Great info in this episode! I had flashbacks of staying in a KOA campground when I was younger in Rosirito Beach, Baja… crazy times but great waves at Baja Malibu. On another note, I live in Cali and got fed up with the cost of vehicle registration and the smog rules with older cars/trucks etc… As you both know, every gringo in Baja that lives there full time or travels the peninsula, has South Dakota plates. I did some research and now have South Dakota plates. No more smog B.S., cheap registration, and I still have my Cali drivers license. My plates and title are registered through Clay County.The insurance relating to DIY vans was good to hear as I’m thinking about one down the road but we’ll see how that goes. Glad to see all your hard work has paid off 👍🏼
You had it easy. Last year when I switched, it was appointment only and I have a CDL and only 3 or 4 DMV’s where issuing them and I arrived at a campground at 1:30am and filled my mailbox out and what not at 8am at Americas mailbox and then had to drive 5 hours to Watertown for the last appointment on New Year’s Eve, if I didn’t make it then I would have to wait until the 3rd for the next appointment time and my DL from MD expired on the 2nd and my carrier would have grounded me and oh yeah I was on a run to the East coast. I made it by 10 minutes and now I don’t pay MD ten thousand+ dollars in state income taxes 😬
Oh wow, that sounds so stressful Scott!! Glad it all worked out and you're saving so much on state income taxes. CDL makes it a bit more complicated, AND during covid AND during the holidays!? 🤯
We just transferred our residency to South Dakota.we went with America's Mailbox for our address. It is not quite as simple as they say it is but not a bad process. The drivers license I found out us the same price within with the motorcycle add on. I have my license and my wife does not. We ending paying up $56 just like you. We went with Farmers Insuarance. They treated us real nice. So now we are ready to rock and roll.
Glad it all worked out for you guys! Thanks for the shoutout. Doug and his team at State Farm are great!! Happy Travels! Those pancakes looked great btw…
Congrats on your new residency :). Watching it seemed easy and quick..ha. The whole van insurance thing is interesting. I lucked out with Erie Insurance in Maryland, had them already and it just worked out but I've seen others have challenges. Glad everything worked out and thanks for sharing your journey!
Thank you! Once we had all of the steps figured (which took several days of phone calls and research), it was fairly straightforward. Glad to hear you were able to get insurance pretty easily in Maryland!
@@DrifterJourney We chose Florida because it was easier to get to in the beginning of our journey and seems like a state that was easier to get to when traveling since we have our storage unit and some family in the south. :-)
Family nearby definitely is something to consider! We have some family in Colorado, so we'll likely swing through south Dakota whenever we see them, if we need to.
Thanks for watching! If I remember correctly, it was $1,400 per year for the van and motorcycle with full coverage. I'm sure Doug at State Farm will give you a quick quote if you give him a call (info in video description).
Thanks for watching! The state of South Dakota has subsidies for health insurance plans purchased through the marketplace. The subsidy covers a certain portion of the premium depending on your income. Once we got residency, we signed up for a plan through the SD marketplace.
Thank you guys so much. This is probably the most helpful vanlife video that I've watched so far. Even before it started an ad popped up for ipostal1 which is a digital mail option I might look into. I sometimes feel like we're drowning in crap mail here. 🙄 Almost all other vids just say 'use a friend or family member's address'. What if you don't want to r can't? Thanks for sharing a real option. 👍 Even if we don't go with SD this video was helpful in knowing the steps for researching another state as well. 👍 I would love to see a vid maybe on what you guys do for holidays. I'm assuming you don't have an xmas tree for the van. Do you do anything special for any holiday to make the van feel more festive? We're currently downsizing our giant house for vanlife and I don't see any room for decor as I stick our bat and pumpkin window clings up. 🎃 -Aimee
Absolutely, glad it's helpful! It can feel overwhelming at first, but once you figure out the steps, it's more manageable. We had mail going to my dad's forever and it just felt kinda rude after they were getting so much! There's a few other good options, but SD has a good combination of no state income tax, affordable car & health insurance, and is super easy to do! We actually don't really decorate or celebrate for the holidays! We barely decorated in a house, and doesn't really make sense in a van since we have nowhere to store decorations. 🤷♀️
"If you built your own van..." you said in reference to insurance, what if a certified and license state van conversion company converted your van? Do insurance companies consider that a DIY? Thanks, great video, appreciate all the details.
