Social media influencers give van life a considerably deceptive picture. Their profiles make it look dreamy, stuffed with attractive-looking individuals hanging out worry-free in picture-perfect areas nonstop. Promoting that fantasy is an effective way to get a bunch of likes, which in flip is the quickest option to get model sponsorship and begin being profitable.
However, I’ll be the primary to let you know that they aren’t displaying you the complete image. And if they’re, they definitely aren’t residing that fantasy life-style full-time. Really residing in a tiny house, day in and time out, 12 months a 12 months, is not any cakewalk. It may be an incredible journey, and it may be loads of enjoyable. However it additionally comes with some harsh realities and classes you’ll inevitably study the arduous manner.
We did, a minimum of. My spouse and I lived full-time out of our van for over 2 years, touring throughout North America. We met so many individuals who started van life enthusiastically, solely to burn out and promote their vans after only a few months.
Actually, we seen a niche within the full-time van life group. There have been those that’d solely been of their van for a number of months and those that had been touring for years. Not many individuals fell in between.
We’ve since shifted to part-time van residing. We’ll nonetheless hit the street for a month or extra, however we’re now not full-timers. And it appeared a disgrace to let all of our hard-learned classes about van life go to waste.
So, listed here are 10 of the hardest classes that we discovered whereas residing in a van full-time for two years. Should you’re severe sufficient about this life-style to purchase a van, it is best to a minimum of be clear about what you’re moving into. Possibly then, you’ll be higher ready for the cruel realities that include it.
The way to Reside in a Van, Knowledge From the Highway
1. Watch the climate rigorously — an inch of rain can strand you within the desert
On one ill-fated journey, I seen some incoming climate within the forecast whereas I used to be looking for a campsite. I used to be a bit hesitant in regards to the first web site I selected, however it didn’t seem like severe climate. This was New Mexico, in any case. I figured I’d be all proper.
I used to be flawed. The storm dramatically overperformed, dropping probably the most rain in a single day that the Albuquerque space had seen in a few years. My van’s tires acquired hopelessly caught within the mud.
Lower than 2 months later, I seen one other huge rain system, this time within the Tucson space. We’d booked a web site in a close-by campground that featured paved roads, flush bathrooms, and scorching showers. However as we approached Catalina State Park, I made a last-minute resolution to disperse camp as an alternative, in an space not far-off.
Once more, we have been flooded out, and once more, we (together with over 100 different campers) have been stranded. It took over every week to depart Catalina State Park.
One of many nice allures of residing in a van is your proximity to the pure world. You possibly can get up, open the sliding door, and stroll into the forest or desert. Nonetheless, when the climate goes south, you need to be very aware of the place you’re tenting. We acquired off the hook simple. Floods can break autos or get them far worse caught than ours did.
2. Discovering lovely campsites will be difficult and tense
Tenting in lovely areas with beautiful views is in the end all the level of residing in a van. However discovering these idyllic spots cannot solely be difficult, it’s additionally typically tense.
Typically, after we would arrive at a campsite we’d deliberate to remain at, the truth was a lot completely different than anticipated. There is likely to be trash dumps, the positioning may very well be unexpectedly closed to tenting, or it may very well be stuffed with different campers. Moreover, planning arrival and departure occasions will be tense, too. Particularly on vacation weekends, there’s severe strain to reach earlier than the crowds.
Dispersed tenting is often extra ample however presents challenges of its personal. After I arrive at a vacation spot, typically, I’ll spend over an hour scouting and flagging potential tenting areas.
Some carefree van lifers declare they by no means plan the place they’re going to camp and even once they’ll arrive. However in my expertise, that’s good option to find yourself sleeping in a Walmart parking zone. And after some time, sleeping in tons begins to really feel much less like tenting and extra like being unhoused.
3. Be sure the bathroom is depressurized earlier than opening it
In case your van has a cassette rest room, be sure to drag the deal with out to depressurize it earlier than opening the lid. Should you’ve pushed up in elevation for the reason that final time you opened the bathroom, it might probably develop into pressurized. Then, if you open it, a superb mist will erupt from the bowl.
Don’t ask my spouse how she discovered that one.
4. Simply because your telephone says ‘LTE’ and even ‘5G’ doesn’t imply you might have sufficient information to work from it
The variety of bars that your cellphone shows and even the excellence between 5G and LTE means virtually nothing relating to the precise information speeds your cellphone will present.
Should you plan to work out of your cellphone hotspot in a selected campsite (and even on the town), run a “velocity take a look at.” Open your cellphone’s net browser and go to OpenSpeedTest.com. That means that you can decide what precise web speeds you’ll get in that location. The extra typically you run this take a look at, the extra you’ll notice that the variety of bars your telephone reveals will not be all the time correct.
You’ll additionally notice that in the event you’re on the sting of a cell community (like most campsites out within the forests and the mountains), you may additionally have excessive speeds at one minute and nothing the subsequent. It’s no surprise that StarLink has been revolutionary for full-time van lifers.
5. Don’t clear ice build-up from a freezer with a pocket knife
Most mini-fridges embody a small freezer. Nonetheless, they have a tendency to build up ice, particularly in humid environments. No matter you do, do not try and chip the ice out of the freezer with a pocket knife. As a substitute, flip down the fridge/freezer’s temperature, permit the ice to soften a bit, fall off the perimeters, after which scoop it out by hand.
