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Started By
Message
Van Life. Has anyone here done, currently doing, or plan to do this lifestyle?
Posted on 7/22/26 at 12:13 pm
Posted on 7/22/26 at 12:13 pm
I'm 42 and it's something I've thought about seriously off and on for years now. I never did it because I wanted to be relatively close to family (I live several hundred miles away but still only a 1 1/2 hour flight away). My dad passed away this year though and my mom is 79. My mom could still live for awhile, but statistically I know she'll probably be gone in the next 5 - 10 years.
I'm not married and have never been married. I have no kids. My extended family isn't really that big. I have one sister, a brother in law, a nephew and a niece. I'm close to my sister, brother in law and nephew, not so much my niece. But even for them, I'm good with seeing them say twice a year.
Part of me really wants to consider van life after my mom passes away or if my mom gets to the point she is too sick to visit me. For those of you who have done van life or are currently doing van life, what are the pros and cons? Anything you wish you had known before you started? If you stopped van life and returned to just living in one location, what made you stop?
For those here who are considering van life as well, what are you reasons to? Do you plan to do van life full time or just part time here and there?
I've always considered myself a lone wolf. I have some really great friends, but my friend group isn't particularly big. And I figure I can always go see them. I know van life isn't all glamorous like it's portrayed on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, but if I could figure out the money part and more important the job aspect (getting a remote job or doing various seasonal work), I feel like it's something I really want to consider.
I'm not married and have never been married. I have no kids. My extended family isn't really that big. I have one sister, a brother in law, a nephew and a niece. I'm close to my sister, brother in law and nephew, not so much my niece. But even for them, I'm good with seeing them say twice a year.
Part of me really wants to consider van life after my mom passes away or if my mom gets to the point she is too sick to visit me. For those of you who have done van life or are currently doing van life, what are the pros and cons? Anything you wish you had known before you started? If you stopped van life and returned to just living in one location, what made you stop?
For those here who are considering van life as well, what are you reasons to? Do you plan to do van life full time or just part time here and there?
I've always considered myself a lone wolf. I have some really great friends, but my friend group isn't particularly big. And I figure I can always go see them. I know van life isn't all glamorous like it's portrayed on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, but if I could figure out the money part and more important the job aspect (getting a remote job or doing various seasonal work), I feel like it's something I really want to consider.
This post was edited on 7/22/26 at 12:14 pm
56
Posted on 7/22/26 at 12:17 pm to TheMagicMan
I'm old enough to remember when living in your car was a bad thing.
Posted on 7/22/26 at 12:17 pm to TheMagicMan
Motherfrickers live in their car and call it "van life"
Stop lying to yourself and just say you're homeless, you stupid bum
Stop lying to yourself and just say you're homeless, you stupid bum
Posted on 7/22/26 at 12:18 pm to TheMagicMan
Paging Trillhog
Posted on 7/22/26 at 12:19 pm to TheMagicMan
I know of this couple that did it.
He got sick of the girl so bad he strangled her to death.
He got sick of the girl so bad he strangled her to death.
Posted on 7/22/26 at 12:19 pm to TheMagicMan
Posted on 7/22/26 at 12:21 pm to TheMagicMan
Your niece probably thinks you're creepy
Posted on 7/22/26 at 12:21 pm to TheMagicMan
It’s attractive on paper, but I grew up spending a lot of time at deer camps and shitty motels fishing tournaments. I like a clean place, no bugs, good meals, and a safe home. Too each his own tho.
Think it’s more of an option for the younger generation as today’s rat race doesn’t really get you much anyways. If you’re 42 and exploring this then you must’ve f’ed up somewhere along the way.
There’s prob a happy medium somewhere between being basically homeless or well off or debt ridden keeping up with the Jonses. I’ve lived a humble but great life and retiring at 49 in Oct with all the comforts because I wasn’t a douche.
I’ve also never spent more than $18k on a vehicle, don’t pay strangers to do simple tasks like mow my grass, spray for pests, wash my car, change my oil, bring me food, fix handy man shite around the house, simple maintenance items, hang a flag in my yard on holidays, Christmas lights, storage for worthless shite, etc.