Hi Robert! Thanks for watching. To be honest, it's probably going to depend on your insurance company. Our first van was build by a professional shop and our insurance in CO didn't want to cover it. We've been asked for a RVIA certificate by other companies. In the end, we recommend calling around and seeing who will cover you in your particular state. We have a video about Doug Markworth from State Farm in Rapid City, SD. He is amazing if you are there.
Thanks for watching! It was really easy. We have since dissolved it there because we moved but the process was simple. It just took a few minutes and a little bit of money. As always, this is just our experience and not any legal advice.
I have a question regarding getting healthcare while living in a van/RV... What if you have a disability? I have a friend that is disabled and wants to do the whole van life thing. Can he get Medicaid in SD or is he S.O.L?
Thanks for watching! Medical coverage is so difficult to navigate these days. I recommend getting in touch with the South Dakota department of social services. The coverage that we have is income based and has deductibles for any care needed. We hope this helps a bit and that your friend is able to vanlife it up!
I have a question does your driver's license say the address then PMB and the number after or does it just have just the number or did you use apt. and your number????
Thanks for watching. This is what they show is required currently. New Applicants and Transfers from Out of State: If you are a new applicant, a non-U.S. citizen, or a transfer from another state, you must provide proof of lawful status in the United States by providing a certified U.S. birth certificate (state certified only -- photocopies and hospital-issued certificates will not be accepted), a valid, non-expired U.S. Passport/Passport Card, a Certificate of Citizenship/Naturalization, a Permanent Resident Card, an Employment Authorization Card, or a Foreign Passport with a U.S. Visa/I-94. If your name is different than what is on your proof of lawful status document, you'll need show the progression of each name change by providing proof of each name change with a certified copy of a marriage certificate (from a government entity -- not from the church), a divorce decree, and/or court order. We can only accept original certified documents -- no photocopies. If you are a new applicant or a transfer from another state and your current driver license DOES NOT have a gold star in the upper corner, you will also be required to provide, your Social Security Card (showing your full social security number), a W-2 (showing your full social security number), a 1099 (showing your full social security number), or a pay stub (showing your full social security number). We can only accept original documents. No photocopies! All applicants are required to provide two documents proving your residential/physical address. These documents must show your full name, your physical/residential address, and be less than one year old. Examples of such documents are a utility bill, a pay stub, a rent receipt, a phone bill, a bank statement, a mortgage document, a homeowner's insurance policy/bill, a tax document, your vehicle registration, etc. No photocopies and no handwritten mail/addresses!
There's definitely a long term plan at play. South Dakota is probably not the end destination, but hopefully we'll save some money on income taxes and health insurance until we find a place to settle down 🤞
If you do a step by step write up, I will share it and the video across certain social medias...maybe include the benefits of why you choose South Dakota and some cons. Thanks
Thanks for the info & great background music! 🎻
Thanks for watching!
Great info in this episode! I had flashbacks of staying in a KOA campground when I was younger in Rosirito Beach, Baja… crazy times but great waves at Baja Malibu. On another note, I live in Cali and got fed up with the cost of vehicle registration and the smog rules with older cars/trucks etc… As you both know, every gringo in Baja that lives there full time or travels the peninsula, has South Dakota plates. I did some research and now have South Dakota plates. No more smog B.S., cheap registration, and I still have my Cali drivers license. My plates and title are registered through Clay County.The insurance relating to DIY vans was good to hear as I’m thinking about one down the road but we’ll see how that goes. Glad to see all your hard work has paid off 👍🏼
Yeah, lots of SoDak plates in Baja! Glad it's working out for you to avoid cali fees, stick it to the man!!
