The Dark Side of Van Life
You raise the blade. You make the change. You rearrange me till I'm sane!
I hardly feel qualified to write about van life, only after four months of this new lifestyle, but it’s been quite an experience!
We’ve spent years fantasizing about buying a camper van and living in one, probably because of all the amazing photos and videos we see about it, but I’m gonna tell you: the honeymoon is over. There are things to it that I never considered.
Don’t get me wrong.
We are fortunate to take our home with us now and park it in beautiful, welcoming places, but it’s not always that way. So please allow me to share the dark side of van life to put it in perspective.
Where in the hell do we go?
With great freedom comes great responsibility — along with the stress of deciding where to go next. I know, real-world problems. 🤷♂️
Since I’m happy to drive almost anywhere, Donetta often spends countless hours researching possibilities, discussing routes and ideas with me, and then plans out our trips. It’s an overwhelming task, for which she deserves much credit. But the reality is that just because you can go anywhere, it doesn't mean it will work out. Even the best travel plans can be easily thwarted by unforeseen circumstances.
Finding good, cheap campgrounds or RV parks is a pain in the ass. Staying in desirable places is chaotic and busy. And chasing great weather can be totally wrong.
Speaking of.
What happened to the great weather?
Our first month in the van took us to Ohio to see our amazing friends, Brent and Michelle. It was in October of last year, when we believed the fall temperatures would be amazing and the season would change slowly.
We. were. wrong.
In a matter of days, the winds shifted, the rain came, and the temperatures dropped over the course of a few weeks; it was a bipolar weather experience. By the start of November, we were forced to haul ass southward as winter approached and campgrounds were shutting down for the season. We were constantly moving.
After our holiday stop in Oklahoma, we made our way back to Big Bend National Park in Texas. Because, you know, it’s warm there in January and a great time to hike. Only it didn’t work that way because the temperatures dropped to above freezing, and our van almost caught on fire, which I’ll discuss soon.
After our van repair back in Oklahoma, we chose to go to Padre Island and Galveston. Lo and behold, an Arctic blast was on its way. Within a week’s time, we had to make the decision to drive long days to reach the warm beaches of Florida.
Only now, the record-breaking frigid temperatures have caught up to us in Tampa.
Nowhere seems safe.
I guess that’s karma after I gloated about our amazing decision to chase warm weather while poking fun at all the people suffering in the cold. Damn it!
Why are we doing maintenance already?
In the first month of camper van ownership, we broke a part of our bench because it wasn’t properly installed, and I drove over my extension cord while it was plugged in, breaking the shore power connection. We also had to replace TPS sensors on two tires, replace tag lights, and clear warning codes from the vehicle. It wasn’t the worst that could happen, yet, but we got it all fixed and were back on the road ASAP.
Then, a few weeks ago, as we tried to run from the cold and camped at Big Bend, the worst happened. 🔥 💨 😱
At approximately 0430 one morning, I was lying awake thinking about emergency preparedness and what we’d do in case of a fire in the van, and I don’t really think I can speak things into existence — if I could, I’d have a million dollars — but all of a sudden I smelled something burning and saw smoke. I immediately got us out of the van and unplugged the shore power. The smoke cleared, and we could see no clear evidence of a fire, but our nerves were frantic!
Hours later, after the same experience, we realized the Ardroit battery charger had failed and was overheating. Apparently, these things aren’t supposed to be hooked up and running 24/7, something we weren't told, and since we couldn’t use shore power anymore and no longer felt safe sleeping inside, we drove two long days back to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to have it replaced.
And as they say, when it rains, it pours!
Last week, we were staying at Galveston State Park when a torrential downpour hit, and water began seeping in beneath our refrigerator because the window was not properly sealed. Now we have to go back to Tulsa to have our van guy fix the issue and possibly replace the insulation and flooring. Seriously???
When you spend this much money on a camper van, you’d like to think it would take a while to have maintenance problems.
Next.
How will we survive living in a box?
Years ago, I wrote a post, How to Survive as a Travel Couple. At the time, we were living in hotels and resorts, and Donetta and I were no strangers to being around each other most of the time. But something about van life made it different.
When we’re in bed, someone has to climb over the other to get down. When we get on the dance floor (the walkway between the bed and the front seats), we have to shimmy past each other. When she’s cooking, I have to be in the passenger seat or on the bed. Plus, we’re constantly shifting things around in such a small space. It’s not that these things are horrible; they're just very annoying.
Van life rage exists and is very real! 😜
I’ve learned to pee sitting down on a plastic toilet and can manage living in the same clothes for a week without a shower, but living in a small box is a real adjustment.
It could be worse.
Right now, it feels wrong to complain about the dark side of van life when there is so much turmoil going on in this country. These hardships are insignificant compared to what’s happened in other places over the past several weeks, and it’s difficult to write about traveling or adventure when people have been murdered in cold blood. We are sickened and angry with our government. But I don’t want to dive into that here, as this is not the right place to discuss these tragedies.
That said, it could be a lot worse for us, and I’m grateful to just be alive and healthy.
In wrapping up, I just wanted you to know that van life is far from perfect, and that every day presents new challenges or frustrations. We don’t want to sell you on the idea that being digital nomads is always hunky dory, because it’s not, and it’s better to know the good and bad before embarking on a journey of a lifetime.
Still, there are no regrets, and that’s the important part.
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I don’t want to be a smart ass but van life, if it’s going to be fun and less expensive than house life, is best done by do it yourselfers. Leaks, electrical, mechanical, remodeling, repairs, refits…….these things are do able. Even more so now with YouTube and Facebook. Otherwise it’s going to be very expensive and not exactly fun.
We live part time in our van, part time in our sailboat, and part time in Mexico where we are building a house. We could not afford a single one of these ways of life if it wasn’t for the fact my wife and I do 95 percent of the work ourselves. Our sailboat alone would break us. We’ve been living in our sailboat for about 5 months straight and there’s not a single day I don’t fix something. And half of those 150 days were spent working on it 6-8 hours a day. We have a simple ish boat. Simple systems. Ditto van. And I know them all because I either built them or fixed them. It would literally be impossible if I had to have others do it. Or diagnose it. Or depend on them to show me how to work it. Just impossible.
And agreed, bad weather sucks. There are days on our sailboat when we are as anchor we can’t go to shore and we are bobbing away. But of course then there are days of utter beauty that make up for those days. When we are anchored in paradise. And we aren’t worried about our house floating away.
All this not to toot my own horn, just to give you my perspective. The more you can fix, the more you can build, the more enjoyment you will have. The more money you will have. The more time you will have. Btw we’re in Florida right now on our boat. We had 34 degrees for a couple days. And spent a great amount of time hanging out under big blankets. We feel your pain. But now it’s back up to 70. It’s a roll with the punches lifestyle, for sure. But it does become easier. Good place to stop for the night if you’re stealth and have no where to go are hotel parking lots. We’ve never been thrown out. Certainly not our first pick, but. Residential neighborhoods are surprisingly good. As are metro areas. We’ve parked right down town is some great places.
Oh and solar on our boat is life changing. If we had it on our van it would be as well. We can be out on our sailboat for weeks without going to a marina. I can’t imagine doing it without it. Cheers.
Good luck!
We live in an area where "Van Lifers" frequent: The Oregon Coast. One of my favorite activities is watching bickering couples with their fancy van behind them try to get the perfect instagram shot LOL. Good luck out there!!