Affordable? Not in BC, many go for nearly 100k around here.
I was floored when I saw what even the low-end pre-made travel-vans were going for. They’re really following the whole “Why sell a million cookies for a dollar each when you can sell one cookie for a million dollars” economic model with these things.
To think the trend probably really started because some folks decided to build like, plywood frames around their poop-bucket in back and documented it on social media with various photo filters to look romantic and free-spirited.
Bonfires on the beach at night, shirtless young dude with a guitar, maybe a dog, probably black lab or golden retriever, girls in bikinis and everyone is just perfect and happy… don’t you want to be happy like this too? Get your van with built-in poop bucket for only $90,000 now and start recapturing that escaped youth living off your parent’s dime and a trust fund!
Affordable compared to appartments and houses.
I know it’s just a meme, and I don’t want to be “that guy” but van life isn’t actually as affordable as it’s often made out to seem. Lots of hidden costs to take into account like where you can park and etc.
The basic costs of getting a van and converting it can be thousands of dollars at the cheap end, not counting the van itself.
If you want to get a pre-made travel van with amenities like a toilet and lighting already installed it will set you back tens of thousands more than just getting an old beater and modifying it, and that counts on your ability and energy to actually engineer and build the stuff you will need.
So you need either a huge up-front investment, or you need to make monthly payments if you finance it, or you need an already stable lifestyle that lets you slowly collect and build the stuff you need over a long period of time.
I don’t know how you support a mobile lifestyle anyway unless you have a job you can do from the back of a van parked in a walmart parking lot, which is where you will spend most of your time as you will need daily life shit like toilet paper and a few meals a day. (Except you can’t park there overnight, you will need to park either in a campground or an RV park or some place for designated overnight parking, which usually comes with fees if they’re anywhere near a city. Long-term sites with utility hookups or bathrooms will need a monthly rental contract.)
I’m fully convinced, that at least in the US, every last “van life” influencer can only support the lifestyle by promoting it and riding on trust-funds when views run short. Homelessness isn’t that fun actually.
Edit: just to make it clear, my family lived in a van for a few years when I was little, and I respect people who have no choice and live out of their cars or vans, and yah you can do it for next to nothing if you have to, but it’s a hard life and and you still need money, which means some form of stability to interact with the world, a phone, a craft or job or something you can sell, expenses for a vehicle that’s going to run a lot. You’re going to interact with a lot of cops. And other types. Wouldn’t recommend it if you can help it. I am calling out specifically the influencers and the popularized “van lifestyle” that makes it look like a perpetual party on the beach.
Actually Walmart is one of the more popular boondocking locations.
boondocking
I will never not read this as some kind of obscure, local nickname for something absurd and sexual/scatalogical. Like “Me and this chick did an Ohio Boondock in an Ace Hardware parking lot once, the manager called the cops so we had to get out of there, but man they must have been glad they rent carpet steamers, ah tell you what.”
That must be a US thing, aside from the initial cost of the van I saved an absolute shit ton of money living in a van full time and never had to worry about where to park or ever pay for parking.
It certainly isn’t free but it is affordable as fuck compared to disgustingly high rent prices.
The US is actively hostile towards anyone who doesn’t have a permanent address.
What do you do about food and cleaning yourself? What do you do to entertain yourself?
Not trying to be a prick, genuinely curious.
For food I cooked using a gas type stove or I also had a portable rice cooker type thing that I could cook rice as well as soups or stews or that type of thing in.
Cleaning I used a combination of a gym membership to a nationwide chain and used their showers, used family members showers if I was near to them and sometimes I’d have a baby wipe shower if I was really in a pinch and needed a basic clean.
Entertainment the same as I do in a house but just in a lot more energy conscious fashion. I run and cycle a lot so that was easy and I could run a lot of different places.
I had a small solar panel as well as the alternator charging a decent sized battery setup that I had hooked up to USB ports as well as a power inverter to convert to AC power so that way I could charge a laptop as well as devices.
So I had my phone to watch videos or listen to music on etc and then a laptop I could play games on or ran my DJ setup reliably. I had many options, I just always had to be conscious of batteries. I’d always have the laptop charging whilst I was on the move as the engine would make an abundant amount of electricity and then I could charge the laptop a few times if needed from the battery or trickle charging from the solar. So yeh, I had plenty to do.
I also smoked a lot of weed in combination of those things xD
I miss that life tbf, houses are over rated but it is also nice to always have a hot shower and stuff. Advantages of both
It definitely CAN be cheaper but seems like a good fraction of people choose to live on the high hog and dump a ton of money into their vans. Also there’s just a ton of anxiety needing to move around constantly. Where are you exactly where that’s not a worry?
Also there’s just a ton of anxiety needing to move around constantly. Where are you exactly where that’s not a worry?
Depends on your motivation to live in a van. My parents just moved into a pick up truck turned RV because they want to move a lot. Travel around, see the world as long as they still are able to. It’s not a thing to accomodate, it’s the real deal to them.
(Though they are kind if priviledged they can afford this with an early retirement and by selling the house they owned.)Yeh a lot of people do but I bought my van for 2 grand which was basically 2 months rent. There is definitely some anxiety in terms of I hope this shit doesn’t break down as it is also my house but then owning or renting a house also comes with different anxieties based on different things and the constantly moving around part I loved.
I am UK based and just parked where ever I wanted to a point, as long as I was following the sign posted rules for parking up no one would say shit, parking is a civil matter here anyway so even if I had chosen to park somewhere that I was supposedly not meant to it isn’t technically illegal if it was public land and the cops aren’t coming out to do anything about it.
Its definitely a US thing. And even more so a regional US thing. Parking (where you won’t get in trouble) can be hard to find so you have to drive more. When you do find parking its usually in direct sunlight (great in winter not so much in the summer) so now you’re running your vehicle more or need a bigger less discrete generator to counteract the oven.
Fair enough - and yeah I’m going based off of what I’ve heard, not from personal experience, so I could definitely be wrong. But yeah, I’m sure it is largely location dependent as well as a lot of other factors as well.
True, did you know you’re allowed to park/camp overnight at any Walmart parking lot for free?
It varies. Some are prohibited by local regulations and others have pulled back due to people being entitled ass holes.
So far my expenses this year have been $40 in gas, $30 in propane, and $60 in groceries. I love not paying rent.
Serious question, where do you park it? Also, everyone I know that has a van in their driveway has had it stolen at least once.
BLM land and national forest. You can stay in one spot for 14 days.
Serious question, where do you live? I feel like nobody steals cars anymore. At least not here.
Seattle, and it’s vans they usually steal.
“Living in a van down by the river” hits different now.
Waterfront property? In this economy?
When I was 17 all I wanted was a van and a dog. Now I’m 50 I just want a van and a dog.
Still haven’t achieved that goal? Good luck my dude.
The dream really. Probably the only house I’ll ever be able to buy. And it can even move around. Sounds amazing.
Honestly I think my biggest fear with living in a van would be needing to service said van. They won’t just let you live in it while it’s in the shop for a week because somethings wrong with the engine.
this was never the creepy van. hippy vans often looked like that. (but maybe creepy refers to the guy here idk)
The shaggin’ wagon
Yeah. Carpet is gross. Especially in that environment.
Thanks to the YouTube channel Cheap RV Living, I was able to live in a small SUV for several months while traveling to move. It was amazing to experience that and meet so many interesting people during travels.
