Social media influencers give van life a considerably deceptive picture. Their profiles make it look dreamy, filled with attractive-looking folks hanging out worry-free in picture-perfect places nonstop. Promoting that fantasy is a good way to get a bunch of likes, which in flip is the quickest option to get model sponsorship and begin earning profits.
However, I’ll be the primary to inform you that they aren’t displaying you the complete image. And if they’re, they definitely aren’t dwelling that fantasy life-style full-time. Really dwelling in a tiny house, day in and day trip, 12 months a 12 months, is not any cakewalk. It may be a tremendous journey, and it may be a variety of enjoyable. But it surely additionally comes with some harsh realities and classes you’ll inevitably be taught the laborious manner.
We did, at the very least. 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 just some months.
In reality, we observed a spot within the full-time van life neighborhood. There have been those that’d solely been of their van for just a few months and people who had been touring for years. Not many individuals fell in between.
We’ve since shifted to part-time van dwelling. We’ll nonetheless hit the highway for a month or extra, however we’re 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 dwelling in a van full-time for two years. If you happen to’re critical sufficient about this life-style to purchase a van, it is best to at the very least be clear about what you’re entering into. Possibly then, you’ll be higher ready for the cruel realities that include it.
Find out how to Dwell in a Van, Knowledge From the Street
1. Watch the climate fastidiously — an inch of rain can strand you within the desert
On one ill-fated journey, I observed 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 website I selected, however it didn’t appear to be critical climate. This was New Mexico, in any case. I figured I’d be all proper.
I used to be unsuitable. 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 bought hopelessly caught within the mud.
Lower than 2 months later, I observed one other large rain system, this time within the Tucson space. We’d booked a website 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 determination to disperse camp as a substitute, in an space not far-off.
Once more, we had been flooded out, and once more, we (together with over 100 different campers) had been stranded. It took over per week to depart Catalina State Park.
One of many nice allures of dwelling in a van is your proximity to the pure world. You may get up, open the sliding door, and stroll into the forest or desert. Nonetheless, when the climate goes south, you must be very aware of the place you’re tenting. We bought off the hook simple. Floods can spoil autos or get them far worse caught than ours did.
2. Discovering stunning campsites may be difficult and tense
Tenting in stunning places with beautiful views is finally all the level of dwelling in a van. However discovering these idyllic spots cannot solely be difficult, it’s additionally typically tense.
Generally, once we would arrive at a campsite we’d deliberate to remain at, the truth was a lot completely different than anticipated. There is perhaps trash dumps, the location might be unexpectedly closed to tenting, or it might be filled with different campers. Moreover, planning arrival and departure instances may be tense, too. Particularly on vacation weekends, there’s critical strain to reach earlier than the crowds.
Dispersed tenting is often extra plentiful 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 places.
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 car parking zone. And after some time, sleeping in heaps begins to really feel much less like tenting and extra like being unhoused.
3. Make certain the bathroom is depressurized earlier than opening it
In case your van has a cassette bathroom, be sure that to tug the deal with out to depressurize it earlier than opening the lid. If you happen to’ve pushed up in elevation because the final time you opened the bathroom, it could possibly turn into pressurized. Then, once you open it, a nice mist will erupt from the bowl.
Don’t ask my spouse how she discovered that one.
4. Simply because your cellphone 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 nearly nothing concerning the precise information speeds your cellphone will present.
If you happen to plan to work out of your cellphone hotspot in a particular campsite (and even on the town), run a “pace check.” Open your cellphone’s net browser and go to OpenSpeedTest.com. That permits you to decide what precise web speeds you’ll get in that location. The extra typically you run this check, the extra you’ll notice that the variety of bars your cellphone exhibits will not be at all times correct.
You’ll additionally notice that when 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 following. 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 embrace a small freezer. Nonetheless, they have an inclination 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 an alternative, flip down the fridge/freezer’s temperature, permit the ice to soften a bit, fall off the edges, 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 laborious 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 exchange simply the freezer. As an alternative, 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 facet mirror, or bashing your oil pan on a boulder, one factor is for certain — shit goes to interrupt. And you then’ll must discover a option to cope with it. Whereas some fixes may be made with duct tape and gumption, others require a store and specialised instruments. And that’s going to price you.