Think it’s more of an option for the younger generation as today’s rat race doesn’t really get you much anyways. If you’re 42 and exploring this then you must’ve f’ed up somewhere along the way.
There’s prob a happy medium somewhere between being basically homeless or well off or debt ridden keeping up with the Jonses. I’ve lived a humble but great life and retiring at 49 in Oct with all the comforts because I wasn’t a douche.
I’ve also never spent more than $18k on a vehicle, don’t pay strangers to do simple tasks like mow my grass, spray for pests, wash my car, change my oil, bring me food, fix handy man shite around the house, simple maintenance items, hang a flag in my yard on holidays, Christmas lights, storage for worthless shite, etc.
This post was edited on 7/22/26 at 12:54 pm
Posted on 7/22/26 at 12:25 pm to TheMagicMan
Cruise America has a "ultra compact" RV now you can rent.
Idk what you do for a living, but there's no major reason to jump in head first here. Take a 2-3 week vacation and rent one of these small RVs and give it a go.
Go from there.
Idk what you do for a living, but there's no major reason to jump in head first here. Take a 2-3 week vacation and rent one of these small RVs and give it a go.
Go from there.
This post was edited on 7/22/26 at 12:25 pm
Posted on 7/22/26 at 12:25 pm to TheMagicMan
Here is a good documentary song written about the subject:
Posted on 7/22/26 at 12:26 pm to TheMagicMan
quote:
I know van life isn't all glamorous like it's portrayed on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, but if I could figure out the money part and more important the job aspect (getting a remote job or doing various seasonal work), I feel like it's something I really want to consider.
The only person I've known to pull it off for longer than a couple of months was a teacher I worked with who wasn't married, never had kids, basically put all of her extra money back for multiple years as a young teacher (had no student loans due to scholarships) and it wasn't even living out of a van but more so traveling to different states and doing seasonal work (mostly hard, physical, farm work, she grew up in a commune).
She ran out of money in about 3 years of doing it and now lives in Upper Michigan with her husband. Working as a teacher again.
While she enjoyed parts of it, she hated that uncertainty and being so transient. There's something to be said for having roots and stability.
Posted on 7/22/26 at 12:29 pm to TheMagicMan
Not van life but looking seriously at full-time RV’ing in 3 years.
Van life means at best a wet bath (stool is in the shower area) and I have zero interest in that. Add that most vans don’t have a black tank which means you’re hauling your poooo to something by carrying it and I’m really out.
Van life means at best a wet bath (stool is in the shower area) and I have zero interest in that. Add that most vans don’t have a black tank which means you’re hauling your poooo to something by carrying it and I’m really out.
Posted on 7/22/26 at 12:31 pm to TheMagicMan
I heard it’s cool if you don’t mind shitting in a compost toilet or Home Depot bucket.
Posted on 7/22/26 at 12:32 pm to AlterDWI
quote:
I'm old enough to remember when living in your car was a bad thing.
Pretty big difference between living in a small coupe or sedan car because you have no choice and living in a highly modified Ford Transit Cargo Van with most modern needs by choice.
I would cash out some of my 401(k) for this. I would essentially give myself around $100,000 budget to buy a Ford Transit Cargo Van and have the cargo area retrofitted with a bed, portable 12V cooler, small portable toilet, minisplit A/C and a tire pressure control system. I would use solar showers or just buy a gym membership at say Planet Fitness for showers.
So I'm genuinely trying to prepare in case I do go towards van life. I probably wouldn't sell my townhome at first until I see how much I enjoy van life, but it would be a possibility down the road.
Posted on 7/22/26 at 12:33 pm to TheMagicMan
The whole concept seems stupid to me. These people buy expensive vans and then spend a bunch of money renovating them into a crappy, cramped dwelling just so they can pretend to have some weird sense of freedom.
And it's not because I don't see the beauty of waking up outside a beautiful National Park, drinking a cup of coffee in a fold out chair and smiling because I don't have to go to work that day. I totally get that appeal.