You had it easy. Last year when I switched, it was appointment only and I have a CDL and only 3 or 4 DMV’s where issuing them and I arrived at a campground at 1:30am and filled my mailbox out and what not at 8am at Americas mailbox and then had to drive 5 hours to Watertown for the last appointment on New Year’s Eve, if I didn’t make it then I would have to wait until the 3rd for the next appointment time and my DL from MD expired on the 2nd and my carrier would have grounded me and oh yeah I was on a run to the East coast. I made it by 10 minutes and now I don’t pay MD ten thousand+ dollars in state income taxes 😬
Oh wow, that sounds so stressful Scott!! Glad it all worked out and you're saving so much on state income taxes. CDL makes it a bit more complicated, AND during covid AND during the holidays!? 🤯
We just transferred our residency to South Dakota.we went with America's Mailbox for our address. It is not quite as simple as they say it is but not a bad process. The drivers license I found out us the same price within with the motorcycle add on. I have my license and my wife does not. We ending paying up $56 just like you. We went with Farmers Insuarance. They treated us real nice. So now we are ready to rock and roll.
Nice! Congrats on getting it all taken care of, it's a lot of paperwork and logistics, but totally worth it!
Hey! Great information! That mailbox registration would of messed me up, thnk you kindly for saving my sanity. Subscribed ☺️
Thanks for watching! We're glad the info was helpful.
Glad it all worked out for you guys! Thanks for the shoutout. Doug and his team at State Farm are great!! Happy Travels! Those pancakes looked great btw…
Of course, thanks for the help! The pancakes were so good!
Love Jess’ facial expressions! Ha!’ You guys are a hoot.
LOL thank you! We try to have a good time!
Congrats on your new residency :). Watching it seemed easy and quick..ha. The whole van insurance thing is interesting. I lucked out with Erie Insurance in Maryland, had them already and it just worked out but I've seen others have challenges. Glad everything worked out and thanks for sharing your journey!
Thank you! Once we had all of the steps figured (which took several days of phone calls and research), it was fairly straightforward. Glad to hear you were able to get insurance pretty easily in Maryland!
Mule Creek Junction! Where the grass is always green 😁 And the monkey bars are always there for road trip pullups.
And the composting restrooms always have an interesting smell. Thanks for watching! 🤣
South Dakota was one of our choices for domicile but chose Florida instead. This video was very informative! Thanks for sharing! ~ Shion and Matthew
Nice! What made you choose Florida. We chose South Dakota for a more central health insurance since we are generally out west.
@@DrifterJourney We chose Florida because it was easier to get to in the beginning of our journey and seems like a state that was easier to get to when traveling since we have our storage unit and some family in the south. :-)
Family nearby definitely is something to consider! We have some family in Colorado, so we'll likely swing through south Dakota whenever we see them, if we need to.
Can you share a ball park on the insurance costs? Trying to figure if this would save me from expensive insurance here.
Thanks for watching! If I remember correctly, it was $1,400 per year for the van and motorcycle with full coverage. I'm sure Doug at State Farm will give you a quick quote if you give him a call (info in video description).
Thanks for the response.
Great video...what are you guys using for Health insurance
Thanks for watching! The state of South Dakota has subsidies for health insurance plans purchased through the marketplace. The subsidy covers a certain portion of the premium depending on your income. Once we got residency, we signed up for a plan through the SD marketplace.
Thank you guys so much. This is probably the most helpful vanlife video that I've watched so far. Even before it started an ad popped up for ipostal1 which is a digital mail option I might look into. I sometimes feel like we're drowning in crap mail here. 🙄
Almost all other vids just say 'use a friend or family member's address'. What if you don't want to r can't? Thanks for sharing a real option. 👍
Even if we don't go with SD this video was helpful in knowing the steps for researching another state as well. 👍
I would love to see a vid maybe on what you guys do for holidays. I'm assuming you don't have an xmas tree for the van. Do you do anything special for any holiday to make the van feel more festive? We're currently downsizing our giant house for vanlife and I don't see any room for decor as I stick our bat and pumpkin window clings up. 🎃
-Aimee
Absolutely, glad it's helpful! It can feel overwhelming at first, but once you figure out the steps, it's more manageable. We had mail going to my dad's forever and it just felt kinda rude after they were getting so much! There's a few other good options, but SD has a good combination of no state income tax, affordable car & health insurance, and is super easy to do! We actually don't really decorate or celebrate for the holidays! We barely decorated in a house, and doesn't really make sense in a van since we have nowhere to store decorations. 🤷♀️
@@DrifterJourney I completely understand. I'm always looking for ideas for quick and simple vids you could do that people might find interesting. 🤔
@@karppadiem7014 thank you!! We could do a video about the holidays, but it would look like every other video hahaha!