Whereas dwelling in a van is supposedly “reasonably priced,” it may be a shock to go from not paying lease for months to spending 1000’s to repair a serious mechanical subject. To arrange for these bills, it’s a good suggestion to both funds a month-to-month quantity for repairs and/or hold a wholesome emergency fund in your financial savings account.
However even 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 prematurely to get to a dealership. Or, within the worst-case state of affairs, you’ll have to lease a lodge room or Airbnb whereas your van will get repaired.
7. You may (and certain will) concuss your self on a cupboard
Even for the shorter folks amongst us, a van is a cramped house. If it’s packed filled with tenting, biking, and journey gear, it could possibly really feel downright claustrophobic.
Whether or not you bang your head on the nook of a cupboard or on the roof whereas attempting to stroll into the van’s cab or sitting up rapidly in mattress, finally, it occurs to everybody.
8. Friendships are difficult to construct and more durable to take care of
… however you’re assured to fulfill many wonderful folks alongside the best way!
Freedom and neighborhood exist on the other ends of the spectrum. You’re selecting to surrender the neighborhood and shut relationships by roaming the world and never committing to at least one location. There’s nearly no manner round this actuality.
In reality, many ex-van lifers we’ve spoken with cite this as one of many major causes that they’ve stopped touring full-time. Till you’ve spent years wandering via 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 consistently be on the surface trying in.
In the identical breath, it’s additionally true that you just’re assured to fulfill wonderful folks alongside the best way. They might be rad locals, however as a rule, you’ll discover that you just bond with different vacationers who stay the identical manner you do. Whereas these relationships assist make this nomadic life-style livable, the kind of neighborhood you construct as a nomad differs enormously from what you’ll discover whereas dwelling in a city.
9. Van life holidays are nice, however coordinating two full-time work schedules may be difficult
Work challenges had been one of many two most important elements that prompted us to cease the full-time van life. Sure, we each labored full-time distant jobs for over 2 years on the highway. However towards the tip, the fixed schedule coordination, wrangling conferences, coping with the aforementioned web points, and basic work stress all took their toll.
Our favourite van life moments had been once we may take trip time and easily journey, journey, and roam the continent.
Tenting on the banks of the Rio Grande and looking out throughout the river into Mexico, driving via the depths of the Alaskan bush, swimming in hidden lakes in British Columbia, climbing mountains in Colorado, straining our necks as we appeared 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 attempting to carry down a job and stay in a van and the carefree wandering that #vanlife influencers declare they take pleasure in (however not often do).
10. Medical care, full cease
Getting previous(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 dwelling a nomadic life-style.
Being a nomad means not having a major care doctor or a dentist — even when you left one behind in your hometown once 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 when you discover there’s a critical subject that you must cope with.
Whether or not which means a protracted bout of weekly bodily remedy, dental appointments that should be scheduled weeks prematurely, referrals to specialists (which most emergency room medical doctors 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.
But it surely doesn’t imply that it has to cease you ceaselessly. There are innumerable methods to cope with this harsh actuality. You could possibly take into account adopting a hub-and-spoke technique, whereby you proceed to stay in your van full-time however keep a hub that you just return to typically for medical appointments.
If it’s a critical subject, you might select to lease a home for just a few months (or a 12 months) to cope with no matter drawback arose earlier than persevering with on.
Hardships inevitably come up. The query is: How do you select to deal?
The selection to stay a nomadic life, cut back your possessions to solely what can slot in a van, and hit the highway in pursuit of journey is a radical life alternative. It’s predicated on rejecting the established order and considering in a different way. Even when life will get troublesome, that doesn’t imply that you must stop, promote your journey automobile, purchase a apartment, and resign your self to a cubicle for the remainder of your life.
As an alternative, the challenges that you just’ll inevitably face are invites. They’re invites to observe your out-of-the-box considering and problem-solving expertise. They’re alternatives to seek out inventive options or reimagine your life-style to permit you to 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 dealing with fascinating issues head-on and fixing them in inventive methods. And to me, that’s van life in a nutshell.
