less than $10 a day.

He said Vietnam had been in lockdown for about six weeks during the pandemic and wearing masks was mandatory. But after that it was fine.

Avoid the “I have to go” mentality

Carmen advises RV lifestyle newbies not to worry too much about going to new places. Be happy with your current situation and learn the difference between wants and needs.

“For beginners, it’s important not to do a six-hour long drive,” says Carmen. “It’s too stressful. We’re trying to get out of the American rush-to-act mentality.”

At 18,000 pounds gross weight, the Allegro Camper has a 454 Big Block Chevrolet under the hood with a payload capacity of 6 miles per gallon.

They set aside $300 each month for gas, and when they reach their cap, they camp out until their next pension check is credited to their bank account. Under normal circumstances, they travel about 90 miles to their next campsite.

Last summer they crossed Wyoming into Nebraska and camped in Iowa, where they visited family. They then traveled south through the Midwest back to Arizona. They enjoy the northern Arizona mountains around Flagstaff and Sedona.

“While we are happy with the status quo, we are always getting better,” John said. “For us, it doesn’t make sense to travel long distances, spend a lot of money on gas and drive miles without seeing anything.”

They have a 200cc motorcycle that fits in a rack on the rear bumper of the camper. They use their motorcycles to shop for groceries or take short trips from camp.

Sometimes we pack up and spend the night in tents.

House on wheels powered by solar power

Many Americans overlook the amount of free energy we get from the sun every day. New solar technology can now power almost any need, even on cloudy days.

Equipped with two 200-watt solar panels, a large lithium battery, a charge controller, and an inverter that converts DC power to AC, Campase runs two TVs, a coffee maker, a mini-fridge, and other small appliances.

Too many things on at the same time will overload the system. And the microwave is only used for warming food. John said thawing frozen meat would consume too much electricity.

They calibrate their solar panels to follow the sun in the sky each day, and John said they could leave the TV on all night if they wanted, and if the weather was fine, the batteries would be dead by 11am the next morning. You can see that it is fully charged.

After two days of cloudy weather, I usually start a small generator to charge the battery.

John is a do-it-yourself expert with a solid understanding of electricity, how many watts each appliance requires, and how to maintain a solar power system. He does all the camper maintenance himself. As a young man, he worked at a municipal golf course owned by his parents, learning small engine repair and irrigation maintenance.

Once a week, turn on the water heater and let it run for 21 minutes. This gives you enough hot water for two easy showers. Meanwhile they bathe in sponges.

John loves to use Dawn dish soap to bathe his sponges. “It cuts through everything,” he said.

When leaving Sublette County, the couple will head to Bear Lake, Utah, with a stop in Alpine.

“We are both ramblings,” he said. “We don’t have a concrete plan, we just execute.”