Van life is simple to romanticize. Particularly in the event you’re sitting in a dreary cubicle shopping Instagram photos of crisp white campervan interiors, girls consuming espresso in mattress whereas staring dreamily on the pink cliffs of The Grand Canyon, or tanned younger males posing subsequent to a tricked-out van with a surfboard.
These issues can occur when residing the van life, however many issues aren’t mentioned. No one needs to put up Instagram pictures of how messy their van appears to be like inside or how they really feel after many days with no bathe. No one needs to debate the downsides as a result of social media is in regards to the upsides, proper?
Van life comes with many positives, however there are lots of issues no person tells you. Right here’s my rundown as somebody who has lived in a Toyota Prius, a Chevy Astro van, and a Mercedes Sprinter van.
#1 Van Life Is Soiled
I’m certain a small a part of you understands deep down that living in a van needs to be a grimy endeavor. However you won’t notice simply how soiled it may be. As we aren’t “campground folks,” we sometimes park totally free on land operated by the Bureau of Land Administration or the Nationwide Forest Service. This implies we’re tenting within the grime. We’re driving down dusty grime roads to seek out locations to sleep. We’re strolling, mountaineering, biking, showering, and doing dishes within the grime.
Our 1994 Chevy Astro van, which we lived out of for 3 years, was an historic van with plenty of locations grime crept in. A lightweight coating of mud gathered on the windowsills, fridge, ledges, and even my pillow as we drove down grime roads. My hair felt gritty; grime discovered its approach underneath my fingernails, coated my ft, and caked itself in my nostril. I hate feeling soiled, so that is one in every of my greatest challenges with van life.
Now that we now have a more moderen 2021 Sprinter van conversion, grime is much less prone to discover its approach inside. Our sheets, pillows, and partitions stay blissfully clear. Our bigger van additionally affords an under-chassis 27-gallon water storage container, which we use for photo voltaic showers to scrub the mud away. There’s nothing higher than falling asleep in my campervan with clear hair and a clear physique. It makes all of the distinction on the earth.
#2 Van Bogs Are Disgusting
It grosses me out when folks inform me they want a bathroom in their campervan. Do you actually wish to retailer human waste just a few ft from the place you sleep and cook dinner? For van life, the bathroom choices are restricted. You may have a transportable cassette rest room that you have to carry and dump out in a public restroom.
One other alternative is a composting rest room that separates human waste. The liquid goes right into a container that must be emptied each couple of days, whereas the strong stuff “composts” in a bin together with a bulking agent comparable to coconut coir or wooden chips. The difficulty is that it doesn’t compost promptly, so that you’re emptying a smelly mass of semi-composted excrement into a big gap you dug in the midst of nowhere or right into a trash bag that have to be thrown out.
An alternative choice many van dwellers use is to go in a 5-gallon bucket lined with a plastic bag and cat litter, then throw the bag out.
Which of those choices sounds greatest to you? None of them are superb, so we opted out of getting a bathroom in our campervan. For us, it’s simpler to discover a public toilet or dig a cathole in the midst of nowhere than cope with dumping and residing in a small area with waste.
To every their very own, however hold all these factors in thoughts once you strategy somebody residing the van life and ask, “Do you’ve a toilet in there?” (sure, folks ask us this on a regular basis).
#3 Van Lifers Have a “Liquids Bottle”
Once more, individuals who dwell in homes like to ask us about our toilet habits. They don’t know that when van lifers decide to not carry round a bathroom, they as an alternative use a “liquids” bottle. Discovering a public toilet each time we go can be extremely annoying. As an alternative, there are all varieties of plastic containers on the market that work for #1.
I’ve used every thing from a big vertical Costco container for dried mushrooms to an opaque white cat litter container. Different van lifers use every thing from an almond milk plastic jug to a combined nuts container. The power to go in a single’s van is an absolute necessity.
Tip #1: Should you’re a lady, choose a bottle with a large sufficient mouth.
Tip #2: Please maintain your container tightly when utilizing it. Don’t drop your container. We converse from private expertise right here.
#4 Showering Exterior Can Suck (However Can Additionally Be Wonderful)
I’ve spent a lot time boondocking (tenting totally free) on public lands within the desert exterior Yuma, Arizona. This occurs in fall and winter when daytime temperatures are nice, however nighttime temps get chilly and windy. I’ve showered exterior in lots of of those chilly situations, hiding behind the van to remain out of the wind whereas standing beneath my photo voltaic bathe.
I usually don’t sit up for these shivery showers, however dumping sizzling water on myself whereas the Milky Manner glistens within the inky black sky is an exceptional expertise, and I at all times really feel higher afterward.
#5 Generally, All I Need Is a Home
There are occasions after I’m totally over van residing. That is after I really feel soiled, chilly, disorganized, or bored with planning my life on the fly. Every little thing is a bit more difficult when residing in a van. Doing dishes takes effort as we don’t have working water. Showering means boiling water on the range and dumping it right into a photo voltaic bathe bag. Going to the lavatory means leaving my cozy van within the chilly morning and digging a 6-8” deep cathole (or strolling to the campground toilet).
