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Living on wheels in Denmark.

Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 10:07 pm
by Jesper The Dane
Hi everybody!

Reading in here have given me something to think about. Sharkey's articles in particular have changed my mind in some ways, and made me reconsider how things should be done for us to benefit the most.

It looks like we are settling for a trailer made on a trucktrailer chassis. And make this our permanent base. And then get a small RV for the travelling. With the fuel prices reaching skyhigh, it seems sensible to use a smaller vehicle for longdistances.

Fuel in Denmark is sold by the liter. 1 gallon is 3,8 liters. The currency here is kroners (we are not using 'Euroes' in Denmark) 1 dollar is 5 kroners.

For regular gasoline we pay 9.12 dollars a gallon(!). For diesel we pay 7.58 a gallon. In Oregon I can see from the internet that diesel is more expensive than gasoline, but both sits at around 4 dollars a gallon. We haven't seen 4 dollars a gallon here since 1990!!! :roll:

As you might have figured out, living on wheels is not a huge thing overhere, as the government has an idea that they want to know where everybody is, and what they are doing! Meaning that you have to have a steady place to stay in order to be part of the society. A mail adress is not enough...! :wink: People without an adress cannot get free hospital and doctor.

Apart from the fuel prices, also we have a registration fee for all vehicles. This means that a 180% tax is put on any import car, and then added 25% 'more value tax'(???) of the entire amount. That means that any new car cost 2,5 times as much as in all other countries...

When you import a vehicle from another country, you also pay the registration tax. Then it's not of the new price, but of whatever the taxoffice think this vehicle should cost! And speaking of tax, the incometax is between 39 and 68% of everything you earn...!

Anyway, recently the tax put on RV's have been lowered to 60% of whatever the taxoffice think the car is worth. Doesn't matter if you bought an RV for 1000 dollars, if the taxoffice think it's worth 3000 dollars - you will have to pay 60% of the 3000 dollars instead...!

This applies not for buses. Buses used for living is considered a car! So there you have to pay 180%...!

Maybe now you start to get a picture of why this living on wheels is not a big thing here?! :wink:

Nevertheless me and the mrs. still want to live on wheels, as this is the way we want to lead our lives... :) But we envy you guys, that you are able to live the way you are!

Have a great time! :)

Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 12:12 am
by Headache
I'm not sure how these people were able to afford it but maybe you can figure something out. Since it's van living it "might" be more affordable.

http://www.20yearsoverland.com/

Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 3:06 pm
by Bob
Jesper.. I like the way you think and I love your passion for the mobil lifestyle. Here in America it is still pretty easy and cheap to live on the road full time...even a nut like me can do it for 25 years. I dont know what I would do over there...perhaps move to another country? Tell them you are my cousin and you will be staying in my back yard (wherever it is)

Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 11:10 am
by dburt
Jesper, the tax collectors ought to just go ahead and hold you up and rob you with a g@* ('lead accelerator device'- for the political correctness folk) for all the robbery the tax and DMV authorities are doing to you guys over there! Those taxes and the fuel prices are just plain outrageous and downright scary! :shock:

I gotta' hand it to you man, you are really brave for undertaking this venture!! :lol:

Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 3:57 pm
by Jesper The Dane
@Headache: That 20 year travel is a true venture! WOW! I don't think I would ever make it that far in a car like that! Thank you for that link - I love stories like that!!! We will finance our travelling with a fixed income from my retirementplan. :)

@Bob: Hehe... We plan on renting out our home, and then renting a piece of land to park on. Adress at my sisters house, and her opening the mail on our behalf... That way we can escape the society. :)

@dburt: Well, it's a long story about this society of ours. Some of you would call Denmark a communist country, and some thinks its heaven on earth. I was born and raised here, so I love my country and my people. But I dislike what the politicians are doing to it and us...! Politicians are like monkeys. They will hold out their hands, and look harmless until they steal you blind. Then climb upwards, and all you ever get to see again is their arses!!! ;)

I call Denmark "The country of the Vikings that got lost!" :shock:

Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 5:10 pm
by TMAX
Hello Jesper and welcome, although I do not own a bus it may be possible that we are related somewhere down the road. My mother was Born in Copenhagen, grandfather in Vejle, and grandmother in Horsens. Small world.

Tom

Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 8:45 pm
by Jesper The Dane
Hello TMAX! It's a small world sometimes, ehh?! I live around 50 miles from Vejle, and have family in all of the cities you mention! :lol:

Do you speak any danish, then? Apart from "rødgrød med fløde"?!!! :D

Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 1:07 am
by Stealth Camper
Ok, no secret codes!! That is an unfair advantage!

Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 4:07 am
by TMAX
Hi Jesper, sadly I do not speak any Danish. I was taught a few bad words by my grandfather Max that I have long since forgotten.

Tom

Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 1:27 am
by Jesper The Dane
Image
Here's Jette and I on our wedding day... Held the wedding in a barn, as the facilities we were suppose to have been at, got flooded the day before! But the sun came out when she said "i do"!!! :wink:

Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 2:17 am
by Rudy
Great photo of two smiling people. Perhaps you could also post it on the What Do You Look Like forum thread.

Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 7:53 am
by TMAX
For Jesper...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43121145/ns ... ngeles_ca/

Solvang is about two and a half hours north of here by car.

Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 8:26 am
by Jesper The Dane
Hi TMAX,

I'd like to see Solvang some day, but I've heard that none of the people living there actually speaks danish anymore...! But honestly I don't go abroad to meet other Danes. I go on a holiday to get to know the locals, see different lifestyles and cultures...

When I lived in England, I could go to The Danish Church, if I wanted to speak danish and were a little homesick. ;)

And the danish prince is a real joke. He's from France, and never bothered to really learn our language properly...! But it sure is good to see he's actually doing something for the taxpayers money he gets every year!!! :D So thanks for the link! :)

Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 8:57 am
by TMAX
Hi Jesper, actually Solvang still has lots of folks who speak Danish (at least four years ago when we went there for a visit). We (Carin and I) will be heading up there about a week after the French Prince departs. Will be going to see some real talent... Weird Al!!!

Tom