How does one live in a van?   What are the most fun and most challenging aspects of van life?  What things have you learned on the road?  Why don’t you get a job, you dirty hippie?  This post will attempt to answer all of your burning vanlife questions.  This post will be gear-heavy.  I love gear.

8AM

I awake from my deep slumber to discover that my Van has been converted into an oven by the morning sun.  I lethargically roll out of bed into my crouch space, slide open the door, gingerly look around for people judging me for living in a mini-van and hop in the front seat to drive out of the sun and find a spot to start my day.

 

9:30AM-10:30AM

I was able to find some shade, roll down a window and fire up my small portable fan to ensure I could catch a bit more sleep without being cooked alive.  Now I’m ready to start the day!  If I’m in a town or city, it’s time to locate the nearest city park so that I can begin my morning routine.  If I’m in the woods I can start the routine right away!

I arrive at the city park, find a nice secluded parking spot with an open patch of grass and possibly some tables nearby.  Time to make some coffee and breakfast!  I fire up my portable stove to boil water, hand grind lightly roasted coffee beans while simultaneously doing some squats to wake up my stiff body.  I use the boiling water to make pour over coffee and my patented oatmeal + peanut butter concoction (sometimes adding in blueberries or bananas if I recently stocked up on groceries).  Another popular VanBun morning meal is cottage cheese + granola.

A common question I get is “how do you go to the bathroom when you live in a van?”.  Since I don’t have a giant, gas-guzzling “house on wheels” (aka an R.V.) – I don’t have a bathroom in my van.  For night-urination needs, I have handy gatorade bottles which are more than sufficient bathroom-replacements.  For other bathroom needs, I have city parks, coffee shops or the woods.  Problem solved!

After ingesting calories, sipping deliciously crafted coffee and taking care of other morning necessities, I’m ready to start my morning stretches and physical therapy exercises!  But alas, some local drifters/homeless/other van dwellers/crazy people have encroached on my territory!  This is a common occurrence, especially in larger city parks.  Apparently, I’m not the first one to discover the benefits of city parks when you don’t live in a structure that is fixed to the earth.  Oh well.  I move about 50 yards away so that I have sufficient space to continue my routine.

I lay out a tarp on the grass, place my yoga mat on top and commence exercises.  I use my handy Bose speaker to give me extra energy from inspirational techno jams.  After 20-30 min of glute-strengthening exercises and general stretches, I’m ready to start my day!

10:30AM-6:30PM

Depending on where I am (city or forrest), I may do the following:

• Catch up on computer time at a coffee shop.  My electronic gear (phone, external battery, camera batteries, portable BOSE speaker) is usually in a power debt, meaning I’m low on juice.  I have an inverter that allows me charge while I’m driving, but that’s usually not enough to keep me consistently topped off.  Coffee shops are a great place to fill up on juice, catch up on internet stuff and edit photos/video.
• Walk around and Explore town/city.
• Go for a hike and do photography.
• Eat snacks and possibly a meal ( see below)

Side note on meals:

I tend to snack throughout the day and don’t really have set lunch time.  Typically I will snack on bananas, nuts, cottage-cheese + granola, PBJ sandwiches and more nuts.  For larger lunch/dinners I will do one of the following:

• Pfunk’s Patented VanBun Panini(™) :
  • Some type of bread, usually sourdough.
  • Ample amounts of cheese.
  • An assortment of whatever deli meats I have on hand (turkey, chicken, roast beef, salami)
  • Bread, cheese and meet get slow grilled in pan with olive oil.
  • Once grilled to perfection, with melted cheese, I add the following:
    • Salted avocado
    • Some sort of green plant
    • Some sauce: (Siracha, Mustard, Salsa)
  • Boom, that’s it!  Guaranteed to be delicious.  If it’s not delicious, add more cheese and avocado.  Check your bread again..maybe it’s not sourdough.

• Pfunk’s B-fast Tacos(™) :
  • Crack 3-4 eggs + milk into a bowl.  Whip for one minute using a copper tango for maximum fluff in your egg emulsion.
  • Fry up 3 pieces of bacon until they are crisped pieces of heaven.
  • Empty some of the grease.
  • Add scrambled eggs.
  • Add cheese.
  • Cook eggs until done to your liking.
  • Heat up tortillas.
  • Add eggs and salted avacado to tortillas.
  • Add siracha.
  • Boom, you’ve just made delicious van tacos.

How does one wash dishes in a van?  This was a concern before I left on my trip; doing dishes in the default world is the bane of my existence.  I prefer to let them pile up until the sink is full and/or the smell is unbearable and then do a batch session of washing dishes – way more efficient, right?  This strategy does not work for van life.  To wash dishes, I use two plastic bins (purchased at the dollar store for $2), my water reservoir, a sponge, Dr. Bronners soap and some elbow grease.  I typically move my water tank to the side entrance of the van and let the water flow into the bin.  It’s a bit of a chore, but it’s the best way I’ve found to do dishes.  More advanced van rigs have a water pump and wash basin built into their unit; something to strive for on future builds.