But just go buy a nice tent and some camping equipment and scratch that itch whenever you feel "trapped".
Living exclusively out of a vehicle = you are a homeless bum.
I also have to imagine the turnover ratio for this is extremely high outside of people that are mentally ill or those who cultivated a youtube following and have algorithmed their way into a decent income stream.
Posted on 7/22/26 at 12:36 pm to TheMagicMan
No and it’s the stupidest thing someone can want to do.
Taking showers at truck stops, pissing and shitting wherever, brushing your teeth with a water bottle, frick all that!
Taking showers at truck stops, pissing and shitting wherever, brushing your teeth with a water bottle, frick all that!
Posted on 7/22/26 at 12:37 pm to TheMagicMan
Park it "down by the river."
Posted on 7/22/26 at 12:38 pm to BluegrassBelle
quote:
The only person I've known to pull it off for longer than a couple of months was a teacher I worked with who wasn't married, never had kids, basically put all of her extra money back for multiple years as a young teacher (had no student loans due to scholarships) and it wasn't even living out of a van but more so traveling to different states and doing seasonal work (mostly hard, physical, farm work, she grew up in a commune).
She ran out of money in about 3 years of doing it and now lives in Upper Michigan with her husband. Working as a teacher again.
While she enjoyed parts of it, she hated that uncertainty and being so transient. There's something to be said for having roots and stability.
Interesting perspective and I appreciate it. I feel very similar to that teacher. I'm not married and have no kids. Once my mom is gone I will have no family responsibilities. At this point I'm not planning to ever be in a relationship or get married, so I would be doing this solo.
I've already been doing the same thing for the last year, saving up money and living more frugally to potentially afford this. I also have no student loans, no car loans, no mortgage and no credit card debt.
Part of me would be open to doing the seasonal work, whether it's working seasonal events or maybe even trying to join the National Park Service and go where they need help. I know I wouldn't make much, but it would help pay for some of my expenses.
I'm definitely not committing to do it for the rest of my life. Even if I did it for 2 - 3 years and ran out of money, I could probably say I lived more than 95% of this country. Travel, go to all 50 states, go to all provinces in Canada. I know it's not all sunshine and glamour. I know there's a lot of nights in Walmart, Cracker Barrel and truck stop parking lots. But there's just a freedom to it that's appealing to me.
This post was edited on 7/22/26 at 10:08 pm
Posted on 7/22/26 at 12:39 pm to TheMagicMan
Take up long haul trucking, you'll get paid. Great life for a loner
Posted on 7/22/26 at 12:40 pm to TheMagicMan
I’ve responded to similar posts in the past, but Mrs. Cotten and I lived the full time travel life first in a Class C for a few years, then sold that and built out a Transit HR/EL. We worked remotely out on the road around 6 years. Still have our van and travel all the time, just not fulltime. We ran mostly solar with a small generator for times there was too much snow on the panels or rain, etc and we needed to run the water heater.
I built an elevator bed in ours on 12v actuators and that doubled our daytime space. We never stayed in any sort of RV parks, only boondocked so the van made that much easier than our Class C.
We used an electric flush RV toilet that could be picked up and removed if we needed more shower space. Plumbed to a black tank. No smells, flushes like a normal toilet and being able to remove it so easily allowed us not to have a wet bath (per se…). Honestly it’s very nice to have your own toilet when you’re on the road to shite in, even if you aren’t just camping. Just my opinion though.
I built an elevator bed in ours on 12v actuators and that doubled our daytime space. We never stayed in any sort of RV parks, only boondocked so the van made that much easier than our Class C.
quote:
I heard it’s cool if you don’t mind shitting in a compost toilet or Home Depot bucket.
We used an electric flush RV toilet that could be picked up and removed if we needed more shower space. Plumbed to a black tank. No smells, flushes like a normal toilet and being able to remove it so easily allowed us not to have a wet bath (per se…). Honestly it’s very nice to have your own toilet when you’re on the road to shite in, even if you aren’t just camping. Just my opinion though.
This post was edited on 7/22/26 at 12:45 pm
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