Van Ventures Magazine

VanLife 101: Housing
Van Life:
Is It Right
For You?
Article By: Always The Road
We get a lot of emails from
people who are inspired by the
van life and are considering
making it their own reality. so
much of the time they’ll tack on
something along the lines of, “I
just don’t know how I would be
able to afford it,” or “I’m worried
about doing it by myself and
being lonely” to their messages.
Living on the road is amazing
and we absolutely love this
unconventional lifestyle. But the
truth is, it’s just not for everyone.
And that’s okay! We’ve come up
with a few questions for you to
answer to help determine if the
van life is right for you!
1. are you
a homebody?
This is a good question to start
out with. Yes, a van is certainly
a home, but a home that is
constantly moving. A lot of the
time you don’t even know where
you will be sleeping that night.
So if you have a certain level of
spontaneity and are good at
adapting to new locations, you
just might thrive living the van
life! Also, if you like being outside
but value time spent it the
comfort of your own home, the
reality of this lifestyle is that 80%
of your time is spent outdoors.
2. how comfortable
are you with dirt?
By this, I’m not referring to
personal hygiene. A typical
stigma is that “all vanlifers are
dirty hippies.” Hippies? Maybe,
it depends on your definition.
Dirty? Watch it, bud. I can only
speak for myself and Pete, but
we care about personal hygiene.
We may not shower every day (or
every three days), but there are
many ways to stay clean and we
take full advantage of them!
Your level of comfort with dirt
directly relates to question #1. You
can do your best to stay clean
and tidy, but when the outdoors
is half your home, dirt and dust
will find their way into every nook
and cranny. There’s hope for clean
freaks though! Whenever sand
was brought into the van, I swept.
That meant I would sweep about,
I’m not sure, 100 times a day? I’ve
been able to let go of some of the
compulsive clean freak within
me though.
3. do you tend to
wear the same
clothes repeatedly?
If your answer is no, then I feel
inclined to say you might have a
tough time packing for van life.
Limited space is a huge factor
and downsizing is all a part of
the minimalistic lifestyle. Pete
and I are pretty spoiled with our
clothing storage space.
We each have three drawers and
a cupboard, and that’s more than
a lot of vanlifers have. I typically
cycle through the same four
or five t-shirts and pants and
don’t even touch the rest of my
wardrobe unless it’s
a special occasion.
If you’re like me in this way, the
van life would be a breath of
fresh air. It’s a great opportunity
to dedicate yourself to a simple,
down-sized lifestyle and get rid of
all the “stuff” you don’t need.
4. are you willing to
be creative in order
to make money?
Making money is without a doubt
the most common thing we are
asked about. There is no easy
answer to this question though.
Those who live the van life come
from different backgrounds and
careers, all making money in a
plethora of ways. Many people
have jobs that can be done
completely from a computer
such as web developing, graphic
design, freelance writing, social
media marketing, and blogging.
Others might do migrant labor,
sell products, or work for a few
months to save and then travel
with their savings. Like I said, it’s
different to everyone.
5. are you an
impulse shopper?
Piggybacking off of the previous
question, if you don’t plan on
having a consistent income on
the road, you’ll need to be savvy
when it comes to shopping. This
is also one of the blessings of
van life: only buying what you
need. If you’re a person who gets
into a check-out line, notices all
the “impulse shopper bait”, and
decides that you need more
ponytail holders, new socks, a
pack of gum, and a Twix, then
you might struggle with this part.
6. do you have a pet?
This is a biggie. Let’s be real,
everyone has a dog, or even a
cat, that they think is the
greatest in the entire world and
want to travel the country in a
van with them. We certainly
share this belief. In our eyes, we
have the greatest dog in the
world, but having a dog
on the road still encourages
some challenges.
9. are you
uncomfortable
with uncertainty?
Honestly, this is the most
important question to ask
yourself if you are considering a
mobile lifestyle. I’m here to tell
you that almost nothing will go
as you plan. . . and that’s the
best part!
If you are genuinely a person
who can roll with the punches
and find a way to embrace all
of life’s twists and turns, then
you can find a way to make this
lifestyle work for you. Vehicles
will break down, weather will be
unfavorable, people will get sick,
and plans will fall apart; it’s all
unavoidable. It’s how you view
these obstacles that determines
whether you will enjoy the
van life because for every
unfortunate event, there will be
ten spectacular events that make
it all worth it.
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