I’ll begin feeling the attract of a sticks-and-bricks existence—the infinite sizzling water, the washer and dryer, a dishwasher, fridge, and oven. All of the facilities that most individuals are used to change into a luxurious to me. I crave these issues and dream about “home life,” however then I bathe, do the dishes, and marvel that I get to dwell in nature, and people emotions of wanting a home go away.
#6 Van Life Is Like Looking and Gathering
You’d be incorrect in case your psychological picture of van life is a carefree world the place folks at all times calm down and pursue outside actions and hobbies. In distinction, van life has a whole lot of motion, analysis, and decision-making. The place are we going to get water? What are the closest grocery shops? Is there laundromat on the town? The place are we going to camp tonight?
Usually, we discuss van life as “looking and gathering,” as we appear to spend so much of time trying to find our fundamental wants. This may get tiresome, but it surely additionally retains life fascinating. It feels nice to remain parked in a single spot for a lot of weeks.
#7 Dwelling in a Van Can Get Lonely
Van life affords the choice to journey the place you need once you need. That is fantastic once you journey again to your hometown and hang around with family and friends. I really like this side of van life, and I’ve spent far more time in my house state of Oregon than prior to now.
Nevertheless, as soon as we go away that snug nest, we discover distant corners of nature with out folks. We solely have one another to hang around with. That is fantastic as my accomplice Tom and I get alongside so nicely, however I additionally miss social actions comparable to ballroom dancing, blissful hour with a buddy, or household BBQs and holidays.
To fight loneliness, some van lifers journey as a caravan and go to meetup teams, which we haven’t tried but.
#8 Being Immersed in Nature Modifications Your Perspective
Now that I’ve spent extra time within the nice open air, I really feel extra related to it than I do to civilization and humanity. I really like being in tune with the hooting owls, the small desert fox that sniffs round our campsite, the birds, and even tarantulas. I really feel at one with the world round me and at peace. Once I return into massive cities, it may really feel like tradition shock. There’s an excessive amount of cement, glass, sounds, and autos. It’s sensory overload!
I even have a larger appreciation for nature and our planet, and I modify my habits so it has much less environmental impact, comparable to consuming extra vegan meals.
#9 Climate Dictates Your Whole Life
Whenever you dwell in a home, it’s arduous to think about the climate controlling your actions. However as van lifers, the climate is every thing. If it’s too sizzling, van life is extremely uncomfortable as most campervans don’t have an air conditioner. We’ve to drive to a cooler local weather, such because the coast or up a mountain. If the climate has a wet forecast, we go to a hotter, drier place. Because the northern states get chilly, we drive south to Southern California, Arizona, and Mexico.
Van lifers are like migratory animals—the climate is our life.
#10 Water Turns into a Valuable Commodity
Should you’re used to taking lengthy, sizzling showers, that’s a no-go in van life. Essentially the most a campervan can carry is round 30 gallons of water; in the event you plan on tenting off-grid for a lot of days, you’ll should make that water final. We’ve developed humorous habits like washing our fingers concurrently, one above the opposite, to avoid wasting water. We take showers which are solely 1-1.5 gallons every. And we solely bathe each different day. Washing dishes additionally requires little or no water as we barely use any cleaning soap!
#11 Van Life Modifications You Endlessly
Dwelling in a van is an expertise like no different. You’re stripped all the way down to the fundamentals: meals, water, shelter. Materials possessions are on the naked minimal. Easy pleasures change into thrilling: a sizzling bathe, a hot springs, a scrumptious meal, or the Milky Manner. The rat race turns into a distant reminiscence, and also you’re extra centered on residing within the now. Van life additionally permits for introspection: Who’re you? What would you like in life? What’s your connection to the surface world? What does freedom appear to be to you?
Van life teaches resilience and flexibility. Many modifications are related to this life-style, which some folks discover jarring. It’s a must to adapt shortly to new conditions and problem-solve on the go.
If I ever lived in a home once more, I might profit significantly from my “van life” coaching. I’ll dwell minimally, in shut reference to nature, with a larger respect for the setting. Who is aware of if that may occur any time quickly? I nonetheless love residing in a van regardless of its hardships and struggles. As a result of more often than not, the liberty and journey are downright superb and one thing I’m not prepared to surrender.
This text initially appeared on Wealth of Geeks.
Kristin Hanes is a former radio information journalist turned writer at The Wayward House, a website devoted to different residing in campervans, RVs, sailboats and tiny houses. She splits her time between a DIY Sprinter van and a sailboat in Mexico. Her objective is to encourage you to dwell an easier, extra adventurous life in nature.
Kristin can also be the host of The Wayward House podcast, the place she affords suggestions and interviews with different nomads. Kristin has been printed in Good Housekeeping, Marie Claire, Enterprise Insider, and extra.
