Roughing it while building?

We stayed on the property Sun. night thru Fri. so the kids could start pre-school and 1st grade at the school they would finish 5th grade in. We had a VW Vanogan. No water, no electric and no other shelter. I had a folding picnic table with built in benches for the kids and put a camp chair at each end of the table for the adults. There was a hole in the middle of the table for an umbrella to keep the sun off us. I brought jugs of water home each day from work and dinner was nuked at work then transported home with me in one of those insulated pot-luck dish carriers. We did have a solar shower bag on a tree. It was murder in August sleeping with no fan or A/C, but the Vanagon was better than a tent as we often had monsoon-type rains and heard wild animal growls at night. It took months to get a cement foundation poured for the metal building (which wasn’t installed for several more months and then was open on both ends for several months after that). You would have thought we’d won the lottery, though, when we drove the Vanagon up onto the foundation and set the camp kitchen there. No more ants biting our feet while we ate and no more mud to wade through to get to bed. Every little improvement seemed miraculous to us.

It’s not easy, but it is very satisfactory because you are working together as a family for a common goal and you can see what progress is being made and you have the time to “get the feel” for your property. It helps to know where the sun rises and sets and where the predominant breezes come from and where the rain pools rather than seeping into the earth easily. You will appreciate the end product much more as you have struggled through every step along the way.

Try to get something more substantial than a tent to sleep in if you can (a tool shed, a small camper, etc.) You’ll need protection from tresspassers, animals and the weather. Put up a large tarp to form an outdoor room for cooking, lounging and tasks. This will keep the sun and rain off when you are up and about during the day and protect your supplies. You can hang small lanterns up or, if you get electricity, a sting of patio lights. I used large garbage cans with lock-down lids for storage and even for washing and shampooing the kids. They were small enough to sit on the ledge formed inside by the wheel well and I would pour warm water over them from a large garden watering can. They would then scrub their toes and take a bath inside the can. When they finished, I wheeled it over to the dumping area and turned it on its side to drain (after removing the kid, of course )

Same here.

If you can find an insulated truck body its a great temp storage/ camper, well insulated secure and cheep

If see 32 footers for $700 and a 18 footer for $350. Nowif you could just find onewith the reefer in it you would have air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter!