I have another book review for you today. This is a book that I found at a gun show back in the mid 1990′s. It had a profound impact on me as I saw at an early age, I was in my early 20′s, an example of the freedom a person can achieve if they put their mind to it.

 

 

TRAVEL-TRAILER HOMESTEADING UNDER $5000 by Brian Kelling

 

 

   I want to share with you 2 short excerpts from the book. These will give you a very good idea of the content and intent of this concise but highly thought provoking book. The first excerpt is from the introduction by “Bill Kaysing” and the second is from the authors “Preface”. Read the following and allow your mind to see what your possibilities for independence actually are…

 

 

Introduction:

 

 

   Books don’t need to be long and wordy to provide a vital by-product… additional creative ideas of your own! This brief but comprehensive guide to self sufficiency and economic independence generates spin-off ideas on virtually every page. It’s a book with a built-in bonus comprised of solid facts inspiring your own imagination. So, as you read it, encourage yourself to visualize all the wonderful variations on the basic theme.

   First of all, imagine owning a cozy, compact home of your own paid-for, countryside land for less than a few mortgage payments on a ticky tacky plaster box in some smoggy city. Now that’s a back-to-the-land dream for almost anyone from a young honeymoon couple to a pair of seniors looking for a way to stretch that modest Social Security check. There’s no hype in what you are about to read. Everything presented in this real-life narrative is practical, sensible and within the physical capability and financial power of just about anyone of average health and means. The proof is manifest; it’s all been done and the photos prove it!

 

 

Preface:

  

   The object of this book is to show you how to purchase and setup a complete RV homestead for under $5,000, land and trailer included.You’ll have all the comforts of home: power, heat, pressurized water, refrigeration and a septic system.

   Sound too good to be true? Its not-I did it, and I’ll show you how. I live in a 21 foot travel trailer on 5 acres in southern Colorado. Everything is paid for, and I have all I need in creature comforts. There are only four prerequisites: the money, a pickup truck, tools and the willingness. But before you sell everything and start off, I suggest you read this entire manual thoroughly.

 

 

 

   Sounds interesting doesn’t it? Now imagine you’re a young man with the whole world ahead of him… I read everything I could get my hands on about this type of lifestyle. I would be at the local gun show every month and on the look out for not only the guns but self-sufficiency books as well! Sadly, I have retained very few of the books I purchased back in that time period.  

 

   This particular book may seem dated and $5,000 would be no more than an impossible dream at this time in the world. You might be right, it sounded optimistic even in the 90′s. The price tag  is an attraction but the information and ideas are where the true value of this book come through.

 

   The author shares step by step instructions on what he did and how he did it! The photos included make it nearly impossible for the reader to misunderstand exactly what is happening. There is little fluff in the text but it is highly readable… If you have the faintest interest in living on the cheap than you will have this book read in an hour or so. The down side is that after the book is completed you aren’t able to immediately get started on your own project.

 

   What I took away from reading this book, at least a dozen times over the years, was priceless. I could go find a property and install the systems that I felt necessary, and do it on my own. There wouldn’t have to be sacrifices in comfort even if you had as little space as a travel trailer. There were creative ways to “have it all”!

 

   I would recommend this book to anyone that has a spirit of independence! While the more advanced preppers among us will probably have already grown past the basic ideas shown here. Even they would still enjoy reading this book for the entertainment value in seeing someone else’s success story. We all read the forum posts of what others have accomplished with great interest. It seems that even a small detail of somebodies project may provide just what we were looking for to move forward with one of our own!

 

   This book was published by an old classic – Loompanics Unlimited. This publisher went out of business a few years back. I also believe this book has been out of print since around 1999. However, I did check Amazon and found they have a number of both new and used copies. They seem to be on the steep side but if this book has caught your attention sufficiently, I would probably spring for it even if it is priced significantly higher now than the $9.00 bucks or so that I paid back in the 90′s. 

 

   I hope that even seeing the book’s title or maybe the cover photo would inspire one of you to kick start your own dream machine. There is just no limit to the amount of freedom we can all enjoy if we will just do some research. It takes some money, maybe not that much, and a healthy supply of ambition. The rewards will be a lifestyle built on our own terms, not those spoon fed to us by a society that is not interested in whats best for us!

 

   If you haven’t noticed a trend in what I’m posting here, you will! I have a deep interest in alternative living arrangements as well as a lifestyle that requires no debt. If these subjects are of interest to you as well, stay tuned! I will try to not be to singly focused and have something for every one. If there are things that you would like to see that I haven’t begun to bring to the site, please email me your suggestions!

 

 

Prepper