 

6:30PM-9:30PM

At this point in the day, I’ve decided that I need a shower.  How does one bathe while live in a van?  This is the second most common question I hear.  The options are plentiful:

• Friend’s house.  I’ve showered at friend’s rented houses, relative’s houses and a Couchsurfing friend’s house.
• Truck stop.  I did this once and it was a pretty nice shower, but a bit expensive at $15+.
• Gym.  This is a common one for me.  Gyms are common in most towns/cities and they all have showers.  Great opportunity to get in a workout as well.  I do have a 24 hour membership, but haven’t  found any this far north yet.
• River.  During my week long healing quest in the forest, I showered exactly twice, both in rivers.  It was glorious.
• Baby wipe shower AKA Burning Man shower.  This is what it sounds like; rub yourself with baby wipes.  This doesn’t get you completely clean but at least removes a layer of filth and keeps your bedding clean.
• Don’t shower.  I definitely shower less while living in a van.  It’s better for the environment right!  I’ve also heard it builds “essential oils” on the body and hair.

9:30PM-Sleep

It’s finally dark!  Time to find a place to park the van and go to bed.  Depending on where I am, this can be a bit tricky.  I’ll divide it into 2 classes:

1. City/Town/Civilized Society – If it is a fairly large town or city, this is pretty easy.  Simply find a spot that is not completely residential, does not have too much traffic and has no signs indicating the potential for a parking ticket.  It’s helpful if other cars are around so that you don’t look out of place.  If it is a tiny town, it’s sometimes challenging to find a spot where you will not stand out.  I passed through a town between Ashland and Eugene that did not have a single car parked downtown – it was a creepy ghost town.  I didn’t want to be the only car parked there, so I went to the next town.  In Oregon, I typically feel safe.  People are laid back and it appears to be quite common to sleep in your car; I’ve seen plenty of fellow van dwellers out here.  Protip: sleep on the street outside a coffee shop where you know the wifi; boom, internet in the van!
2. The Wilderness –
   1. Campgrounds / State Parks / National Parks.  These can be a bit tricky.  Technically, sleeping in your vehicle is usually prohibited.  I suppose they want to keep out the riff raff of van dwellers infecting their pristine park, right!? (Shakes fist at sky).  Oftentimes, I see signs posted in parking lots that say “no overnight camping allowed”.  I don’t see the point in paying for a camping site when I would only use it as a parking space.  The best way around this is to find a more secluded area, go outside the park area or just blatantly break the rules.  I’ve done all three.  I’ve also paid for a campsite; sometimes it’s worth it to just have a relaxing night at a campsite and not have to worry about a ranger banging on your door at 7AM.
   2. Real Wilderness.  This has been my favorite area to camp in, by far.  By ‘Real Wilderness’, I mean areas that are not technically campgrounds but are out in the woods and accessible via logging roads.  During my one week adventure in the woods, I exclusively spent the night on logging roads surrounded by trees.  You simply drive into the woods, travel deep into Forrest Service roads and find a spot that looks nice.  It’s important to avoid main roads and make sure that there are no active logging operations nearby.

Pro’s and Con’s of Van Life

Pros:

• It’s cheap.  I created my van rig for about $2700 including car, insurance/registration, lumber and other supplies (most of it from garage sales).  It took me 2-3 weeks (working nonstop).  After you put in the initial investment, the expenses are extremely low (besides gas).  I’ve lived in my van for more than 2 months.  If I were to live in SF for 2 months, I’d be lucky to pay $1400/month.  THE VAN HAS JUST PAID FOR ITSELF.  🙂
• You live where you park.  It’s the ultimate freedom in adventuring, exploring and the quintessential nomadic lifestyle.
• Guaranteed 10% more likes/hearts from social media posts related to vanliving.
• You live in your own little van-fort.  It’s awesome and cozy.  It brings out the adventurous kid in us all.

Cons:

• Everything gets messy and dirty extremely quickly.  You have to work 3 times as hard to keep things clean and neat.
• You do miss the conveniences of living in a house bolted to the ground; full service bathrooms/kitchens, areas to hang out in, etc.
• It’s a lot of work.  Building the rig, maintaining the order, setting up to sleep, tidying up, cooking food, cleaning; all these things take quite a bit of effort (much more than living in a house).

Random Gear

A collection of photos and descriptions showcasing additional gear which I use and love.

 

 

Did I miss anything?  If you’re still curious about van life, leave me a question in the comments.