Nice! Great Content.
How do you film and edit your video?
Thank you! We film with a DJI osmo action camera and a rode mic. Editing gets done with VSDC. 👍
"If you built your own van..." you said in reference to insurance, what if a certified and license state van conversion company converted your van? Do insurance companies consider that a DIY? Thanks, great video, appreciate all the details.
Hi Robert! Thanks for watching. To be honest, it's probably going to depend on your insurance company. Our first van was build by a professional shop and our insurance in CO didn't want to cover it. We've been asked for a RVIA certificate by other companies. In the end, we recommend calling around and seeing who will cover you in your particular state. We have a video about Doug Markworth from State Farm in Rapid City, SD. He is amazing if you are there.
@@DrifterJourney Thank you, much appreciated.
How was the process in changing over your LLC to South Dakota?
Thanks for watching! It was really easy. We have since dissolved it there because we moved but the process was simple. It just took a few minutes and a little bit of money. As always, this is just our experience and not any legal advice.
I have a question regarding getting healthcare while living in a van/RV...
What if you have a disability? I have a friend that is disabled and wants to do the whole van life thing. Can he get Medicaid in SD or is he S.O.L?
Thanks for watching! Medical coverage is so difficult to navigate these days. I recommend getting in touch with the South Dakota department of social services. The coverage that we have is income based and has deductibles for any care needed. We hope this helps a bit and that your friend is able to vanlife it up!
I have a question does your driver's license say the address then PMB and the number after or does it just have just the number or did you use apt. and your number????
Hi and thank you for watching. It has the address with the PMB after.
@@DrifterJourney Hi there. Thanks for the information
@@gunrightsfan you're welcome!
The pancakes look delicious 😋
They were SO GOOD!😁
Residency smedensy, why didn't you talk about those awesome looking biscuits and gravy?
Shoulda! They were actually pretty good too!
DNV requires what paperwork?
Thanks for watching. This is what they show is required currently.
New Applicants and Transfers from Out of State:
If you are a new applicant, a non-U.S. citizen, or a transfer from another state, you must provide proof of lawful status in the United States by providing a certified U.S. birth certificate (state certified only -- photocopies and hospital-issued certificates will not be accepted), a valid, non-expired U.S. Passport/Passport Card, a Certificate of Citizenship/Naturalization, a Permanent Resident Card, an Employment Authorization Card, or a Foreign Passport with a U.S. Visa/I-94.
If your name is different than what is on your proof of lawful status document, you'll need show the progression of each name change by providing proof of each name change with a certified copy of a marriage certificate (from a government entity -- not from the church), a divorce decree, and/or court order. We can only accept original certified documents -- no photocopies.
If you are a new applicant or a transfer from another state and your current driver license DOES NOT have a gold star in the upper corner, you will also be required to provide, your Social Security Card (showing your full social security number), a W-2 (showing your full social security number), a 1099 (showing your full social security number), or a pay stub (showing your full social security number). We can only accept original documents. No photocopies!
All applicants are required to provide two documents proving your residential/physical address. These documents must show your full name, your physical/residential address, and be less than one year old. Examples of such documents are a utility bill, a pay stub, a rent receipt, a phone bill, a bank statement, a mortgage document, a homeowner's insurance policy/bill, a tax document, your vehicle registration, etc. No photocopies and no handwritten mail/addresses!
Check out Brooke and Pippa and how they did it.
Thanks for watching. We'll check it out.
? New Life South Dakota means homesteading and a bigger story to be told I think A Jess
There's definitely a long term plan at play. South Dakota is probably not the end destination, but hopefully we'll save some money on income taxes and health insurance until we find a place to settle down 🤞
All you can eat pancakes!!!?!! What!!)!??
I know, right! Kinda makes the expensive campsite worth it!
If you do a step by step write up, I will share it and the video across certain social medias...maybe include the benefits of why you choose South Dakota and some cons. Thanks
Thanks Antonio, we are planning to put a blog together soon!
OMG, if your going to be a resident, get the name of the town right!
Thanks for watching. I'm not sure what you're referring to but sorry if we made any mistakes. We were really tired.
Residency fo shizzle!
It feels good to have it all done!