Whereas I efficiently chipped the ice out of my freezer with a knife for over a 12 months, someday, my hand slipped, and the tip of the knife punctured the liner of the freezer. I discovered the arduous manner that the coolant for all the fridge/freezer runs beneath that liner and that there was successfully no option to restore the liner and even substitute simply the freezer. As a substitute, we had to purchase a brand-new freezer-fridge combo. And it was not on sale.
6. Issues break — and also you discover a option to deal
Whether or not it’s a broken mini fridge, a damaged aspect mirror, or bashing your oil pan on a boulder, one factor is for certain — shit goes to interrupt. And then you definitely’ll should discover a option to take care of it. Whereas some fixes will be made with duct tape and gumption, others require a store and specialised instruments. And that’s going to price you.
Whereas residing in a van is supposedly “inexpensive,” it may be a shock to go from not paying hire for months to spending hundreds to repair a significant mechanical problem. To organize for these bills, it’s a good suggestion to both funds a month-to-month quantity for repairs and/or preserve a wholesome emergency fund in your financial savings account.
However even if in case you have the cash to repair the issue, merely discovering a store that may do the work after which becoming it into your journey schedule is commonly daunting. That would imply planning months upfront to get to a dealership. Or, within the worst-case state of affairs, you’ll have to hire a lodge room or Airbnb whereas your van will get repaired.
7. You possibly can (and certain will) concuss your self on a cupboard
Even for the shorter individuals amongst us, a van is a cramped house. If it’s packed stuffed with tenting, biking, and journey gear, it might probably really feel downright claustrophobic.
Whether or not you bang your head on the nook of a cupboard or on the roof whereas making an attempt to stroll into the van’s cab or sitting up rapidly in mattress, ultimately, it occurs to everybody.
8. Friendships are difficult to construct and tougher to keep up
… however you’re assured to fulfill many superb individuals alongside the best way!
Freedom and group exist on the other ends of the spectrum. You’re selecting to surrender the group and shut relationships by roaming the world and never committing to at least one location. There’s virtually no manner round this actuality.
Actually, many ex-van lifers we’ve spoken with cite this as one of many predominant causes that they’ve stopped touring full-time. Till you’ve spent years wandering by way of cities solely having superficial conversations with baristas at espresso outlets and the native bike mechanics, you don’t fairly perceive what it feels prefer to continually be on the surface wanting in.
In the identical breath, it’s additionally true that you simply’re assured to fulfill superb individuals alongside the best way. They may very well be rad locals, however most of the time, you’ll discover that you simply bond with different vacationers who dwell the identical manner you do. Whereas these relationships assist make this nomadic life-style livable, the kind of group you construct as a nomad differs significantly from what you’ll discover whereas residing in a city.
9. Van life holidays are nice, however coordinating two full-time work schedules will be difficult
Work challenges have been one of many two most vital components that prompted us to cease the full-time van life. Sure, we each labored full-time distant jobs for over 2 years on the street. However towards the top, the fixed schedule coordination, wrangling conferences, coping with the aforementioned web points, and common work stress all took their toll.
Our favourite van life moments have been after we may take trip time and easily journey, journey, and roam the continent.
Tenting on the banks of the Rio Grande and searching throughout the river into Mexico, driving by way of the depths of the Alaskan bush, swimming in hidden lakes in British Columbia, climbing mountains in Colorado, straining our necks as we regarded up on the towering redwoods in California — these are the moments that made van life worthwhile.
The reality is that there’s a dramatic distinction between making an attempt to carry down a job and dwell in a van and the carefree wandering that #vanlife influencers declare they take pleasure in (however hardly ever do).
10. Medical care, full cease
Getting outdated(er) sucks. Whereas I hope that I nonetheless have a few years of journey left in me, the cruel realities of coping with fragile human our bodies are extraordinarily difficult whereas residing a nomadic life-style.
Being a nomad means not having a main care doctor or a dentist — even in the event you left one behind in your hometown if you moved into your van. As a result of, often, when one thing occurs, you’re 1,000 miles away from them. Pressing care visits can solely get you up to now, particularly in the event you discover there’s a severe problem that you need to take care of.
Whether or not meaning a protracted bout of weekly bodily remedy, dental appointments that have to be scheduled weeks upfront, referrals to specialists (which most emergency room docs can’t furnish), and even scheduling and recovering from surgical procedure, the necessity for medical care can rapidly cease you in your tracks.
It did for us.
However it doesn’t imply that it has to cease you without end. There are innumerable methods to take care of this harsh actuality. You would think about adopting a hub-and-spoke technique, whereby you proceed to dwell in your van full-time however keep a hub that you simply return to typically for medical appointments.
If it’s a severe problem, you possibly can select to hire a home for a number of months (or a 12 months) to take care of no matter downside arose earlier than persevering with on.
Hardships inevitably come up. The query is: How do you select to deal?
The selection to dwell a nomadic life, scale back your possessions to solely what can slot in a van, and hit the street in pursuit of journey is a radical life alternative. It’s predicated on rejecting the established order and considering otherwise. Even when life will get troublesome, that doesn’t imply that you need to stop, promote your journey automobile, purchase a apartment, and resign your self to a cubicle for the remainder of your life.
As a substitute, the challenges that you simply’ll inevitably face are invites. They’re invites to follow your out-of-the-box considering and problem-solving expertise. They’re alternatives to seek out inventive options or reimagine your life-style to can help you overcome the longer term challenges you’re positive to face.
A rewarding life isn’t a life bereft of issues. A rewarding life consists of going through attention-grabbing issues head-on and fixing them in inventive methods. And to me, that’s van life in a nutshell.