ST. PAUL, Minn. — After moving out of her home in New Jersey, Valerie Roy lived a transient lifestyle. “In my misspent youth, I traveled and waitressed the country,” said Roy, 56. “I lived in a 1959 Chevy school bus made into an RV. It was quite the life. I kept a house, an antique and a car on the road all at one time.”
But being homeless is more expensive than Roy lets on. She owned the bus outright, but parking was a constant issue. If she showed up somewhere, someone inevitably reported her. She needed to ensure she moved the bus once a day.
The cheapest RV parks cost upward of $1,000 a month to park. Some would not allow conversions like her bus at all…